Page 12 of Drakhana's Secret
“You were just doing what you thought was right,” he says in consolation.
I appreciate Branson’s loyalty. “Let’s see what the elders think of this folly of mine. They might just order me executed for this. If they are feeling merciful then banishment.”
“Let’s not condemn ourselves before we reach the judge and the jury.” Branson grins despite the cut on his lip. “Let’s make it home first.”
I nod.
We get our bearings. The direction of our home is always on the side where the moss grows. We check the trees. They point our way.
“So, the rumors are true,” one of the dragons with us says as we struggle through the dense forest.
Without a clear path, we have to squeeze through the thick brush. The trek would have been easier if we had bolos to cut our way through. Instead we have our hands, which become pretty cut up in no time.
“That both ice and fire have access to new powers?” the other dragon asks.
“If yesterday and today isn’t evidence of that, I don’t know what is,” I say. “They didn’t used to fight that way. They’ve become more lethal than before.”
“What can we do to protect ourselves against them?” Branson asks, concerned.
I can’t blame my usually stoic head of security. Because we haven’t been engaging in battle, the earth clan doesn’t have that many warriors to begin with. We’re mostly farmers.
“We need to find a way to tap into our own powers,” I say. “But that shouldn’t be our concern for now. We need to make it back to the village and see how we will proceed.”
After what seems like hours of hard trekking, we finally find a path through the forest. That means we could be a few miles from home. It’s well used from the absence of undergrowth on it.
“This is the path we usually take outside of the forest,” Branson confirms.
That gives us hope. And my apprehension grows since I will have much to answer for. I stay quiet. The others don’t need to know what I’m feeling.
Along the way, we meet up with the other earth dragons that fled the ice dragon attack. We assess each new member of our growing band. It seems we narrowly escaped with our lives.
At least the injuries aren’t as severe as from the fire dragon attack. We didn’t stay long to see if there was a chance that we could win. It was an unbalanced fight from the get go.
After a couple more miles on the path, we hear movement in the distance. There’s a group headed our way. We scatter and find places to hide. We wait, hoping that the group will pass us without noticing we are even there.
Then I recognize people from our village. They look like a ragtag band. Their clothes are covered in soot. Some of them are limping while others are driving carts filled with injured or those who are too young to walk far distances.
As if thinking as one, we come out of our hiding places. The group freezes when they see us. A moment of fear passes through their faces. Then they recognize us.
We are welcomed with hugs and slaps on the back. Branson and I share a confused look. Why is a group of earth dragons travelling out of our territory?
Finally, I see Baba pushing her way through the crowd. She comes to me and engulfs me in a tight hug. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close.
“Why are you here?” she asks after breaking the hug. “Shouldn’t you be in San Francisco?”
“I should be asking you that question,” I say. “Why are you leaving the village?”
Her face falls. The once strong dragon is showing her age. Her fatigue is evident in the slope of her shoulders.
“Yesterday, we were attacked by the fire clan,” she finally says.
“What?” My gut drops.
“There’s barely anything left of the village when they were done. We only managed to survive because of Sapphire’s help.”
“The village is gone?” I ask, almost unable to form the words in the midst of my shock.
She shakes her head. “We were in the process of sorting through what was left when the ice dragons came and attacked us too.”
