Zoltar woke to the sound of snarls all around him. As he slowly opened
his eyes, hideous, horned snouts focused into his vision. His heart nearly
stopped upon seeing the sight. A large frill splayed out from the dragons’
heads, with a silver horn curving from the middle of their forehead and
wickedly sharp teeth framed their beak like jaws, but it was their glowing red
eyes that sent fear scuttling down his spiny back. Memories of the previous day clouded his mind as he looked around wildly for an escape route.
The sky was dark overhead with the omen of a coming storm and a breeze had started to blow, whipping up the loose flecks of soot. He was surrounded on all sides by Howler Dragons and to Zoltar's horror there was no sign of Hisster. He was gone.
Zoltar swallowed the lump building up in
his throat as he tried not to think of what might have happened to Hisster, but the images were already starting to plague his mind. He could feel the terror starting to well up inside him. He couldn't die like this. He was one of the only Shadow Talon soldiers left. Whether his tribe liked him or not they needed him.
'Scorpus would want you to fight,' a small voice whispered
inside his head. A spark of confidence lit inside Zoltar urging him on, 'It’s
time to use the training Scorpus as taught you. You may not be like the other Shadow
Talons, but you are still a dragon and these are just pitiful little lizards half your size.
Fight them.'
Zoltar snorted a cloud of black smoke, his amethyst eyes gleaming
through the dark plume. He gave a low, threatening growl and pawed the ground
tossing up ash and stones into the dragons behind him. The Howler Dragons let
out a yelp of surprise as with a roar he charged into the black creatures,
butting them out the way with his long horns. Zoltar thrust out his wings,
flinging yowling reptiles through the air and into other Howler Dragons. Clouds
of dark dust swirled through the air as Zoltar fought the Howler Dragons.
One large dragon sank his teeth into the middle of Zoltar’s tail. Zoltar
bellowed in pain and whipped his tail violently, dislodging the creature.
Another Howler Dragon leapt onto Zoltar’s back, digging its claws into Zoltar’s
scales. Twisted his neck round, Zoltar seized the wretched reptile and tossed
it across the grey plain, straight into Hisster, who had just walked out of
another gaping tunnel.
“Zoltar! What are you doing?” Hisster thundered, picking up the Howler
Dragon Zoltar had thrown. Zoltar and all the Howler Dragons stopped fighting to
stare at Hisster.
“We’re being attacked, aren’t we?” Zoltar asked, staring at Hisster like
he'd seen a ghost. 'So much for him being dead then.'
“No, you pin head!” Hisster yelled, marching up to Zoltar. "They
thought we were intruders. I talked to them when I woke up. They were watching
you to make sure nothing attacked you. They insisted on it,” Hisster explained
calmly, although in his eyes he looked like he wanted to strangle Zoltar.
“Oh. Sorry!” Zoltar apologized to Howler Dragons sprawled around him.
There was a wave of low hisses and snarls from the Howler Dragons, but none
that Zoltar could hear properly.
The big Howler Dragon that had climbed onto Zoltar’s back scowled at him
and whispered something to Hisster. Hisster nodded and whispered something
back.
Zoltar only caught a few words like "new...just died...will
listen...see chief". The rest was blown away by a sudden gust of wind
sweeping over the desolate waste land.
Hisster motioned for Zoltar to follow him as he padded towards a gaping hole gouged into the earth. Zoltar tailed Hisster silently, his
nerves still pumped with adrenaline.
‘Thundering thunder bolts, now I’ve embarrassed Hisster in front of all the
Howler dragons. What will he think of me know?' Zoltar thought regretfully to himself as he walked down the
tunnel after Hisster. His tail was burning and the scratches he had received
were starting to sting as he walked. This just wasn’t his day.
It was dark inside that passage and full of ash and the smell of death.
If it wasn’t for Zoltar’s nocturnal vision he wouldn’t have been able to see
his paw in front of his face down here. He could hear the pack of Howler
Dragons trailing them, their snarls and growls echoing off the burrows walls.
They finely reached a room after a few prolonging minutes. It was small
and lit by a few fire stones, which glowed dimly in the dark like red dragon
eyes. There was no furnishings in the room, not even a bed. As Zoltar slowly
scanned the area his eyes caught on a huge, dark figure standing in the corner.
His heart jumped into his throat for the second time that day. The figure’s
eyes were like burning pools of red flame that gleamed in the darkness of the
room, a raging fire that could swallow your soul and mind forever.
Let's start.
If not, I still think you could draw the chapter out longer.
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