The Final Storm (Part 3)

The Flightless Wind King

SNAP! Jaydon's wings unfurled, tendons creaking as they locked into place. The smooth leather of his wing span ballooned with air, jerking them suddenly skywards... against a crag. Jaydon hissed as he felt the rock dig into his leg. He used his other leg to push off, training his wings to find the air current again.

The monsters howled, slamming their fists into the mountain. With a tremendous noise a piece of the mountain they had just been standing on crumbled and tumbled to the forest floor below.

Jaydon laughed. "Ha! Eat my wind you ugly brutes!" He tried to flick his tail in a rude gesture, but of course he couldn't.

"You're flying! Wow, you're really flying!" Aidan called breathlessly from his back.

Ralem opened his eyes for a second to take a look around. "You're flying?" He echoed in disbelief.

Jaydon smiled tightly. "Why do you sound so surprised?" But already he could feel his wings starting to tire. "You're heavy," he wheezed.

"You're not much lighter yourself," Ralem said defensively. But he looked a little nervous as the land sped below them. "Maybe you should land."

Jaydon grit his teeth as his wings strained against gravity. “I’m fine. I’m a dragon. I can fly. I am strong enough to do this. Just… don’t wiggle.” Mentally, though, he was searching for a landing spot. On the edge of the forest, an almost level piece of the mountain jutted out, the perfect place to touch down. If he could just ride this air current there without his wings giving out it would be perfect… If he wasn’t carrying such a heavy load! He could feel his nails digging into Ralem’s skin, his wings struggling to stay level…

Suddenly they plummeted.

"Jaydon!" Ralem yelled, nearly choking him. "Jaydon! Flap your wings! Flap those stupid wings!"

Jaydon tried to go into crash landing mode. But he had never been good at crash landing anyway. He tried to navigate himself to the little plateu but found he couldn’t even hope to try. He didn’t have a tail to steer with! He cursed loudly, tightening his hold on his Rider for the impact.

Aidan screamed, tears running from his blurry eyes. All he could see was the trees, solid and foreboding, their branches reaching up to snatch them into a death hold.

Ralem suddenly let go of Jaydon's neck. "Jaydon, let go of me! I'm sure you can fly without my extra weight. Just do it!”

Jaydon hesitated. Then, seeing no other choice, he did.

Ralem flipped gracefully in the air, mustering the last of his energy to create a cushion of air to slow his fall.  He landed on the dew drenched ground with hardly a noise, spinning around to help his dragon land. But he couldn’t see so much of a shape against the velvet background. Oh no, I’ve lost them! He skidded backwards, trying to get a better view over the trees. Jaydon? he called, are you flying?

His answer was a loud crash. A series of snaps from breaking branches resounded through the forest, startling a flock of sleeping crows. Through their raucous calls Ralem could hear Aidan’s scream. "Uncle Ralem! Come quick!"

Ralem couldn't see them anywhere. The tree branches were so closely knit that he could hardly even see the moon or stars. Still, he stumbled through the undergrowth to Aidan's voice. "Aidan? I'm coming. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Aidan replied. "But Jaydon is-"

"Shut up," he heard Jaydon say gruffly.

Ralem lit up his eyes brighter to pierce through the heavy darkness looming in the branches. An owl blinked sleepily from its hole in the tree, but he still couldn't see them.