Mark Of The Dragon Book I: Past

Chapter 16

I landed in a chunk in the cliff face of the mountain. I turned to make sure Dramendax wasn't there, but all I saw was the huge plain. The beach was out of sight, but after Dramendax caught up to me from Kapolis, I decided it was best to take quick rests. I had drained my energy, and before I could find some food I dozed off.

I opened my eyes slowly, to see it had gone dark. I panicked, worrying I had slept too long. I got onto my feet to see I was still in the cliff face of the mountain. The sky was black, and I could barley see as far as I could before. I knew there was no time to waste, so I flew out of the outcrop and into the air surrounding the mountain. Before I could take in the mountain around me I was suddenly plummeting, being pushed down by a big, black claw. I could only see the whizzing world around me, and I could only feel three sharp, silver knives digging into my scales.

I was pounded into the ground, leaving a mud-crater. I tried to move, but the pain made my body stiff. By shuffling my wings I could tell they were broken. A quick flash of lightning lit up my surroundings, and I located my attacker. I didn't have to guess more then once to know who it was. The large black dragon proudly strolled over to my muddy body.

I half expected him to start some sort of speech, but he was silent. He raised one giant black claw over my body. Lightning flashed again, illuminating the mark on his leg. Then he struck.

I woke with a start, almost choking on my saliva. I breathed deeply, convincing myself it was just a nightmare. The sun was high in the sky, indicating midday, and there was no sign of Dramendax. I let off a sigh of relief and descended into the lower mountainous terrain to find breakfast.

After several minutes of 'hunting', I had found three squirrels that all threw nuts at me before hiding in their holes and a deer that was claimed by a large bear. My stomach was growling. I hadn't eaten since Kapolis, and I had travelled far. I stopped off at a small stream and took a quick break. After rehydrating my hungry body, I begun to stalk the bank of the stream, looking for any fish I could snap up. As the thought crossed my mind, a small brown fish swam past me, riding the current. I quickly turned and tried to fly after it. My wings failed on me, and as I fell into the water I stretched out my claws, hoping to snatch it. I felt the stones on the river bed scrape my belly, and I closed my eyes from the water. I opened one to find a little brown fish fin caught on my claw, fish still attached. I smiled, and quickly gobbled up the morsel.

Even though it was only a measly snack, it helped restore my energy. I was soon hunting wildlife with ease, striking down rabbits like a hawk. After two rabbits and a squirrel, I had had my fill. I flew up high into the air, past the trees and into the sky. I decided my route. Past the mountain was a stretch of greenery. I only hoped it was near the meadow.

After what seemed an hour flight, the sky had begun I darken. I was still heading over this large forest, mountain now barley visible. The moon was full above my head, generously illuminating my journey. The wind blowing on my body had cooled me significantly, and I knew I would need to stop before my wings were stiff. I hadn't noticed any villages or settlements of some sort, so I guess I had to survive the forest. I took one last look at my surroundings, to make sure I wasn't only a few minutes from a haven, then I proceeded to land. Which was a mistake.

As I passed through the leaves of he trees, my wings suddenly gave way, causing me to crash land onto the forest floor. Some sticky substance was weighting my wings, rendering them useless when it came I flying. I was grounded, with only very small moonlight penetrating the green roof of the forest. I decided to light a fire, to see if the goo could be removed by heat. After finding some suitable sticks, I started to rub them into a log I had found.

My claws were insufficient at creating fire from friction. "Ah, screw it." I said aloud. I tossed the sticks away and shot a few embers onto the ground. To no surprise, my fire caught and burned on seemingly nothing. I held my wings over the flame, but the glue stayed. I retrieved my wing, looked at the floor and sighed at my unavoidable doom. I had already spent an hour flying over this forest. There was no way out. The trees probably made that goo so it would trap any visitors. Wait. How would trees know how to do that? I opened my eyes to find myself in an entirely different location.

Before there was a trail of a sort to my left, and some bushes behind me. Now there was no bush, but a fruit tree and to my left was small field of flowers. My fire was no longer in front of me either. 'What is this place...' I thought to myself. I hadn't moved an inch, yet my whole surroundings were changed. I closed my eyes again, and when I opened them again my location had changed again, but maybe not for the best. The area was significantly darker, and it appeared to have a lingering fog, or haze. The trees themselves looked darker, more evil. I turned to scan my surroundings.

There were no noticeable landmarks, and the trees appeared to go on forever. The fog obscured my vision, but I knew I wasn't missing much. I began to walk forwards from the place I had transported too. The ground underneath me seemed to stay the same on my short journey forwards. The trees stayed the same, and so did the branches, except for one that made me trip over, meaning I closed my eyes for half a minute... Meaning I opened them to find myself in a different place.

The surrounding trees were all burnt white, but the leaves remained. They too were burnt white, but it would still be hard to escape. Speaking of which my wings were still immovable. The white fog was gone, but replaced by a dark one that was illuminated red by what seemed the sunset creeping through tiny gaps in the charred leaves. The ground was littered with crispy leaves and twigs, making it rough to walk on. I could tell I wouldn't want to transport again.

There was something I was missing, something about this place. I had gathered that I transport when I close my eyes, and transport to a worse place each time. But I just didn't know why. I'm sure Dragoron would have worked it out by now. I decided to start walking again, hoping that a solution would come up. I weaved through the ominous white trees in a random direction, being extra careful to not close my eyes for more than a few seconds. After a few minutes, I sat down and just began to sulk. I had no clue of how to escape, and all I could do was go to a more hellish place, probably death, or starve. There was a fruit tree before, but I didn't have the initiative to take some. There were some small holes in the tree though, I could at least check for squirrels.

I jumped up and quickly walked over to the tree opposite me, but as I inspected the hole I noticed the fog around it was moving. The red haze was slowly drifting out of it, and a shock came over me. All it took was a blink to see the hole disappear. "What? No!" I shouted to the tree in desperation. My only lead just vanished... I turned and began to stroll over to my spot before as I heard a sound.

Crrrreeeeeaaak...