Scales to Skin

XVI

River

The wind was completely knocked out of me as Turtle jumped out of the mountain and into open air. I clung tightly to the scales on his shoulders as he spread his giant wings, sending us shooting towards the trees in the distance. 

In my peripheral vision, I could see Firefly whooping and hollering, Finch clinging on for dear life, and Moon calmly surveying where the blue sky met the mountain peak.

I had to admit, it was beautiful. And certainly something I'd never have been able to see if it weren't for the dragons.

That doesn't make up for it, The little voice inside my head argued. And it was true. Even if these select few dragons weren't entirely evil, it didn't make up for everything the rest of their race had done. Just like being rescued by those two dragons didn't make up for what the tattooed one had done. For my sister...

I shook my head, trying to clear those thoughts away. She was killed by dragons, just like I was going to be someday. Just like all of us were.

My scream tore through the air as Turtle tucked in his wings and dove, making me dig my hands in deeper. At the last second before we hit the trees, he straightened out and we glided over the treetops. 

Freedom was so close, I could almost taste it. Or maybe that was the bug that had just flown into my teeth when I screamed. 

Either way, I reached my hand out, down towards the trees. Just a bit farther and... I tumbled off his back.

Branches scraped me as I fell through the forest canopy, landing on my side. I rolled to soften the impact, but ended up ramming my shoulder into a sharp rock.

I heard a disgruntled roar from somewhere above me as I stood up, cradling my bleeding shoulder. I breathed in a breath of fresh air as I looked around.

There were trees covering every inch of the ground, and a large log leaned against one of them. It had the strangest fungus growing on it. I looked up for Turtle once more before I realized.

I was free.

I was... free? Was that even possible? I didn't stay long enough to puzzle it out. Instead, I took off running towards the log, jumped over it, and swerved around all different kinds of trees. I kept expecting to turn around and find Turtle looming above me, but no one appeared. For what seemed like ages.

I could've been running for ten minutes, or it could've been hours. Either way, I didn't stop. My legs and lungs burned, but I kept pushing. I kept running until I stumbled into a clearing. Then my heart stopped.

Lounging on a pile of moss-covered boulders were two enormous dragons. One was grayish blue with a pinkish hue to her scales. The other was clearly a Rainforest Dragon, as her scales were spiraling from purple to pink to yellow faster than even Kinkajou.

I darted behind a large tree trunk, peeking out to look at them. I froze. The Rainforest Dragon was staring right at me!

I ducked out of sight again, covering my mouth to mask my breathing. When no giant talons came down over me to end my life, I looked at them again. She was still looking in my direction, but there was no acknowledgement in her eyes.

Oh, I realized. She must be blind.

I watched them for a minute longer, but neither came towards me. They were growling and snarling in a way that seemed friendly, something that I couldn't differentiate before Moon showed me the difference.

Suddenly, the growls became more hostile, and I peeked out to see the gray one snarling at Turtle, who had just landed in the clearing. He growled back, and they seemed to be arguing. A moment later, the gray one pointed a claw in my direction, and Turtle met my eyes.