Shadow's Rising {Wing 6} Chapter 5 (part 2)

Part 2

Shadow took a few deep breaths before quickly moving towards the rest of the group while gesturing for Aurora to join him.

“I’m feeling much better now. Let’s go see what the others are up to.”

Aurora smiled and followed behind. Even when he’s nervous he still acts so brave. I wish I could be like that.

Shadow stiffened slightly and tried to keep himself from blushing again at her compliment.

Surge looked up from her place on the cell floor. “So, is your headache stopping you from answering my questions now?” she asked sarcastically.

“If you tell me what happened while I was unconscious, certainly.”

“Fine,” Surge sighed. “My first question is simple. Are there any other Night Wings besides yourself?” If there are some Night Wings in hiding, the Wings of Protection will have to be careful.

Shadow shook his head sadly. “I’ve never seen another Night Wing before. All I have are the memories my brother shared with me.”

Surge narrowed her eyes as if searching for any hint Shadow was lying. Hmmm. Not even a hint of deceit in his eyes. He’s far too innocent for this world. And calling one of these squishy, disgusting creatures brother? How revolting.

Shadow felt a rotten wound sink into his heart at her thoughts, but Surge continued before he could dwell on it.

“Speaking of your… human. These lizard brains told me you can understand their speech. Is this true?”

Shadow nodded. “I can speak the human language. Jarid taught it to me. He’s a good human. You see, humans are just like us. There are bad humans and-”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure. That’s all my questions for now,” Surge dismissed as she began thinking. Being able to understand these annoying creatures might actually be a boon. If he can listen in on what they are saying then…

Shadow didn’t hear any more of her thoughts as the other dragonets rushed him with questions. He didn’t have many answers since he wasn’t entirely sure what had happened when he fainted. It was all fuzzy, but he knew that trying to help Ash on his own again would not end well. Whatever that nightmare or trauma in her mind was, it didn’t want him interfering.

Hailstorm offered to explain what had transpired while Shadow was unconscious, but Surge stepped in. The dragonets shuffled quickly out of the way as she sat, straight-backed, in front of Shadow.

“You brats were far too busy fussing over the Night Wing and crying to see what was going on out there. You need to pay more attention, especially in situations like these. Doing it again might cause you to miss crucial information or a chance to escape. Besides, he asked me to explain it to him.”

Shadow nervously looked up at the towering Storm Wing and nodded. He tried to swallow but found his throat had gone dry and didn’t seem to be working.

“The humans seem to be having fights for entertainment. I watched something similar in the Storm Wing capital when I was young. However, our fights were honorable duels. This seems like nothing more than a barbaric bloodbath; they are even killing their own species,” she shook her head with a derisive snort.

“A few dragons have fought but only one survived. I believe it is only a matter of time before we are forced into the arena to do battle. Even if we win, I doubt they will ever set us free, but losing means death, so I don’t see any other option.”

“Couldn’t you at least take these wing cuffs off? They hurt and I think my wings might permanently cramp up if I don’t get them off soon,” Gale complained.

Surge growled slightly at him. “If I tried, your wings would certainly get torn. That could take weeks if not months to heal. That’s time we don’t have, otherwise I might have considered it.”

Gale shrank back with a nervous laugh. “Oh, heh, heh. Don’t bother. I’m just fine keeping my wings the way they are, thanks.”

“Humph. Other than that there hasn’t been much of note. The humans only feed us a few times per week so conserve your energy. Sleep when you can and don’t fool around. We are not in the cave anymore. I’ll do what I can as your guardian, but if you don’t listen you won’t last long.”

Surge walked over to her spot and curled up to sleep. Shadow noticed that while they had been speaking the cell had grown dark. He went over to the window and could barely make out a few stars twinkling if he peered up through the gap in the bar.

The other dragonets were gathering in the middle of the room. Aurora walked over and brushed up against Shadow’s side, sending a small wave of warmth through his scales.

“Come, Shadow. We’re all going to sleep. I can sing you another lullaby tonight if you want.”

The offer was tempting but Shadow wasn’t sure. Everything felt so complicated and confusing in his head. There was so much happening all at once, he needed to slow down.

“Thank you, Aurora. I’m not tired yet and I need some time to think. Go ahead. I’ll join you later.”

“Ok. I’ll see you in the morning.” I hope he’s doing alright. Maybe I can think of something tomorrow to cheer him up.

Shadow sat and looked out the window as he waited for the others to fall asleep. The city outside quieted but never went silent. As his mind slowly cleared Shadow felt like he could finally process everything that had happened recently.

Ever since he had started this adventure with the other dragonets, everything had moved so fast. Now he was sitting in a cell far away from everything he had known, not even sure if he would live another day. Shadow sighed and tried to clear his mind.

I wonder what Jarid is doing right now. Is he out there somewhere looking for me? Does he even know I’m here? I hope that girl was able to escape. Maybe she told him and they’ll come rescue us.

Shadow clung on to that hope as he drifted into sleep.

Shadow stirred as the high pitched creek of a metal door pierced his muddled consciousness. He could hear voices but he couldn’t make sense of what they were saying as his mind drifted between the sleeping and waking world. A warning flame flickered in his head and a sense of urgency compelled him to wake up.

Something was wrong but his sleep-addled mind couldn’t figure out what it was. He now noticed a familiar sweet smell and began making out the voices as he struggled to pull himself from the somnolent mire.

“...if so, why are you just standing there while we lug this thing around? Getting them to move while they’re awake is hard enough, but asleep? Even this little one weighs as much as a battle horse.”

“Quit your yapping! The boss said the change in tomorrow’s fight came down from high up, and I mean about as high up as you can go in this city. They want to see the pretty one get a little blood on her. I imagine that thing’s scales will fetch a fat stack of gold.”

“You think they’d mind if we plucked a few for ourselves?”

The small flame that had flickered in Shadow’s mind before was blazing now. They are trying to take Aurora!

With immense effort Shadow staggered to his feet. It felt like he was fighting through basilisk poison all over again. He tried to call out but his throat was dry and all that came out was a horse croak.

“That one's waking up!” one of the men cried in fright

“Impossible! We're using the most concentrated poison we have. Quickly, get this dead weight out of the way, we need to shut the cage!”

Shadow opened his eyes but everything was blurry and unfocused. The light of torches in the cage entrance dazzled him even as he stumbled forward.

“Aurora!” Shadow called, his voice cracking. He felt his foot snag on someone’s tail as he fell onto his face. Instinctively he tried to flap his wings for balance but a sharp pain shot through him and he collapsed. Scrambling back to his feet, he pushed forward towards the light and panicked shouts of the men as they tried to pull Aurora through the large cage door. Their fear pushed daggers of ice into his brain.

As his eyes adjusted to the glare he made out a small group of men pulling Aurora’s head to drag her unconscious body across the rough stone. The grating sound of scales on stone made Shadow’s heart cry out in pain. They were almost through and Shadow reached out in desperation.

“Get that door shut or we’re all in trouble!”

One of the men broke off and slammed the door shut just as Shadow dove for the tip of Aurora’s tail. His skull slammed into the bars with a loud clang and he stumbled back clutching his head. He cried in agony as the pain in his heart matched and exceeded the pain in his head. He crawled to the bars and reached through them as far as he could, but the men had already dragged her far out of his reach.

“Aurora! No. Aurora…” Shadow cried as he clutched the bars in defeat, his tears running down the cold hard metal. He had failed to reach her in time and now he might never see her again.

Exhausted and defeated, Shadow slumped against the bars and cried himself to sleep.