It had been a week since Mishi came to the camp. Training had been a bit chaotic. It took a lot for the half-dragons to get used to Mishi's way of fighting. Anora had spent a lot of time healing minor burn marks. Still, they were finally getting the hang of it, and were having a whole lot of fun at the same time. The issue was that they were trying to get Mishi to fight in human form since the Half-dragons hadn't learned how to transform into dragons yet. That was a skill that they would learn when they got older. Mishi, however, had grown up thinking he was human, and only recently had discovered his Firebird form, so he was impatient to burst into flames.
After practice one day, he collapsed on the ground.
"Okay, I'm tired of being human. I'm going to fly around."
Anora shook her head. "You can't, Mishi. It isn't safe here."
Rowan sighed. "We might be safe in our borders, but if someone sees you, it could cause problems."
"I won't be seen, I promise."
"Mishi, you are a glowing bird made of fire. They can't miss you." Elle grumbled.
"Guys, I'm literally bursting out of my skin here."
They realized they couldn't fight him on this. Rowan finally spoke. "Only for a few minutes, and you better come back soon."
They almost didn't back away quick enough as Mishi began to glow. He laughed in excitement as he took off.
The four half-dragons followed his flight path. Unfortunately his flight speed was way too quick for the kids on foot. The moment he got carried away and left the borders of camp the four almost lost him.
A few moments after leaving the border was when everything went wrong at once. A water dragon appeared and shot water at Mishi, which doused his flames in a puff of hot steam, and a net made of thick metal landed on top of him dragging him to the ground. Mishi tried to fight it, but his lack of flames made him weaker. He could turn human and escape, but he knew that not a lot of people knew that secret of Phoenixes, so he wanted to wait until they weren't paying attention to him. It took everything in him to be patient.
When he landed on the ground he saw five people, including the water dragon who had turned human. This meant that a half dragon like his friends had captured him. He wasn't sure if anyone else in the group was also half dragon. The guy holding the net around him spoke.
"See, I told you I saw one!"
"We didn't doubt you, moron." The water dragon replied in annoyance.
"Come on, we need to quickly grab his feathers before they get too hot again."
The water dragon waved his hand. "If they do, I'll just douse him again. We are going to be rich with these feathers."
They walked towards him as he screeched and tried to escape their reach. The five of them just started laughing.
"Oh, you think you can escape our grasp? You are just a flameless nothing now. With the healing properties of those feathers, you are our ticket to fortune. Don't think we are going to let you escape so easily."
One of the other thugs sighed. "Don't talk to it. It's a bird. It isn't intelligent, and it can't understand you."
Mishi smirked. So, they think he's an idiot, do they? Well, they'll be proven wrong soon enough.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow on the ground move. There was the distraction he was looking for. He called out.
"The one in blue is the water dragon."
The five thugs turned to him. "Did you just speak?"
"I thought you said they were mindless."
"It doesn't matter. We can still sell his feathers."
"Yeah, but who was he talking to?"
Abrecan walked out of the forest. "That would be us."
"What? A kid? What are you going to do?"
Abrecan smirked. He put his hand on the ground and looked straight at the water dragon.
"This." Lightning traveled the ground at breakneck speed towards the water dragon. Lightning and water don't mix well.
As the water dragon fell to the ground, the shadow behind one of the other thugs turned into Elle who kicked his legs out from under him. He landed on the ground with a thud as the earth broke between two of the thugs knocking them to the ground.
Rowan yelled out. "Now!"
Our half dragons shielded their eyes as Anora floated through the sky and turned so bright that the thugs who were now looking at her were blinded. Mishi quickly turned into a human in this confusion and easily escaped the net. The one who was holding the net was the only one who hadn't been attacked by Mishi's friends, though he definitely was still blinded by Anora. Mishi turned him in his dazed state, and punched him across the face.
The five friends quickly used that to escape as Anora kept her light glowing for a bit longer. Rowan and Elle traveled through the ground as Abrecan grabbed Mishi and helped him travel at Lightning speed. Anora quickly followed using her speed of light. It wasn't long before they were all back at camp.
When they made it back to the training grounds they all collapsed, breathing heavily from the brief panic they all felt. Mishi looked at the ground.
"Okay… Won't do that again… I'm so sorry guys."
Rowan hit him in the arm lightly. "You better not. Next time the opponents might be tougher, or we won't be there to help."
Anora quickly ran over and hugged Mishi.
"I was so scared."
Mishi hugged her back. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I left the border until it was too late. This must be why my dad warned me to be careful. Where I live the Phoenixes are all safe from the outside world. I didn't know that we were being hunted for our feathers."
Anora let go. "We didn't either. Oh, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Only my pride, but I guess that was necessary. Thanks for saving me."
"Just don't get captured again." Elle laughed.
"I'll do my best." Mishi said with a chuckle as they all stood to go find something to eat.