Imperial

Chapter 26

I froze. Barely keeping myself aloft in the sky, I tried to ignore my heart fluttering anxiously in my chest. With a nervous flick of my tail, I slowly craned my head around - shrinking away from Kronx's stormy eyes.

"Why not?" Rutilus tilted his head inquisitively, yet I could have sworn that his eyes were wider than normal.

Kronx bared his fangs. Smoke streamed from his jaws, and his tail lashed back and forth dangerously. "You go back there, and you die," he snarled, punctuating each word with a powerful wing beat. "Or at the very least, wind up captured. A slave to humans once more."

And then I saw it.

Almost obscured by the raging fury that darkened his stormy silver eyes, there was a spark of terror. The kind of terror which I had seen in the eyes of other dragons when they realised that they were doomed. The kind of terror that I had seen in the eyes of the prey I had hunted.

My stomach churned uneasily, and deep with my chest, I felt my heart skip a beat.

Because Kronx truly believed what he had said. Truly believed that if we went back and tried to save the others dragons, we would die.

Shaking my head slowly, I stared at the rocky mountains around us. Snow covered each rocky crevice on the mountains, all of which towered above the grey clouds. Yet magnificent as they were, none of them held my attention.

Memories flashed through my mind. Each dragon cowering by the side of their master, forced to continue dragging endless wagons of coal across the field. Soriak sacrificing herself so that we could remain free. Under the hope of eventually rescuing the others.

But if Kronx was right, I couldn't save them.

"No," I gasped, my voice hoarse. "Surely there is a way! There must be!"

The dark blue dragon remained silent. Grim. Silver eyes stared down at me sympathetically. Somehow, that was answer enough.

No other way. There was nothing I could do.

But... I had to try. Needed to! I couldn't just abandon the only other dragons I had ever known! Couldn't turn my back on the Black Beast, who had done everything he could to help us escape, nor could I forget that Soriak had sacrificed herself so that we could remain free.

For them, I had to do try. I owed it to them.

Resolve hardening, I held the dark blue dragon's gaze firmly. "Someday, we will go after them, and free the dragons," I growled softly. Kronx's eyes narrowed, his disapproval shining through the turbulent depths. But this time, I did not flinch or shrink away. Instead, I added, "But not yet... Not for a while."

Kronx sighed reluctantly. "That is all I can ask, right now," his deep voice rumbled, "but if you wish to have so much as a chance to save your friends, you need to train hard. Harder than before."

"Then we will," Rutilus's golden eyes gleamed. "We should start now!"

Regarding the bright red dragon in faint amusement, Kronx twisted around. A powerful sweep of his wings carried him higher above the heavy blanket of grey clouds that obscured the sky from sight.

I immediately followed after, racing after the dark blue dragon. Trying to keep up with him as he spiraled higher and higher into the atmosphere.

Water droplets clung to my scales as I burst above the mass of darkening grey clouds. Sooner or later, it would start raining. Maybe storming.

Anxiously, I cast a quick glance at my newly-healed wing. Despite no longer being broken or painful, I had no particular desire to fight against a strong wind current so soon, even if it was good training.