Chapter 11: Ripple in the Water
#12 of Pursed Series
Chapter 11: Ripple in the Water
Xenorosth was along the coasts edge. It had been a week since that nightmare. For 7 days, he walked on the coastline. He had already established a plan. He was going to see the nature dragons. Xenorosth knew adjacent to the western boarder of midnight dragon's territory. He just didn't know how big his homeland was though.
As soon as he arrived in their midst, he would ask for directions, perhaps some tutoring in their arts, then be on his way. He needed to learn everything he could in order to take on his father and free Flare. He heard they were overly friendly, and would welcome anyone who came into their homeland. He was hoping that he wouldn't be shunned away because of his father's nasty reputation. He sighed. He didn't even want to think about him right now.
Still, he had to wonder about that dream. Was it real, or was it just once of Yamizephyr's tricks? If it was a trick then why did he make it so Xenorosth wasn't bound as well? And if it was real, would what would the shadows transferred from the kiss do to Flare. And why was it a kiss? Why didn't he just use his soul to alter Flare like he tried to Xenorosth? It made no sense. Kissing was supposed to be something affectionate, yet Yamizephyr was using it combine with his powers as a torture. The thought made Xenorosth uncomfortable.
But it was just a dream. Nothing he should worry about. He didn't know if it was true, and until he did, he would not alarm himself unnecessarily.
"It's a nice night out." Xenorosth commented to himself. The only reason he made this comment out loud was because he needed to make himself think of other things. He needed some sort of distraction. He had it! He could try to see if there was a fast way of taking of in flight!
Xenorosth broke into a fast run, almost faster then a horse. Then he jumped and spread his wing. This wasn't his normal way to get up into the air. He soon found it didn't work and crashed back to the ground.
"Well... that experiment didn't work..." Xenorosth grumbled to himself. He stood still this time, ducked his head and started flapping his wings. He jumped into the air as high as he could, still flapping. This time he stayed up, but it took a while to gain speed. Perhaps off a cliff he would be able to just run and jump to get flight. It seemed likely enough. He would have to keep that in mind.
For now though, he just enjoyed the air underneath his wings. Xenorosth couldn't help but enjoy himself. He rarely flew for pure enjoyment. Normally it was just to get somewhere. This was the first time he just enjoyed the nice weather.
Then Xenorosth decided that it would be nice to go for a small swim. He looked down. He gasped as he realized that the coast was at least a half-mile away. It took a bend while he wasn't paying any attention. He guessed though that it would be okay. He dived in. It wasn't too deep here. The blue moon lit up the area dimly. It was easily enough though, to let Xenorosth see the bottom of the crystal clear water. He took a lick of it, curious of how it tasted. Xenorosth was surprised to find out that it was slightly salty.
Suddenly, he felt something brush up against his leg. Xenorosth yipped and looked down. There was a greenish-blue dragon below, looking right at him. Xenorosth tried to jump and get out of the water, but the blue dragon wrapped its tail around one of Xenorosth's hind legs. It obviously didn't want him to leave. Xenorosth felt himself being dragged deeper into the water. Xenorosth took a few deep breaths and soon he was completely enveloped by the waves.
Xenorosth looked down at the dragon and was surprised to see that the dragon was only a hatchling, about 7 or 8 feet tall. It had wings, yes, but they were not used to fly, but to maneuver in the water. Instead of unfolding to go up and down, it did in and out motions as well. There were no horns or spikes. This was a first. He never saw a dragon without any horns before. The scales were shinier then he was used to also. The eyes were green, like the grass Xenorosth would play in.
It let go of his legs, letting him maneuver around. He tried swimming forward. He had some success. He watched the other dragon zip and dash around in the water like Xenorosth would if he was flying. Here though, he felt a lot of resistance on his wings he wasn't used to. Xenorosth couldn't understand how the other dragon maneuvered so easily. He wanted to ask how, but under water he couldn't even breathe.
The other dragon laughed. This was sort of annoying, but he could tell he had to look funny in the water. He chuckled to himself, opening his mouth a little. The sudden flood of his mouth made Xenorosth cough. He needed to get to the surface before he drowned.
With some difficulty, he managed to start heading toward the surface of the water. However, something caught his leg. It was the green-blue dragon! Its tail was once again wrapped around Xenorosth's leg. Xenorosth shook his head and tugged, but the other dragon held tight. It started dragging him deeper into the water. He tried snapping at the tail, but Xenorosth couldn't flex to reach it. Xenorosth started panicking. He thrashed, but the dragon still easily dragged him deeper. Xenorosth quickly exhausted himself, so he just closed his eyes. His head started pounding.
Suddenly, a weird feeling went through Xenorosth. It was like a single serge of foreign energy rushing through him. Still, he refused to breathe. He still felt he was in water.
"Silly one. Breath!" Xenorosth heard. He still refused. He kept his eyes shut. He felt the blue-green dragon release his grip. Xenorosth tried to swim upward, but something soft stopped him.
"You can open your eyes now. Silly. Don't kill yourself." Xenorosth hesitated, and then opened his eyes. What he saw made his mouth drop. He felt his mouth fill with a clear liquid, tasteless still. He gasped in surprise, but instead of coughing and gagging underwater, this time he breathed it in as if it was air.
What he saw was amazing. Blue liquid all around, caverns and caverns of water dragons. The beauty was epic. Everything shimmered. Xenorosth looked up. He saw ripples of water and all three moons: red, blue and purple. He never saw all three at when they were all in his span of view.
"So what do you think? My name is Crailo. And you?" The green-blue dragon asked, grinning. He was obviously excited to see him.
"Its Xenorosth." He stated.
Crailo gasped. His eyes became wider then plates. "The Xenorosth? The one who Yamizephyr is after?"
Xenorosth only nodded. Crailo backed away slowly. Xenorosth sighed. Perhaps he should just leave. He would only be a threat to these people if Yamizephyr, who already had partial access to his mind, found out where he was. He may not know exactly how to get back to shore, but he could always use the moons to guide him.
Xenorosth turned his back and started to swim away, but he had forgotten about that soft substance before. Then realized what he passed through to get in here was a barrier. He poked it, unable to see where it was. It resisted his touch, pushing back softly. It must be invisible. Xenorosth then cleared his head. He pictured the shore he was at last.
"Wait!" Crailo yipped. "Where are you going?"
Xenorosth looked back over his shoulder at the green-blue dragon. He lost his image. "Elsewhere," was all he said.
"And where is elsewhere?" Crailo asked. That got on Xenorosth's nerves. Why was this dragon so intrusive? Did he take this all as a mind game?
"Elsewhere is not here! I need to find a home where I'll be safe in. I can't just sit here." Xenorosth growled. He made sure that the foolish water-hatchling understood that he was getting irritated. Crailo backed off for one moment. Obviously, he had gotten the message. However, Crailo just kept interrogating Xenorosth
"Well, why do you need a home? What about your mother?" He asked. Xenorosth growled again then, as if the water didn't even faze him, he snapped, stopping 1 inch from Crailo's snout with a ferocious glare. He recoiled. Then froze for a moment. Then he whimpered. Xenorosth did his best to keep from showing his pity. Apparently he was doing it well because the poor water dragon swam off quickly, crying. Xenorosth snorted angrily, glad he had left.
He closed his eyes tried to picture the shore again.
"You know, you really should stick around. You might learn something." Xenorosth opened his eyes again. Expecting that hatchling to have came back. But this time he saw no one. Xenorosth growled
"Where are you? Didn't you hear what I said?"
A dark blue dragon with the same body configuration as Crailo came out from the behind Xenorosth causing him to let out a cry of surprise. He had a jagged scar on one of his wings, which Xenorosth assumed to be from combat. Then snorted irritably, quickly turning around, he growled
"You know, you shouldn't take everyone for a back stabber. And shouldn't yell at someone for just not knowing something. Don't think that you can't do this without help." The large aqua dragon said attentively.
"Who are you to say that? The last person who tried to help me is now a captive of my father. And there is nothing I can do about it, but trade myself in. And I know that everyone would try, and most likely to succeed, to stop me," Xenorosth retorted harshly, his petulant nature getting to him.
"My name would be Aquarius. And you are Xenorosth, if I am correct. I insist that you stay over my lair before you leave. Just for a day? Then I will show you a nice spot for a home." The dragon that called himself Aquarius chuckled.
"What is so funny? I want to leave now! I don't want to be held up by you. No offence, but I must keep going."
Aquarius put his tail on Xenorosth shoulder and in the most serious of tone he growled, "You are staying here, unless you can take me down. You are out of element right now, so I don't think that you can."
Xenorosth growled and swatted his tail off with a swift motion of his claws, shouting. "Bring it!"
Aquarius raised his eyes, and then took what must have been his battle stance. He was in the water, his head slightly lowered, wings out like knives. Xenorosth paid no attention to the threat though. He tried to take his normal battle stance, but without the ground there he almost did a front flip in the water. Xenorosth tried to get in control of himself, but in the blink of an eye, Aquarius had him in a claw, then in the next second, he was pinned against the wall of a cliff.
Xenorosth grunted. Aquarius was right. He was out of element. He didn't have much of a chance to win a battle underwater. This was especially so since Aquarius had to be at least 30 feet tall. But he had to try! He had to get on to find a home. Xenorosth growled and teleported both himself and Aquarius (knowing that he couldn't only teleport himself if someone was holding him down) over to open water. Then he experimented with his abilities, making his scales hot from his fire abilities, then he took his energy from being a midnight dragon and sent the same energy to his scales.
Aquarius yipped and let go of Xenorosth quickly. His hand had a blue mark glowing on his hand. Xenorosth grinned at his success. Then all the sudden a current enveloped Xenorosth. Before he could swim out, it turned into a whirlpool. Xenorosth felt himself being dragged downward, the where Aquarius was. He shot a yellow beam into the whirlpool. Xenorosth looked at the beam confused. As soon as it reached his level, it seemed to loose its shape. It dispersed into the pool. Instantly, Xenorosth roared in pain. It seemed that every cell in his body was screaming.
Aquarius rumbled to himself, turning away from the screaming Xenorosth, "Shouldn't be long now. He won't be able to focus long enough to teleport out of that,"
Xenorosth writhed and wriggled, but something kept him in the same spot. He clenched his jaw, making his cries stop. He growled and instinctively hunched up into a sapphire blue ball of scales. He closed his eyes. He noticed how he felt the long he resisted the more intense the pain became. But no matter what, Xenorosth kept his jaw locked shut. He would not dare show his own weakness. He wouldn't give in.
‘What did he do?' Xenorosth thought to himself. He lost sense of time. Xenorosth tried to think of a way out of this one. What if he put his own energy into the whirlpool? Xenorosth started to put his energy to his hands, but as soon as he did, a violent shock went through him. Xenorosth quivered, almost letting out another cry of pain. He caught himself though and continued.
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Aquarius looked up. Xenorosth was still conscious and fighting the pain off. He couldn't put any more force into the without risking killing him. But he had no choice. Xenorosth wouldn't come awake if he could still move.
Then hatchling started glowing blue. Aquarius growled, preparing for him to escape. Then all the sudden a ferocious howl echoed through the waters. The whirlpool disbanded. Aquarius quickly homed in on his opponent, who seemed to be recovering from the attack still. He was just floating there sinking slowly. When he got close though, he saw Xenorosth wasn't just recovering. He was fighting to stay conscious. He couldn't help but pity him. He watched the hatchling go out cold with a final growl.
"So you finally got me down..." Xenorosth whispered with his last breath. It was just loud enough for the water dragon to hear it. Aquarius looked around. It appeared that Xenorosth's energy when he had broken out from the whirl pool was great enough to get the attention of some of the natives who started to crowd around the seen. It was time to go with Xenorosth.
He took the hatchling, lightly grabbing him by one of his limp arms and dragged him through the water off into the distance. He fought well. He deserved a break.