Healed

Chapter 28

Umber flew in circles above the town of Possibility. He scanned the crowds below, concentrating on finding that familiar ruby red hide. Every time he saw that familiar shade of red his heart would flutter in excitement before descending only to pull back at the last second as he realized it wasn't Flame but just some other SkyWing.

By the Moons there were a lot of SkyWings here.

After nearly tackling several dragons Umber released a sigh and alighted down on top of a nearby gazeebo. His talons gripped the loose shingles in apprehension. This place is so big...bigger than I thought it would be, he admitted. He had assumed Possibility was just some small town between the Sky and Sand Kingdom. He had pictured is like a quaint little village with maybe one small market place, where everybody tipped their hats to each other when passing and probably spent the days farming or quilting or doing something rustic.

But he was quickly learning that it was certainly NOT like he imagined. At all.

It was a huge, boisterous place with restaurants, shops, and even a souvenir shack. Not to mention there were SkyWings all over the dang place. How was he going to find Flame now?

As if on cue, a commotion in the streets made Umber turn towards the sound.

Like an aggressive hippo lunging into a fast flowing river, Flame came barreling into the crowd. Dragons awkwardly but swiftly tried to move out of his way as the scarred SkyWing frantically pushed through them.

At that point Umber already knew things had gone wrong.

"Flame!" he called and went to jump down from the gazebo but paused as another ruckus shook the crowd. He lifted his head to see a second SkyWing trying to breach the throng of pedestrians, although her larger size was making it difficult.

"Flame! Come back!" she yelled, stretching her long neck to see above the stream of dragons. Umber balked in realization. That must be Avalanche, Flame's mother!

They shared the same intense orange eyes and angular face. The resemblance was uncanny.

Remembering Flame Umber quickly turned his head back in the direction he had seen his friend running. His heart dropped to his stomach when he couldn't find the familiar dragon but a moment later he heaved a relieved sigh as he saw Flame. The scarred dragon was running towards the bridge that connected the town across the river.

Umber watched as Flame climbed onto the railing and jumped off with wings spread wide. He caught the high winds that were coming off the turbulent river, using them to climb higher into the sky. Just as he took off Avalanche finally broke through the crowd to the other side of the street.

She spun around in frantic circles, calling out to her son. She hadn't seen him take off. Finally she sat down and buried her face in her talons, her shoulders shaking as sobs wracked her frame. Dragons cast her confused glances but mostly just walked around her like a stream around a rock.

It broke Umber's heart to see her so distressed. Whatever had just happened between Flame and his mother, it hadn't been good. He was tempted to go down and comfort her, perhaps even bring her along to find Flame.

But he didn't have time. Flame was already a minute dot in the expanding sky, shrinking with every passing second. By the time he convinced Avalanche to listen to him Flame's trail would be lost.

He cast a sympathetic glance towards Avalanche before taking to the sky in pursuit of his kinda-sorta-boyfriend.

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