Wings of Fire: Secret of the Bushes

Epilogue

Three months had passed since the dragon's disappearance. Business in Defiant had returned to normal. The mine that caved-in half a year ago was finally cleared of debris finally bringing iron harvest back to full and clan members have returned to their normal lives without any more incident.

Last month, Cloud had finally finished his hunters training. He had learned how to sneak through the grass better and hit prey much precisely during the months after the dragon attack. Cloud managed to barely pass his whistling tests, although he still needed a lot of work, and he finally began his skywatchers training. Cloud was given his first crossbow which should've excited him. But he knew deep down something was missing and things would never be the same.

Cloud was in his room preparing his things for the skywatchers training today. He holstered his new crossbow on his back and grabbed his grappling hook from his desk nearby. The journal of the first chief rested on top of the desk.

Cloud had found time to read the journal and had learned from it the history of how the his ancestors escaped the Scorching. The black dragon the first chief had befriended had sacrificed itself in order to allow the first chief and their village to escape when the dragons had attacked.

Cloud thought of how poetic that felt. If not for that, the Bush Clan wouldn't have existed. The clan owed their entire existence to this ancient dragon and no one even knew.

Cloud's gaze soon caught sight of a piece of paper by the edge of the table and went to pick it up. It was his a drawing - the first drawing of Silver he had made soon after they first encountered each other. Cloud thought back to when the dragon saved him, their first proper interaction a week later, and the battle that transpired three months ago.

Silver. It had been three months since they disappeared. When he returned to Silver days after the battle, the dragon had disappeared leaving the bandages on the ground. Why did they leave?

Cloud tried looking for Silver back in its nest but there was no sign of them; the entire nest looked abandoned. Cloud could still see all the bolts and arrows that were embedded on the walls and floor when his uncle had first ambushed them.

Cloud kept searching for the dragon on his breaks but he couldn't find a trace of them anywhere. He had given up trying to search for the dragon. Cloud figured they must've run away after realizing their home was no longer safe. Cloud still held guilt for leading the watchers to its nest.

Cloud shook his head and laid down the piece paper back on the table. He shouldn't be distracted about that right now.

Grabbing his gear, Cloud went out of his room and began walking towards the exit of the mines. On his way out, he noticed a few kids playing around. They were happier than usual, playing pretend, and Cloud could see them reenacting the battle from three months ago in their own charming and grandiose way.

Days after the battle, the skywatchers had spread out the story of how they fended off two fire-breathing dragons with the help of the silver dragon. The clan started revering Silver like a guardian spirit of the forest and the clan felt less afraid about heading out after that. Cloud chuckled at the thought of the once terrified clan now revering the "scary dragon" as their protector.

Cloud had suggested to having a small shrine built where the battle had ended on the spot where Silver had rested before they disappeared. It had a wooden sculpture of a dragon and a spot where people could leave offerings in the shrine to show their gratitude to the silver guardian. Some of the clan members had made it a routine to visit the shrine and give their thanks to the dragon.

Cloud would often visits the shrine, to make sure none of the offerings are wasted, but recently Cloud had been finding the offerings disappearing overnight. He tried staying by the shrine at night to stakeout the mysterious thief and figure out who had been stealing the offerings. But every night, Cloud would fall asleep before he could even find out who it was and the offerings would be gone the next day.