Theo looked out into the field of green. Little yellow flowers hid among the blades. The breeze ruffled the grass, flattening and lifting it again in a sort of rippling effect. Hungrily, she scanned the meadow, having heard that deer visited it frequently. No sight of them.
“Are you hunting, too?” a female dragon asked happily, strolling towards her.
“Yeah.” Theo only glanced to see that it was Oriole. She quickly returned her eyes to the field, not wanting to miss any game that might venture through.
There was a pause as Oriole tested for another topic. “So…” she drawled. “See anything?”
Theo irritably gave up her search. “No,” she said, trying to be patient as she turned to Oriole.
“Oh!” the dragon exclaimed, visibly reading the annoyance on Theo’s face. “I’m not bothering you, am I?”
Theo opened her mouth to lie and say no, when she saw something in the sky. A flying dragon hung in the air, head down as he swept the land below. Oriole followed Theo’s gaze.
“Whoa,” Oriole awed. “Who is that?”
“I don’t know,” Theo muddled. “What is he doing? I usually only see dragons fly near the coast.”
“Maybe he’s going to tackle his prey in midflight!” Oriole said ecstatically.
Theo looked at her. “Are there dragons that do that?” she marveled.
“I’ve only heard of it,” Oriole replied, blithe to have captured Theo’s interest. “But I’ve heard that it’s amazing.”
“A stunt like that must take a considerable amount of skill,” Theo guessed, seeing the dragon bank towards something.
Oriole gasped. “He sees something!” she stated the obvious.
“What is he doing?” Theo was baffled, watching the dragon head straight into a tree. At the last moment, he opened his wings wide to catch the air, talons outstretched like a hawk to snatch something from the branches. Theo tried to peer past his beating wings to see what he was after. The glimpse was fleeting, but Theo knew for sure what she saw- a hatchling trying desperately to hold onto its branch as the adult dragon grasped it around the middle and worked to pull it away.
“Do you see this?!” Theo cried. “He’s after a hatchling!”
The dragon succeeded as the little one’s clinch gave way. Extracting the hatchling from the tree, he flew for the mountains, his squirming captive clutched in his talons.
“We have to stop him!” Theo shrilled. “Come on!” She started forward, but slowed as she noticed Oriole staying put. “What are you waiting for?!”
Oriole stared in a scared daze. “We don’t have the authority…” she uttered.
“We don’t have the authority to do what? Keep a dragon from taking a poor, helpless hatchling?”
Oriole didn’t move. “It’s not for us to say, what another dragon should and should not do…” she droned, paralyzed with fear.
“Forget it, then!” Theo snapped. “I’ll go after him by myself!” She spotted the stranger growing distant and hurdled after him, angry at Oriole for being so afraid to do what was just.
She was sprinting as fast as she could, yet the dragon was losing her still. Gritting her teeth as she stared up at him, she didn’t even realize at first when she began lifting off. She had her wings spread out, riding the wind as she escalated her speed. When she noticed her bounds spacing out and turning into glides, she gathered her haunches and thrust herself upward, thrashing her wings to ascend as high as she could.
She kept her fierce stare sealed on her target, not once looking down to see the ground below seemingly condense. She refused to think about the fact that she was flying.
She was gaining on the dragon now as they neared the mountains. Their shadows raced up the mountain side and they passed the first peak. Theo was so close that she could see the hatchling, having given up on its toil to escape, staring about. It blinked at her, just as its abductor spun around to encounter Theo.
It happened so quickly, Theo barely had time to react as the dragon inhaled and blasted fire directly at her face. She pulled short, blinded by light and heat. Trying to recollect herself, she faltered and went plunging out of the air. She blinked away the smoky blur just before she collided into a plateau, jerking open her wings to break her fall.
She landed hard, legs racing to run it off. By the time she had recovered enough to look up at her assailant, he had disappeared behind another peak.
Theo swore furiously, flashing fire into the thin mountain air. She folded her wings in, knowing she’d been outdone. That was my only chance! she thought, doubting her ability to take flight again.
“Hey.”
Theo spun around to see a female scrutinizing her. She was pretty- the ruddy color of a sleek river rock. Behind her stood a larger, flat black male with light grey wings and plating. Both had indistinguishable expressions.
Rogues? Theo was uneasy, recalling all the gruesome things she’d heard about such dragons.
Idly, the female turned her head to look at the mountain peak Theo’s enemy had just passed. “You following him?” she asked.
Instead of answering, Theo questioned, “Do you know him?”
“His name’s Knox,” Theo’s mysterious company responded.
Theo made a hurried decision. Time was running out and already she might be too late. “He’s snatched a hatchling,” she told them.
The dragon replied, unfazed, “That’s because Laurel, you know- the Golden Dragon, orders her followers to take them.”
“They can’t do that,” Theo stressed.
“Do you really think that?” the dragon jumped on her declaration. “Aren’t you a Colonist? Afraid to confront another dragon because you don’t have the authority to?” She stared at Theo intensely, as though testing her.
Theo met her eyes. “I don’t think that way,” she answered firmly.
The dragon relaxed. “Good,” she approved. “It’s refreshing to know at least one Colonist has some sense. I’m Liah.” Jerking her head in gesture to her companion, she added, “And this is my mate, Dare.”
“River,” Theo returned introductions.
Liah looked hard at Theo. “Dare and I aren’t standing for this madness that snake, Laurel, called for. We’re going to stop her.”
“How do you plan on doing that?” Theo asked carefully.
Maybe I can help.
Chapter 22