The Clutch of Sharys: Chapter five

Chapter 5: Caving under Pressure

Sharys delighted in all of its creations but quickly became fixated on the innovations of the humans, determined to grow and develop far beyond the Godbeast's dreams.

Cara watched as the flashing beam drew closer to where she stood, looking like it was going to land on one of the nearby buildings. She wondered if they were teleporting the dragons into the space but quickly disregarded that though when she remembered that this was their breeding grounds, meaning they wouldn't need to be teleported in.

Swinging her legs over the pillar ledge, Cara began searching around for a rock or small opening that she could use to climb down. Her brown booted toes finally scrabbled their way in between a couple of stones, and Cara began climbing down, still twisting around occasionally to watch the final beams that were approaching.

When she was about a third of the way down, the beams arrived, and her heart sank as she heard the calls of what the light had been transporting.

Bleating rang out across the breeding grounds as the confused animals called out, perhaps detecting the threat of predators nearby. Cara repeatedly cursed as she hastened down the last part of the pillar, slipping and scraping her knee with her rushed descent. She could hear the curious cries of dragons in the distance, responding to the scent of prey around their grounds.

It made sense, Cara thought as she ran in the opposite direction of the Sebri boy, the sting of her leg quickly forgotten as adrenaline coursed through her body. It made sense that they sent the livestock last; to lure the dragons out of their dens and make it slightly easier to get an egg for the participants. The problem was that it also drew the dragons towards the nobles, which meant that she would encounter the inhabitants of this odd, red zone sooner or later, and they were not likely to be happy about their visitors.

Already the sound of beating wings began filling the air overhead, great long strokes that implied a beast of considerable heft was on its way over to pick up a meal. Cara's heart beat faster as her legs pumped, carrying her across the flat grey rock of the ground, dodging around the piles of bones that had been swept to the sides of the path by some massive body once upon a time. The red light that provided some visibility from the sky darkened as shapes began passing overhead, and Cara could hear the wingbeats grow in volume as the dragons lazily swooped around the livestock running about below them.

Spotting a cave entrance looming from under a gigantic pile of broken stones, Cara slowed to a jog, stopping behind a heap of remains and glancing around the area for any welcoming snarls or claws. Nothing came, so she ducked out and began sprinting across the opening, skidding to a halt halfway across, when the screams started.

The cries seemed to come from further away but still close enough that Cara felt slightly unnerved as she turned her head to locate the direction of the noise. She realized with a jolt that the precious seconds she spent focusing on the screams had cost her, as she had been spotted. Cara heard a reverberating call sound through the air, lilting upwards in tone at the end as wings took to the air somewhere close.

Cara quickly glanced over at the cave, which was close, but risked her being trapped in with whatever chose to follow. Changing her mind, she turned on the spot, heading for a small canyon that ran between large pieces of rock off to her right. As Cara sprinted for the opening, she heard the cry again, though this time seemed to be more of an angry shriek than a curious call. The sucking, shuddering sound of a dragon inhaling rang through the clearing in the rubble, and Cara dove forward into the crack as a beam of light cut through the ground behind her, leaving the earth gouged and steaming in its wake.

A jagged scar was left on the ground as the dragon soared past, no doubt looping back around for another attempt at cooking its prey. Cara scuttled backward, leaning against the wall as she caught her breath, keeping her eyes skyward for the beast's return. She held her breath as the creature circled overhead, angrily spitting out a few more luminescent blasts from its mouth as it failed to find her movements further down the crack.

It must have spotted something interesting, because it let out another curious cry after a few agonizing minutes, turning a wide loop in the air and shooting off in another direction. Cara watched, letting out her breath as the last of its dull orange-red scales winked out of view from her crack, dragging herself back up out of the ground and keeping alert.

There must have been some big altercation out towards the middle of the disc; Cara could see several shapes in the air heading towards a flickering light. Continuing her strategy of keeping towards the outside of the breeding grounds, Cara skulked along the shadows of the disc, keeping crouched to avoid further detection.

Eventually, she came to the edge of a wide-open area, where a carpet of bones led up to a dragon nest high on a pillar, not unlike the one Cara had arrived on but much broader than hers had been. Near the tip, black marks stroked across the stone, the scorched rock leading up to what was no doubt a dragon-carved nest in the pillar's top. They had some similar models in the aerie, cheaper stables for dragons to spend the night in, stacked up the wall to fit as many as possible into the space.

Cara could see several eggs neatly stacked in a pyramid in this nest, different jewel tones blending together as metallic specks twinkled at her. She peered out from over the pile of refuse that blocked her from view, searching for the owners of the unattended eggs. Something about the intent of how the eggs were placed, so neatly out in the open and unguarded, spoke to Cara of great danger if she attempted the climb, and she instead forsook her discovery and moved on.

More screams and shouts rose in the distance, though the noises seemed to spread further across the disc. Cara scuttled onwards, dashing from shadow to shadow and flinching at every sound, terrified of being found before she could find both her egg and a portal out. Whether it was an account of their experience within or in a scholarly assessment, the bit that nobody ever talked about was the location of the wild portals that opened after the participants entered through the initial door.

They were expected to find their way back, and so far as Cara could tell, it appeared the portals were imprecise and random, and she only had so much time before either a dragon found her or hunger and sleep became the most pressing issues. No matter how scared she was, she had to keep moving because to stand still was to accept death. Continuing forward, Cara wandered into what must have once been a courtyard; the large, dry fountain made of marble in the middle was cracked down the center with the right side crumbling to dust.

Cara wandered closer, intent on the markings she could see inscribed into the side, keeping low to the ground as she passed through the columns that still arched around the destroyed doorway. Overhead, the dark, thick grey clouds had moved, and the fingers of light from an enormous, red moon shone down on the surrounding ground. Cara's ears picked up something heavy landing nearby, and she halted in her tracks, listening intently. It wasn't long before a ripping sound began, in long, wet, crunching repetitions that turned her stomach. Taking a deep breath, Cara closed her eyes, trying to put what was making those noises out of her mind.

Forsaking the fountain, Cara now tried to silently cross to the other side of the courtyard as a loud cracking began emanating from behind her. She could hear the dragon growling as it devoured its meal, decimating the corpse of whatever poor creature it had caught. Cara's legs were burning with exhaustion from being held in a squat for so long, her back protesting at being constantly bent over. There wasn't too much farther to creep until she could reach the door; Cara just had to make it there.

She left the ruined courtyard as another lengthy, meaty tear rent the air, quickly straightening up once a nearby pile of rubble hid her from sight. Placing a hand on her lower back and rubbing some of the stiff pain away, she took a step forward and was immediately greeted with something falling past her in a meaty thud, wetly slapping the ground as it flopped over. Cara immediately wheeled backward towards one of the bone mounds, a hand covering her mouth to prevent the scream of horror that rose unbidden from her throat at the sight of the glassy eyes staring at her.

A familiar round-faced lordling's head and shoulder stared up at her, eyes rolling up and mouth hanging open in a violent last cry. The world around Cara seemed to dull for a moment as the air was sucked from her lungs, the cracking and ripping, screams and yells all rushed together in a dull, static roar. Not that she had known this man personally, or indeed had any other emotion towards him besides indifferent caution, but rather that he served now as a stark reminder of what would happen if she failed. It was her face that she saw there, mottled and lifeless with dark blood-soaked curls framing dull, empty hazel eyes.

Her heartbeat thudded in her ears as her breathing grew ragged, still muffled by Cara's hands. She pushed herself backward further into cover, trying to wipe what she had just seen from her mind. It was no use, though, because every time her eyes closed, the corpse was there, staring back at her with a blank gaze. Bile flavored Cara's mouth, and she forced herself to swallow it back down as she stood up. The dragon would finish its food soon, as one human made little a meal to a beast that size.

Cara quickly walked off, trying to keep her footsteps light as she left behind the snacking creature in the ruined courtyard. After a while of wandering away from the noises, Cara jogged towards the edge of the disc, a slight uphill slope that suddenly cut off into empty, red space. Placing her hands securely on the ground, Cara looked down over the edge to see if there were any other islands or anything in this vault, but all that she could see were the shapes of dragons circling below.

Disappointed, Cara slid back down the small incline, standing up and dusting off the legs of her pants and her hands. She glanced around before deciding to approach the slope off to her left next to a crumbling building, an enormous slab of flat rock that could provide cover for her as she looked around. Ducking through a square doorway, Cara walked into what looked like a well-to-do merchant's house, blackened and petrified by years of flames and disuse. She stepped over a charred chair and had to avoid several bowls and cups on the floor before she could exit out of the other doorway opposite the one she came through.

The bottom of the slab she had seen outside began not three feet from where she exited, and Cara realized after a few nudges and wipes that it was a section of quartz stone wall, no doubt created by a high-ranking earth dragon. Those of pure, powerful elemental alignment had more control over the vast reaches of their element. Cara could vaguely remember overhearing a couple of aerie hands talk about one of the Aspas princesses that supposedly only used crystals instead of regular earth when she wielded her magic.

Cara crawled on her stomach up the wall, pausing every time she heard a shout or roar and freezing entirely whenever the sound of wingbeats was nearby. After what seemed to be an eternity, inching her way up the face of the rock, Cara reached a hand to pull herself up again but found nothing until a few seconds later, when her hand found the lip of the stone. Pulling herself up, Cara peered out across the disc in front of her, taking in what she could in the dim light.

Scattered below her and riddled with the moving shadows of dragons were the ruins. Cara's attention was caught a couple of flashes of movement too quick and close to the ground to be the giant creatures, darting into what looked almost like a familiar central plaza that she had just passed through that morning. Her brow creasing, Cara examined the landscape scrutinously, mentally drawing out the path that she would have taken up to the...palace. The most prominent ruins, the pillars she had just climbed out of, were the remains of a tower, though it lacked the sapphire-blue stone of the palace that she knew.

Cara let go of the lip, turning over on her back and sliding back down the stone chunk to the ground. She had mentally marked out a section to the northeast near her uncle's house, or where it would be, where she knew of an entrance to the city sewers. If she could get into those tunnels, Cara could better traverse the city. Plan in mind, Cara landed on the tail of her jacket, which yanked painfully tight on her shoulders as she skidded to a stop. She considered just ripping off the blasted thing and leaving it behind, but the mediocre protection it might offer against dragon breath and the elements won out.

Cara used the wall to help herself up, rolling a sore shoulder and shoving a few red locks of hair behind her ear. She took a few steps back into the scorched kitchen when a high, keening cry rang out from the direction of the back of the house. Cara quickly and quietly crossed the kitchen, weight balanced on the balls of her feet to avoid making any more noise than necessary. She leaned her head partly around the doorway, crouching into a small ball to diminish her visibility while still scoping the outside. Behind the house, in the craggy mounds that served as a yard of sorts, a brilliant green dragon with the silver horns of a queen had a young woman cornered between a heap of bones and a wall, lip curled back in a draconian snarl.

The girl screamed again, begging for someone to help her, to do something. Cara shook her head silently, wishing the girl was smart enough to shut her mouth and keep quiet. Making more noise would only upset a wary dragon further, the noise being taken as a cry of warning or agitation. Snapping a long thin snout at her, white fog seeped out of the dragon's nostrils, which the girl drew back away from, flattening herself against the wall and screaming again.

Cara found herself trapped in a bit of a conundrum as the dragon was blocking the path she had planned to take towards the northeast. Her eyes flicked back to the girl, but there was little she could do to help her without dooming herself. "You have to put yourself first." Keti's voice echoed in her mind, and Cara knew her sister was right. Swallowing her guilt, Cara began creeping around the other side of the yard, towards the far edge of the slab where it had pierced the ground, a small ravine leading out from it. Pieces of rubble and ruin were strewn about the land, intermixed with the bones as they got closer to the gap, which turned out to be a small path into what looked like a cave in the ground.

Cara heard the dragon's growling continue, as the girl maintained her cries, but both the sounds and Cara paused when the sound of rocks falling punctuated the air. Quickly glancing around, Cara made sure that it hadn't somehow come from her, but the ground near her was still flat, if mostly bones now, which meant she needed to be more careful about moving lest the cracking beneath her weight draw attention. A couple of smaller stones clattered down, and Cara looked back to see the twins standing on top of the house she had recently left behind, each crouching with an egg bundled in their arms.

The short-haired twin's eyes met Cara's, and she saw them nudge their sibling, who also looked her way. Below them, the dragon's neck turned and curved as it searched for the source of the noise, and it quickly found the twins, hissing and snapping as clouds of white spat out from its throat.  Cara paused, swallowing hard as her feet turned, against reason and reminder. Keti's voice echoed in her head "Put yourself first. This isn’t a game.

She took a step towards the dragon, raising her chin and making direct eye contact with the pale creature in front of her. This was the difference between her and the Great General Keti Myzanti. One of them could stand by in silence while horrible things took place in front of them, silently following orders for someone else's "greater good." 

The other of them was walking towards a dragon, a helpless situation drawing her steps. Impulsive as she was, Cara would never be content to just stand by, impassive and obedient. Drawing deep on everything that she had learned caring for cantankerous dragons over the past two years, Cara took another step. 

Immediately, faster than a viper's strike, the dragon whipped its neck around, the movement cracking the air in its haste. Large, milky irises looked down at Cara through hateful slits, the entire eye standing taller than Cara herself.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Cara gestured for the girl to be quiet with one hand, the twins to stay still with the other as she opened her mouth to speak. The smooth nature of the creature’s scales gave her hope, and if she could just keep a quick wit, she could get them all out alive. 

"We mean no harm, Great On-" 

A screaming jet of steam poured from the creature's throat, the grinding pressure of scalding water carving a gouge into the earth in a perfect, steaming line. 

Cara had a split moment where she featured how foolish she had been as the dragon's pupil slammed wide. There was no reasoning with this creature because she had nothing it wanted. Any pretense of a relationship or bargain was moot because she was an intruder, and a predator needed no reason to hunt. She had failed. She knew nothing. 

Throwing herself to the side, Cara slammed into the pile of bones to the side, a jagged piece piercing the leather of her jacket and scoring the skin beneath. 

Swallowing a scream and several curses of pain, Cara pushed to her feet, making eye contact with the creature once again as it inhaled. She took a step back, then another, raising her hands in placation as the dragon followed, jaws snapping white tongues of steam as its smooth, faded mass shifted to turn toward the retreating annoyance. 

As soon as it was partially turned, Cara motioned with one hand for the spectators, still hidden and thankfully quiet, to leave. She only had a moment to look back towards the crevice before the scuttling began, and she turned and sprinted away. This was the best she could come up with because all of her training had failed. She was shaken, a crack running down the core that had held her hope for a good outcome aloft. 

Now consequences and reality brought it all tumbling down, following her body as she threw herself down the slope in the ground.

She didn't need to turn around to feel the waves of heat that rolled over her back as the dragon spat over her head, its heat pressing her to the ground as she tried to avoid the intensity of the breath. The pale dragon let loose a searing, flutelike cry that twisted Cara's gut in fear. In the middle of its utterance, a rock soared past the dragon's head, falling just short of Cara's feet as it clattered on the ground, off to the side. Following the disturbance, the dragon’s gaze flickered for just a second, allowing Cara an opening to push herself back up and hurtle onwards.

As she quickly rushed towards the cave, putting everything she had into speed, Cara thanked her years of running around the aeries and her uncle's manor, dodging both fangs and fists for preparing her as she tried to survive for this moment. This was her chance at becoming something more than just another disappointing puppet tied to the Admiral's strings, and she refused to fail any more than she already had.