An Epic Return (Monty X Eldarwen)

Silverwing watched Freki’s panicked movements, saying nothing the shrill tone to his voice and the none stop questions. He waited until he had finished before he spoke again. “They’re looking for us. Somehow, they have traced us back to the river.” He didn’t know how they had done it, since they took flight to the air not long after the crash. Following the scent of something through the air was incredibly difficult on a good day, so how did they manage it?
Then it hit him. [/I]Blood![/I] He was covered in blood when they made a run for it. Blood gave off such a distinctive smell, that with dragons as keen a nose as those, it would be only too easy to follow it through the air. It was a good job they landed in a river and washing all blood traces off them. Otherwise, they could be in battle right this very second. But what now? He wasn’t sure he could fly yet, nevermind land again with his limp.

“The river,” he began. “The river washed the smell of blood from us. But they’re circling the area.” At least there was nothing to trace them back here, no drops of blood had splattered the earth, or even any solid evidence they had even entered the river…
“Oh no…” he hissed, half to himself. “There was a dint in the river bank. They know we were there, it’s only a matter of time before they look for us here.” He dragons would know fully well that this was elven territory, but that wouldn’t stop them. “No,” he said quickly. “We need to go now. Go get your stuff. And bring me the chief, I need to warn them.” His eyes scanned the skies again, checking to see whether there were any signs. Nothing yet. But in an hour or so, who knew? In an hour, they could be in full blown war.
“Hurry.” He growled.
With that, he stretched out his wings, learning what boundaries he had with the, and what boundaries he had to cross in order to get away from here.

Silverwing’s eyes narrowed as he saw Freki scamper away, he stared around the clearing of huts and celebrations, trying to establish the best way to get away hopefully, without anyone noticing. They couldn’t go back the way they came, because that would just leave another obvious trail, and who knew, the other dragons could be back there already, waiting for them to show. Scanning the area, he notices a few places where the huts dwindled out and slowly transformed into lines of trees and eventually, the forest again. Maybe one of those paths could be another way out.
He waited anxiously for Freki to return, or at least send the chief. For every second they stayed here, the more time the others had of finding them, or worse, bringing reinforcements. Now that he thought about it, that was what they were most likely to do. For whoever was in charge of those dragons, wouldn’t send them again on their own, after failing last time. Whatever else came now, wouldn’t be alone.

As the elf leader approached, accompanied by a few of his warriors, he moved his wings slightly, putting them in an easier position to take off with. “They’re back.” He said plainly, not bothering to waste time with formal greetings, it may just cost them their lives. “Me and the human need to leave, now.” The expression on the leader’s face didn’t change, but he shifted uncomfortably. “How do they know?” He asked, a grave face full of worry, probably for the safety of his own people.
Silverwing paused for a minute, thinking about how to lay the news upon the elf as easily as possible. But right now, feelings couldn’t be cared for. He quickly explained the situation, not allowing the leader to interrupt with anymore questions. When he had finished, he noticed Freki moving over to them, his bag full and happily eating on some sort of food. It was then, that the elf turned to his warriors.

“Go, clear the people from the back path, don’t tell them what is happening, but get everyone to prepare their weapons. Get the women and children inside, if needs be, we will move everyone to our hideout shelter. If they are looking for the guardian, then it won’t take them long to come over here. We can’t afford a fight, not now.” Obediently, the warriors moved out in their formation and began to alert the small village. Silverwing could tell that panic was slowly rising up by the sudden quietness of the festivities. A few elves glanced over to him and the chief, wanting to ask the warriors what was going on, but the only answer they got was a sharp instruction to get inside and prepare for a battle.
“There is a path around the back, we use it to escape from battle if needs be.” The elven leader began again. It is the only way that is bordered by trees, it hides us, but I can’t say the same for you if you travel by air. Might I suggest following the path on foot, before you take off? If they see you in the air, they wont have second thoughts to come looking over our village.”
Silverwing wasn’t sure how to answer, because travelling by foot even for a short distance would leave their scent more easily than by air, but if it was what the leader wanted, then he wouldn’t make his communications somewhat more difficult. He merely nodded, “where is the path at?” He asked, eventually, after figuring they had waited too long. The leader motioned in the direction to the back of the village. “I will lead you there.” He began moving in the direction of the trees, until Silverwing spoke again.
“No,” he said. “You need to stay with the elves incase they attack while they are with us. They need you to guide them.” Both of them stared at each other for a few more seconds, before another reply came. “You’re right.” Was all he said.

“Freki,” Silverwing said, turning to look at the human, “let’s go.” With that, he turned his head, thanked the elf for his hospitality and shelter, before setting off towards the trees. The speed he would have liked to travel at wasn’t exactly fit for an escape on foot, and he only hoped Freki didn’t get anxious at walking at his pace, since it wouldn’t be hard for him to walk ahead.
“Are you ready?” He asked once he had reached the trees. “It begins now, final chance if you want to turn back.”

At Freki’s words, Silverwing couldn’t help think that it was an answer he would have guessed he would say. Perhaps the sudden call of the dragons would have shaken him up a little bit, but after his bold statement from last night, it was as if nothing would stop him now. After all, he did have the stubborn mind of a human, they all did. But there were some more stubborn than others. He had found this out through his own rider, Sandy. Once her mind was set, there was no changing it, so maybe Freki had this trait too? “No,” he said. “You’re right, there isn’t.”

There was a short moment of silence as the too progressed, until the human’s voice spoke out again. The suggestion of plotting a trap was a thought Silverwing had considered earlier on to do when they set trail. But he didn’t know how they would be able to manage it now. “Dragons noses are very sensitive,” he started, not turning to look at the gardener as he spoke. “But it would take a while to cover up the track now, and we don’t have the time. Stopping to do something else other than move may turn out to be a big mistake. If they catch us, I don’t know what we’ll be able to do.” He paused for a few moments, twisting his head to look behind him, making sure they weren’t being followed and then up to the sky. So far, there were no visual signs of the dragons, or whoever was planning to come for that matter. But he didn’t know how long the sky would stay clear for. Not much longer, he suspected.
“If we missed a single trail,” he continued, “then they would find us, then the time wasted will be of no use. We can’t afford any slip-ups, and we can’t afford to waste any time.” Perhaps he was being a little harsh the way he laid it out to the man, but it was the truth. Any other time, and Silverwing may have said it a little lighter, but there were other thoughts swimming around in his head, and he barely realised how he sounded.

It was at that point, that he wondered how Freki must be feeling. After accidentally stumbling across a fallen guardian, and getting dragged up into everything. Having to leave everyone he knew, to go on a mission he had been told about a day earlier and knowing that there is a good chance he won’t return. So his family and friends would never know where he went, what had happened or why. To some, that would be unacceptable, a terrible way to go about things, but considering the circumstances, Silverwing thought it pretty brave of the human. It was features like that which were rare in human beings. He had seen so many humans kill without meaning, cause pain and suffering, and to find another, who would put their own life at risk in order to save everyone else, wasn’t something you came across everyday.

His eyes narrowed slightly as the path to the eleven trail gradually entangled itself back in with the natural forest. At least they were out of the elves homeland now, and there had been no sign or noise of an attack. Maybe they had been lucky this time...maybe.