Imperial

Chapter 58

Suddenly uncertain, I watched as the imperial wing approached. Fear shot through my veins, and I was truly tempted to bolt. To flee. But there was no point now. They'd seen me, and soon enough, the rest of my wing would come here.

I stared at the incoming imperials.

Memories of the past few months washed through my mind. Each time Kronx had been reluctant to do something. Every time Kronx had snapped at us - was because of these dragons. He'd made it clear that we were bound to die, should we encounter the imperial dragons or the Dragon King.

Ah. Not even minutes ago I'd been thinking about our upcoming victory against Erakor. Was there any chance that we'd still be able to attack the human city as well as come out successful? Or was Kronx right - did we have absolutely no chance against them?

Exchanging a glance at Rutilus, I could see my dread and horror reflected in his now dark eyes. No longer did he appear to be enthusiastic and excited as he had been not long ago.

"This is my fault," he spoke the words with an air of disbelief. As though he could not believe that the imperial wing was making their way towards us. I did not blame him - it seemed impossible that the very dragons that Kronx feared and hated were approaching us.

And yet, they were.

"Had we not gone to the mountains, they wouldn't have seen us," he continued, his voice deathly quiet. Still barely able to comprehend what was happening.

"Better now than half-way through an attack on the city," I argued, shuddering at the thought of fighting Erakor as well as the imperial wing. Fighting the human city would have been hard enough - as Kronx had warned, several dragons would have been bound to die. 

Now, that risk seemed to have been magnified.

At least the imperial wing was smaller than ours, consisting of seventeen dragons. Still, with each of those dragons were around Kronx's size, it would be difficult, if not impossible to fight them off - even with over thirty dragons. 

Narrowing my eyes, I peered at the dragons. In the lead, was a gold drake, with dark brown markings on his scales. Even his wings seemed to ripple with the same brown colour. His vivid green eyes were  locked on us, examining us from afar. Was he the Dragon King, or was Argon further back in the wing?

As to be expected, I recognised none of the dragons - aside from Amaroth, the white and blue drake that had attacked Kronx not long after we'd first arrived at his cave. His expression was one of cold contempt as he examined us. He would not have recognised us, as he had not seen us when he fought Kronx - but he was bound to have heard about us as the rest of the wing would have.

Otherwise, they probably would not have been here. 

"Well, look who we have here," the golden drake drawled.

I shuddered under his cold, scrutinising gaze. Wishing I could snarl at him and defy him - but fearing the consequences. Beside me, I was vaguely aware of Rutilus tensing, a low growl escaping his throat.

The imperial dragon was not oblivious to our fear - if anything, it seemed to boost his confidence. With a flick of his tail, he commanded the dragons around him to circle around us.

It was then that I realised that I was right; he was the Dragon King.

Terror shot through me. In front of me, was the dragon that Kronx feared and hated. He was the one that had hunted all imperials down, forcing them to join his wing, or die.

And now, he was after us.

There was no way we'd be able to fight him. None at all. Our only option was to flee.

"Quickly," I breathed, diving down beneath us - avoiding the circling imperial dragons. Beating my wings rapidly, I raced along wind shafts as I desperately tried to get away. Heart thundering in my chest, I could not even check if Rutilus was following.

I hoped that he was. We'd be able to escape together, just like previous times.

Perhaps we'd be able to draw the imperials away from our wing. At least then, they'd survive and we'd have a faint hope of out-flying the dragons.

"We're going to the city?" Rutilus questioned, confusion filling his voice.

I blinked. I hadn't been paying attention on where we were going - only getting away from Argon. But the red and gold drake was right. We were nearing the human city, and I was not sure if that was a good thing or not. After all, the humans would easily be able to capture us whilst we fought... but they'd also be able to capture the imperial dragons.

"Cowards!" A dragon screeched after us, and I was pretty sure that that dragon was the Dragon King.

I risked a glance behind me. Sure enough, the entire wing were trailing us, seeming intent of catching up to us.

No! I could not let that happen. We needed to get away, to escape! There was no way we'd be able to survive if they caught up to us. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I raced forwards in a blind frenzy. Barely thinking as I tried to get away from them.

"Argon," a sonorous voice sliced through the air, and I instantly recognised it to be Kronx's. Relief shot through me as I glanced behind us. We were no longer alone. Even if he was still a long way off.

Behind him, my wing were assembled in no particular formation. All of them were racing towards the Dragon King, screeching furious threats at the imperial dragons.

"Kronx," the gold dragon hissed, slowing down to face the dark blue dragon. Snapping his fangs, he added, "What have we here? A new wing? Two imperials? You weren't plotting against your king were you?" 

Kronx snarled, anger radiating off him in waves. Never had I seen the ancient dragon so furious, even after Rutilus an I rescued the dragons at Fehïrk. 

"As though it would ever work. These two are mere hatchlings!" Argon scoffed, seeming to delight from Kronx's growing anger. With a flick of his coiling tail, he gestured towards Rutilus and I, barely glancing at us.

Instead, his attention was locked on the ancient dragon. Both drakes glared at each other, with increasing fury and hatred.

Time seemed to slow down as the imperials gathered around the Dragon King. Heart in my throat, I watched as my own wing surged forwards, lunging towards them.

"Go!" Kronx roared, a command aimed purely at Rutilus and I.

But I couldn't. There was no way I'd be able to flee - not when my friends were fighting for my sake. No. I'd stay here and fight alongside them. Perhaps together, we might stand a chance.

With a snarl of my own, I closed the distance between the imperial wing and myself.

*~*

1187 words

So, a little bit different to the draft. I changed Argon's appearance - I decided that it was a little to cliche in the draft version.

Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter should be out tomorrow! :D