Imperial

Chapter 50

For a split second, the lord shrank away from the dark blue dragon.

Never had I seen him flinch before. I'd always thought him to be both confident and self-controlled; to be powerful among humans. But now... he was anything but. No longer did he have that assertive attitude, as if all power had been stripped from him. 

Was that his punishment for freeing us? To have his power, nobility and title stripped away from him? That punishment was nowhere near as bad as some I'd experienced. He hadn't been tortured or starved, or forced to labour for extra hours – or even become a slave.

Nonetheless, pity and guilt stirred from my stomach. He was no longer a lord – because he'd freed Rutilus and I. Had his family pushed him away as well? Did his brother, Lord Carlos, still see him as a brother? Anything was possible, when it came down to humans. They were strange – content to use each other as slaves, nor hesitating to stab each other in their backs.

Exhaling slowly, I examined him carefully. He seemed more gaunt than the last time I'd seen him - proof that he'd eaten less. Perhaps I really was right; he'd had his title taken away from him, leaving with nothing. 

Nonetheless, his blue eyes were as sharp as ever. They sparked with recognition as he gazed at the dark blue drake, finally recognising him to be the wild dragon he had seen when we had gone to Ukurauis. By now, it had been months ago - but it was next to impossible to forget a massive dark blue drake.

Kronx snorted, examining us, and then the lord. With an inclined head, he growled, "you. I know you," his eyes narrowed into slits. Baring his fangs, he added, "Lord Raffael, yes?"

"Just Raffael now," his shoulders sagged, a shadow falling across his face. I couldn't help but notice that he'd dropped his gaze ever so slightly. Ashamed of himself? Or a habit that he'd picked up over the past few months? Nonetheless, he gestured towards Rutilus and I, a sad smile crossing his face. "When I freed you, they stripped me of my rank. Should I return to a human city, I'd be little more than a commoner."

Confirming my suspicions. 

He was no longer a lord. Had lost all the power he'd had over other people. Meaning that he could not never make sure that the captured dragons' life conditions would get better, or that he'd be able to free them without attacking the city - a dangerous approach. 

"I'm sorry," I murmured sympathetically, acknowledging the fact that he could not even attempt to make sure captured dragons would eat more food. And that was because he'd released Rutilus and I from our tortured lives instead. 

But now, we were free. No longer the slaves to the humans. Finally able to flourish and regain our strength and dignity. All at the cost of a lord becoming a commoner – which was nowhere near as bad a punishment as what he could have had.

"Don't be," Raffael grunted, glancing towards me. "You kept your promise... Thank you for freeing the dragons."

Kronx rumbled in disapproval, reminding me of the Dragon King who was bound to be looking for Rutilus and I. Reminding me that my freedom had nearly been taken away that day, and Raffael's sacrifice had almost been pointless. Almost. 

After all, in the end, we'd succeeded. Tasted victory against the humans, and had our revenge at long last. 

"You caused quite a bit of trouble to the cities," the former lord continued, his voice brimming with amusement. "It was quite a shock. No one knew what to do, nothing similar had never happened before. And now that it had..."

He trailed off. As quickly as it had appeared, his amusement faded, instead replaced by a grim expression across his face.

But I barely noticed. All I could think about was the shock and fear the humans must have felt when they realised that Fehïrk had been destroyed and all its dragons freed. Ah, the chaos that it must have caused! If only I could have seen them scrabbling around the city frantically, desperately trying to come up with a plan to recapture those dragons. 

"You must be careful," the pale blue dragoness spoke, her soft and gentle voice still cutting through my thoughts like a talon might slice through flesh. With a jolt, I whipped my head towards her, surprised to see her dark purple eyes watching us anxiously – as though she was concerned for us. Worried. "The humans are intent on catching you. All of you."

"Figured out that much," Rutilus grumbled, and the dragoness sighed in annoyance.

"You undermine them. They are coming for you. According to them, no dragon should be rewarded with freedom – especially after destroying Fehïrk," she spoke quickly, each word faster than the last. She glance from Rutilus to Myself, before her gaze finally settled on the dark blue drake. Seeming to realise that he was the one she needed to persuade.

She was right. Even if the other dragons viewed Rutilus and I as the leaders of their wing, we still looked up to Kronx. Perhaps we always would, for his knowledge and wisdom seemed to be endless.

"You know of Thanatos, yes?" she continued urgently, glancing across the sky worriedly. Her voice grew quieter as she continued. "Sad story, really. The humans raised him to become the monster that he is."

"We've already come across him," I growled, shuddering at the memory of the dark green drake whom would not hesitate to kill me. Would kill me, if he hadn't been so loyal to the humans; to Master.

The pale blue dragoness relaxed slightly. "Good. Then you'd know that he's out after you... My point is, is that you must always be ready to get away quickly."

Because as strong and vicious as he was, Thanatos was not fast when it came down to flying. The entire wing should be able to escape him, if they needed too. If he was on his own, they'd easily be able to defeat him. But chances were, there'd always be numerous humans following his lead, on the backs of their dragon-slaves.

She was right. Unless we wanted to fight other dragons, we'd have to always be ready to move. But if we did fight dragons, perhaps there was a chance that we could free them. Send the human cities into chaos again, at the same time warning them to never to try to capture us again.

Suddenly hopeful, I turned towards Kronx.

But the dark blue dragon did not pay me so much as a glance. Instead, his silver eyes were fixated on the dragoness, and the human on her back. A trace of smoke billowed from his partly open jaws as he considered what the dragoness had said. 

"There's more," Raffael declared, carefully watching Rutilus and I for our reactions. Speaking more to us than to Kronx.  "If you go west from here, you'll come across a human city – Erakor. He will know of it." He gestured towards the dark blue drake. 

Kronx dipped his head slowly. Confirmation that he knew exactly the city that he was talking about. 

"Over the past few months, it has been capturing dragons much faster than normal," he continued, subconsciously sliding his hand down the pale blue dragoness's scales. "You have enough dragons with you that you could be able to do something about it. You could free them... But if not, stay well away from them."

The dark blue drake stiffened. "Thank you for the warning," he finally rumbled, raking his gaze back across the sky. Examining the mountains carefully. With a long sigh, he slowly exhaled, "we should go. Continue our journey, while we can." 

He was right. Get to safety before the humans reached Kronx's den again. How long before Thanatos would search the mountain range? Surely not long. By now, he'd probably realised that Rutilus and I had fooled him. 

A shudder ran down my spine, imagining his fury. I did not want to confront him again, especially after what the ice coloured dragoness had stated.

"Thank you," I murmured to Raffael and the dragoness. Grateful that they'd warned us. Now that they had, we were that little bit safer - especially knowing that the further east we travelled, the more at risk we were placed. My gaze lingered on the human. "Perhaps another time, we shall meet." 

After all, only a matter of months after he'd released Rutilus and I, we had come face to face again. 

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1443 words

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Gosh, that's the fiftieth chapter! Funny to think that when I first started writing this, I didn't think I'd get above fifty-five chapters. But nup, there's fourteen chapters left! 

Next chapter should be out within a couple of days.