Chapter 7: Chapter 7

SILVER

^~ONE WEEK LATER~^

I roll onto my back and stretch out, my tail swishing and swirling through the mud as I cover my scent up again for the thousandth time this week. Also I, generally enjoy the mud.

Like I’ve previously explained, it is a thing little fledgling Dragons love to do, but it is still one of my favorite pastimes. It’s so refreshing, all-encompassing, sticky, warm, and so much fun!

I growl happily as I find a good turn of my spine, my wings spread out over the muddy field, while a brief show of sun illuminates my soiled scales.

I’m not too far from Water Fallen Lakeside, but I’m not too close either. Stormy skies, clouds, and rain seem to have been a common theme this last seven days.

And I know exactly who is brooding such storms. Storm of the Lost Horde, Shadow in the Sky, and my mate has been my sole thought for seven long days and nights.

I have achieved peace by separation from the ~ill-advised~ Dragon Lord.

I admit even now, using that insult makes me grin. I have often said it to myself to make light of a situation.

I mean, if I dwell on the fact that I stabbed him and thwacked him over the head with a hot poker, I might just feel a little guilty.

But I have rid myself of most of that guilt by putting the blame on Jinx.

Since the moment my eyes changed to hers a week ago during my second blood, I expected visions for the day or so that the blood lasted.

However, once I pushed Jinx away by staying in my Dragon form, I had no visions. Neither did I see any Blood Raven coming after me as Jinx had warned me about over a month ago.

I have to still my wagging tail in the mud, however, when I see a dark shape in the clouds.

I reach out, and I assume it’s a Dragon from the Lost Horde. Instead, the presence feels familiar and unfamiliar all at once.

I wait, hoping I am camouflaged in the muddy pile, and I won’t draw any attention if I stay completely still…because usually I stay hidden ~in~ the foliage, not out of it.

Staying out in the open for too long is too risky.

I’ve risked it today because the mud is too damn fresh to resist…and anyway, the black Dragon is turning, finally heading in a different direction.

So I roll to my front, sitting up on my haunches, only to see the Black dragon turn back to dive into the wind, quickly headed toward me.

I raise a leg to bolt to cover, but not before the feminine, mocking chuckle filters through my mind.

~“A little coward; I always knew it,”~ Elena’s voice filters through, and my soul fills with an instant dislike for her character.

Elena is a red-eyed, black-scaled Rogue who happens to have bright-white hair in human form, a rare characteristic that helps her stay hidden in a human crowd if she ever has to escape.

Although, she can’t do much for the crimson eyes, which sometimes appear black in the right circumstances.

I remember sharing the inn at Graceful Springs with Elena and Summer, where I saw Storm for the first time.

Summer was evading Dane and Aneurin, and Elena was evading Culling, her Dragon Slayer captor, who kept her as a pet. Now, ironically, I was in their shoes.

~“Are you on the run again?”~ I ask her. ~“Where are your Prince Dragon Slayer and the ropes he usually adorns you in?”~

Elena dives down past me, fast, close, and dangerous. The slice of the wind almost cuts me as she dramatically pulls out her wings to slow and rise a bit before gently hitting the grass.

I am a small Silver Dragon with a long, lithe body.

Elena, on the other hand, is a big black-scaled Dragon, almost as big as Dane. She is robust, and all black-scaled Dragons have Rogue senses and bodies built for solitude.

She is certainly built for it.

I feel dwarfed, as she doesn’t just turn to face me, but she raises her neck over me, coming so close I automatically cower down away from a potential strike. Instantly, I appear submissive.

I can’t know what Elena will try. She happens to hate my guts, and I’m not sure why.

~“I am a free Dragon now,”~ Elena answers me, ~“and what are you? I wouldn’t really call a Silver Breed on the run on her own…free…now, would you?”~

~“I am truly practicing.”~ I quickly scamper back and make some space as I raise my head high to try and meet hers.

~“Practicing?”~ she asks.

~“To be a Rogue,”~ I answer, only for her to lower her eyes, still her body, and watch me like a statue…or a very still predator about to launch and rip me open.

Well, to be honest, that isn’t altogether a lie. Rogues like to do fucked-up things to other animals, other Dragons, and especially any poor mortals who happen to cross their paths.

I am entranced by how still she appears, and I almost find it hard to think and move…to even breathe…until she smirks with her Dragon fangs and slowly sits back on her haunches.

~“A Dragon’s Death Stare is a Rogue thing,”~ Elena explains arrogantly, with pride at her own achievement of such an ability. ~“What do Silver Breeds do besides whine, cry, and complain?”~

~“If you knew Storm, you’d know the full extent of a Silver Breed’s capacity for magic,”~ I retort.

~“Storm? Isn’t he a…? So now you speak to me of ~legends~; how typical,”~ Elena says, happily putting me in my place, but she doesn’t know my own secret.

~“He’s my mate, actually,~” I snap back at her through our mental link, and my tail swishes so far left the mud flicks up and smacks her across the face. ~“Much better.”~

Elena shakes her head to fling the mud off, and she rises on all four legs, her wings out and her fangs bared.

~“Better?”~ she mimics me with clear menace in her tone.

~“Well, not anymore, considering the mud isn’t covering your angry, snarling Dragon face since you flicked it all off.”~

~“What angry, snarling Dragon face do you speak of?”~

~“That face. You’re always looking like you want to rip things apart and taunt anything smaller than you.”~

At my last accusation, she snorts out fire to her feet like an angry bull as she looks me up and down.

~“Rogues don’t talk to others; I don’t know why I bothered to say hello to you.”~ Elena almost sounds offended as she raises her head again and looks to the skies, clearly about to take off.

However, as I follow her gaze, I see multiple shadows in the sky, darkening the clouds.

She sees them too, and she looks worried.

Without hesitation, I snap at her with my teeth, and I barge into her neck and shoulder, trying to urge her into cover.