I sat on the hard metal base looking at the mountain. I wondered if Natija ever made it to the other side of the mountain. Then the guards came back with Strata. They threw him in the cage and locked the door and left. I scrambled to the other side of the cage to see if he was okay. Strata's head was down and he was crying.
"Strata! Are you okay?" I said then he looked up. He had a black eye and a bloody lip."
I gasped.
"Oh, Strata! You didn't tell them, did you? Did you?" I said anxiously.
"I, I'm so sorry Teresa. But they threatened to kill you. I just couldn't live with that." Then he dropped his head into his hands. I fell back onto the wall of the cage defeated. In the distance, I could see lights and hear voices shouting. They were preparing a search. Two villagers came to the cages and switched out the guards. Clenver sat down on the chair beside us and lit his pipe. The others left and I saw the torches begin to disappear into the forest.
"Clenver! Please release us. You know that the dragons are no threat to us! Please!" I said desperately. Clenver turned his face away from us so he didn't have to look at us.
"I'm sorry Teresa. Chief's orders." I stared astonished at him then closed my eyes and sat back. We sat there watching the line of torches climb the mountain.
I looked up at the moon. "Oh, Natija. I hope you are safe." I whispered softly to the moon. Then the moon darkened as a shadow came across it. A dragon shadow. I blinked. Is Natija coming to save us? I saw her shadow fly down carefully keeping hidden behind the houses. She came down and landed a few meters away from us. Clenver stood up and saw Natija. She was crouched down and growling. Clenver dropped his torch and ran.
"Are you guys okay?" Natija came toward us and used her claws to unlock our cages.
"Why did you come back?" I asked
'You were in trouble and when I saw the villagers coming up the mountain I had to leave. Come with me. I will fly you far away from here and we can be free. Besides, from the looks of it, you two have nothing here to leave behind." I looked at Strata. He was playing with the idea in his head like I was. Then he walked over to the chair and grabbed his sword from the ground. He walked over and climbed on Natija. Now it was my turn. I would love to go. I had nothing here. Not even a father. But could I leave Clenver? Even though I was mad at him I still couldn't leave him. He had chosen his side but would he be blamed for our escape? I thought about it then decided that Nord was mean but would not kill Clenver. Then without another thought, I grabbed my dagger and took Strata's hand as he helped me up on to Natija's back. I kissed him on the cheek as Natija roared and then took off.
