Scales and Talons

Chapter 7

"Are you human too?"

Roan was frozen as he looked towards the small dragon below him. The female seemed to have halted as well, out of breath by the attempts to escape his claws. 

Time stood still for a moment before the complete meaning of the statement hit Roan.

It where the first words he heard the female dragon below him say. It came uncomfortable out of her maul, as if she was not used to speak at all. Then again, which wild dragon was.

Roan studied the blue dragon, calculating the danger he was in. Was this a trick? The dragon did not seem too old big or strong. Perhaps an intended distraction to get his guard down. But his guard was already down and he had already released the force of his claws, stunned by her words. She could have taken him down when he had frozen in confusion, but she had not. She did not seem to be an experienced warrior like the others.

Wild dragons were known to be vicious, fast growing killers. But the dragon below him seemed opposites of what he knew to be dangerous.

He had jumped the blue dragon that had come from the mountain, expecting her to be one of the enemies. Looking down at her now Roan even wondered if she knew how to chew a bone. She was thin and small. And beside that emotions seemed to swirl in her eyes. It held zero killer intent. Zero anger. Zero proof that she was even a predator, even though he was evidently looking at a dragon.

As much as a dragon as he now was.

Roan should not have woken up. If Maxus had its way Roan his  soul would have been nothing but dust, but for some reason he survived, in a new body. A sickening joke of a second chance in life.

The moment Roan had opened his eyes, the wizard seemed to know that he had survived and sent his guards after him before disappearing in a purple cloud. He had to flee with his tail between his legs, surprisingly he had escaped without too much trouble. But when he got out of the maze of stairs and hallways, he understood his smooth escape. 

Outside, a battle awaited. His father had come for revenge. Revenge on the dragons whose bodies Roan was now trapped in.

As well as Roan's father's forces, who saw him only as Maxus, the one who had killed the prince, Roan also had to deal with every wild dragon that seemed to live in these mountains. Everyone was now Roan's enemy. As such, he had been in a desperate fight for survival ever since he woke up in another body. His whole life was a mess, and he felt it would only become more complicated.

Roan was jolted from his thoughts by the blue dragon's writhing. He looked down into her eyes, very much like his own, very human. They had no glowing color or slit pupils, just simple blue orbs that she hid from the sun behind her lashes.

Roan had no desire to kill more than necessary, he decided. He would only finish her if he had no other choice. So instead he tried to find some reason to believe that she was not a threat.

"Who are you? State your business," he growled into her face. The female beneath him began to tremble with fear. Good, Roan thought, be afraid. Then you won't think you can take me. Roan kept his menacing composure, his claws tightening around her neck as she waited for an answer.

 The blue dragon's eyes shot around, probably thinking of a good lie to save her own ass. "Speak!" He demanded. Stuttering, she began, "I... I am no one, I swear. I'm just looking for a way home. I swear I am nobody." The blue dragon began to twist again, but there was no real power in her movements.

"Oh yes, is that so? Then give me the name of the place you call home, 'no one'." "I am from Bristol, The city, you know." She answered him hastily. What place was that? He had never heard of it. In fact, in all the books he had read, there was no mention of a place called as such "Liar!" he growled, "That place does not exist. Panicked, the blue dragon began to scratch him again. "I am from Bristol, I swear! Now let me go. Do not take me back to the caves!"