Chapter 4
Foolish desires
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Anxiety built up in the boy's chest and he couldn't let go of the string that rested in his hands. He couldn't hurt a poor innocent creature, it was just against his nature. The bow was tilted upward enough just so it wouldn't make contact, and he let the string slip through his fingers. The thin arrow cut through the stale air, landing in a tree behind the animal.

The deer looked up in surprise and quickly ran off, dodging the rest of the speeding arrows that the men shot. Alvin sighed and his small feeling of relief was soon over. Fjalar glared down at Alvin deeply. "Well that proves it, doesn't it?" He drawled while grabbing his shirt collar. "You really are a wimp."

Alvin bit his lip, scared of what would come to him. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the hitting, the yelling, the laughing, anything, but nothing came. The only thing that met him were the stares of disapproval coming from all members of his tribe. How could this boy possibly grow up to be their leader?
~
Naloth stayed perfectly still with his tail between his legs as the wolf came closer. Soon the slobbery muzzle was right in front of the dragon's small nose. He let out a timid screech of terror and quickly flew up over the wolf's head. As the dragon shot up, the spines on his tail scratched the wolf deeply in the face.

The animal howled in pain, but instead of running away, it made him angrier. As Naloth flew away in a frenzy, the monster hurried after him, going in for the kill. Exhaustion crept into the poor Nadder's wings, for he was only a child, and he couldn't help getting slower and closer to the ground. The grown wolf was much faster than the inexperienced dragon. It was a miracle Naloth didn't accidentally topple into a tree, with how fast he was going. His tail was almost bitten off on multiple occasions by the jaws that clenched down upon nothing but air, much to their disappointment. Naloth shrieked shrilly as he flew, trying to put his pursuer off, but nothing helped.
~
"Don't you know that you just cost us what might be our last chance in weeks to have food?!" Some shouted at him in anger while others muttered under their breaths about what a failure he was.

"I can't believe he's going to be chief, and he just treats it like some kind of game! Real people could starve because of your mistakes, you little nuisance!!" Fjalar yelled threateningly. "You're just as useless as your father." He spat in annoyance.

"My father wasn't useless!" Alvin yelled at Fjalar. "My father was a great person." His voice rose to its full extent, but he backed down once he realized it was the first time he had spoken out.

Naloth soared through the forest, which each wing beat getting ever so slightly slower than the one before it. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, but ironically bumped into someone. Alvin tried to catch his breath as something flew straight into him, making him lose his breath. His green eyes looked up to see a familiar face staring back at him in shock. It was Naloth.

The dragon quickly looked behind him, seeing the wolf stop in his tracks, growling at the large group of humans. There were too many humans for the creature to attack. He'd surely be killed if he tried anything. The wolf growled deeper, but quickly gave up and ran in the other direction. But he waited for the little dragon…
Oh yes, he waited…

The outcasts saw no point in going after an angry wolf and were just thankful that there was only one and not an entire pack. Alvin's eyes narrowed deeply in hatred at the small dragon, pushing him off his lap. The Deadly Nadder backed off timidly as he noticed Alvin wouldn't speak to him, or didn't want anything to do with him.

The adults were too preoccupied to notice the small dragon. They were silently discussing whether or not to tell Alvin to go home, but what would Excellinor think? Surely they'd get into trouble. They sighed, finally making the decision to tell all the kids to go. Fjalar and the other adolescents groaned and looked to Alvin, knowing he was the cause. The raven haired boy winced and looked down to his dirt covered boots.

Fjalar suddenly met eyes with the dragon hiding behind Alvin's leg. "Have a little friend, do you?" He smirked while picking the defenseless creature up by the scruff of the neck.

"He's not my friend…" Alvin responded in an almost silent whisper.

"He's not is he?…" Fjalar smiled as the Naloth squirmed, trying to get away. "Then I guess you wouldn't mind caging him up with the other dragons?"

Alvin wouldn't answer. He couldn't answer. He was angry at Naloth, but not enough to the point of him dying at the hands of chains and ill treatment. The boy stomped on Fjalar's foot, harshly, trying to pretend it was an accident as Naloth sprung out from his grip, retreating. "Why I oughta..." The older boy grabbed the younger by the shirt collar, knowing it wasn't just an accident. "Get the dragon!" He yelled and the other boys instantly ran for Naloth.

Naloth ran as fast as his small legs could carry him, finding his wings too weak and too tired to fly. Alvin wanted to stop the other boys, no matter how mad he was at the creature that was being pursued for the second time. There was only one problem… Fjalar held him back.

The dragon's breathing got heavier the faster he ran, his little paws scraping the dirt covered ground. He kept running until he made a sharp turn, losing the boys and hiding under a fence. The boys quickly lost interest when they could no longer find their prey, going home in defeat. Sticking his nose out, Naloth sniffed to see if they were still there. Once satisfied, he crawled out and slowly walked toward an unknown area. An area that Alvin never told him about.

Cages were stacked on top of each other, threatening to fall off as there were dragons, thrashing around to get out, locked inside. Naloth stood with wide eyes, looking around him to see almost every species of dragon. How could they enslave them like this?…

Naloth took a glance at a cage with a green Deadly Nadder, laying down with her back to him. Hearing footsteps, she looked at the small dragon. Naloth's golden eyes met with her Sapphire blue, and both instantly knew who the other was.

Naloth was staring at his mother.