The 2nd Indoraptor

Chapter 40

Ebony's POV:

I snapped my eyes open, my nostrils twitching as a nasty, yet strange smell filled my nose. I lifted my head, and blinking the sleep away, I could smell smoke. I instantly rose up in alarm, my panic spiking. Is something on fire?

I rushed to Feather, who was still sleeping in his nest. I pushed my forepaws on him and started shaking him. "Wake up, now!" I yelled. The smoke was dangerous to breathe in, and we needed to get away.

Feather then opened his eyes, all four of his pupils resting on me. "What the hell? Can't I sleep?" He growled, then sniffed the air. "Fire!" He gasped.

"That's why I was waking you up, bird-brain!" I hissed. I rushed over to Thistle. "Thistle, wake up, there's a fire!" I growled.

Thistle instant opened his eyes. He grumbled. "Is there ever going to be peace?" He sighed. He got up. "If there's fire, then it must of been some humans that mishandled their campfire," he sighed.

I ran down the hall of the house, my heart racing. If I breathed in too much smoke, I'd probably get asthma. Feather was right behind me, but not Thistle. I was at the entrance of the house, and peering outside I could see the fire.

The fire was standing tall, blazing brighter than the sun. A tree, which was turning black from the hungry flames, began to creak and crack as the wood gave away. The tree eventually fell victim to the flames, disappearing into the dancing orange and red colors.

Feather glanced at me. "It looks really bad," he mumbled. "Come on, we need to go! What are you waiting for?" He asked.

"Thistle is still inside!" I gasped. Turning, I went back into the house, wondering why Thistle was still in there. "Thistle! We need to leave, now! Are you asking for death!"

Thistle glanced back at me, his eyes shimmering with love and pain. "I promised myself I would die in this house, just as my owner had. And this is my chance," he responded. "I want to see my owner again."

I stared at the raptor in shock, not knowing what to say. You aren't being fair! You can't die now! I ran forward, but was suddenly stopped as a loud snap echoed outside. The roof above me split open, showering splinters all over me. I jumped back, moving out of the way as a large, flaming branch crashed down. "Thistle!" I screamed.

"Don't save me. I told you I promised to die in this house," Thistle sighed. He looked at a picture on the wall, which showed an old man and two kids, probably his grandkids. That was most likely the owner in the photo. The gray raptor gazed back at me, the flames reflecting in his eyes.

I curled my lips, baring my teeth. I wasn't going to stand and watch as my friend got burnt to a crisp. Crouching, I readied my haunches, then leaped over the flames. I tackled Thistle to the ground.

"Ebony! What are you doing? You're going to get killed!" Feather came running down the hall, peering through the flames. "You need to jump back ove-" he was suddenly cut off as the hungry flames devoured more of the wood, causing the old roof to collapse and fall inwards.

I quickly leaped away from the flickering flames, dragging Thistle with me. "We need to get out before both of us are killed!" I hissed. More debris fell, and a large chunk of flaming wood landed on Thistle's tail, making him stumble and fall. "Thistle!" I gasped.

"Leave without me," Thistle coughed. The smoke had consumed his lungs quickly. I grabbed Thistle by his arms and dragged him out from the debris, panting. The tip of his tail was bleeding and showed clear signs of being burnt. I allowed the old raptor to lean on me while I led him into the room at the end of the hall. Don't die on me.

"No! Wait, we have to go back!" Thistle rasped. He ripped away from my grip and scrambled into the hall, which was almost completely consumed by the starving flames. He reached forward towards the wall, grabbing the picture of his owner. His eyes began to cloud with sadness. 

"Come on," I urged, watching as the dark smoke filled the room. I pushed Thistle forward, my lungs feeling tight. The window in the room was slightly broken, but we would need to break it completely to to get out, otherwise we would burn to death.

Thistle held the picture gently in his mouth. He slowly walked over to the cough and picked up an old, muddy boot. He then made his way back to me.

I glanced at Thistle. "Is that your owner's boot?" I questioned. When the raptor nodded, I began to back up, feeling the heat of the fire on my scales. "I'm going to break through this window. Then we can get out, ok?" I then charged forward, slamming my weight into the window at full force. 

The glass shattered and then I was out, laying on the lush grass. Tons of the shattered glass fragments showered on me and sprinkled on the grass. I turned around and saw Thistle. He threw the boot out the window first, then climbed out. He stared at me. "Are you ok?" He asked.

I then noticed the small cuts on my scales and saw that blood was trickling down and dripping on the grass. I had forgotten that the glass would cut me. "I'll be fine," I sighed, standing up. "Let's hurry out, now."

Feather came running up to his, his eyes wide with shock and fear. "Ebony! Its Killer and Cilo! They're here!"