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

life did depend on it. Soon the camp was in sight and the sun dropped below the horizon.

 

Cobolt flew beside me with Blake on his neck. We looked at each other then put on a burst of speed. We raced to the camp and swooped low to catch the attention of the Hellhounds. One Hound jump and nearly grabbed my wing. I lifted up some and taunted the Hounds. Cobolt and I drew the Hellhounds away while Jinx and Crusher distracted the humans. Lyna and Avary worked together to free the captive healers.

 

I landed on the edge of the camp and set the nearest Hounds on fire. They ran back, yelping. One human broke away from the chaos and spotted James. He yelled and pointed at the human perched on the base of my neck. I raised my head and hissed at the humans.

 

A lone Hound charged at me but I merely slapped it with my tail. The Hound flew into the humans and crushed a few. I was readying to blast the Hellhounds, but Lyna called to us to flee. The healers were in the air, escorted by the other dragons. I jumped into the air with Cobolt on my tail. I flew alongside Cobolt until we caught the rest of the party then I flew behind to keep an eye on the healers.

 

We flew until we reached the Eldest and the other dragons. When we landed, it was almost dawn. The dragons had amassed a pile of fresh prey in the middle of the crowd. With James still on me, I hurried to the pile and pulled out a moose. I loved moose and I hadn’t eaten since the attack. I tore into the moose with fervor and wolfed it down within minutes of selecting it.  

 

James slid from my neck and walked in front of me. He looked at me and asked, “Why did you defend me when we first got here? You said it yourself, we killed your family.”

 

“I am not like humans. I can see past my pain and emotions and think clearly.” I pushed away the leftover moose and heaved myself up. “You will be safer if you stay with either Cobolt or me.”

 

James and I walked to where Cobolt and Blake were sitting. They were discussing what humans eat and how they had to cook their meals. These humans are peculiar creatures. They cannot eat raw meat without getting sick. They also have to eat certain types of food to prevent illness.

 

When Blake noticed James, he ran to him and grabbed his shoulders.

 

“This is amazing, James. We rode dragons!”

 

“Sergeant saw me, Blake. He knows we’re with the dragons and they haven’t killed us.”

 

“Are you really scared of him? You saw what these dragons did to the camp. They’re amazing! Not even the Hellhounds can touch the dragons when they fly like they did. What can Sergeant do?”

 

“I have a family back home. My wife is pregnant with our fourth child. What if Sergeant does something to them?”

 

Cobolt looked at me and I nodded. We don’t need words to understand what the other has to say. We were willing to bring the human family here and protect them.

 

“James,” Cobolt said. “Kalli and I can bring your family here. My dragons will keep them safe.”

 

“I can’t bring them here.” James shook his head. “The portal that we used to get here is closely guarded by the military on both sides.”

 

“Are there Hounds?”

 

“Only on this side. The civilians are scared of them.”

 

“Good, then.” Lyna jumped in. “We’ll leave now. I’ll guard this side of the portal while Kalli takes you to your family. She’s smaller than Cobolt and can hide easier. She’s also faster than Cobolt.”

 

“I agree with that, but I can’t carry all of them alone. We need another small dragon to help.” Almost before I finished, Avary came bustling to us.

 

“Oh, I want to go! Can I go, please?” She asked in a hurry.

 

“Of course, young one. You are the smallest here. If you carry the small ones, Kalli can carry this man and his wife.”

 

“Then it’s settled,” Lyna announced. “James, hop on Kalli. We are bringing your family here for protection.”

 

“Do you think we can get past the guards?” James asked as he clambered up my wing and situated himself at the base of my neck.

 

“The portal,” Cobolt explained, “that you humans use was created by a dragon. It’s large enough for even Kalli to fly through it. Kalli is the fastest flying dragon alive. She would have no problem getting you through safely.”

 

Cobolt motioned to one of the healers from his community. This one was female with a long neck. Her scales were the typical white, but the edges of her scales were a dark green. Cobolt nudged Blake toward her and she stretched out a welcoming paw to him. Blake and the healer left and we four dragons took to the sky once again.

Chapter 8: The Eldest

 

Cobolt and Lyna flew at the head of our tiny entourage so that wind resistance wouldn’t tire me or Avary. Avary, being only a year old, looked like she was ready to fight an entire army by herself. She was always so carefree and jovial. Seeing her like this just seemed odd. The battle back home must have changed all three of us in our own ways. Jinx stayed with Crusher to help with strategy. He also would go and check on Lucia every day—never saying anything about her wings. Avary still played with other fledglings her age, but she hasn’t made friends with any of them yet. I have to act as a queen now even though I have no one to govern. Since the other queens know who I am now, they’ve kept me under close scrutiny.

 

I tilted my head to see the color of my scales. I’m still a colorless grey fledgling. I still have no clue about my future. Cobolt’s words rung in my mind “Because you have legs, you cannot be a sky dragon; your wings are too big for being an earth dragon; no fire dragon gets as long of tail as you.” Those words seem to refuse to be forgotten. It was mere days ago that they were said, but it feel like it’s been forever. I was lost in my thoughts for the rest of the flight.

 

Soon, the portal was in sight. It was guarded by a huge wall made of some thin, web-like substance. The wall gleamed in the sunlight and nearly blinded me. However, there seemed to be no humans or Hellhounds there to protect the portal.

 

When we got close enough, all of us put on some more speed and angled downward to the portal. The portal was a shimmering oval that showed a blurry picture of what is on the other side. The portal was larger than Cobolt described, too. It was large enough for three of me to fly through, wingtip to wingtip.

 

Apprehension pricked at my scales as I saw the human’s fortifications on the other side of the portal. I didn’t know what any of them were, but they looked dangerous. As we got even closer to the portal, Avary flew above me. We kept pace with each other until right before we crossed the shimmering oval. I flew in first and saw that there were no people around. Then I saw a slight movement in the tree line far away. In a burst of instinct, I picked my head up and exposed my protected belly. I heard a soft pop then something bounced off of the hard scales on my underside.

 

James started to slip off my neck and I leveled out in the instant before he would’ve fallen. Before I could check on the human, Avary came through the portal. We followed James’ directions and raced to his home. We flew over dense woods, but our flight was short. James signaled for us to land in this open space of short-cropped grass next to the human construction he called home.

 

I flattened myself as best as I could and let James slide off. He ran into the structure and came out shortly with two human hatchlings. They looked at me and Avary with delight and amazement. James went back in and they both ran to the smaller dragon and promptly climbed up her wings onto her back. They crawled all over her and the smaller one climbed to her head.

 

James came out again, this time with a larger person—presumably the wife he mentioned. Her belly was swollen and she seemed shocked but amazed at once. She carefully approached me while keeping one paw wrapped around her belly.

 

“Kalli, this is my wife. Be careful with her. Cori is my world.” I nodded once and James ran off again. I nestled down even closer to the ground and helped Cori onto my neck. Avary settled the hatchlings and had the bigger one sit behind the smaller.

 

“Can your kind really understand us?” Cori asked when she settled on my back.

 

“It was a shock to everyone.” I answered while tilting my head back to look at her. “But, yes. We do understand each other. Your mate believes you and your hatchlings to be in danger from other humans. Avary and I came to bring your family to safety. There may be a war in my homeland, but we have a place that no human can ever reach.”

 

James came back with a bundle of colored vines draped over one arm. He explained that he wanted to make a harness for the humans to hold on to in case the flight gets rough. Both Avary and I agreed and he promptly began looping the vines around us in such a way that I couldn’t follow. Soon, James was perched behind his mate and we were in the air again. I flew slower so that the female wouldn’t be hurt by accident.

 

We flew back to the portal, but this time there were people there. There were five humans and five things that resembled birds. The humans climbed on the birds and crawled inside of them. The tails of the birds lit up with a flame and they flew into the portal. Avary put on more speed and I copied her. I wanted to chase those human birds, but I had fragile cargo riding on my neck. I had a bad feeling about them.

 

We reached the portal and crossed it with no problems. Cobolt and Lyna were spitting flames at some Hounds to keep them at bay. When the two dragons noticed us, they lifted into the air and followed us. We flew low over treetops until we reached the plains. Then we flew parallel with the ground, sometimes letting a claw brush the long and soft grass. Seeing the world where humans are from made me appreciate the natural state of our world. We lived in harmony with nature and we thrived with it. The humans try to control nature.

 

We landed at the Eldest that evening. While we were gone some dragons constructed a shelter for the humans and built a fire pit for them to cook at. James slid off my neck when I laid down. Then he helped his mate and hatchlings to