Ashes of the Realm - Juliette's Dream by Saxon Andrew Read Free Book Online

about the Torg. It’s the flying part that worries me.”
     
    Bleath started laughing and the four elders joined him. Bleath said through his laughter, “You need not worry about flying. Even if they fall, they will not fall far.”
     
    Samuel said, “The fair-haired one means a lot to our community. His heart is our heart. He is his mother’s child. We would all suffer if he came to harm.”
     
    Bleath felt the emotions of the gathered two-legs and knew that something great had begun this night. He looked up at the two full moons and wondered, “Where is this strange alliance going to take us?”
     

Chapter Four
    S cotty and Jingo lifted with the Zord and gained altitude quickly. The two Zord warriors carrying them circled the gathered community below and they saw the gathered assembly praying for their safety with lowered heads. Scotty heard the Zord he was riding say in his mind, “They think highly of you.”
     
    Scotty held the binding tightly, trying not to give in to his fear, and said, “Why do you say that?”
     
    The Zord sent the thoughts of the community to Scotty and he was humbled, “I never knew they felt that way.”
     
    “Such veneration is a great gift, Little One.”
     
    “I know. I just hope I can live up to their belief in me.”
     
    The Zord didn’t want to like this small creature, but couldn’t help himself. ‘My name is Zreeg, and I’ll be responsible for your safe arrival. I sense your fear but even if you fall, I’ll not allow you to come to harm. Relax and feel the motion of my wings. It will be easier if you look around and not straight down.”
     
    Scotty closed his eyes and felt the Zord’s muscled wings flapping and gliding in the wind currents. He was right. He moved with the fluid motion of the flight and felt his stiffness disappear. He looked over at Jingo flying on the other warrior next to him and saw that he wasn’t holding the binding with two of his hands. Jingo appeared to love flying. He was a natural. “Tell me about the attacks on your nests. I would think that your full grown warriors could take on any Torg.”
     
    “We can kill the Torg out in the open, but our nests must be under the cover of trees. It is too dense for us to fly. On the ground, even our largest warriors are in danger of the Torg herds. We can handle two or three, but they attack with huge numbers.”
     
    “Why don’t you build the nests out in the open?”
     
    “Our newborn’s skins cannot tolerate direct sunlight until they harden and start shifting color. That normally takes four weeks. The sun would kill them if they are left in the open.”
     
    “Couldn’t you have an adult over them to keep them in a shadow?”
     
    The Zord thought and said, “It still wouldn’t work. The Torg would attack in huge numbers and the adult would have to lift off the ground to use talons and teeth. The direct rays of the sun would blind the babies for life. They must remain is darkness for one moon. We have tried everything and the Torg seem to know our weaknesses. We rule the air, but they control the ground. We even tried to build the nests in trees but the babies can’t fly, and just as many died from falling when the Torg charged the trees to shake them.”
     
    Scotty thought and didn’t want to ask but had to know, “How many survive?”
     
    The Zord sighed mentally and said, “We were once lucky if a hundred out of the thousands live. Now, none survive.”
     
    Scotty was shocked. “When do your eggs start hatching?”
     
    “In seven days. The Torg herds are already massing outside the forest’s edge.”
     
    Scotty looked over at Jingo standing on the warriors back holding on with one hand laughing and wondered if they could help in the little time that remained. We’ll soon know.
     
    The flight to the Zord’s nesting grounds took more than eight hours, and Scotty estimated that they had covered more than four hundred miles. As they approached, Scotty saw three tall