Chapter 9: Fight Me

         From my hiding spot, I hear the big double doors clang open and the front of a cage being pulled up, metal screeching on metal. I stay where I am and wait quietly, blocking my link to G’reth so he can’t find me quickly. My plan is to evade him for as long as I can. Maybe the hunters’ control on him will wear off and I won’t have to actually fight him. A roar comes from the front of the habitat and I hear the door to the cage scream back in it’s place; the double doors shut with a loud bang that echoed a few times.

It’s not long until I see G’reth. He looked awful. His beautiful scales are chipped and dull. His underbelly is scarred from being cut open and there are scars around his ankles like painful bracelets, his wings are speckled with holes. My breath catches at the sight of him and I think to myself, ‘What have they done to you?’

I watch as he scans the area he is in and cower when he looks at me. I have never seen his eyes this dark. Dark with pure rage. And it’s all aimed at me. He sees me and bares his teeth, raising his wings slightly, like he does before he lunges. He growls and has a go at me but I move out of the way at the last second, jumping over him. I land behind him and nip his tail lightly, getting him to turn around. I blast a small jet of flame towards him, and he shields his body with his wings. Knowing he’d do that, I act quickly, getting out of his line of sight, hiding once again; I keep my eyes on him. He takes to the trees and I do the same. Jumping cat-like onto a low, thick branch, I stay level with him knowing he would be looking for me on the ground. After a few minutes of being on the same level, I go up another two branches as quietly as I can. He’s never had to look above him in hide-n-seek. I hope this works.

My branch sways as G’reth lands in a branch beneath mine; two levels below me. I open my wings, catching my balance, and he snaps his head up, looking at me with those dark eyes. He climbs up after me and I dive out of the tree, hitting the ground, hard. I feel talons digging deep into my back and the weight of another dragon on top of me. I let out a painful wail as G’reth’s teeth sink into the back of my neck. I throw myself around, trying to get him off my back. I smack us off the side of a stone wall and his grip looses. I throw us against the wall again and again until he lets go. Upon turning around, he lunges at me. I don’t have time to move so I let him knock me over, I use my back feet to throw him off me with the momentum of his lunge. His back hits a tree and falls limply.

“G’reth!” I rush over to him to make sure he’s okay. His eyes snap open and I barely had time to move back from his snapping teeth. I take to the air and he follows me, his wings pumping the air, easily catching up with me. His maw takes ahold of my tail and he pulls me down, throwing me off. I barely get myself rebalanced when G’reth is attacking me again. When he is about to grab ahold of me, I fold my wings and press them tightly against my body, dropping steeply. He follows me and I keep going " I am dangerously low to the ground. Every instinct I have screams at me to catch the wind again, but I keep my wings pressed against me. At the last second, I open my wings and tumble a landing, making it look fatal. I end up breaking a wing and I roar in pain. It didn’t work. G’reth doesn’t land. He keeps low to the ground and speeds towards me, whipping himself to a stop over me.

He lands, all four claws rooted to the ground around me, keeping me pinned down. He lunges at my neck. I hold him at bay and swipe at his face, leaving a gash across his muzzle. He bares his teeth in anger and he turns psychotic, pressing on my broken wing. I bare my teeth in pain and he smiles ruthlessly, pushing harder. I roar painfully, extending my neck, and he grabs at my throat with his teeth. I feel his grip on my neck gradually tightening, blocking my airway, his claw still pressing on my wing. I scrabble at G’reth’s underbelly, trying not to hurt him too much.

I wheeze, “G’reth…Stop…” A few seconds later, I feel him shudder and his grip loosens. The hunters drop their control of him and he lets go of my neck instantly and agony replaces the dark rage that covered his eyes. He lifts his foot from my wing and moves from over me, backing up in terror at what he’s done.

“Grace…”