~~~~~Chapter 4~~~~~

Royan couldn't sleep. His body was sore but his wings were completely fine. He really needed to fly after a whole day of just pulling a cart. He lifted his head and looked up at the stars, then back down to the others. He decided to sneak away for a quick fly. It wouldn't be too long. He walked away from the others as to not wake them when he took off. They would be safe for a few minutes alone, right?

Everyone would think that night would be silent, but in fact it was louder than day. The crickets buzzed in his ears like they were in his head.

Something bugged him about the way Epona spooked that day. He knew her well. She was a calm horse. Never spooked at anything. Barely flinched when a rabbit would run across her path. Then why had she bolted all of a sudden?

He prepared his wings and stretched out all his muscles. He was just about to take off when he heard a large branch snap. He turned to see what it was.

"Get down!" a voice called just before something slammed into him. He rolled down a steep hill with tall reeds. He kept rolling down until someone pinned him against the ground.

"Shhhhh", the voice said clamping his mouth shut. They waited in the reeds for a long moment before he heard voices above.

"Where'd she go?"

"How could you lose her that easily?"

"Hey, over here!"

The voices vanished as suddenly as they showed up.

He struggled and kicked and lashed his tail trying to get free.

"If you want to live than don't make a sound!" the stranger whispered.

He had to get back. He had to protect Kita and Gabe!

He started to panick. Where they going to find his friends? Would they hurt them? His heart was pumping so fast he thought it would burst out his chest.

Who was this dragon? Did she want something? Where those dragons looking for her? Where had she come from? What was happening?!

They sat there for a long time. Too long. He had to get back immediately.

Finally the one pinning him to the ground unclamped his mouth and let him up. He bolted up and whirled to look at them.

She was a SandWing. She had dark brown stripes on her snout, wingtips, legs, and tail barb. She wore a black feather earring in her left ear and a black cloak with a gold trim. Royan stared into her black eyes. They were like blackholes calling to him and pulling him in. They were soft and fierce. She held herself elegantly, relaxed but ready for battle. His mind was telling him to run and protect his friends, yet another part of him told him to stay.

"Sorry about that", she whispered, "You know how it is when you're on the run. I'm Mirage by the way. You?"

"Royan", he answered after a moment. His mind was spinning, from what he didn't know.

"Nice to meet you, Royan", said Mirage.

Oh Royan thought she's polite, too.

What was he thinking? He shouldn't care whether she was polite or not! He had to make sure everyone was alright, then why was he still here?!

"So, what's your story?" she asked.

"I'm sorry", said Royan.

"What are you doing so far from the Sky kingdom? You're running from something, I can tell."

"Uhhhhhh..."

"I hear something over here!" a voice called to his left.

"I have to go", Mirage said, "Remember, I wasn't here." And then she ran off without a sound.

Two more SandWings came running up to him. His first instinct was to fly away, but for some reason he stayed put.

"You!" one of the SandWings barked, "Have you seen another SandWing around here? About your age?"

"Uhhhh, no. No I haven't", Royan responded trying to hide the fear in his voice. They scared him a lot. These SandWings wore the same cloak Mirage had. They had dragon skull tattoos on their necks. They had a lot of scars too.

"Up here!" another one called from the top of the hill. The two with Royan sprinted up.

Three moons he thought how many are there?

As soon as all dragons were out of sight, he took off sprinting. He didn't stop until he got to the others. If anything happened to them he couldn't live with himself.

He silently skidded to a stop when he entered the clearing.

They were in the same place as he had left them. He layed down comfortably knowing that they were safe.

He tried to keep his thoughts focused on tomorrow but they just kept circling back to Mirage. Something about her was...different. Was it the eyes? Her coloring? The way she held herself? He knew he shouldn't care, but he did anyway. He probably wasn't ever going to see her again. Then why did that make him sad?

His last thought was her eyes just before he drifted off to sleep.