The Silver Dragon (Unpublished, unedited version)

Chapter 11: On the Run Again

Silver and Zepos made their way north as fast as they could, dodging human interaction and hiding from any dragons they saw on the way. Going was slow and most of the time they spent either high in the air or low on the ground. Silver still hadn't perfected a metallic dragon's camouflaging technique, but she was good enough to stop her shell from shining out their presence, which helped them a lot.

Zepos's injuries didn't help. The yellow dragon tired easy and occasionally some of the healing wounds reopened. They had long since abandoned the bandages that had wound around him, knowing that they were way too bloody to be of any use anymore. But he never complained.

The difference in him surprised her. Back in the dragon valley he had been a carefree nuisance. Always trying to flirt. Always trying to show off. Thinking he was the greatest thing in the world. But now, as they flew, he seemed almost mellow. He didn't try to talk, or flirt, or annoy her in any way. Maybe it was the seriousness of the situation but somehow Silver didn't think so. He had changed. She had to but nowhere near as much as him. Through the blood on his scales she saw other wounds, scars of fights. Glinting scales that represented newly grown ones, suggesting many had been torn off. The year had been hard on him, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for the lightning dragon.

They reached the sea eventually and stopped on a remote beach with very little evidence of human activity. Zepos cleaned himself in the ocean, sending wads of red dragon blood through it, before stepping out a shaking himself. A dragon could handle quite a substantial amount of blood loss, but she was still worried it might be a little too much. He assured her it wasn't, and the two fell to sleep.

As morning came they set out over the ocean. Silver hoped it wouldn't be a long flight. She hated the sea. Every time she saw it she couldn't help but think of her desperate flight over the ocean a year ago, when she had almost given up. It scared her to think of such things, but the blue mass off ocean in front of her scared her more then she liked to admit.

Zepos took the lead once again and they flew, close together. His wounds had closed over the night, but every flap of his wings endangered the chance that they would open again. Flying up along side of him Silver suggested something.

"Once we get far enough out of Australia we should rest for a couple of days, just while you heal," she said to him, shouting over the wind.

He looked at her and nodded his agreement. It would be better then continuing with how they were going. If anything they were lucky to be still free at the moment. As much as his body hurt, his mind was stronger then it ever had been.

To Silver's delight it didn't take them long to spot land. Hundreds of islands appeared in the horizon, stretching out for what seemed like forever. The large island in the middle was populated, that she could tell, but the many small islands around the area seemed scarce.

The two of them quickly rose high into the air, hiding their bodies in clouds, while gazing down at the landmass below. Their keen vision allowed them to spot the thousands of humans down in the city and where they were in the country. There was no place to land that would allow them to hide safely. She looked at Zepos.

"Let's keep going," he said, "There's other islands out further we can try."

So they flew on, keeping high in the clouds. The problem with flying so high is that it was harder to get oxygen into the body. It exhausted you far quicker then normal and while Silver could deal with it quite well Zepos was having trouble. A small island caught their view and she pointed it out to the yellow dragon. He nodded again and together they flew down to it.