The Silver Reckoning

Chapter 34: Where it All Began

A large gust of air whipped up across the face of the vast ocean, stirring up waves and knocking around a swarm of seabirds sitting on the water. The breeze whistled up high into the sky, pulling along white and grey clouds. Flying against the wind was a group of dragons, their wing beats thumping the air. It was rather strange to see such a large group so far out over the ocean.

But what was really interesting about this group of dragons were the dark shapes sitting on many of their backs. Humans. None of the dragons had any of the mind controlling devices either, but the group was large enough that any dragon hunting organisations wouldn't want to try and intercept or challenge them.

Leading the group was Iraliene, her green form glittering like emeralds in the sunlight. It had been a long time since she had left the safety of the mountain, and though she didn't want to admit it to the others, it was quite overwhelming. It was one thing to know about everything that was happening in the world, it was entirely another to see it for oneself.

Silver was flying near the front of the group, silent and deep in thought. One part of her was trying to get focused on the task at hand. They needed a way to somehow get her into the city, without causing mass panic. Even though dragons were steadily becoming common knowledge around the world, they were still considered animals, beasts, and she doubted many humans had ever seen one before.

The other part of her was still going over what had happened the previous days. She still felt guilty over her choice, but in another way relieved as well. She had been keeping it from them for so long... but now they knew she didn't need to worry about it anymore. Now she just needed a chance to make it up to Zepos somehow. She sighed, shaking her head and letting out a yawn.

"Tired already Silver?" came a voice to her side.

She tilted her head to the red dragon that had appeared, "I'm always tired Firefly."

The fire dragoness snickered softly, "It seems to be that way. It makes me wonder what you get up to at night."

A furious blush washed across Silver's face as she realised what Firefly was hinting at, "No! No not at all. I just don't sleep well."

"Oh relax, I was just teasing," Firefly laughed, before sighing softly, "You know, it's a little strange for me being out here. It's so much... warmer then back at the Syndicate."

"No surprise there," replied the metallic dragoness, turning to face forward once again.

"I know, but it was still rather different then I was used to. I'm lucky I'm a fire dragon. I could warm myself up very easily... but others, well, they had a lot more difficulty."

"I didn't think The Syndicate was that cold," Silver cocked her head.

"Inside maybe, but it wasn't uncommon to have scouts go missing in storms, and then we would find them a number of days later, frozen solid and mostly dead. Sure, dragon's can survive far harsher conditions then most other creatures, but even we have out limits."

Silver nodded her head in agreement, "It seems as though some of us forget that sometimes."

"The main reason for this war I think," chuckled the fire dragon once again, "But Sky Mountain has been a good wake up call for me I think. It's been fun getting into things once more. I had never been to China before."

"It's an interesting place, though it has a lot of humans, especially to the east. Apparently, population wise, it has one of the largest in the world."

"I know, crazy that. One of their cities has more humans than the entire dragon race. No wonder they rule the world. That many intelligent creatures, no matter how physically weak they are, would easily take an entire planet."