The Silver Revenge

Chapter 11: Eldawin's Syndicate

The morning came surprisingly early. The sun appeared in the horizon showing a calm ocean and sending a flicker of light into the dragons' cave. The wind had died down somewhat, and the chill from the previous night wasn't as prominent, though still quite cold. The ground was covered in frozen ice from the morning dew and the occasional snowflake drifted downwards past the cave, like a trickle of rain.

Merene was the first to awake, and she quickly woke the others after seeing how far the sun had risen. In the arctic summer the sun was up for a lot longer then normal, leaving only a maximum of five hours of night. Each of the dragons were slightly annoyed at getting up, haven't slept for nearly as long as they usually did. So, yawning and complaining, the four dragons left the cave and rose into the air.

The cool chill quickly woke them up however and they turned toward the mountain ranges that scattered Antarctica. It would be another long flight it seemed, and after a week they were all beginning to feel the wariness of long flight.

For most of the time they were silent, steadily flying along behind the mind dragon, who seemed quite confident in where she was going. They stopped for a small break and ate a large seal that Zepos managed to snatch while they were flying. It wasn't enough to completely fill all four dragons but it would be enough to sustain them for a while.

It took them the rest of the day to finally reach the mountains they had been looking for. It was a large range called the Queen Maud Mountains. The peaks weren't as high as Sky Mountain, nor as numerous. The forest greens or plentiful lakes that they were so used to were nowhere to be seen. Instead they were met with white peaks and dead valleys filled with dull grey slopes. Nothing lived there. The earlier pints of grass and greenery were all gone. Merene couldn't even find a mental source of life. There was nothing,

It didn't take them long to find another cave. This time it was at the top of one of the peaks and quite a bit smaller then the previous one. They didn't complain however, each of them just glad to have the opportunity to rest their wings. They each lay down with each other, even Retrix joined them, and despite the chilling cold fell to sleep rather quickly.

Watching them from another peak, unknown to even Merene, was a strange looking ice dragon with nearly white scales and frozen blue eyes. It watched them for a couple of minutes, carefully studying the layout of the cave and the dragons inside. It was slightly confused as to what species Silver and Retrix were, but it was unafraid. With a frown it leapt of the peak and with a flap of its wings flew into the sky, hurrying south.

* * *

The next morning was very much the same as the previous. The four dragons woke up and left their cave with weary wings. They hoped that day they would finally find the syndicate but no one was too hopeful. Antarctica was a large place and a dragon base could be anywhere, even underground. If it was covered in illusion like Sky Mountain had been then Merene should be able to find it, being an illusion-making dragon herself.

They flew south in silence, each of them too exhausted to really form words or too focused on trying to find an inkling of dragon life anywhere within the mountains. They were hard pressed however. The wind was far stronger up above the mountains then it was over the white plains and eventually they all decided to have a small rest break on outcrop in a mountainside.

"This is going to take forever," muttered an annoyed Silver, looking down the long line of mountains.

"You were the one that wanted to go on this little trip," Zepos yawned loudly before sitting down on his haunches and letting his wings droop.