The first thing Misavi saw when she woke up was Tezur's concerned face. "What…what happened?" She sat up and realized that she was in a fluffy, soft bed, and her friends were crowded around it.
"Damagoden used some sort of magic," Lyruc replied in a monotone. He seemed the least bit worried. "You've been hour for three hours." Haruko and Tezur nodded, staring worriedly at her. "Oh, and I should mention…he took the Blaze Badge before he left." Misavi leapt out of bed and checked her belt. Lyruc was right; the Sun Symbol was gone.
"That means he has four- no, five- of the seven," Misavi said with a frown.
"No…that spell…" Tezur intervened, thinking. He said, after a long pause, "It was the work of darkness."
"Meaning?" asked Misavi.
"When all seven are close enough, magic can be cast," the boy answered. "You are quite lucky to be alive."
It's impossible, thought Misavi. He can't have all seven. It's just impossible. She had fully recovered from Damagoden's attack, but her stomach was lurching. Is it because of me…that the world will end? The immense guilt she felt could not be requited. She stared at the empty room in which she stood, feeling her eyes begin to water. Teardrops formed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Haruko heard her sobbing and opened the door slowly. Misavi plopped onto the bed, not noticing her brother saunter towards her. It was not until she felt his arm around her that Misavi realized where Haruko was. "What's wrong?" he asked, wiping one of her tears with his thumb. "You're usually the optimistic one."
"This is all my fault. If I had worked harder to protect the Sun Symbols we took, none of this would have happened. Now the world is going to be plunged into darkness for a hundred years, all because of me."
"Well it hasn't happened yet." It was the first time Misavi could detect any hint of excitement in Lyruc's voice. "And it won't." Misavi heard a growl, then a crash, then Tezur muttering ill words outside the window. She pulled the cloth curtains aside and saw the boy pulling on the reins of three lizard-like beasts, each about four inches taller than him, with durable, shining green scales and golden horns.
"Are those…" Misavi's jaw almost dropped.
"Dragons," Lyruc finished.
The calm morning breeze tossed loose sand into everyone's faces. Misavi's dragon waited uneasily for her to climb on. She noticed a symbol engraved into its bridle. The Pin Feinfelg Dragon Ranch, it read. She glanced at Lyruc, her eyes asking, Did they lend these to us? He nodded, as if reading her mind. How kind of them, thought Misavi, smiling. Even more sand filled the air as the dragons pushed off with their powerful legs. It was not long before the Takan Desert was a mere speck.
The sunlight around them was disappearing. Lyruc flew ahead, leading the green lizards through the darkness with his superior vision. They were heading straight for the fading sun, and the black shadow overtaking it. At her angle, Misavi thought the scene looked just like the pendant she wore around her neck.
