FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Sorry for the wait everyone, but I will be back in action from here on out hopefully, if you want an explanation to why I was gone, look at Chapter 6's comments, I have a full explanation there for my absence. Anyways, thanks for your support and here is number 7.

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Chapter 7 -Encounter-

"Cant we stop for a break for a few minutes, please?" James groaned, "We've been flying for hours! If I didnt know any better I would say weeks!"

"If we stop we will be more than likely found by the native wind dragons...and that would not be necessarily a good thing... If they found us we would more than likely be treated just as badly as your old friends, like scum. The indigineous tribes of the wind dragons here are more savage than those in the east, almost tribal. If you need to rest, lay on my back, and I will carry you," Alex said to him sternly.

"And use up my favor?" James chuckled,"I think not! But....thanks for the offer...."

Alex eyed him coldly and sighed, rolling her eyes before breaking into a deep dive, they were high above the clouds, the setting sun now beneath them and the sea of orange and violet was rapidly approaching them as they dropped, their wings flat against their backs.

James had found this as an excellent way to learn more techniques to flying, such as powerful downward thrusts rather than spontaneous rapid flaps which only tired him out. He also learned how hard it was to sustain flight for so long, he envied Alex and her seemingly endless stamina to do such a feat that for him would require double meals a day.

James cheered out happily as he penetrated the seemingly soft and cushy cloud beneath them, only to get a mouthful of mist and water vapor, causing him to cough a bit. A loud laugh of hilarity was soon heard from his mate, but before he could pass her a cold glare, something hit him extremely hard, and he suddenly realized he was free-falling!

"I, I cant see!" James called out, but there was no answer, only the sound of the loud buffet of wind against the side of his head.

He couldnt see anything, and the sound was muffled like he had just plunged into a lake. He had absolutely no idea as to what was going on except of the fact that he was falling, and rapidly. Had his wings broken from strain? or had something blasted him out of the sky?

Either way, both thoughts made him think of the catapults and ballistae his ground troops would use to take down some of the more savage dragons that would attack towns and provinces.

"Alex!!! Where are you!!!!!!" At that, something gagged him with something around his muzzle, unable to see or speak now, his heart began to race wildly, what in the hell was going on?!

He knew that at any moment he would just be a giant splat on the rolling hills beneath them, never able to see or speak to her again...never having said goodbye... the thought itself sent shivers up his spine....he couldn't die....not now...not after all he had said to her...not after his encounter with Aegis...no....he could not give up now.

He began to wildly kick and flail his arms, trying to move, but he quickly found out that those, too, were bount to an unseen object. Had he been captured in his sleep? Had the entire trip just been a dream and now he was in some torture facility? Ideas were swimming through his head like a river, except all of them seemed to make sense in some way or another...

"Quiet you!!! Do you want to die?!" A voice cried out. He couldnt recognize if it was a male or female voice that had said it, his ears were still unable to clearly hear, but he could feel a familiar warmth.

Suddenly, he began to feel the weight of gravity coming down upon him like Alex laying over him...which he adored in so many ways...but right now it felt out of place and it only caused his heart rate to continue rising. What was happening?!

He felt a large thud and felt the sensation of being rolled down something, maybe a cliff, had his savior meant to kill him after all?

Nearly ten minutes later of laying there passed. The ideas of this as the feeling of death swarmed his mind, endless blackness....unable to hear anything....but a distinct...warmth..... Was this how death felt?

Suddenly, the obstruction that had covered his eyes was removed and he could faintly see the outline of a large....beautiful....dragon looking down at him with concerned eyes, her face looking down at him with pity.

"I'm sorry! I had to! You wouldnt shut up!" Alex said in a sorrowful tone. "Are you alright dear?"

James grunted as he wobbled to his knees, having felt like a boulder had knocked him out of the sky and rolled him down a mountain. "Yeah...I'm fine...but why did I have to--"

"SHHHH!!! Not so loud! Come here...follow...You need to see this for yourself" she said, her tail flicking to him in a sign to follow her.

She was hardly visible at this hour, the sun having rapidly escaped the horizon, casting its last few meager rays over the edge of the world for those sad people that hadnt gotten home in time.

Before he could ask exactly what he was going to see, his vision came into a clear view of fires in the hills below in a neat line, grouping up in what appeared to be a large octagonal shaped campsite. However, the campsite was not exactly quiet, the sounds of warcries and screeching dragons filled the air in the distance, something he was unable to hear in the skies. As he looked on further, he saw the reason to the skirmish, a large white dragon had been imprisoned in a large cage of what looked to be black steel, the hardest their was.

"That poor soul...." James said...seeing the workings of his past replayed again and again in his head. They are taking it to the headquarters to be staked on a pike....then handed over to the people who hired the slayers....I would know...."

"If we can just....take it from them...we might have another piece of leverage to say that the clans can still work together as one....But it would take some convincing still," Alex said, squinting her eyes. "What do you think?"

"I think you are right....but this would take some strategical thinking....Charging in would only provoke both factions to attack us...and we are but two against....." James said, looking over what seemed to be an army of dragonslayers... "Almost a hundred...not including the dragons. I have never seen anything like this ... this must be an important dragon...they would never amass such numbers with any other dragon...."

"If that dragon is of royalty to the clan, we may have more leverage than we think we might..." Alex added.

"I still think we would need a diversion of some sorts...do you think you can carry that crate...?" James asked, "It looks pretty heavy...and is attached to what appears to oxen.

"I can probably create a sandstorm, obfuscating vision and cause some confusion, but that would be far out of my element...creating a sandstorm is primarily something that is created with wind....maybe an earthquake would do?" Alex asked.

James clutched the blade at his side, thinking things over. "Do you think I can do anything yet? Mist might help as well as your earthquake..."

"A combination of the two would only cause mass confusion, something vital that would be needed to accomplish this feat. I think your idea might work...but there is a chance that my tremor might disperse your cloud of mist...." Alex said.

"It is a risk we will have to take... there is not enough water here for me to freeze everyone or anything...and throwing ourselves into battle would only cause us to sustain terrible injury at the minimum..." James said.

"When do you think we should attack?" Alex asked, eyeing him carefully, " They seem like they are able to hold off the wind clan quite easily, and they are known to be savager than most..."

"When you see the mist forming, watch. I will give you the signal to cause a tremor, then we will both fly in. I will hold off anyone who gets in the way of you getting that cage. Should I be captured you must fly away with that cage, I will not risk you being captured love," James said, placing his hand on her muzzle.

"You can't expect me to follow that order....not even by a long shot..." Alex said, growling softly.

"You will have to," James said, looking stern as he drew the holy blade from its sheath. "Now....lets see if I can do this... This will have to be extremely quick...we cannot afford to waste any time in there."

He focused his concentration on the clouds and air around him, feeling for the vapors and water droplets in the air around his targets, even drawing liquid from the breaths and sweat of the warriors in the battlefield. The torches were hindering his ability to do this, but it came naturally to him.

The mist rolled quickly over the hills where the battle was occurring, and nobody seemed to notice right away, the battle continuing to commence below them. "Wait for it....." James said softly.

Then out of nowhere, it looked as if a cloud had just simultaneously formed mere feet above the ground, obstructing all vision, even that of the dragons, who screeched out in anger.

"Now!!!" James cried, taking to the air.

Alex did as she was asked and felt her energy attuned with the earth surging through her as she raised her right hind leg, pausing several moments then slamming it powerfully into the ground. Moments later, she followed James into the heat of the battle, torches now on the ground in sheer confusion.

The sounds of battle made his heart race as he suddenly realized he had overlooked one thing, his own vision was obstructed now, and he could hardly make out what was inches in front of him, bumping into several soldiers who raised an angry fist, swinging at air.

To his luck, Alex had found the cage without a problem, but as she attempted to pull it from the cart, he noticed that black chains of the same metal held it in place on the wooden cart.

He brought his blade down onto the wood, shattering it and causing the right wheel to fall off, the cart suddenly leaning to the right.

It was then that some of the soldiers figured out what was going on, charging towars Alex with their weapons raised.

"You will not harm her!!!!" he shouted, swiping his blade at the air, a wave of light severing the heads of several soldiers, who then fell to their knees, keeling over.

"This sword has more powers than I think it had..." He thought to himself.

His sudden moment of awe was cut short as he felt a large blunt object hit his back, sending him plummeting to the ground, his wings feeling as if they were on fire.

He groaned and barely was able to roll out of the way as a hammer came down on where he would have met his end. "Die you dragon scum," a brutish voice shouted out.

As he rose to his feet, he did an upward side slash, his blade twirling in his fingers before he brought it behind him, stabbing the soldier behind him gracefully.

"Who teaches these brutes how to fight nowadays..." he thought before he commenced in swinging his blade down upon the second chain, severing it from the cart.

"Forget the chains! Smash the cart itself!" Alex cried, trying to fight off some of the archers that were aiming at her.

He did as he was advised and brought his tail down upon the cart, the strength of the impact surprsing him as it shattered into tiny splinters, the cage quickly dissapearing above the mist.

He felt relieved to see her getting away, he would not lose his mate in a decision he had jurisdiction over...

"Ah...now time to get out of here..." James said, but was suddenly knocked to his feet by a powerful metal sphere attached to a chain..."A flail..." he spat, blood trickling from his jaw.

"This one looks like a dragon but with the structure of a human...what of it captain?" a knight said from beneath his helmet.

"This one may be like that princess....but even more valuable....I have never seen any dragon like this..." A familiar voice said.

The sound of this voice rang deeply in his mind, multiple pictures flooding his head but unable to match any of the faces he brought up in his head...who was this helmeted person....?

"Sap him and get him bound....the loss of the princess will make our leader most displeased...but if we can show him something this rare...he will throw us a feast!" the captain shouted, James still unable to pin a name to him.

Suddenly a loud screech filled the air again, a large blast of electricity blasting through the air, electrocuting most of the armored knights who were unlucky enough to get hit by the voltage storm.

"Huh?!" James cried out.

"JAMES!!!!!!" Alex cried, picking him up by his horns her claws, his sword being picked up at the last moment as he felt the sensation of RISING quickly this time.

"Who is that!? A friend of yours?" James asked hurriedly.

"I have no idea! But good thing they came in time...I found a cave less than a mile from here that I hid that dragon in, she was asleep but I assume she will awaken shortly, we must leave!" Alex shouted

"I want to know who that is!" James shouted, looking at what appeared to be a great yellow dragon. He did not know if his eyes betrayed him, but he also saw the flowing hair of a woman riding his back, a bow in her hand, shooting at the slayers beneath them. Could it...be...?

"There is no time!!!!" Alex roared, veering to the right, quickly diving towards the cave. "I am not letting go of you...I wont let you go back just to know who helped you out...maybe they will be back one day...." Alex shouted as she flew rapidly.

"Could it ...be....?" James thought to himself.... before sheathing his sword once again and allowing Alex to do the flying...memories and thoughts swimming through his head. The next day would be quite an interesting one....

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To be continued