Chapter Two

Chiara barely had time to comprehend what had come so close to most likely killing her.  The head of the mighty serpent lunged downwards to try to bite her. She dodged away and looked around wildly for a way she could escape without the danger of flying into the fire. Her lungs burned from the exertion of flying. She tried not to breathe in the smoke that clouded her and made her eyes sting.

          She flipped to her side to bank away from the dragon. She saw a small dark opening where there was empty air between two trees. The two trees had their branches intertwined. Flames leaped at them both as if they were one tree. Chiara concluded that they must've fallen against each other as she began to dive towards the clearing. It was her only exit.

          Chiara tucked her wings in close and could hear the dragon's shriek above the roaring of the inferno. She didn't dare to look back and see if it was still chasing her. Chiara was gaining speed. She closed her eyes as tight as she could as she dove between the trees. Her wings planted firmly at her sides for a split moment to make it through the small gap.

          Chiara felt a sudden cool rush of air. She opened her eyes wings again to find herself gliding over the water of Capybara Lake at breakneck speeds. She had never done such a thing before and it gave her a thrill of exhilaration and fear. She looked over her shoulder but couldn't see the dragon who had been behind her. Chiara guessed it hadn't made it through. She hadn't realized that she had banked one of her wings towards the water on accident. Her left-wing made contact with the water. She jerked in a circle as the momentum from her other side still carried her forwards.

          With a yelp, Chiara did a belly flop into the lake and she plunged beneath the surface. Chiara swam to where she thought was up and bCephase through the top of the water to take a breath of air. There was a lot less smoke down at water level and she rested for a moment, treading water. She looked overhead to see hundreds of other Leothra fleeing to and fro in the air. Many of them came from the direction of The Great Pavilion.

          Chiara squinted, looking frantically for dark cream-colored fur and indigo wings. Her brother had to be among them swooping overhead, she knew it. The red haze of the smoke blocked many of them from sight. It made it hard to differentiate different colors. Is that blue or purple? Is that green or gray? I can't tell! How will I find Cephas amongst all the Leothra? What if he isn't even among them?

          A roar distracted her from her thoughts. Chiara, to her dismay, heard crashing and tumbling. She assumed they were trees felled by dragon claws. Her eyes widened as one of the trees began to teeter and lean in her direction. Not taking any chances of being crushed, she swam as deep as she could towards the bottom of the lake. A powerful wave shocked her after a few moments of struggling to sink to the murky depths. Chiara, who had kept her eyes closed in the water, opened them and could make out the outlines of a massive lump. She perceived to have been the tree.

          Chiara's lungs started to burn and she knew she had to rise to the surface of the lake soon. She kicked forwards and away from the branches of the tree.  She could see more as she swam higher and higher. It wasn't as murky as down below and she could see that the timber had charred before it had collapsed.

          Chiara gasped as she bCephase her head above the water. She looked up to see two great hulking dragons come out from the forest line. One spread its wings and lunged off the ground, catching a squalling Leothra with its jaws.

          The other reared back on its hind legs and shot plumes of fire all around and towards even more Leothra. Several Leothra were in the lake with Chiara. As she glanced around she could see at least about five of them injured. She didn't want to think about how many might not have survived.

          The dragon that had caught the Leothra before turned its burning gaze towards where she was. It stomped forwards. Chiara glanced behind her in a panic for something to hide in. She saw the tree that had crashed, which was now floating at the top of the muddy water. Chiara scrambled over. She ducked under some protruding twigs to hide beneath a large branch. *I hope the water will mask my scent. It will-won't it?* she wondered, anxious

          The dragon splashed into the lake and Chiara huddled, covering her blue wings over her head. Several of the other Leothra began to paddle to shore or towards the log that she hid under. One Leothra with purple and magenta wings stCephased over to where she drifted. She ducked as he sprayed water in her face in a frantic escape from the dragon who was seeking out stranded Leothra. Chiara risked opening her eyes to find that it was Kanu. He flapped his wings to give him short bursts of speed through the water. His head lifted as if he were struggling to stay above the surface.

          *It's as if he doesn't know how to swim!* Chiara thought. distracted from the horrific events happening outside the blackened log for a moment. *I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't,* Chiara mused bitterly. *He would just complain 'oh my feathers will get soaked and ruin my good looks!' or something like that. Why did it have to be him that came here to hide next to me? Why not Cephas or even Chief Warrick or Ames?*

          Kanu gasped and dug his claws into the bark, using her as leverage to hoist himself up. Chiara managed to growl and she flicked one of her wings to knock Kanu's foot off of her back. With a yelp he crashed back into the lake, drenching Chiara in the water from his splashing.

          She swatted at him. When he arose and his ears were out of the water, she hissed, "Quiet!" She shoved the fear out of her voice. "Do you want every dragon to come storming over to catch us? Either shut up or I'll push you out from underneath the tree for you to be found! Understand?"

          Kanu stared, and nodded mollified. He still tried to clamber up onto the branch that was above her to get out of the water. She slapped him with her wing to get him to quiet. He was making too much of a racket and she was sure their hiding spot was going to be discovered if he kept it up. Chiara glared at him and Kanu rolled his eyes but stayed still. His back legs were still in the water as he gripped onto the bark with his front claws.

          They both waited in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Chiara didn't know when the coast would be clear but she didn't want to risk anything. She wasn't sure how much time had passed by until the roars and snarls of the dragons began to die down. She flicked her ears, listening.

          "Come on," Kanu said. "Let's beat this place before the dragons come back!" He let go of the log and let himself splash back into the water, swimming as best as he could to get out from under it.

          Chiara felt conflicted. Kanu's judgment wasn't the most trustworthy thing out there. She also didn't want to go out alone and knew she would feel safer if she was with someone else. *Maybe Kanu is right and the dragons have gone for now but will be back soon.*

          That last thought was enough to convince Chiara. Against her aching wings, she pushed herself away from the comfort of the tree. She could feel her blood pumping as she looked each way, searching for dragons. Her gaze was frantic as she did so. The smoke from the fire covered up anyway to smell possible threats, let alone the water.

          Chiara swam faster to keep up with Kanu, even with all his struggling to be able to keep his head above water. They got to the edge and still no dragons had shown up. On the shore, about a hundred or more Leothra stood. Some were shivering and frightened while most looked furious. Chiara noticed how only the small fledglings looked scared and how the older ones like herself weren't. That means I can't show fear. Or I'll be as good as a Leothren.

          Chiara just began to notice that there seemed to be a crowd of Leothra all clumped together a few paces away. She squeezed through, leaving Kanu behind to dry and preen his feathers. Chiara could see that Chief Warrick was in the center of the group. The Leothra shoved each other to get to him so they could speak to him. Chiara listened to the Leothra who gathered as they spoke questions all at once. The ones she heard the most were:

          "What's going to happen to us?"

          "What were those things?"

          "Why did the dragons attack us?"

          Chiara winced every time she heard a Leothra call out or ask where someone is. She had known not all had survived. It ached her heart to listen to voices calling out for the same name over and over again but to no avail.

          Trying to get through to the front, Chiara joined them. "Where's Cephas? Has anyone seen Cephas?" she asked, her voice hitching at the end and sounding frantic. No one answered.

          Chief Warrick lifted his wings to command everyone to silence. Eventually, the Leothra began to quiet down. When no one spoke, Chief Warrick began. "This is getting us nowhere. I understand your worries. The forest is still on fire. I do not know if they have gone yet but, likely, the dragons are still here. We cannot stay. It's not safe."

          Several of the Leothra began to stand up in anger and defiance. Her ears were filled with the sounds of arguing. "Silence!" Chief Warrick growled. "I am you're leader. You will not defy me. I am here to protect you. We cannot stay here and we will go to the Leothren to hopefully stay there until we can come back." Chiara noticed a Leothra, Bisman,  in the background fidget with a collar he wore, which a small gray stone hung from.

          This time Chiara interrupted. "But Cephas-we can't leave him!"

          Her wail triggered several other Leothra to also shout out the names of their missing loved ones. None of them wanted to leave them behind.

          Chief Warrick sighed. He waited for the Leothra to mollify their complaints and arguing. When it had dwindled he continued. "Face it. They are probably dead. Even if they are still alive I cannot risk more Leothra lives by searching for them. We have to protect ourselves. They wouldn't have wanted us to get hurt or killed while trying to make sure that they aren't hurt or killed. We are leaving. Now." He lifted his wings. They spread in an angle that reflected the sunlight that came from the lack of trees around the lake. Chief Warrick flew up to avoid any further discussion.

          Chiara would never say it to anyone but Cephas, but she felt relief to leave their home. Yes, she knew it wasn't the Leothra way to flee and cower. Yes, she knew she should go along with the other Leothra to grumble about how their chief was a coward to not fight back against the dragons. *I can't when I agree with him. For the first time I can ever think of something I actually agree on with my father. I'm glad we are leaving. The dragons are so huge and strong that they could easily kill us all unless we escape to Leothren territory. Dragons don't have fur or feathers-they wouldn't survive the cold there.*