-falls down dead-


"Princess?" Justin asked. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"You think I'm kidding?" The girl named Ruby asked. "That would make you pretty stupid."

The four teenagers stood up again.

Ignorant humans!

"I guess I owe you four my life," Ruby said, bowing.

"Cool!" Paff exclaimed.

"High five!" Yvon exclaimed. Paff and Yvon high fived each other, and then followed with a series of 'WOOOH!'s.

"Right," Samus said.

"You four must come to my kingdom, now!" Ruby exclaimed. "I'm sure my father would give you awards... or... something."

Greedy!

"So..." Justin started. "It's your dragon who keeps talking to us?"

"Yep," Ruby nodded. "Magical, isn't it? Dragon's can only communicate through the mind."

"So..." Samus started. "We can only hear your dragon in our mind?"

"Yeah," Ruby answered. "Obviously they can't actually speak. But, their magic is far beyond our knowledge. Come, let's walk while we talk."

"But, you spoke in my mind," Samus said. "Right?"

"Yes," Ruby nodded. "I can do that. It's not hard to learn. Maybe my friend, Carl will teach it to you.

"Where are we going?" Justin asked.

"Back to Retoxamni!" Ruby exclaimed. "Oyttra and I are not fond in these areas. Although, there aren'treally any towns around here. This canyon is too split to produce any towns."

"Split?" Paff asked.

"Yeah," Ruby said. "This canyon is within three territories. Because of that, only refineries and work stations are located here. You won't find any large settlements."

"Territories?" Yvon asked.

Ruby sighed, "Look, you are obviously very ignorant of this land. Our wars and battles are waging every day, and you four know not of it. It's actually quite saddening."

Indeed.

The four teenagers turned to see the dragon walking behind them. They turned back.

"How far away is Retoni?" Yvon asked.

"Retoxamni!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Whatever!"

"Quite a bit of walking," Ruby answered. "I could have Oyttra fly three of you away, and one could wait here with me. It'll only take a couple hours."

"I think we should stay together," Samus said.

"As you wish," Ruby shrugged. "I guess that leaves us running until we exit the canyon. I don't have a cell phone, so, I can't exactly call my father."

"Oh!" Paff exclaimed. "I have one!" She pulled it out.

"You guys have phones?" Samus asked.

"Yeah," Ruby answered, slyly. "You think just because we ride dragons, fight with swords, and use magic that we don't have modern conveniences like phones, computers or cars? You are ignorant."

Fools.

"I didn't see that coming," Yvon whispered to Paff.

Paff handed her cell phone to Ruby, who started dialing.

"So..." Justin asked. "What're you gonna call your father for?"

"Another dragon," Ruby said. "To take you four. Oyttra's too young to take more than two."

"Ah," Samus said, nodding. She made a frightening glare to Justin, who shrugged.

"Hello?" Ruby said into the phone. "Yeah. Yeah. Well, obviously I'm alive! No. Yes, that's what I need. Yeah. No, not Rezméra, she's had a rough time already. Yeah. Okay, why don't you send-... No. Alright, fine, but you owe me! Bye."

"What happened?" Yvon asked.

"Father didn't answer," Ruby said. "Lady Jenna did. She was already planning on sending a dragon to get me, but I didn't think she picked the right one. She's sending a dragon now. It'll be here in thrity minutes or so."

She gave the cell phone back to Paff. "Thanks."

"No problem," Paff said.

"So... you have all sorts of modern technology?" Justin asked.

"Of course!" Ruby exclaimed. "The Riders don't use much magic around the castle, so, we ended up just using technology like everyone does."

"That's so cool," Yvon said. "I mean, the fact that you rarely use contractions, or say slang, or act like your age gave us the impression that you were a stuck-up. I guess that blew up in our faces."

"Yeah," Paff agreed.

"Well thats... nice," Ruby said. Oyttra huffed a puff of smoke at the four, who coughed as it engulfed them. Ruby giggled.

"So..." Paff started as the smoke cleared. "Where is your kingdom? Is it a castle or just a big mantion?"

"A mix of both," Ruby answered. "It's not made of bricks or anything, but it has towers and a moat. But no drawbridge. Too many people drive in and out of it, there was no time for a draw bridge."

"That sounds cool," Samus said. "Are we gonna live there?"

"I guess so," Ruby answered. "My fathr should treat you four to guest rooms... I'll try my best to get them together."

"You said Riders earlier," Justin said. "What are they?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ruby asked. "A Rider is one who has a dragon companion. Riders have great responsibility, though."

"Do they all live in your kingdom?" Samus asked.

"Yup," Ruby answered. "And their dragons, too. But, most of the Riders around now were already in the kingdom before getting their dragons."

"Really?" Justin asked.

"Yes," Ruby answered. "My father, the king, can let anybody try out the dragon eggs, and-"

"What do you mean, try out?" Paff asked.

"Well," Ruby started. "Dragons don't hatch when they're old enough. They can only hatch when they're egg has been touched by the one who is to be their Rider."

"You mean," Samus started. "That the dragons are the ones who choose their Riders, even before they're hatched?"

"Yes," Ruby answered.