RRRGGH!!! I tried posting this earlier tonight, let's see if it'll post THIS time!!!
Chapter 4
“Is it that way? Or…that way?” I was floating in mid air trying to figure out where I was heading. Snek cleared his throat. “You do realize, Blackie, dat you an’ I’s fugitives now. You just blew the best Glukk military facility to smithereens! Dere’s no way dat dey’re gonna acceptcha back without makin’ ya pay,” he stated. For being a Slig, he sure was smart. I drooped my head.
“You’re right, I can’t go back,” I lifted my head and clenched my teeth, “But what if I don’t want to go back?”
I sniffed the air. An enticing aroma floated through my nostrils from the south, so I headed in that direction.
“Where we goin’, Blackie?” Snek asked curiously.
“I don’t know Snek, but if it’s a nice place, it’ll be our new home.” I yelled to him.
I followed the scent for a few miles before a strange mass appeared on the horizon. I flew closer and realized that it was a forest. I had never seen a forest before in my life, only in books. “Wow,” I muttered in awe and flew down. I wasn’t used to trees, and tried to dodge their branches the best I could. One caught me by surprise and sent me tumbling to the forest floor.
When I awoke, I found Snek breathing in my face. I screamed and shook him off. “Heh heh, sorry, Blackie, didn’t mean ta scare ya like dat,” he laughed. I snorted at him and shook my head again. I glanced around and realized where I was again. It was amazing: a real forest! The trees were so tall and green and birds were singing loudly and flying all over the place, it was a paradise. “Wow,” I muttered in awe. Suddenly my stomach growled. “We haven’t eaten anything since this morning, let’s go look for food,” I said to Snek and he hopped on my back. We walked around for a while, but nothing looked edible. Finally, Snek screamed, “Look!!” and I looked in the direction that he was pointing. There was the most delicious-looking fruit I had ever seen. We looked ta each other and made a mad dash to the tree it was hanging on. Snek climber the tree with ease and went out on a limb. “Incoming, BD!” he yelled and shook some down. I was just about to take a bite when a voice shouted, “Don’t eat that!” I whirred around to see where it had come from, baring my fangs and growling lowly. “Who’s there?” I shouted, “Show yourself!” “I didn’t mean to startle you. Look at the fruit. See those black and yellow stripes? That means that it’s poisonous.” came the voice again. I growled. “Didn’t you hear me? Show yourself!” I rumbled. “Alright, alright, take it easy,” the voice muttered and I followed it to where two green eyes appeared. Slowly the owner of the voice showed himself: he was a dragon! His body was covered with yellow scales and green stripes, while his stomach plates were sapphire blue. He had no horn between his eyes, but his neck frill was impressive, as well as the pair of horns extending from behind his eyes. He had longer limbs than me and stood on his hind legs like a Mudokon, and at his side was a sword in its sheath. He stretched his wings to show off their magnificent purple. I gasped, how could there be another creature like me? I was leery of him. “Who are you? What do you want?” I hissed, baring my glittering fangs. He put his front paws up. “Calm down, clam down. What’s the matter? Never heard of a little hospitality? My name’s Thunder. They call me that due to my cry,” he explained. At that, he tipped his head to the sky and let out a loud cry that sounded exactly like a clap of thunder. As it faded, numerous feet of creatures unseen could be heard as their owners scrambled away in fear. “I see,” I said, in awe, “I don’t really have a name…everyone just calls me the Black Dragon,” I said shyly. “Well, the name fits you perfectly, for obvious reasons. Ah, you must be hungry, come on, I’ll take you back to camp where you can get a bite to eat. You see, I guard these woods, and as a reward for my hard work, the Mudokons of the Mudika tribe treat me as one of their own.” Thunder explained. Upon hearing the word “Mudokon”, I immediately stiffened. “Muds? I don’t think so,” I muttered, turning away, “I am loyal to the cause of the Magog Cartel.” “Yeah, even though ya just blew up one ‘a dere facilities,” Snek added. Thunder looked taken aback. His expression turned into a cold, fierce one. “I never draw my sword on a lady, but anyone loyal to the Cartel is not someone I would call a friend. However the Mudika taught me to treat every creature, whether he be friend or foe, as an equal. Come, I shall lead you, but if you so much as harm a feather on one Mudokon head, I will be forced to take action.” he sneered. I let out a low growl and followed reluctantly, my stomach winning over my mind.