Twisted: Chapter one

Ling groaned and forced her eyes to open.  Trees overhead formed a canopy above her but there was a large dragon-sized hole amidst them where she’d no doubt fallen.  She winced and slowly sat up, her body aching in all the wrong places as she looked around. 

Where the hell was she?  The forest was calm and silent, not even a bug was making noise.  It was eerie.  She tried to piece together what had happened as she took a look over herself.  Nothing appeared broken, just very very sore.  She had several cuts and bruises but again nothing appeared any worse than that.  Dragons were typically durable though.  She was surprised the scent of blood in the air hadn’t attracted any sort of animal.  Then again, no animal would dare go near a dragonell and her young.

Ling’s eyes suddenly snapped open wide as she realized Lyf wasn’t with her.  Flashbacks seemed to hit her all at once.  They had been flying towards home to take a short break from their blessings when something hit them out of nowhere.  And it had hit hard.  Ling remembered letting out a painful screech as she plummeted to the ground below.  She also remembered her young one screaming and clinging to her for dear life.  But where was she now?

“L…  Lyf?”  Ling choked out frantically looking around.  The drackling didn’t appear to be in the place she was.  “Lyf?!”  She screamed louder as she stumbled to her feet.  Her muscles sent a wave of pain through her body and she let out a loud groan as she tried to gain her balance.  Maybe she’d broken something after all…

None of that mattered now.  She had to find Lyf.  “Itty bitty…  Lyf!”  Ling screamed again, her voice echoing in the trees.  A few birds fluttered overhead, fleeing from the area.  She felt tears welding up in her eyes as she took a wobbly step forward.  She tried to sniff out the child or even sense her aura but it seemed no use. 

“LYF!!” 

“Mommar…”  A teeny tiny voice said in silence.  Ling tensed, her heart skipping a beat as she spun around.  Nothing. 

“Lyf?  Lyf, where are you?!” 

“Mommar…  Up…” 

Ling whipped her head up towards the canopy.  At first she didn’t see anything, then there was a rustle as a tiny hand waved at her.  Lyf was lying down on a patch of leaves, nested between a couple branches.  She had some blood smeared on her forehead and a couple other cuts from what Ling could tell, but she was alive. 

“Lyf…”  Ling breathed, making her way under her daughter.  She was a good twenty feet or so up in the air but it could have been a lot worse.  Chances were the leaves cushioned her fall.  She smiled weakly, holding out her arms.  “Itty bitty one, can you fall down?  Mommar will catch you.  Promise.”

Lyf hesitated before slowly sitting up.  The tree branches buckled under her weight as a few leaves fell.  She was clearly sore like Ling was.  She panted softly, moving over to the edge of the nest before falling down.  Normally she was terrified of heights but right now she was still too dizzy and in shock to care.

Ling opened her arms wider and caught the girl, falling backwards in the brush.  She let out a pained yelp but held Lyf close.  She didn’t care about herself right now; she just wanted to make sure she was okay.  “Lyf, you need to stay awake, okay?”  She said gently petting her daughter’s head.  There was a little open gash on top but it didn’t look serious.  She still didn’t want to risk anything though in case she had a concussion. 

Lyf whimpered softly as Ling continued her check.  Even with her tan skin, you could see the purple spots of bruises along her body but, like Ling, she didn’t seem to be broken anywhere.  When she’d made sure everything was more or less all right, she gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead gently.  “Oh little one…  Mommar was so scared,” she whispered.

Lyf hiccupped before she started to cry softly, clinging to her mother.  “M-mommar…”  She whined which just about broke Ling’s heart.  How could she allow this to happen?  She didn’t feel anything.  Didn’t see anything.  And they'd been attack.  Lyf could have been killed because of her!  Angrily, she rubbed her eyes to avoid crying also.  There was no use in shedding tears and scaring the drackling.  They were alive and that’s all that mattered.

“Shh, Lyf, it’s okay,” she said kissing her some more, rocking back and forth.  Lyf continued to sob lightly as Ling looked around again.  They were in a forest but she wasn’t sure which one.  They’d been heading home when they were attacked.  And judging by the lack of light, it was probably sunset up above.  She wanted to fly up and see which direction they were facing but she didn't think she could muster the strength to transform. 

She continued to rock the young dragonell until she’d finally stopped crying.  It was odd.  If they were in their forest, that meant they were close to the city.  But Ling didn’t smell anything.  She didn’t smell humans or other animals and she certainly didn’t sense the other dragons.  Maybe the fall had taken more out of her than she thought. 

She kissed Lyf’s forehead again, wiping the blood off before slowly standing.  Lyf whimpered again and Ling winced as she looked in one direction.  The trees were shaded but she could still see the moss growing slightly more to one side.  “Okay…  We should go this way,” she said turning.  “If I’m correct, the city will be there.”  She said giving Lyf a weak smile.

“Hold on a little longer itty bitty one.  We’ll go home and get you all cleaned up.  Daddar will take care of us,” she said cradling the child as she started to make her way out.