Imperial

Chapter 10

Staring at the entrance of the cave in horror, I froze. Humans. How did they know we were here? Unless... "Were you captured near here?" I hissed quietly at the red drake, not daring to be too loud. Even if he hadn't been, we needed to get away soon!

Slowly, with a look of horror in his molten gold eyes, Rutilus nodded. "Not far away at all," he confessed, meeting my gaze. "I... Should have known they would search here. If there is one place we don't return to, it is where we were captured." He flicked his bright red tail.

Soriak crept towards the entrance, her pale green scales shimmering. "Then we need to leave. I'll see where they are ." Brilliant eyes washed over us, before she turned away and stalked through the tunnel leading towards the outside world.

"Soriak, no!" Rutilus whispered desperately, but the light green dragoness paid him no heed. Instead, she slunk towards the side of the tunnel, wide azure eyes scanning the skies. Not once did she look away, even as she finally murmured something quietly.

"I see them," her smooth voice echoed through the corner. "Not far away. I think..." Finally, she glanced towards us, panic filling those blue eyes. When she continued, her voice was a lot softer. "I think they are coming closer."

Despair welled up within me. No! I had just gotten free! There was no way I would allow them to capture me, not so soon! Not thinking, I dashed towards Soriak, ignoring Rutilus's hushed protests.

Horror filled me as I stared through the end of the tunnel. So close. They were so close! So close that I could see the silhouettes of the humans against the backs of five dragons, none of which I recognised.

"We need to go. Now," I paced back in the cave, careful to remain quiet.

"We can't! If they are so close, its better to hide here for the moment, and run when they are further away," Rutilus argued, his golden eyes glazed. He reached towards Soriak, trying to get her to turn around, but the dragoness's azure eyes widened.

"Impossible," she breathed in alarm, freezing. "They seem to know where we are. They are headed straight for this mountain. They aren't far-" Her voice broke off, and instead, she roared. "RUN! Now!" Without hesitating, she lumbered through the caves, her wings brushing against the cave walls as she tried to run. I barely bothered to glance at the sky before I followed after her.

"But they don't know..." the red drake's eye's widened in horror as he comprehend Soriak's words. "How?" He hissed as he thundered through the tunnel. I did not doubt that he was wondering how the humans knew we were here, and hating them even more for it.

The moment I was out, I lunged into the air, pumping my wings ferociously. A cool breeze carried me into the air, but I did not relax. Could not relax, as the dragons chasing after us swerved direction, scattering across the sky as they tried to surround us. But there was no way five dragons with humans on their backs would be able to stop us.

Rutilus dropped down, sweeping through the mountains with a powerful thrust of his wings. I tucked my wings closer to my body, when I realised that he was purposefully separating himself from us. Perhaps that was a good idea; it would be harder for them if we split up. Glancing at his bright red figure once more, I swerved another way, climbing higher into the air.

Soriak reeled back, her blue eyes glittering fiercely. "Is that the best you can do?" she taunted, gliding lazily on the wind. Three of the other dragons chased after her, their eyes dark with reluctance as the humans forced them forwards. But the pale dragoness merely scoffed at them, diving down and twisting around a mountain, increasing her speed.