Young Writers Society

A cold dawn was beginning to spread across the cobalt sky when Felistia finished telling Shriken their plan. Shriken had remained silent for the most part, his eyes darting from the ground back to Felistia as he followed her thoughts.

“So what do you think?” Felistia asked, rubbing one talon against her arm anxiously.

Shriken didn’t respond immediately as he shifted his gaze to watch a flock of snow white birds fly towards to oncoming dawn, their pale feathers almost reflecting the subtle pinks and purples creeping over the sky.

Finally, he turned back to face her. He let out a small sigh, “I wish I could talk you out of this, but I can see your heart is set out it. Also I have to admit, it could work.”

“Thank you…for understanding,” Felistia grinned and twined her tail with her brother’s, “I know the risks involved. I promise I’ll be careful.”

Shriken nodded as he took a deep breath. “I know you will. I’ll do my best on this side,” He took one of Felistia’s paws, “I’ll meet you in a few days. I should have news by then.”

“Okay,” Felistia said, her talons trembling, “Please promise me you’ll be careful. If Shiler suspects you of anything, run. Wait by Viper Rock for me. We can work something out.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Shriken nuzzled Felistia before stepping back, “I’ll see you soon.” Spreading his pearlescent wings, Shriken leapt into the morning sky. Angling towards the Ice Kingdom, his scales seemed to wink goodbye as he soared into the distance.

Felistia watched him go, her eye’s following his silhouette until finally it disappeared into the swirling storm clouds hovering over the lake.

Zoltar stepped over to her, wrapping a wing over her back, “He’ll be okay. He knows how to look after himself.”

“I know,” she whispered, squeezing his paw, “He always was the sensible one.”

“Come on. We should get moving before the sun reveals our position. There could be more patrols.” Zoltar nudged her as he spread his wings and jumped into the air.

Felistia nodded as she cast one more anxious glance in Shriken’s direction, before following Zoltar.

…

Soon the frozen wastes of the Ice Kingdom disappeared behind them as wide open grasslands spread before them. The far off mountains of the Wind Talon Kingdom slowly advanced like marching giants. They should reach them by tomorrow evening.

Slowly, the sun climbed up the blanket of robin’s egg blue, casting its golden rays over the swaying grasses below. The plains of butter yellow whispered and rustled in the early morning breeze as if murmuring long forgotten secrets. Zebra galloped over the dry grass, their hooves creating clouds of dust as they raced over the ground. They whinnied in alarm as the dragons flew overhead.

Zoltar’s stomach growled and he remembered that he hadn’t eaten in a while.He decided that a zebra would do for their supper later.

Dipping into a steep swallow dive, he plummeted towards the panicked herd, the wind whipping at his wings. He splayed his front talons and snatched up a zebra mid-swoop. With a quick squeeze of his claws, he killed the horse and flew back with his prize. Felistia shot him a smile as he showed her his catch. They could eat it later after they’d covered more ground.

For hours the two dragons flew, the ground below a blur as their shadows danced over the weaving blades of grass.

The warm sunlight was a welcome change from the bitter cold Zoltar had had to live with the last few days. The comforting heat on his back scales help ease his worry, but didn’t stop it.

He’d thought over the whole thing over and over again in his head and he just couldn’t figure out what had happened.

Why of all dragons had the Wind Talons taken Emerald and Shiraku? They hadn’t been anywhere near the Wind Talons territory’s boundary. He’d specifically left them in a remote area between the two kingdoms. Ice Talons and Wind Talons practically never set paw in that area now, not after the battle of Thunder and Ice.

So how had Shiraku and Emerald been caught and why had they been taken? It wasn’t like they’d been doing anything wrong. Something just wasn’t right about this whole situation.

And why had there been a Lighting Talon with the Wind Talons. If they were so rare that most of Megalonia thought they were extinct, why would one be so close to the Ice Talons? Surely, the Wind Talons would want to keep there last remaining Lightning Talons close to home?

…

Evening seemed to creep up on Zoltar and his thoughts. One moment the plains were bathed in sunlight, the next it seemed crimson shadows had flooded the land. The air had a chilling bite to it as the sun dipped below the horizon, taking the last of its warmth with it. The breeze from earlier had die down, so the gloomy grasslands were deathly silent apart from the steady beat of the dragons wings.

The zebra was starting to grow heavy in Zoltar’s talons and his wings were starting to ache from the long day. They should land and wait until morning to carry on. Felistia was starting to show signs of exhaustion and soon she wouldn’t be able to fly due to the lack of light.

“Felistia?” Zoltar called over the sound of their wing flaps, “Do you want to land for the night.”

A slightly relived look came over Felistia’s snout and she nodded enthusiastically.

Felistia cautiously swooped down, her eyes darting this way and that as she tried to see in the dim light of the two moons. She landed a few moments later, stumbling slightly on something hidden in the grass.

Tilting his wings to circle in an arch around her, Zoltar slowly landed in a graceful spiral dive. The dry grass rustled gently as his claws touched down. His muscles sighed in relief as he let go of the zebra and stretched his sore wings.

Darkness had consumed the land by now and the Wind Talon Mountains were a dark silhouette on the far off horizon. The two full moons iridescent glow spread like liquid silver over the plains. A canvas sky of the purest black speckled with gleaming stars. Streaks of glittering violet and dabs of cosmos blue shimmered amidst the swirling colours. Hints of emerald and autumn orange dappled through the whirling galaxies of stars.

Zoltar breathed a content sigh as he dragged the zebra over the Felistia. Tonight he’d be able to sleep under a blanket of stars. Far better than a freezing cold cell in the middle of the Ice Kingdom.

But like an angry beast, gnawing worry for Shiraku and Emerald clouded his mind. Were they okay? Were they even still alive? Besides that, how was he and Felistia going to get into the Wind Talon Kingdom. It might have been okay if it was just him, but Felistia was an Ice Talon. How would the Wind Talons react to her?

Zoltar clamped down on his thoughts before they got out of control and tried to calm his whirling mind. It wouldn’t do him any good if he didn’t get a good night’s sleep. He needed energy to complete the journey ahead. He needed to be sharp tomorrow when they arrived in the Wind Talon Kingdom.