Fight... No, Flight! - Jordan Pierce (chrysanthemum read aloud TXT) 📗

I woke up to the sounds of a battle. I crawled to the opening of my alcove. My mother, the Queen, led seventy-seven of my people in an effort to repel the humans that have raided our mountain. I spotted Avary huddled behind a rock. Her father managed to break away from the fray to get closer to his youngest daughter. He gently picked her and flew to me.

“Protect my youngest. The humans may get here. Fly away if that happens.”

“That won’t happen, right Father? No one can beat an army like ours right?”

The look on her father’s face said it all. There are too many humans. We are losing.

“Go back and fight. There’s still hope. I’ll fight, too. Jinx and I are old enough. Avary is still too young to fight.” Before the elder dragon could object to what I said, I shot out of my alcove and dove at the nearest human. I shredded him with my long claws. Like a flash, I was airborne again. I was about to swoop in again when I saw a blur of brilliant gold. The gold-colored Queen flew at me and grabbed me with a strong paw. She flew me back to my alcove and almost threw me in.

“You,” she hissed, “must stay here. I will not allow you to get in this battle. If both of us get killed, no one will be Queen. You, Avary, and Jinx need to get to safety. This battle may destroy our community, but you three can save the others. The nearest village is a five day journey if you hurry. Just fly west. You will see the mountain.”

Hellhounds jumped on my mother but she shook them off.

“I saw Jinx fighting on the ground.” Avary said. “He was keeping the humans away from Alec. He’d fallen from his roost."

“Then Jinx must have left him. Alec was the first to die.” Mother hung her head and continued, “He’s not the only one to lose his life so far. Rosemary and Chill are also dead.”

“We need to find Jinx before he is killed too. Let me find him, mother. I’ll stay high.”

“Very well Kalli. Stay safe. Find Jinx then give me a signal flare. I’ll escort you to the exit. Godspeed!” Mother launched herself from my ledge and spit her gold fire at the enemy.

I craned my head around and spoke to Avary, saying, “Stay hidden. Don’t come out of the shadows. Your ash-colored scales will hide you.” Like my mom, I jumped from my ledge, but I was in search of the third fledgling. I circled the cave thrice before I spotted the familiar build of my colorless friend. He was cornered by Hounds. I dive-bombed the three Hounds surrounding him, effectively grabbing their attention. The first one to lunge at me discovered how hot my blue flame actually was. Only its ashes reached me. The second Hellhound met my claws. Its head hit the ground before the rest of its body. The third was intercepted by Jinx. Jinx rammed it and sent it flying into a wall. The force of the hit killed it on impact.

“What are you doing down here? You need to be where it’s safe.” Jinx asked. He seemed peeved.

“My mother told me to find you. She wants Avary, you and me to escape. She said that everyone here will die. We’re losing, Jinx, and she wants us to be survivors. Follow me.”

“No. I need to fight.”

“Do you not understand? If we stay, the entire village will be wiped out. It’s up to the three of us to save the village. To do that we must flee.”

“How will we get out? All the exits are blocked.”

“Mother said that’s there’s one up at the top. She will lead us there and protect us.”

“Okay where is Avary?”

“My alcove. She’s hidden.”

We flew to my roost and I breathed a column of sapphire blue flame strait up. Soon, mother began to fight her way to us. When she reached us, I could see the full extent of her injuries. Her long neck was dripping blood and many patches of scales had been ripped from her sides. Long gashes revealed raw flesh on her legs and the end of her tail was missing. In the span of minutes, my mom went from being unharmed to being barely able to fly.

When the injured Queen reached us, her wounds seemed worse. She was so out of breath that she could barely speak.

“Come… on. You need… to get out,” she wheezed.

“Queen Anantila, you must rest. You wounds are too great.” Jinx said in a careful tone.

“No, young Jinx. I cannot… and will not rest… while my people die. Let’s… go.”

I did not object. My mother has a strong will unlike any other. Unwillingly, I flew after my mother. She led us to an exit, a small hole barely large enough for Jinx. She landed on a small ledge to catch her breath. Out of nowhere, hounds jumped on my mom. Knowing she couldn’t fight, I attacked. I dove in with claw extended and flames pouring from between my sharp teeth. I killed three of the Hounds before my mother even reacted. Avary reacted next. She used her breath and incinerated the remaining one.

“Thank you… young ones. You must go now. I trust that… you will stay… safe and warn the… others.”

Jinx and Avary went through the tunnel first while I watched my mother fly back into the fighting. So many dragons were dying. I turned and headed down the exit. When I got out, Jinx and Avary were waiting for me. They looked pained to be fleeing their only home. Suddenly a searing pain ripped its way through my heart. The others felt it too—the Queen has died.

In a flash, I whipped around and went back to the tunnel. Two hounds were tearing at my mother’s corpse. I was on top of them and killed them before they even had a chance to face me. I landed beside my mother and put my snout to hers. I gently breathed my flame into my mom, setting her aflame from the inside. Before the flames could burn her, I grabbed a golden scale from her belly and hid it between my toes. The remaining army noticed me and were advancing on me. I hissed and spat a gout of blue flame. Then I fled again.

I met Jinx and Avary again. No words were exchanged, they knew everyone was dead. All three of us lifted into the air and headed west.

Publication Date: 10-16-2015

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