Enslaved

Chapter 15

Kaida watched as Ryuu soared across the sky, quickly turning into only a speck on the horizon before he veered sharply left and flew straight around a mountain, efficiently disappearing from her sight. She didn't know why but she felt like she should follow him to see why he had left in such a hurry. She shook herself and turned around, coming face to face with Valik and the hybrid who's name she remembered was Kajeel right behind him. Valik just shrugged when Kaida met his eyes so she turned to Kajeel, her eyes questioning. Kajeel sighed and ran a hand through his dark brown hair, his armor glinting dully in the dimming sun and looking heavier than before.

"Valik said some things about your lives in the tunnels and I think Ryuu blames himself for not finding out about your colony earlier." Kajeel explained, his voice strained. "He's just frustrated. Don't worry though, he'll be okay by dinner. I'll talk to him."

Kaida continued staring at him, wondering what and when and where this 'dinner' was. Kajeel looked back at her, frowning and she turned to Valik, questioning him with her eyes.

"She's wondering when dinner is." Valik asked, looking from her to Kajeel. "And...probably what dinner is."

Kajeel winced but stepped closer, making Valik move so both males were in front of her.

"Dinner is promptly at sunset in the pavilion every night. Breakfast is at dawn and lunch is at midday. Easy times to remember, really." Kajeel's voice was calm. "You have about an hour or more, I'd say. Dinner is when we all get together and eat a big meal as one family."

Kaida frowned deeply this time and swallowed thickly. Her mother had talked about huge meals that she had shared with her father, back before the humans had arrived and ruined everything. Before they took both of her parents away.

"Eat?" Her voice was quiet but smoother than when she had spoken earlier, her voice getting used to speaking Draconic again. "A meal together?"

Kajeel closed his eyes slowly, breathing deeply before looking back to Kaida and nodding. Her frown dissipated and she gave a minuscule nod before a thought ran through her head.

"That man." She started then realized she didn't know his name. "The man that flew me here. Who is he? Where is he?"

Kajeel frowned in confusion, looking to Valik who shook his head before looking back to Kaida.

"Did you get his name?" Kajeel asked calmly. "Or hear anyone call him by name?"

Kaida shook her head.

"Blue eyes." She said, thinking of how she could describe him. "Very kind."

Kajeel just shook his head at her, seeming regretful.

"I'm sorry Kaida, that could be a lot of people here." Kajeel's tone was soft. "But I'll ask around for you."

She nodded and looked down, staring at her clean feet where she stood in the lush green grass. She heard shuffling steps before a hand closed over her right shoulder and she felt the comforting presence of Valik.

"Thanks, Kajeel." He said, his voice to her right. "We appreciate you even taking the time to look."

"Of course. If there's anything else I can do for you, just send word. I'll see you both in the pavilion in about an hour, just follow the smell of food and the crowd. It was nice meeting you two!"

Kaida heard footsteps again before wind blew her hair onto her back and the sound of wing beats slowly grew distant before disappearing. She studied the green of the grass, moving her toes to feel the soft texture before digging them into the dirt. She dropped her wings slightly and let the soft grass brush the ends of her damaged wings, sighing at the feeling. Valik's fingers tightened on her shoulder and out of instinct she picked up her wings and looked up to him, locking their eyes. He smiled at her and took his hand off her shoulder before stepping away from her and stretching his wings, looking at her with a devilish look in his dragon's eyes.

"Want to learn how to fly?" He asked, his eyes glinting as his wings opened as wide as they were able. "I haven't flown since I was four but....we could learn together?"

Kaida felt the air leave her lungs and her eyes widened as far as they could go. Fly? She felt all of the dreams of flying that she had ever had resurface to her mind's eye; the sun on her scales, the wind on her face, and the burning strength in her wings. She nodded, opening her own wings slowly and feeling the muscles in her stomach and back react to even that small movement. Valik grinned at her wickedly before he started flapping slowly, picking up speed and rising off the ground, completely different than Ryuu's take-offs. Before Kaida could blink, he was hovering in the air five feet above her, causing her to crane her neck to see him. He smiled down at her before starting to make small, lazy circles around where she stood in the grass with her wings open. While his beats were strong, they were not as sure or knowing as Ryuu or Kajeel's were.

"To get off the ground, you need to flap your wings kind of fast but not too fast." Valik called down to her. "The key is to almost grab the air around you and use it to climb into the air."

Kaida gave her wings one flap and nearly jolted at the effort that took, at how many muscles she needed to use to flap her wings. She blinked slowly and flapped again, this time feeling the air around her wings changing streams and channels of wind and tilted her wings slightly, putting them above her head in the air and pushing down, hard. She felt her body lift marginally and smiled, her breathing slightly faster than it had been before and started flapping as she had watched Valik do, ignoring the straining of the muscles in her back, stomach, and wings themselves. Her bare feet lifted off the ground slowly and she heard Valik give a shout in excitement and encouragement. Her wings ached, especially along the end ridges where they had dragged along the ground for years, reminding her of all the time she had spent on the ground. She pulled her wings up again to flap and winced at the pain that ran along the new, thick scar on her left wing, shaking her head as she tried to ignore it.

"You're doing great! Start to flap your wings faster but don't stop cupping the air!" He called to her, his voice full of happiness. "Don't be afraid!"

She was very afraid. She looked down and saw the grass rippling with the wind from her wings before she noticed that she was about two and a half feet off the ground. Her wings faltered at that realization, causing her to lose half a foot before she regained her rhythm, her damaged wings begging her to stop and rest. She was panting as she forced her wings to move faster, gaining altitude slowly but surely. How had Valik gotten off the ground so easily? Was it supposed to be this difficult?

She looked up at Valik to smile at him when she noticed the figure at the edge of the clearing near the trees, just hovering there and watching her. She couldn't make out anything other than his all-black clothing and she frowned, sure she would have remembered someone dressed like that if she had seen them earlier. Her wings faltered again and this time she fell, her feet hitting the earth hard and making her knees buckle before she instinctively flapped to regain her balance, angling her wings in such a way that she hadn't known she could. She looked back up and dismissed the nervous Valik dropping down to her as she looked to the edge of the clearing again for the hybrid she had just spotted. They were gone, no trace of them in sight even when she scanned the rest of the trees near where they had been. Who were they and what had they been doing? Valik landed a few feet away from her and closed his wings immediately, nearly running over to her with an expression of utmost worry on his face.

"Kaida! Kaida, are you okay?!"

She nodded absentmindedly, carefully but slowly folding her wings back up and wincing at her now slightly more sore muscles. Valik reached her and she tore her gaze off the tree line to look at him, his brown dragon eyes wide with worry.

"I'm okay." She promised, then frowned. "Just very.....tired."

Valik frowned, thinking before shaking his head and clearing his expression to smile softly at her.

"I forgot how much effort it takes to fly." He said, sounding apologetic. "I'm sorry Kaida. I should've found a small cliff or a hill for you to try gliding first. Especially with your wings, you must have overcompensated for the damage."

She stared at him for a moment as the scar that ran along her left wing pulsed slightly before a bell sounded across the clearing and she jumped, distracted. At once, doors started to open as hybrids poured out and started walking towards the big cabin at the center of the camp, the new arrivals following the others. Valik looked at Kaida who turned her gaze off the hybrids to meet his eyes.

"Dinner time." Valik said. "Let's go!"