A journey home

I flew all day, and still didn’t make it back. I was good and lost. Had I flown further away? Or in the wrong direction completely? I had messed up again! And I was getting so tired. It had been a hot day and the sun had beat down on my back and reflected off the water to cook my belly.

I started to fly lower and lower, needing the soft spray off the random waves to stay refreshed and focused. The sun would be down soon and I would only have the moon light to guide me. I would have to stop on any land to get some rest. What good would I be if I got back just to be too weak to do anything?

I knew that the dead line was up. The Queen would be calling for Lyanna’s assets and more than likely have her killed as well. That also meant that she should have returned to the city with whatever force she was able to muster. Did they fight yet? Maybe I was getting back in time to find them all dead.

I had to resolve that no matter what, I would end my aunt's life. Her infection on this land will be cleansed by my fire.

Another hour of flying and no city. The sun was starting to set into the watery horizon and the sky was cast in oranges and reds. My eyes started to water from exhaustion. I needed to land soon. I scanned the sky line hoping for anything. There! Far off to my right there was a small speck of black. Land!

I changed direction towards it. As I got closer, I saw that the small speck was in fact a larger mass of land. The cliff came out far into the ocean. It looked like a sword thrust into the cold depths. I landed on the tip of the cliff. I hit the ground hard. I stayed in my dragon form and worked hard to catch the breath I hadn't realized I was out of.

There was a rustle in the bushes.

I had to force my eyes open. Focusing my eyes on the spot where I through I heard it coming from. My vision shifted from normal to hunter. Rainbow tinted the edges as they hunted for the source. I could sense the heart beats, see the waves of them from behind a tree trunk. It was small and proved no threat to me, I took a deep breath until their sent filled my nostrils and I could tell that it was human.

Curious, I shifted back into my human form. I waited for the sounds of retreat or a scream of fright. Neither came from the spot behind the tree. When the change was complete, I took a small step in the direction of the heart beats. A small rustle in the grass and I took one more step.

A small girl peeked her head out. Her little fingers gripped at the rippled bark. She was dirty and had some blood one her clothing. Her eyes were filled with tears. Where they had spilled over, they left tracks through the dirt on her cheeks. Each breath pushed her snot bubble in and out. She's so young.

Fear, she was so filled with it that I didn't dare another step. Instead, I went slowly to my knees and worked to keep my face a friendly as possible. She still didn’t run. Would she come to me? My hand raised in silent question, asking her to trust me.

I could see it when it happened, the change from fear to hope. She ran to me, and stumbled right into my arms. So small. She cried and I held her. “It’s okay.” I repeated over and over.

When she was able to calm down, I asked her “Are you lost?”

She shook her head side to side. Not lost then, but why is she alone and so dirty. I don’t think she has had much to eat for a long while.

“Where are your parents?”

“They ghosts.”

They were dead? “Where do you live?”

She pointed back to the trees, to where she came from. “Trees.”

“Are you alone?”

She shook her head side to side again not using her small words.

“Can you show me?”

She pulled me along by the hand. Her grip was impressive as she led me along. She stopped suddenly in a small clearing. She was waiting for something. I couldn’t help but let my eyes roam across the tree line, ready to defend this little girl from whatever the forest had in store.

Then a steady stream of boys and girls slowly crept out. They were all different ages; some were babies and toddlers in the arms of the older ones. I counted twenty-five. They all stopped in front of me, making a half circle. Some started to giggle at me. Confused I looked down and realized that I didn’t have any clothes on.

One of the older girls tossed a ragged blanket at me. I wrapped it around myself. The little girl did not want to let go of my hand and wrapped her little fingers around three of mine.

“Where did you all come from?”

“Mostly we come from Scorch Crest. Our villages were burned down. They came in the night. Screams woke me and my sister. We tried to run away, but they caught us. We were taken over the mountains to the burning lands. The grown-ups were taken away and we were thrown in a dungeon. Some of us got out and ran away. We've been here since.”

They all told me similar stories. The ones who couldn’t talk or refused, all had the same look in their eyes. it explained all the blood on their clothing and the look of not eating for days.

“Who are you?”

“I’m like you in some ways. I was taken from my parents, and they are both dead now. I've been fighting and planning to try and make it better for people like us. I got lost on my way. How close are we to Scorch Crest?”

“It’s near, I think. We don’t know. We try to stay hidden.”

One of the younger boys with a very serious look in his eye stepped forward to ask “where did you come from?” I could tell he was trying to be strong for the group here.

“From sky.” The little girl holding my hand said while pointing upwards.

“What does that mean?”

“I flew here. I can change into a dragon.”

The young girl pointed her chin out at me. “Impossible.”

“I can show you.” I held out my hand and allowed my skin to shift to scales, and finger nails turned to long claws.

Gasps of shock from some, others cried in fear. The girl in front of me had a different sort of look, one I was surprised to see. Hope.

“When I leave in the morning, I want you to come with me. When I take my city back, I'll make sure there are homes for you. I'll take care of you.”

“Your city?”

“My Father was King before he was betrayed. It's my responsibility to set it right.”

“We need to sleep.”

I wanted to push for an answer from her but I had to wait. They had seen and been through too much. They all piled up together under the cover of trees. Some had blankets that they shared with others, the ones that didn’t used large leaves to try and cover their arms and legs. The little girl came to cuddle up into my side and I wrapped an arm around her, hopefully my body heat would keep her comfortable.

“What's your name?”

She didn’t answer me, I thought she may have fallen asleep when she lifted her head to look up at me.

“She hasn’t told us. I don’t think she remembers. My name is Miranda.”

“You’ve been taking care of them all by yourself all this time? I think that its impressive, how old are you?”

“I was six when we were taken for the burning lands. I was almost old enough to be taken t where the parents go. They said I was almost twelve so it was my turn. It was my last chance to go and I took all that I could with me. Some we found on the way.”

“Thank you for helping me.”

“Don't thank me. Just help us.”

“I promise.”

We both fell asleep soon after that. I worried that I would have a nightmare, seeing these children had upset me and I always had nightmares when I was upset. None came and I slept as soundly as they did. I woke up first and had to keep the laugh building from startling them awake. In the night they had all come to cuddle near me to keep warm.

After a moment of enjoying the beauty of their sleeping faces, I shifted as slightly as I could to jostle Miranda awake. She had come to sleep with her head resting on my shoulder. When she woke and realized that she was so close to me, she jerked awake with her cheek's red from embarrassment.

“We should wake them all, it will be a long walk.”

They didn’t have much in the way of food. They gave me dry bread and four red berries that. I cave them to some kids that didn’t have anything. We walked to a hard packed road and followed it in the cover of the trees. As we went, I tried to forage any food for the children that I could find. An apple tree had smiles on all the little faces as they each got three to eat.

We walked for hours and had to stop often. The smaller kids had a hard time walking so long and the older ones needed a rest from carrying the small ones. Our progress was very slow.

“You should go ahead of us.” Miranda tried to convince me.

“I don’t think it would be wise to separate. We go together. I made a promise.”

That as the last we talked about it, or anything. A few more hours later and we could see the city in the distance. We were still a few hours away and it was almost night. Some of the kids were begging to stop so they could sleep. I wanted them to be a little closer to the city. We found an abandoned farmhouse that would be large enough to house all the kids.

I was exhausted from the day. I needed to sleep before I went any further. I didn’t think I could even shift at this point. Carrying the kids had worn me out, not eating more than the apples was starting to get to me. I started a fire to warm the house and we all fell asleep quickly.

“Wake up!” Miranda was yelling at me. She had been shaking my shoulder.

“What's wrong?” I asked but didn’t need to wait for her answer.

Screams were coming from the city. I got up so quickly that I saw stars and stumbled to my knees. I was still so weak. When I got outside, I was shocked to see fire raging in the city. It was near the castle...

I threw off my blanket and turned to Miranda.

“Stay here. I will come back for you. Don’t come to the city until I tell you it is safe.” I couldn’t wait for her to answer me before I let the change take me. I ran towards the city. When my wings were ready, I started to flap them to take off as strong as I could. I needed to make it right. This would be over by the time the sun came up.