Escape from Wrymroost

I slumped against the cave wall and stared outside. It looked like Navarog was right. Bahumat must have captured my friends. It had been 5 days since I found myself imprisoned here. I examined the ugly cuts and scratches on my body from previous beatings. I didn't have a lot of strength left. I thought my vacation was going to be full of fun. But instead spent my time in Hell, under the watch of the devil himself. Not a single glimmer of hope appeared anywhere. I barely talked to Navarog and he barely fed me. My lips were cracked from the lack of water, my stomach ached from the lack of food. I looked over to the back of the cave. There he was, sitting and staring at me. I glared at him.

"You said you needed me. But all you've been doing is sitting and watching me. Why is that?"

He chuckled. "I'm not doing anything because I'm trying to find your weakness. I have to admit, you're very strong for a girl. Physically and emotionally."

I just nodded and look back outside. So that's what it was. My face reddened with anger. So he's been torturing me just to find my weakness? I couldn't believe it.
"I don't have a weakness," I stated firmly.

"Well, I've come to the conclusion that you have a thing for your friends," he threatened.

I looked down at my feet. He was right, that was probably my weakness. I sighed. He always wins.

Suddenly, a roar erupted from close by and shook the cave. What was that? I looked at Navarog to see that he was just as surprised as me. The roar came again, but closer this time. Navarog immediately jumped up and ran over to be. I winced, expecting a slap or a kick, but instead he picked me up. My eyes widened as I figured out what he was doing.

"No!" I cried.

But he already leaped out the mouth of the cave. I felt his hands morph into enormous claws. I felt like I was flying. I was in a position where he was carrying me by my shoulders. The wind rushed against my face and I looked at the forest below. Roar! I turned my head. My jaw dropped in awe. A brilliant silver dragon was flying close behind. On top of the winged beauty was a boy who had was holding a glowing object that looked like a coin. I couldn't help but wonder if he was on Kendra's side or Navarog's. It was gaining on us, and I could feel Navarog's grip tightening. I watched as the silver dragon's mouth opened and released a ray of light from his mouth. The ray shot out like a dart. I screamed as it barely missed me and grazed Navarog's wing. Smiling in relief, I looked up to find out that Navarog's wing was on fire! He plummeted down to the ground and loosened his grip. I began to slip out and I cried out in shock of the feeling of gravity pulling down.

"Help!" I screamed.

The silver dragon dove down to catch me. I tried to move my head as much as I could to look at the incoming dragon.

"I got you!" the boy on the dragon's back yelled.

I fell into his arms.

"It's okay. You can breathe now. He's gone," strange boy reassured me.

"Are you a friend of Kendra's?" I asked shakily.

"Yes I am. My name is Bracken, son of the Fairy Queen. This dragon you're riding on is the king of the dragons, Celebrant. You should be honored to be riding on him. After all, he doesn't normally let anyone ride on him," he said.

"You're the Fairy Queen's son?" I gasped as Bracken cut me free of my bindings.

"Yeah, I'm here to take you to her realm where you'll be safe. In the mean time I will-"

I screamed again as a pair of claws snatched me by my torso. I looked up to see a humongous blue dragon spewing blue fire at Celebrant. Avoiding it, he circled around and tried to bite the other dragon's tail.

"Hold on! Celebrant will get you back!" Bracken called, cupping his hands around his mouth,

I nodded quickly in terror. The blue dragon swooped down trying to tackle Celebrant. He barely dodged as the dragon raked its claws along his side, but did no damage to his strong scales. Noticing that it couldn't do anything, the blue dragon flew away. In the distance, I saw a series of stone towers. Not too far from that, sat an opened gate. Where was this dragon taking me? I reached out to Celebrant and Bracken as the gap between me and them, widened.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over me and the blue dragon. Another dragon. This one had red and orange scales and had a lion's head and mane. It rushed at the blue dragon, and they clashed in an explosion of color. They clawed and roared at each other in fury. I ducked as a sharp claw zoomed over me. Turning around, I saw Bracken coming closer to the brawl. I looked up to see a red tail reach hanging close to me. I reached for it as it came closer. Maybe I could climb onto its tail and it would fly away. Suddenly, in a flash of black, Navarog tackled the lion dragon. I cursed. I was an inch away to reaching the tail.

Now, with a clear path to the gate, the blue dragon dove down with Navarog coming up from the rear. The lion dragon chased us down and tried to grab me. But with one flick of his spiked tail, Navarog sent him hurtling to the ground. Right as we reached the gate, Celebrant arrived at the scene and stretched his neck out in order to grab me with his teeth. I cringed as his teeth clamped together just a few inches short of my dangling foot.

I yelled in frustration. I was so close to freedom! I looked out over the snowy mountains of the Himalayas. Where were they taking me? Was I so important that all those dragons had to fight to get me? I let a single, salty tear slide down my cheek. This is all happening so fast!

I looked over at Navarog who was beginning to fly slower and slower. The blue dragon seemed to notice as his singed wing changed into a bloody human arm. It flew underneath him as he plummeted to the ground and caught him on its back. Grabbing me with its teeth, it placed me on its back. We sat there in silence for a few minutes. I tried to get up on my feet and walk to the nearest spike. I soon realized the mistake I was making. As I set my foot down on the first step, it slipped off of its back and took the rest of my body with it. I screamed. But for some reason, I didn't fall to my death. I looked up to see Navarog tightly holding my arm with one hand and holding onto one of the blue dragon's spikes with the other. He slowly pulled me up and pulled me in close. Having no choice, I tightly held onto him so I didn't have to experience the fright of falling. He grabbed the back of my head and pushed it into his chest.

"Don't let go of me," he whispered into my ear, "If you do, I won't save you."

"Why are like that," I asked him.

"Like what?" he said.

"Sometimes you care for me, and other times you beat me!" I spat.

"Hey, the only reason I'm feeding you and keeping you alive is so I can fulfill my revenge," he hissed, "So don't get the wrong idea!"

I pictured his face to be menacing, but when I pulled my head away to look at him, his expression was soft and hard to understand. A breeze blew by, and I shivered. My thoughts brought me back to the cave, and I remembered how that first morning I woke up to find myself in a strange place. I scanned the area below. There was mountains everywhere. I wondered where I would find myself next.