Shadowing Peaks - A Wings of Fire Fanfiction [Book I]

Chapter V

As they trudged through the swamp, Sparrow realized something.

"Uh, guys?" She said, getting Jackal's and Shadowflame's attention. "I don't know how to hunt in a swamp."

Jackal smiled brightly at her. "I'll teach you then!"

Shadowflame snorted. "Yeah, no, that's not happening." He flicked his tail at Sparrow. "Follow me. I'll help you."

She followed him, utterly confused. I thought he hated me.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. The quiet was starting to eat into Sparrow's mind.

"So um, when are you-" She began to ask but was rudely interrupted by Shadowflame.

"SHH!" He hissed, crouching low to the ground. "Look, just ahead."

Just beyond some bushes was a heron, walking through the marshes as it looked for fish.

"Get down!" Shadowflame whispered. "Get in a position like me!"

Sparrow quickly crouched, trying to mimic Shadowflame.

"Tuck your hind legs in more," Shadowflame instructed. "Stop flicking your tail."

Sparrow stilled her tail, shifting her back feet closer to her body. "Now, watch what I do," Shadowflame said. He tensed for a second before launching himself forward, his front claws sinking into the heron's neck. There wasn't any sound to it at all; Shadowflame didn't roar, the heron didn't squawk, and he landed silently on the grass behind the bird. Sparrow watched him with newfound respect as he jumped back over the bushes and dropped the heron at her feet.

"Pick it up and let's get back to camp," Shadowflame told her.

Sparrow bent down and scooped up the heron. "Shouldn't we keep hunting?" She asked around the feathers. This would barely feed one dragon.

"We will, after we drop this off," Shadowflame explained. "We can't carry it around everywhere; the smell of blood will make the other animals hide."

Sparrow nodded. They went the way that they had come, shoving the heron under the thorn tunnel before Shadowflame went after it to put it in the big tent. Sparrow waited outside, jumping when the thorns rattled and Shadowflame came back out. He flicked his tail, telling her to follow him, as he set off again in a slightly new direction.

"Now, the next thing's yours," Shadowflame said. "And you better catch it, or I'll rip off your wings and feed them to an alligator."

That's more like Shadowflame, Sparrow thought wryly. "Okay," she said out loud.

"Good." Shadowflame abruptly turned and kept walking.

Sparrow rolled her eyes and followed him. After maybe ten minutes, they came across a large patch of water. Multiple alligators rested in it, drifting on the surface like driftwood.

"Ooh, look, you have to catch one of them," Shadowflame sniggered. "Good luck." He slipped back into the shadow of a tree so that the only thing that Sparrow could see were his maroon eyes as he watched her.

Huffing, Sparrow looked at each alligator individually, trying to find the right one to attack. One lay off to one side, away from the rest, but it was the biggest of them all. It would be the easiest to get without alerting the rest of the congregation, but then again, if it woke up. . .

Sparrow shook herself slightly. No way Shadowflame would let an alligator kill me.

Slowly slipping from plant to plant, she made her way around the small pond. When she was just behind the big one, she pressed her stomach to the ground. Glancing back the way she came, she saw Shadowflame's eyes peering out at her.