Dawn of the Wolf Dragons: Book one; A Dark Beginning (unedited version)

Chapter 9

We walked in silence for hours.  We couldn't fly. Partly because of the fact that the dragon kingdom would be looking for us. But also because My shoulder contributed to wing pain, Red can't fly, and Cymry's wings were a black scorched colour and she was burn everywhere else. The day's warm sun turned into a cool night breeze. We weren't sure exactly where we were going. The goal was, to get to the CheetahHawk territory before midnight but, since Cymry wouldn't tell us where we were (for "security" reasons), We had no idea how long we would suffer from he pain of the half- limping -half walking.

"Stop" Cymry said suddenly. "Be prepared. I'm not in a good relationship right now with my tribe." She went towards a lone vine hanging from the top of the forest that was in front of a massive wall of bushes and ferns. She hesitated. But then she frowned and pulled the vine. 

There was a clicking sound. Then the wall of greenery opened up to reveal a whole village. CheetahHawks were prowling around and talking. 

"Admiral" Cymry said out into the open crowd. 

"Ahh I see. Cymry you've paid your debt at last." An Orange CheetahHawk walked forward.  "Hand over the prisoners and you will get your mother back." 

"What!?" I screamed.

Quinn groaned. "Nova If I were you, I'd have originally just gone with me and left the others."

Red scowled and glared at Quinn. 

"Sorry! It has already caused us a-lot of trouble." He said.

"I can't believe you betrayed us Cymry!" I roared. The Guards were holding me back. I was about ready to bite her face off. No, I wouldn't do that..  I thought. I just can't handle the fact that she did this. "I knew from the very start that something was sketchy about you."

"I did this for a good cause! Can't you understand!" She said looking guilty.

"By trying to get us killed or worse imprisoned for an eternity!" I growled. "or perhaps your speedy little friends are going to race us to death. You know what, you can't kill us. We will get revenge." I was being dragged super far away now so I had to yell, "And that's a promise!"

We were thrown into a cell, for the second time in the past two days. Red sighed and Quinn shook his head in disbelief.

"Getting killed is better than being imprisoned forever?" He asked me, puzzled.

"Huh?" I said, confused. "oh ya...."

"Well, in a matter of speaking yes" Red said, standing up. "Would You rather be stuck in a dirty, dusty cell for however long you guys live or-" She frowned. "How long do you guys live?"

Quinn pretended to think. "Well, the oldest lived to be somewhere between 17,000 and 18,000. Oh and there was one time where someone was 15,000. But you can expect 10,000."

"That is your lifespan! Would you want to be trapped for that long!"

"No! of course not!" Quinn said.

"Well then how is death worse?" She demanded, frustrated.

I noticed that there was an odd pattern in the barred window shadows. There was a small round.... crack! I shuffled my back claws towards it. I scraped away the dust around it. there was a small keyhole. 

"I'd find a way to get out." Quinn said.

"And how would you expect to get out of a jail cell made of steel?" Red growled.

"Like this" I said. I swept my tail across the dirty ground. When all the dust way cleared, the outline of a trapdoor showed.

"How did you..." Quinn started.

"Let's go, I would kill to get away from these- Cats" She spat. She sprang forward in attempt to open the passage.

"Wait, Look" I said, stopping her. "There is a key hole. We need a key."

"Already done." Quinn said with pride. He pulled a torch on the wall. It flicked back and one of the stones on the wall opened up to reveal a small golden key. There was also a note left inside. "In every cave or dungeon story."

I smiled and shook my head. Quinn knows. He always does. I Picked the note up. it was browned with age.

"Upon reading this, you will have been imprisoned by the CheetahHawks. If you are a species of wolf, use this key immediately. They will kill you for experiments on their wings. They originally used SwiftSkye's DNA to create their wings. If you are otherwise, such as dragon, conspire with the guard with the torn ear. He will leap at the chance for getting revenge on the Admiral. and don't trust anyone in the CheetahHawk village except for any with black noses. The black nosed are rebels and will help you unless something has happened to them personally.  They put their needs before others even if they hate it. Oh ya, the black nosed will refuse to have any experiments put on it. The casualty number is too high for them to even think about doing it. Pink nosed have had experiments. that's why their noses are pink. If you have escaped, go to the lumifrost pond and  go under the water. keep going down until you find the pink coral. the water is magical. You can breath under there. the coral will open up to another note. follow those instructions and you will find me." I read this to my friends.

"Wow." Quinn said.

I frowned. 

"Something wrong?" Quinn asked lightly.

"Cymry had a black nose. I think she was telling the truth. Her mother must have been imprisoned and she wants to get her back by bringing beings with wings." I groaned. "I shouldn't have said all those things. I wish she'd forgive me." 

"We can pick her and her mother up. After let's head to the Lumifrost pond." Red said. She paused. "SwiftSkye was the greatest leader of SwiftWings of all time! I thought she died fighting!" 

"At least fighting the guards." I grunted.

There was shouting in the hallway. "We've gotta go!" Quinn cried.

We unlocked the trapdoor. We jumped in. We closed it behind us and locked it. 

We proceeded to sprint down the tunnel. 

As we were running, Quinn shouted,  "Where does this lead to?" We turned a corner. There were now seven different tunnels in front of us. "Come on!" Quinn cried.

"look another note!" I shouted. There was a pot holding another wrinkled note.

"The passage to the far right takes you to the outskirts of the village. The one after is the chamber where execution takes place (don't go in there! seriously, I know.) It is then followed by, The barber's shop's closet where you can look through the crevice. The barber is my old friend. If he notices you, say the codeword "Axe" And he will leave you there. Cheetahs go there daily. if you are looking for someone, that is the best place to go.They will have their fur cut and you can whisper to them through the crack. Then there's the fruit store. the worker has no idea the passage is there. It is a good food source." The remaining passages were all listed and were mainly shops. finally it was the last one. "The last passage leads to the open forest. take that if you need to get away." I frowned.

"Let's take the last one!" Red exclaimed. 

"No! We should go get Cymry first. I think we should go to the barber. If Cymry's mother is returned to her, she would have to get her fur trimmed. She has been with us for a while now. her coat's all mottled and greasy." I said.

"Ya, It wasn't her fault that she wanted her mother back." Quinn pointed out. 

Red gave in. "alright."

"Let's go."

We headed down the third passage.