Wings of fire: The Scavengers of Pyrrhia

Chapter 11

So I realized Clay found the scavenger climbing UP the mountain, not down. I am going to edit a few things to fit in with that

He was about a quarter of a mile down the cliff when Terrin found himself on a fairly large ledge and decided to take a short rest.

After scanning the skies in front  He slumped against the cliff, panting heavily. His arms and legs were shaking from the strain as well as fear he was going through. He let the chilly breeze cool him off, calming his nerves. There was no other living thing in his field of vision, which helped slow his tense pulse.

No other creatures.

He was completely alone

Alone...

Completely

 With a sudden jolt of recognition, his heart immediately resumed pounding quickly. He breathed heavily as he realized he was completely alone.

Oh no! Where's Nixi?!

"Nixi!" He shouted. The boy frantically looked up to see if she was somewhere above him. Nothing at all. Then he carefully checked below, hoping she was still working her way up to him.

...Still nothing.

The shock settled in quickly. He stared blankly into the horizon, mind numb.

"No. NO! She ISN'T gone!" He screamed, but it wasn't a cry of anguish, it was of anger. Anger to himself for not keeping her safe. Anger to the dragon who disposed of her. Anger to any and all dragons nature created.

It took a while for him to regain his composure. Calm down, Terrin. You gotta move on from this. You gotta! 

After giving himself a little pep talk, Terrin started again to look for a way down. He found some footing that could hold him and, taking a deep breath, he continued to work his way up. Every so often he could hear the sound of dragon wings flapping in the air, but none of them got too close for him to worry.

About fifteen minutes later loud shouting of dragons rose from the platteu below him. Phrases like "The prisoners are escaping!" and "The RainWing has killed the queen" and "Her champion tried to kill her!" Wingbeats began to hum in the air as they all flew away from an unknown threat.

But...what are they trying to escape? Terrin thought to himself. None of the shouts he heard made sense really. Maybe the dragon queen's champion rebelled and released the prisoners and killed her as well. Then, a new thought:

What if that champion craves human?

Frantically, the boy tried to hurry his pace upwards. None of the fleeing dragons seemed to spot him, let alone care. Nonetheless, the fear of being snatched up gave Terrin enough drive to press on.

He was making good progress until one of his foot holds gave way. Immediately, the boy gripped onto the cliff face with all his strength. His arms trembled and his palms began to grow slick with sweat. He tried to use his feet to find another footing, but was unable to. He was going to fall.

Terrin watched helplessly as his arms slipped slowly. But just before his arms gave way, two strong appendages grabbed his shoulders. He sighed in relief, but a heartbeat later realized the only thing that his rescuer could be was a dragon. Sure enough, when Terrin looked up, it was a large, brown dragon who had grasped him.

"Let me go!" He shouted in terror. Terrin started to fight fiercely to wriggle free, but had no success. The dragon seemed to ignore him as they soared off into the sky. They were following another red dragon and a blue one that seemed built for aquatic environments.

The dragon carried only a few minutes before setting him down on the top of the cliff, releasing him behind a large boulder. Terrin stood where he was set, shaking as the dragon backed up. The mud colored dragon's body looked built for fighting, yet he showed no aggression in his expression as he looked at the human. Then the dragon spoke.

"There you go." The brown dragon said gently. He gave what almost was a warm look at Terrin, one that was gentle and kind.

"Y-you saved me?" he tried asking the dragon. "Why? Why do that?" His head was spinning from both the high altitude as well as confusion, trying to piece together what the dragon's motive could have been.

The dragon tilted their head to the side, not seeming to understand. Then he added sternly, "And stay away from dragons from now on." Then with a final glance over his, the large dragon turned and lept into the air, flapping his wings.

Terrin stood in place for a long while, head still unable to comprehend what happened. The dragon roars and sounds of wind blowing around him faded away as he tried to gather what had happened.

I...I guess not all dragons find us as prey. If there was one thing Terrin and that dragon had in common, it was that neither saw each other as others probably did. It was quite the luck Terrin had to have that dragon find him; there probably wasn't many dragons who saw humans differently

And I'm probably the only human to see dragons differently than other humans, Terrin muttered in his mind. Everyone back at home will think I'm crazy if I go around telling them dragons aren't savage.

The boy's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden embrace by another person. "Oh thank God! Terrin!" Her voice was choked with tears, relief and exhaustion all mingled into one tone.

He didn't even need to look at them to know whose voice that was. He just had to hold her tighter.