Young Writers Society

The sapphire blue ocean whizzed past Zoltar as he soared out of the mist. The golden sun danced on his obsidian scales, driving away the damp, cold vapour from the maze and replacing it with excited anticipation. He was on his way.

“I never want to do that again. Please tell me we don’t have to go through that again?” Emerald shivered, shaking her wings and tail. Her scales were slowly fading from grey to vibrant emerald green.

“Only when we come back to the island, which will be in a while and it won’t be as bad as this time since Shiraku will be under close supervision.” Zoltar shot Shiraku a look and she smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I don’t know what came over you either,” Zoltar arched his eye brows and grinned. He couldn’t stay mad at her. Besides, it was kind of hard to talk to a dragon that kept twitching and scratching from no apparent reason.

“Are you okay?” Zoltar asked, cocking his head.

“Oh I’m fine. Just waiting for you to finish talking so that I can start swimming,” Shiraku replied as she gave her head another good itch.

“Oh for scales sake, just go. You’re enough to drive a dragon to madness,” Zoltar roared, rolling his eyes.

There was a loud splash from below as Shiraku dived into the sea. A few seconds later she leapt out of the crystal clear water, her scales gleaming like polished turquoise as the diamond drops of water slid down her wings.

“Feel better?” Zoltar asked, peering behind him at Shiraku, who was smiling happily as she shook the water off her snout and tail.

“Oh, the sea feels so good after all these months. I had to swim in the lakes on the island, but they just weren’t the same. There’s something about the way the salt water tickles your gills and the currents pull at your tail. Oh, I have missed it,” she smiled again and tilted her wings to catch the sunlight, so that her whole body looked like the bluest abalone shell.

Zoltar sighed. The way Shiraku had described the sea had made him remember that she still had the choice of leaving for the Sea Talon Kingdom at any time. Felistia too could go back to the Ice Talon Kingdom. Zoltar had known that they'd probably go back to their own tribes, but the thought of them really going just felt surreal. They'd been with him the whole time he'd been on the island and he'd kind of gotten used to seeing them every day. He'd got to know them pretty well and didn't really want to say goodbye to them. Still he had to bite the bone sometime.

"F-Felistia?" Zoltar started shakily, dreading the answer he was going to get, "Have you decided whether you want to go back to the Ice Kingdom?" He flinched as Felistia's wings faltered for a second, "Not that I'm rushing you or anything. I just wanted to know if you've made a decision."

"I haven't really made a decision yet, Zoltar," Felistia spat with surprising anger.

"I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that I need to go to the Ice Kingdom for...something and I was wondering if you could stay a little while since we're going that way anyway?"

Felistia didn't answer him and instead gazed off into the distance as though she were staring across the frozen tundra’s of the Ice Kingdom.

Zoltar sank a few wing beats away from Felistia. He hadn't meant to come off rude or pushy. He wasn't even sure how'd he'd upset her. Why had she gotten so angery? Zoltar just couldn't get his head around it. He was almost relieved when Emerald brushed her wing tip up against his.

"What was that all about?" Emerald asked, a confused and yet sympathetic look on her snout.

"I actually don't know. It just came out of nowhere. I was just asking her if she'd decided to go home," Zoltar murmured, confusion still clouding his head.

"Maybe she's just a bit stressed after going through the maze. I am, thanks to Shiraku," Emerald gave the Sea Talon a significant look, "Just give her some time. She'll come around."

“Look. There’s the continent,” Shiraku called, pointing a silver claw at the dark line on the horizon.

Zoltar looked up, his heart fluttering like a small bird. The shore line of the Moon Talon Kingdom was fast approaching. Dark forest outlined the coast line. Zoltar could see small silver lizards springing from tree to tree as they hurried back to their hollows.

The sun was slowly dropping lower in the sky and as the band of dragons neared the shore, streaks of bright pinks and marigold were starting to stream across the sky.

Zoltar swooped in and landed on the thin strip of beach, spraying pebbles in all direction. He heard the others touchdown close be. He looked around to see Felistia walk past him and up a sand dune towards the forest. Her tail was lashing and her wings were hunched over. She curled up without a word.

‘Something's wrong with her,’ Zoltar worried, staring at the silent ice talon. Had she just been hiding who she was on the island to take advantage of him or was something else going one? He'd have to keep a close eye on her and hope that it was just a faze.

“I have never seen a sunset over the ocean,” Emerald gazed out onto the ocean, the sun's dyeing light reflecting off her golden eyes, “It’s so beautiful.”.

“Yes it is the best place to see the sun go down,” Shiraku sighed, sitting down and staring over the miles of sea before her.

“It is beautiful,” Zoltar admitted, think back to the Shadow Lands sunsets; they were never as good as this.

Emerald curled up next to Zoltar, her tail draped over her talons. She smiled at him as she watched the spectacle silently. Zoltar felt a rush of content brush over him. Emerald was safe and Shiraku and Felistia were close by. He was on the contentment and soon would be on his way to the Ice Talon Kingdom, but fear still clawed at him deep down. There was something wrong with Felistia and Shiraku could still leave at any second. He'd just have to wait and see what tomorrow brought.

The sun, like a fiery yellow orb splashed into the ocean sending a spray of glowing orange coals scattering across the sky. The pebbles on the beach sparkled a golden brown as the sun cast its amber rays over the seashore. The lapping waves shone in the dying light as the sky slowly shifted from bright pink and scarlet to violet and indigo. Soon the stars sparked into sight and the moons’ glittering silver light gleamed down on the four sleeping dragons, curled up on the beach.