Wings of Fire • Dragon of Warriors [3]

Chapter Thirteen

Part Two – Escape Through the Underground

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Within the next three hours, everyone was through.

     It took a lot of arguing and trial and error but eventually every single SwiftScale, no matter their injuries or age had squeezed through that hole. Now, the tribe was on the move.

     Bloodworm was up at the front with Fast-talon, leading the SwiftScales as far away as possible. The Monarchs were somewhere in the middle, aiding in the transport of the wounded. Currently, Quickclaws was lingering towards the back. He had stayed by the entrance hole the whole time, helping others through. He only knew that they were beginning to move thanks to Silkworm delivering the message via the ceiling.

     Quickclaws lifted his head and watched as Brisktail covered the hole. The stone grew back over the enlarged fissure and soon they were sealed without a trace. They made it just in time – the pebble had said the SkyWings would have arrived by now.

     At the back, they only had one torch – and Quickclaws was holding it. As time went on he and Brisktail sat and waited, eyes travelling over the assembled SwiftScales. Some were soldiers but most were just regular hunters and civilians. Many of the dragons were gathered where Quickclaws sat, but he also knew that some were huddled in the connective passage from the mine. When the elders had first come down, he had had to take a break from helping SwiftScales down just to find them in the tunnels. They had wandered in there, rambling something about seeing them with their own eyes, finally. Quickclaws had no idea what they were talking about so he just rounded them all up and asked them not to go wandering in the mines again.

     Bored, Quickclaws watched Silkworm hang from the ceiling. She appeared to be sleeping, hanging upside-down from a stalactite like a bat. He marvelled at how well she was able to hold herself up.

     Eventually, shuffling noises started far ahead somewhere, growing louder as more and more of the group stood up. Quickclaws' eyes flicked from Silkworm to the entrance to the mines. The soldier at the entrance stood up and like a ripple effect, the rest of the dragons followed.

     Brisktail grunted as he lifted the sack of fish on his back. He was carrying a satchel of salmon on his back, the heavy fish weighing him down greatly as he struggled. Quickclaws stuck his torch between two rocks and helped him position the bag so that it wouldn't slip.

     "Thanks," his friend panted, smiling at him. Brisktail began following the group, slowly waddling after the tribe.

     "We're moving," Quickclaws called up to Silkworm, "Are you coming?"

     The little CaveWing pulled her head out of her cocoon, blinking at him in the glare of the torch. Quickclaws remembered she had extremely sensitive eyesight and he covered the torch so that she could see.

     "Yeah. There's no food here so there's no point in staying." She unwound her wings and pulled herself up with her tail, gripping the base of the stalactite and climbing across the ceiling. Quickclaws uncovered the torch and followed the retreating group of SwiftScales.

     They trudged along slowly. Quickclaws devoted himself to the task of mindlessly marching in the line. He moved awkwardly, holding the torch high in one talon and walking with his wing. He absentmindedly wondered what would happen if the torch went out. Why hadn't they gotten backup ones-?

     "Hey, uh... Quickclaws, Brisktail, have you guys seen Blackcloud? He's my... my father," asked an all-too-familiar voice.

     Quickclaws looked up to see a cloud-coloured face he could never forget. Eagletalon gave them a nervous and awkward smile.