The Silver Revenge

Chapter 22: Ashes

The man paced up and down, eyes drawn to the ground and flicking side to side rapidly, as if deep in thought. He slowly counted out the ideas. His flack, silk and cotton suit was tidied neatly against his shoulders and chest, with a black tie the glistened in the ever slight light that shone through the room from a single candle. The desk and shelves inside the room were all cast in shadow, and there was a window staring out into the dying afternoon sun and bustling city streets of New York.

He looked slightly troubled, and eventually came back to a black leather chair, sitting down and crossing his legs. He drummed his fingers on the table once, the wooden echo the only sound in the room. He looked to the left, then the right, considering options that were only visible in his head.

Eventually he picked up a phone and punched in a memorized number and placed it on his ear. It rang three times. There was a little static on the other side as it was answered followed by a voice.

"Yes sir?"

"Tell lieutenant Arald they failed. Move onto plan three," the man replied with a deep and controlled voice.

* * *

The arctic wastelands stretched out, a white desert with no end and no beginning. Endless. The sun shone from above and dull grey of storm clouds approached from the east. A cool breeze washed the air, chilling anything that flew up high enough to reach it, like the occasional bird or the three lone dragons fighting exhaustion as they pushed themselves for as much speed as possible.

A blue began to appear on the horizon, and Silver couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It was the first time she had been relieved to see the ocean forming in front of them. It was a little difficult to see, as there was a substantial amount of ice on the ocean, more then last time they crossed the arctic. The snow, ice and water merged to create a strange illusion. At this distance the dragoness couldn't tell when one ended and the other began.

It soon became apparent however as they eventually reached the end of the land. This time, instead of stopping, they continued on, flying as fast as their wings could carry them. They'd flown through the night, desperately trying to escape before either Eldawin's Syndicate or A.O.D.H caught up with them. It was tough going, and Merene was struggling. Retrix was probably the least exhausted, as he alternated between flying and teleporting. He had helped Merene with it a couple of times as well, but after realising how cold it was in the void the mind dragoness had declined any more help.

So they continued on in silence, not talking or communicating in any way, passing over the border between the arctic and the ocean. Mountainous waves roiled below them, as if eagerly trying to snatch the dragons from the air. It made Silver shudder. As glad as she was to see the sea, she didn't harbour the greatest admiration for the ocean. It was dangerous, and she knew if she continued these dangerous flights then one day she may find herself in it. At least they were outflying the storm.

Another thing that continued to come back to her mind was the dead body of Thylo, rotting away in the ice tunnels of Eldawin's Syndicate. It horrified her, and she was sure it horrified the others as well. None of them had known what Merene was capable of, but then again they had never really seen her fight before. There were the few times when Retrix had attacked, but she hadn't really been help then because of his ability to travel through dimensions, but other then that nothing. It made Silver wary. Maybe the void drake had been right about her. There was definitely something strange about the mind dragoness.

For hours the dragons flew, wings battering away in resilience against the increasing wind. They had taken to flying in a 'V' formation, much like a flock of geese, cycling through the dragons at the front so that they created a split stream for each other. There was some unspoken agreement that Merene didn't take the front, as she was the weakest flyer. There was no sign of Eldawin's Syndicate, or A.O.D.H, much to their relief, and Silver was beginning to think the other dragons had given up on them. Hopefully it was so. Silver would have hated to have to fight more of them.