The Battle Cry for Freedom

“Can you believe it’s been a whole month since we left Salvatore?” Michal said to her three friends: Petra, the unicorn colt, Flyby, the golden eaglet, and Zyon, the little purple dragon. ....................................... Michal gazed to the top of Mount Leafborn. From the foot of the mountain, it looked enormous. When they were flying, it seemed a lot smaller. She felt Omegara’s muscles tense. She was getting ready to leap. Michal leaned forward in preparation. They were off. She looked over to Petra and smiled. He smiled back. Michal knew that Rachleah had to be very careful not to hit Petra against the rocks of the mountain. Up, up they went. It got colder and colder. Michal wished she had a blanket to wrap around her. It would probably fly off in the wind, she thought. Rachleah was right. It was getting harder to breathe as they got closer to the top. She tried to take a deep breath and it was like her lungs wouldn’t fill right so she settled for short breaths. She was starting to feel dizzy. She felt like she was going to pass out. She opened her mouth to call out for help, but nothing came out. Everything turned gray and then black. She slumped in the saddle and began to fall sideways. “Michal!” Flyby yelled when he saw the girl slide out of the saddle and plunge toward the ground. He plastered his wings against his sides and dove toward her. Flyby grabbed her shirt with his talons and spread out his wings to fly them both back to Omegara. They continued to fall! “Zyon, help! Tungal help us!” Flyby called out in a strangled voice. Without a word, Zyon darted down to her friends and grabbed Michal’s jeans with her claws and with all her strength flew upward. Their fall stopped and inch by inch they began to move upward. Omegara dropped lower to meet them. So low that the supplies were hitting some of the bigger rocks on the surface. Rachleah and Petra could only watch helplessly, because they both knew that by the time, they would have gotten Petra out of the sling and Rachleah had dropped the supplies. Michal would have already been on the ground. Michal woke up before the two youngsters got her back to Omegara. She screamed and began to struggle. “Young lady, be still!” Omegara said, her voice loud and stern. “Your friends are saving your life. Your movement is making it harder for them!” Michal gulped and obeyed. Flyby and Zyon got her as far as Omegara’s side by the saddle strap and couldn’t lift any higher. Michal reached over and grabbed the saddle with her hands and pulled herself up into it. She sat up. “Flyby, you take the perch. Zyon, you go and perch on Rachleah’s head,” Omegara ordered. Rachleah flew over closer to Omegara so Zyon wouldn’t have to fly too far and the little dragon plopped upon the big creature’s thatch of fur and closed her wings with an exhausted sigh. Flyby settled on the perch and his shoulders slumped. “I’m so proud of the two of you,” Rachleah said her eyes amber expressing her depth of feeling. “You were amazing! Flyby you responded to Michal’s fall before I was even aware of what happened. Zyon, you were willing to help without any thought for yourself.”