Stonewings

Loang Mountain

The trip from Aardene to the mountains wasn't short. 

On foot, it took months. It probably would have taken a few weeks but between the fae and the territorial griffons in the hills... yeah it took months.

But with the speed of a Winger and a dragon that knew the way... it felt like no time at all. I had stopped trying to get out of the dragon's grasp after we got higher than the trees. I didn't want to accidentally fall and break my neck. I could only watch as the forest disappeared beneath my feet, giving way to the Isben Hills where the gryphons roosted and made their nests. I saw a few of them as we flew by. Not like I hadn't before. Large bodies, eagle heads, lion paws. They were gorgeous and dangerous. Not as dangerous as dragons but their beaks and claws could still do a fair bit of damage. A few squawked as we flew by, others landed to give the dragons space. I couldn't blame them. A giant wing of dragons was terrifying. 

In front of me were four Spikers. Each with long spikes on their bodies that could impale a human. They were about the same size as the Winger that held me, but with shorter wings and four legs instead of two. But that wasn't any comfort. Spikers could still breathe fire and kill me with just a flick of their claws. Plus, each dragon was about five times the size of a horse. So they could kill me if they simple just sat on me. 

I tried to twist around to see behind me but my arm stuck in the dragon's talon protested, threatening to pop if I even attempted to look at the Monsters that took up the back of the wing. 

Instead I looked up at the Winger that held me. The only one in the wing. Dark blue scales, long body, long tail, thin, made for speed and aerodynamics. Each of the four wings coming off their body was bigger than my house. They weren't called Wingers for nothing. They couldn't breathe fire but their speed was unmatched and their talons were sharp (I can say from personal experience). 

I watched as the green grass and hills gave way to large mountains, rocky and cavernous, each one likely to kill me if the dragon's grip so much as slipped. The dragons didn't occupy the southern mountains, just the northern ones and especially Loang. There were rumours of a village called Jalmari in the south west of the mountains. But that was just as much a rumour as the Chillers. No one knew if it was actually true. 

If it was, I wasn't focused on the mountains. My gaze was stuck on the upcoming peak. It was huge. It was almost twice the size of the others, stretching to the sky higher than any tree ever has. Some of it had winding paths that led to nowhere and didn't connect. I could also see a very sheer drop off the one side. The very bottom was dotted with pine trees and ravines. I could see the River that stretched most of the continent to the one side of the mountain. 

The dragons were headed right for it. 

I sucked in a breath and felt my body tense. The Spikers folded in their wings and turned. They went one by one into the mountain. I furrowed my brows but then I noticed something. It wasn't a straight wall. There was an opening in the cliff wall. Big enough for a dragon to get through. 

The Winger holding me tucked in their wings. I tensed again, waiting for the feeling of my body hitting stone. Instead, the Winger flew straight through the opening, not even hitting the sides. My feet didn't even brush the bottom.

I couldn't see very much but I did know we were in a long tunnel. The light from the opening disappearing quickly. It was quickly turning back. I could hear the scraping of the Monsters behind me, they were just a little bigger than the Winger. This tunnel had to be small for them. 

I could see something up ahead. Not exactly a bright light but brighter than pitch black. I focused on it and we got closer, the tunnel coming into a downward tilt. We were going down. The tunnel opened up and I had to blink my eyes for a moment. Then I felt my jaw drop.