Missions of a Dragon (An Anada Novela)

Maneuvering in Darkness

The thumping of a helicopter became closer and closer every second. A roaring of engines pursued us at a distance. The sound was similar to thunder, except it never faded.

"Are you doing alright?"

Elias, who ran by my side, replied in an annoyed voice, "Well, if I could see in front of me that would make a huge difference."

The forest around us was perfectly visible to my enhanced sight. Although I was in human form, my better qualities worked for my advantage.

We were both running because a group of bounty hunters had accidentally caught onto our trail instead of the real criminals. Meanwhile, my other teammates had already detained the two crooks. If Elias and I stopped to explain that we were not the criminals who happened to be the exact same age and appearance as us... well... we know that wouldn't have ended easily.

"If they didn't have a helicopter, I could have flown us out of here...," My thoughts trailed off as I steered Elias away from a pile of brush.

He mumbled, "Thanks."

I warned him of a log ahead of us. He slowed his pace so he could blindly reach out for it and climb over it. If we were to use a light, it would be a literal beacon for the pursuing bounty hunters.

My earlier topic came up again, "Elias, like I said before I could make a distraction by-"

"No! You're not doing that. It's best that we stick together when we have world-class hunters tracking us. Plus, I can't see a thing out here." He tripped at that exact moment.

I felt horrible that Elias was blind out there with his human vision. The moon was hidden behind cloud cover. No light existed in the dense forest. Mountains rose on our right, but it was difficult even for me to spot them through the thick foliage above us.

The growling of dirt bikes and ATVs was drawing closer. The fact that the helicopter right behind them made me more desperate. I could have run right out of there with no worries. Nothing could have caught me with my inhuman speed.

There was no way in my lifetime that I would ever leave Elias or any of my teammates behind to fend for themselves. I'd have to be dead for that to ever happen.

The two of us ran for another minute when I suddenly sensed moisture in the air. The breeze now moved from a new direction. The air was cooler and brought the scent of rock. With it was a new problem for us.

"There's some water ahead-"

I was too late. My eyes caught sight of the drop ahead of us. Elias had no definite way to be aware of the danger. As he ran right towards the edge, I wrapped my arms around him. Then we plummeted. Instinctively, I morphed into my dragon form.

My wings wrapped around Elias as we tumbled down the slope. I lost track of how many times we rolled. Crashing against rocks and slamming my body into blunt objects, I took the full force of the descent.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally hit rock bottom, literally. I crashed hard on an open rock face, landing right on my back. The breath was knocked from me. Elias's weight disappeared from my grip. He instantly fell out of my arms when I came to the abrupt stop.

Struggling for breath, I could feel that my left wing was submerged in water. Elias sloshed out of the water where he had been thrown a moment earlier.

"Anada? Anada where are you?" He bent down on his knees trying to reach out and find me.

When the breath is knocked from your body, it takes a moment to recover, especially after a painful crash like what we just experienced.