Finding The Red Dragon

I lost her.

"Ella?" Sal called her name for the hundredth time. Where was she? He had checked every inch of the yard, the field, and the front lawn, but she was nowhere to be found. Would she have run off? No, not Ella. She knew the rules.

"Everything ok? I heard you calling for Ella." Bo met him in the hallway, as he checked her room again. "No, I cannot find Ella. Have you seen her?" "No, not today. I know she sneaks out to be alone in the garden sometimes, did you check there?" She did? Huh, Sal had thought she had been holed up in her room this entire time. Sneaky girl.

"I checked there. She was in the back, doing something with her camera earlier, and she was supposed to come back in and find me, but she never came in. And I cannot find her anywhere." Sal ran his hand through is hair and Bo immediately went on alert.

"She would never take off." Bo said as he grabbed his shoes from his room. "I will help you look for her. Maybe she fell asleep somewhere." "Maybe." But Sal had a feeling something else was wrong. Could Ragnar have done something to her? Sal's heart raced harder in his chest, he had to find her.

Before long, the entire house was searched again and everyone that was home was now in the woods looking for her. "She would never just wander off." Sal told Ivan as they checked in with Leif. He had not seen her, nor had she contacted Thyra, so Leif came out to help too and Sal could see the concern on his face.

Sal was starting to lose his cool when Mel yelled from the woods. "Sal, over here." He waived and Sal took off running towards Ragnar's house. He prayed to all that would listen that it was not his friend's doing. He would kill Ragnar himself.

There standing just inside the woods behind Ragnar's place was Mel, holding Ella's camera. "Sal, it's wolves, I smell them." Mel sniffed and Sal's body went ridged. "Fuck. Ivan, go alert Allan. Mel, get the others, we must find her. In pairs, no one alone." He barked out orders as he looked around for prints.

What did wolves want with her? She was no one of importance. How had they grabbed her and not a single dragon had scented them? How long were they watching her? Millions of questions filtered through his mind and for once, he knew how Ella felt. Oh, sweet Ella, what had they done!

"Sal." Leif had walked up to him and pulled him from his thoughts. "Wolves took her! Their foul scent is everywhere! I knew it was not her wondering off. I just do not understand why though?" Sal was panicking that he had lost one of their own.

"She's human." Leif answered, his own voice tight with fear. "There has to be more than that. They attacked her in town, and that means they are not just out playing around, there is a reason they took her. They planned this. Leif, we have to find her." Sal felt sick as he looked at his dragon brother. Ella was out there, alone with wolves.

What if they had already killed her? Sal's blood went cold with the thought, then a fire burned through him, igniting a deadly fight. They would all pay if they harmed one hair on her hair.

"Lets go, the others will catch up." Leif stepped into the woods and Sal followed without a sound. There was no need to speak, every single one of them had the same goal in mind, find Ella.

The men tried to follow the scent and footprints, and some even took to the sky, but it was confusing, as they just ended up going in circles. There were to many scents, and they were jumbled. The wolves knew what they were doing, this had been planned. It was not a simple grab and go.

The footprints led in so many directions, that after three hours, they still did not have a clear path and there was no sign of Ella at all. They were wasting time, just as the wolves had planned. This had given them plenty of time to escape with her.

Sal stressed more. How were they going to find her? He was getting desperate. He had never lost a member of the weyr, and he was not ready to admit defeat. Especially not on sweet Ella.

A new determination set in as Sal stomped through the underbrush, looking for any sign of her. He just kept walking, and when he came upon the big ridge, he crossed over it, and there in front of him was a massive field of white lilies, and in the middle laid a giant red dragon.

Sal's heart dropped. Not him too! Sal took off running as fast as his legs would take him towards the downed dragon. Please do not be dead, he thought over and over.

"Go away." The deep voice growled the minute Sal was close. "Thank God you are still alive." "Go away." He repeated as he blew out a breath causing the lilies to lay down and then bounce back up.

"Ragnar, are you still competent?" Sal approached the subject gently. "Of course, I am you traitor. I remember everything you did. Leave before I tear you apart." Ragnar growled again, but Sal ignored him as he walked closer.

"Put it aside Ragnar, Ella is in trouble." "Not my concern." "The wolves took her." The words were barely out of his mouth before Ragnar was on his feet, steam coming from his nostril's as he stood at full height.

"Where? When." His eyes glowed bright and his teeth were bared in a fierce snarl. "Sometime this afternoon. She was in the yard taking pictures, then she was gone. We found her camera by your place, and the scent of wolves was all over it. They have been in our woods Ragnar. They have been hunting her." A deafening roar left Ragnar, that even shook Sal.

"We will find her, or I will tear every one of them limb from limb." Ragnar's voice boomed across the field as he jumped with enough force to shake the earth and then he was off, into the sky, flying fast and hard.

"Follow him. I will get the others rounded up. Looks like we are going hunting." Leif shifted and took off back towards the house, while Sal shifted and flew after Ragnar, who now seemed unstoppable.

Sal knew Ragnar cared for Ella, and this just proved it. Maybe all hope was not lost. Now they just had to find her. And with Ragnar's help, they just might.