Imperial

Chapter 22

Kronx blinked slowly.

"Much better," his sonorous voice echoed through the cave as he stared at the point where Rutilus's flame had disappeared. Swinging his head around, his silver eyes bore down into my own. "You have both improved."

"Not really," I grunted, flicking my tail delicately. Unlike what Rutilus had originally thought, the dark blue dragon had made us practise breathing fire instead of explaining more things to us. While I had breathed fire a few more times, I was still far from controlling it.

The dark blue dragon snorted in amusement.

"Try again," he commanded, flicking his dark blue tail as he did so.

Wings sagging, I held Kronx's gaze pleadingly. For the last few days, all he had made us do was breathe fire, and occasionally making Rutilus fly through the mountains. Each time the red drake leaped into the air, I had watched jealously.

"Clear your mind," he directed, ignoring my silent pleas. "Focus on the fire resting in your throat."

Knowing I had no choice, I reluctantly did as the dark blue dragon said. Inhaling slowly, I mentally reached for the warmth in chest. No longer did it burn as it had once a few weeks ago, instead replaced by a much more comfortable heat which Kronx claimed would help me remain warm when the temperature dropped.

Stretching my neck, I turned around so I faced the cave wall embedded with glowing blue crystals. My gaze landed on a dark sapphire that shone softly; that would be my target. Slowly, I opened my maw.

Kronx was still speaking, directing us what to and how. Yet I payed no attention to him as I reached for the fire that I knew was in my chest, and focused on the flames reaching my open jaws.

Warmth spread across my mouth, and not even a moment later, gleaming silver fire shot towards the sapphire embedded within the cave wall. Streaked with burning white and steely grey, the flames flickered delicately and yet ferociously as it lunged towards the sapphire. 

There was a faint hiss as the silver fire scorched the wall and dissipated. Somehow, the sapphire remained shining faintly through the smoke, obviously unharmed by the fire.

"While our fire can melt iron," Kronx interrupted the silence, his voice amused. "Sapphires alongside other gemstones remain almost untouched."

But his words seemed to fall on empty ears. Rutilus was staring at his golden fire as it dissipated into the air, even as I was still peering at the sapphire. 

"It was silver," I breathed in disbelief, finally whipping my head around to glance at Kronx in disbelief. "The last few times, the fire was amber, pale, or dull."

Kronx dipped his head in acknowledgement, not saying a thing. Instead, he craned his neck and peered through the tunnel, before glancing back towards us. "Follow me."

Curious as to what we were doing, I watched the dark blue dragon leap up into the tunnel gracefully. Due to his magnificent size, he did not need to even flare his wings to hurdle through the tunnel.

Nervously, I carefully stretched my wings. Ignoring the throbbing pain from my broken wing, I gathered my muscles, ready to jump. There was no way that I'd be able to reach the tunnel without using my wings - even if one had a few broken bones. At least it was getting better, slowly but surely.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Rutilus hesitate, observing my wings carefully. "Careful," he warned me, his golden eyes darting after Kronx.