Apex [Imperial: Book 2]

Chapter 27

"Reida!" I shrieked as my wings cleaved through the air in a desperate attempt to chase after the copper dragoness.

But she did not slow down - or so much as glanced towards me.

Noting the masses of dragons heading towards us, I chased after her, continuing to call her name. My body, straight as an arrow, sliced through the air easily - but not fast enough. Not nearly fast enough if I was to reach Reida before those dragons.

Suddenly, a familiar dark green dragon swerved in front of me, rapidly gaining on the copper dragoness. Thanatos. I did not need to see his gaze to know that his eyes were locked on his target, burning with the intensity of the sun.

My breath caught in my throat. If he caught up to her...

I flung myself forward, my wings rapidly thundering through the air. But it wasn't enough, Thanatos was too close, and I was too far. And Reida was probably oblivious to the dark green drake that was rapidly closing in on her.

"Look out!" I cried out, and felt a moment's relief as the copper dragoness peered behind her, her red eyes widening. A low growl rumbled in her throat, before she elegantly dived downwards and looped around, heading towards Thanatos. Towards me.

The green drake grunted in surprise as the copper dragoness glided beneath him, barely out of the reach of his thrashing claws. With a grunt, he flared his wings so that he could maneuver around and keep chasing Reida.

"This way," I told her, hoping that the dragons would cease chasing us if we headed back towards the city.

I was right. After several minutes of circling around the vast city, they seemed content that we wouldn't try to escape. Nonetheless, I could only hope that the humans wouldn't punish either of us for Reida's near escape attempt.

Hopefully. 

"I know how to escape," I murmured quietly to the copper dragon once content that other dragons were too far away to hear.

Immediately, she whipped her head towards me. "How?"

Without hesitation, I explained my plan to her, insisting that surely it wouldn't take too long before we gained the humans' trust - and then once we had, we'd surely be able to escape.

But by the time I had finished, Reida's eyes were dark. Avoiding my gaze, she muttered,"that might work. For you. But not for me."

I stiffened, inclining my head slightly. Why wouldn't it work? Sure, she may not have a rider, but surely she would find a different way to earn the humans' trust too? Just wandering around the city, taking advantage of all of its facilities - that would surely help! It had too!

Perhaps she meant that she didn't want to even try to be docile for the humans. That it was against everything she wanted to do, and motivation to escape would not make her do it.

"I met my rider today," the copper dragoness broke the silence, her voice barely a whisper. "A youth who couldn't care less about me; I think he had set his sights on a different dragon. But... you haven't met him, Argentum. He reminds me of my Master back at Fehïrk. That same mentality, believing that dragons are nothing more than horses. Tools to gain recognition."

She snorted, lashing her tail and a glimpse of fury flashed across her eyes.

I stared at her, shocked. Lord Carlos was bad, but at least he cared - even if only to an extent. But the rider that Reida had explained was a whole new level, a human who would take out his frustration and anger on her. More like my former Master or even worse. If that was possible.

For such a human to have even the slightest amount of trust in her would be impossible. Proving herself would be a forlorn task.

"We should head back," I sighed at last, suddenly unsure of what to do. Hopefully she would eventually earn their trust and escape, but... she was right. It was more likely that I'd escape, alone.

If that was the case, I'd have to somehow convince Kronx and the rest of the wing to help me rescue her. And then convince several more wings. Only then would we have even a slight chance against this city.

Maybe Reida could turn some of Azarin's inhabitants against the city. Even a few dragons would help, take the city by surprise.

"Head back?" the copper dragoness laughed humourlessly. "You mean back to the Royal Caverns? Now that I've been assigned a rider, they've moved me somewhere else."

Of course she had been. The queen had been reluctant to have Reida sleep in the Royal Caverns, and had even voiced her plans to have her moved out.

Now that she'd been moved, talking to the copper dragoness would be much harder, which I supposed was one of the reasons why she'd been moved. But not talking to the only dragon I knew, I trusted, in the city... even the mere thought made me stiffen, and smoke coiled from my jaws.

"I'll try to get Lord Carlos to move you back," I promised, although I doubted that I'd have much luck, considering that he had not been my rider for very long. And also because Reida had just tried to escape.

The copper dragoness dipped her head solemnly, seeming to come to the same conclusion that I had. "That is all I can ask."

"One day, we will escape," I growled as I glared down at the city, only to hold Reida's gaze when she murmured her agreement.

Without another word, we swooped back down towards the city, circling around it only a few more times before parting ways. My stomach churned uneasily as I watched her slender form disappear among the hundreds of dragons within the city.

It felt wrong, watching her go. She was the last remnant of my wing, the only part of them I had, and yet, it was almost as though the humans were trying to tear her from me.

My eyes narrowed. One day, I would tear her away from the humans, whether that was when I escaped or after that.

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1031 words

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