Dragons of War - Rising Storm

Chapter 16 (1/3)

The breeze so high up was a constant pressure against my left side. It pushed and shoved with a relentless force. But right then I needed it. The weight something I felt like I cloud lean against as my mind lost all focus but to what my eyes were showing me.

Far up along the side of the cliff, the next level above my own had many dragons gathered on top of it. But I was only interested in one of them.

He sat there, his tail wrapped around his forepaws, his head turned towards a dragon that must have been Ben, in deep conversation. His scales were a pale green, and he had a long pointed snout. When it turned and met my gaze I was locked in place.

Aaron had a way with him, even as a dragon. I missed that way.

It was the first time since I had changed that I saw Aaron as a dragon, yet the look in his eyes remained the same. I wasn't sure if it was disappointment, anger, or fear, but I knew one thing. He wanted nothing to do with me now. A rock formed in my chest at the thought, but I could not turn my eyes away, no matter how much it hurt.

Like a hole in my heart where the love used to be. I knew what it was like to be alone. I knew better than anyone how badly it hurt to lose family. Yet there we were. Right next to each other, still alive yet as strangers now. The rock in my chest turned into a hot coal that felt like it would burn right through my chest plates.

It seemed like, for a moment, his eyes flickered, as they lingered on mine, and then he stood and walked out of view. I remained locked in place. There were voices and words all around me but I toned them out.

How could he just turn away? Was it that easy for him? Should it be for me?

The thoughts burned in me until I felt a rumble like a growl in my chest. Before the thoughts could smolder anymore, however, my locked gaze caught sight of something new on that ledge. I eased out my held in breath and my attention shifted completely from the past, to that moment.

The form in front of me seemed to absorb the light that touched it. Their scales had very little shimmer and were pure black. Their head was bare of horns but they had quills of some sort and small horns that covered the base of their skull. Another dragon then blocked my sight - but a glimpse was all I needed. It wasn't the sights that caught my attention. It was the aura.

I had not felt anything like it from a single dragon there. Not even Devini. I was beyond intrigued. Yet they were perched on the ledge that suggested they were only a year two dragon.

Who were they? I had met only a few of Aaron's group, and I had seen none of them in their dragon forms accept Ben just moments before. Could it be one of them? All I needed was a glimpse of their eyes and I would know.

Before my thoughts could conjure up anything more, a strong voice broke through.

"Jaya, are you paying attention to me?" Fred called out and broke into my thoughts.

"What?" My head whipped around to glance at him. It whipped back to catch another glimpse of that black dragon, but they were already lost behind the rocks above me.

"The training exercise, it's about to begin, and the goal is to learn coordinated formation flight. As you can clearly see from the mess around us, it's not an easy task and it is one of the more serious exercises we do every day, at the end of the day."

My head slowly returned to Fred and I noticed that everyone around me, including Fred, had risen to their feet.

"Once we get in the air you will see the formation we take. I want you to get in the back of the line so you can see how everyone else flies." Fred told me.

I nodded my head and then he glanced around at the other Warriors. When he noticed the two that were missing, he hissed and jumped down to the rock below him. He stepped up next to me and glanced down to where Cole and Baliey were still wrestling. His eyes betrayed the annoyance. Clearly, this was not the first time for them.

Fred shook his head and then a loud roar echoed down the canyon walls from far above us. All the dragons lifted their heads to the sky, myself included, and watched as the dragons already there, formed into coordinated groups and flew in unison.

Moments later and the sky filled with every dragon that was perched on the very top of the cliffs. Some small, most normal-sized, but then one of the largest dragons took to the sky, and the sound their wings caused, made me shrink down from the pressure in the air. The size of a single one blocked out the sun for a full minute, and then they were far enough in the sky for more, normal, dragons to follow in their wake.

One after another, dragons rose into the sky above my head, until the air above us was filled with them. It was like a hurricane of beating wings. I noticed at the very top of the formation, Tony flew. There was a small group right behind him, and then a gap. The next group was only slightly larger, and then another gap. The largest dragons between them. The next group had many more dragons in it. The one that formed next comprised of most of the dragons above my head.

I watched as Aaron and the rest of his group rose in the air to join the next wave. My eyes caught sight of him, and followed him for a moment, before I then saw that black dragon take their place at the back of their group. My curiosity only grew. My eyes remained locked as long as I could keep them, but the storm above me was too much and the black dragon became lost to the fray.

One more large wave rose in the air before Fred finally lifted his wings to the sky and took off.

Following his orders, I lagged behind until all the other Warriors had taken to the air. Cole and Baliey noticed the wall of dragons in the sky above them and rose to meet Fred once he'd taken to the sky.

The last in the line, I took flight but as my head swung around to look for any other dragons behind me, I realized something.

I was the last one.

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