03 Sky Knight by Kevin Outlaw Read Free Book Online

became aware of shapes and sounds and smells.
    Fluttering shadows; some human, some less so.
    Voices.
    Seaweed.
    Harsh laughter.
    Something monstrous that could not be seen, but loomed like death over the universe.
    Motion.
    The dragging currents of the ocean, twisting him in a dance that would never end.
    Pain.
    Memories.
    Failure.
    Salt, sand, warm air, sunlight.
    Heat.
    Morning.
    A new day.
     
    ***
     
    Nimbus woke on a beach. Utterly exhausted as he was from his losing battle with the mighty ocean, for a moment he just lay there, sorting out his thoughts, trying to piece together the events that had got him into this position in the first place.
    He had been flying. Journeying to Serpent’s Coil.
    There had been an attack. There had been teeth and scales in the water.
    As vivid as any image the Wing Warrior sword could have shown him, the sight of a gigantic monster latching onto Cumulo and yanking him out of the sky came into Nimbus’s mind. With a barely suppressed scream, he jumped to his feet, looking around for signs of the beast.
    The Everlasting Ocean inched up the sand towards him. The wide expanse of the foaming tide seemed so innocent, so normal; but just the thought of those mysterious waters bubbling over his feet made Nimbus tremble with fear. Evil lurked somewhere in that green sea: an evil powerful enough to wrestle a dragon into submission.
    But what was it?
    Instinctively, he reached for Venom. His sheath was gone.
    With a horrible sinking feeling, he moved one hand to his throat.
    ‘Don’t worry,’ Captain Spectre said. ‘I’m still here.’
    ‘I’ve lost Cumulo,’ Nimbus said. He was shocked by how cracked and fragile his voice sounded; how weak and pathetic it now seemed. ‘I’ve lost him, Captain.’
    Spectre materialised close by. The morning light diffused through his physical appearance, as it would through a cloud, while he looked around the beach thoughtfully. Ahead, there was only the ocean, and the bobbing horizon that concealed the mainland from view; behind, a gigantic spire of black rock blotted out the sky.
    ‘So, this is Serpent’s Coil,’ he said. ‘It’s tall. I wonder if there’s a way to the top.’
    ‘Didn’t you hear me?’ Nimbus snapped. ‘Cumulo is gone. Something in the water took him.’
    ‘I heard.’
    ‘Then what are we going to do?’
    ‘I’d check over there.’ Spectre pointed along the beach to a cave set back into the base of the cliff. One end of a chain, the links of which were each as big as Nimbus, had been embedded in the unyielding rock. The other end of the chain trailed into the damp cave interior. ‘That’s where I’d put a dragon.’
    ‘Do you think he’s okay?’
    ‘I should think he’ll be fine. Just like you are. You’ve been brought here for a reason.’
    There was a growl from within the cave, and then Cumulo’s head emerged. His scales were a sickly green colour.
    ‘Cumulo,’ Nimbus shouted, tears of relief springing into his eyes. ‘Cumulo, you’re...’ He paused, noticing how Cumulo appeared reluctant to come out of the cave, and even more reluctant to look at Nimbus directly. ‘Cumulo?’
    ‘It’s about time you woke up,’ the dragon said. ‘It would be nice if, once in a while, you could go a whole day without losing consciousness. It really is rather bothersome.’
    ‘Cumulo, what’s wrong?’
    Cumulo blinked slowly, and let his tongue flicker across his teeth. Far above, a lone seagull cried out sadly as it moved over the cliff tops.
    ‘Do you remember when we first met, and we had to find a way out of the cavern?’ Cumulo asked.
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘Then you will remember that we woke something that had lain dormant beneath the mountain for even longer than I had? A creature that caused the river to rise up.’
    A barbed knot of fear coiled around Nimbus’s heart. ‘What’s happened, Cumulo?’
    ‘That thing has found us, Nim.’ Cumulo swung his head around, revealing a series of heavily bleeding