Chapter 7; Flight of the dragon

The gates of the village opened for the last time. The dark moon reflected down up on the dragon’s scales. Dion and Rakshasi stood in the opened gate. Rakshasi had mastered her own balance again so she could walk. Dion was packed with a leather backpack to carry food and tools. Rakshasi in the other hand carried a smaller backpack not to weight her still weakened legs down. The two were ready, ready to leave the town behind. Dion looked with some doubt at Rakshasi. Was this the right decision to make? “Rakshasi?” Dion shuffled a bit closer to her. His clawed hand was seeking to grab Rakshasi's own. She looked at him “it will be alright Dion...” she sounded not sure herself. Dion let her hand go and asked with great discomfort “where should we go?” Rakshasi did not answer. Instead she turned around to look at Arryn who stood behind them. The elf looked frustrated at the two dragons. “I guess this is farewell” she said with great difficult. Rakshasi said her own draconic goodbye. “Nomag wux kiwieg suaco persvek dout altiuiri.” Followed by her turning around and walking away. Dion was left with an uncomfortable feeling; he did not know what to say to Arryn. “May you feel wind in your wings” the elf said before heading back the village.

Dion was forced to follow Rakshasi now. Rakshasi followed a small path made by wild gain to be sure they were not followed or seen by the king's man. The sky was clear, stars shone their light trough the leafs that covered the path they took. The two dragons hoped to arrive at the end of the valley by day. The biggest challenge was beyond the valley. After the valley they had two days of walking over grass plains. Added that they could only travel by night it caused them to be for four days on open ground. Dion was sure he could make some cover for the, Rakshasi however doubted his abilities to make a cover. She mainly feared for Dion, even with her body weakened she at least knew how to fly. Dion would be forced on the ground and stuck if any trouble came. It was clear to Dion that Rakshasi still felt responsible for Dion's life, a responsibility that might be too much for her weakened state.  

They arrived at the edge of the forest by dusk. Dion was exhausted, with a puff of air he let himself fall down on the forest ground. He leaned back, his gaze met Rakshasi's gaze. She opened her backpack to look at the three eggs that she was carrying in them.  “They are still healthy...” she said to him with an exhausted but a smiling look on her face. Dion could not look happy for that much, maybe it was that he felt not that much linked to the eggs as Rakshasi was or that he was unsure if he ever got home again. He could not smile. Rakshasi leaned against Dion and looked into his eyes “everything will be alright Dion. Now...just take some rest.” Dion closed his eyes, his left arm moved around Rakshasi to hold her. Her wing folded around Dion. He learned that much that such a gesture was only for those who a dragon cared for. He did not pay much attention to it. He was defeated by his own need to sleep.

Dion was awoken by the stirring of Rakshasi. He opened an eye to see what was wrong. She was still deep asleep. Her face however looked pained. He wondered if she had a nightmare, he wondered where she could have nightmares about. Dion was split between the thought that he should shake her awake or should keep her asleep. On one hand they sun was already setting and they had get to move on quickly. Is decision was made for him. Rakshasi shot up right with a roar of fear. “Dion...” she cried out with her mind even before her eyes opened. Dion was quick to answer. He grabbed Rakshasi by her wrists and looked into her eyes. “I am here...” Rakshasi looked around before meeting his gaze.  “Thank the ancients...you are alive...” she said scared and confused. “Why wouldn't I be?”

“I saw you...dead...a dream...” Rakshasi was panting in her fear. Dion hold her by her shoulder “it was just a dream...now come...let’s get some food.” Rakshasi nodded. Dion opened his backpack to get some pieces of dried meat. The meat was salty and unpleasant sadly it was the only thing they had. It was good to have something in the stomach for a long walk. Within half an hour they were ready to leave. They erased the tracks and left the sleeping spot.

The night went on without much event. The first half of the night they walked under the clear night sky without even exchanging a single word. In the second half of the night Dion began to spread his wings. He already gotten enough from walking, next to that he was sure they could not get any horses for obvious reasons. He wanted, no he need to learn to fly. Rakshasi’s look gazed over to the wing flailing dragon. “Dammit Dion.” She hissed quietly at him “Do you wish to be spotted?” Dion stopped his attempts to strengthen his wing muscles. Clearly she would see the need for it. Doesn't she? “No I do not wish for it.” Dion looked with a sincere look in her eyes. “But I cannot keep on walking forever.” Rakshasi took a deep breath; she brought her right clawed hand to the side to her snout and tapped on it lightly with the tip of her finger. “I guess you are right...” Her mental voice felt superficial, obvious she was deep in thought. “...Learning to fly is not as simple as flapping your wings. You need to feel like a dragon and not act like one...” Dion interrupted her “I do not 'act' like a dragon I am one.” Rakshasi gave a light smile; she shook her head and said “Dion, You are not feeling like a dragon. If you were feeling like a dragon you would have killed that knight you would have burned his face and ripped his sorry head of his body”

Dion gave a suppressed and angry growl at Rakshasi. “And what good that would do?” his voice turned cynical “oh great and wise dragoness, tell me what good it would do to just kill the knight!” Rakshasi stopped dead in her tracks to turn around and face Dion. “You do not speak Draconic, you do not hunt like a dragon and you do not even think like one. Do you really think you can lecture me with your out-of-this-world morals?” a deep growl emanated from the depths of her body as warning. Dion unintentionally showedhis teeth, more draconic instincts kicked in. “Maybe that is just why you for once need to stop head-butting every single problem and start to think for once” Rakshasi seemed little impressed and about to throw herself at his words. Dion did not care much at this point, he was boiling over with a rage he barely could describe as his own. “We, dragons, getting slain because some mad king blames us for all the wrongs in this world. Human boys grow up with slayers as their heroes. And you keep clinging to your old life? Look at yourself, you just recovered from almost certain death, you are chased away from your home. Isn’t it about time to look at other options?” Rakshasi tensed up, her claws shot forwards just stopping centimetres away from Dion’s face. Her yaws where opened, her fire glans opened up wide. Dion glared into the furry of the dragoness, a furry that was stopped just seconds before it was unleashed. Dion reacted rather casual about it, he was not afraid anymore. Slowly but surely Rakshasi’s mouth closed and her claws moved away from his face. Her eyes levelled with that of Dion’s. They spoke of death and fire, it made him wonder why she did not attacked him after all. She spoke no words, she turned around and walked away in an incredible fast pace.

Dion felt a rather strange impulse to follow Rakshasi. His emotions -and maybe his pride- felt impelled to follow Rakshasi. It felt like a distant voice at first, something that compelled Dion to follow Rakshasi. When Dion walked he knew that he would never find her again. He knew that she would have spread her wings and flown away. Even if he could now spread his wings and fly he would never be able to fly fast enough to catch a true dragon who has flown for years and years. It made him overcome with an depressed, deserted feeling. He wanted to convince himself that the feeling was that he wanted to go to the world he knew. He wanted, but he couldn’t. he felt that the dirt under his claws felt just as real compared to the computers he used to handle. His eyes glared into the distance nothings of the night, stars and nebulas above him where the only source of light. It made him feel small and insignificant against the fastness of space.

Claws dug into the dirt when Rakshasi made haste. She was nothing more than a shadow projected against the dark blue sky of the night. Her wings gave two flaps to test out her ability to fly; her backpack however limited the range of her wings. The wing-membrane hit the leather backpack causing a weird shiver to run over her wings. “dammit.” She swore to herself. In English never the less; would the language of Dion rub off on her? What other influence did that ape in dragon scales on her? She emitted a low pitched growl in her displeasure. She should leave him alone, let him face what dragons had to face. Reality would change his diluted mind. while she walked into the forest her mind raged on with the idea that Dion tried to change her mind. The traditions kept her kind alive for longer then she would remember. Twigs cracked under her feet while her path took her deeper in the forest. The sky quickly disappeared behind the trees. The forest she walked in became completely dark. Finally she could not walk further anymore without bumping into trees and roots that were exposed. She was forced to make a small fire and get some rest. Pure on touch she gathered some dry wood to turn into a nice camp fire. Using her fire breath the light up the dry wood into a nice cosy fire. After she adjusted to the light she could see the forest more clearly. She leaned in comfortable against an oak tree. Her glare into the fire, thinking about what Dion shouted to her. Most of it she discarded as angry gibberish she did not have any use for. One thing, just one thing stayed with in her mind; That she needed to change what she trusted in for so long. She picked up a little stone from the floor and threw it in the distance. A soft thumb of the stone hitting a tree emanated from the distance. How did he even come up with the idea after knowing barely the langue of her folk let alone her culture. With a flare of anger she threw away another stone. Another, slightly harder, thumb emanated as it hit a tree. Clearly Dion would know not to say such things; he must have known how touchy this was. Another stone flew through the sky and against a tree. But maybe if he was right…just maybe, but he could not be. With more of her strength she threw a stone in the distance. It made a sharp notice as it hit something hard and hollow. It got her attention for just a moment. She threw another rock in the same direction, the same kind of sound emanated. Rakshasi raised one eye ridge, her curiosity gotten the better of her. She picked up a much heavier rock and threw it heard to the direction. A sharp cracking noise filled the woods. No longer being able to stand the unknown she moved her scaly body. Her body casted eerie shadows along the woods. Twigs cracked under her clawed feet when she moved to the origin of the sound. Every step a twig cracked, every step until she reached close to a tree. The dark shape standing high and proud in the forest. The sharp sound of a bone snapping emanated from under her feet. She frozen in her place, her feet slowly lifting of whatever she stepped on. The Dim light of the campfire far away not enough to actually make up of what she stepped on.  Rakshasi blew a small, short burst of fire out of her nostrils. A yellow orange flame gave light to the surroundings. The brownish tree, the Forest floor covered in brown and ochre leaves. Her eyes scanned the ground, a white reflection made her attention snap. Another breath of fire set light to a small patch of leaves near the tree. The light was just enough for her sharp eyes to see the strange white shape.

A cold shiver ran cross her spine, She felt each individual scale shiver. Against the ground, pinned against the tree by an large rusty sword laid the skeleton of a dragon. A growl began to emanate from  Rakshasi’s mouth. Every fibre of her body was filled with rage to see one of her brethren slain by a monstrous dragon-hunter. How could it be that so many of her brethren had fallen to this plague that covered the lands of the kingdom with blood and bones. She bowed down next to the skeleton. She traced a claw along the skull of it. She could see a fresh hole in the skull with in it the stone she threw. A soft wailing growl flooded the forest. Her eyes kept their focused on the skull, on the horns, on the way the skeleton was laid out. Pinned against a tree like some helpless animal. Not killed because of disease, not killed for food; Killed for nothing more than being born in a body proclaimed to be a demon. Rakshasi’s mind began to fill in with a more frightening thought, this could be her. She could be pinned against a tree with a cold rusty sword in her, rotting away. Her clawed right hand moved to grip the handle of the rust sword and yank it out the tree. She hummed words of sorrow to the dragon. “Nomag dout sepa wiap wer ro suaco.”

With a grown she stood up, standing over the skeleton of the dragon. The poor soul killed alone, no one to have helped. The only reason she was not impaled was that…Her train of thought stopped as she remembered: Dion saved her last moment even when he was still getting used to being a dragon in the first place. Her claws curled in on themselves in the realisation she couldn’t achieve her quest alone. Another dragon hunter and she would be dead. Her nostrils flared at a strange scent that rolled in the air towards her. The scent, Strange but with a warning. Rakshasi could barely place the scent of mead, blood, sweat and some other unpleasant scents. Only when she heard the shouts of two heavy voiced humans nearby she realized that Hunters where nearby. Vaguely she could hear one of the two hunters say “Did you see that darn dragon already?” Rakshasi tensed up, her body stayed motionless hoping not to draw unwanted attention. She could see the warm light of a torch nearby. She gazed at the fire she had made and within a moment covered it with dirt. She hoped the two hunters did not see the fire. Through from the ground smoke arose from the smouldering embers. The wind carried the smoke through the woods straight into the direction of the hunters.

Rakshasi swallowed her words of frustration, she had to get away from this place. She could hear the hunters in the distance picking up on the smoke. She could not fly away, that would make too much noise. She kept low and sneaked away. In the dim reflection of moon Rakshasi could see a tree that was suited for her to climb. The lower branches provided an easy way into the tree. Her claws dug in the bark,  she hoped the marks were too high for the hunters to see. Her gaze was aimed at the two hunters who now located themselves in front of the dragon skeleton. One carried an long sword and wore a leather armour. Rakshasi estimated his height to be around one meter sixty. He had brown hair that came from under his helmet and rested on his shoulders. The other had a crossbow on his back and was a head shorter than the first hunter he wore nearly no protection besides a simple leather helmet. The longer hunter started to talk in a heavy male voice “I remember this beast, slain him over a year ago. Figures that beasts try to find each other. Guess that the emerald dragon ran off after it saw the skeleton.” Rakshasi felt a cold shiver run down her spine. For a moment she saw Dion laying on the place where the skeleton was laying. Bleeding and pierced by a sword. Her claws dug in the bark of the tree, making a soft cracking noise. She cursed internally for her carelessness. The pair of hunters turned their heads to look around, the smaller one looked spooked and spoke “What if that is the dragon!?” He sounded rather young, his voice jumped in tone guessing he had not yet fully entered puberty. The older and larger hunter gave a small laugh “Then we give it hell.” He too looked around, his gaze momentarily fell over the tree where Rakshasi had hidden herself in. “It is just an rabbit or something. Man up a bit.”

Rakshasi gasped relieved once the hunters did not see any threat. She had to distract the hunters without being seen. If the hunters where hunting an emerald dragons it could be Dion. She knew that Dion was no party for two hunters. Together they barely defeated one. In the distance she could hear something else move. Her eyes could see a glimpse of something rather large that moved on two legs. The hunters seemed to hear the sound too. Trough they did not seem to see what made the sound. “Dragon” the larger once hissed under breath. The younger hunter readied his crossbow, he aimed to where ever the sound came from. Rakshasi looked around for something to throw away to distract the hunters. To her right she saw a chestnut. With a smooth motion she pulled the nut from the tree and threw it away as fast as she could. In the distance it made a loud cracking sound as it landed against a tree. The hunters walked without further questioning the sound to the location of the sound. Once the hunters where a good distance away she slide out of the tree with a smooth motion. Nothing but the soft sound of rustling leafs emanated as she landed on the forest floor. Quickly she walked back to where she had made camp.

Dion’s heart pounded in his chest. He ran as fast as he could through the forest. The hunters where not far behind him. He could see a dim light near to him and two voices. He was out of breath and ended up gasping for some fresh air a small distance away from the hunters. His eyes gazed around to see where he had stopped. It was a small open place, the moon fell through a small opening in the leafs of the trees high above. In the dim silvery moon light Dion could see an leather backpack. Slowly he came closer to it, looking around like a hunted animal. He froze in place on the realisation that the backpack was familiar to him, it was Rakshasi’s. Quickly he inspected the backpack, opening it up to see the eggs where still inside. Dion was slightly relieved trough he did not exactly knew why. Rakshasi was nowhere to be seen and hunters were looking for a dragon. He cursed to himself, he had to find her. It was his mistake that the humans seen him. Suddenly he felt a claw on his shoulder and he was jerked away from the backpack. He rolled on his back and glared straight into the furious eyes of Rakshasi. Her gaze soften once she saw who it really was. She did not say much trough, she closed her backpack and lifted it on her back. “We have to get going” she commanded him quickly. Right now the mental communication was perfect, allowing her to speak without saying a word out loud. Dion scrambled with little help of Rakshasi, on his feet again. “to where?” He asked quickly, not wanting to upset her again. Rakshasi started to walk already, she did not need to speak words to get Dion to follow her. She moved deeper into the forest. The hunters still behind them, searching for Dion. Her hope was that she would get far away before the hunters picked up any trail.

It was a long walk, every sound that they heard send a new rush of adrenaline through their bodies. Dion followed Rakshasi but doubted that she knew where she was going. He did not dare to ask about the route, right now he was satisfied with being together. Whenever his thought was not with trying to figure out what sound was what, he drifted in a state of nearly sleep walking. After a while the sun was already rising above the horizon and he was destroyed. The only hope was that the hunters had either gone home to sleep or where just as tired as they were. He looked at Rakshasi to see how she was holding up. He could not see any clear signs that she was suffering from the same exhaustion as Dion. Through her eyes seemed to gaze in the distance.

When the sun was nearly at its highest point in the sky the two decided to finally rest somewhere. They found a bush at the end of the forest that would be a great shelter. They bush blocked most of the sun light and obstructed any watchful eyes from seeing the two. With the backpacks unloaded from their backs the two collapsed on the dirt. The need to sleep overcame his need to eat. To his side Rakshasi had already drifted off into a deep slumber. Dion was not far behind as his mind drifted and his eyes closed.