Chapter Nine

I walked out of the tent as morning drew near. Around my shoulders sat two thick blankets that still didn't seem to keep out the chill from the night. At least the fire was still going, so I was able to find a nice warm place beside it and urged the flames high to help warm me up.

The air was peaceful, tranquil even, but something seemed to be missing. It wasn't the birds because the winter flyers only woke when the sun was well into the sky. And it was still dark out despite the lightening in the east. Then – just like with every morning for the past three days – I realised what the problem was… there was no Arkonas Cove.

Back at Arkonas Cove, around this time of morning, I'd wake up and look out my window. I'd watch as the stars disappeared and the sun rose behind the great statue surrounding Ryuu's Den. And, until recently, at this same time, a baby would wake up crying. Even now I prayed that the child had managed to escape the clutches of the plague that threatened my homeland.

Now, as I look into the fire, I can almost read your minds. What happened to get here? How could we jump so suddenly from one day to the next? That is what you're thinking, right? Anyway, I'll tell you.

The reason to this sudden time warp is because I fainted halfway through my earlier explanation. When I woke up the next morning, I was starved and quite surprised to find myself lying right next to a curled up Keiko Yong asleep in her ryuu form. To be completely honest, it looked like she had curled around me… and boy did I feel hotter than ever when I discovered where I was and who I was next to.

I'm surprised I didn't wake her with how sick I've been getting lately.

Either way, after that we continued walking (and arguing) and other general things travellers tend to do when travelling. I even learnt how to fish… though Keiko reckons I need more practice. It's not my fault she was standing right behind me when I lifted the fish out of the water.

And that brings me to now, with me sitting in front of our campfire as I watched the sun rise on a hopefully beautiful day.

" Good Morrow, my Kor." Vaxitas greeted me as he moved into the firelight.

Standing in full dragon form, he stood about three times as high as any grown human. His scales were a deep midnight blue colour – making it hard to make him out against the dark surroundings – and his talons and horns were a dark yet shimmering grey. And the colour of his eyes were a deep metallic blue which seemed to captivate his enemies' very souls. Yet the scars that he had gained over the years shone like silver against the darkness, proving to all how skilled he was in a fight… especially to the death.

" Good morrow, Vaxitas." I replied softly as the warmth of the fire began spreading through my body.

Upon seeing my obviously failing attempts to raise the fire, Vax lowered his head and – after a short 'allow me' – blew a small jet of flame over the already burning wood. Instantly the flames rose to a dangerous level that was quickly settled after a few pokes of the burning wood. The warmth that followed made me smile slightly and I had to take off one of the blankets.

" Tell me Vax." I started. " How long until we get to this Wyvern's Court? I'm already anxious to get home."

" From what I have charted and seen from your notes on the matter, I would say that we would be there within a few months give or take." He replied.

" A few months."

" And that includes when we speed our travels by transforming."

" In other words, by the time we get home, there will be no Arkonas Cove left."

" I wouldn't say that, Steile."

The new voice made my back freeze over and my ears sound like tubes had been stuffed into them. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Vaxitas turn behind me and straightening himself in a dragon salute. I knew from the fact that the air was getting warmer on my covered back and the lightening sky that dawn was fast approaching, but I had thought that I had exited the tent so quietly that not even the sound of a pin dropping would wake her.

Why did I always have to be wrong?

" Still jumpy, I see." She noted as she came and sat next to me.

The moment she sat down, I swore I could feel millions of bugs crawling up my skin – especially on my left arm where she sat on my left side. I think now would be a god time to say that this illness I have when she's around is getting worse. Why, just last night I had a strange nightmare that included Keiko crying into my shoulder and telling me that she hated her sister. What's worse was I was comforting her.

As I inwardly growled at myself for letting my mind get the better of me again, the warm smell of cooking meat wafted around me and made my stomach grumble. I had almost missed when Keiko dismissed Vaxitas from guard duty and he disappeared to get breakfast ready. And boy was I hungry. Last night's dinner consisted of fungus and berries as well as a ration of bread that we had brought along with us. There was no meat because no one could catch anything.

" There was a small rabbit warren not far from here that I managed to find last night during my patrol." Vas was saying when I finally tuned back into my surroundings. " We should have enough meat to see us through for a couple of days."

" Music to my ears." I mumbled.

" And what is wrong with having fruit and vegetables?" Keiko demanded.

" That stuff is rabbit food! Dragons must eat meat!"

" Well I distinctly remember you accusing me of stuffing an apple into your mouth. And considering the fruit platter was in your room, I would say that you dragons can eat fruit and vegetables as well."

" You were assaulting me with papaya fruit!"

" Oh, so now you take notice of the fact that it was papaya fruit and not an apple!"

" You need to learn to shut up!"

" You need to learn to have respect for fruits, vegetables, fungi and other foods that aren't meat!"

" You need to understand that dragons need meat!"

" You need to add variety into your diet!"

" Leave my eating habits out of this!"

" What do you mean 'leave out your eating habits'? This is the perfect subject for talking about eating habits!"

Around about this time, my tongue slipped into the ancient language. My face felt like it was about to burn off, too, and it wasn't because of the fire. I couldn't even look at Keiko I was that angry at her. And to make things worse, she was four years younger than me. We shouldn't even be having arguments like this, should we? No, we shouldn't. She shouldn't even be on this trip. She shouldn't be sharing my tent! She shouldn't be ordering my High Officer around like he was part of her Royal Guard!

Somewhere in the background of all this, Vaxitas remained quiet as he cooked breakfast. My only guess was that he didn't want to be pulled into the argument. Thankfully, about five minutes before breakfast was served, Keiko realised that I had won the argument and shut up – of course, she did refuse to speak to me for the next two days. A little extreme, yes, but I loved every minute of her silence.

We hit the road about half an hour after finishing breakfast; in other words, as soon as we were packed, we were gone. As per usual, Vax made sure that the fire was completely out before we actually left. But no matter what he was doing, I was almost certain he was keeping an eye on each of us. He was probably wondering how long it was going to take for us to start the next civil war; at least that's what came to mind when I noticed the look in his eyes.