Flaming Eclipse

Chapter 3 - A creek in the.. desert?

The Kals' Wasted Origin is a rather beautiful place, although it is just a ruin of what once used to be a glamorous castle for royalty. The dead trees that surround it are said to be magical for still be standing after generations. Some even say that Kals himself has lived there, although I don't believe that. I think he used live in the Kals' mountains long before stone dragons even came to the Frostbitten Isles. Others think that he might have lived in the Backstabber island. 

I was distracted from admiring the once so beautiful structure by something landing right next to me. They were Rattle and Creek. It seems she had found our brother.

"Heya. I found Rattle. Should we rest here? It's going to be a long journey", she suggested. 

"Right, of course. What route should we use?" 

"Let's go around the Sunny Lake and we can stop at the Southern Sunny Town", Rattle suggested.

"I don't think we should be stopping at any town. After what happened at Backstabber's, I think it's best to avoid any crowd", Creek pointed out. She was right. After King Blade Fangs was murdered by some hatchlings, all towns on the Western part of our isle have been rather.. restless.

"Let's just not stop there, then", Rattle pushed. I don't think he understood.

"We should avoid all towns. Wouldn't it be faster to pass through the Kals' mountains? There are no villages, and that would be the fastest way to get to Kals' Farm Town", I explained my plan. 

"But those brute stone dragons live there! They don't fancy dragons passing through their territory!" Creek said, worry sparking in her red eyes. She was right.

"What if we're just really, really quiet? We'd pass through it in an hour", I continued, although it was going to be dangerous.

"It's too much of a risk. We should go around the Kals' mountains by the Northern end", Creek suggested.

"It'd take too long. What if we vote?" I drew a line on the sand with my tail, "Go on this side if you want to go through-"

"Rattle what do you think?" Creek interrupted me. I realized that Rattle would be the tie-breaker anyway.

"I like Rustle's plan. Let's go through the Kals' mountains veeeeryyyy quietly, okay?" Creek seemed to shake her head dissapointedly.

"Let's do that then. But if something happens to us, Rustle will be the one to take blame", Creek exchanged a glare with me. Her eyes were so demanding so I just nodded briefly. 

"Let's rest here and leave at dawn", I lashed my tail. The others nodded, but Creek was still glaring at me. I knew the risks of passing through the stone dragons' territories, but it would be the fastest route if we didn't want to deal with the townfolk of the other villages. 

I lay under a dead tree, Creek was digging under the sand and Rattle.. well, he was being Rattle and tried to dig up an ant nest.

I let my thoughts wander freely in my head and locked my eyes on Rattle. Although he seemed to lack common sense, he wasn't an idiot. I traced my eyes across the massive scar that ran across his wing. It had healed well but although it's been a couple of years, I still sometimes get scared that the wound might open up again. He got it from when we were trying to trap a few elephants into a ditch so they'd be easier to kill and he fell in. The massive mammals almost caused Rattle to lose his abality to fly but luckily I and Creek managed to pull him out before his wing could get anymore mangled. He can still fly, but poorly. He wobbles in air and can't hover. He says he doesn't mind, because after that accident he's gained more stamina by running and walking. I'm glad to be kin of such a strong dragon.

We had fallen asleep and as the dawn light drew from it's burrow over the horizon, we were already on the move. Or should I say flight.

"So uh what's the plan if we get caught in the stone dragons' territory?" Creek asked. Her voice was unnervingly calm.

"We won't", I assured her. I hoped I was right.

"We'll fight our way out!" Rattle stated, his voice was a little shaky from his wobbly flight.

"We can't fight an army of stone dragons!" Creek exclaimed. Although some could say we were formidable fighters, stone dragons are tough.

"They can spit lightning out of their mouths!" I added.

Rattle rolled his eyes, "That's just an old hatchlings' tale"

"It's true. And they are very dangerous. It's better not to mess with them", Creek pointed out.

"She's right. That's why we will keep low profile to not get into any sort of conflict", I stated.

"I'm sure they aren't that much of brutes to attack a few measly dragonets", Rattle suggested. What an absolute idiot.

"Rattle- You do realize we are almost fully grown adults?" Creek said what I was thinking. It may seem strange to be dissapointed that our parents abandoned us when we're almost adults, but when your species is used to live in packs for up to 10 members, you start to understand.

"Right-!" Rattle huffed.

We landed at the root of Kals' Daughter mountain. We'd need to go around it and pass through a valley, then over a lake and then around Depression the town. Then we'd be at our destination; Kals' Farm Town. You may wonder why we wouldn't just fly over the Kals' mountains. Well, if we did that and we were to be spotted and attacked, we'd most certainly lose that battle. Fighting against a whole pack of almost accurate killing machines that are over six times heavier than us in the air would be an instant defeat. And I'm pretty sure we would be spotted. A few sand colored spots in the usually blue sky is pretty noticable. Plus if a fight did occur in the air, Rattle wouldn't be able to stay still to try and defend himself of us. Staying on the ground would be the safest option.