League of Dragon Riders: Fight or Flight

Ready For Our Revenge

There’s something you should know about falling through a cloud. It isn’t fluffy and nice like most people who have never left the ground thought. No, it was cold and wet and something to be avoided.

And yes, I said falling, not flying. The ground was getting closer at an alarming rate and I was no closer to being saved. Jordan had fallen away from some time ago and I couldn’t see him in the cloud filled sky. Felix and Midnight were off fighting another batch of dragons. 

I was doomed.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t terrified as the ground grew close. I felt more disappointed than anything. I knew this was the end and yet I still had so much more I needed to achieve. 

I closed my eyes and prepared to meet my doom when something latched onto my ankle and I was yanked painfully upward. I glanced up at the green underbelly of the dragon and smiled as we slowly gained altitude. 

“You won’t be rid of us that easily!” I heard Fergus yell from above. I let out a chuckle as his dragon dropped me just as Jordan dashed below me. I landed on his back and patted his side as he got us side by side with Fergus.

“I thought you were in Torya!” I called across to him. That city of the reds had been one we’ve been fighting for for weeks. Either it’s already gone or Fergus did the impossible.

"Indeed!" Fergus said in a voice that was far too chipper to have just lost a battle, "I found that they can handle themselves!"

"They're on our side?" I asked, unable to stop the wide grin from spreading across my face.

"Yes!" Fergus said happily. I laughed as Jordan dived under a blast of fire. I groaned as I turned my attention toward the larger dragon. I was tired of this fight. Jordan launched us forward with a roar.

The fight lasted for another twenty minutes before they went flying off. It has been going on like this for weeks. They never attacked us straight on. No, they sent smaller dragons to distract us. So far there has been no casualties from their attacks. They acted more as distractions than actual fights.

Annoying distractions. 

It has been a year since their attack on Annabella’s home that took everything away from us. It has been a year since the only parental figure I had perished to that power hungry i***t. It has been a year since my vow for revenge.

Needless to say, it hasn't made it very far. Unfortunately, warlocks are very good at doing what they do. After they attacked Annabella's city, they kept striking similar places while not leaving a clue as to where they are or how they managed to kill an entire population. Few survived, those that did were left so traumatized they could no longer take care of themselves.  A few cities have claimed allegiance to the warlock. They were the only ones that were spared. We've been fighting to protect them and save ourselves from their ruthless attacks. We've had to move three places in the last year to avoid their latest attacks.

We've taken refuge in a small village miles away from anywhere else. Well, except, ironically enough, my father's inn that had stood only a few miles south from where we were staying. Just as ironic was the fact that I found Madam Carmen sulking in a corner of the local inn. Her fortune was ruined and she was living off what was left of the ruined inn and wealth of the barn. She wasn't doing well and the look on her face when she saw me wasn't a look of relief for my survival . No, it was one of surprise but there had been no love on her face just as there was no love in mine.

"Felix?" Fergus asked. I smiled. After we had released him from the warlocks spell, he had grown quite protective of his nephew.

"He's taking care of two other dragons. He should be fine," I told him as we glided just a few feet about the top of the trees. The sky was beautiful and clear today. It was easy to spot the dragons coming.

"As fine as you were a minute ago?" Fergus asked in a tone that sounded both serious and joking.

"He won't make the same mistake," I told him as Jordan landed in the center of the town.

I was greeted by Madam Carmen hurrying over to me with a dirty, yet still extravagant, dress on. Her dress was caked with mud at the bottom and her cheeks were dark with soot.

"Hello," I said brightly as I climbed off Jordan. She looked up at him with the same look of contempt that she often gave me.

"This is the last straw, Alaina," she said angrily, "I will not stand by and be treated like some underling."

I listened to her without complaint. I walked past her and towards the smaller, though still workable, inn that stood behind her. I had appointed her to run it because, even though she was a bad parent, she did know how to run an inn. She also, though she didn't like it, worked there. There were only two others to help her and she often dealt with the fire and cleaning. That's mostly because she didn't know how to do much else.

"Are you listening to me?" She asked as she followed me in. I sighed as my eyes gazed around the main room. There was a desk that was empty since there really weren't many guests. The biggest job for the inn was to provide food since no one paid for the rooms. There was a teenage girl running around with empty plates in her arms. It was busy as it always was around lunchtime. Though our town was small and the population smaller, there were enough men and women to fill its halls.

"Look," I said, "I don't have time for your  problems. I told you before that Annabella could handle them just as well as she's handling the town."

"Annabella isn't reaching my demands!"

"Yeah? Well, I guess we'll just have to find a new inn owner," I told her, looking her straight in the eyes. I didn't care what her problems were. There were bigger problems to deal with.

"That won't be necessary," she muttered as she stalked away.

"You sure know how to handle her," Fergus said as he entered the inn. I could see Jordan and his dragon, Max, lying lazily in the sun. They were in the middle of the road but no one seemed to mind. They were their protection after all.

"Yeah," I said with a laugh, "see you at lunch."

"Same to you," he said with a bow. I nodded at him before climbing to my room.

I've grown accustomed to people looking at me for leadership. Even someone like Fergus.  It only took him a few weeks to realize this was what I was meant to do. Well, it only took me half a year to realize this. And to realize that I liked it.

I looked out of the window that looked over the little town and the small buildings that occupied the small break in the forest. There was no one here when we found it but now there were people here. People ready to fight. It was hard enough finding people who would stand against a warlock and a man known across his land for his merciless fighting skill. It was even harder finding people willing and ready to fight for a girl. But we have and we will.

We were here. We were here and ready for the fight.

Ready for our revenge. Ready to take back our world and make them pay for what they've done to it.