Shadow's Rising {Wing 4} Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Of Courage and Despair

Shadow turned to Tempest with fear in his eyes.

“Airel is in trouble! We need to help her,” he spoke desperately as he tried to run but collapsed after a few steps.

No! I can’t fail again. Jarid’s friend needs me right now. I must protect her. Shadow struggled to his feet while Tempest rushed to his side.

“You won’t be able to help her right now. Just wait here. You’ll only make it harder if I have to rescue you both.”

Shadow looked up into her face and saw determination there. “Ok. Just please help her.”

Tempest nodded and took off in the direction Shadow had indicated. Shadow tried his best not to cry from frustration and instead focused on Tempest’s mind. He could experience what she was experiencing if he focused hard enough, and right now he didn’t care if she noticed.

The branches whipped by, scraping off Tempest’s blue scales as she bounded forward. A minute later she could hear shouts in the distance. For a brief moment she wondered how Shadow had heard them from such a distance. But she quickly shook off that thought as she focused on saving Airel.

Tempest could see the slavers retreating through the trees and burst out into a small clearing where their train of horses and carriage drawn cages were sitting. Everyone was stunned for a moment as Tempest looked around franticly for Airel.

She spotted her in the middle of being forced into one of the cages by a large burly man as she screamed in protest. Without a second thought, Tempest charged the group of almost twenty slavers surrounding Airel. Some of them fled while others held up clubs and shields in a futile attempt to brace themselves.

Tempest crashed through them like bowling pins. She knocked some aside with her front talons while batting others away with her wings and tail. The man holding Airel dropped her and picked up a metal embossed shield from the ground nearby. Just as Tempest was about to reach them, he leapt at her with all his strength. The shield slammed into Tempest’s head with a resounding clang that made even Shadow wince.

The man was sent flying while Tempest staggered for a moment, her head spinning from the force of the impact.

“The dragon is stunned! Grab it!” A voice roared over the commotion. By the time Tempest regained her senses over a dozen men had latched onto her.

“Get off me you foul humans! I’ll bite your heads off!” Tempest hissed in fury. Just as she said that one of the bandits tried to wrap his arm around her snout to trap her jaws, but before he could get a grip she slipped out and clamped down on his arm. She tossed him aside and tried to move but her whole body was pinned. There were even a few grabbing her neck.

Tempest turned her head to nip at the slavers holding her forelegs, but she suddenly felt a painful by strangely dull impact on the back of her head. Everything went fuzzy and there was another impact on the back of her head. Tempest tried to turn her head to see what had hit her but suddenly she lost all her strength. She barely noticed her head thud against the grassy ground before her mind faded to nothing.

“NOOO!” Shadow’s gut-wrenching scream echoed in the empty forest around him. This couldn’t be happening. Not Tempest. She was the strong warrior dragon. If anyone could attempt a daring solo recue and come out unscathed it would be her. He had gotten one of his friends captured. He had made things worse. Again!

Shadow collapsed to the ground. Sobbing at his own helplessness.

He didn’t know how long he laid there wallowing in his sorrow when he heard footsteps approaching. Pulling himself out of it, Shadow noticed the presence of someone’s mind approaching as well. He recognised who it was just as they came into view, and the sight of them sent a wave of relief through him.

“Airel!”

The young dragon rider looked a little worse for wear, but she was safe. At least Tempest’s efforts were not for nothing.

“Shadow. I have some bad news,” Airel whispered sadly while rubbing her bruised shoulder.

Shadow nodded solemnly. “I know. Tempest was captured. We should return to the house and talk to Dain. Perhaps he might know what we can do to get her back.”

“I was only able to get away because she distracted those slavers long enough for me to escape. She was captured trying to save me. Why? I thought she hated me after what happened. And now it’s my fault she was captured by those terrible slavers.”

Shadow put a wing around her as they slowly made their way back to Dain’s house. “She didn’t hate you. Well, maybe at first, but she was just mad because I put you both in danger. You shouldn’t blame yourself for her capture. It wasn’t your fault those slavers attacked you.”

Airel nodded but wasn’t fully convinced.

Soon they arrived back at Dain’s house. As they neared it Shadow heard some familiar thoughts coming from up ahead. The other dragonets were back! Shadow excitedly tried to rush ahead only to be painfully reminded of his condition. As they entered the clearing Aurora was the first to notice them.

“Shadow!” She cried with delight as she rushed over to greet him.

Airel stepped in front of Shadow, unsure who this dragon charging at them was.

“It is alright Airel. These are my friends,” Shadow assured her.

“Oh! Who is this?” Aurora asked curiously as she leaned down to gaze at Airel.

“Her name is Airel. She is a friend of Jarid.”

“Wow! A friend of your brother? Can I pet her?”

Shadow vehemently shook his head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. She’s still learning that dragons are not her enemies.”

“Oh. Ok,” Aurora said, giving Airel a big smile.

Airel ignored it. “I’m going inside to inform Dain of what happened. You can tell your dragon friends.” She moved swiftly into the house before Shadow could even reply, dodging the other dragonets as they crowded around Shadow.

“Dain is preparing the medicine for you Shadow. You should be feeling back to normal soon,” Hailstorm informed him with a bright smile.

“Where is Tempest? Is she hunting?” Boulder asked.

Shadow’s face fell. He had no idea how to tell them what had happened, so he just came right out and said it.

“Tempest… has been captured by humans. The slavers we rescued Asrial from came back and… they got her.”

There was stunned silence for a moment as all the dragonets couldn’t believe what they had just heard.

“You-you’re joking right?” Gale asked shakily.

Shadow shook his head.

Gale lifted a trembling talon to his face while starring at the ground. No… It can’t be. Not Tempest… NOOO!

Shadow collapsed to the ground clutching his head as all the dragonets’ thoughts came crashing down on him. Denial, despair, sadness, anger, grief, and pain all at once. Images of Tempest smiling, defending them from the guardian’s injustice, and comforting them when they were down. All of their memories, mixed with the love they felt for their sister, made Shadow uncontrollably burst into tears.

The contrasting silence as none of the dragonets spoke almost made it worse. Until Airel and Dain rushed over to them carrying a large bowl. Thankfully this distraction interrupted the dragonets thoughts.

Shadow gasped for breath as if he had been held underwater and finally freed.

“We have the medicine. Please drink it quickly,” Airel urged.

Shadow groaned as he tried to sit up. Moving all morning had caused his muscles to cramp and the pain in his scull wasn’t helping. Aurora and Boulder could tell what was happening and helped Shadow into a sitting position. Aurora motioned for the bowl and Dain handed it to her. She held it up to Shadow’s mouth and he drank it.

The medicine was thick and slimy. It tasted like chicken poop and ashes mixed with freshly laid eggs. Shadow felt like he might throw up, but Aurora held his jaws shut. He looked into her eyes, and she just nodded. In her mind he saw memories of Shear doing the same thing for the dragonets when they had gotten sick.

Shadow eventually swallowed it all and was left with a strange churning sensation in his gut. A warmth started to spread slowly from his belly and his eyes grew heavy. His whole body felt pleasantly drowsy, but he barely had time to notice this before he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Shadow didn’t know how much time had passed when he awoke. His eyes were blurry, and all his limbs felt bloated. He blinked trying to clear his eyes and stumbled to his feet, still half asleep. He couldn’t think very well either, but he knew that he had to get someone to tell him what happened after he fell asleep.

Shadow blinked a third time and was able to make out some scraps of armor and the rock wall of a cave. He turned and covered his eyes as the light shining in from the cave entrance made them burn slightly. Slowly walking to the entrance Shadow shook his head to clear it before making his way to Dain’s house.

As he walked the fogginess cleared up and his body began to feel normal again. Now that he thought about it, he had never really questioned if the cure would work, but now he was grateful it had.

Shadow could hear voices from the clearing around Dain’s house, but it was too jumbled to make much sense of it. As he entered the clearing Boulder noticed him and waved which caused all the others to see him as well.

Aurora’s face lit up with a big smile. “You’re awake!”

“So, it seems the cure worked after all. Not that I had any doubts of course,” Hailstorm grinned.

Gale barely looked up and his sullen expression didn’t waver.

Shadow nodded. “What are you guys doing?”

“We are figuring out a plan to get Tempest back,” Gale replied solemnly. Shadow tried to avoid listening in on his thoughts, but the murky despair from Gale’s mind clung to him like muddy webbing.

Shadow heard the door to the house open and Dain and Airel came out.

“Finally. We need you to translate so I can help them get that Storm Wing back,” Airel stated.

“We are glad to see you are well Shadow, but we must discuss what to do next with you and your friends,” Dain added as kindly as he could.

Shadow nodded to Dain before turning to the dragonets. “Dain wants to speak with us about how we can rescue Tempest.”

The other dragonets agreed and looked at Dain expectantly.

Dain cleared his throat. “After thinking about it I believe I know the group of slavers we are dealing with here. They often go to dragon rider academy to buy the old or wild dragons there so they can sell them at the colosseum in the capital.

“I suspect they will avoid the academy this time due to the failed attempt at capturing Airel, but there is only one other road that leads to the capital without passing the academy. The road is called Crow’s Haven and there are thick trees and steep cliffs on either side of it. You could set up an ambush there to free your friend.”

Shadow nodded as he started contemplating how they might approach such a fight. Then he glanced up to find everyone staring at him.

Right! I need to translate for them. Duh.

Shadow quickly relayed the information, and the other dragonets started thinking about how they could ambush Tempest’s captors.

“Oh. One other thing I forgot to mention,” Dain interrupted Shadow’s thoughts. “These slavers likely have Dormir arrows.”

Shadow had never heard that word before but judging by the shocked look on Airel’s face, it wasn’t anything good.

“These arrows are dipped in a poison so strong the elite bowmen who employ it must use special arrows and face masks to avoid being knocked out by merely drawing back to fire. I’ve heard they can knock out a fully grown dragon in as few as a dozen arrows,” Dain explained. “Now that they’ve run into you twice, I doubt they will be unprepared to face you again.”

Shadow felt a sinking feeling in his chest. This was going to be a lot more dangerous than rescuing Asrial. If the slavers did have those arrows and were able to hit them while they were rescuing Tempest… He didn’t want to think about it.

After explaining the danger to the other dragonets there was a moment of silence as this information sank in, then Boulder spoke up.

“It may be dangerous, but there’s no way we are going to leave Tempest behind.”

There were growls of assent from the other dragonets and Hailstorm stepped forward. “We just need to be careful and make a good plan. We can’t let them get close like last time.” Boulder and Shadow nodded in agreement.

For the next few hours, the dragonets planned their ambush with some input from Airel and Dian. Shadow did his best translating, but the thoughts of the others made it difficult to think of strategies himself, so he left most of the planning to them. Airel refused to be left behind. She felt she had to make up for being the reason Tempest was captured in the first place, despite Shadow’s insistence that it wasn’t her fault.

In the end they decided to have Shadow and Airel sneak in to rescue Tempest while the other dragonets distracted the guards on the other side of the road. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but they didn’t have much time before the slavers would reach their ambush spot.

Shadow said goodbye to Dain and Asrial before gently picking up Airel in his front talons. He thought it better not to try flying with Ariel on his back so soon after her previous crash. Then they were off.

Shadow led the way as they flew in the direction of Crow’s Haven. They were going to rescue Tempest. He was sure of it.