Eclipse of the Moon

Chapter Five

Castien stepped back in surprise, flabbergasted. "Huh?" he snorted out a plume of flames as she got off of the ground and narrowed her eyes, her wings extending dangerously. His fangs sharpened as Castien realized what had truly happened and lunged at her, missing by an inch.

Cielast whirled around in his direction and snarled, one eye on the entrance of the cave. His talons skidded across the floor as her attacker slid and turned back towards her. "You're not escaping, not with your knowledge." He roared furiously and launched himself at her again, toppling over her body and digging his talons deep into the flesh of her right arm.

She whimpered, tears slowly filling up the sockets of her eyes as she flicked her tail up like a scorpion and nailed it down into his spine. With a howl of pain, Castien leaped back off of her and poised his wings back in a striking position.

"You're such an imbecile!" she barked, the pain still sizzling on her snout. It was now getting tenser, and the pain was slowly spreading down her neck and to her shoulders.

It took a few moments before Castien launched himself at her once again, but this time she was prepared. Her talons raised up and slammed into his eye mercilessly as he gasped. His neck arched to the side horribly as he stepped back and dropped to the floor, his wings draping over his face.

She took that chance to bolt out of the area which seemed to be a very long pathway up to the surface. She skidded past the guards and glided up the swiftest possible, the path seemed longer going upwards than it did to go down.

Her heart raced as fast as it could go in her chest, pouncing around tiredly as she heard the guards behind her scramble to their talons and chase. She was now panting heavily, fear creeping up to her brain and scaring her even more.

The dim light of the cave shone from overhead as she gasped and twirled out of that death pit with a satisfied sigh. But it wasn't over yet, the clanking of talons was close behind... She had to find a place to hide.

Searching desperately through the leaves, she panicked as the clicking sound of claws came closer and closer each moment that she searched... Her wings were now heavy and drooping down hopelessly, but she had to find a spot. In the trees would be nice, but her blue scales wouldn't blend in with these types of trees, they were far too dark green.

The burning sensation to hide dragged her into a small crevice of the tree, and that was where she hid. The area around her was frigid and relieving on her burnt snout as she sighed and tucked close to the wood which scraped against her back.

It was just in time, too, as three of Castien's guards came storming out of the cave, looking particularly angry. Their dark eyes were glittering in the sunlight as they searched restlessly for Cielast.

"Isn't he going to be mad if we don't find her quickly?" asked one of them stupidly, scratching the back of his head.

"Well duh, you dimwit!" responded another who had a very raspy bark to his voice.

The three brutes shuffled through the leaves with excruciating growls, tearing up all that stood in their way. Cielast kept her head down as she peered out at them, keeping caution not to attract any unwanted attention.

A caterpillar slowly started to squiggle up her arm, inching up towards her shoulder slowly. She shuddered and tried to blow the little bug off of her arm but it pasted onto her like glue, and it tickled.

Her blood was pumping furiously as she inhaled and closed her eyes, imagining what horrible pain would await her if she stepped out of her hiding spot. Perhaps she'd be tied up again, or maybe she'd be ripped to shreds very slowly, or maybe burned alive.

Cielast hid in the tree, frightened half to death as her heart pounded against her chest wildly. The guards were quite scary and looked extremely strong, she had no chance of escaping them if she took a run for it. At this time, she truly felt like a mouse to a cat.

The guards outside hopped up to the branches above her, stern looks across their faces as they disturbed the calm leaves that now silhouetted down to the ground. They perched themselves upon the branches with low growls, observing the ground below.

Cielast was about to pass out, as her vision began to become fainter. Her talons grasped the trunk tighter as she veered her way around and away from them silently. She then climbed up higher and to the opposite side of where the guards sat.

The guards' horns perked up as they narrowed their eyes, hearing the small crack of a twig before them. Cielast wasn't as silent as she thought, but she was as close as possible. One of the mango orange dragons slowly peered around at the tree, eyeing it up and down suspiciously.

She stayed as still as possible, her heart was now thundering against her chest loudly, as if it were trying to escape the ribcage and run away for itself. She tried to stay still and calm down to no avail, her talons were shaking immensely.

They slowly observed the area around them on high alert, hearing nothing but the soft breeze wisp through their talons.

Observing each individual guards, her talons slowly grasped onto the branch tighter as she swung herself up, careful not to make a noise. One of them was sunset orange with only one eye, the other seemed to be gouged out. He had a tough body build with scars lining up and down his sides.

The second guard was deep scarlet, similar to how Castien's scales were. He was a rather young dragon who seemed to have a keen sense of sight, as he noticed almost every living thing that moved and studied it. The final guard was rather tough with very thick, blood red scales that had several cuts blending through them. His eyes were pitch black, as if his soul had been ripped right out of them.

She gasped quietly and slowly started to descend closer to the ground with her eyes still fixed on the trio, being careful as not to attract their attention. Her heart was pounding against her chest like a drum, as her talons barely scraped the green stalks of grass below.

As her talons finally met the ground, her wings slowly tilted downwards as she began to sneak away from the guards' sight. Her breath was heavy and got increasingly loud as she lowered herself to the forest floor and continued to creep quietly.

She then heard a loud noise as she wheeled around, only to see the guards turning to look her way. Her eyes filled with fear as she slowly walked faster, hoping that with her luck they wouldn't catch her sneaking away from the tree.

"What is that...?" questioned one of the three, squinting to get a better glance at what it was. She then sighed and tucked into a ball, rolling to the side and into a bush as the leaves swung over her head and brushed against her snout, making her feel like sneezing. She breathed heavily but calmed down swiftly to keep quiet, resisting the urge.

"I'm going to go see what it is," informed the scarlet guard who leaped off of the branch and walked her way, his tail snaking behind him. As he stepped closer and closer, Cielast closed her eyes and winced, imagining what'd happen if she'd been caught.

The orange guard slowly peered down to see if anything would pop up, his eyes narrowed as his tail flicked upwards and curled into a spiral. She stayed still and waited for him to go away, but he didn't. The guard stood at the bright green bush, observing every single tiny leaf to see if he could spot any movements or breathing.

Cielast opened one eye and quickly slammed it shut again, seeing his dark red scales brushing against the bush to her side. He stared down in her direction, his daring black eyes glaring down at where she hid, but he was blind to not see her silver body toppled over backwards in the thick, green leaves.

He then shook his head, disappointed and moved back to the others. "It was nothing," he sighed and scampered up to the branch with the other two.

That was close... Too close. She thought to herself as she got to her talons and looked anxiously up at the stone grey walls... She had to go back and warn Flarius about the assassin that would soon try to murder him.