Angel of Light: Next chapter's up! Sorry it's taken so long, I've been very busy. *to Cody* See? You're in another one.
"What's going on?" the Princess panicked. She was talking to no one in particular.
"There's something out there!" Daisuke replied.
Above, the shadow flew back and forth. It was heading right for the Prince, but he was occupied with calming the horses. The horses saw it, and panicked more. One of them, Daisuke's, lashed out with its hind legs, and sent the boy flying. He landed unconscious, right in the path of the beast.
The monster, however, flew over him. The others watched worriedly as it hovered over the horses. With a strike of its clawed hand, the roped were severed. Immediately, four of the horses shot off to no where in particular. They just wanted to get away.
However, Tallow and Erowin stood under it, watching with curious eyes. Kari was too stunned to do anything, and watched. Surely this was going to be the end of her beloved mare. She shouted at it to run, but the mare only flicked her ears towards her, then back to the creature that was hovering over the two.
The beast was surprisingly quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the faint beat of its wings.
A rustle in the bushes caught everyone's attention. A low grumble came from the monster, as it rose into the sky. Tallow and Erowin moved quietly out of the way. The beast fixed its eyes on whatever was there.
The group had huddled together, all except Takeru, who was still lying on the ground. Kari couldn't help but feel a pang of remorse, from leaving him there. They were all waiting for what would happen next.
The rustling in the bushes stopped, and the beast relaxed. It flew down to where the two horses were standing. It looked over them, eyeing them curiously. It took a few steps towards them, and they did not move. It reached out with one arm. Still, they did not move.
Just as it was about to touch Tallow, something else dashed out from the bushes. It ran strait at Takeru, snarling hungrily. He beast turned, and pounced on the thing. Snarling and the gnashing of teeth could be heard.
The little group stood, stunned. Hikari recognized the other creature. Though it was dark, and details were hidden, she could tell that it was one of those wild bears. It was bigger than the one that she had seen dead, back on the forest floor. In fact, it looked twice as big, and twice as dangerous.
The bear howled with pain when the creature slashed its side. The thing bit deep into the bear's neck, and shook it violently. It fell limp in its mouth.
Satisfied, the creature dropped it.
The group watched with astonishment, as the creature pranced back to the horses, with its head held high. It sat itself down in front of them, much like a dog would to its master.
At this point, the Prince was beginning to wake. He stirred and groaned slightly, and rubbed his head. Slowly, he sat up.
"Wha-what's going on?" He asked groggily.
Everyone was too stunned to do anything.
He sat up, and stared at them. He couldn't believe that they wouldn't bother to help him. He was royalty, after all. Just as he was about to tell them off, he realized that they hadn't even noticed he was up. He also noticed that there was something that was keeping their attention. He diverted his gaze to where theirs was, and almost fainted again.
There, in front of him, was a massive red dragon. It was crouching over him, like a tiger would, and its tongue was hanging out. Its massive tail was wagging back and forth, and its lips were curled up into a goofy smile.
He blinked a few timed, then fainted.
The dragon's face fell, and it lowered its head to sniff him. It nudged the boy, trying to wake him up.
Getting frustrated, it bounded over to where the others were. It wore that same goofy smile that it had before.
All but the Princess ran. She was too astonished to do anything.
She stared up at the dragon, and it stared down at her. It cocked its head in a curious manner, which was quite comical. It brought its head down, so its nose was directly in Kari's face.
"W-well hello t-to you t-too…." she said nervously.
The dragon's smile grew bigger, and it bounced around in a circle. When it returned, it stuck its nose in her face again.
The Princess only stared back this time, not knowing what to do.
Once again, Takeru started to wake.
As soon as the dragon heard the slightest noise from him, it bounded over to him. It began to lick him, covering him with slobber.
"Ew, gross!" he exclaimed. "What is this?"
"Um, it's a ferocious dragon?" Kari replied.
"Ferocious my butt", Ken commented.
The dragon finally stopped giving Takeru his long needed bath, and sat back on its haunches. It looked over to the two horses, and wagged its tail.
The Prince managed to get up. He looked over the thing. It was a dragon, not massive, but not tiny. It was obvious that it was a male, for he had always been told that only the males come in red. He had also been told that dragons are a thing of myth, but that was another matter at the moment. Its scales shone like fire in the dim light, as the sun was just peering over the horizon. Black spikes that began at his head, went down his body. They got gradually larger, then shrunk again as they progressed down his body, only ceasing at the tip of his tail. His wings were massive in proportions to his body, and had a black thorn at the top. Leathery skin of a scarlet hue was stretched across two pieces of bone. The dragon had olden armour on its chest and legs. A huge emerald was on its front, while smaller sapphires were on the leg pieces. Pure white pearls lined the edges of the armour.
All together, the dragon was a magnificent sight. It could have passed for ferocious, if it hadn't acted so much like a dog.
Slowly, the group began to spread out.
"I take it that it's friendly?" Miyako asked timidly.
"I guess so……" answered Hikari.
There was silence as they stared at the thing. It had curled up in a ball, and had fallen asleep. It looked more like a helpless baby, than a dragon.
Hikari let out a deep breath, and collapsed on the ground.
"Are you alright, my Princess?" Daisuke asked, coming up behind her.
She placed her head in her hands, and replied, "Yeah, just a little stunned at the moment."
He placed an arm around her, "It's alright, we all are."
Takeru saw this, and felt anger burning in his chest. He wasn't sure why though. Maybe it was because the Princess was getting attention, and he wasn't. Maybe it was because he had been through more than her, and he felt he needed comforting, not her. Or maybe, it was that he was jealous.
The Prince ignored this, and walked to his mount.
"We'd better get a move on." he said through clenched teeth.
"How do you suppose we do that, Mr. Smarty pants." It was of course, the princess who had said this.
Takeru opened his mouth to reply, but noticed she had a point. All but four of the horses had run away. It was Ken and Iori's horses.
"They'll use he dragon", he replied.
"Are you nuts? We don't know what that thing could do!" She argued.
"Fine then, would you rather have one of them ride with you? Besides, this thing'll follow us anyways."
"And what makes you say that?"
"It's followed us this far, hasn't it?" he retorted.
"How do you know that?" She asked snidely.
"Come on, you're a smart girl, you figure it out."
"You're not going to tell me, BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW!"
"I just can't be bothered with you right now." After he said this, he mounted Tallow. "I honestly don't care whether they come or not. Ride the dragon, or stay here. I'm not wasting my time looking for a bunch of useless horses. There are more things at stake here than most of you know."
Hikari glared at him, but said nothing. She too mounted her horse.
Sensing that something was going on, the dragon woke up. It looked at Takeru with expecting eyes.
"You're going to carry some of us." he said simply. He urged Tallow on at the walk.
The dragon continued to watch him, then turned o the others. Daisuke and Miyako had mounted, and Ken and Iori were looking at him. Putting the pieces together, he picked them up, and placed them on his back. He acted stupid, but really wasn't.
Pretty soon, the group was once again on the move.
Angel of Light: Sorry if this chapter was kind of short and boring, but I needed to have this one in there. Don't worry, it'll get better! TtFn!
