Wings of Fire: Secret of the Bushes

Chapter 2

All his life, Cloud wanted to become a Skywatcher. Seeing how the rangers climb up the giant trees and moving along the branches with ropes filled him with excitement.

The skywatchers keep the clan safe against dragons. They are very skilled in camouflage and ambush hunting. Using the forest cover to their advantage, they're very hard to see. And most watchers are quite the sharp shooter. They can hit a boar from the very top of the giant trees.

Cloud was trying to learn to be a watcher. But first being a hunter was a prerequisite. Watchers are no different from hunters. They both needed to learn the tricks of hiding in the underbrush. Watchers are specially trained to be able to not only climb trees but also navigate on them and move along the trees.

Cloud is already pretty good at hopping along the branches. Ever since he was a twelve, he always snuck out at night and swung the vines whenever he went stargazing.

Skywatcher was an exciting job. Hunters' only provide food for the clan. That didn't excite him as much. Following prey and crawling on the mud? Yuck.

But Cloud needed to go through the regular process. As the chief's son, he needed to be a symbol of discipline and hope for the clan. He can't be seen whining about every inconvenience.

He prepared his things for the next lesson he's getting from his uncle, Fern, the skywatcher captain and hunting instructor of the clan. He grabbed his bow, arrows, and satchel by his bed and bolted out of his room.

He made his way through underground maze of Defiant.

This used to be a mine back in the old society, as was taught to him from a young age. Many of the caverns have been dug deeper into the mine as the years go by.

There are numerous caverns under the forest floor leading to well-hidden foxholes and dug up trenches where people can escape in case of an emergency.

He walked by what he was told were pieces of railway that were used to cart along piles of ore. Much of the old rails had been scrapped and made into new tools.

He wondered what it had been like before everything went wrong. He had been taught that the old society, in their greed, had angered the dragons. Their ancestors made sure that nothing like that will ever befall their clan and so have forbidden any members from ever bringing any form of treasure into their caverns.

The clan had been very isolated ever since. There hadn't been any communication with the outside world since the founding of Defiant and he'd been told it's for the best.

Cloud passed by the opening of the cavern leading to the mining sections indicated by the high-temperature forge on the entrance. The mines are still being used to this day to gather ores and make them into iron.

Iron is vital for their survival as weapons made from them were very potent especially against dragons. But gathering ore is long and arduous.

It takes even longer to process the ores into usable metal. Only specialized people called blacksmiths will be able to take the ores and turn them into weapons.

Some new weapons have even been made from their efforts. The crossbow was one design that have been remade from ancient writings they have archived.

Such an ingenious weapon that trivializes archery. The amount of force it generates can even launch metal rods with enough force to puncture iron plates much less dragon scales.

But the drawback however is the lack of range and the slow reloading. Crossbows are also too difficult to make and can take almost an entire month's work in order to produce just one.

Which is why bows are still the preferred tools for many hunters and watchers. Only specialized watchers are able to get their hands on one and not many are impressed; most just use theirs to launch grappling hooks.