25 Chapter 25

We've been traveling for almost four days and Minca still hasn't said anything since we first took her with us. She's scared and can't seem to come to terms with her situation yet. "Zavi, can you move this log over?" Xyon tapped a particularly giant fallen tree and I sighed.

"What makes you think I can lift that much?"

"You're a dragon."

"So?"

"I can tell you're not going to." He gave up and sat down with his back to the downed tree. "That's fine. We don't need to get too comfortable anywhere."

"Talking like that when you're trying not to be sad makes you depressed." With my quip he shot me a glare.

"I know. Hasn't she been a bit too quiet over there?" He nodded to Minca.

"Yeah. Been silent this whole time." She's an incredibly innocent young demon girl...too bad she's afraid of everything.

"There's a town a short walk from here, so don't go flying around."

"Don't treat me like I'm a hatchling. I know better than that."

He raised a brow. "You do, but it doesn't mean you won't anyway." He knows me too well. I simply can't get over how amazing it feels to fly. "On that topic, I was thinking of heading to that town to get a map and whatever else I find. I'll take Minca with me...all I need to do is cover her horns." So he still isn't confident around her, but he'd rather be with her than wandering around alone.

"Fine by me." I settled down and placed my head on my crossed paws, closing my eyes to rest. "Go interact and leave me here to sleep. You're heavy."

"You sound whiny."

I scoffed at him, smoke curling around his feet. "You would too if you were carrying two people combined with their clothes and food." Since when did he get so close to my face though? He's gotten too good at using his dark magic unconsciously. One of these days I'm going to accidentally smack him when he pops out of nowhere.

"Yeah, yeah, now it sounds like you're snappish." I sighed, deciding to ignore him. "Minca, you're gonna be coming with me. Get something to hide your horns." They left quickly, hoping to be in and out without problems. Right...well, let's at least dream that goes well for them. This grass is so soft...I like this so much more than growing up in a frozen wasteland. Way more comfortable. The breeze brushed over my scales, the warmth sending a shiver down my spine. Are we that far into the continent already? I may be immune to drastic temperature changes, but I can still feel the difference between warm and cold. It shouldn't be this...it just got hotter. Suspicious, I cracked open an eye just enough to see. My muscles quivered, prepared for anything. Something's off. A roar shook the ground, an enemy diving right for me. I flipped over, locking talons with a crimson dragon. Why is he attacking me?! My scales! I look like I'm from the water tribe! When he blasted fire, I countered it with my own, the heat singeing the grass near us. He looks to be a few years younger than my father. The shock on his face showed when he let go of me and stumbled away. I got to my feet with a supple movement, flaring my wings high above my back, my front paws close together and my hind paws spaced apart. This was a move my mother taught me in case I ran into a dragon from the fire tribe...how lucky that I paid attention. Using this stance is meant to show that you will not fight unless you have to, but you won't back down either.

Looking at him again, he's a beast. He has so much muscle that you can see it rippling under his scales when he moves...his shoulders are wide and he's built like a brick. How did I stop his dive?! Maybe I dueled my father one too many times. "How do you know that stance?!" There was a hint of respect in his gold eyes.

Unsure what else to say and not wanting to lie, I said, "My mother."

The much larger male dragon stood to his full height and watched me closely. "Why would a dragoness from the water tribe have learned a fire tribe battle tradition from their mother?"

"I'm not water tribe. I may look like it, but I can promise that I am not."

His eyes locked on mine. "Your eyes speak to that truth, but your scales say otherwise." Now what do I do? Xyon could be back any moment and there's a hostile fire dragon in front of me. "Show me the highest temperature your fire can reach. Prove your words." Sounds easy enough. I eased into another position that had my body a bit more supported. Inhaling slightly, I let loose a stream of flames at the ground that started red and slowly but surely morphed into white, then turned purple. Knowing I could go further, I relaxed, creating my perfect blue fire. Oh...I feel dizzy. I had to stop or risk passing out. His eyes shone brilliantly. "Impressive. Even I haven't learned to breathe white, let alone purple or blue. I'm being pursued, so I have to apologize for not staying longer. I am Kathgar. Remember that name, young dragoness." He flared his wings and vanished, fleeing farther inland. If he was being chased...did he lead them here?! I ducked down and crawled over to the trees, hiding in the shadows. Ah...it seems the ground I used turned to glass. Amazing. The whoosh of wings made me squeeze my eyes shut and hope to not be found. I'm no match for another dragon...not yet, anyway. After the clearing was quiet again, I slid back out and curled up on the spot of glass. So warm. How did this happen? I know that sand turns to glass...were there sand particles mixed in?

Well, it probably isn't as strange as how he suddenly dropped in, threatened me, told me to breath fire, said he was being chased, then left. There sure are a lot of creatures outside of the freezing tundra I got used to. So many interruptions...how does anyone find sleep in this place? I spent another hour or so simply lazing in the sun with my wings stretched out. This feels so good. My healing magic may have become stronger than my mother's, but I'm beginning to wonder if it was actually as great as I thought it was. I could've sworn it held more power at some point...when did it weaken? A nagging feeling barged in on my thoughts--see, no true rest. Wait...how long has it been? Shouldn't they be back by now? Forcing myself to stand up, I tried to see if they were coming back. No luck. Would it be good to look for them? Or could that make whatever's happening worse? Beginning to stress over my cursed indecision, I began pacing, my wings flaring randomly. Xyon...did he accidentally show his beastkin blood? Did they see Minca's horns? Far too overwhelmed to stand it, I shoved off, letting the wind catch me and carry me higher. I don't like being alone...I'm scared for so many reasons. Do they need my help? Would I be interfering? I have to know! With a glance, I confirmed their bags were still on my back, the last deciding factor. I'm going to look for them. Adjusting a few minor struts, I went forward, scanning the ground carefully.

The movement of the animals made my talons tense, a barely manageable urge to hunt them coming to surface. Not right now. I kept my eyes moving, panic crawling into my mind. "Zavi!" My wings locked up and I almost fell out of the sky. Xyon! I dived, slipping through a gap in the trees to land in front of them. "What were you doing?!"

"I was just--"

"Nevermind, try this." He had shoved something into my mouth when I tried to respond. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so close. Salty sweetness flooded over my tongue when I bit it. Is this what I think it is?! "A shopkeeper gave us two of them for helping fix his cart. That's why we took longer than we thought." Watermelon! Not very many others at the orphanage like this, so it was always me and a few friends who shared them…! Huh? Did I just remember something?

After swallowing, I said, "That was good, but don't do that again. This place has so much more going on than back home...I didn't even know what to think when you took so long getting back." I had gotten ahead of myself earlier and automatically assumed the worst rather than believe in him. If I had gone back for Xyon that day, could I have fought easier?

"Calm down. Nothing's going to happen to us. We have to go farther in before you can take a break, you idiot." I wasn't taking a break! I snapped at his legs, but he didn't even blink. Instead, he tapped my snout, saying, "Feisty. Seems to be a bit too much fire in there...we'll have to figure out how to tone down the flames." Minca seemed worried about the situation--just as always though, she kept quiet. "Hurry up and let us on. They were getting suspicious, us being strangers and all." I sighed and crouched, watching them closely as he first lifted Minca onto my back before climbing up himself. "We're good. Get going." So demanding...I'll yell at him for it later. I shoved off, pounding my wings down to provide enough lift to carry them and the new supplies. The trees rocked from the force of the blast and I dashed skyward. What's in that bag anyway? I rode on whatever pocket of air I could find, trying to prolong my flight as long as possible. You know...I want to go back to see what happened to my mother, but I'm too scared to look back at what I might find. It's so painful to be unable to do anything. I'd done reasonable during that fight, right? No, I was in the way. After a few hours, as the sun was just barely vanishing behind the mountains, Xyon broke the silence with, "Minca's asleep."

"Is she? I'm glad that she's able to relax, but until she tells us more, we won't know anything for sure."

"What are you trying to say?"

I sighed, twizzling my neck to look back at him. "Do you know the closest settlement we can leave her in? I'm worried that taking her with us for too long will endanger her life."

He crossed his arms for a moment, saying, "You sure you're a dragon?" I'm more dragon than human recently, but nevermind that.

"I don't know...I kinda met this kid in the woods who threatened wolves with a stick." He smacked me half-heartedly.

"I'll take a look." He reached into the bag they'd brought back with them and pulled out a map. Narrowing his eyes, he placed his finger on the parchment to scan it. When he found it, he shook his head doubtfully. "We would have to go south in a few miles."

"And how far is a few miles?"

"Well...it seems you should come across a town that was made into a fort in the past due to wars. It's amazing how much info is jotted down on here...that merchant guy sure has been places."

"What merchant?"

"The one we helped back there. He marked areas that weren't on the map and added notes."

That's an awfully generous thing for a merchant to do. "So go directly south, or what?"

"Direct. The land is wide so you can get to it by just heading in its general direction. Although, going that way right now would be idiotic and get us lost. So you need to keep flying west until you see the fortified town. It'll look different from all the other ones, so it should be relatively obvious." Sure, you're not the one who's flying.

"Stay awake with me to make sure. I don't know what that looks like, you know."

"Oh! I forgot...how'd I forget something like that?"

"I don't know, just do it." Maybe there's still more human in me than I realized...how else would something so obvious slip his mind? Aware of the waking nocturnal monsters, I flicked my tail and went higher, trying my best to avoid them. "So...are you mad at me for taking her with us?"

He sighed, patting my neck. "No, not really. I was irritated and startled, but not much else. It still bothers me to be around others--believe it got worse when I moved into your cave back then."

"What, so it's supposed to be my fault you're antisocial?!"

"Yep."

"Hey, I'd have you know that it wasn't my decision for you to move in!" I bounced in the air and he tightened his grip before laughing at me. "What now?!"

"Heh, you remind me of some of those girls I met once. Hard to see you as a dragon when you talk like that." I bit my tongue nervously. How bad would it be to tell someone, even one I trust with my life, that I used to be human?

"You should refrain from teasing a dragon until you've got a pack behind you, at least, and not one that can be scared off by a five year old waving a stick."

"You're still going on about that?!"

"Of course. It's entertaining to see your reaction. I mean--who else would turn red as a tomato when I say that?" This time he punched me as hard as he could. Due to my scales, I felt the impact without pain, but he started waving his hand around and blowing on it. "That hurt? Try it again, maybe it'll hurt less." Xyon grumbled at me for a minute then moved on, checking the map again.

"Zavi, it seems to me that all the territories of the dragon tribes are on different corners. Practically none live primarily in the center. As long as we make it to this neutral area, we should be fine." I twisted my neck to look at him and he turned the map towards me. "From what I can tell, we should be getting close. What do you think?"

I scanned the paper carefully. "I'm not sure it's that easy. The center is human territory, that's why there aren't any dragons. If we go too far, we'll get caught eventually…"

He frowned, saying, "Well...would you rather be caught by a tribe of dragons, or a human kingdom? Those are our only two options."

"Uh, how about neither."

He nodded, troubled, then hooked his eyes on something. "Hey! Slow down and look over there!" I flared my wings and followed his arm to where he was pointing. A green dragon was gliding a ways off, making our hearts pound.

Looking closer, I sighed in relief and relaxed. "It's a lime green dragoness...her eyes are dark green. Not the one we're after."

"Really? We should still keep our distance though...remember what the other one said before? Other dragons don't like this at all." They really don't.

"Wasn't I called an abomination? I'm not sure…"

"Eh, don't worry about it. Either way, we'll be fine. Just keep going and stay away from her." I already know that. Rather than yell at him for repeating, I cast my eyes to the ground to watch.

After about six minutes, I asked, "Xyon, is that the town you mentioned?"

"Huh? You mean that dot over there?" Oh, I guess it's still too far off. Getting tired and wary of being watched, I sped up, startling him. "What are you doing?!"

"I want to get there quickly and I can feel eyes on me. Can you see anyone?"

Faintly, I heard him gasp, then he tapped my shoulder to say, "Dive! Go now!" Set to a panic, I closed my wings so fast they made a loud slapping sound. I dropped just in time to dodge an attack from something I'd never seen before.

"What is that?!"

"I don't know! Get us in the forest!" It came in for another strike, giving me a great view of its strange appearance. It looked like...I'm not even sure! It had the body of an owl, the face of a cat but with a cruel hooked beak, only two legs but with gnarled cat paws, and weird furry feathers. It's twice my size! This thing is terrifying! I rolled out of the way and blasted it with fire, too panicked to do anything more. It screeched angrily when we vanished under the trees, struggling to follow. I kept my wings clipped and tried to remain focused on where I was going. All it took was for it to swoop down over us to make me slam face-first into a tree. In pain, I groaned and slid to the ground, very certain I couldn't fly anymore. "Zavi! Are you okay?!" Minca joined him as they hopped off and ran up to my head.

"Ugh…" I'm so dizzy. "Both of you, take everything off my back and hide with it. I can't fight while I'm protecting all of this…" Nor with all that weight. The creepy owl-cat thing was screaming and tearing at the top of the trees, urging them on. Xyon bit his lip but did as I asked, getting Minca to help untie all of it. "Hide over there and stay quiet."

"Zavi, let me help you!"

"I'll be fine. You need to make sure Minca stays safe long enough to get her home." He grabbed her arm and led her off without arguing. Well...if I make it out of this alive, he's so gonna tear me a new hide. As I watched them leave with a strange feeling of emptiness, I was suddenly grabbed from above and yanked upward. I held back a scream, hoping not to have Xyon end up out here. Even if we're strong together, we have to be strong when separated too or it's useless. It snapped at me and I twisted around, narrowly dodging it. Pulling myself free, I zipped around it and roared, forcing its attention on me. Peeved, it charged at me, striking with both its talons and its beak--even slapping me with its wings. I moved around the attacks and bit one of the wings, drawing a pained screech from it. Unexpectedly, it jerked me closer with it, wrapping its taloned paws around my waist and squeezing. I bit back a roar, clawing at its stomach. Ugh...I can't breathe! Out of nowhere, it dropped me like it'd been burned, screaming about something. A flash of green entered and left my vision at the same time, then came from beneath my falling form.

"Hold on!" The green dragoness from earlier was supporting me, keeping me in the sky. Now that I can see her closer, her scales are actually closer to emerald than lime. Brilliantly stunning, really. "Can you fly?" I grunted at her and opened my wings, shoving away from her. Why is she expecting to get from helping me?

"Why?"

"Can we save it for later? I'm a little busy right now!" She flicked her wings and spun around the monster, spitting something at it. When the substance touched it, the creature reacted the way it did earlier. Not ready to be disqualified from my own fight, I growled and sent an ice spike through its leg. Damn it...I'm still too dizzy to aim! "I'll distract it while you attack! Does that work for you?!" She's annoying...she came out of nowhere and is telling me what to do! Woah…! The dragon part of me is practically rearing to rip her throat out! Putting it aside, I decided to work together and started firing off ice spikes. We did this for ten minutes without fail, but then it made a weird gurgling sound and faced me, completely ignoring the dragoness. No matter what she did, it was me it was after. Its pitch black eyes stared into me, sending a chill down my spine. "Hey, watch out…!" Her warning slightly too late, it appeared in front of my face, its talons extended towards my eyes and chest. Caught off guard, I freaked out and blasted a stream of white-hot fire at its face. It jolted away from me, letting out a blood-curdling scream as its face started to melt. I blinked at it as it suddenly went quiet, falling silently. The fall put out the flames and luckily didn't start a fire, but now I had another problem. My breathing was screwed up and my vision wonky.

"Xy...on…" I began to lose strength in my wings when she showed up behind me again, grabbing my spine spikes to hold onto me.

"Careful! Let me help you down." Just as she offered, she lowered me back to the tree I'd crashed into. She set me down gently, alighting beside me. "Hey there. I saw you fighting and stopped to watch, but then you kinda got grabbed...it didn't look good, so I figured you needed some help. Oh, and I'm Petra. How about you?"

"I'm...Zavi…"

"Zavi? That's short for something right?"

"No…"

"Really? I thought water tribe names were longer than that. It's a pretty name though!" She paused and tilted her head. "I might be a bit lost...can you tell me where I am? I intended to wait until you were done fighting and all but had to assist, and…" She's very chatty. Weary, I looked at her then closed my eyes, not ready to talk yet at all. "Oh, sorry. If you want to rest I can just go find someone else...uh…"

"Wait...where are you...trying to...go?"

"You'll help me?! Thank you! You see, I got separated from my fire tribe friend and can't figure out where our meeting place is." She couldn't possibly be talking about…

"Kathgar?"

"Yes! You know him?! Wait, you're not one of the dragons who were chasing him right?!"

"No...I'm not." I glanced at the forest, noticing Xyon and Minca watching us from a safe distance.

"Oh good! I was worried for a moment there!"

"Petra."

"What?"

I worked myself up to my feet, meeting her eyes and taking a deep breath. "What is your opinion of humans, beastkin, and demons?"

"Humans can be annoying, especially when all you wanted to do was help and they start trying to kill you. As for the other two, I think they can be somewhere between sweet and downright evil all at once." One thing I discovered is that a dragon can't lie--even if they passed a lie detector, their eyes always tell the truth. She was looking right at me with all of that and hasn't told me a single lie. Way too innocent. I nodded and Xyon started coming closer with Minca. "I mean, really, I just want to help. Everyone has always gotten mad at me for it...you're the first to not yell at me! Thank you!"

"Sure. In return, help me carry my friends to the town and I'll show you your meeting place."

"Your friends?"

I gestured to Xyon. "Them." She turned her head to look, seemed surprised, then got excited.

"Are you on an adventure?! Is it fun?! Where are you going?!" Her seemingly endless energy is making me feel even more exhausted.

"Taking her home. Can you carry the bags?"

"Of course!" Xyon warily set everything in front of her, then hurried over to me. He helped Minca get on as fast as he could so that it would be his turn. "Oh! So cool! Like that you can still fight but take them home! Brilliant!" Wha….? A dragon who likes the idea of people sitting on my back?

"Uh, Petra, do you know what that thing was?"

"The monster? It was a cawl. They're nasty creatures that only eat meat! Even dragons are omnivorous, you know?"

"Yeah." I tested my balance, then used the tree for support so I could take off. She followed close behind, humming to herself with the bags clutched in her paws. Well, that'll take some weight off for a while. I led her closer to the town before finding a place to land in the area nearby. Wow, there sure are a lot of forests in this world. Petra smiled and set down next to me, placing the bags in front of me. "Thank you."

"Yep! So can you help me?"

"Yes. There's no way I would make you do all that and not return the favor."

Xyon took Minca and hopped off before saying, "I'll take her to the town to find somewhere to stay."

"Alright." And leave me all alone with this dragoness?! Seriously?! He took the bags and guided Minca away, abandoning me with Petra. Why?! "So. Where was it you were supposed to go?

"To the border of the fire tribe territory. I think it's somewhere around a demon-run kingdom, but I'm not sure."

"Ugh. If that's the case, then we're going in the same direction."

"Really?! Then can I tag along with you?!" I hesitated, feeling kinda sick.

"If you can carry the bags and Minca. I…" Darkness clouded over my vision and I stumbled, falling.

"Zavi! Are you okay?!" She fussed over me, trying to figure out what was wrong. As her voice became more and more muffled, I was made aware I was falling unconscious.