“This is very familiar,” Ray taunts. “Except this time I will not let you go.”
The rocks coil tighter around my neck, crushing my throat but leaving me unable to cry out in pain. Air desperately tries to reach my lungs, but the rocks are too tight. Hot tears run down my cheeks as black dots dance in my vision.
I create a glove of water around each hand and punch Ray in the jaw. He crumples to the ground in front of me, hopefully unconscious. The rocks around my neck break and fall off harmlessly as his head hits the grassy ground, allowing me to gasp for air. My throat aches like hell, and I cough with each breath.
“Hazel, we have to go!”
Marco’s voice breaks me out of my thoughts as he runs towards me and pulls me to my feet. Although he looks terrified at my condition, the need to get away is more urgent than asking about my wellbeing. Aqueous ducks his head between my legs and shuffles me onto his back with a pained grunt. One of his eyes is closed with claw marks covering his back and neck. He’s missing several scales and blood pours from his open wounds. Still too out of breath to say anything, I give him a quick hug as he dashes away from the battle scene. The bodies of the Wyrms are strewn everywhere, and Winter is halfway up a tree with one wing contorted at an unnatural angle. She hisses at us as we run by, fury blazing in her blue eyes.
Bluey leads the way as we rush through the dense forest, his blue feet sticking out amid the green foliage. Drea keeps pace with Aqueous, her teeth stained red with blood but otherwise unharmed.
“Are you okay, Haze?” Marco asks.
“Yeah,” I croak.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you, but I had to help Drea.” He pats his companion on the back lovingly.
“It’s fine. I handled Ray,” I answer, my voice hoarse.
“I noticed. I’m proud of you, Haze.”
“Thanks.”
* * *
“We’ve got to be careful around here. Camp isn’t that far away so we could still be spotted,” Marco says, glancing behind his shoulder fearfully.
I do the same, worried that Ray will jump out once more. I don’t know how long he’ll be unconscious. My entire body aches from our fight. It hurts to speak and pain has been shooting up and down my back so I have to hunch over. I hope that I can recover quickly. Luckily my sprained arm didn’t affect the fight too much.
My companion winces as a tree branch hits him in the face, reminding me of his eye injury. I hope that he will heal quickly too; I don’t want him having to travel in pain for the rest of the way, no matter how close or far we are.
An excited bark from Bluey breaks me out of my thoughts. He propels himself into the sky, looking into the distance with his tongue lolling out.
“What can he see?” I ask Marco.
“I’ll find out.”
Drea flaps her wings once and shoots up into the air. She looks so graceful as she glides; it’s almost as if she had been born in the sky and never left it. A pang of jealousy creeps into my chest. I’d love to be able to join them. Aqueous looks up at the two dragons in the sky longingly, obviously thinking the same thing.
“We’ll get up there one day.”
Aqueous snorts in reply, straightening out his wings and flapping them half-heartedly a few times.
“He’s looking over at Aria. It’s huge from up here,” Marco says as Drea floats down to the earth again. The white dragon cocks her head to one side as my companion continues to stare at the sky before rolling her pink eyes in amusement.
“Hey Haze, you wanna have a go on Aqueous?” Marco asks, noticing the sad expression on my dragon’s face.
“Do you think we’re ready?” I ask excitedly.
“I think so, yeah. If we were still at camp you’d be learning how to fly at some point. Aqueous has nearly fully matured now so he can do it.”
My companion perks up immediately at the thought of flying with me and kneads the ground excitedly.
“You think you can teach us?”
“I taught you for your first year; I’m pretty sure I can teach you to fly.” He winks at me flirtatiously.
Sharing a determined glance with my companion, I reply: “Go on, then. But shouldn’t we keep moving?”
“We could move faster if you and Aqueous could fly.”
“If you insist.”
With an excited clap, Marco begins the lesson. “Okay, Aqueous, you probably won’t get far off the ground this time, so just focus on getting used to Haze’s weight, okay?” My companion nods.
“You trying to say something?” I joke, pretending to look hurt.
“Pfft, no way. Aqueous, flap your wings a few times until you gain some momentum, then rush forward and leap off the ground.”
With a grunt, my companion starts to flap his wings and sprints forward, leaping off the ground and staying airborne for a second before dropping.
“Well done.” I pat my companion on the back, but he doesn’t look pleased with himself.
“Come on, you weren’t going to get it on the first try,” Marco chuckles, trotting up to us on Drea’s back. “You need to get used to flying with someone on your back first.”
My companion snorts but then suddenly perks up and swivels his ears behind us, growling softly.
“I think someone’s coming,” I murmur.
“Time to get going. No time for flying: run!”
Needing no more encouragement, the black dragon rushes forward, dodging trees and foliage as we desperately try to make it to safety. The drum of footsteps is now loud in my ears. Sucking back a breath and gaining the courage to look back, my mouth almost hits the ground at the sight of Winter thrumming behind us, her broken wing tucked behind her back. The blue and white dragon looks furious and ready to kill us if she catches anyone. Ray must still be knocked out. Winter must have come after us on her own for revenge.
“We have to fly!” I shout to Marco. “She can’t fly with a broken wing!”
Marco nods and Drea leaps into the air, leaving Aqueous and me behind. My companion prepares to propel himself into the air when I’m lifted off his back and flown into the sky. Carrying me in his arms is Bluey, who looks pleased with himself. The red and blue dragon clings to me tighter as I slip, but the angle he’s carrying me at makes my back throb horribly.
An angry roar down below signals Winter’s inability to follow us into the air. The blue and white dragon skids to a halt and snaps her teeth at us above, rearing onto her hind legs and boxing as if we were right in front of her.
“We got away,” Marco breathes, flying next to Bluey with Drea.
My companion comes up on the other side, looking concerned as tears flow down my face. My back feels as if it’s going to break; I want to be let down.
“Can we go down now?” I gasp.
“Looks okay. We’ll go there.” Marco points to a thick group of bushes down below, not noticing my pain.
The glide down to the ground feels like forever. When my feet touch the ground and Bluey drops me I collapse onto the earth, clutching my back with one hand.
“Haze, are you okay?” Marco rushes beside me, hoisting my head onto his lap.
“My back really hurts.”
“Did Ray hit it?”
“I slammed against a tree.”
“Shh, it’s okay.” He gently massages my back, but it doesn’t seem to relieve the pain. “I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Hopefully,” I sniffle.
“We’ll rest here for now. I think we cleared enough ground that Winter won’t find us. For now I think you need to stay out of the air.”
My companion kicks the ground in frustration and snarls at Bluey before storming off into the forest, his black tail swinging back and forth. With an eye roll, Drea nods at Marco and goes after the black dragon.
“Why did he go?” I ask.
“I think he really wants to fly with you.”
“I really wanna fly with him too.”
* * *
My companion returned pre
tty quickly after he stormed off into the forest, but he’s still annoyed. He’s avoiding everyone’s gaze, lying on the ground with his head resting on Drea’s leg. I feel bad for him. I know he desperately wants to fly with me, to show me his little world from above, but I’m not ready yet. We both have injuries that need to heal first, and I don’t want him to overexert himself.
“Hey Haze, you hungry yet? The deer is almost done.” Marco flicks his wrist and dims the fire underneath the cooked deer.
My stomach growls in reply, making him laugh. Drea managed to catch a deer for us. I was surprised when the white dragon dragged the limp body of the beautiful creature behind it. Its soft brown fur was stained with dry patches of blood, and its eyes were dull and grey. It’s enough to feed all of us, including the three dragons, which I’m thankful for. I don’t want the dragons going hungry when they’re using up the most energy travelling.
Drea licks her lips hungrily and stands up abruptly, knocking Aqueous’ head away. She approaches the deer carefully and tears a leg off, her mouth drooling profusely.
“Hey, save some for everyone!” Marco scolds.
Drea snorts and trots underneath a tree, tearing into her meal.
“We better get in quick,” I muse, watching the other two dragons eyeing up the food.
“Yeah, luckily I’ve saved us a bit.” Marco passes me a small hunk of meat.
As we eat I think of Braith. I hope we find her soon. I miss having her around, annoying everyone and making jokes.
“How do you think Braith is doing?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I dunno. I hope she’s fine.”
“Me too.”
“Luckily I am.”
The new voice makes us all shoot to our feet. Braith and Damayanti step out of the shadows and wave.
“Oh my God!” I rush towards my friend and hug her tightly.
“I missed ya too.”
As I pull away, I bombard her with questions. “How have you been? Why did you go? Where have you been?”
“Calm down, I’ll tell ya. Can Damayanti have some of the leftovers?”
“Go for it,” Marco invites.
Damayanti nods thankfully and plucks the remaining meat off the bones, chewing loudly as she eats. The three of us settle down on the log by the campfire.
“I’m sorry for leaving you guys,” Braith says.
“Don’t worry about it; we’re all alive,” Marco jokes.
She shoots him a playful glare. “I know, but I still feel bad for leaving. You two must have been worried sick.”
“Yeah, but you’re back now, right?” I ask fearfully.
“Right,” she agrees. “I didn’t realise how close you guys have been behind us all this time. I only noticed because of the fire. Came to check it wasn’t Ray or some randoms.”
“Yeah, we already bumped into him.” I shiver at the thought of the fight with him.
“What happened?”
“He ambushed us in the forest, a few miles back. Brought a bunch of Wyrms with him as well. Luckily we took them all out before it got too bad,” Marco explains, chewing another mouthful of his meal. “We managed to get away. Winter chased us for a while but I think she gave up once we flew away. The dragons have quite bad wounds and Haze has a back problem, but we’re okay apart from that.”
“Shit,” Braith breathes, staring into the fire. “Glad we missed ’im.”
“Anyway, are we on the right track?” I ask.
“The right track?”
“To the lab?”
Braith perks up. “Oh yes! We’re not far now. Damayanti and I have already reached our cabin.”
“Your cabin?”
“When Draca first picked me up he dropped me at a cabin not far from the lab. That’s where I stayed until I went back to Aria. It has electricity and running water and shit; it’s great.”
“Then why are we still sitting in a forest, then?” Marco sighs.
“I dunno; it looked cosy, that’s all. Come on, we’ll lead the way.”
Damayanti trots next to her companion happily as they lead us through the dark, dreary forest. Somehow at night it looks far worse than it does in the day. Little eyes keep popping up around us, watching us trek through the dark trees. I keep on the lookout for red eyes in case the Wyrms have already found us after what happened earlier.
We quickly duck underneath some low-hanging branches and push through a wall of thick-leaved bushes before the cabin comes into view. Although it’s dark, I can see that’s it a large log cabin with thin-paned windows. It’s surrounded by a garden of flowers and small bushes. Smoke pours out of the chimney above, filling the air with a crisp, dusky tang.
“Here’s my abode!” Braith announces, pushing the door open with a grunt. “The doors are a bit stiff, but you’ve just gotta put some back into it.”
On the inside the cabin is huge, all connected by one big room. The kitchen with a marble countertop, a fridge and an oven is squeezed in the corner, with a group of green sofas and soft chairs in front of it pointing at an old dusty television. The floor is made of pale brown wood, with a few worn green rugs scattered around.
“You two can take the floor,” Braith laughs. “The bed is mine.” She leaps onto a king-sized bed behind the television, snuggling contently into the duvet.
“Gee, thanks,” Marco rolls his eyes. “I think we’ll take the sofas.”
“Are you sure? The floor looks pretty comfy…” she teases, stroking it with a foot.
“I’m pretty sure.”
Although the sofas are a bit hard, it’s much better than sleeping in the forest. It’s too easy to get ambushed out there; I felt too vulnerable.
“Do you wanna watch some TV?” Braith flings herself next to me on the sofa, resting her head on my shoulder.
“What channels do you get?”
“I get the news and a few movies.” She reaches over and plucks the remote off one of the other sofas and turns the television on.
Instantly an image of a green-scaled Primordial Dragon painting appears on the screen, narrated by the artist explaining his work.
“Looks kinda like Draca,” Marco comments.
Draca reminds me of the vision of Marine, and how scared she looked. This vision was different to the others. She said more, and looked more scared than before.
“Hey, Braith?”
“Yeah?” My friend turns to me, her grin fading upon seeing my serious expression.
“Have you seen any visions of Frost recently?”
For a few seconds she says nothing, before sighing. “I was afraid you’d say that. You saw Marine, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but it was different this time.”
“I asked Draca, but he didn’t want to talk about it.”
“How come?”
“I dunno. He got defensive about it.”
“But I thought he sent us those visions?”
“Me too, but I guess he didn’t send that one.”
My heart beating in my chest, I ask: “What do you think it means?”
“Maybe that the Original Elementals are actually trying to contact us.” She twiddles her thumbs absent-mindedly, lost in her own thoughts.
“But can they do that?” Marco asks. “Draca said he created those visions for you, not the Original Elementals.”
“I dunno,” I sigh, rubbing my eyes tiredly. “There’s too much to figure out.”
“Did you notice what was on her face?” Braith asks, making me jump at her sudden question.
“You mean the blue blobs?”
“They aren’t blobs,” Braith gulps. “They’re Wyrms.”
26
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Hey Mase, did you see where Ray was going today?” Rocky asks his friend, who is wiping dried blood off Fortune with a damp cloth.
“No,” Mason grunts. “I don’t really care. Those fucking Wyrms did a number on Fortune today.”
Rocky grimaces at the sight of the usually regal white and
gold dragon. Half of the scales on one side of his face are missing, and small red puncture wounds cover the exposed pink skin. His mouth is covered in claw marks, and the dragon is missing several teeth. The Wyrms attacked him for no reason, it seems – just wanted something new to practise their attack moves on.
I’m glad it wasn’t Cerberus.
“I saw him wander off towards the entrance,” Rocky murmurs. “I think he was leaving.”
“Good riddance.”
“Not forever. What if he found Hazel and the others?”
This makes Mason freeze for a minute before he continues scrubbing. “They’ve proven that they can handle themselves.”
“I still worry. Hazel is only seventeen. I doubt she even knew which day was her birthday.”
His heart pangs at the thought of his sister dead in the woods, but he can do nothing but bury that horrific image. After all, he decided to stay.
“You need to stop beating yourself up over it,” Mason scolds, seemingly reading his mind. “Hazel has obviously proven she can look after herself, plus she has Marco and Braith. You didn’t go with them, and there’s nothing you can do about it now.”
“I still wish I had.”
“Sometimes I do too,” his friend admits. “Anywhere would be better than here under Ray’s regime. Oh, speak of the devil.”
Rocky follows his friend’s gaze as the blond boy storms towards them, his jaw bruised. It’s been knocked slightly out of place.
“I have been looking for you two,” Ray spits, his eyes blazing with anger. “Your little group got away from me today, and now you will pay.”
“You found Hazel?” Rocky’s blood runs cold at the thought of Ray hurting his little sister.
“She and Marco escaped again. So, on the way back I started thinking. Why should the rest of you be allowed to walk free?”
Mason and Rocky swap worried glances.
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