Apex [Imperial: Book 2]

Chapter 3

Wind whipped past me as it had only hours ago, but this time, I could not enjoy it. Everything about this journey felt wrong. Sure - perhaps learning from other imperials was tradition, but by coming with them, we were breaking out promise to Kronx! We'd promised him that we'd stay with him - and yet, we were doing the exact opposite.

Beside me, the red and gold drake was silent, his golden eyes colder than I'd ever seen them as he stared ahead of us. I coudln't blame him - these dragons had killed some of our friends, and their leader, Amaroth, had killed his mother.

At least, our unhappiness wasn't lost on the four imperials. They were constantly glancing towards us, seemingly worried by our silence.

Finally, Amaroth sighed, slowing down to glide beside Rutilus and I. With a flick of his tail, he commanded the green and black dragoness to take the lead, whilst the maroon and grey dragons remained behind us. Making sure we didn't try to flee.

"Look, I get it. You don't want to leave your wing behind," he murmured at last, staring pointedly towards us. Rutilus did not so much as glance at him, instead staring ahead of us - but I knew that he was listening to the blue and white drake. "But you are imperials. No one else can teach you what we must."

Somehow, I doubted his words. Kronx could teach us all we needed to know, and he had already taught us so much. Despite his words only hours ago, he was ancient. There was nothing he didn't know!"What are you teaching us?"

But the blue and white drake simply said nothing. Smoke curled from his nostrils as he stared into the distance contemplatively, not seeming to notice either Rutilus's or my own irritation and annoyance.

If he was going to take us away from our wing to teach us, surely he'd tell us what we'd learn!

"Memories of the past," he declared at last, finally taking notice of the way Rutilus's dark eyes flashed dangerously. Hastily, he added, "And what it means to be imperial."

What was that supposed to mean? Share his past experiences with us? I snorted, my amber eyes narrowed. If he'd taken us away from our wing merely to do that, neither Rutilus or I would be happy to say in the least. Had Kronx been aware that they'd be telling us their experiences? Would he still have forced us to go, even if?

Raising my head, I peered at Amaroth confidently. "What does it mean to be imperial, then?" 

He did not shy away from my gaze. "According to Argon -"

The moment he uttered the former Dragon King's name, Rutilus roared furiously. His golden eyes were glazed as he glared at each of the four imperials - although mostly Amaroth. "I do not care about what Argon thought."

All of the four imperials froze. Uneasily, they glanced towards each other, even as the black and green dragoness snarled furiously.

"Querra," Amaroth warned quietly, glancing at the imperial dragoness. Reluctantly, her snarl died away, but her yellow eyes still glared venomously at the red and gold drake, almost seeming to promise revenge.

I glared at her, watching her movements carefully.

"Argon was not a bad dragon," the blue and white dragon rumbled, his voice soft and quiet, but firm. Not giving Rutilus or I time to protest to his declaration, he added, "Despite some of his actions, he had good intentions - trying to focus on the greater good."

I highly doubted his words. How was killing Kronx's mate for the greater good? Not to mention all the imperials he'd hunted down, forcing them to join his wing or die.

"Now, as I said before, Argon believed that imperial dragons are dangerous. Left untreated or checked, they could easily cause the fall of empires, or taking control of other dragons," Amaroth explained, glancing from Rutilus and I. "It was that that drove him on to become the Dragon King - and control us. Force us to join his wing. At least, he'd be able to make sure nothing of the sort happened."

When he fell silent, I reflected on his words. In some ways, it made sense - but controlling all of the imperials? Giving himself all that power? If Argon's motives had really been to make sure imperial dragons did not abuse their strength and size, he would have found another way.

After all, he'd terrorized dragons with that power. For a few long seconds, I couldn't help but remember Verask, the yellow dragoness whom had detested my presence because she feared the former Dragon King. And, Argon had also killed many of the dragons - including Kronx's mate.

Nothing Amaroth could say would change my mind.

Seeming to realise that explaining Argon's actions would not change the way we thought of him, Amaroth fell silent. For several hours, we continued flying north, gliding above forests and plains and mountains.

"Look," Amaroth flicked his tail towards something in the distance.

Curious, I stared in that direction, narrowing my eyes. Within a few moments, I spotted a small human village. There were several buildings scattered around the field, all of them seemingly small and puny - especially when compared to Erakor. Several humans walked through the dirt streets, but only a few so much as glanced at us as we flew overhead.

Strange to think that four months ago, we'd purposefully avoided human civilisations such as the village. Flying above them would have only been dangerous, especially if they'd had a few dragons that they could ride and try to capture us with.

"Once, they used to stare up at us in awe," the blue and white drake's voice was nostalgic, as he glanced down at the humans. I could have sworn sadness glinted in his turquoise eyes. "Seeing dragons in the sky was not that rare a fight, but it never ceased to awe the humans. Until now."

I did not need to ask what had changed. Someone had decided that capturing the dragons and using them as slaves was a good idea. And, due to the constant contact with the humans forcing dragons to labour for them, that wonder and awe had changed. Shifted towards hate and anger, as we were brought down to be just beasts. Just beasts, that could not have any more respect than a horse might.

But... to think that they'd once stared up at the sky in awe as dragons soared over their heads! Now that we were no longer forced to do their bidding, would they finally start to respect us again? Watch us in awe, as they had used to?

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1121 words

Merry Christmas!

The next chapter should be out in a few days. Sorry for the slower updates - I'm currently in the process of editing Imperial. Whether I add the changes onto wattpad or not is undecided, after all, once its been edited, I'll start pitching it towards publishers.

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