Bloodcrest

Episode 4

I must've dozed off while Rufus was flying because all of a sudden I was shaken awake. I opened my eyes and gasped as I saw two dragons flying hastily towards us. One was as black as night with eyes as green as the grass below. The other was a dark purple with eyes as blue as the sky. I could tell by their aura that they were not coming to say hello. I whispered to Rufus, " We have company and they don't look very friendly." He looked behind us before saying, "Tighten your hold on me! I'm going to try to lose them!" I nodded and tightened my hold on his neck as he tightened his hold on me before shooting up high to survey the situation. Sure enough, the black one was readying its fire, followed by the dark purple one. Rufus growled before propelling us forward even faster than before. He sprained down before shooting up to avoid their attacks. Unfortunately, their attacks wouldn't stop coming and I could see that Rufus was starting to get exhausted. I knew he wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer, but he was so determined to get to our destination that he was pushing himself to the limit. I felt so bad and wished I could help him. I decided to look for someplace that we could hide and suddenly realized that I could see everything even though we were high up in the air. I shook my head to clear my thoughts so I could focus on helping Rufus. As I was looking, I spotted a gap in the cliffside just wide enough for us to pass through. I called out to him while pointing, "Rufus! Over there!" He looked where I was pointing and nodded before diving down. He barrel-rolled a few times to avoid fire and flapped his wings as hard as he could. I heard him grunt and could tell he was almost at his limit. I reassured him, "Just a little further, Rufus. We're almost there." He grunted and nodded his head before barrel rolling to avoid another attack from those f*****g dragons. With another mighty flap of his beautiful wings, we lunged through the gap just as they fired at us, causing the rocks to explode and flinging us forward into the cave. I gasped as I hit the floor and rolled along with Rufus. I grunted as I sat up while looking around for Rufus. When I spotted him, I stumbled toward him before falling to my knees. He wasn't awake so I put my head on his chest and, luckily, I heard a heartbeat. Listening to his heartbeat was so soothing, but I had to focus. I shook my head and used what little light was available to see if he was wounded. He had a few cuts and a bump on his head, but what caught my attention was the gash on his shoulder. It was bleeding profusely, which was concerning. Remembering what my father taught me, I felt for the bottom of my dress and ripped a couple of pieces of it off. I heard running water and followed the sound to an amazing view. It was a wide-open cave with a river flowing through it lit up with bioluminescent slugs being the source of the light. I knelt and dipped the two pieces of cloth into the water before making my way back to Rufus. When I got back to him, I placed one of the pieces of cloth on his forehead and wrapped the other around the gash on his shoulder. I looked around for something to start a fire and stumbled upon some wood that had blown in with us due to the dragons’ attack. I quickly gathered some, along with some rocks, and made a makeshift fire pit. I kicked the rocks to see if any would cause a spark, which would mean it was flint. After a few tries, one finally sparked and I got excited before grabbing another one. I sat down and started working on getting a fire started. After what felt like a hundred tries, the wood finally caught fire. I blew on it and the fire roared to life. I stood up and wiped my hands on my dress before looking for something that could hold water. I couldn't find anything, so I grabbed a piece of wood and pulled out the knife I always carry in my boot, then went to work on making a ladle. When I was finally satisfied with what I created, I walked back to the river and scooped some water out before taking it back to Rufus. I kneeled next to him and gently picked up his head before setting it gently on my legs. I gently tilted his head to where I could see his lips, but also so he wouldn't choke on the water before lowering the ladle to his lips. I slowly poured the water down his throat. Once I had given him plenty of water from the ladle, I drank some myself before leaning back against a rock because I was exhausted. I looked into the fire and swore I saw images of two sides at war with each other. I continued to stare into the flames before I felt myself drifting off to sleep.