Golden Blood -- Ch. 4

Chapter Four - Syra

"Raiders."

The tall, green-scaled dragon looked at us seriously. Relan, Snail, and I had broken off from the others to see if anyone else had had any trouble with Nirok and his gang. The green dragon was the leader of a small group of nomads much like our own, and apparently he had heard of Nirok before.

"Raiders? What do you mean by that?" Relan asked.

"That's what dragons are calling them, anyways." The green dragon shook his head. "It's not just Nirok and his gang. There are a lot of raiders popping up everywhere, capturing young dragons for the humans."

"But why?" Relan pressed.

The dragon shrugged. "They get rewarded, like they are the humans' pet dogs. The humans want young dragons so they can train them like horses - at least, that's what I've heard. I'm not sure what the story really is here."

"Thank you." Relan said, and Snail and I echoed his thanks. I had to suppress a shudder as I thought about what the dragon had told us. The humans were training dragons like horses? Like mere animals? Surely someone had to stop this. Avelus had made friends with the human king, hadn't he? Why wasn't he doing anything about his peoples' suffering?

"It's no trouble." the dragon said, then cocked his head slightly at is. "Were… were any of your members captured?"

"We were attacked," Relan allowed, "but we managed to drive them off. We have more dragons back at our camp." Well, that was true, but the reason we'd emerged victorious wasn't because Fallia and Turk had somehow driven them away… Another thought came to me, and I wondered why Snail and Relan were hiding their magical abilities from others, too. Could it be there was more to their concealment than simply protecting Turk and I? I scrutinized Relan closely, but his expression have no clue as to what he was thinking.

The dragon's eyes widened. "You're lucky you weren't attacked by dangerous raiders, then. From what I hear, Nirok and his gang were just common thieves who decided to try their hands at raiding. Some raiders even know magic!"

"I can't imagine." Relan told him. "We were able to get away, so I suppose there's no harm done."

"Still… the wild lands are getting more dangerous." The green dragon looked his feet. "That's why I'm moving my family to Wing Shadow. We should be safer there, since there are so many dragons to defend it."

Relan sighed. "I fear many nomads might begin to do the same, though it goes against their very nature."

"What can I do?" The dragon asked, though it was more of a statement than a question. "What can I do, but flee to a safe place, and pray for Thunderbird's protection?"

"Nothing, I suppose." Relan dipped his head to the other dragon. "Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, and good luck on your journey."

"You as well!" The dragon called after us as we went to clamber back to where the others waited.

Turk had wanted to come with us initially, but Relan had refused, cautious against anyone else seeing a living goldblood. I supposed I was lucky in that respect - no ordinary dragon could tell my lineage; only that my colourful scales and batlike wings marked me as being a northerner. Turk, on the other hand, was never without identification. I realized for the first time how difficult fully escaping raiders would be, since Turk had a clear physical sign of who he was.

"I'm worried." Snail said. "If what that dragon said is true, then there may be raiders whose skill surpasses ours. They would have no trouble getting to Master Turk."

Relan sighed. "I know. And since they've seen that there is a living goldblood, they will likely send out the best they have. I don't know what we can do."

I frowned. "What if we moved into a territory, like those guys were doing?"

"There are… mixed feelings about the goldbloods in these lands." Relan explained. "Some would ignore Turk and treat him as a normal dragon, as we have done. Some would honour him and try to make him a leader (which I think we can agree is too much, too soon). Some even resent the existence of the royal family, and could even go so far as to hurt him."

My heart sank. "Then, there's nothing we can do."

"Nothing except stay far ahead of the raiders." Relan fell silent, and we picked our way around the rough stones in silence.

Suddenly there was a roar in the distance, flat and quiet on the rocks. Relan froze. "No… there's no way they could have found us this quickly…"

Snail strode forward, his eyes flashing blue. "There is a huge amount of raiders!" He cried. "Many of them are mages!"

I looked, but could not see anything beyond the horizon. Snail must have used his magic to see what I could not. What else could they do that I didn't know about?

"Let's go!" Relan scrabbled forward, then turned back to me. "Stay here!" He commanded, then he and Snail disappeared into the rocks.

I waited until I was sure they could not see me before I followed.

I soon came upon a sight that shook me to the bone. There was a huge collection of dragons wheeling around in the sky like vultures. In their shadows Lori, Fallia, and Turk stood defiantly, though it was obvious that they were a poor defence. Relan and Snail were hurrying over to them, Snail pulling ahead with his amazing speed.

I tried to count the circling dragons, and got to twenty before I gave up. This was hopeless!

Relan and Snail began to use their magic, yanking dragons out of the sky. Apparently realizing they now had worthy adversaries, the raiders began to land. Some of their eyes began to glow as well, most of them white like Relan's. Magic crackled through the air like lightning.

I wanted to go out and help, but I knew I'd only end up getting hurt. Oh, why had Relan refused to teach us magic? Snail suddenly let out a cry as one of the flashes of white smashed into him, lifting him into the air with its force. He hit the ground and did not move.

I gasped in horror, my claws moving forward involuntarily. I forced myself to stop and stared at Snail's limp form. Was he dead…? It couldn't be! Was magic really that powerful?

Relan was fighting like one of the Four, but he could not stop all of the raiders. Several of them were forming a circle around Lori, Fallia and Turk, preventing them from escaping. The rest were surrounding Relan, and as I watched in terror one bit him on the back of the neck and brought him to the ground. He screamed in anger, but could not escape as more and more raiders surrounded him and pinned him to the ground.

Don't kill him! I pleaded, and was relieved when I saw them pull Relan to his feet. They were capturing them - all of them. All of them except for me.

The raiders herded everyone together, and one yanked Snail upright. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that he wasn't dead. But even from this distance I could see how weak he was, and he held his leg awkwardly in front of him. As he limped away, I saw that his foreleg and chest now sported vicious, bloody burns. I felt sick.

A raider grabbed Turk by the wing and pulled him off to the side. "Here is the goldblood!" Even from that distance I could see Turk's unhappy scowl.

I heard my brother mutter something (most likely an insult of the raider's intelligence) but his only reward was that the raider dug his teeth further into Turk's wing. Turk hissed through his teeth but did not react further.

"Take the others to the usual place." The raider who had Turk commanded through a mouthful of wing. "There are special orders for this one."

"Why not take us away together?" Relan bellowed.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" The raider sneered. "Special orders. You and the others shall go in for questioning, to see why you harboured this goldblood and betrayed our great King Avelus."

"Avelus is no King!" Relan shouted, but the raiders paid no mind. I watched in desperation as Fallia, Lori, Snail and Relan were lead off in one direction, and Turk in the other. Which group was I to follow? Turk's words from earlier echoed in my ears.. They'd kill us both, just like they killed our parents.

I grit my teeth angrily, trying to suppress the hot tears that were pushing on the backs of my eyes. I still remembered my parents; though the memories were childish and mixed together. The one thing I could recall clearly was that they loved me. The others were only being taken in for questioning. Turk was in real trouble.

For a second I thought about turning back, running to find help. By then, though, it would be useless. Both parties of raiders would disappear, leaving no trace of where they had been. I also remembered what Relan had said - that not all dragons wanted to help Turk. I couldn't trust anyone else.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Before I could think about it any longer I turned and began to follow the first group of raiders, watching for the flash of turquoise scales that occasionally glinted from their midst.