Enslaved

Chapter 25

Kaida knew that they had been flying a long time when the sun started to set again, throwing colors that she had never even seen alone, much less together, across the sky. The air was cooling quickly as they flew swiftly through the clouds and Kaida strained her eyes to see the front of the line where Kajeel and Ryuu still led even after a full day and a half of nonstop flying. Kaida felt the male holding her falter for a second before the rhythm returned to his wing beats and she turned her head back to him, looking at his exhausted face. He turned his gaze to her and his dragon eyes softened, his face shifting into a slight smile which she readily returned, trying to keep the atmosphere upbeat.

"I'm glad to see that you're doing a little better." His voice rumbled in her chest. "It's nice to see some warmth in your eyes."

She blinked in surprise at him before looking back out to the sunset, still admiring the colors as she thought about his words. Had she looked so devoid of life when she had left those tunnels that everybody noticed?

"Do you think we'll be landing soon?" She asked, not looking back to him. "We've been flying for nearly two days with only one stop for food and minimal rest."

She looked back to him and this time he didn't look at her, his eyes staying on the wings of the hybrid who was flying in front of them. The stop earlier had barely even been a stop, Ryuu had only allowed them to stop because the injured needed tending to and they needed to eat to regain energy. All Kaida had done was eat a little bit and change her clothes into a forest green shirt and a new pair of black pants that fit her this time.

"I can't tell you for sure." He said, his tired voice pulling Kaida out of her thoughts. "Ryuu doesn't want us to be either spotted or caught up to and we haven't moved locations in years. I'm not even sure what's left that's safe for us anymore."

Kaida frowned and turned her head, watching where Ryuu flew with Kajeel, both of their wings still flapping sure and strong despite the long, strenuous flight. Kaida didn't speak for a while, just staring at the sky as the colors slowly bled into varying shades of black and deep blues.

"I don't believe I caught your name the last time I flew you." Kaida turned and looked at the male, who was looking at her again. "Mine name is Ejder."

Kaida blinked but offered him a soft smile, resisting the overwhelming urge to look down. She was no longer in those tunnels, she could look where she wished.

"It's nice to meet you." She replied. "Thank you for carrying me again. My name is Kaida."

Ejder opened his mouth to reply when relieved shouts erupted amongst the flying hybrids and his gaze shot back up, his wings pumping fast straight up and down to change their forward flying into a stationary hover. Kaida turned just in time to see Ryuu do a backflip midair and close his wings, plummeting down towards the forest floor, the hybrids closest to him following his lead with or without doing the backflip. Kaida hid her small smile at his show of extravagance. Ejder's wings propelled them forward once more and they flew to where Ryuu had dropped, Ejder folding his wings in and streaking into a steep glide.

Kaida gripped Ejder's arm tighter as all of the hybrids followed Ryuu's path through the air and around trees, flying in a seemingly unknown direction. The trees zipped by a hair's distance from Kaida's feet as Ejder swooped around trees and large boulders, flying with a precision that Kaida marveled at. Suddenly, a muted roaring sound reached them, something she didn't recognize and couldn't place in her memory. As they flew, the roaring grew louder and louder, putting Kaida's nerves on edge as she thought about everything that it could be. Was it a crowd of humans waiting to kill them all? Was it a real dragon? Had the Emperor sent the hybrids under his control to stop them?