Wings of fire: The Scavengers of Pyrrhia

Chapter 2

The rest of the day was uneventful.

Terrin did his chores (Although he preferred to call them "responsibilities," as "chores" sounded too childish), first feeding the horses then harvesting the few crops they had. Every so often he checked on Levi, who was remaking his cot, as well as Terrin's (Levi himself insisted to have that as his "punishment" for the prank.) Terrin found his brother goofing off many times, but that wasn't much of a surprise.

At the end of the day, Levi declared he didn't need to go to bed, but his repeated yawning said otherwise to his brother. Eventually, Levi gave up whining and slowly trudged to his room, where he was knocked out in an instant.

Good day today, Terrin...good day. Terrin thought as he settled into his bed. Just a few more days of running the house, then dad will be back. His eyes slowly became heavy as he drifted to sleep. Terrin was nearly asleep...

But then he heard a roar.

At first, he didn't think much of it. After all, he was tired, and besides, Levi tried to scare him already today.

I'm not falling for it twice today! Terrin thought groggily.

But then he heard another growl. This one sounded too animal...too real,

Terrin's eyes snapped open when a third hiss erupted through the night. Okay, that couldn't be Levi. He concluded.

Sitting up, Terrin  strained his ear in the direction of the bellowing to see what he could find out about the source. The sound was distant, but distinct; it was a dragon.

Terrin scrambled out of his cot and raced outside. Frantically looking around, Terrin tried to choose one of the other nearby five buildings to alert first...of course! Cedric! Cedric was currently the one in charge of the military while Terrin's father, Evandol was gone. He would help, wouldn't he?

Rushing to the door, Terrin's heart was racing. He knocked on the door rapidly. Someone opened it a minute later. Cedric.

"What do you want, boy?" He demanded, obviously unhappy to be woken up.

It took Terrin a moment, and a few tries, to speak. "D-dragon, sir! I heard one in the distance before I turned in for the night! Its nearby, I-I'm certain of it! We have-"

Cedric rose a hand to silence him. "I don't hear anything!" He angrily replied, and Terrin realized that he, too heard nothing besides the repeating cricket chirps.

"But-but...it was real!" Terrin protested. "If we listen for a minute, we might be able to-"

Cedric scoffed. "Leave the warnings to the guards!" he growled. "Go to sleep!"

Then, SLAM! The door was shut.

Terrin stood there for a moment, his mind still buzzing with excitement. If the roar was real, then why didn't the guards sound the alarm...unless it was in his mind...

No! It was real! Terrin thought again. And if that dragon makes it here, we're all doomed!

Terrin looked around for the guards who were supposed to be watching. To his dismay, he did find two, but they were both asleep. Next to them were two mugs that had been carelessly tossed next to them.

He knelt down next to one of them, shaking him firmly. To his dismay, he didn't even stir. He tried awaking the second one, with the same outcome.

Of all days to drink, they picked today! Terrin thought, slightly angry.

Suddenly, Terrin had an idea. It was a dumb idea, but sounded the most logical at the time: he'd find the dragon himself. If no one else came, why would it matter? All he needed was to see where it was, to make sure it wouldn't be a threat to the clan.

Ten minutes later, Terrin, by himself, slipped into the night. He brought a few supplies and weapons, and he wrote a note for Levi, telling him to be safe while he was gone.

I'll be safe, too, Terrin assured himself. I'll only be gone for the night.