The Quest for Fire - Touch the Sky - Chapter Two

Dawn broke over the land a few hours later, the new born sun reflecting off the golden strands of grass. A gentle breeze had begun to blow, causing the blades to dance and roll like water. Far off, the gently warble of a song bird echoed through the morning mist.

Zoltar, who’d been awake for an hour or so already, watched the sun slowly rise, its light brushing over the land in a wave of welcoming warmth.

He took in a deep breath of the fresh morning air, trying to build up the familiar heat within his chest, before letting it loose. A small trail of smoke curled from his jaws, before being swept away by the breeze.

Hunching his shoulders, Zoltar huffed in irritation. It was no use. His fire wasn’t coming back, at least not right now.

“Hey,” Zoltar turned to find Felistia walking up to him. She sat down beside him, gently brushing his wing with hers, “Fire not coming back?”

Zoltar shook his head, before turning away from her, unable to face the fact that he might be fireless for the rest of his life.

They were silent for a few moments as they watched a flock of birds cross the sky.

“We should get moving if we want to reach the edge of the Wind Talon Kingdom by mid-day.” Felistia said finally, giving him a gentle head butt, “and don’t worry. Your fire will come back. I know it will.”

Zoltar smiled sadly and nodded as he spread his billowing black wings.

…

For most of that day they flew, heading west towards the distant mountain range that marked the Wind Talon border.

The sun blazed down on them, growing hotter with every hour that they flew. The landscape grew drier and more arid as they approached the foothills, the golden grasslands giving way to parched plains almost devoid of plant life.

It was almost mid- day when Zoltar spotted a river snaking through the mountains, spilling out towards the distant sea.A small burst of green bordered its banks, a break from the dull brown of the desert around them.

“Do you think we could land for a little while? I need a drink.”Felistia panted, her silver scales flashing brilliant white in the mid-day sun.

Zoltar nodded. Tilting his wings, he swooped down towards the river, the wind hot against his scales. He landed on a patch of brilliant green grass, the blades soft under his paws.

All around him, plant life flourished as if the desert, only a few dragon lengths away, didn’t exist. Willows lent over the river, their dangling vines being gently tugged by the current. Birds hidden from sight, called out in the sharp voices, warning of the approaching dragons.

Felistia landed next to him and without hesitation, hastily padded over to the river bank. She sucked up the water hungrily in long, thirst gulps. Zoltar joined her, lapping up the refreshing liquid.

“Oh, maybe we should stay here for a little while.” Felistia said as she waded deeper into river. She flapped her wings, spraying water over herself and the neighboring banks.

Zoltar watched from the bank, his tail curled over his talons. They could afford to wait an hour or so before continuing on as they’d made good progress throughout the day. Besides, it was mid-day and even he was starting to feel the brunt of the sun’s heat. They could wait until the sun had dipped a little lower and then continue on through the mountains.

“Okay,” he called back, “Only for an hour or so though. I want to be well into the Wind Talon Kingdom by nightfall.”

Felistia didn’t seem to hear him as she dipped her head below the surface, lashing the water with her spiked tail.

Rolling his eyes, Zoltar settled down under a willow tree, flopping his tail over his snout in an effort to keep out the bright sunlight filtering through the vines.

Although he couldn’t see her, Zoltar could still hear Felistia splashing around in the river. From the series of irritated growls, he presumed she was trying to catch one of the many salmon he’d seen swimming around.

Smiling, he closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. He should try to get some sleep if they were going to stay here for a little while. He needed his wits about him for tonight. He wasn’t sure exactly how he was going go about it, but somehow he needed to get into the Wind Talon Kingdom without be seen as an intruder or enemy.

That was easier said than done thought. The first issue was that Felistia was going to be with him. Due to her being an Ice Talon, the Wind Talons were almost sure to see her as an enemy and therefor him too.

There was the option of leaving her here, but he was sure she’d refuse since she wanted to try to talk the Wind Talons into a peace treaty.

Zoltar wasn’t sure how he felt about that idea. At first he’d been excited to try and stop the Ice Talon and Wind Talon war, but now that he’d had time to think about it, the whole idea seemed highly unlikely to succeed.

Sure they had the Lightning Diamond, but what was stopping the Wind Talons from just taking that from them and executing them afterwards. If the whole situation was reversed and it was a Wind Talon trying to negotiate with Shiler, she’d do just that.

For all he knew he could be walking into another situation where he ended up in prison with the threat of execution hanging over his head. Last time he’d been lucky to escape. He might not be so fortunate again.

Still, he had to find a way to rescue Shiraku and Emerald. Firstly because he was their friends, well, Emerald’s friend at least. Secondly, because he needed Emerald’s scale. He knew it was kind of selfish to think like that, but he still needed to remember that in amongst all of this, his main goal was to save his tribe and that meant getting all of the things to the Riconra and so on and so forth.

Even he was starting to get a little fed up with how complicated this whole thing was.

Why did the Ghost Talons even need the Ruby of Fire? After learning about the Lightning Diamond, he was sure it had to do with some sort of power, but still, wouldn’t it be easier for the Ghost Talons to get it themselves?

For all they knew he could have been killed trying to get the items needed and they’d never end up getting the gem. Sure, they’d take it out on his tribe, but what would that achieve? They were stronger and obviously knew more about this Ruby than he did. The whole thing bugged him.

Zoltar sighed, shifting his wings. That’s when he realized he couldn’t hear Felistia splashing anymore.

His eyes flew open, just in time to see a flash for cobalt blue and a sharp sting in his neck, before everything blacked out.