Shadow's Rising {Wing 6} Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Bonds of love and misery

“Are you sure you are alright?” Aurora asked gently, concern evident in her voice.

Shadow nodded. “Yeah. I just need to be alone for a bit.”

Aurora reluctantly pulled back to allow Shadow what little space was afforded them in the dark cell. I’ll be right here if you need me, Shadow, she thought to herself.

The corners of Shadow’s mouth twitched upward in a brief smile. Her thoughts had always been a source of comfort for him. They helped calm his own thoughts and soothed the pain of the hundreds of voices crowding his mind from the city around them. He rubbed his forehead as he was reminded of the constant ache.

It had been a few hours since they had woken, though it was hard to tell exactly what time of day it was outside. The other dragonets had all calmed down and sat idly waiting for something to happen.

True to their word, Shadow had heard nothing from Bellum, the owner of the powerful telepathy he had conversed with earlier, but the ease with which they had peered into his mind left him shaken. He had no doubt the reason that person had noticed him was the power he had used to share his feelings with his friends. It felt like the moment he tried to use the one power he had thought made him special, there was someone else who showed him just how pathetic he truly was.

If there was someone like that out there, then what could he possibly have to contribute? He wasn’t strong like Boulder, or fast like Gale. He wasn’t brave like Tempest, or smart like Hailstorm. Even Aurora had the compassion of a saint and looks to match. Meanwhile, his fire breath was average at best, and he specialized in hiding like a coward. He couldn’t even walk onto a crowded street without collapsing in agony from all the voices piercing his head.

Part of him knew that these thoughts were simply self pity and if he tried, he could find many ways to contribute, but a much bigger part simply didn’t want to. There was some amount of comfort in the depression he was feeling and it helped block out the voices of those around him. But he couldn’t simply sit there forever.

“Hey, Shadow! Get your tail over here. You’ve sat around long enough and we need to come up with a way to get out of here,” Tempest called in a commanding tone.

Shadow sighed and dragged himself to his feet. “You could have asked nicely,” he mumbled to himself.

Tempest nodded and started talking even before Shadow had joined the small circle of dragonets. “The first thing we need to do is find a way out of this cage. Boulder and I have already tried attacking the bars with everything we’ve got, but they are strong and our magic doesn’t seem to be working for some reason. It’s like they’re made of some kind of anti-dragon metal. Neither my claws nor teeth could scratch them.”

“Did you try breaking the lock?” Hailstorm suggested. Tempest nodded.

“Yes. I even…” she paused as her ears perked up. Shadow started to pay attention and found that he could hear the voices of humans coming down the tunnel.

“So which cell are they going in again?”

“Cell 2A. I think the Lanista wants to move the weird rainbow-colored one and the Night Wing to different cells eventually, but I was told separating them might cause trouble so we’ll leave them together for now.”

A large group of guards came into view. They carried spears and strange hooks on polls with spikes. Almost all of them wore metal armor with signs of damage from previous unruly transfers and swords at their hips. Several of them also carried torches.

Tempest and Boulder immediately placed themselves between these humans and the rest of the group. Tempest hissed at them warningly.

The men with spears stuck them through the bars to create a wall of pointed metal while the second man who had spoken opened the cage. He pointed at Boulder. “Take the big one first. Once we beat the first few down, the rest should get in line.”

“So they do use sharp sticks against dragons,” Hailstorm whispered in awe, mentally checking that off the list of information he had read about humans.

Most human spears couldn’t pierce the scales of an adult dragon, but these spears were made of the same anti-dragon metal as the cage and the dragonets’ scales were still relatively soft to accommodate their growing bodies.

Tempest and Boulder growled and swiped at the spears that came within range but the spearmen were experienced and pulled the spearheads back just in time to avoid having them knocked from their hands. Slowly they advanced into the cage. The man in front took one of the strange hooks and held it in front of Boulder’s nose tauntingly while the spearmen kept Tempest at bay.

Boulder swiped at it a few times before lunging to bite the head off. Quickly the man flipped the hook up and over Boulder’s horns where it slid into place. Boulder pulled back but several men had grabbed the pole the moment it was set and heaved in the opposite direction. Boulder grunted in surprise and tried to breathe fire but all that came out were a few wisps of smoke and some hot air. The cage had sapped all their magic!

Tempest roared as her friend was slowly dragged forward. “Boulder! You stupid humans, let him go!”

She tried to rush in but a wall of spears pushed her back. Some of the other dragonets tried to grab his tail but were forced to jump back to avoid the sharp spears thrust their way.

Shadow stood frozen off to the side, overwhelmed by the loud, sharp thoughts from both sides. He could see the angry red dots peppering Tempest’s chest and face as the spears poked small holes in her navy blue scales. He wanted to fight with them. He wanted to rush in like the hero and save them. But he was scared and his head was in agony. It was all he could do to keep himself from collapsing to the floor.

Boulder was dragged out of the cage and the spears slowly retreated. The door was locked and Boulder was forced down the hallway at spearpoint until he disappeared from view. Shadow could feel the fear in his mind as he tried to look back at his friends but couldn’t. Everyone was wondering if they’d ever see him again.

Tempest slammed the cage and rattled the bars, crying out in frustration. Aurora tried to console Gale and Hailstorm sat at the back of the cage in shock. Meanwhile, Shadow was wracking his brain. All he could think about was who would be next and what they could do to prevent such an outcome.

Based on what the leader said, I think Tempest would be next. But how can we stop them? She might die if she resists them like that again. Aurora and I might get away with it since it seems like we’re valuable to them, but her? But how can I convince her to go along with them?

Shadow knew there was little chance of persuading Tempest but he had to try.

“T-Tempest?” He asked nervously, tapping her on the tail.

“What?!” Tempest growled, spinning around to face him.

Shadow tried to gulp but it got caught in his throat. He had seen and felt Tempest get angry before, but this felt like he was walking through a field of sleeping Terrordons. If he said the wrong thing she might actually slice his nose off.

“I… well. I was thinking and… well. I think it might be better for all of us if we… uh…”

“Oh, just spit it out already!” Tempest snarled.

Shadow shrank even lower as his ears tucked back and his chest scraped the floor. “I… I think we should just go with them. We shouldn’t fight them right now.”

Tempest paused as if he had just claimed to have hatched from a rock. It took her a moment to realize he was seriously suggesting to let the humans take them away.

“Are you… siding with the humans?” Tempest asked in a cold whisper. “Are you saying we should just let them kill us? That we should give up without a fight?”

Shadow violently shook his head. “No. Of course not. But perhaps this isn’t the best time to do it. One of those humans said that we were being moved to another cell, not killed. Maybe if we wait, there will be a better opportunity for us to fight back.”

“And what if this is our only chance to fight back?!” Tempest retorted, shoving Shadow away.

Aurora tried to get between them as Shadow pleaded desperately, “Please don’t do this Tempest!”

Aurora barely held Tempest back as she lunged at Shadow. “When are you going to accept that these humans want to kill us? What will it take?! Are you going to wait, hoping for our chance to fall out of the sky, until they tear our scales off?!”

“I just can’t bear to watch you die!” Shadow shouted as tears ran down his snout.

A silence fell over the cell. Even Tempest paused, her anger fading as Shadow’s tears turned to mud on the cell floor.

“I don’t care what it takes. Ever since Aurora almost died I couldn’t bear the thought of you… any of you… dying. Even if it’s just for a few more minutes, I won’t let you throw your life away. Is the death of a few humans truly worth more than even the briefest time with your family?”

Tempest sat down and stared at the floor, contemplating what he had said. Aurora checked to make sure Shadow was ok and Shadow nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes with a sniffle.

While Tempest was thinking, the humans returned, their boots echoing off the stone walls. Shadow tensed as they once again pushed their spears into the cage and prepared to hook the next dragon. He knew that, even working together, it would be hard to hold Tempest back if she tried to fight them once again.

Finally, she came to a decision. I can’t let myself die here. They still need me to protect them. So, for now, I’ll hide my fury until the time is right.

When they hooked onto Tempest’s horns she gave only token resistance and slowly let herself be led to the cage door.

“See? Just like I told you. Take the alpha of the group and the rest fall in line,” the leader of the group commented proudly.

Shadow kept his head down and tried to follow Tempest out. At first the spearmen halted him but the leader raised his hand.

“Let them follow the Storm Wing. Corral them in the right direction and keep a firm hand on the leader. They should follow her so long as we keep her moving. Get to it!” the leader commanded.

The other guards retreated and formed a wall outside the cell, with just enough room for them to move out into the hall.

“Follow me and keep your head down,” Shadow whispered to the others still in the cell. Aurora was already following him and the other two quickly fell in line.

They were led through a long series of mazelike passages lit by torches. As they neared the end of their journey Shadow started hearing the thoughts of those outside and there were even a few small barred windows allowing light in.

We must be going up. The thoughts of humans above are getting louder and louder. Perhaps if we find a weak enough wall by one of those windows we could… no. We’d be leaving Boulder behind, and if we failed I’m sure they’d kill at least one of us.

Shadow sighed and accepted their fate. Part of him was curious to know where they would end up, and in the meantime he listened to the thoughts of the humans above. As before, their thoughts were a loud mess which made it hard for Shadow to pick out individual conversations, but he kept hearing a few common themes among the voices.

Many were commenting on an upcoming festival called the Festival of First Magic, and a large tournament being held at the Red Desert Colosseum in honor of the event. A few mentioned the recent arrival of the top students from Dragon Rider Academy. Shadow briefly wondered if Jarid was among them and it gave him hope. But his thoughts quickly returned to reality with the mention of fights to the death held in the arena.

Most of the fights would be between humans and beasts, but what caught Shadow’s attention was the mention of dragon fights. Some were excited to see dragons fighting each other, while others hoped they could see a group of brave knights overcome the legendary monsters.

Shadow shuddered at the thought. Being forced to kill others for entertainment, regardless if they were human or dragon, made him sick to his stomach. The stench of dried blood and excrement coming from some of the passing cells didn’t help his nausea.

In an attempt to find some relief, he searched for Aurora’s thoughts amid the chaos in his head. He could feel her nervousness and worry even as she tried to reassure herself.

We will make it out together. I know we will. Tempest will protect us. I just wish these humans would stop poking me.

Shadow tried to stir up some courage within himself to send her way. If he couldn’t be courageous for himself he would do it for her.

At last, they approached the end of a long hallway and reached a massive cell that could have fit at least twenty dragons if they squished in. Tempest was shoved in and the rest quickly followed. The door closed with a loud clang and the humans left laughing and chatting about the upcoming festival and betting each other which of the dragonets would last the longest in the arena.

Shadow looked around his new cell. The bars were made of the same anti-dragon metal as the last cage but even thicker. There was a small window about the size of a human head, near the top of the left wall but it was covered by the cage to prevent escape. Other than that, the hard stone floor and walls looked very similar to their last cell.

“Boulder!” Aurora cried in relief as she launched forward to embrace her adopted brother.

Shadow finally noticed Boulder sitting under the window until he fell over from the tackle. Boulder’s face lit up in a big smile as he embraced Aurora in as much of a hug as the shackles on his wings would allow.

The other dragonets all crowded around him chatting excitedly.

“Well, well, well. Looks like the rest of the brats are all here, and with the missing Night Wing no less.”

Shadow jumped slightly at the sound of a sarcastic snarl behind him. The harsh voice sounded familiar but not quite right, as if he were hearing it for the first time despite knowing the speaker well.

Shadow spun around. The light from the window cast a beam on the floor and left the back of the cell in shadow. There were two dragons back there and one stepped forward to reveal themselves. Shadow looked up into the eyes of the fully grown Storm Wing before him as a cold shiver ran across his scales.

Her scales were a dark navy blue with hints of lighter blue and flecks of white. Scars both old and fresh dotted her chest and face. The old scars, mostly faded white lines, while the new ones were red and looked like they had been caused by human spears or whips. She had thick muscles hardened by years of training and a massive tail that looked as if it could snap a dragonet in two. Her eyes were a cold blue-black, like the ocean depths and her resting expression, displeasure.

“I always said you little lizards weren’t ready to leave yet. Couldn’t even make it a week without getting yourselves caught. Stupid dragonets,” the intimidating dragon growled.

Shadow shrank back in fear. Hearing her thoughts in his head had been one thing, but standing before her now was a completely different experience. He thought he knew what the dragonets had gone through because he had listened in on it, but now he realized that he couldn’t possibly understand what it was like. Her gaze alone was enough to make him want to hide in the darkest corner he could find and the knowledge that he was within reach of her claws made his wings tremble.

Tempest hissed as she got ready to fight. “What are you doing here? Surge.”