The Dragon's Gift [Rewriting]

Chapter 7

In which we are caught

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We had been flying for quite some time now and all I had seen were trees. I was thankful not to have seen the same burning forest from before, but I was getting pretty bored. Eri picked up Daniel doesn't like her, so she tried to stay silent, but eventually fell asleep. I could tell Daniel was still a bit mad at me, as he still refused to speak to me.

"I'm sorry." I said at last.

Daniel loosed up a bit. "It's fine..." He muttered.

After that, we didn't talk for a while.

Everything seemed to be slowing down, and I was beginning to fell a bit... lonely. Normally, loneliness never really bothered me, but now that I've seen other people and been active in a conversation, I realized how much I loved socializing. The part of me that was always missing seemed to be filled when I found friends.

"There it is!" Daniel said, making me jump and waking up Eri, who almost fell off Naji. "The castle!"

I looked forward to see the soft silhouette of a castle. I couldn't make out any specific details, but it looks amazing.

After a little bit more time of flying, I could finally see it clearly, and it was beautiful.

Behind the castle were tall mountains that seemed to go past the clouds. Surrounding the castle was cavillations. Buildings and structures and people that looked like ants from where I was. Shading the people was an area of land with higher elevation. I could barely see the people, but it looked like some people were mining on the cliff. Running through the kingdom was a river.

But the real spectacle was the castle. It was painted an elegant shade of blue-like ivory. Rocks and walls beneath the castle held it up higher than the rest of the structures, but a large walkway led up to an arched doorway into the castle. There were so many towers, it was hard to count. At the very top of the tallest tower, a flag flapped proudly through the wind. On the front of the castle, a large blue flag like the one on the tower draped down the castle. Laced around the edges of the castle was gold so shiny, it could start a fire. A wide arched bridge led from a smaller tower to the main frame of the castle.

"Wow..." I heard Eri and Daniel gawk.

"This is... amazing." I said, barely able to speak. This is where my sister has been all these years. I felt a pang of hurt shoot through me. Had she even tried looking for me?

Then an arrow shat past my face, almost impaling me. I paled, and for a moment, wondered if I was still breathing.

"Land Naji." Daniel commanded frantically. Quickly, I did as I was told, bringing the dragon down into the forest.

The sound of footsteps and voices yelling made it clear that we were not welcome here.

Before we could run, however, I found we were surrounded.

"Put your hands up!" A man in a full suit of armor commanded, aiming a loaded crossbow at us. Hesitantly, I raised my hands. The others did the same. Guards ran out of the forest from all directions, then muzzled Naji. The dragon didn't like that. He flapped his wings viciously and fought back.

"Naji!" I yelled, "Stop! Please... It's okay."

Hesitantly. The dragon calmed down a bit, but still eyed the guards dangerously.

"State your business here." The man with the crossbow commanded. I was surpirsed to find a hint of youngness in his voice. I was kind of bewildered by this. He seems like the one in change, but I thought he would need to be older to be in charge, and he seemed like he was around my age. Guards walked to us and began to pad us down for weapons.