The Red Bird

Chapter 21-The Red Bird Is Ready

As I make my way to the castle, which actually is a lot farther away than I expected, I begin to doubt myself.

I'm sure my mom is more prepared than I am, even if she didn't train for it.

Perhaps I should have gone back... What if that was the last they see of me? I never said anything worth being my final words... Maybe I'll say something to Queen that would be worth putting on my gravestone. Assuming I get one, anyway... What if she doesn't even kill me? What if she keeps me for experimentation? Doesn't she want magic powers? Maybe that's her ultimate plan?

I get too distracted and stop flapping my arms enough to stay flying. I start plummeting towards a skyscraper. I could try to pull a Spiderman and grab the side, but the glass would be way too slippery to actually pull that off.

I frantically try to flap my arms around to get back on track, but it doesn't work. I try to grab the side of the building anyway to at least slow down my fall, which seems to work a little bit at least. I still crash to the sidewalk though, getting the wind knocked out of me. But hey, I'm not dead! That's a plus! Impossible, but still a plus!

I get up and brush myself off, praying that I didn't draw too much attention to myself. Oh, who am I kidding? I just fell from the sky and landed on the concrete with barely a scratch. Of course I drew a ton of attention to myself. Now I can only hope that I didn't draw the attention of the Queen... Although, I wouldn't be surprised if she sent one of those screaming girls to kill me already.

There's a passerby that stands at the end of the alley I landed in. They stand there and stare at me. I squint to try to make out their face. They suddenly sprint towards me. I take a step back, but then remember that I have the advantage of fire and shapeshifting powers. I focus all of my energy into making a fire ball. I reel my arm back and pitch it towards them. They let out a yelp and duck just before it clocks them in the face. It fizzles out before it leaves the alley.

The figure stands back up and continues toward me, walking this time. I take another step back and prepare another fire ball. They raise their hands in surrender, now walking even slower. 

"Carol, it's okay! It's just me..." I hear Scott say. I'm a little hesitant, at first to believe that it's him, but I decided to believe him. For now.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why did you have to just start running at me like that?"

"For suspense."

"Oh. Okay."

He's now standing in front of me, smiling slightly. "Look, I think that you shouldn't have to do it alone."

"Does your dad know what you're doing?"

"No... I just locked myself in my room and then climbed out of my window."

"What if something happens to you though? How do you think he'd feel if you didn't come out ever?"

"How do you think I'd feel if something happened to you and you never came back?!" he yells. I shrink back a little, and he instantly softens his gaze. "Er, sorry..."

"I can't really blame you... I probably shouldn't have run off like that..."

"No kidding..." Scott says, looking at his shoes. He takes in a breath and says, "Look, I'm sor-"

"You have nothing to apologize for," I say, putting up a hand to stop him. "I should be apologizing."

"I just... I thought it was always better to have something and lose it than to never have had it at all..." he says, still looking at the ground. Oh... So that's what he's talking about.

I don't know what to say, so I just give him a hug. He hugs me back. I had almost forgotten how much I liked his hugs...

We stand there for a little while before I pull away and smile. "Shall we go get ourselves a crown?"

He just smiles.

I walk out into the street and turn into a big, red dragon. Scott climbs up on my back. With a great roar and a puff of smoke, we make our way to the castle.

A/N

The next few chapters should (hopefully) be interesting! Stay tuned for updates! ^^

~The Great Depatay