Ch2.6 .. Flight
Ok, I admit it.
I frolicked.
Yes, me. The great Bahamut.
Frolicked.
Get over it.
It had been so long since I was able to take Dragon form, locked in the cuffs as I had been. Not to mention, never before had I actually been of Dragon mind, and not consumed by the Flames. There was a sense of true freedom that I just couldn’t shake in that moment.
So much energy…
Couldn’t contain…
Had to fly around in a frenzy…
Levi just stared at me when I transformed. We hadn’t traveled too far outside of the borders of the village when the itch hit me full force. Then, when he realized I wasn’t going to fly back and raze the village or anything, he dropped his head in his hands and groaned.
He didn’t know what he was missing.
Finally, after a time, I got most of it out of my system. Breathing heavily, which was a windstorm to the forest below, I landed, wings still outstretched and shadowing the land below me. Oh… I never wanted to be confined into that tiny little person form again!
It must have been strange to hear me laugh. I suppose I didn’t do that often. Levi watched me like I’d gone mad.
Maybe I had. I didn’t care.
“What was all that about?” Levi asked me with a frown.
I knew he wanted to chide me for so many things. Taking Dragon form could alert the Invaders. Or alert the village to our escape. Flying around like a crazy Dragon was obviously wasting time.
Instead, I turned this back on him. “You wouldn’t understand. It’s a Dragon thing.”
“Oh really?” He crossed his arms.
Then, before he could say anything else, I closed my claw around him, and spun upward into the night sky. The sound of his shocked screams was delicious. He has a rather high-pitched scream, for the record.
His screams, coupled with the freedom of the moment, made me laugh. Not a cruel, nasty laugh – shame on you for assuming! No, I think this was the first moment I genuinely found myself enjoying… something.
Eventually, Levi got the memo that I wasn’t going to drop him to his death (like that could happen), and he grasped my claw in both hands, demanding, “What are you doing!?”
I pretended not to hear him. All that wind and all, you know.
He shouted louder, “Bahamut! This isn’t the time for you to lose your mind!”
“Relax, Levi,” I rumbled back at him. “Black dragon. Dark night. No one’s seeing us.”
“You don’t know that!”
I spiraled down closer to the treeline, enjoying the sound of branches as they snapped in my wake. Levi was a little unnerved by this.
“So that’s why you didn’t take your Dragon form again,” I completely flipped the topic on its head.
“What are you talking about?” Levi shouted against the wind.
“I suspected you didn’t want to be a Dragon.”
He didn’t reply to that. I tried to help out.
“Does it seem so bad, Levi? I mean, look at all this,” I told him, winging across the night forest. On our journey there, he showed me the world from his point of view. It was time for me to return the favor. “Have you ever seen anything like it?”
Levi didn’t answer quickly, which I took to be a sign that he was absorbing the view. Finally, he said, “No. I haven’t.”
“Well, there you have it, then.”
Eventually, I found a mountain top that looked willing enough to hold my weight. There, I landed, carefully placing Levi on the frosted stone peak. With a ripple of energies, I returned to my person form. I breathed the crisp air, letting the chill tickle my body from within.
Levi just wrapped his cloak closer around his shoulders and watched me from the corner of his eye. After a time, he spluttered, “Would you like to tell me what that was about?”
“You seem up tight.”
“I am up tight,” he grimaced. “I just broke you out of my village’s jail where they were going to execute you.”
“Yes, I know.”
“You expect me to not be a little frazzled by that?”
“Of course not,” I responded, folding my hands behind the curve of my back. “I know you didn’t have to do that for me.”
Levi frowned. “I did it for all of us.”
“Really?”
He breathed out, billowing a white cloud in the air. “If those Dragons out there are acting under the influence of Chaos, that’s dangerous for everyone. Especially if they know about the location of the Grove. Which I’m going to assume they do.”
“Depends on how much they paid attention, I suppose,” I confirmed. “I didn’t go out of my way to conceal the location.”
“Exactly,” Levi frowned.
I frowned, too. Then I teased him some. “I’m just not used to you being the serious one.”
“I’m not serious.”
“Oh, you’re serious.”
“I’m just focused,” Levi argued. “Unlike some of us.”
“I’m focused!” I protested.
“Flying around like mad is focused?”
I gave a slight laugh. “You, my friend, are dealing with Dragons now.”
He crossed his arms. “Meaning?”
“We’re whimsical, magical creatures of legend. You’ll have to expect a little unexpected,” I teased.
Levi shook his head.
“And…” I drew out the word. “You’re not going to find Dragons by standing on the ground, view blocked by trees. If they’re anywhere, they’re out here.”
I spread a hand towards the sky. He followed the motion with his gaze, a moment of clarity lifting his eyebrows. He knew I was right.
Delicious.
“See?” I leaned in closely and whispered. “There’s a method to my madness.”
Levi sighed. “You still could have warned me.”
I barked a laugh. “No. It’s much more fun this way.”