author: This should be the right chapter...
Chang shot into the air after Lao Shi leaving behind the dog as the shar pei shouted something. Lao Shi's slim form was almost completely hidden in the cloudless blue expanse that curved above them.
This natural camouflage must be very useful on clear days such as this.
She glanced back to find the satyr couple keeping up surprisingly well for magical creatures incapable of flight. She felt for a thermal pocket and rode it higher into the sky in an attempt to follow Lao Shi but lost a lot of lateral distance between them as he gained height to search for the missing children. Below her the greenish-yellow world of the grassy plains in autumn swiftly dropped away. The last splashes of color of summer flowers drained into the landscape as she circled upwards. One eye was kept on Lao Shi's form but this proved to be difficult as he seemed to have dissolved into the deepening blue of the sky as he went higher and higher.
Asian dragons did have a huge advantage, she must admit. They did not need to heavily rely on the winds like European and South American dragons did. While they relied on a combination of magic and the winds to keep them afloat, the Asian dragons could gain altitude much easier even when no wind was present, sometimes shooting straight into the air if no wind was present to impede their flight.
Far in the distance something caught her eye as it plummeted from the sky, it suddenly appearing as it switched to a greener background, with alarming speed.
"Ahhhhh!" Lin pulled on Susan's jacket roughly. She leaned slightly towards the bull. "No! Bad bull! Shoo~ GO AWAY!" Her voice became more and more shrill. She flailed one arm as the other absentmindedly curled tightly around Susan's middle. "Shoo! O-or-"
A loud Swooop! drowned her words. Thick dust from the drying autumn weather hung in the air and obscured their vision. Lin gripped haphazardly on to Susan and ready herself to bolt.
"Wow," Susan's whisper sounded like somewhere in the distance and quickly devolved into a small coughing fit.
Lin flinched as something rustled the grasses far below them near the ground, obscured in the haze, encircling them several times. "Susan," she called quietly. Something moved in front of them now.
"Baba!" Susan reached out towards a dark, tall form.
Lin stared, stunned, as two glowing embers turned halfway and watched them through the dissipating dust. The dust settled further and Susan's father's head, his expression concerned, could be seen clearly, arched over the drooping billows.
The bull tossed its massive head, the strong light of the sun flashing violently off its horns and shimmering down its dark coat. It snorted and a flame erupted that seared the dried grasses in a wide, uneven swathe.
A tint of glow flickered within Lao Shi's eyes as he felt hot smoke billowing up into his own mouth. He breathed the building pressure out through his nose. He needed to prevent any true fire from escaping. He did not want to cause a grass fire as that may endanger the village. His gaze flickered to the scorch mark on the ground.
When the bull charged directly for them Lao Shi immediately focused. He hunched over. Growing to his bigger size and plummeting from the sky had not scared it so . . .
The bull was a couple meters from him when he roared loudly. It sharply angled its course and sprinted away. Lao Shi watched as the bull went a good distant and stopped, wavering uneasily in its stance. Its eyes, like burning coals, darted back constantly to see if the large creature was going to attack further. The bull proceeded to trotted off in a hurry, once in a while looking back at him.
A heavy silence followed. Somewhere in the distance Chang was closing in fast, the satyr couple sprinting not far behind.
Lao Shi's long neck curved over to the stun children who stares still followed the bull. The satyr couple was steering towards the bull to recapture it. He shrunk his form down to a reasonable size and nuzzled Susan to get her attention.
Susan jerked and promptly gasped on to her baba's neck. He gingerly lifted her up and let her cautious slid onto his shoulders. Lin, back in the reality of the moment from Susan moving, eagerly let him pick her up in his arms, her arms around his neck near Susan as he cradled her deer-like form.
They lifted off and flew silently back towards . . . another dragon?
Fu Dog's form drooped forward, his front paws pressed hard onto his knees. He glanced up, seeing more trees. "I'm out of shape," he breathed. "Crap, I'm out of shape." He stumbled forward. "Lao Shi better not give me crap about this."