Wings of Fire: Secret of the Bushes

Chapter 9

Persevere landed on the balcony of his nest after he spent the day practicing his flying. The past few days, his wings were starting to get better. But after weeks of no flying, Persevere had felt rusty with his flying. When his bandages were first taken off, Persevere could still see the spots peppered on his wing tips where the burning sticks had struck him. After his bandages were fully removed, Persevere could still feel a slight burning sensation whenever he flared his wings. Persevere decided that he need time to relearn his flight techniques before he could continue observing the scavengers.

Persevere approached his desk and unrolled the scroll that was laid on top. In it, he could see all the notes and drawings he had made during the time he recovered. The scavenger known as Cloud had kept visiting him every night and sometimes during the day and had brought all sorts of things he could write about. The scavenger was very willing to show the rainwing all sorts of things to him and Persevere wondered if this was some instinct that scavengers do whenever they meet someone new. He thought it was cute that Cloud would be willing to show him all these things that scavengers have. Persevere felt honored that the scavenger was willing to trust him enough to share all these things with him.

Persevere began writing on his scroll when he noticed a glimmer in the trees outside of the window in front of him. Persevere paused and stared at the spot but couldn't make out anything that might cause that glimmer. Persevere squinted his eyes to try and find a clearer view. Persevere noticed an odd clump of foliage perched on one of the branches. It twitched and then something glimmered again. As Persevere stared at the spot, he realized what he'd been staring at. He heard a loud metallic thud. Then suddenly, he saw a sharp metal rod hurtling towards him.

Persevere managed to duck in time, keeping his form low on the floor, as the metal rod flew over his head, barely scraping his horns and lodging itself on the far wall. Persevere looked out of the other windows of his hut and saw more things rustling in the leaves. Another metallic sound and a rod was hurtled towards him. He slid away as the sharp metal rod dug itself into the wooden floor.

Persevere frantically looked around him and he began to see more figures on the branches. In quick succession, each one of the figures shot metal rods at him. Persevere barely managed to dodge all of them but was slowly starting to lose his tempo. Persevere needed to get out of there.

Persevere bolted towards the balcony and began to fly. He spread his wings and leapt down into a glide. But before he could go far, a small net made of vines was dropped over him. Persevere struggled to maintain flight as the net covered his front legs and tangled over his wings. Persevere hurtled towards the ground, crashing on the thickets below.

The net snagged all over Persevere's body getting caught in horns, spikes, and wings. Persevere struggled to get himself free when he heard a rustle nearby. Emerging towards him, a leaf-cloaked scavenger approached the dragon. It looked at him with a look of disdain. It grabbed something on its back and lifted it towards him. It held a wooden contraption with a metal strip laid across it in a "T" formation. A metal rod rested on top of the wood with a taut string pulled behind it. Persevere understood it as another weapon.

The scavenger pointed the weapon at his head, ready to shoot, and said something with a deep chirp.

"Nyesheeng balsenyel, glidyen. Pyet yo fim tee koob vyo klin syah."

Persevere didn't understand what that meant, but he knew what would happen next.

Maybe studying the scavengers was a mistake after all. They didn't want to be disturbed and I intruded on their peace. Persevere only hoped that wherever he may end up, that his old scavenger friend was waiting for him.

Persevere waited for the hit when he heard a loud call coming. Persevere heard something crash into the scavenger and Persevere opened one eye to find another, slightly shorter scavenger tackling the hostile scavenger. It was Cloud! Persevere saw the two scavengers fall to the ground in a heavy thud. Cloud quickly rose up and rushed towards Persevere. Tears running down its tiny face as it took their sharp metal tool to begin cutting at the net. It was chirping something through its tears.