Wings of Fire • Dragon of Secrets [2]

Chapter Eleven

Brisktail shuffled backwards, trying to get some space between him and the dragon. Is he safe? Is he aggressive? How can I tell? All these thoughts swirled around in Brisktail's mind faster than a tornado.

     Upon closer inspection, the dragon appeared to be wearing a flat ring of leather around his neck. The leather had pouches attached to it. His talons were big, and the dragon appeared to be made of pure muscle.

     The stranger snorted. "What? No thank you?"

     Brisktail face-taloned. "Of course you can speak Dragon, it's not as if someone's running out of ideas for this - wait, what?"

     The dragon slapped his tail on the ground. Brisktail was taken aback by the action yet the friendly tone of the dragon's voice countered the odd gesture. "Speak normally, jeez. I can't understand what language you're speaking. Do you even know Dragon?"

     Brisktail's eyes widened. He had been speaking Forest for so long that he had unintentionally used it without thinking! He suddenly remembered why he left and felt a need to distance himself from the PineWings.

     "Y-yeah, I can speak Dragon. What in the name of fish are you?"

     The dragon seemed offended. "Only the most fearsome gatekeeper in the entire Underground!"

     Another dragon came up behind Brisktail. "Knock it off, Beetle, you know that's not true," he teased.

     Beetle, the dragon that had warded off the smilodon, slapped his tail on the ground again. "Boulder, I swear, one more peep from you and I'll-"

     "ENOUGH!" snarled a new voice. Brisktail spun around and had to squint to see in the harsh reflected light of the tundra. Another dragon, this time with much longer horns and an old, droopy face, stalked out in front of Brisktail. "Who are you, what are you, and what are you doing at the First Gate to the Underground?"

     Brisktail opened his wings slightly, ready to fly away. "I don't know if I should tell you these things, um... if you'll excuse me, I'll just be on my way now..."

     The wizened dragon shook his head. "I can't let you pass. You're going to have to come with me. Boulder?"

     Brisktail roared in anger as talons pinned his wings to his sides and lifted him over a dragon's – Boulder's – back. "Let me go!" he snarled, kicking and flailing.

     Beetle, the first guard, shook his talons in a calming gesture hurriedly. "Don't fight! We'd rather not have to knock you out. You're going to be taken to a prison before we can have someone come and take a look at you. Hey! Boulder! Don't you think this dragon looks kinda similar to-?"

     "Be quiet!" Boulder, the second guard and the one who was carrying Brisktail, hissed: "That's forbidden! Remember?"

     Brisktail twisted his head around to look. "What's forbidden?"

     Beetle shrugged as they walked. They seemed to be heading closer to the lake. "Eleven years ago this dragon came by here and-"

     "If you don't shut your mouth soon I'll fire you!" the old dragon leading them growled. Beetle thoroughly shut up with an "Eep!" and they continued. They came to the base of the claw-rock formation bordering the lake. There was a large boulder. The old dragon stepped on a lever and the boulder rolled away, revealing a gaping maw that looked like it had been clawed into the rock with a dragon's bare talons. Boulder dumped Brisktail onto the snow. He sat up with an undignified squeak and he was pushed inside.

     Torches lined the walls and a wide staircase led down. The dragons ushered Brisktail between themselves along the stairs. Brisktail looked up and saw countless drawings of dragons and elk herds and owls and mammoths spiralling across the ceiling. The carvings looked ancient, and they gave Brisktail the feeling that he was looking back thousands of years.