Flying For Freedom

Chapter five (Blocked)

We fly towards Uncle Bane's place. He's an old dragon, and as close to a mad scientist as someone can get. I've never asked why he researches alone. I might never learn exactly who he is. I have to go, though, because he's my uncle. At least Chaos is here, visiting his father who happens to be my uncle. I wonder how he feels about it.

We continue flying over vast areas, getting from one place to the next quickly. We'll be there in a couple of hours. At least, my mom flies. Because me and Claw are so young, we sit on her back. I'm not sad about it though, because without having to focus on flying, it's easier to enjoy the view, to watch the mountains pass under us in seconds, the trees fly by. It's too bad that King can't come because he always enjoys these visits. It's the one time that he seems actually happy. Even though Bane is my mom's sister, he gets along with dad like a brother.

I look at Claw, who is enjoying the ride, watching the lakes come and go below us. I also feel overjoyed, because we are never allowed to ride in the palace, it's just too small. My mother sometimes sneaks one in, but not often. And we almost never ride high, over mountains and above seas. Here we are, watching miniature trees speedily pass below us. A young bird caws and flaps away quickly. It's very lucky we're not hungry, or it would be eaten. Malice is quick as a fox when it comes to hunting.

"Are you enjoying the ride?" My mother asks.

"Yes," my sister says as I say "It's wonderful." Mother nods her head, pleased. She enjoys flying in a group more than flying alone. One reason is that she can talk about life, about good things and annoying things. The other reason is safety. I agree with her on that. A lone dragon is no match for some of the deadlier monsters. We have guards, but I'd prefer the company of a friend in a fight, not that I've ever been in one. Last year the guards chased away a huge bat, but that's it. I never even saw it happen, I was asleep.

"I see that Chaos is also enjoying the ride," Claw observes. I look at him. He is pretending to fly on top of Monarch's back. He's related to us, though no one would know if one of us didn't say that we were. He looks completely different from Claw and I. We never call each other cousins anyway, that sounds like we're far away, like we don't live right next to each other. Like we can't just visit him.

"I'm getting tired," my mother remarks, "Do you think we should land at the nearest lake?" She's addressing Monarch.

"I am too, and I'm not carrying two young dragons on my back. I think we should rest. Besides, it's getting late." I become excited, lakes are fun to play in. The only problem is that you can never catch the fish. They're too fast. The only dragon I know can catch one is Yearn, a dragon who is also my age.

Monarch calls our guards and tells them it is time for a break. They swing back over and look for a place to land. It's not too hard to find, as we can see everything from the sky.

"There's one," my sister calls. "It's to the left." I look at it. From here it seems no bigger than a scale.

"Nice work," my mother says. She banks left and in four minutes, we're landing.

"We'll scout ahead and try to find the next rest area," the lead guard announces. "You," she addresses a younger guard. "Stay here." The younger guard nods.

I go to Chaos and Claw, who are already playing tag. My sister comes over and tags me.

"You're it." She darts away before I can retaliate. I chase down Chaos and repeat the process, but he gets me back before I can escape.

"Pretend to be it," I tell him. "Chase Claw to me so we can surprise her. She'll be so mad." Chaos starts running towards Claw. I pretend to flee too, waiting until I hear footsteps behind me. I stop and tag her. She doesn't tag me back, she's too confused by what happened. It takes her a few more seconds to realize what happened.

"That's not nice," she fumes. "Now I want to play with the fish. They'd be better opponents than you two." Chaos and I crack up, and even she starts laughing. We're still laughing when the guards come back.

At first we don't notice their pounding wings. They fly towards us as fast as they can. I count five dragons. The other two are not there.

"What happened?" My mother cries. "Where are the rest of you?" They continue on their path.

"Monsters!" The lead guard screams. "Run!" He doesn't stop running.

I see large creatures outlined by the setting sun. They are moving toward our group at a speed I hadn't thought was possible. I see snakes, spiders, scorpions, bats, centipedes, and even some beetles. They are all magnified to a huge size, clearly predators, and we're the prey. I can only stand and watch them come towards us.

The guards are only a hundred yards away from us when the monsters attack. One is lifted up by the bat. She's carried off to a cave in the distance. I start to run away from them. I run towards Claw and Malice. They are ready to fly, waiting for me.

There's a loud scream behind me. I glance back just enough to see a scorpion sting another guard. The lead guard collapses under the weight of a beetle. There are only two guards left. I'm by Malice's side now. She urges me to get on her back. I look back one more time, and see a large snake. It glares at me with yellow eyes. I stand unmoving, frozen by its gaze as it stalks closer and closer.

I stand there, frozen by shock as my mother screams at me to run from the giant reptile.

"Come! Follow me." She moves away, but I still stand there. Even as Monarch and Chaos fly away and another guard is caught in a giant spider web. The snake comes toward me. It must be at least a hundred feet long. My fear of its yellow gaze traps me in place. I can do nothing as it comes near.

With a hiss, it lounges. I still can't move. No matter how much I want to, my feet are planted and my eyes stuck in place. It's not mother who saves me, or a guard if there are even any left now. Claw lounges at the snake. Just before it strikes me, she's there on its back. She bites down on its neck like the mongoose stories we've heard from our tutors. It struggles, tossing her back and forth. After a while it goes limp and she moves on in the fight.

"Run!" my mother screams. This time I listen. I run away from the fight, forgetting that mother wants me to come towards her. I run away from my mother, my family, and toward a forest. I can hide there.

I sit down once I reach it, catching my breath. Once I have, I start to stand up. Suddenly I'm scooped up, trapped in a net of webs. The spider is right in front of me, its eight eyes staring, not moving. I'm trapped. I can't even move. I'm bundled up too tight to do anything but gasp for air. This is how I will die. A monster defeats the greatest dragon since the ancient Flame, who would laugh at this spider.

Suddenly, there is a noise. The spider's eyes show fear for a moment. It must be my mother. The spider drops me and runs away. I land on the ground. Something cuts me loose. Careful teeth release me from this net. When I can finally look up, it's not my mother in front of me, but two young pegasi. I've never seen one before today. They're as colorful as they are in books. There's one boy and one girl. I bow, showing my thankfulness and debt.

"Thank you."

"Come with us," the bay male says. "You need help."