To the Eldest! - Jordan Pierce (best books for 7th graders TXT) 📗

those whom were killed. Let us spread the word of the attack. I want my swiftest flyers to race to the other cities. Cobolt, where do we meet?”

 

Cobolt lifted himself a few feet and glided closer to the crowd. “I have told my people to meet on the Eldest’s back, on the highest ridge. There we will have no worry about humans.”

 

“Very well, you and your friend go back down. We’ll handle the sky-dwellers. While you go to the ground communities, my warriors will advance to the Eldest’s highest ridge.”

 

“We’ll meet there again. Thank you, Queen Lyna.” Cobolt motioned me to follow. We flew down until we were below the clouds. Then we leveled out and headed to a huge mountain range that can be seen from almost anywhere. We flew as fast as we could for the rest of the day. That night we landed on an island in the middle of a large lake. We nestled down and slept.

Chapter 6: Queens do Fight

 

I woke up just before dawn, feeling anxious. There was no wind. I lifted my head and tried to scan our surroundings, but it was too dark still. I hauled myself to my feet and spread my wings to feel for heat. I could feel Cobolt’s heat from where he lay, I could feel small mammals as they emerged from their dens. I could feel two humans watching us from the tree-line, but there was no sign of their Hounds. I nudged Cobolt with my tail until he woke up.

 

“Why did you wake me so early?” He asked. I silenced any further questions by wrapping my tail around his snout. I motioned in the direction that I sensed the humans and whispered one word: man. Cobolt’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared. We both whipped around when we heard bushes moving. The two humans stepped out of hiding and approached us. One held a lantern above their heads, the other struggled to drag a large moose behind them. My mouth watered at the sight of the carcass. I still hadn’t eaten.

 

Cobolt hissed and opened his jaws, ready to blast them with fire.

 

“Wait, Cobolt. They don’t have HellHounds with them. They are defenseless.” I said as I stepped in front of him. I lowered my head so I could look at the hideous creatures before us.

 

“Peace, dragons. We mean you no harm.” Said the human with the lantern. Both Cobolt and I hissed in surprise. They can speak our language!

 

I was the first to recover from the initial shock and spoke back to them. “If you mean us no harm, why are you here? You two are in the army that has torn my home apart-- I remember your ugly faces.”

               

“We are no longer a part of that army. When we saw you go to that golden dragon, we realized that you were not just simple beasts. It was a stroke of luck that we found you here. We come with news of the army. They plan to go to that huge mountain range in the distance. They believe that it will be the best spot to fortify. They also think that is where the biggest dragon cave is.”

              

  “Then you humans are mistaken,” Cobolt interrupted. “That mountain range is the worst possible place that your army can go. There is a dragon there that time itself cannot kill. He is the oldest, biggest, and by far the strongest dragon alive. He slumbers now, but when we wake him, he will destroy your pathetic Hellhounds and your armies.

              

  “All dragons are rallying to the Eldest as we speak. We will reclaim our land! We will drive out you pests!”

               

 “Cobolt, wait. These humans can be useful to us. They speak our language, plus they brought us something to eat.”

               

“You’re right,” Cobolt sighed. “They have information and we need to keep our strength up.”

               

Cobolt took a giant step toward the moose that the humans struggled to bring to us. He gently grabbed the antlers with his teeth and picked the carcass up. He eyed the humans before standing beside me again and laying the moose in front of us. I was about to tear into the meal when I heard shouting from a distance. Cobolt heard it too.

               

“Come on boys! Find the traitors! We’re on their trail!”

               

Hellhounds howled and I could hear their steps as the search party got closer. Cobolt and I exchanged glances and we both grabbed a human and took to the air, leaving the moose behind. The search party burst into the clearing before we were out of sight. They saw that we had the two men clutched to our chests, flying as fast as we could.

               

I pushed harder and harder to get away. My desperation to escape drove me to fly faster. Before I realized it, I was flying fast enough to create the boom again. This time, though, I didn’t slow back down. I was headed to the Eldest and I didn’t intend to stop unless I had to. The man in my paws balled up small and persevered through the flight, uncomplaining.

               

I flew for just over an hour before I was at the Eldest’s highest ridge. Countless dragons had gathered and were mingling together. I saw Crusher talking to other earth dragons. Jinx was with them. Avery was playing with other dragons her age. Queen Lyna was spiraling up and down—pacing in her own way. I slowed just enough to be able to land without crashing. I held the human to my chest with one paw and landed on the other three. All dragons turned to look at me and the human. Waves of fear and awe rolled off of the human when he saw the congregation before us.

 

Queen Lyna spiraled up high then spotted the human. I recognized the look I her eye right before she attacked the man. I dropped him to the ground and intercepted the serpent queen. I used my wings and legs to push the queen down. She struggled and escaped my grasp. She flew up and let loose a jet of flame at me. Instinct told me to cover myself with my huge wings. The flames hit my wings and deflected off, harming nothing. I sent back my own flames at the queen. She spiraled to dodge the blue-hot flames. I stood over the human, guarding him with my own body.

 

By now the other dragons had noticed the commotion and stood in a circle around Lyna and me. Avery climbed up onto Crusher’s neck and Jinx sat in the first ring of dragons. Dragons were shouting their encouragement to Lyna. Only a few dragons cheered me on—those dragons knew I was also a Queen by birth.

 

“You fool,” Lyna spat at me. “You dare bring a human here? After everything they’ve done? You are a traitor to the dragons!” Queen Lyna bared her fangs and opened her frill as she dove at my throat. When she got within reach, I lashed out with one wing. I hit her in the head with the power of my wing. She fell sideways and landed with a thud.

 

“Do you seriously think I don’t know what they’ve done?” I asked. “They killed my mother! They killed my entire home. Only three of us survived. You have only lost a few healers. I lost everything except for my two friends. I watched the strongest dragon I ever knew die. I watched my mother die. I watched Anantila die!

 

“I brought this human because we need the knowledge he has. Cobolt has the other. They know about the armies and their plans. If I must, I will kill to keep these men safe.”

 

Realization dawned across almost every dragon’s face. They realized that I am the daughter of one of the most respected queens ever. Mother was one of the strongest queens to ever live—she was also widely feared. Now Queen Lyna looked at me in a different light. She was no longer beaten by a fledgling. She was beaten by the legacy of the one queen more feared than herself.

Chapter 7: The Healers are Alive

“You are Anantila’s daughter?” Queen Lyna asked when she recovered from her fight. “No one ever knew she had a legacy.”

 

“Mother kept me protected. She even sacrificed herself to get Avary, Jinx, and me out of the mountain during the attack.”

 

Jinx and Avary broke free of the crowd and came to me. Avary took an interest in the human hiding behind my front legs. She lowered her head and looked at the tiny creature. She blinked at the human and coaxed him out of hiding.

 

“The humans speak our tongue.” I said to Avary. “It surprised me.”

 

“Really?” She eyed the human then spoke to it. “What do you call yourself?”

 

“I am James. I was a private in the army. I saw your friend come back in after the raid. I realized that we were wrong about dragons.”

 

“What did you think we were?” Lyna jumped in.

 

“We were told that dragons only wanted to kill us because we are easy prey. But I saw that your kind are complicated. You have culture. You just wanted to be left alone.”

 

“You are wrong, James. We wanted to help you humans settle. I sent my own healers to your camp. They never came back. They were like me, but they were white and green.”

 

“They were healers? Sergeant told everyone that they attacked us. We were told that they were deadly and no one had authorization to approach their cages. Your healers aren’t dead, if that’s what you believe.”

 

“Is this true, human? Are my dragons alive?”

 

“They are,” Cobolt said as he silently landed. “I took a detour over the army camp. There were four cages with dragons in them. This one, Blake, explained how they were told not to go near the cages.”

 

“We should free them, Lyna.” I said. “Me, you and some other dragons can go free them and help them to safety.”

 

“Agreed.” Cobolt, Crusher, Jinx, and Avary said in unison.

 

“If we leave now, we can make it by nightfall. Then we can strike under the cover of the cloudy night.”

 

“Very well, Anantila’s Legacy. Go ahead. You lead and I will follow. We must fly fast.”

 

“I nodded then lifted into the air. Before I got too far up, I grabbed James. The other five dragons flew up behind me and we followed the humans’ directions to the army camp. While we flew, I carefully sat James on my neck. He held on tight since his