Dragons of Alaevia

Chapter 7: Cyprian

Cyprian gripped onto Raene, bracing himself as she fell towards the ground. Falling, falling...
          
FALLING!
          
WHAM! They hit the ground and Cyprian's fall was caught by Raene's body as he bounced off of the dragon, rolling roughly onto the dirty ground until his body came to a sluggish stop.
           
Ugh...
           
He let out a dusty cough.
           
Lying paralyzed on the ground, aghast at what had just happened, Cyprian's heart beat wildly in his chest. He was shaking all over. He never wanted to experience that again.
           
Forcing himself to sit up, Cyprian winced at his aching muscles. He attempted to take in his surroundings, but then realized he couldn't actually see his surroundings because of how dark out it was. The moon had risen high into the sky, and the stars were bright.
      
The dead of night.
      
Cyprian squinted into the darkness, noticing a form that looked like an animal lying on its side in the dirt.
      
Hang on...was that...?
      
Raene!
      
Cyprian burst up so fast he nearly toppled over. He then sprinted towards his dragon, every muscle in his body on fire.
      
Once he made it to the broken form, Cyprian kneeled over the dragon, his eyes locking with her ripped-open wing.
     
No, no, no, no, no! Please, no...
     
He trailed his eyes over her stomach, desperately searching for any sign of movement—any sign of life, but his eyes couldn't focus in the dark. Shoot. His heart pounded sickening fear through his veins as he placed a hand on his dragon's stomach. Come on, come on...
      
Movement. He felt movement.
      
Raene was breathing.
      
Holy...
     
Cyprian fell back, finally able to slow his frantic breaths. Tingling relief surrounded his heart as it slowed, warming up his chest like a blanket in the middle of a blizzard. He closed his eyes, releasing a shaky breath.
      
Raene wasn't dead. She wasn't dead.
      
But she was still injured. The skin on her left wing was sliced halfway through and completely burnt. He couldn't look at the wound without waves of nausea bubbling up inside of him.
   
Cyprian glanced up at the surrounding trees. Wildelir. They were in the forest realm.
   
Through the trees, a large mass of darkness caught Cyprian's eye. He squinted, his heart already starting up again.
     
Aysgarth. They'd landed too close to the border, which meant Aysgarthian defenders would find them in no time. He glanced at Raene. He'd need to get her up and moving as quickly as possible. "Come on, girl." He whispered, giving her a little shake. "We need to–"
           
Wait a second.
           
Kaeirin. Where was Kaeirin? He'd obviously fallen off of Raene after the attack, landing somewhere in the forest. But where? And what if he was as injured as Raene? Cyprian squinted through the trees, searching for his friend, but saw no sign of him. "Kae!" He called into the distance.
           
No answer.
           
Then, out of the corner of his eye, Cyprian noticed something he hoped and prayed wasn't what he thought. Small black figures with broad spread-out wings flying directly in Cyprian and Raene's direction. They were too big to be birds.
           
Cyprian cursed.
           
The Aysgarthian defenders had followed them past the border and were already on their way to capture him—which meant he had to find Kaeirin and fast. Raene would have to run as best as she could. There was no way she could fly with a broken wing. They would have to run into the forest and find somewhere to hide. There was no other choice.
      
He glanced back at Raene, who still lay motionless on the ground.
    
"Come on, girl, wake up," Cyprian whispered at her again. Raene let out a small noise that painfully squeezed Cyprian's heart. Then, slowly, the dragon weakly attempted to use her legs, lifting them one by one while Cyprian held her so she wouldn't collapse. Her wing fell limp at her side, and Cyprian looked away from the abominable thing. She needed medical help, and soon. But the first thing they needed to do was get away from Aysgarth.
       
"BOO!"
      
Cyprian cursed as he flung around at the sudden sound, preparing his fist for the punch.
          
"Woah, woah! Put that thing away, man! It's just me!" Kaeirin exclaimed with a grin so bright that even the darkness couldn't hide it.
           
Cyprian's heart hammered wildly in his chest. He'd thought an Aysgarthian defender had jumped him, but of course it'd just been Kaeirin. Cyprian sighed with frustration. This was no time for jokes.
     
"Really, Kae?" He said, making sure he perfected the "I'm pissed," glare. Kaeirin rolled his eyes.
    
"Gee, thanks. I never heard a 'Hey, Kaeirin! I'm so glad you're alive!' You know."
    
"We need to leave. I just saw the defenders. They're after us."
          
"Already? They must really love you, man." Kaeirin teased. Cyprian ignored him.            "We need to go. Now."
          
They took off into the forest. Raene was a little slow, but she managed. Cyprian tried desperately not to look at her wing, which dragged along in the forest dirt.
          
Soon, they found a cave cut into a sizable mossy rock. The sky was dark, and the moon shone brightly—illuminating through the tall forest trees, acting almost as a night light for their little cave.
          
Cyprian and Raene settled next to Kaeirin at the back of the cave—Cyprian leaning against his dragon as he glanced at his friend, searching Kaeirin's pale skin for injuries. A couple of those cuts and scrapes would probably need ointment. Cyprian didn't know much about medicine, but he knew of a couple plants that could work. He'd get up early in the morning to find some. Then, they'd find a doctor for Raene. Hopefully there was one nearby, because if there wasn't...
          
He didn't want to think about it.
          
Cyprian yawned, leaning back against his dragon. He was too tired to admire the nature that he'd never seen much of before. He would do that in the morning, when the shadows didn't frost over the colors like they did in Aysgarth. Plus, by the sound of Raene's slow, patterned breathing, he could tell she was already asleep.
    
Cyprian stared at the mossy ceiling of the cave, breathing in the fresh, planty smells of the forest and listening to the chirping creatures of the night until the moment his eyes finally drifted closed...

And he fell asleep.