The Silver Reckoning

Chapter 8: Strange Freedom

Silver flew hard that night, jerking this way and that in the strong ocean winds and struggling to stay aloft. It had been a long time since she had done any sort of real exercise, and she still hadn't fully recovered from the previous day. Still, she flew, refusing to let up. She needed to get as far away from that place as possible.

Even so she knew she would have to rest soon. There was no point in escaping if she just collapsed in exhaustion and drowned in the ocean. With her wings aching for a rest and her breath coming in slightly ragged gasps, she continued to fly. A mist of rain had begun to fall as well, nothing too bad. But it didn't make flying any easier.

A large black shape emerged in the distance, causing the dragoness to falter in the air, gulping slightly. It looked like a large human ship in the darkness, with a strange mound in the middle. For a moment she considered turning around, but flying back toward A.O.D.H was definitely a bad idea. Maybe if she flew high enough then she would be able to pass over without them noticing.

Hoping she was right, she flapped her wings a little harder, sending her higher into the sky. The burning in her joints was getting close to unbearable now, and at one point one of her wings seized up, causing her to snarl angrily. She managed to catch herself again before she fell, but it worried her. She wouldn't last much longer out there, not as she was anyway.

As she got closer to what she thought was a boat, she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't a large ship; it was a small island that was hard to see through the misty rain and darkness. Without a second thought Silver folded in her wings and dived down toward the island in eagerness. It had rather white beaches, illuminated by the rather pale moonlight, and a small mountain, more of a hill really, with a forest of welcoming palm trees. It was maybe a kilometre long and half that distance wide. How she mistook it for a human ship she had no idea.

She grunted as she came in for half a crash-landing on the sandy beach, sending a spray of it into the air. For a moment she just laid there, her exhausted wings spread out on either side of her chest moving up and down with each fractured breath. She was exhausted, more then she realised. She was lightheaded and the world seemed to spin around. Her eyes began to close, and before she knew it... everything descended into darkness.

* * *

Consciousness slowly began to come across her, and the first thing she realised was the fact she was moving, along soft ground. Being dragged was more accurate. Which was also strange. Since when had she ever been dragged anywhere?

Her eyes slowly opened, and she hissed slightly when a piecing light shone directly into her eyes. Strange sounds also echoed across this strange place. Bird calls, and waves crashing in the distance, heavy footsteps. It was like she was... outside. And that was when she remembered, remembered her escape from A.O.D.H, and collapsing exhausted on the beach. Then why was she being dragged?

Her eyes widened as she looked down her stomach to see a large metal hand gripped around her tail, dragging her across the beach with little care as to what happened as it did. A snarl rumbled through her and she quickly pulled with her tail, the fear and refusal to get captured giving her a sudden burst of energy. The robot mech had a tight grip on her however, and the head of the thing turned to look at her.

"The dragon's awake," the human inside spoke into his radio.

Silver hissed and opened her mouth, shooting a ball of metal into the cockpit of the machine, causing a large dent and making it stagger backwards. Unfortunately it didn't let go of her tail. The dragoness quickly rolled to her feet and tried to pull herself free, digging her claws into the sand and pulling hard. The sand offered little grip however, and the far stronger robot simply dragged her backwards, lifting her into the air.