FSE

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Chapter 6

Aravary's heart started to beat faster as they got closer to the City. He wasn't sure if it was because of his long, exerting flight, or fear of being recaptured. The City began to fill his view, spreading to the horizon. It was an ugly, grey blob on the surrounding landscape. One that he helped to build. Unwillingly, he thought, but that meant little. His body had been used to grow this... this tumor.

Kaleramek began to circle down to the forest. Aravarys dipped a wingtip to follow. They landed in the same muddy clearing where Aravarys had taken off for the first time. As soon as he touched down, Kaleramek began running towards the City. Aravarys landed heavily, and before he could recover, Kaleramek was already out of sight. Aravarys ran after him. He felt clumsy and loud, crashing through the underbrush as fast as he could to catch up. His claws kept snagging roots and tripping him up. Suddenly, a red paw shot out from his right and caught him. Kaleramek glared down at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kaleramek asked.

"I was trying to catch up to you."

"By running through the forest like a lame elephant? We aren't trying to get caught!" he exclaimed. Aravarys looked back. He had carved quite the path through the forest during his charge.

"Well, it's not my fault! You ran off as soon as you landed! If you had waited for me, I could have followed you without sprinting to catch up!" Aravarys said.

"If you didn't fly like a lame elephant too, I wouldn't have had to wait!"

"This was only my second flight ever! What did you expect? I'm not a Coruscaren, like you," Aravarys said. Kaleramek opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again without saying anything. He looked at Aravarys silently for a moment.

"Come on, let's go find your sewer. We don't have all week," Kaleramek said before continuing on through the forest.

"It's not mine!" Aravarys exclaimed, before jogging to catch up with him.

They quickly reached the sewer, and Aravarys took the lead. He had helped to build the City's sewer system. He had spent years dragging stone after stone through the dark tunnels. Aravarys stopped beneath the hole that lead to the slave cells. He noticed that the grate was still missing.

"Why didn't you put the grate back?" Aravarys whispered to Kaleramek.

"Was I... supposed to?" Kaleramek whispered back.

"Of course!"

"Maybe if you had waited for me, I would have."

"What took you so long? Scared of a little smell?" Aravarys teased.

"I could barely fit through the hole!" Kaleramek growled. "Speaking of which, I could barely squeeze through on my way down. How do you expect me to get up there now?"

"I'll help you up," Aravarys said. He lined himself up with the hole before leaping towards it. He threw his front legs through and hoisted himself up. He quickly checked up and down the tunnel for any guards or handlers. There were none, but the familiarity of being in this passage at this time of morning was overwhelming. Aravarys had spent years being walked through this tunnel in chains right after sunrise. Now, he was going to be walking down it freely. What am I doing here?

"A little help?" Kaleramek called from the sewer. Oh yeah.

"See if you can get your front legs through, I'll try to pull you up from there," Aravarys said.

Kaleramek surged upwards and desperately scrabbled for grip on the lip of the hole. Aravarys grasped his arms and pulled back. Kaleramek inched up, out of the hole, before his chest got stuck. Aravarys heaved, and Kaleramek popped free, crushing Aravarys.

"Get... off... me!" Aravarys choked out. Kaleramek scrambled off of him and rolled his wings.

"Not looking forward to squeezing back down there. Thanks for helping me up, instead of running off again. You're pretty strong, for a Glaciaren runt." Aravarys climbed to his feet and puffed out his chest.

"Come on, the Prince's cell is this way," he said, beaming with pride. He ran down the tunnel towards his old cell. He slowed to a stop right outside of it. He poked his head inside. His bindings were still lying in the basin, untouched. Kaleramek ran up to him and nudged him.

"Thinking about going back?"

"No! No, just... thinking," Aravarys said.

"Well, you'll have plenty of time for 'thinking' later. Where is this... Thorolos's cell?"

"Just a few more down," Aravarys said, pulling his head back out of his cell.

Aravarys counted down the doors to the one he thought was Thorolos'. There were rarely any new slaves brought in to the City, and Thorolos had been the first Glaciaren besides himself that he had seen since they brought him here. His face had been burned into Aravarys' memory the few times Aravarys had seen him. Aravarys slid open the view window and peeked in. Sure enough, an adolescent Glaciaren occupied the cell. He sat boldly in the center of his cell, glaring at the view window. When he saw that the eye looking through was a dragon's the angry challenge in his glare turned into surprise.

"Yeah, this is the right one," Aravarys told Kaleramek. Kaleramek took the keys from around his neck and unlocked the door. Kaleramek swept into the cell, and Aravarys followed him. He noticed for the first time that Thorolos had a band around his snout, forcing his jaws shut. Kaleramek unlocked the band around his jaws and moved on to his wing bindings.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" Thorolos asked Kaleramek.

"Keep still."

"He's Kaleramek, I'm Aravarys, and we are trying to get you back to your father," Aravarys said. Kaleramek looked up angrily at him. He shrugged back. What was the harm in telling Thorolos they were rescuing him?

"You are Thorolos, right?" Aravarys asked.

As his wing bindings fell, he spread his wings grandly. "Yes, I am Thorolos, Prince of the Gl-"

"Yeah, yeah, alright, we get it. Come on, let's get out of here," Kaleramek said. Thorolos huffed indignantly and swept out of the room down the corridor. Aravarys ran out after him and heard Kaleramek following him. Thorolos was striding down the tunnel ahead of them, head up, chest out. He strode right past the grate, still ajar. Aravarys ran ahead of him and cut him off.

"We should exit through there," Aravarys said, pointing to the grate. "It's opens up to a forest that we can-"

"You can leave that way if you want. I'm not leaving through a sewer," Thorolos said. He pushed past Aravarys and continued down the tunnel. Kaleramek started after Thorolos, and Aravarys joined him.

"At least I won't have to squeeze through that hole again."

"What should we do? There will be guards out there, and if they raise the alarm, the whole garrison will be upon us in no time!"

Up ahead, voices shouted from the end of the tunnel. Thorolos roared at the guards. His roar turned into a shrill cry of pain with the sickening thwack of a crossbow bolt piercing scales. Thorolos ran back towards them, a crossbow bolt sticking from his left wing joint.

"A-are y-" Aravarys tried to ask, but Thorolos ran past them and dove through the grate.

"So much for not having to squeeze through there. Think you could give me a hand this time?"

Chapter 7

Kaleramek darted to the grate. He started through, but got stuck. Again. Aravarys kicked him through. He looked up to the entrance of the tunnel, where guards were starting after them cautiously. Aravarys took a deep breath and forced the air through his lungs. He let out a small hiss in preparation for his frost, and the guards darted back out to take cover on each side of the entrance. Aravarys jumped through the hole. He reached back up, and dragged the grate over the hole. That should keep them out. For a time, at least.

He found Kaleramek leading Thorolos to the exit of the sewer. The crossbow bolt was still sticking out of his wing joint. Aravarys winced. He knew from experience how much a bolt there would hurt. With a flap of his wings, he jumped over both of them and took the lead.

"Um... we're going to have to get that bolt out. I sort of know how, but it'll hurt," he told Thorolos. Thorolos glared at him, but didn't say anything.

"How did you learn how to remove crossbow bolts?" Kaleramek asked skeptically.

"Trial and error, mostly?" he responded. "I'm not great at it, but I've had to remove enough to have a general idea."

"Who did you remove crossbow bolts from? Unless your cellmate was just out for a stroll, I didn't see any other dragons for you to practice healing on," Kaleramek asked.

"... myself," he said, wincing.

The sun was clearly over the horizon by the time they got out of the sewer. They made their way as fast as they could on the ground, since Thorolos couldn't fly with a bolt in his wing. Aravarys wanted to put some distance between them and the City before trying to remove the bolt, since it was a slow process. Kaleramek took to the air to 'keep watch', but Aravarys thought he was just tired of walking. Finally, Thorolos snapped.

"Are we just going to keep walking all the damn way to the snowfields?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Sorry! Sorry. It's just that... I wanted to get as much distance between us and the City as possible before stopping."

"I don't care! Just... get this bolt out of me so we can fly."

Aravarys didn't think he was going to be able to fly right away, but he didn't argue.

"Let's find some sort of water so I can rinse off the blood."

Thorolos gritted his teeth.

"There's a stream 'bout... I don't know, forty paces to our right?" Kaleramek said. Aravarys jumped.

"When did you land?" he asked, irritated.

"While you two were talking. Does it matter?"

"Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I wasn't sneaking."

Aravarys sighed, exasperated. He turned away from Kaleramek and Thorolos and ran through the trees. Sure enough, there was a stream cutting through the forest. He called for Thorolos and Kaleramek.

"Thorolos, can you lie in the stream here?"

While Aravarys was cleaning Thorolos' wound, Kaleramek laid across from them, watching Aravarys.

"This might hurt... a bit," Aravarys said.

"What are you- AAH!" Thorolos screamed as Aravarys tried to yank the bolt out. The barbs on either side of the bolt head ripped through the scales, but the bolt didn't budge. "I thought you knew what you were doing!" he yelled.

"Sorry! That normally worked for mine." Aravarys examined the wound closer. The bolt had found its way between his scales without piercing them, going straight into the flesh below. He couldn't pull it out, since it hadn't pierced the scales. "Okay, okay. I think I'm going to have to cut off a few scales to get it out cleanly," Aravarys said. "You ready?"

Thorolos gritted his teeth and nodded. Aravarys unsheathed a single claw and looked at it. It had been blunted by years of walking on stone. He took a deep breath and brought it to the bolt. He sliced under the scales around the bolt, removing them one by one. When the flesh the bolt had pierced was exposed, Aravarys reopened the wound the bolt had made. Finally, he was able to remove the bolt.

"Let me see that," Kaleramek called to Aravarys. He threw the bolt to him, and Kaleramek examined it. Aravarys went back to washing Thorolos' wound.

"Ok. You're done, right?" Thorolos asked, pained.

Aravarys grit his teeth. "Not quite... For myself, I used my frost, but I think fire would work better..." Thorolos' eyes widened.

"Kaleramek, can you light a branch on fire?"

"For cauterizing? This would work fine." He held up the bolt. He breathed in deeply, and exhaled a small stream of fire, heating the metal tip of the bolt white-hot. Aravarys hesitantly took it from him.

Thorolos eyed the bolt fearfully. "If you mean to jam that back in my wing joint, I think I'll pass."

"I just need to stop the bleeding. It should only take a second," Aravarys said. "Unless, of course, you want that joint to get infected."

Thorolos grit his teeth. "Fine. Quickly, though."

Aravarys took the bolt, no longer white hot, and pressed it against Thorolos' joint. He screamed in pain, but didn't flail his wing. Aravarys removed it after a second, and examined the joint. It wasn't bleeding, at least. Aravarys dipped the bolt in the stream to cool it and tossed it back to Kaleramek. Thorolos cradled his wounded joint.

"Well, that worked, I guess. Up for some flying?" Kaleramek asked.

Thorolos glared at him. "Do I look in any condition to fly?"

Aravarys turned to Kaleramek. "... Maybe you should fly ahead. You know, to let the King know we are going to be late," Aravarys suggested.

"I guess so. Try not to get killed while I'm gone," Kaleramek said, before promptly taking off and winging away from the City.

"I'm sorry for that. I know how much it hurts, but it'll be better off in the long run," Aravarys said.

"... Thanks. For everything," Thorolos said quietly, looking away from him. Aravarys was surprised. He wasn't expecting gratitude from Thorolos.

"Um, no problem. Let's find somewhere a bit more sheltered. To, uh, rest a bit," Aravarys said.

They walked silently through the forest. Eventually, Aravarys spotted a small cave in the side of a hill. He checked inside. It was barely large enough to fit the two of them comfortably. Aravarys climbed in first and squeezed into a niche into the stone. Thorolos laid down across the cave from him, favoring his wing. Aravarys realized that he was exhausted. Sleep came easily to him on the cool stone of the cave.

Chapter 8

In the extensive snowfields to the north of the Claws mountains, a hatchling learned to use his wings. The tiny white hatchling loved the snow, but he was impatient to be able to leave it. As he bounded through the snow after his father, he stretched his tiny wings and flapped them. When he didn't take off, he glared back at them.

"Why aren't you bigger?" the hatchling growled at them. Father glanced back and chuckled.

"Give them time, little one. Eventually, they'll be as big as the sky!" Father said, spreading his wings for emphasis. The hatchling marvelled at Father's wings. They were massive! Father flapped them once, sending up swirls of snow, before folding them back against his sides.

"This way. We are almost there, and I have a surprise for you!" Father said. They had been trodding through the snow for ages, and the hatchling knew it would be so much easier to fly everywhere. When his wings started working right.

Normally, when Father took him out to play, they went down the mountain they lived on to the flatter snowfields. This time, Father had led him deeper into the mountains. Father didn't like him to venture into the mountains by himself. He said it was dangerous. Now, he was leading them deeper into the mountains than he had ever been before.

Even though the hatchling wished he could fly, he didn't mind spending more time with Father. Recently, Father had been gone for longer than usual when he went hunting. He bounded up alongside Father, and brushed Father's side with his wing.

Father looked down at him and smiled. "We're almost there. I hope you like where I'm taking you. I know it's a bit of a walk, but I think it's worth it," Father said.

They were climbing up a hill in a valley nestled deep within the Claws mountain range. Huge, snow covered mountains surrounded them. The sun was barely starting to peek over the mountain range. When they finally crested the hill, the view took the hatchling's breath away. An extensive range of snow capped trees spread throughout the valley and up the sides of the mountains. Dark clouds threatened snow on the far side, but the sky above them was a clear, piercing blue. The hill they had been climbing flattened off into an extensive, snowy plateau that dropped off in a sheer cliff ahead of them. Father looked down at him lovingly.

"Do you like it? I thought it was beautiful. A nice change from the flat snowfields farther up north."

"It's... it's amazing!" the hatchling said. He could barely find the words to describe it. In all his life, he had never seen anything like it.

Father chuckled. "I'm glad you like it, but this isn't the surprise I wanted to show you. I've been watching you grow, and you aren't such a little one anymore." The hatchling beamed and puffed out his chest with pride. "So I've been thinking: you want to fly, right?"

The hatchling's eyes widened in surprise and then his smile grew even wider. Father beamed back. "I think you are ready to start gliding."

The hatchling yipped with excitement and started bounding around Father. "I'm gonna fly! I'm gonna FLY!"

Father chuckled. "Yeah, you're going to fly! Don't tire yourself out too much now, or else you won't get to fly as much." The hatchling gasped and skidded to a stop, sitting down.

"Teach me to fly now!" the hatchling said.

"Ok, little one. I'm going to pick you up. I'll drop you and let you carry yourself back down to the snow on your wings. Open your wings, like you were flying," Father said. The hatchling spread his wings to their full extent and flapped them as hard as he could. Father chuckled.

"No, no, you won't be flapping them just yet. When I let you go, just keep them extended. They should catch the air and carry you down. Now, keep them out for me," Father said. He adjusted the hatchling's wings here, extended them a bit more there, until he finally said, "Ok, can you hold your wings like that while you are in the air?"

"Yes, Yes! Let's go flying now!" the hatchling said. He was almost bursting with excitement.

Father smiled and carefully grasped him around the chest, right behind his wings, and lept to the sky. The hatchling's stomach was left back on the ground, as Father ascended and lazily looped back towards the long, flat plateau. The hatchling looked around. The valley was even more amazing from the air. The wind chilled him through his scales, and the air was crisp and cold.

Father called down to him. "You ready?"

The hatchling felt a sudden icy spear of fear shoot down his spine to his stomach. Father was going to drop him. Father was going to drop him. What if he messed up and got hurt? He called to Father not to drop him, but his words were lost to the wind.

"Ok, spread your wings like I showed you. Three, two, one!" Father counted down before letting go. The hatchling yelped and threw his wings out. He squeezed his eyes closed, waiting for his body to hit the ground. When it didn't, he opened his eyes a bit. He was gliding forward on his wings. Pure joy overwhelmed him, and he roared triumphantly. Father looked back at him and beamed. He began to circle back around. The hatchling looked forward and saw the ground coming up to meet him slowly. He realized that he didn't know how to land. When his front paws hit the ground, he was flung head over tail, tumbling to a stop in the snow. He groaned and stood up, shaking the snow off of him. Father landed and ran over to him.

"Little one, are you okay?" Father asked, barely holding in laughter.

The hatchling beamed up at him. "Again!"

The hatchling soared for most of the day. Each time, he glided for a little longer, each time his landing was a little smoother. However, they were both exhausted by the time the sun had crossed overhead and began to hide away beneath the mountains. Neither of them wanted to trek all of the way back to their cave. The hatchling clambered up onto Father's back, and he flew them to the cave. The hatchling started to drift off on the way back, and he was lulled to sleep by his father's heartbeat and wingbeats.