Chapter 12-Countering the Darkness
Verdra had indeed escaped from the underground that had held her captive. She had longed for freedom since coming to the darkness, a feeling she had never imagined she would have felt. She loved her mother and embraced her newfound friends with dire respect but she had grown up in light and had trained herself based upon the sun's rays.
Now as she leveled out above the greenery below her, Verdra felt calm for the first time since having met her mother. True, she loved the white dragoness but it didn't feel right to love a dragon she barely knew. That feeling could have been said by Ryta over Pytris, or by her own mother over her mate, Tamli. Verdra didn't know much about Tamli but she was certain, from the way Finca talked, that his life had been selfless.
As a dense fog drew closer to her, Verdra showed only limited signs of panic. She knew her mother's story about what had happened to her in a fog but Verdra was certain she would not meet the same fate. Her reflexes were sharper and her mind keener than her mother's, which made sense for the older dragon to have been attacked.
The fog grew ticker, as if willing her to show some sign of panic. Verdra wasn't amused and continued to fly as she used her mind to help navigate. That was another difference between Finca and herself. The older dragoness relied too much on her sight to help see, while forgetting about the strength of a dragon's mind.
A chill descended on her scales and Verdra shook her head. She was not excited by this as some younger dragon might be. The land had raised her, shaped her into the powerful beast she was. Verdra had not forgot that during her time in the underground. She would always be a wild dragon at heart, that could never be changed. Had the circumstances around her hatching been different then she would have been brought up in another manner.
The chill grew stronger, seeping into her bones. There was little cause to worry, she told herself, such things were only the onset of winter vastly approaching. A sudden rush of wind across the middle of her back drew Verdra back to the situation at hand. She was alone, cloaked in a dense fog, and unable to make out anything around her. Finally she halted in her flight and closed her eyes, projecting her senses as far as she could. There was little around her. Trees and rocks mostly, and the fog.
Another gust of wind stirred by her and Verdra turned to snap at it but by the time she had turned around, there was nothing before her. Could it be just her mind playing tricks on her? A stronger gale brushed her shoulder and Verdra flapped her wings, banking to the left and coasting downward. Certainly there was a way out of the fog now.
A deep growl echoed from behind and Verdra halted, turning her head. She still could see nothing but that did not mean anything now. There was something behind her, that she was certain. The growl grew louder and Verdra fought the urge to breathe fire into the dense greyness that enfolded her.
Grey talons, three on each foot, dropped from above and sank into her shoulder blades. The pain caused her to jerk away and skin was ripped from the areas. Her predator was closer than ever now, could possibly smell the blood as it rolled down her back. She certainly could and it made her uneasy, afraid of what could come next.
The twin pair of talons returned, but this time she fought back. Fire rained from her maw and the beast that was attacking her drew back its weapons with a harsh shriek. Apparently getting attacked had not been on its ideal list of how to finish her off.
Bracing herself, Verdra shoved herself upward and quickly climbed through the smoky atmosphere. The creature that was attacking her must be the reason for the unusual fog, she thought as her wings grew strained and her shoulders throbbed. Eventually she stopped and hung there, catching her breath and inhaling as much oxygen as she could.
I give you credit for surviving this long, came the raspy, husky mental voice of the one she believed to be attacking her.
Who are you? Verdra asked, waiting answers greater than anything else for the most recent events.
If I told you that then you would have to die! The response filled her with dread and Verdra quivered with unease. The voice continued, You know not of what I am, nor who I am. I remain forever lost within the fog, my own blessing becoming a curse. No dragon can see me as I blend with who I am, with this environment . . .
The dragon, it was safe to assume that, took a swipe at Verdra and she executed a tight backwards loop that allowed for her to remain unharmed. That same growl rippled through the air and she knew that her assailant was now irritated.
Before Verdra could do anymore flight maneuvers, however, she was struck with, what seemed to her, a fireball in the dead center of her back. Pain flooded her senses and she struggled to remain conscious. A fierce roar, one of power and might, spilt the fog and Verdra realized what she was doing. Irritation on its own could be enough to drive a dragon to madness but when combined with unwillingness formed a combination that simply took every shred of sanity in the mind of the powerful beast and threw it away. The result was deadly and fatal to almost all dragons who lived that long.
Another fireball pelted into her back and Verdra held back the shriek that would have rippled from her jaws. If she died then, hopefully, there would be one less dragon for her mother to worry about while stopping Arxa because this attacker of hers was going to be defeated.
The talons returned and this time slashed and scraped at her back and sides, inflicting terrible damage. Hope was fading fast but Verdra knew her plan and trusted it completely. Using some of her remaining strength, she threw herself into a spin and knew that the other dragon would follow. Her speculation was right because soon enough she could see a grey dragon with yellow eyes trailing right along behind her.
Frustration clouded her mind as Verdra continued to spin. How was she to get behind the dragon when it followed her? Upon a closer look, she saw the boxier shape of its snout and the muscular fore taloned legs that clearly displayed a male of mating age. So the dragon following her was of the opposite gender then? Why would he attack her?
Verdra stopped in her fleeing flight and waited as the male approached on silent wings. She could make him out now in the fog, his eyes giving him away. While she held fast in her position, determined to inflict as much damage as possible to him, she noticed that he was slowing down, taking greater distances before flapping his wings. Either he had caught onto her plan or he was simply uncertain of her actions. She hoped for the latter really as giving away her actions would provoke him greater then before. The young dragon finally drifted within feet of her and Verdra held back the chuckle that resounded deeply in her heart; this was it. The time was now.
Her wings rushed forward with speed unequal to anything that the newcomer male had shown and Verdra reached him within seconds. Her fangs and claws quivered with madness as she lunged to tear at him, only to be repulsed by a large gust of wind sent her way by him with no warning. The gale momentarily caused her to close her eyes and lose focus but that was when he truly began the attack.
His claws rained heavily upon all parts of her, always moving. Bursts of wind collided with her scales and moved along them, ripping several scales from their places and allowing thin trails of blood to ooze over her delicate protection, causing Verdra to flinch from the pain and reveal that her wings were mostly untouched. Such muscle was then ripped and tore at until the once beautiful membrane hung in strips from her wing frame.
Verdra cried out in pain as she kept her eyes closed for her own sake. Weakness was rushing in on her, making her body feel unnaturally heavy. It was all she could do to stay afloat as the grey dragon tore mercilessly at her from snout to tail and everywhere in between.
One blow from his tail to the side of her head was enough, after all she had endured, to cause Verdra to lose consciousness and begin a plummet downward spiral toward the ground. Nothing could pull her out of it. Nothing was there to right her fall . . .
The sudden sensation of being caught by something arose Verdra back to consciousness and she glanced wearily up to find that a pair of three taloned fore legs had caught her and were carrying her full weight. The scales that she could see were not gray but instead black and it warmed her heart slightly.
Gradually the fog receded the more they flew away from the area. The touchdown Verdra did not feel, nor the fact that the other dragon carefully laid her out on the grass under the branches of a pine tree which was more than a hundred years old. She did feel it when the newcomer urged her awake and presented her with a leaf, in which held a small amount of water. He helped her lift her head high enough to drink it and then left her alone for several moments while he flew off to possibly hunt. Verdra finally succumbed to her weakness once more and drifted back to sleep, hoping that she would wake up again.
Wake up, a clearly masculine tone of dragonic voice urged her as Verdra fought to the surface and opened her eyes to find that she had not moved the entire night and that the black dragon was back, his warm purple eyes on her. I brought comfort of food to you, injured one.
Food? Verdra shook her head, regretting such a decision as pain flared from every part of her body and left her tense for several moments. She was alive. She had survived the attack. The realization of such caused her to remember that she had eaten nothing since she had left, intending to hunt before she returned to the darkness of the underground world.
The new dragon was gazing at her calmly and Verdra realized that he must be awaiting an answer. What type? Was the first question to come to mind for her and the male chuckled.
Deer, sick one. He noted her injuries with extreme carefulness. What attacked you?
A dragon, Verdra muttered as she sniffed the lump of brown fur as he pushed it toward her. Grey scales and the darkest demeanor I have ever seen from a dragon before.
The male seemed to quiet for a moment and look away as she began to take small bites of the freshly caught deer that he had caught for her. Half the brown mass had she eaten already before her new friend spoke again. His voice seemed softer, gentler then before. Verdra was unsure of the dragon's tone at first when he spoke but understood his uncertainty after a moment, realizing that the dragon who had attacked her was related to the one who stood before her.
I know the dragon who attacked you, the black male growled softly. He is related to me, related to another young dragon that I think you know.
Who? Verdra asked, taking another bite of the deer and swallowing it whole, then licking her jaws clean.
Ryta, and I am . . .
The screech of one of the older dragon from the Compound, Verdra was not sure which one, split the air. The male who had saved her life raised a wing to shield her, growling fiercely. Verdra wanted to tell him to go and save himself but, at the same time, did not want him to leave her this soon.
Sitedal? Ryta, Verdra was sure that it was her, asked as two sets of thumps resounded through the grass and reached her. How? Who did this?
Sitedal must have replied but Verdra did not hear it, instead hearing the loud growl of one of the adult dragons and a snarl come from the one who had saved her. Ryta sighed and Sitedal lifted his wing to reveal Verdra's frame to those who had come to save her.
Gentle, Sitedal hissed as Uria lifted her onto his back and Verdra cringed in pain, clenching her teeth together to keep from shrieking in agony.
Sitedal hissed again, louder then before, as Verdra closed her eyes to further ward off the pain. The black dragon must have taken it as a sign of her being hurt for he snapped out at Uria, warning the older dragon not to harm her.
What use is it to you what I do with her? Uria finally snarled in reply, baring his teeth and causing Sitedal to retreat a step.
I only wish to see her unharmed. Jormundur nearly killed her, nearly killed me. I want only to see that she is taken care of until she heals completely . . .
And you think you can provide that for her? Uria shrieked, his voice sinking into the tone he had once held while the Orichalcos had controlled him. You have no medical supplies, no knowledge of dragon anatomy. You are a disgrace to all living dragons among us!
Uria, stop it! Ryta snarled, her eyes flickering with anger kept firmly in check. Sitedal, we want what you want for her, trust me. Medical healing provides a faster recovery then what is commonplace for dragons of caves.
Sitedal growled sharply but Verdra felt Uria flare his wings and flap them once to make sure she was safety secure on his back, which she was. The red dragon gave one more gentle flap before shoving himself into the air. The shock rattled her system, made it feel as if all her bones were nothing. The pain that assaulted Verdra overcame her and as she faded to unconscious she thought only of one thing: how she had grown to trust Sitedal in the short time she had known him.