Trapped With Wings

°~《Chapter Five》~° ☆☆

My mind was half asleep when my ears picked up the sound of feathered wings. They sounded strong and much different from a dragonets wing beat. I didn’t pay it too much mind as birds of all sizes would tend to pass peacefully right on by rather than pick a fight with our fire breath. 

The warmth that would normally be Dan's presence was absent and I groggily recalled that he had left the burrow early to scout out our kymari candidates. I was more than willing to let him go by himself if it meant I could get a few extra hours of sleep for myself.

I gave a half asleep warning growl to whatever bird was passing by and shifted my weight into a more comfortable position. As I tried drifting back off to sleep, the sound of talons on bark and the smell of a foreign animal awoke my senses.

My eyes instinctively shot open and I clicked fiercely to get a picture of the scene as fast as I could. The bird trying to poke its head into our burrow wasn't native to Earth and I should have noticed that fact the moment its scent hit my nose. 

The bird reached its taloned feet into the entrance and I hissed and swiped at it with my claws as I built up the heat in the back of my throat. The bird screeched its dislike of me and I called out to Dan within our mindlink.

Soon, the heat had reached its peak and I released it in a stream of fire. The bird backed away but seemed only mildly annoyed by my fire as it tried again to grab me with its talons. Thankfully, I didn't have to keep attacking as reinforcements had quickly arrived.

I could feel Dan's mindecho first before everyone else as he shot through the air to attack the intruder. The other two dragonets I didn't know as well, but they were just as quick as Dan in attacking this alien bird to get it away from the tree burrow. No longer having the upper hand, the bird lost interest and fled, only a few tail feathers missing after the fight. 

"I haven’t seen a storm hawk in this area in a while. Actually, not since all those sicora attacks not too long ago." One of the helping dragonets commented.

"Out of every animal in this park, I hate these guys the most." The second one said.

It took me a moment before I was able to recognize the voices and mindechos of these dragonets. John and Evan have been acquaintanced with Dan for a long time now. When he wasn't with me, he was usually going around helping other dragonets, and these two were one of the first he had helped in the beginning years.

"Thanks for coming along, fellas." Dan spoke to the two dragonets.

"Hey, after all you've done for us and our mates, it's the least we could do for you and yours." John said.

I could hear them saying their farewells as I worked at calming myself down. My heart was still trying to beat out of my chest by the time Dan entered the burrow and nuzzled his nose into my cheek.

"Aspen, are you ok? Did the storm hawk get you anywhere?"

I let out a deep breath, "I'm alright. It just surprised me."

"Ya, it's definitely been a while since anything has grown brave enough to attempt attacking one of us." Dan put his wing over me as he leaned into my side, "I won't let anything happen to you though, I promise."

My heart softened and I could feel my body return to its normal pace, "Thank you Dan. I won't let anything happen to you either."

He was silent for a moment and I could feel a hint of sadness in his mindecho along with his mindvoice, "You don't need to try so hard for my sake, love. I don’t want you to worry about a thing."

I chuckled to myself, knowing very well there was no way I couldn't worry. I decided to change the topic, "So what’s the news?"

An image appeared in my mind of the area outside our home. It was still very dark out with the sky barely bright enough to see small details through the trees. The sunrise wouldn't be for another couple hours yet.