Testing 1,2

Testing 1,2

The silver moon shone into the cave, casting a shadow along the rocky floor, where the deathly-black and fiery-red dragon lay there silently, eyes not blinking, thinking of things that he wanted to be. He called himself Shadowfang. He already was a racing legend, especially for one as young as he was, at 27, earning himself the nickname Nightslicer, but the fame that racing gave him only lasted for a couple of centuries, and he wanted his name among the stars so everyone would know who he was for a long span of time. He couldn’t take the little fame he had and roll with it. With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself up off the ground, his thick tail scattering shiny gold coins along the smooth rock ground, after organizing them for more than five hours in five piles that touched the roof. He dragged himself to the mouth of the cave and looked up to the silver moon, the one thing that could bring him happiness at the time of dread. Too much was on his mind, though, and he couldn’t help himself.

“What did I ever do to deserve a life like this?” He shouted, trying to make sure he didn’t wake up any of the other dragons in the mountain range he lived in since it was time to sleep for everyone else. Before he even realized what he was doing, he threw himself over the edge of the cliff and shot up into the clouds high above him. He didn’t want to be with the other dragons anymore, because none of them ever gave him support for how great he was. He decided it was time to look for something else, to help him with his case. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but he knew it would be important in his life. He wasn't going to look for what he needed right away. He was going to soar through the fresh air at midnight and be free. He loved the feeling of freedom, and he never wanted to let it go away. He let out a cry of excitement. Before he was able to enjoy the moment anymore, he looked down slightly to see a young, beautiful dragon sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking like she was freer than ever. He knew he should keep searching for the one thing that would aid him in his search for greatness, but he couldn't restrain himself. Tucking his wings into his scaly side, he dived towards the grass-covered cliff. With a soft thud, his claws dug into the ground, but for some weird reason, the she-dragon refused to move a centimeter. Shadowfang didn’t understand why, since he was standing right beside her.

“Hello?” He said, stepping slightly closer to her. “Umm… My name is Shadowfang. What’s yours?” Still, the she-dragon stood perfectly still, not responding to his question. Carefully, he shoved her shoulder gently, trying to gain her attention. She fell over like she was only a piece of cardboard. Suddenly, Shadowfang froze in place. He understood the situation he had just put himself in. Quickly as he possibly could, he unfurled his wings and tried to lift into the air. He was a moment too late. A massive net launched out of the leaf covered trap that lay near him, catching and weighing him to the ground. He struggled to get back to his feet and at least walk away from the cliff, but the sound of Boots in the near distance made him sink back to the grass in despair. He knew that the things called humans would do tests on him, and he wasn't able to live just like a slave to testing. For some reason, though, he still gave up. The steps got louder and closer to Shadowfang until they finally reached the net.

“What is that thing?” One of them gasped in disbelief. Shadowfang looked up slightly to see a broad man standing above him, smiling.

“Does it matter at all?” He said. He put one foot on Shadowfang’s head. “We all know we need to kill him though.” Shadowfang knew that word well, and he wasn’t ready to embrace death yet. Struggling against the rope that bound him, he rose up onto his feet and stared down at the puny humans, rage, and disgust in his eyes.

“You dare try and bind me to the ground, then kill me?” He thundered, making the humans tremble. “This time, you will be burned to the ground by my flames!” Shadowfang inhaled as much air as he could, ready to Scorch them to ash. He never was able to. A pointy thing stabbed him in the space between two of his side scales. He roared in fury and swiveled his head around to look at the thing. He just couldn’t see it properly. His eyes were blurring with darkness slightly, but he just didn’t understand why. His legs felt like jello underneath him, and he tumbled to the ground, trying to gain some strength.

“What did you humans do to me?” He slurred. He wasn’t able to hear the response. He was so drowsy, that within the next seconds, darkness took over his world.

Blizzard had been held captive for over 3 years by the humans. They had bribed her to their base with lots of food and she knew she couldn’t resist the urge. She probably could have evaded the entire situation if she hadn't run from her cave in the middle of the night. She sighed sadly and stood up from the rugged metal tiles of her enclosure. It was now about the time of day where those humans used her as a test subject. Again. They did this every day to her. Needles in her neck. Picking scales of her sides. It was starting to get on her nerve a bit. She waited. Five minutes. Twelve minutes. The humans never came to get her. Which made her fearful.

What will they do to me when they do come? She worried. Did they find somebody else? Will they decide to just kill me? Or am I still useful to them? She was so deep in thought that she didn’t see the new dragon come in. Until she heard the rattling of chains and a cage door slam closed.

“Yes!” She yipped. “Someone to keep me company!” Then her heart sank through the metal floor as she realized who it was. It was one of the most known dragons in her series of mountains.

“Shadowfang?” She said. Of course, Shadowfang was unconscious, so he wasn't able to reply, but she could tell by the rare red underbelly that it was him and she knew that he would never speak to her. She was just one of those low lives at the bottom of her mountain. Sighing once again, she laid back down on the cold hard metal floor staring across the room at Shadowfang. He seemed so helpless to her and all she desired to do was help him escape. She could care less about herself. While deep in thought of how she could help him, he finally stirred. Quickly, Blizzard jumped up from the ground and waited for him to notice her. He tried to get up but couldn’t, as the cables secured him to the ground. It took a while for him to finally stop struggling against and just lay there quietly. Blizzard still stood in her cage, waiting for him to even look at her slightly. Shadowfang looked around the room he was trapped in and finally noticed Blizzard just standing there, staring right at him.

“Wait.” He said to her, making her heart leap. “Aren’t you Blizzard? The dragon that went missing 3 years ago?” Blizzard couldn’t believe that Shadowfang was actually speaking to her and knew her name.

“Yeah, that’s me.” She said as calmly as she could. Shadowfang actually smiled at that and made eye contact.

“How did you get here?” He asked. “And why are you not tied to the ground in these heavy chains?”

Well, I got here when I tried to get free, but the seized me.” She explained. “And they decided to not put me in chains because I haven’t tried to kill them. Yet.” Shadowfang laughed slightly and once again tried to stand up.

“I tried to escape as well.” He said finally. “But they found me and also captured me.” Blizzard was very surprised.

“Why would you try to escape?” She Exclaimed. “You’re like the biggest celebrity in all of the mountain range!” Shadowfang sighed.

“Yeah, I know, but I felt like it wasn’t enough.” He said. “I wanted to be among the stars so I started to look for something that could assist me with that dream.” Silence overwhelmed Blizzard, and she didn’t know how to respond to that. Shadowfang seemed to understand that so he spoke up quickly.

“Do you want to escape this place Blizzard?” Blizzard turned to look at the only window that led to the outside world. The moon was shining brightly and she wanted to bath in that light once again in freedom.

“Yes.” She admitted. “I do. I just don’t think that it is possible. I’ve seen other dragons they’ve captured try to escape but they’ve all died trying.”

“So you’re just going to give up this easily?” He said softly. “That doesn’t sound like you Blizzard. You were one of the dragons that I looked up to because you refused to give up that easily.” Blizzard reared back in surprise.

“Wait, you looked up to me?” Shadowfang nodded.

“I did. Because of who you were and what you did. You were better than I ever was. That’s why I aimed to be like you. I know that persistence is still in you. Just bring it out in the open.” Blizzard took a deep breath in and closed her eyes to remember that time. She could remember that she wanted to be one of the best in racing, fighting, and maneuvering. She remembered that she ruined it all by leaving and at first, she tried hard to escape the humans. She opened her eyes again and felt a rush of something new come over her.

“I never thought that you would talk to me.” She said. Shadowfang shook his head, rattling the chains holding him.

"Why would I not speak to you?" He replied. "You are wonderful and I believe that I needed to talk to you." Blizzard felt flattered.

“Okay, so I think the next time they come to take one of us, we need to try and get to each other and make them take us both.” She said, ideas popping into her head like they used to. Shadowfang smiled.

“There’s the Blizzard that I knew once.” He laughed. “So when is the next time they will be coming to get one of us?” Blizzard thought of the schedule that The humans Had.

“I think At around 6 am tomorrow.” Shadowfang seemed to not like that time, but nodded anyway, trying to be calm.

“I wish it was more right now, but I guess in a couple of hours will be okay.” He replied. “What do we do till then?”

“I guess we just wait,” Blizzard said. “Great plans always require patience.” Shadowfang Seemed to swallow a growl but didn’t protest.

“Fine. Wake me up when It’s time. I can’t miss this.” With that, he laid his head back on the metal ground and seemed to go to sleep instantly. Blizzard Smiled at his asleep body and laid back down as well.

Time to be patient. She thought.

Shadowfang was in pain. Sleeping on the metal floor was not as comfortable as sleeping on smooth rock. Even worse, he couldn’t stand up because of the stupid chains over him. Growling, he looked over to where Blizzard was and noticed that she was asleep in a weird position like she was…

“Oh my god!” He growled. “What did those humans do to her?” Blizzard had a long scar across the side she kept in the air, and it looked like it had been a bad scratch.

“Blizzard!” He shouted. Instantly, she was on her feet.

“Is something wrong?” She asked, seeing him still in the cage. Shadowfang nodded his head. Then he shook his head.

“Maybe.” He replied. “It depends on what the humans did to you.” Blizzard looked like she didn’t understand what he meant.

“What are you talking about?” She said. “They’ve done tests on me. That’s all.”

“Apparently not.” He snarled angrily. “Why do you have that scar if they didn’t hurt you in the first place?” Blizzard winced.

“Oh, that. I don’t know why they did it but they seemed to be angry at their test results, so they threw me in this weird room with a gigantic saw. It cut through my scales and skin, so they got my blood.” Shadowfang tried to stand up in anger but still wasn’t able to.

“Those humans!” He snapped. “I’ll kill them all!”

“No!” Blizzard cried, surprising Shadowfang. “That would ruin our plans to escape.”

“You expect me to not kill these guys even though they hurt you that much?” Shadowfang said. Blizzard nodded.

“I do.” She said firmly. “If you want to escape this place alive.” Shadowfang seemed to pause for a couple of seconds.

“Fine” He finally replied. “I won't kill them until we get out. Then I will find them with backup and kill them all.” Before Blizzard was able to reply to his statement, 5 humans opened a door and walked into the room. Right away they went and got some chains to make sure the dragons didn't escape. Then thirty went over to Shadowfang’'s cage.

This is my chance to finally get out of here. He thought gleefully. With Blizzard of course. The cage swung open and the chains lifted off of his back. He was finally able to stand up for the first time in over 12 hours. It felt like a dream come true. He knew the plan to, so immediately after he was out of the cage, he started to claw at the floor to try and try to get over to Blizzard. The humans kept pulling him, but he refused to give up. Finally, the humans said what he wanted them to.

“Fine.” The leader snapped. “We’ll take her too. Will that make you stop fighting us, Devil?” Shadowfang nodded vigorously. So without hesitation, 4 of the soldiers were at Blizzard's cage, getting her out quickly before Shadowfang ripped them all to shreds. Blizzard nodded approvingly at him and that made Shadowfang feel like he was a celebrity again. Walking towards a large door across the room where they would test on them, Shadowfang could only think about two things: Escape and Blizzard. She was the one who knew what to do next and he didn’t.

Plus… one other thing. He sighed to himself. Walking he stole a glance at her. She was a cerulean blue with a pale blue-green underbelly. He knew he’d never see her again once they returned home because everybody would be crowding around both of them in a different place. He sighed again and they were through the door. Somehow, he knew what he had to do.

“You should just leave.” He said in a dragonic to Blizzard. “You’ve been here for three years and I think that I can stay for a bit longer. You deserve to leave and I don’t.” Blizzard looked at him, surprise covering her light blue eyes.

“I am not going to be just leaving you here!” She exclaimed. “You were in the plan and you will stay in the plan.”

“No, Blizzard.” Shadowfang sighed, shaking his head. “This won’t work if both of us try to leave. One of us has to fend them off. Leave now.” Without another word, he inhaled in a deep breath and unleashed a firestorm. Humans who were in the way were burned to ashes, and those who weren’t in the way started to scatter, getting weapons to stop Shadowfang.

“Get out of here!” Shadowfang snarled again at Blizzard. Blizzard had no choice but to obey him. In a flash, she was out of the window and flying off. Shadowfang watched her leave until he felt that familiar sharp pain between his scales. He smiled and fell to the ground.

“Bye Blizzard.” He whispered. “It was nice meeting you.” Then he was swallowed whole by the darkness.

Blizzard felt very guilty about leaving Shadowfang behind to have to defend himself or to be killed. She wished that she didn’t admire him because then she might have been able to listen to her own mind and not just him. She sighed as the wind shoved against her like it was trying to shove her back to the human base to save Shadowfang. She knew that as soon as she got back to her mountain, everyone in the lower part would be crowding around her and wondering where she was. She knew that she’d never get away again. Suddenly, her head shot up.

“That’s it!” She shouted to herself, almost falling out of the sky. “I’ll have to convince all of my family and friends that we need to go and save Shadowfang! Easy!” She felt once again like her old self, thinking of ideas that could help everyone. She felt a sudden rush of energy flow through her veins and she started flying faster than she knew she could go. Mountains and tree passed her in a flash and she laughed at herself.

So this is what it’s like to be free. She thought. Of course, I’m not going to stay here with Shadowfang still in the prison. Before she knew it, an hour passed and she had reached the mountain. Landing with a cloud of dust, she rushed inside of her cave, where she saw her mother, Gem, looking sad, as she had just lost someone important.

“Mother,” Blizzard said. “Don’t freak out at me but I’m home.” Gem looked up in surprise and caught eyes with Blizzard.

“I haven’t looked into your eyes in so long.” She said, barely keeping in the tears. “Where have you been?” She rushed forwards and wrapped her wings around Blizzard.

“Mother!” Blizzard cried, and figured out how to wiggle out of her grasp. “I need to talk to everyone in the family and all of my friends. This is very important.” Gem nodded and flew out of the cave not looking in much of a rush. It took about 30 minutes for her to get back, but when she did, she had almost 20 dragons with her, all her family and friends. They all looked surprised to see her but quickly started rushing towards her with glee.

“Woah!” Blizzard exclaimed. “Back off, please! I need to talk to you about where I was.”

“Was it terrible?” Gem asked.

“Yes.” Blizzard started. “When I tried to… tried to run away, I got captured by the humans. They took me in, tested on me and cut me. The only reason I escaped was that Shadowfang got captured and figured out how to get me out. Now I need your help to go and help him get out.” Everyone in the family gasped in disbelief.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not going anywhere near that place.” Blizzard’s father, Icefang, growled. “These humans sound terrible and I don’t want to see them.”

“I beg you all, have a heart for someone, not yourself,” Blizzard said, holding in her tears. “He saved me and I need to return the favor. Please. Help me with this. I know that you have hearts and I know you know it’s time to use it.” At first, everyone looked moved by the beautiful speech that she had just said but then they all shook it off.

“I mean, I’d love to help this Shadowfang.” Icefang lied. “I just won’t. So I’m very sorry but I will not help you.” One by one, everyone said that they’d not go. Blizzard was full of rage, and she flicked her tail to calm herself.

“I called you family and yet you refuse to help.” She spat. “I thought that you’d use your hearts for once in your life, but I was wrong.” She lifted into the air and ignoring everyone’s protests, she swooped out of the cave and out of the mountain range.

“Fine.” She growled to herself. “If my own stupid family and my friends won’t help me get Shadowfang out of the human place, I’ll have to find someone who will.” She knew nobody on the entire island that would help, so she had to think hard while flying. It came to her only a couple seconds later and she smiled, hope filling her to the top.

“If nobody will help me on this stupid island, then I’ll not ask anybody on this island.” She laughed. “I’ll just have to go the island across the sea and ask the one tribe that may help me. I’ll just ask the Iceclaws. Even if I have to go down in ice and snow, I’ll find a way to save my one true love.”

To figure out what happens, Read “Banished”