Imperial

Chapter 35

Wearily, I glanced across the sky before gazing into the large tunnel before me. A matter of days ago, I'd felt safe there. But now... now that the humans had found it, I doubted I'd be able to so much as relax.

"I'll stand guard," the Black Beast reassured me, prowling towards the side of the cavern opening. His black scales blended in well with the shadow cast across the dark stone wall, meaning that it'd be somewhat harder for the humans to see him.

But then again, they knew where we were. Whether they saw him or not made little difference.

"Go. Kronx is waiting," Raegon prompted, twisting his head around to face the sky. Watching for any signs of humans.

Spreading my wings, I glanced behind me once more. Nothing seemed out of the normal, aside from a few birds, the skies were empty. Relaxing, I sprung forwards, beating my wings powerfully. Wind swept across my wings as I sped up.

The tunnel rapidly opened up into the cavern that had become so familiar over the past few months. A soft blue glow filled the cave, with each of the sapphires on the cave wall glistening faintly. Warmth emanated from the streams, almost seeming to be reaching for me as I slowed to a halt, barely beyond the entrance.

I glanced across the cave. Neira, Kodar and Kaiya were waiting on the far cave wall, so close together that they seemed to be huddling.

A flash of red and gold caught my eye as Rutilus hauled himself out of the glowing blue water. Shaking water droplets off his red scales, he flared his golden wings, before soaring towards me. For a split second, we held each other's gazes, remembering our decision to go with Raegon to save the other dragons.

The gentle splashes of water echoed through the cave. Water cascaded down from Kronx's back, as he shifted position, raising his head to glance across at us. His silver eyes were strangely calm, almost neutral as he examined each of us.

"Where's Raegon?" He questioned, instantly aware of the fact that the Black Beast was not in the cave.

"Keeping guard outside," I tilted my head towards the tunnel. "He decided that it was safer to keep watch, than to have the humans sneak up on us."

A low, but satisfied rumble was my only response.

Silence settled upon the cavern. Dark green scales glimmered against the far wall as Neira shifted her weight, although I could not tell whether it was from impatience or her lack of comfort in the impending silence.

"I know of a place where we can go," Kronx finally declared, only gazing at Rutilus and I. "It is a place north of here, just outside the continent. It will be a long flight, but there, we will be safe - or at least for another couple of months."

I listened intently. When we came back for Kronx, he would most likely be at this place he currently spoke of. Learning as much as I could about it now would help me find it later.

"What is it like?" I questioned, exchanging a glance with Rutilus.

"A small island, just big enough to hold a few dragons," the dark blue dragon explained, his silver gaze softening a little. "It should be rather hard for the humans to reach, thus we will be safe."

Hopefully, that would be all we needed to know to find him again.

Kronx turned around, facing the other three dragons. "Have you decided whether you wanted to stay with us, or not?"

Neira dipped her head, yellow eyes blazing. "We've decided that we'll leave. Together, we'll find a place to settle down, away from the humans," she declared, staring at Kronx in a challenging way. Silently daring him to object to her plans.

But the dark blue dragon did no such thing.

Sweeping his tail with a loud splash, he settled back into the water. "We will leave tomorrow. You would be wise to leave around the same time," he advised, stretching his wings.

The dark green dragoness relaxed, having realised that he would not stop her from leaving. Slowly, she arose, her gaze raking across the cave. Flaring her wings, she stared at Kronx. "We'll leave now. We are well rested, and have eaten recently..." she trailed off, and she shook her head. Beside her, Kaiya and Kodar watched her intently, seeming surprised when her voice softened as she continued. "Perhaps another time, we'll meet again. Thank you, for helping us, and freeing us."

Almost reluctantly, she glanced across the sky once more, carefully examining each of the sapphires and the glowing stream. With one last glance towards Kronx, she leapt into the air, soaring through the tunnel.

Kaiya and Kodar followed a little more hesitantly. The golden dragoness turned towards me, her amethyst eyes gleaming. "I'm glad to have fought alongside you," she murmured, ignoring the white drake as he started to drift through the tunnel. "We'll see each other again. Soon."

"I..." at a loss for words, I stared at the golden dragon in surprise. Despite not having known each other for very long, she spoke as though we were friends whom were parting ways. Perhaps we were. At the very least, she was one less enemy in the seemingly hostile world. "Thank you. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before we cross paths again."

Her amethyst eyes brightened. 

"Come on, Kaiya!" Kodar called, his voice echoing through the tunnel.

For a few more moments, the gold dragoness held my gaze. Then, inclining her head ever so slightly, she twisted around, chasing Kodar out of the cavern. Their voices echoed through the tunnel, both playful and teasing, slowly ebbing away into silence.

With their absence, I could have sworn that the temperature dropped a few degrees. Heart hammering against my ribs, I slowly turned around, raking my gaze across the cave.

Kronx's stormy silver eyes were staring at me, with an intensity that made my heart stutter. Backing away uncertainly, I watched the dark blue dragon as he raised his head in my direction.

Surely he had not somehow found out? It was impossible; neither Rutilus or I had mentioned it around the dark blue dragon. And I doubted that he'd heard our conversation when I had been eating...

"There is something that you are not telling me," loud and thunderous, I couldn't help but cringe away from the dark blue dragon. His silver eyes were narrowed, peering between Rutilus and I as though he was trying to figure something out. "Something that Raegon might have told you, yes?"

Unable to form words, I nodded my head, not daring to lie to the bigger dragon. If I could, I'd avoid telling him, but I did not want to lie to him.

Snapping his jaws, Kronx stood up. Lashing his tail behind him powerfully, he towered above the water, still staring at both Rutilus and I. "Are you going to tell me?"

Only the faint rippling and dripping of water could be heard. Neither Rutilus or I made a noise, nor did the older drake move so much as an inch. With each passing moment, the silence intensified. 

It was all I could do to ignore my now thrashing heart beat as I hurriedly shook my head.

Kronx remained impassive. Only his dark eyes showed his disapproval as he grunted, settling back into the water. Not once did he look away from either Rutilus or myself.

Uneasy, I exchanged a glance with Rutilus. Somehow, the dark blue dragon had figured out that we were hiding something from it. While he had no idea as to what it was now, I knew it was only a matter of time before he figured it out.

The long, drawn out silence was starting to get on my nerves. I glanced towards the tunnel entrance, wishing that the sun would set soon. Hoping that Kronx would soon settle down for the night and sleep.

*~*

1343 words

Another chapter out! :D

I'll try to update every day this week, and update at least a few times next week. Either way, I think that there will be more than 50 chapters.