Scarab the Fierce

Chapter Five

A part of Scarab felt relief to see Vulture there, but it was quickly snuffed out when she saw the look on his face. He was furious. At her.

But it was nothing like the look of disgust he gave Qibli. Scarab's heart sank and she reached a wing over the SandWing, holding it protectively over his back.

No one spoke for what felt like eternity. Scarab wouldn't look away from Vulture and Vulture wouldn't look away from Qibli.

"I should have expected that this would happen eventually." Vulture's voice rumbled in his throat and he shot Scarab a piercing look. "Tell me, what do you do with stubborn, disobedient dragonets?"

Scarab's mind raced. What was he going to do with them? Every scale on her body tensed when Vulture stepped towards her and growled in her face, putting emphasis on each word. "You cut them out. Weak links are not acceptable." Scarab stared into his black eyes and she knew there was nothing she could do to mask the fear he saw in her face. What was he going to do to her?

Vulture straightened his neck and looked down on them. "But not you," he said to Scarab after a moment. "We need you." Vulture whipped his tail into Scarab's side, knocking her over in a tangle of wings, and grabbed Qibli by his forearm and threw him out of the cell. He landed in a sprawl and by the sound of his gasp she knew he landed on his sensitive wound.

"No!" Scarab leapt to her talons and lunged at Vulture. His head turned too late and she landed on his back. A moment of uncertainty made her hesitate. How could she attack Vulture? Her father?

She paid for her mistake. Vulture spun and Scarab fell onto the cold sand. Before she could stand Vulture had swung his massive tail, and it cracked against her unprotected face. Scarab was knocked back again and she felt tears of pain stab at her eyes. Her head was spinning and she looked up to see Vulture standing over Qibli.  

As if in a dream, she saw Vulture strike Qibli again and again. Scarab tried to cry out but her tongue felt swollen. Her mind was foggy and every sound sounded faraway and distant. She tried to stand up but her talons were unreliable and she collapsed. How could this happen? How could everything go wrong so quickly?

She shut her eyes and tried to block out everything that was horrible and different. She tried blocking her ears from the painful echoes of her surroundings. But then one sound pierced her barrier as clear and sharp as water. Qibli screamed.

Scarab's head shpt up and she saw through her blurry vision Qibli buckled on the ground. His rag bandage was torn and loose and he was cradling something bloody in his talons. His nose. His-just-recently-broken-by-Scarab nose.

Suddenly Scarab's sense cleared. If she was underwater before, she had just broken the surface. All the sounds and sights came hurtling back to her in perfect focus. She stood and lunged at Vulture again, now fueled by fury, she aimed for the face.

The face. Saguaro's words echoed in her mind. Usually armoured by strong scales and teeth. Eyes are a weak point. But above all, attacking the face is the fastest way to distract them.

Scarab hit the side of Vulture's head with all the weight in her body. She grabbed his horns and blocked his eyes with her back talons. Vulture fell over and Scarab jumped off before he could grab her, but not before she whipped her tail and sprayed sand into his face.

Vulture hissed and lashed his tail towards her blindly.

Never attack blindly. Never let anger cloud your judgement.

Scarab leapt out of the way and raked his wing with her talons. Vulture heaved his wings up and pushed himself to his talons. The area around his nostrils and eyes were red and he looked at Scarab with fury. Scarab just dodged a vicious strike to her face by ducking under his talon and lunging forward and raking his underscales.