Chapter 23
Blade Ridge
-Thrask-
They all have abandoned me, I wish that they were back now. So far, I have been subject to multiple situations where I would be intoxicated and near death by then, and the wounds that followed were bringing me a intense and searing pain that I could not stand at all. Heck, the only reason why I survived till now is probably because of this strange feeling that lets me fire a powerful blast. It just makes me wonder, am I really just wanted for my firepower? I limped without showing that I was injured, since what would happen if another predator decides to attack me while I am injured, I am basically screwed. Whatever I throw would have to be a lucky shot, but it would be considered that it would be unlucky since I am not really good at hitting targets precisely. So what they used to do was put me near the barrel of the gun, and let me shoot the beam at the target with it. The Roran empire might've used me as a weapon, but Tuo saw me differently.
Where I was at is a huge difference between home, and a artificial. As they might call it, Blade Ridge. I remember when Tuo let me know about this infamous canyon, that is was full of bandits, mercenaries, hunters, and another kingdom. The other kingdom however, was unknown to almost everybody, since they could not get one inch close to it. There was a guard that killed almost any trespasser, and with no sympathy at all. I am not sure that the myth was true, so I guess I wanted to check out Blade Ridge for myself. Thing is, I am very close to it, and next to it, a huge fire pit. I know that we Dragons are close to or are resistant to fire, but I am very sure I do not want to be caught in the wild all alone just to get killed by a bear. Plus, I barely even know how to fly yet, and these wings only do good for gliding. Although those will not glide far even on a high hill.
I saw the mountain that almost pointed to the direct center of the sun. The noises were getting less noticeable, and I continued up the mountain. Climbing used to be my favorite thing to do, so I began looking for some edges on the mountain that I could climb on. I found a hole, and placed my front claws into it, and then I used another one that was a edge with my other front claws. I pulled both of my arms up so I could place my rear feet on the stony surface. To be honest, the personal climbing skills never ceased to amaze me, and it almost never gone away, like it was locked to me. I kept on climbing, with my wings folded and tail swinging side to side, gaining speed so that I would be safe from anything that came from the ground. Soon I reached a point on the mountain where I found a road, a very narrow one. I looked around when I climbed onto it, and I realized there were multiple. I traveled on the road, and then when I got to the other side of the mountain, There were more huge, gigantic masses of stone. I felt some warmth coming on my scales, but the warmth was rising, completely missing my back. It became more intense before I realized there was a volcano that spewed molten lava on the crevices of the mountain. I know my scales could not handle it yet, but I feel like I will get more time to live if I accidentally stumble into it.
It looked like the only way I can get into that ridge, is if I glided over the lava, but I still remember, high hills will not go far, and I know most certainly that if I do it now I will burn to ashes. I looked up and see that the point of the mountain was over my head, and over the clouds. I figured it might work, so I ran to the top of it. On the way, I found some kind of spearhead, and blood that was freshly placed onto it. That gave me the frightening conclusion that the hunters were here, and some of the myth was true. I was not positive, but I grabbed the obsidian spearhead and kept on moving forward. The road became steeper, and more narrow as I went up, and I heard someone die in the distance. I am presuming that was the guard that protects the kingdom? I was not sure. I slowed down as I got higher, knowing that I was almost there. I could see the clouds just a few steps away from actually touching me, and that would be my first time ever knowing what clouds felt like. Luckily, in my path of gliding, the clouds were moving towards it. I visualized the jump and ran into the clouds while hoping for the road to be easier to navigate. The clouds were furious, and was getting extremely windy for the way that they looked. I noticed that I was already getting droplets of water, shimmering on my scales. Soon, I was over them, and found the top of the mountain.
The platform was actually narrow as well, being circular and blunt. If I spread my limbs out, then my claws would dangle over the platform, waiting to fall off the edge. I began hearing some footsteps coming from down there, and I began to get frightened. The person coming up was running, and I knew he saw me. I quickly looked for the cloud's direction, and I found it. I heard some grunts coming from down below, and I quickly ran and jumped towards the direction of the clouds. To make my distance even longer, I unfolded my wings and spread them out so that the air may slow my fall while I am swooping down to the Ridge. I looked behind me, and There was a camouflaged person with an arrow seeming to be aiming to my head. He seemed very far away, but when he shot an arrow, I realized it almost killed me. The arrow that was shot missed my wing, however skidding across my back. I hurried and changed the angle which I was gliding in, and tried to lose his tracking, and it worked once I got through the clouds. I began to feel lightheaded once I passed, and I realized once I got through the clouds, I was almost halfway through the lava pit. I sighed in relief, knowing that I would make it, but a gust of wind pushed me back and made my collision course straight to a edge of the road. I was trying frantically to try and fly, but I couldn't. I decided to try and get a bit faster, so I swooped down again and this time, pulled my head up along with my body.
I got so close that I was grabbing for it, but when I landed, the edge hit my rear foot, making it feel sore, and slowing my movement. I could predict I was here, and alive, and I was glad, but to survive all these hunters and bandits, I needed to be on my game. Avoiding was key now, as I walked down the path I made that theory. For once I did something that my kind could do, even though the other young ones could probably fly by now and glide way better than me. On the way down, I saw the arrows that the hunter shot at me, they looked like sticks a few quills and a spearhead right on top of it. On the blade, it looked like some kind of poison though. When I got to the point where there was a entrance, I looked and i saw something that I thought was my home when I was a newborn. I decided that if I could try and practice now, it would be a good time, so I jumped off again, and this time, I tried to flap my wings to gain altitude, but it did not work at all. At this point, my parents probably would look down on me and say; You are a failiure. Get out of here. I glided down so that I could avoid hitting the base of the mountain by accident, and I ended up on a tree branch, where there would be a vine of grapes. I knew that these most likely would not kill me, since there are two types of them that vary between poisonous and not poisonous.
I decided to strip one grape on that vine, and I slammed it into my mouth as if I was starving. It was actually tasty and was able to be dragged along with me, so I snapped the vine holding the grapes using my mouth with razor sharp teeth and cut the vine. I jumped down from the branch and kept exploring the inside of Blade ridge, which I do not get why it would be called that. Maybe because there were so many weapons being flailed around, killing others and helping murderers hone their skills to go and start a massacre. I know the guard started one already. soon I came across a opening inside the forest, and decided that my leg was needing rest, and my wings need to as well. I sat down near the roots and began eating the grapes off the vine I snapped off. Suddenly the things began tasting weird, but I did not feel the poison. They also began tasting like weak poison as well, but i knew that vine of grapes wouldn't hurt a fly if one drank from it. At this point, I wouldn't blame myself if I had to kill something to eat. but I was injured on the foot so I rested.
Few hours later, I woke up, experiencing pain that seared and burned as multiple spots kept on stinging. Each one gave me a reason to make me yelp, but if I did, predators were surely going to come right here and kill me on sight. When I looked at the spot I was sleeping on, I realized there were a bunch of ants that crawled the surface, and they were biting me. I then began hearing a similar sound, footsteps. It was so close, I could almost taste it, and it was very close. Soon I heard the words; "Surprise..." as I was hit with a wooden bat. I got knocked out easily, and I could no longer feel anything.
Once I woke back up, my snout was tied together so that I could not breathe fire, and my wings were bound, as well as my arms and legs. They got a huge stick in their hands, and I worried that this was about to become a very bad thing. They then tied a few more vines around the log and I was hung upside down. I could hear them talking so quick, that I would not even know what they were planning to do with me. They had some knives pointing at my lungs, some on my back, and one other was ready to cut my tail off, as well as my wings.
"That is a Sevawing alright... We can get a huge profit by selling it to the market." A bandit said.
"Yes, and remember, we got to kill it and cut off his horns." Another one reminded.
"Wait... He does not have any yet, well except for on his nose." He pointed out.
"Put out the fire, and lets go." The leader said. "We do not got a thousand years."
The two bandits then carried the huge stick and began walking as water splashed onto the campfire and doused the fire out. I could already feel the blood rushing to my brain, and it was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. soon, they let me down with the stick untied but not me. They had one knife up to my throat, and another to my nose horn, which was not very big. I saw the knife get closer, and closer, until it was pushed away. I heard a few yells of pain that came from right beside, me and I realized I probably was not doomed after all. The person that came out of the cave, was running faster than Tuo ever would, and had a spear in his hand, ready to pierce them.
"A Sevawing like the Queen ordered..." "You scoundrels, get the hell out of here before I have to take you on one against all of you."
"nah, we are outnumbering you. What makes you think you could take us all down?" One bandit said.
"Come at me and I will show you the error in your precious cocky grin." the guard responded.
"Well then I guess we will just run away now." the leader said.
"On a second though. I WILL ASSASSINATE EACH ONE OF YOU." The guard said while taking out a bow and shot the leader in the head.
The bandits, without their leader retreated, but the guard untied me and ran at them, shooting the arrows at them to kill them. I found the opportunity to escape and I gone for it. I tried to run, but then the guard came back, and said; "Going somewhere?" as he picked me up from the ground. He forgot to untie my snout, so I could not breathe fire at him to escape, so instead I was kicking him very hard, and he seemed to not be affected at all.
"Feisty one aren't you. You are going to be perfect for her." He responded.
I did not know what he meant by that, and the 'her' part was scaring me for some reason. We both gone into the cave, where he was carrying me by the waist, and he held a spear in his other hand. I stopped struggling so that I may try and get some mercy here. The cave was very dark, until we stumbled upon a huge light a few hours later. There was a huge caste, surrounded by a immense forest, with the sun shining heavily. I saw his face, and he was sweating since it was actually very hot here.
"Queen's orders. You should be thankful that I saved your behind there. I know I wouldn't." He said.
(And I am finished, with chapter 23, or technically chapter 24 including prolouge.)
