The Elves of Loth

Chapter Ten

When Aspen-leaf finally reached the Tharwin caves, the sun was rising, warming the forest with its fiery touch. Ducking her head, to avoid low-hanging branches, she approached the cave, calling out in the gentle tone she always used with Fire-flight.

“Hello? Fire-flight?” her call was answered moments later by the thundering of paws followed by a large, scaly head ramming into her chest. At first she thought it was Red-rock’s dragon, but as it affectionately nuzzled her, she realised it was just Fire-flight having been separated from her for the longest time in her life. “It’s okay. I’m here now.” She assured, fingers running over Fire-flight’s scaly back. The poor creature had probably been terrified to have been separated from her even for a day.

The creature backed up, tipping her head to the side as if trying to get a good look at her. After a moment, Fire-flight leaped forward, crashing clumsily through the trees, tail thrashing back and forth with each thundering step. As Aspen-leaf charged after her, she realised how much her dragon had grown, now bigger than a horse.

Together, they raced across the large slice of stone that made up the ground around them, Aspen-leaf ducking under bare trees while Fire-flight simply crashed through them. Nearing the treeline where the stone ended, Fire-flight began to change, scales shifting from a dull grey-brown to the deep, rich green of the woods.

Mouth agape and eyes wide, the young elf followed her dragon through the pine trees and occasional oaks that surrounded them. She leaped over fallen logs, dodged boulders and ducked under sharp branches as the hill’s decline became steeper. Where was Fire-flight going?

Soon, she had her answer. Brushing away a thorn branch, she followed Fire-flight into a sunlit clearing filled with summer butterflies. The young dragon turned to Aspen-leaf, looking very pleased with herself. Memories swirled around Aspen-leaf, reminding her of the training session they’d had there only a few days ago, when Fire-flight had been tiny. Aspen-leaf’s dragon was clearly eager to train, but this clearing wasn’t big enough for what she had in mind.

“Very clever, Fire-flight, but I’ve got a better idea.” With Aspen-leaf looking exited and Fire-flight looking confused, the two headed into the woods, descending once more until they reached a much larger clearing, his one bordered by a cliff. It was hard to demonstrate flight when she, herself couldn’t fly, so she tried to flap Fire-flight’s so that she would get the idea. The idea of flying seemed like a novel concept to Fire-flight and progress was slow, but at least it wasn’t nonexistent as it had been before. Slowly, Fire-flight was getting the idea that she had to flap her wings while running and leaping into the air, but flight still hadn’t occurred. In an attempt to encourage Fire-flight, Aspen-leaf raced her, wanting to show how important speed was, but still, the dragon wasn’t able to take off. Collapsing on the ground in annoyance, the young elf found herself staring at the way her dragon’s scales changed colour to mimic their background, wondering to herself why none of the others had mentioned that. Was it unique to Fire-flight?

“I’ve got a better idea.” Frost-raven’s voice sounded from behind her, making her jump a little in surprise. The elven-year-old was the only elf Aspen-leaf had ever met who could sneak up on her like that. Approaching, Frost-raven gave a cautious look to Fire-flight, the dragon responding with a friendly nudge. “My grandma always used to say ‘you can’t write without a pen’.”

With a confused expression settling onto her face, Aspen-leaf nodded, encouraging her companion to get to the part where that applied to her situation. The young girl paused, mouth open but no sound coming out, as if second guessing herself. Maybe it was Aspen-leaf’s pressing gaze that finally made her speak.

“Maybe, if you can get her to jump off, her flight instinct will kick in.” Frost-raven looked hesitantly up at Aspen-leaf before adding, “It’s worth a try.” The young girl smiled as she always did when she came up with something. Aspen-leaf gave her a doubtful look, unwilling to send her dragon over a cliff with no knowledge of how to fly. It took her a while to agree, running the scenario over and over in her mind, but eventually she gave a nod.