The next few days of travelling with the scavengers were some of the most interesting days of Winter's life. He had grown close to a scavenger who's name he deduced was Mapleleaf, after it repeated the process Winter did to share his name.

  Also, his injuries were finally reminded to him. Having gone on foot for the first day, he didn't think about it at all, his wounds completely overshadowed by his interest with the scavengers. But once he grew hungry and had to hunt, he quickly found out that he simply couldn't fly.

  He didn't think his wing was broken, he would probably have noticed the pain otherwise. No, he must have dislodged his shoulder bone, or something like it.

  Still, to forget such a thing was something not many dragons would manage.

  But he was fine with it, he finally managed to communicate with scavengers after all! And his interactions have been really productive too. For the past few days, he and Mapleleaf had been exchanging words from their languages. Well, it was mostly Mapleleaf trying to learn Dragon, as he seemed very enthusiastic about it. Winter did try to learn some Scavenger, but he failed miserably to even reach the right pitch every time, which wasn't without amusing his new friend. Even some of the other scavengers chuckled at his attempts.

  Eventually, he also familiarized with another one of them - the female. She would sometimes come and sit beside them while they were trying to learn each other's language, but she wouldn't participate in it. She seemed more curious to see than really trying to learn with them.

  With a bit of time, he started to notice the difference between the scavengers, two of them were wearing those long metal claws, and they would always be the one searching for food for their peers. They also were wearing some sort of small metal sheets over themselves, like armor.

  Of course, there was Mapleleaf, who looked like the youngest of them. Winter wasn't sure how he knew it but it seemed almost obvious to him. And the two others, well, one was dressed very similarly to the previous, this scavenger would often converse with Mapleleaf, especially after a 'talking session' as Winter decided to call it. But he was also the one who was drawing Winter the most nervous, as he continuously studied the dragonflame cactuses he had, tearing them apart with his minuscule tools and conducting fiery experiments with them.

  On one occasion, the scavenger approached during one of his sessions to talk to Mapleleaf, but when Winter turned his head toward him and talked to him, he freaked out and quickly stepped away; he never approached him afterward.

  The last one however, Winter wasn't really sure of its role, the scavenger didn't look particularly busy within the group, actually, he would most often look over their shoulders and watch what they were doing, as if to make sure they weren't drifting away from whatever they were supposed to do. And every time he would look at Winter, the scavenger eyes were filled with envy, but not the healthy kind of envy, more like the "I will scale you alive and make money out of it" kind of envy. And that was freaking Winter out, because he never thought he would ever feel oppressed by a scavenger's look.

  But now that he somewhat figured who was who, a sort of routine had set. They would wake up, pack up their stuff, walk a few miles, settle for lunch, he and Mapleleaf would do some learning, then the group would go again and they would repeat the process in the evening.

  But this time, when they settled for another talking session, Mapleleaf didn't sit or try to draw something on the ground. Instead, he started to walk around Winter and study him. Initially confused, he didn't move, figuring the scavenger may simply want to look at him in more detail again.

  "Winter!" The scavenger piped up in rough draconic, it raised one of its paws and indicated Winter's side. "Wing!"

  Winter looked from his side to the scavenger, blinking a few times.

  "Yes, I got hurt the day I found you." He said slowly, careful to never speak too loud. "I can't really do anything about it myself though."

  Mapleleaf stepped forward and poked at Winter's wound with a finger, covering it with some blue. His eyes grew wide when he realised the blue was actually the Icewing's blood.

  Mapleleaf then bolted toward the camp and plunged his hands into a bag, seemingly searching for something. He came back with a roll of pale fabric in his hand and accompanied by the female. Winter tilted his head at them dubiously, and Mapleleaf raised the roll above his head, squeaking something in scavenger.

  "Oh, it's a bandage." Winter realised, and he lowered his body to allow them to reach up.

  The two of them walked up to his shoulder and started to unwrap the roll around it, tying it tightly. By the end of it, his shoulder was covered by the soft fabric. Of course, it wouldn't fix his wing, but it made it more comfortable and bearable.

  After they were done with the day, the camp slowly fell into silence as the Sun disappeared behind the mountains.

  Not far from his position, Winter could see a few flickering orange lights and smoke coming from the other side of the valley.

  We must be close to their town then. I wonder how they will react to me this time.

  As he slid into a slumber, he didn't pay attention to the three scavengers who were still awake and talking amongst themselves. He didn't notice them slink away into the night, leaving the other two and Winter behind.

  *****

  Maple had slept peacefully during the night, with dreams of learning more from Winter. Waking up, however, thrust him directly into a nightmare.

  He opened his eyes to see Indestructible City soldiers all around the campsite. He tried to stand up, only to find his hands and feet were tied.

  What is going on? Maple thought in a panic. What is this about?

  "Ah, I see you're awake." a voice said. Maple turned his head to see Copperhead standing with two men - one around his age, and the other was much older and carried an aura of authority. Both of them wore extravagant clothing, which was a clear sign of who they were.

  They must be of high status in the Indestructible City.

  "What is going on?" Maple asked. He looked to his right and saw Alpine tied up next to him, and past her was Winter - ropes criss-crossed all over his body tying down his wings, his limbs, his tail, his neck. So many ropes were covering Winter that more rope was visible than scales, and he was completely muzzled up, unable to open his mouth at all. The dragon was awake too, scanning the area with wide eyes. Looking back to Copperhead and the men, he noticed Lake standing behind him, looking down at his feet. "Why would you do this?"

  "We're completing our mission, with an added bonus of a captured dragon." Copperhead said in a sinister tone. "This more than pleased the Invincible Lord here," he gestured to the older man, "When he learned he had the opportunity to capture a dragon."

  "Why are Alpine and I tied up!?" Maple shouted.

  "You really have to ask?" Copperhead responded. "You've kept around this creature enough. You're too trustful of that dragon - it may be nice now, but it is still a dragon, a creature that has only brought misery to humanity."

  "He isn't like them! You saw how he isn't like them!" Maple protested.

  The Invincible Lord, after only observing the exchange, finally said something. "Whether that is true or not, it doesn't change the fact that other dragons are dangerous, and we need to take advantage of everything we can."

  "What?" Maple breathed.

  "A live dragon is perfect," the lord continued with a gleam in his eye. "We can figure out weak points, test new weapons, and harvest the body when it's dead."

  Maple's eyes widened more and more with every word the Invincible Lord said. "You can't do that to Winter!" he yelled.

  The lord shot him a disgusted look. "You gave a name to that thing?" He spat. "You should feel ashamed to even care about such genocidal beasts." The young man on his side glanced with pity at him. The lord then turned to someone who looked even older than him and was dressed like all the other soldiers. He started giving commands to him, who in turn relayed it to the soldiers.

  "Psst."

  Maple craned his head to look at Alpine. "We need to escape. They didn't take away my blade yet - pull it out of the scabbard and cut our bonds. Quickly!"

  Maple scooched backwards towards Alpine, feeling with his hands for the sword. Once he grabbed a hold of the pommel, he pulled it out. He then started cutting the rope, moving his hands up and down, making slow progress thread by thread. He was careful to shield what he was doing with his body and to stop moving when someone looked their way.

  At last the ropes fell away from his wrists. Checking to make sure no one was watching, he rolled over and grabbed the blade. He cut the ties around his ankles, and freed Alpine. He then ran to Winter, hoping no one noticed his actions yet. He started cutting the much thicker ropes holding down one of Winter's forearms. He managed to cut two of the seven ropes before a "Hey!" came from one of the guards. Multiple men instantly straightened up and turned toward them - a few of them drew their swords.

  "Run!" Alpine cried, and she bolted out, pulling Maple by the hand.

  Almost falling over, he eventually balanced himself and caught up to her. He ran past his mentor, to whom he gave a disappointed glance.

  "Be damned, catch them!" He heard coming from behind.

  They ran toward the trees, but there was a guard in the way, and two others were closing the gap from the sides. The former lunged forward to grab onto them but was struck by Alpine's shoulder and sent to the ground in a loud clang as his armour collided with the stone.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Looking back, Maple saw five guards on their tail only a few feet away from them. Behind, Winter was glancing at the action with an hopeful eye, silently urging them on.

  I'll come back for you. I won't let them hurt you. Maple though as he ran.

  With the way now cleared in front of them, he and Alpine ran with renewed speed, they eventually reached the tree line and leapt into the bushes, stomping the grass under their feet as they weaved through trees and vines on the uneven terrain.

  Maple's breath became heavier, it quickly became hard for him to follow Alpine as she moved almost effortlessly under the branches. They jumped over rocks and roots, sometimes got slapped in the face by leaves, sometimes he heard something fall over behind them - probably one of the guards tripping on an obstacle - he almost fell a few times too, but eventually, the shouts behind them faded away and the only thing left was his heartbeat pounding loudly.

  "Alpine! Wait!" He cried between two breaths. "Alp- umpf!" His calls were cut short as his foot got caught into a root and he fell forward, hitting his head on the dirt.

  For a moment, the world stopped, he laid flat on the ground, seeing nothing but dirt and hearing his own breathing. Then, steps reached toward him.

  "Are you ok?" He heard Alpine ask. He answered by raising a thumbs up above his head. She helped him up to his feet. He looked at her with desperation in his eyes.

  "We need to help Winter - they're practically planning to torture him!"

  "Hey, I want to help him too," Alpine comforted. "But how can we help him?"

  *****

  Winter was laying on the ground in despair. His two scavenger friends had escaped their binds and moved to help him, but once discovered they bolted into the forest. They only managed to cut two ropes around his arm, giving him a little bit of wiggle room before they ran.

  Come on, just get out of here. I should be fine. Winter thought. I hope.

  *****

  Lake felt terrible. He had just betrayed his apprentice's trust after being with him for years. Copperhead and Granite convinced him to head join them in preemptively heading to the Indestructible City - they cited that they should capture the dragon, since it would be too dangerous to leave free near the population.

  On that Lake wasn't sure - yes, it was a dragon, but it never seemed to be an enemy of the group. It had been friendly for the past few days. He only caved when they said it could be an act to get to more people in the Indestructible City - if they didn't stop it now, it might be too late later.

  Now Lake was rethinking that belief - he had started to figure out dragon facial expressions from observing it being with Maple. He could see a kind of sadness on it right now after Maple and Alpine escaped.

  What am I thinking? Am I sympathising with a dragon right now?

  Maple was happy with it.

  But it's dangerous.

  Is it though?

  He listened to the Invincible Lord's orders to the Captain.

  "...once we secure the area and the escapees, I want tests to start - poke, prod, stab, I don't care - find every weak point on that dragon, how much force is needed to hurt it..."

  Lake squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples. He knew the boy, it would destroy Maple for something like that to happen. He couldn't let Maple fall into despair like that...

  Is it worth betraying my whole species... just to help a friend?

  Lake started walking to the white dragon. The Copperhead noticed and stopped him.

  "What do you think you're doing?" he inquired.

  "Checking the ropes on the dragon's arm - they managed to cut a few of them. We'll need more to be safe."

  Copperhead glanced at the Invincible Lord, then nodded. "Go ahead."

  *****

  Winter was watching everyone around him. It seemed like they were mostly at ease with him tied up to this extent - they weren't even watching him at this point. Some had poked him, others kept their distance. But they all lost interest some time ago.

  He saw one of the original scavengers he met making its way towards him. He recognized it as the one who experimented with the dragonflame cactus. He showed him his teeth as he approached, fearing the scavenger's betrayal might go further.

  He felt it reach for his arm where the ropes had been cut - its eyes were uncertain but his actions made it clear to Winter that he was trapped, and unless a miracle happened he wouldn't be able to leave.

  Except that the scavenger wasn't tightening the ropes. Instead, he felt them getting looser. He widened his eyes and looked at the scavenger. It was frantically working on one of the knots while looking nervously around, probably fearing to be seen. Hope slowly built back into Winter's mind, maybe there was a way after all, maybe the scavengers didn't all want to see him dead.

  But then another scavenger popped into view, surprising the first whose hand suddenly tripped over the knot.

  The newcomer looked at the scavenger and at Winter. The scavenger looked shocked, now that he was caught red-handed.

  Oh no. He's going to turn him in. We won't escape.

  *****

  Undauntable crept away from his father and towards the dragon. It was fascinating - such a large creature, totally trapped and bound by rope. This would probably be the only chance he would ever get to see a dragon up close - his father will be furious that he did this, but it won't matter.

  He circled it, eyeing the body of the dragon. He fingered one of the sunset-orange scales in his necklace. He got those from Wren a long time ago. Now she was being actively hunted by his father's soldiers - apparently she was with a dragon, one with scales just like those she traded with him. It made sense how she got the scales over the years, but it still puzzled him why she was with a dragon.

  Now it made a little more sense - there was a human that actually cared about this ice dragon. He protested against his father's plans to learn about dragons' weaknesses.

  What could he have gone through to care about dragons?

  Was it the same thing as Wren?

  He came around the dragon's tail to see one of the people from the expedition fiddling with the ropes holding down the dragon's arm. Undauntable walked up to him. He saw that he was trying to loosen the knots, not tighten them.

  I should turn him in. Father would be proud of me if I did.

  When he noticed him, the man's head whirled around to stare at Undauntable. His expression showed nothing more than that he was guilty - Undauntable caught him red-handed.

  Turn him in. Turn him in now!

  Undauntable opened his mouth to yell out - and paused. He closed his mouth.

  He's trying to save the dragon - you need to turn him in.

  Why is he trying to save the dragon? They're monsters that kill and eat people.

  Yet he was still trying to save it. Undauntable thought about Wren - how she'd appear with unique scales to trade with, how she'd be gone for months on end, how it all made a lot more sense that she survived after Boar's report from Valor.

  If this was Wren trying to free her dragon...

  Undauntable took his knife from the scabbard on his belt. He grabbed the person's hand and pressed the blade into it.

  "Take it," he whispered before backing away and discreetly returning to his father.

  *****

  Lake couldn't believe it. He wasn't caught. The very son of the Invincible Lord just spared him from treason - and even committed it himself.

  He didn't waste anymore time. He took the knife in his hand and started cutting the ropes.

  Four more to go. He thought as one of them fell away. He could see a spark in the dragon's eyes.

  Three more to go. He sawed faster. He needed to free the dragon's arm - it should be able to free itself once it is able to move it.

  Back and forth, back and forth.

  Come on, come on!

  The rope fell away.

  Two more to go!

  "Hey! What are you doing!?" shouted a guard to Lake's right. "Stop that!"

  Lake's eyes widened - time was up. Guards rushed to grab him from all directions.

  I'm done for.

  The dragon suddenly jerked its arm free from the two ropes holding it down. It used its claws to slice more ropes holding it down. It freed more parts of its body and fought to stand.

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  The final binds snapped as the dragon rose to its towering height with a roar of triumph. The soldiers nearby didn't even try to hold their ground - they ran as soon as the dragon freed itself. Every human in the area scattered except for Lake, who stood there staring at the dragon. It locked its piercing blue eyes on him, freezing him with fear.

  Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I betrayed it first - it's completely justified in killing me now.

  The dragon reached out with its large talon. Lake squeezed his eyes shut, awaiting the inevitable kiss of death.

  He felt himself get picked up and raised into the air.

  This is the end. Lake's life flashed before his eyes - every moment, regret, dream, and memory.

  Lake was then placed on really cold scales.

  I'm not being eaten?

  He opened his eyes to find himself on the dragon's shoulder. The dragon nodded to him and started running into the direction Lake last saw Maple and Alpine disappear into. Lake hastily grabbed onto the spikes to his left to avoid sliding off.

  The dragon bolted into the forest with Lake in tow.

  Don't worry Maple, we're coming!

  *****

  Maple and Alpine were both lying behind rocks, looking down toward the spot they had fled a moment ago. They couldn't see well because of the trees, but they were starting to see movements.

  "Something is happening, and it involves your dragon friend." Alpine said.

  She was right, they heard a loud roar that filled the valley with its echo, and the glinting of white scales appeared over the trees.

  Panicked shoutings reached their position, all muffled by the shaking of trees and heavy steps of the dragon who bolted in a similar direction as they did just earlier.

  "Is this bad?" Maple wondered as the trees in Winter's path were knocked over.

  "Seems fine to me." Alpine responded.

  "Heeeey! Winter!" Maple stood up, calling the dragon's name and waving his arms at him to catch his attention.

  "Found them!" He heard an unknown voice behind him and a shiver shook his spine as he turned around.

  Behind them, three guards were standing, panting, but still grasping onto their swords. One of them drew his weapon forward and pointed it at Maple.

  "The Invincible Lord will have a great time talking with you, traitor." The guard spat the last word with visible disgust.

  The two other guards encircled them as Alpine drew her sword menacingly, ready to fight.

  But it didn't come to it, instead, a white dragon dropped right behind everyone and roared loudly, causing everyone to cover their ears and drop to the ground.

  The guards didn't need more reason to flee - they all dropped their weapons and started running away, leaving Maple and Alpine alone with Winter.

  Maple slowly stood up, rubbing dirt away from his pants.

  "Winter! You made it!" He glanced up at the dragon standing before him.

  "Are you alright?" said Lake's voice.

  Maple's eyes widened as Lake popped up from Winter's shoulder and leapt to the ground. He staggered towards Maple.

  What- but he betrayed us.

  It certainly didn't feel like it as Lake wrapped his arms around Maple and hugged him.

  "I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry for what I did. I was worried that people would get killed if something wasn't done. I never wanted to betray anyone, especially you." Lake sobbed.

  Maple was astonished. This was the most emotion he had ever seen coming from his mentor. The same mentor who was always absorbed in experiments and thought with logic rather than with emotion.

  Maple awkwardly returned the hug. "You should probably be apologizing to Winter, not me," he joked.

  "I'll find a way to do it." Lake responded.

  He eventually let go of him and took a step back.

  "It didn't feel right- to leave Winter to them." Lake rubbed his nose, a clear look of sadness on his face. "He did nothing wrong to us."

  "You made the right decision." Alpine said. "That's all that matters."

  Lake nodded, before looking back toward their camp now overrun by the Lord's forces.

  "We won't be able to come back from this." He said. "And they also have everything. All the notes and experiments we made."

  "How much of a problem will that be?" Alpine asked.

  "I think... We can be friends with dragons. I mean- as a species. Maybe." Lake's tone was uncertain. And Maple understood why, probably not all dragons were like Winter, or maybe he was unique and they would have died long ago if it was any different dragon. But if there was a possibility that they could understand each other, then maybe it was possible to reason with them. Maybe it was possible to change the relations between dragons and humans, and make them understand that, no, they should not eat humans.

  "The problem is, the Invincible Lord might have a superweapon in his hands now"

  "I wouldn't worry about that." Alpine interjected. "I barely understood any of the stuff you two were doing. It'll take a long time for them to figure out what to do with it."

  "I hope you're right." Maple said. He turned to look at Winter, before returning his gaze to the others. "Where do we go now? We can't possibly return to the Indestructible City."

  Unintelligible growls came from Winter. The trio of humans looked at him. He was waving before turning around and walking off.

  Maple's eyes widened. "Wait!" he shouted. The dragon twisted his neck toward him with an inquiring look on his face.

  "Let us join you!" He said pointing at the dragon's back

  "Huh... are we sure about that?" Alpine asked, dubious. Lake just shook his head.

  Maple only smiled. "I'm sure about this."

  "We'll be living with a dragon now."