Wings of the Crystal : The Lost City

:: Chapter 31 ::

Orange and sand colored claws and scales pressed against the soft grass, their armor glinting off of the bright light of the moons. Wary eyes flashed as they looked past the small hill, being aware of any presence that could be upon them. The leader of these dragons pressed his stomach against the top, his head peering over to see the many looming bodies of NightWings. With the slight flick of his tail, the dragons behind him all lowered themselves. And in that crowed, Cactus gripped the ground beneath her with tension.

      Never had she been in a battle. Her body was hidden in thick armor, her talons clinked. Her face covered in a mask of metal, only her brown eyes peering. Her mother lowered before her, her tail low and coiled with fury and envy.  

        The rainforest beside them seemed busy, the rustling of leaves and calls of nocturnal creatures. Otherwise, the field was silent. 

      And with one flick of Snake's tail, the sand dragons leaped off the hill with great power and velocity, knocking down the night dragons with a quick blow. Some NightWings took off in the sky, battling the furious SandWings. 

       Cactus found herself battling a NightWing, clawing at him with every chance she had. The Jet black NightWing seemed to be much taller, which was why she was easily pinned down to the ground with a hard blow. 

       The NightWing tore at her armor with powerful claws, claw marks scratching the metal. He grabbed the mask over her face, clawing it and then tearing it off. Revealing her face, he widened his eyes and lifted his claws. With a smile, Cactus disappeared under him. Before he could scream, she clawed at his snout and over his eyes, squeezing his snout shut with one claw and scratching at his underbelly with the other. 

       Sliding under him, she took off down the grass and pushed herself into the air, still invisible. She knew this was a way of cheating, but to the other dragons, this was no where found in the rule books of war. Spotting a female NightWing who seemed already wounded, she darted towards the dragon. And as she was like air, invisible and unseen but felt, she crept up in front of the dragon. And then she appeared, roaring and outstretched her claws. The black dragon, unaware, flung out her wings and widened her eyes. They tackled each other, but there was no burning. 

          Cactus clawed at the female with all her might, slicing her snout and her neck. Between the mess of claws and Wings, the female pleaded. "Please, please don't kill me!" She cried, curling her claws back and her eyes closed tight. stained tears traveled down her face. Cactus stared at her with fury, then looking away and letting go of the dragon. 

        The NightWing fled quickly and disappeared into the crowd of never ending fighting dragons. Cactus flew above the mess, looking for her family. Spotting her mother in a frenzy with two NightWings, she dove down with a twist and outstretched her back claws at the smaller NightWing, picking it up by it's neck and throwing it across the other side of the battlefield.

       Startled, the other NightWing tried to scramble away but Cactus tracked down its body, diving down again and pinning it to the ground. Cactus snarled, opening her mouth to reveal her sharp, razor teeth and her red, pale gums. The back of her throat glowed a bright orange, red and yellow, a small screeching sound could be heard as she was about to unleash fire. 

      But before she could, a loud, screeching roar trembled the ground, causing all dragons to stop and looking around. Cactus quickly slammed her jaw shut, raising her head and looking to where the sound came. The NightWing under her wiggled free and fled to the rest of the NightWings that gathered up to the side. Snake called for the rest of the living SandWings to do the same. But before Cactus could even move, a large, red silhouette came crashing down from the sky and grabbing Cactus by her throat and throwing her across the field.

        Cactus landed with a loud thud, some of her armor immediately flinging off of her with a crash. She lifted her head, looking towards the thing that threw her.

    Red, clock necklace, burn mark on neck, SkyWing shape. . . 

Ash.

Cactus quickly flung herself up onto her claws, baring her teeth towards the SkyWing. Her head lowered with a scowl, her eyes furious slits. Her wings slightly outstretched, Ash approached her with an evil glare. Her parents called for her, her father about to charge at the male. But Ash only raised his claw, and all of a sudden every dragon besides him and Cactus were frozen. they could still move their heads and talk, but they couldn't move their bodies.

   "Look what you have gotten yourself into, Cactus. You ruined everything." Ash hissed, snarling. 

Cactus thought the best things to do was disappear. As she said the word in her mind, she never turned invisible. No matter what she tried. The sinister laugh from Ash sent a shiver down her spine. 

"Your  invisibility doesn't work against my strength and power. You're a useless worm now. All of you are." Ash stepped forward, leaning his head down as he loomed over her. Cactus realized how much more bigger and taller he was then before. He must have used his animus magic. 

   Cactus didn't want to give up now. She touched his neck where the burn mark was, pressing her claw against it. "I see you've healed yourself, but you cant get rid of it, huh? Sucks, doesn't it." She smirked toothily, raising her head at him.
  

      He roared at her with fury, baring his teeth and coiling his tail. "Do NOT taunt me! I could kill you with one touch!" He scowled. 

      Cactus had to think hard on how she was going to get out of this situation. She used her eyes to look around. Spotting the rainforest, she thought she could escape into the rainforest. She darted towards the rainforest with all of her speed, using her wings to maker her faster. As she started to enter, she looked back to see Ash very close. Once she turned her head foreward, her neck came across a stray branch and scratched her across. She roared, stumbling down onto her claws. With that, Ash flew into the air and used his claws to pick her up.

As he lifted into the air just the slightest from the ground, Cactus could hear her parents' cries. Cactus would not give up. never.

   She lifted her head towards him, opening her mouth and firing at him. he quickly dodged it, the flames hitting the rainforest trees instead. But Cactus didn't realize, as she struggled in Ash's claws. As he flew higher and higher into the air, Cactus bit at his claws and he let go with a roar. 

As she fell through the sky, she tried to use her wings to catch her self. The heavy wind pierced her ears, as she turned herself around mid air to face the ground. she landed on her claws, but was quickly face to face again with Ash. 

Ash chuckled evilly, grinning from ear to ear. "Oh Cactus, when will you ever just give up? Everyone is afraid of you, why don't you just end it?" Ash said, raising his head with a smirk. 

Cactus shook her head. "You're wrong," She growled, gripping the grass with fury. "They aren't afraid. Not anymore. They're afraid of you, Ash!" She yelled at him. 

Ash raised a brow, closing his eyes and shaking his head. He opened them again with a laugh. "Maybe not your tribe." He flicked his tail towards the rainforest with a toothy grin, signaling for her to look over at the Rainforest.

Hesitantly and confusedly, she turned her head to the forest. Her eyes rounded with skinny slits, gasping quietly.

The Rainforest was on fire. 

Because of her.