Imperial

Chapter 23

Fire caressed my wing, its flickering fingers soothing the membrane. Over the course of the past few days, it had been gradually healing the broken bones. Not too long, and I would be able to fly again.

Soft wing-beats echoed through the cavern, accompanied by the rustling of sticks and leaves. Blinking open my eyes, I peered towards the entrance of the cave, watching as Rutilus hovered in the air, clutching a large branch in his talons.

Not saying a word, he drifted towards me, silently setting the branch down in the fire, enabling it to keep blazing for a few more hours.

"Thank you," I murmured, watching as the red dragon draped himself across the stone nearby, enjoying the fire's warmth. "I take it that Kronx is still patrolling the mountains?"

The bright red dragon dipped his head, his molten gold eyes holding mine for a second. "I saw him when I was getting the branch, he appeared worried about something."

"With good reason, too," a sonorous voice echoed through the cave, and I whipped my head around towards the entrance once more. Somehow, despite his massive size, the dark blue dragon had crept up on us silently, regarding us with glowing silver eyes. "I am sure you both remember my battle with that other dragon?"

Exchanging a confused glance with Rutilus, I dipped my head. It was hard not to forget Kronx's quick, but epic battle against the white and blue dragon called Amaroth. One of the Dragon King's imperials.

"By now, he would have reported the whole thing to Argon," the dark blue dragon explained, flicking his tail uneasily as he leaped down into the main cavern. "Thankfully, I doubt that Amaroth saw you... But nonetheless, you will both say in here for the next few days."

"Why?" Rutilus's gold eyes were bright with protest.

"Because Argon has been sending more dragons to keep an eye on this area," Kronx snarled, silver eyes darkening. "If his imperial dragons see you, he will come here himself."

"But... why?" The bright red dragon still appeared rather upset at the prospect of having to stay inside the cave. "Why would Argon come here? I know that I'm an imperial, but..."

"Don't get me wrong, Argon would be after any dragon upon finding out that they are an imperial," the dark blue dragon drew his head closer towards Rutilus, breathing heavily. With a snarl, he retreated towards the back of the cave, and waded into the warm water. "But he would be here long before then if he finds out that you two live here with me."

Rutilus drew away, his golden eyes widening. Even I stared at Kronx in confusion, waiting for him to elaborate. Already, my heart was pounding against my ribs as I awaited his answer - why would the Dragon King come here the moment he found out that we were with Kronx?

Yet the older drake was in no rush to answer.
Settling down in the water, his silver eyes took on a misty sheen as he stared into the distance.

Flicking my tail uneasily, I leaned closer to the fire. Warm heat flared across my scales, relaxing me ever so slightly. Glancing across the cavern, I could see Rutilus remain still, watching Kronx intently. Sighing, I turned towards the dark blue dragon once more. The fire's warm gold glow glistened against his dark blue scales.

"Centuries ago, Argon banished me from my Wing," the dark blue dragon suddenly spoke, his voice mournful. Even as I watched, his silver eyes darkened as he continued. "He warned me to stay away from other dragons. And for several centuries, I obliged. Until you."

"Why help us?" Rutilus shuffled uneasily, although he held the bigger drake's gaze steadily.

"Many reasons. Both of you were - and still are - utterly helpless. Did not even know how to breathe fire!. Had I let you continue as you had been, you'd either both be dead, or captured by humans," Kronx flicked his tail, silver eyes gleaming. "I also decided that I would not bow down to the Dragon King, even if he is stronger than me."

"Thank you," I murmured softly, whispering quietly. For he was right; had he not offered to help us several weeks ago, we would most likely be back among the humans again. Or dead.

Like Soriak.

What had happened to the pale green dragoness? She had obviously not gone down without a fight, but eventually, she would have been brought down. Whether the humans killed her, or caught her, I did not know.

Stiffening, I turned back towards the dark blue drake. "When can we rescue the others?"

"The others?" Kronx turned towards me, silver eyes glittering with his confusion.

"The other dragons at Fehïrk - where we came from," I explained, still keeping my voice quiet. There were at least two dozen dragons there, still dragging coal across fields in heavy wagons. Dragons who still ate the pitiful scraps that the humans fed them of a night. "We need to rescue them."

A loud rumble emanated from the dark blue dragon, as he studied me disapprovingly.

"Consider it incredibly lucky that you escaped," Kronx growled, shaking water droplets off him as he stormed out of the water. His massive tail lashed back and forth, and he glanced towards the cave entrance uneasily. "You escaped. They did not. You might as well accept it."

Never had I seen the dark blue dragon so perturbed.

Confused, I stared at Kronx. Did he not want us to rescue the other dragons? Surely it would not be quite so big a fight if three dragons attacked the small desolate fields. Despite home to many humans, we had the advantage of being able breathe fire!

We needed to save them!

Silver eyes blazing, Kronx stared between Rutilus and myself. "You think dragons have not tried to rescue other dragons before? Wrong! All of them ended up being captured themselves," he snarled, still swinging his tail dangerously. Striding across the cave, he halted in front of me, smoke trailing from his jaws.

Scales crawling uneasily, I shuffled away - away from the fire that was healing my wings faster.

In a softer voice, the darker blue dragon continued. "I understand that you want to rescue your friends, but unless you want to end up among the humans again, I'd highly advise against it," observing me carefully, he stepped away, retreating to the other side of the cave hastily.

Rutilus stared after Kronx with wide eyes. "But -"

A hard look from the dark blue dragon silenced him. "Do not talk of this again."

*~*

1109 words

Wow, this was a little bit late. Admittedly, I did have a little trouble writing some parts of it, but still! Next chapter should be out much sooner!

On the brighter side, I have edited more chapters - up to chapter 10! Yes, some of them still need quite a bit of work, they are much better than they were. :)