Dragons of War - Rising Storm

Chapter 19 (2/3)

The dragons above me flew in such an erratic, yet controlled way. It was sickening. How, without question, they simply obeyed. Mindlessly, and thoughtlessly. That was how it worked. That was the only way it could.

With my new focus and intent in mind, the path became clear. The human part of my mind released control, and instantly I beat my wings.

"Jaya, remain at ground level and wait for your group to rejoin you!" Luke's direct command came at me but I hardly heard it. I didn't care what he wanted. Why should I? They were playing their games, and I wanted no part of them.

My lips pulled back, I angled my head to the sky and began my ascent. Every beat of my wings took me higher, and thicker into the mass of forms around me I rose. But I no longer cared about hitting them. The Dragon in me knew how to fly far better than I did.

I was in a sea of confusion and zooming forms. Dragons sped past me on almost every side. Some went up, others down. They were above and below me. Not a single one flew in the same direction, or speed, as me.

I mentally distanced myself from the clutter in the sky, until the sounds of the various thoughts above me faded into the background. All that remained, was the pure intent that bled through. Like a path lit up in the sky, I felt the way every group was headed. The space between them so clear and obvious, it was like a whole world had opened up to me.

I beat my wings and rose through the mess. More words pounded against my mind, this time with much more intent and direction at me, but I ignored that as well.

The path I took lead me directly up. The sky seemed to open up and the higher I rose, the less dragons surrounded me. With the pack behind me, I rose even further. A tall building on my left flickered with my reflection as I rose alongside it, and after only a couple more beats of my wings, and I was high above it.

A small group of dragons that sat, perched atop that building, turned their heads to the sky to watch me. I didn't know what they thought, nor did I care. They were there to control lesser dragons.

I was not one of them.

The sky open and empty around me, I felt the weight of everything that had happened, wash away. I was free.

"So what, you decided rather than be remembered as the latest blackout, you'd make them remember you for ignoring orders?" The voice cut through my silent mind and my head whipped around to see a pitch-black form rising to meet me.

"Omega? What are you doing?" I called out, the human part of myself returning.

"You looked lonely up here," he replied.

"So what, compassion is enough for you to get into the same trouble as me?" I shot at him, frustration building. I was an uncontrollable fool, I knew that before becoming a dragon.

At eye level, Omega paused in flight, his large wings able to hold him there for a moment, and he watched me with an intense gaze. A silence dragged out, as he hovered there, and suspicion rose in me. What was his reason? My eyes caught a flash of pink and, his chest exposed from hovering, I noticed a wide gash that ran down from his neck, across his chest, and underneath his right arm.

A scar?

"The commander is going to be pissed. You'll probably get away with this scot-free. Me, on the other hand, he'll probably put me on some shitty job as punishment." There was a mixture of dread and fear in his words.

"Then why follow me?" I demanded.

My eyes went back up to meet his and he leveled out into a glide alongside me.

"...You were right, before." He began, "I am bored."

Surprise shot through me as my memory went back to when I'd said that. But we had trained in tandem many times after that without interaction, so...

"What changed?" I asked, not completely convinced.

"I just want to have fun with someone for once," he replied with a reserved tone. Still, I felt him holding back, but this time I also felt something else. An honest desire.

I turned my head to the sky in front of me as my thoughts turned. He was hiding something, but did it really matter?

The horizon tilted from my view as my left-wing closed and I dropped in the sky.

My dragon half didn't think so.

The air whizzed by my head as I dropped in the sky. I could feel the pressure of another form nearby and I knew Omega was following. We would see for how long, though.

The dragon mass below surged around us as we sped down. Buildings passed in a flash, forms were nothing but a flash of color. The only sound was of the force of our fall. It was peaceful, there.

My wings flared, I soared across the sand at breakneck speeds, and Omega followed behind me without breaking pace for even a moment.

If I had lips to smirk with, I would have right then.

My eyes scanned the surroundings. The dragon pack around no longer an issue, I had only the path to choose to make it a real challenge. It wasn't hard in a place like that, though.

I zoomed through the waves of dragons all around us. Omega followed on my tail with perfect accuracy. Without the group to lead him, or me, I knew we had the same ability. Whether he was following on my tail or not, he displayed the same awareness to the packs around us. Why, I wondered, was it only us?

Just getting started in the race, I ducked my wings and shot past a group just before they sped by, cutting off the path between me and Omega. He continued on directly above me, avoiding the groups as we went along. A large building rose up ahead of me and I ducked in the air once more to avoid it. I could feel the approach of a group right around the corner and I flipped in the air in order to avoid them, my belly up as they zoomed past above me.

The near miss almost perfect - I then had to pound my wings to gain enough height to avoid a quickly approaching fallen tower. I managed to scrape by it and rose in the air again, unfazed, but a loud thud behind made slow and turn my head back around.

Omega, not so agile, had slammed into the building chest first but managed to stay in flight. He shook his head to regain his composure and after a moment, he turned his sight back on me and narrowed his eyes.

It was less of a chase now and more of a challenge. Perfect.

I snarled at him in taunt and then pounded my wings against the air. Up through the ranks, past wave and wave of dragons, back into the high skies we went. Groups zoomed by, over and below me, but I knew exactly where to go and not a single one bothered me anymore.

Why had I even worried about it in the first place?

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