"I hate horses!"

"We know!" chorused Snipes, Blink, and Mush. "Youse been sayin' that the whole ride!" Snipes added.

"I can't help it," Crutchy retorted. "I've never been this high off the lousy ground!"

Gardrania rode up next to him. "How could you hate this animal?"

"Oh, it's easy. When ya think like me, you hate any animal bigger than a donkey. Especially if you have to ride one."

She smiled and said, "You'll get used to it."

"Yeah, in about a decade."

They rode for about another ten minutes, talking back and forth when Snipes, who had ridden ahead yelled excitedly, "You guys! Get up here! Quick!"

Race shook his head. "I'm takin' my time. It'll annoy 'im."

Everyone else spurred their horses on, except for Crutchy, who shrugged and said, "Figured ya wanted to talk about somethin'. Anyways, I can't ride fast."

Race nodded. "Listen, Crutchy, maybe you don't care and maybe you ain't the best person to tell this, but—"

"Is this gonna get corny?" Crutchy interrupted.

Race glared at him. "For your benefit, I'll just get to the point. I really like Medda."

"Actually, I'd say you love her."

"How would you know?"

"Race, you had sex with the woman. D'ya think I'm stupid?"

Race raised an eyebrow. "No, I think you like Gardrania."

"Uh, no?" Crutchy tried unsuccessfully. "Okay, I do. Just don't tell no one, huh?"
"Sure."

By this time they had reached the others. The New Yorkers were staring at the broad meadow that melted into rubble about five miles on. The rubble was at the foot of a huge mountain range. Massive peaks dominated their view; some so tall they were hidden by the high cirrus clouds. Icy waterfalls could be seen tumbling from the heights, flowing towards the sea.

"What is this place?" Snipes asked in an awed voice.

"This," Gardrania said slowly, "is the edge of Fogwood. Ahead is Dragon's Meadow, and those," she paused, "are the Draco Kaeltraas." She motioned to her friends. "Let's go."

--

Jack Kelly and another newsy, Boots, sat in a restaurant eating dinner. "So," Jack began, "Crutchy was first, then Race, Blink, Snipes, and Mush." As he said their names, he ticked them off on his fingers. "Medda's gone too. What I wanna know is, where are they?"

Boots shrugged, stabbing a carrot with his fork. "I dunno. I wish Snipes—" All of the sudden, Jack was gone! He had disappeared right in front of Boots's eyes. "Jack? Jack, this ain't funny! Where'd ya go? Jack!" He ran over to another table. "Specs! Specs! Jack just, he's gone! Gone gone! I seen 'im go! Just like that!"

Specs pushed Boots over. "Shutup, Boots. And get some sleep. You ain't got no idea what your talkin' about."

"But—oh, man." Boots walked glumly back to his chair. He looked at Jack's plate. "Ate all his food, too."

--

Kris sat in the watchtower, idly flipping through the pages of the record book. He glanced out the window often, knowing the girl would come today. That much he knew from the dragon. About the time he was thinking this, he saw seven figures on horseback crossing Dragon's Meadow. He was about to get up when he heard a boy's voice behind him. "Where're you going? You aren't off duty yet."

Kris turned around slowly, already knowing who it was. "Qik. What are you doing here?"

"There's nowhere else to go," Qik said, shrugging. He brushed his blonde hair out of his face. He probably got it from his father, Kris thought ruefully. How Stamel could have this kid for a son Kris still didn't know. The only thing he shared in common with his father was his hair. He was much more like his mother. Kris smiled wistfully in remembrance. Qik's mother had been the one good influence in his life. She had wanted to stop this madness with the girl and the dragons. Kris nodded slightly to Qik, and the boy shut the tower door. "Didja see her? Where is she?" He ran over to the window. "Who are those other people?"

Kris shrugged. "I don't know. Listen, Qik, can you get the little dragon out?"

Qik looked at Kris disbelievingly. "Can I get her out? Of course I can get her out! I can go in and out of any room freely! Everyone thinks I'm some kind of idiot! I could get her now in, I don't know, then minutes."

"Good. Meet me in the meadow. We have to warn the girl."