The Clash of Land and Sea.

Prologue

Hayden had been flying with Draek for almost two weeks, they had taken breaks but the majority of his days were spent high above the ground. They tried to put as much distance between themselves and the Celestial City as fast as they could.

Shane and Cass flew behind him, keeping up and never complaining about the hard ride they were having to endure. Their dragons pushed themselves further and further everyday as they struggled to make it the elves’ forest.

They had flown over dozens of small villages since they had fled from the Metallic Riders. Hayden wondered how many young children stared up in wonder at the dragons and dreamt about the day when they would have a chance to get their own. How many children were just like he had been?

The horizon turned from the snow patched plans into what had first appeared to be mountains jutting up all over the place. Hayden felt panic grip his heart as he tried to make out some detail in the still fuzzy distance that would confirm that they had gone the right way and that they had not just wasted two weeks getting lost.

As they grew closer Hayden relied on Draek’s keen eye sight to tell him what they were looking at. Draek explained that they had made it to the forest but the trees were unlike any that he had ever seen.

Near the edge of the forest the trees appeared to be of normal height but as they made their way further into the endless ocean of trees they started spotting the big trees that towered over the forest.

One tree was wider then Draek and taller than the towers at the Celestial City, big enough for Draek to sit on a branch like a bird. Some trees had lost their leafs and now stood covered in patches of snow while the pine trees kept their green needles and helped disguise the forest floor.

Hayden and the others were so focused on the scenery around them that they did not see the green dragons that had been hiding in the tree tops around them take flight. They did not notice the trees under them swaying as the green dragons lunged into the air, showering the ground bellow them with snow.

They never even noticed them start to surround them until it was too late.

The skies were filled with green dragons.