Battle Scars | Book 1 (DISCONTINUED)

Ch. 11: The Fight Begins

A rumble came from Flash's throat as he flew through the stormy sky. His wing was completely healed and their was no saddle or rider upon his back. He felt free, but also... lonely, at the same time. But his feelings were pushed to the back of his head when he heard the familiar vibrating sound that lead him to the island years ago when he'd just left his mother's den.

All of his attention was focused on that one sound. Not the crashing waves beneath him, not the thunder booming in the dark clouds, and not the icy cold rain hitting his scales. It was like he was brainwashed; he couldn't feel, remember, or process anything. His wings were beating on their own as he followed the noise to its source.

Finally, through the seemingly never ending darkness, the faint glow of lava appeared on the horizon. As he drew closer, the sound got louder and he could see billions of dragons swarming around a massive island. Lava was spilling from the volcano in its center and dragons were circling around it, staring blankly into the dark abyss inside the volcano.

The closer he got, more and more dragons turned their attention towards him. But he kept flying until he was hovering above the volcano. Then, he dove inside, the sound leading him deeper and deeper into the earth.

Fiery pain was burning his scales and tearing apart his wings, but he couldn't feel any of it. Even when he began falling with no chance of ever flying back to the surface, he still followed the sound. Finally, a giant pool of lava came into sight, and at last he finally snapped out of his trance. He screeched in terror, finally feeling the unbearable burning pain in his body and desperately tried to flap his wings to get away. But they were gone. They'd burned away completely and he hadn't even realized it. He kept screaming for help, praying that someone would hear him...

He dared to glance at the quickly approaching pool of lava, and his electric blue eyes widened when he saw a massive blood red dragon leap straight out of the lava and opened its jaws. Before he could even think, he fell into the dragon's mouth and everything went dark.

————

Alice didn't even realize the terrified look on Flash's face after he woke up when she heard the sound of a horn come from the village. Flash whimpered and gently nudged her arm but she payed no attention to him as she ran outside and looked to the seas ahead. On the horizon was a massive fleet of Alrynian warships and other ships with insignias she'd never seen before. Already, the Berserkers were sailing towards them and the fireballs of dragons were lighting up the sky. She covered her ears when a giant flaming boulder crashed into one of the towers, causing it to fall and destroy the other towers beneath it.

"FLASH!" she cried, and the shaken Flightmare stumbled outside. Without a second thought she climbed onto his saddle and they were in the air in a matter of seconds, darting past the buildings and towards the armada. They were noticed immediately as Flash left a trail of red light behind him, and arrows began to rain down on them but they managed to barrel roll out of the way. Unsure of what to do, Alice just clung tightly to Flash's neck as they swerved past arrows, nets, and boulders. She regretted flying into battle so quickly and mentally scolded herself as he face was squished against the saddle, not even realizing the red misty clouds that Flash was firing at their enemies. She opened her eyes and was shocked when she caught a glimpse of some of Alryne's soldiers- they weren't attacking, instead they were frozen still like statues. Lifting her head a little, she noticed Flash open his jaws and saw red mist spew from his mouth and onto their foes, freezing them immediately. Some of them even breathed in the mist by accident and dropped onto the floor lifelessly.

She wanted to tell her friend good job, but was too focused on steering him around the masts of the ships. He kept firing at them a few more times- but stopped after a while, even when he had a perfect shot. Alice just guessed he reached his shot limit, so she kept focusing on dodging arrows until his fire recharged.