Imperial

Chapter 66

Several days after the battle did we finally celebrate our victory. Dragons darted around the mountain, some soaring around its peak, whilst others climbed up or even rested along its rugged ridges.

But for the first time, the mood seemed to have brightened. Still acknowledging that our friends had died, but finally allowing us to rejoice in the fact that the Dragon King was dead.

Faintly amused, I watched them. It was tempting to join them, to have the thrill of excitement shoot through me as I roared in triumph, but... I couldn't bring myself to. We might have won, but the four imperial dragons' promise was still fresh in my mind. Impossible to ignore.

Even the humans' motives were questionable. They'd come up to us several times, often just Queen Azist, Raffael, and the dragons they rode. Each time offering to heal us, or sending us updates of the cities that had freed the dragons. But other humans were starting to visit us as well. Most of them weepy-eyed as they thanked us for saving their city.

None of them had threatened us, or shown any sign of trying to recapture us, but I found it uncomfortable to remain so close to a human city for so long. Especially remembering that it had recently been home of hundreds of dragons, most of them forced to stay there.

And it was strange, seeing the human whom had sent us here to destroy Erakor stand beside the human queen, clearly of a high-rank yet again. Nonetheless, I coudn't help but feel that there was something that they weren't telling us. Something big and important. 

"I'm going to hunt," Thorak grunted, flaring his wings. "Anyone coming?"

Soriak and Raegon both clambered to their feet. Sighing, I almost followed them- before I glanced at Rutilus.

Beside me, the red and gold drake shifted his weight uncomfortably, drawing my attention towards me. His talons scraped against the cold stone, his body rather tense as his dark eyes stared into the distance.

Sympathy stirred within me, knowing that he was still grieving his mother's death. But even with that knowledge, I had no idea how to reassure him - especially since we were also mourning Caelum's death as well.

"Come on," I murmured to him, nudging his flank gently. "You need to hunt."

But he remained still, not bothering to move. "I'm not hungry."

Knowing better than to argue, I flicked my tail, gesturing for Thorak, Soriak and Raegon to go on hunting without me. I'd hunt later, and make sure that Rutilus did too.

Somehow, it was even quieter when they left. A more tense silence, that reminded me of the times before we'd gone to save the dragons at Fehïrk. A time, when we'd been the only three dragons.

Those days seemed so long ago now! The endless routines of Kronx trying to teach us to become stronger and more capable of surviving - and fighting. Back when humans seemed to be the most we needed to worry about.

In a way, they were yet again. We didn't have to worry about the Dragon King - just the four imperials whom spoke of taking us away for the sake of training us.

And, perhaps, humans. To say that I trusted the humans in the city below would be a lie. They could just as easily recapture us - the only reason we hadn't left yet was because of Kronx. His wing had barely healed, despite the fires that he'd slept beside of a night.

"What next?" Kronx finally broke the silence, although his voice was only a soft murmur. 

"Perhaps we can go back to your mountain - once your wing heals," I declared, eager to return to the dark blue drake's cave. There was little reason why we shouldn't, so long as we remained weary. After all, I doubted the humans would try to capture us - or any dragon for the matter. Not after they spent the days freeing them. 

Beside me, Rutilus grunted in agreement.

The ancient dragon sighed, and I could have sworn pain glittered in his eyes when he peered down at us. "My wing won't heal," he declared, glancing at the wing that seemed to be hanging from his back uselessly. "Not enough to allow me to fly properly. The most I'll ever be capable again are short flights - barely long enough to allow me to hunt prey."

Even Rutilus recoiled in shock. His grief for his mother temporarily set aside, he stared at the dark blue dragon in shock. "What do you mean? How do you know that? Its yet to heal!" He protested, his voice full of disbelief and increasing amounts of desperation.

Kronx said nothing, only looking down at us sadly.

"Please," Rutilus begged, and I knew that he was begging the dark blue drake to declare that he had been wrong, and his wing would heal.

But silence was his only answer.

Aghast, it was all I could do to stare at Kronx in shock. He'd never fly again. It was all to easy to remember my longing to return to the skies when my own wing had been broken. I'd been lucky - only a few days later, I'd been able to return to the sky.

To think that Kronx would suffer from that longing for the rest of his life! Not a few mere days or weeks - not even months. But years! And at his size, he'd find it difficult to hunt enough food; he'd find it difficult to move through forests.

"We'll stay with you," I promised, barely even thinking through my decision. But I did not care; we owed it to him. After all, he'd taught us how to breathe fire, to not just survive, but thrive! We had led the humans to his home, forcing him away. And yet, he still remained alongside us, helping us. Not necessarily agreeing with our decisions, but always there to aid us.

And now... he couldn't.

It was our turn to help him.

*~*

1013 words

Well, there you go!

There were a few more things I was tempted to add, but they would have drawn on the last few chapters for to long, so yeah.

Hope you enjoyed! Please do drop a vote, and tell me what you think! If there are any areas of improvement, please let me know, I will be going back over and editing each chapter thoroughly, likely removing and adding quite a bit.