The Quest for Fire - Into the Mists - Chapter Eight

Zoltar lay in his nest that night, staring at the lone fire rock on the wall, its dim glow failing to light his path. Sighing, he got up, spun and settled down again for the fifth time that night. He still couldn’t get comfortable. Whirling thoughts and worries roared through his head like a midnight storm.

He couldn’t go back there, back to that place. He couldn’t face the memories. The wounds were too fresh.The image of her eyes growing cold as the life left her still haunted his every waking moment.

He couldn’t face it. He’d lost his wife and commander who he now hated for the decisions he’d made. If it hadn’t been for him, Nira would still be here. They both would and he wouldn’t have to go on this quest alone. Now because of his general he was the only solder left, the last hope for the Shadow Talons.

Zoltar squeezed his eyes shut, the pain of it all tearing at him for the inside like a ravenous beast trying to claw its way out.

How was he going to do this on his own?

…

The rolling waves below Zoltar lapped quietly as he soared over them on his way to Wisp Talon Island. He kept his eyes firmly trained on the towering pillars ahead. He wasn’t going to look around him. He wasn’t going to allow the memories in. They had to stay hidden away, locked in the box that was his heart. He couldn’t let them interfere with his mission. It was going to be hard enough without his emotions getting in the way.

Zoltar’s heart pounded in his chest as he neared the Misty Maze.

He’d decided to travel through the maze this time. Last time they’d gone over, but that had made them visible to anyone watching on the island. This time he wanted to make sure he wasn’t seen. He’d fly in low through the mist and land on the beach. He’d sneak through the forest and find a place to spend the night before sundown.

A strange wind was blowing, battering his wings, trying to hurl him into the ocean as he approached.

It was strangely quiet in the maze, apart from the crashing of the waves against the pillars. No fish sprang from the sea and no birds called from the rocks. Zoltar shivered. He had the feeling he was being watched and the way the mist snaked in and around the columns made it impossible to see more than a dragon’s length ahead. The mist seemed to curl over and into his scales, making them clammy and cold.

He barely stopped himself from flinching as a large knobbly pillar came into view. The clumps of seaweed and mussels clinging to the rocks seemed to melt into the mist. Their shapes twisted and warped in the fog.

As he flew through the towering rocks an eerie, wailing howl suddenly filled the air, seeming to bounce off the pillars and splashing water.

Zoltar stopped and hovered, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from, but the call seemed to be bouncing from pillar to water and back again, making it impossible to hear where it was coming from.

There was a splash from below Zoltar. He swiftly looked down, but all he could see were the ripples. He flew a little lower, peering into the murky, black water. He flinched as the large, dark shadow of a slender sea creature passed underneath him. Its tail made small eddies in the water as it passed by.

Without warning it lunged out of the water towards him, its sharp, white teeth shining wickedly. He swerved violently, his wings tips brushing the water as he tried to gain height. The creature landed back into the water, showering him in sea spray.

Zoltar sped through the maze, narrowly avoiding pillars and clusters of oysters. He could hear the creature bounding through the water towards him, its tail sweeping through the water, creating massive waves that smacked against the pillars. He picked up the pace, dipping and diving, veering and swerving through the mist. He had to reach the end of the maze before that thing caught him.

At last the rock beach appeared in front of him. He catapulted onto the sand and pebbles, gasping for breath. Zoltar looked back at the murky water and heaved a heave sigh of relief. The unknown creature had gone.

Suddenly there was a splash as a big creamy reptile sprang onto the beach. The raptor like creature stood there, its snake like eyes staring unblinking at him, sending a chill down Zoltar’s spikes. As he scanned its long razor sharp spin along the length of its back, he realized it was a Shang Fu, a dragon killer. The most notable feature on the creature was the scorpion like barb on the end of its tail. It looked just like the poisons stinger on the end of his tail, Zoltar realized. A cold sense of dread wrapped around his chest making it hard to breath.

Zoltar could see that it was a lot faster than him and would be on top of him before he could get into the air. His instinct was telling him to flee, but he knew that he would have a better chance standing his ground and fighting.

Zoltar gave a low threatening growl and glared at the Shang Fu. Surely he'd be able to defeat on little Shang Fu half his size. The Shang Fu scowled back as though it had just read his mind, its glittering yellow eyes alive with menace. Taking a step back from him it raised its ugly head and howled a long, bone chilling howl.

Almost instantly two more Shang Fu leapt out of the lapping waves. The first Shang Fu growled and snapped at the newcomers and they cowered under their leaders gaze. He hissed at them and jerked his head towards Zoltar as though showing them their prey.

Zoltar watched the circling Shang Fu, their teeth sparkling in the dim sunlight. He was about to flee when Nira’s voice spoke inside his head, 'Come on they’re just a bunch of lizards. You can do it. Fight them!'

Zoltar exhaled a cloud of black smoke. A small spark of confidence burned inside him like a fire, growing bigger with every breath. He lashed his poisonous barbed tail and with a roar of fury he charged towards the snarling Shang Fu, his head down.

The Shang Fu’s eyes widened with surprise as Zoltar teared towards them. They scurried to get out of the way of his sharp, violet horns, tripping over each other in the process. He thwacked one with his tail, sending the yelping lizard flying back into the ocean. He batted another out the way with his wing, hurling it across the sand.

Zoltar suddenly felt a sharp sting on his back. There was another shoot of pain through his spikes as he twisted his head round to look at what was on his back. The leading Shang Fu was hooked into his hide and was clawing his way up Zoltar's back, digging his razor sharp claws between his scales.

Fear clenched Zoltar’s heart as the Shang Fu raised its tail. With one lightning fast movement he brought it down towards Zoltar's spine. Zoltar shut his eyes, waiting for the blow.

Time seemed to stand still as the Shang Fu's stinger zoomed towards Zoltar’s exposed spine. Suddenly, there was a blast of air as an ice blue streak slammed into the Shang Fu, flinging him off Zoltar’s back. The force of the collision knocked Zoltar off his feet. The hard sand hitting him flat in the snout as he tumbled onto the beach.

He heard bones crack behind him and he hurriedly got to his feet. Zoltar whipped around to see the Shang Fu hanging limp between an Ice Talons vice like jaws.

She dropped the Shang Fu and spat, “Pathetic little creatures.”

She slowly, with caution, walked over to Zoltar, her spiked tail ready to strike if needed. Zoltar stood still, his heart pounding He knew how dangerous Ice Talons could be, with their ice breath and claws like shards of ice. If he acted aggressively in the slightest way she could lash out. But what was she doing here? The island was miles away from the Ice Kingdom and her tribe. Zoltar remained still as stone, while this thoughts whirled around and around his head.

After a few seconds, the Ice Talon asked in a voice like icicles jingling together, “What's your name?”

“I-i-it’s Zoltar,” Zoltar replied quickly, daring to lift his eyes for a moment to have a look at her.

The Ice Talon was a beautiful dragoness with a crown of silver horns on the back of her head gleamed in the dim light and a trail of ridged white spines ran along the length of her back. Her long tail swept from side to side, the four large spikes on the end of it leaving deep gouges in the sand.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she cocked her head, looking Zoltar from horns to tail with her shimmering gold eyes. They were deep and unreadable like that of the sun and made Zoltar slightly dizzy after staring straight into them.

“I-I-I. Umm. Ahh,” Zoltar didn’t know what to say. Who was this dragon and what was she doing here? He hadn’t been expecting to find anyone except the Wisp Talons. 

“Yes?” The Ice Talon probed.

A thought flashed through his head. She must be an exile. Many dragon tribes banished their own tribe member for various reasons; competition for the throne, disobeying the tribe’s rules, murder.

“I was banished from the Shadow Talons,” Zoltar finally blurted out, his insides now felt like a twisted mass. This was a dangerous position to be in. He couldn’t tell her why he was here. Who knew how she’d react? Outcasts where usually the most treacherous dragons in Megalonia, known to be savage and bitter. She couldn’t be trusted, not yet anyway. Besides, it was a Shadow Talon secret and tribes or members of those tribes didn’t go around sharing each other business.

“Really?” the Ice Talon hissed, eyeing him, “Why were you cast out?”

Zoltar racked his mind. What would be a good reason to be thrown out of his tribe? He needed her to trust him enough to be at ease around him. The last thing that would make her relaxed around him was the prospect that he’d murdered someone and even stealing didn’t sound great. Maybe if he said he’d fought for the throne? It sounded like the safe way to go. He also might get some sympathy as it was the same case for many outcasts.

“I was banished by my chief for attempting to take control of the throne,” Zoltar replied, sitting down on the soft sand, his tail neatly curled around his talons.

The Ice Talons face fell for a second and she snarled, “I was banished by my queen for the same reason.” She sighed.

“May I ask what your name is?” Zoltar requested, hoping to change the subject.

“It’s Felistia,” she answered.

“So how long have you been here?” Zoltar asked. This was going better than he’d expected. She seemed really nice.

“About four months, I think,” the Ice Talon replied. She shook out her magnificent wings, the scales shining like millions of miniature moons, “You?”

“I only just found the island, but I’ve been searching for a place to stay more than a few nights for the last few months,” Zoltar answered. He hated having to lie, but it was the safest thing to do. The whole thing would just be too complicated to explain to a complete stranger. Besides, he still had to find a place to sleep. The last thing he needed was being caught out at night with no hiding place to spend the night.

“Guess we’re in the same situation then. No home and on the run constantly. A real lot of fun.” She whipped her tail back forth, sending pebbles and sand flying.

“Yah. Not to mention the fact that you’re all alone,” Zoltar lowered his eyes. Maybe he wasn’t so different from this Ice Talon. She was alone with no home and no one to rely on. In a way he was in the same situation.

“Well I was… until I came here. It’s quite a magnet for lone dragons. It’s secluded, has lots of food and plenty of places to hide. I actually search this beach every afternoon. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, another dragon will fly in. I don’t usually have to save them from a Shang fu though,” The Ice Talon gave him a look of amusement, “If they’re nice I invite them to stay in my cave in the pillars,” she said, slightly batting her eyes. “Most of the dragons landing on the island stay there since it’s a little dangerous after dark and I really don’t want to have saved you for nothing.” Felistia smiled slyly and yet it had a touch of softness.

Zoltar looked at his tail sheepishly, “Are you asking me to come to your cave?”

“Maybe,” she purred as she opened her wings and leapt into the misty air. She flew towards some large rock columns a few kilometres from the beach.

Zoltar couldn’t believe his luck as he took to the air after Felistia. He had a somewhat safe place to stay. Felistia had been on the island longer than him and would know where the best place to hide would be. The best he’d thought of so far was roosting in a tree, but he ruled that out since the Wisp Talons could climb.

Sure Felistia was a new dragon so he'd be careful, but how dangerous could she be compared to the venomous Wisp Talons, which would most definitely by about after dark. He'd just stay the night and decide in the morning whether to find a new place to sleep.

Forest carpeted the valleys surrounding the pillars and the echoes of birds calling to each other rang through the damp air. Feathery clumps of moss fluttered in the breeze as they clung to the sides of the tall rocks. Cracks and gouges covered the columns like scars on an old dragon of war. Small caves carved out of the craggy rocks surface were everywhere like deep black holes leading to another land.

Felistia hovered over one particularly large cave. It was high above the dark forest and was well hidden by the vines draping over the opening. She tucked in her wings and disappeared into the black hole. Zoltar followed her through the slimy creepers, which slid along his scales as he walked into the cave.

Zoltar breathed a column of fire, its orange glow lighting up the cavern. Cracks scuttled across the amber walls like small rivers on their way to the sea. Olive green moss flowered all over the ceiling, their delicate tendrils wet with dew. Small streams of water run down the caves sides, their ripples shining gold in the fires light. Brown stalactites hang from the ceiling. Small beads of water fell from their sharp points onto the floor, their hollow sounds echoing through the cavern.

Felistia was standing in the far corner, her scales gleaming like white gold in the flame’s orange glow. Next to her was a burly Sea Talon. Zoltar cringed, his flame going out as the Sea Talon snarled. There was a Sea Talon here?