57 Onboard (1/2)
The wind rustled Ling's dark, unbound hair as Maga flew up to the big ship. Maga was able to hold on to its other cargo despite the man's struggling in an attempt to get out of the dragon's hold.
With the past few days spent inside the Sikat troupe's camp, it was restricted to explore around the area because of the fear of the troupe members, so it was glad to be flying again. Maga shoot up like a cannon, the speed almost stopping the screams of the man in its claws.
The large ship had a 'mist' on top of its deck, shaped like a concave barrier, which was slightly unusual. The sea was one of the areas where there were no harmful 'hazes' because of the frequent strong winds dispersing it. Moreover, the barrier had to be maintained by the crew at all times which was tiring, together with dealing with the storms in the sea. Except for traversing a few seas like the Limaw Sea, a ship's crew wouldn't bother with a barrier.
Maga circled quickly around the ship, looking at the 'mist' surrounding it. It ignored the accompaniment curses below as it circled and tumbled in the air, roaring. This garnered a small smile from Ling hence, he didn't stop the dragon's fun.
After a while, Maga hovered somewhere higher than the ship's main mast and looked down the deck. It was able to see the small people rushing about below them.
As for the struggling man in its claws, Maga bent its head further to look at his status. Therefore, the dragon saw the man visibly swallow when they caught each others' eyes.
Seeing the man had only minimized his movements, Maga thought, 'Why is this guy still struggling to get off? Does that mean, he wasn't afraid to fall down from this height?'
From Ling's signal though, Maga didn't try out that speculation. It turned its head to the ship below them again, and dived down with the same speed as it flew up, the screams coming from the man starting too and continuing.
Once Maga's snout was only a few meters away from the wooden deck, it flapped its wings forward, the air from the movement buffeting the people around. A few men winced and moved farther away from the area.
Then, Maga hovered before slamming on the deck with an audible bang. Meanwhile, the man in the dragon's claws already stopped his movements earlier. And now, he was banged not too gently on the wooden floor. He really wanted to cry from this injustice, but being noticed by the dragon again might make him pee his pants. That large, dark red eyes, staring at him earlier was so different from a human's or other animals' stare.
Onboard, the men were tense, staring vigilantly at the dragon, as well as the boy that just got off the dragon, his feet slamming on the floor with another bang. Of course they were familiar with the two. They had already thrown them off board before, therefore, they were not afraid to do it again. They just had to get their captain to help restrain these intruders.
”Hey, boy, you're not welcome here anymore. Haven't learned your lesson?” The others also laughed.
”We were kind enough to help you before but life is not that easy, kid.”
”Maybe we should remind him of the experienced.” Someone guffawed.
”Yeah, we were kind enough to let you off near land but not this time.” Another said as the raucous laughter continued.
Whoosh!