Chapter Nine

A dragon broke through the clearing. Chiara spotted the glare from its teeth as it gnashed them together. It dropped down and let out the loudest bellow she had ever heard.

          “Fly!” She yelped, surging up into the air without a moment’s hesitation.

          Her group didn’t argue. If they did she wouldn’t turn around to fight back. *There’s no way anyone who is sane would go towards that monster! Yet again-there’s Leothra.*

          She could feel the dragon’s hot breath reach her pelt and didn’t dare look behind her. Chiara could hear its wingbeats getting louder. *If I don’t do something soon it’ll catch up to us!*

          Chiara saw a flash of pale blue feathers streak past her. Delwyn easily overtook her with her abnormally large wings.

          “You go on ahead-I’ll distract it!” shouted the distinct voice of Aeolus far behind Chiara. She saw a small gap open up where some of the many dead trees had fallen into a somewhat collapsed pile. Chiara didn’t hesitate to tuck in her wings and dive into the crevice. She could hear the screeches of the dragons sounding farther off than before. Darkness surrounded her with a cool rush of air. She opened her wings to slow her fall as Chiara found herself in a small cave. Vines and undergrowth clinged to the walls of it. It was obvious that the fire hadn’t reached the cave.

          Chiara wasn’t sure where the others had gone. She assumed that they were still flying away from the dragon. That Aeolus was hopefully still leading it away, and not caught. It would’ve been pitch black in the cave, but light managed to filter its way in from between the branches. She sniffed, flicking her ears towards the sound of dripping nearby.

          She walked a couple steps to where she could see that there was a lack of cave walls. *A tunnel! But where does it lead? Should I even stay in this cave? What about my patrol?*

          A roar of a dragon sounded above. A thud shook the ground and she assumed it had landed. *Nope. Nevermind.* Chiara strutted to the tunnel, not wanting to test the dragon’s ability to be able to follow her through the gap leading to the cave.

          Chiara spread her whiskers away from her face as her eyes struggled to pick up any light in the darkness. She felt that every paw got a steady hold on the ground before putting her weight on it as she traveled. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed by the time that she could see a hint of light.

          Chiara blinked and sped up with more confidence as she could see once more. She squinted as she came out of the cave to be confronted with the blinding sunlight. Chiara waited for her eyes to adjust to look around. The brush and trees, like the rest of the jungle she had traveled through so far, were burnt to a crisp.

          Chiara stepped out and peered around her. *Where exactly am I? Where’s the patrol?*

          A twig snapped behind her. She whirled around to see white feathers. Against the dark spot and ash, it looked as if someone had placed a giant snowball in the dirt and rolled it around. Black spots and green eyes met her alarmed gaze.

          “Oh, hello,” said the Leothren. “You’re-you’re Chiara right?”

          Chiara blinked, stunned. “What?” She croaked. *Who was this? Why were they there? Friend? Foe?* she wondered frantically.

          “Chiara. That’s your name isn’t it? I have a d-I know someone by the name of Ruyi. I’ve been looking for her for ages but can’t seem to find her. I worry the fire or the dragons might’ve gotten her. She mentioned you a lot. Don’t really like to make friends, eh?”

          “I don’t understand,” she said as she took a step back. “Who are you?”

          “Oh sorry, apologies,” the Leothren replied with a quick respectful dip of her head. “I’m Ridena of the Leothren.”

          She seemed friendly and not exactly threatening. But Chiara had been trained all her life never to trust Leothren. She narrowed her eyes as she noticed Ridena hadn’t mentioned how she worked for the Leothren.

          Chiara decided to play it cool. “Oh, well you’re right-I am Chiara. Just curious-what do you exactly do? I’ve never been too sure of what I want to become when I’m no longer a fledgling. Possibly a huntress, or maybe a guard. Maybe even-a spy perhaps.” Casus had mentioned how both of her parents were spies. Who else of the Leothren would be looking for her in the jungle risking attacks from dragons?

          Ridena if she was a spy didn’t react to the probing. “Oh, it’s not important.” Chiara frowned but before she could protest, Ridena continued. “What *is* important is if you have seen my dau-er-Ruyi. Have you?” She blinked at Chiara, her gaze pleading and sincere.

          “Why are you looking for her?” Chiara asked instead of telling her. She sat down on her haunches. “You know-I have a poor poor memory. It takes a good reason for me to be able to remember something like that,” she sneered. “Maybe my mind needs a little *convincing.*”

          She saw a look of fury pass through the Leothren’s eyes. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished and was replaced with serenity. “You do know where she is! Tell me!”

          Chiara shook her head. “Not until you answer my question. Why are you looking for Ruyi?” she repeated.

          Chiara watched pleasantly as Ridena paced to and fro, growling. Ridena turned to her after a few minutes. “Fine. I am Ruyi’s mother. I need to know where she is and if she is safe.”

          Chiara let out a mock gasp. “You’re Ruyi’s mother? But I thought you were Leothren! How is that possible?”

          Apparently Ridena didn’t sense the sarcasm. She took a deep breath. “I can’t believe I’m wasting all this right now,” Ridena grumbled as she exhaled. “Ruyi is not who you may think she is. She is a Leothren, not Leothra.”

          “No *way*!” Chiara interrupted, which received her a glare from Ridena.

          “It’s true. She was sent to your territory to spy. She was lucky Caoimhe was kind enough to take her in. Now that I told you, where is she?”

          Chiara shrugged. “Not here. In your territory I suppose?”

          “What do you mean?” Ridena questioned, a growl rising in her throat.

          “Oh Ruyi escaped the forest fire. She followed the Leothra over to your territory. But that’s when she went missing.” Chiara looked at the shock and mild horror mixed with confusion developing on Ridena’s face. “She never returned...as Ruyi.”

          Ridena snarled and took a pace towards Chiara. “What are you saying?”

          “Let’s just say I know someone by the name of *Casus* who might know about where Ruyi might be.”

          “You *knew*? All this time you *knew* Ruyi was a spy but you forced me to admit it to you! Why? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been worried sick about R-Casus?”

          Chiara shrugged yet again and let loose a faint grin. “Eh I knew. I just didn’t know who you were and figured it wouldn’t hurt to have some fun by forcing you to answer my questions. Think of it as retaliation to when your chief sent us away from your lands when we needed help most.”

          Ridena growled. “I don’t see what Ridena saw in you. You are *nothing* like Leothren.”

          Chiara should’ve felt happy to hear that. But instead she felt a pang of sadness and she wasn’t sure why. Chiara shrugged it off and responded coldly, “Good.”

          She eyed Ridena. “Well now that you know where Casus is, leave my territory. Even though we may not be living here at the moment, it still belongs to the Leothra.”

          Ridena lifted her muzzle. “Fine. I will go.” She turned around and lifted off and away from where Chiara stood. Chiara flicked her tail and began to sniff the area, to try and see if anyone from her patrol had passed through there.

          *Oh, I hope they are alright,* she worried as she searched. *Where did my patrol go? And where is that dragon that was chasing us earlier?*

          Chiara found a scent trail and followed it. She didn’t recognize who exactly it belonged to because of the ash clouding her nose, but she could tell the difference between the pine and caribou scent of Leothren and the flowery scent of the Leothra.

          She lifted her head and called out, her voice faint, “Hello? Anyone out there?” She looked around her, hoping that there wasn’t a dragon or something prowling close enough to hear her. Nothing answered her except for the breeze that blew small swirls of ash across the blackened ground.

          Chiara chose to continue following the scent trail. She could sense it getting stronger the more she walked. She lowered her head as she took a step to get another sniff to make sure she was going the right way. Without looking, Chiara ran into a large mass of fur. She leaped back a pace with a yelp and looked up to see a orange and dark blue Leothra. “Cephas?” she gasped.