Anada (Book #2)

Awakening and Saving

          The dark sky above me threatened rain. I slowly stood up, and surveyed my surroundings. I was on the banks of the river. Mud clung to my blue and green scales. I blinked and wondered how long I had been unconscious. The last thing I remember was a loud explosion.

     A flash of purple lightning and a crack of thunder suddenly filled the cloudy sky. I could smell rain coming in on the wind.

     I took a step forward, and pain shot up my left leg. I looked down to see a long cut going down my leg.

     I gazed up at the stormy sky. There was nothing I could do about the weather. I had done my part by removing the bomb from the bridge.

     I turned back to the river. The only thing that I could do was retreat to the ocean while the hurricane came through.

      Thunder growled overhead again. The wind violently blew the tree limbs along the riverbank. Rain abruptly started pouring down.

     I then took refuge in the river, and started swimming down the river to the ocean. The cut on my leg stung. It wasn't a bad wound, but it still hurt. I used my wings to help me swim so I won't have to use my legs much.

     Once I got to the ocean, I found a place to rest. I snapped at a fish as it darted by. I easily caught it between my strong jaws.

     I looked up at the waves from the ocean floor. The waves tossed around dangerously in the bad weather. I was safe underwater.

      I slowly swam to the surface to see what was happening above the waves. I've seen many storms before, but they're always fascinating.

     The weather was fierce. Rain pelted down ruthlessly. The lightning flashed overhead, and thunder erupted immediately. The waves were high, and so was the wind strength.

      I saw something distantly on the horizon, but the waves blocked it. I dove underwater then jumped up and out of the water. The jump sent more pain through my leg. I didn't pay much attention to it though.

     I pumped my dragon wings, and looked out across the stormy sea to see a fishing boat being tossed around like a piece of trash. There was one light on inside the boat.

     Why is there a boat out during a hurricane?

     It was very strange. I started flying against the wind and toward the boat. I couldn't take my eyes off the it.

     I eventually got to the boat, but it was hard to fly in the stormy condition.

     I landed on the deck of the fishing boat. My talons slipped on the wet surface. There was no one above deck. I slid to the porthole, and opened it to find a staircase going down into the hull of the boat. A wave suddenly hit the boat, and I was thrown forward and down the stairs.

     I rolled until I hit the wall at the bottom of the stairs. I grumbled from the bruises that I would probably have afterward.

     Then I noticed the man sitting in the corner of the room. He looked at me apprehensively. I then stood. My movement scares him.

     The man points a knife at me and says, "Stay away from me, sea monster."

    "Actually, I'm a dragon." I reply.

     I continue, "I'm here to help you."

     "How... how can... you speak?" He stutters his question.

     I say, "That's not important. This boat is going to sink anytime soon. Why are you even out here?"

     "I got caught by the storm. I never knew it'd come in so fast." He says while staring at me.

     "Okay. I'm going to help you. I'll take you back to land." I say to him.

     "I can't leave my boat!" He has to yell over the wind outside.

     "I'm sorry, but this ship won't last. You have a family, don't you?" I ask.

     He nods quickly.

     I continue, "They need you more than this ship. Now come on! We have to go."

     He follows me back up to the deck. I hear him talking to himself from behind me.

     When I get back outside, I'm met by howling wind and blowing rain.

     How am I supposed to get this man to the mainland in this harsh weather?

     I knew I could do it. I could feel it inside me. The strength was there. It just needed to be reached.

     I'm a dragon shapeshifter! I can do it!

     I turned to the man whose name was unknown to me. He was afraid, but he was still brave.

     "I'm going to fly!" I say over the sounds of the storm.

     "What?!" He asks. I couldn't tell if he had not heard me or if he was very surprised by my words.

     I didn't reply, and instead flapped my wings. Once I was high enough, I grabbed his arms with my back feet. I heard the man scream in my grasp.

      There was suddenly a very large wave. It violently crashed over the boat, and there was no sign that the boat had ever existed.

     I pumped my wings hard. I had never struggled so much to stay airborne. The wind pulled me this way and that. The man, who's life is literally in my hands, weighs me down.

     I logged into my ultimate strength reserve. I thought of my teammates who were hundreds of miles away. They didn't know I was still alive, but I knew they would forever be on my side.

     I was strengthened by my memories of them, and stayed focused on flying. I naturally knew where land was. I continued in that direction until I distantly saw it through the pelting rain. My body was completely covered in water, and so was the man's.

     With much work and determination, I finally landed in the flooded streets of Salt Tide City. The man stumbled in the moving water around us. I breathed hard from my flight. My muscles were shaking from the extensive work they had just gone through.

     I flew through a hurricane! That's impossible!

     I expected the man to immediately find refuge, but he stayed and yelled over the wind, "You saved my life! Do you have a name?"

     "My name is Anada!" I said to him loudly. The wind was strongly tugging on my large wings.

     I quickly point to a house and say to him, "Find shelter in that house!"

     He nods and struggles to make it over to the house with a dim light. I saw him bang on the door, and a person lets him inside. It must be one of the few people who stayed behind to brave the storm.

     Once I knew the man was okay, I left and went back to the ocean. It wasn't easy though. Random objects blew dangerously through the air.

     When I was safely underneath the waves, I was able to rest. I laid on the sandy sea floor. I thought for a long time as I tried falling sleeping.

     The man, who I saved, has a family. I just saved someone's father.

     What about my parents? What ever became of them?