Chapter 5

Hector groan, feeling rather annoyed, they had just determine this stone had some kind of spell placed upon it that allowed anyone who touched it to understand one another, and now they only other dragon out there that knew about was this drunken fool. He was about to say something when the silences of the clearing was broken by a wrenching sound of something vomiting…heavily.

After a few fleeting moments, the Rainwing reappeared, his scales a mixture of pale green and yellow, a small layer of slim lined his lower lip and his eyes appeared dead and bloodshot. He came to stand before Hector, his legs wobbling and looked ready to kill over at the slightest moment. "Okay, uh Hector," he said, his foul breath nearly causing Hector to gag, "say something."

"Try doing something about your smelly breath. Do you dragons breathe toxic gas?"

"Okay," Lemondrop said calmly, "its official, I'm dead."

With that, the Rainwing fell to the ground landing with a heavy thud causing Hector to bounce off his feet.

"Oh great," Hector said giving Lemondrop a hefty kick across the face, "the one dragon who just happens to come across to see if this stone really caused us to speak to each other and he goes and dies."

"Oh he's not dead," Summer said with a slight chuckle, "he's always been something of a drama queen." Summer then went to stand before a small pond of rain water, took a small mouth full, moved back to Lemondrop, spitting the water directly in his face.

The Rainwing spat and coughed, staking his head to get rid of the water. He blinked a few time before focusing his gaze on Summermoon. "Oh hey there Summer," Lemondrop said sitting up, "you wouldn't believe the dream I just had. You were there, there was this freaky rock, and…" he paused to gaze down at Hector, then turned back to Summer, the smile gone from his face and was now looking ready to pass out again.

"Oh brother," Hector said slapping his forehead, "not again. If this is how you react to sudden shocks, you'll never get on this honor guard."

"He really does talk," Lemondrop said, "and he's rather rude."

"Don't let him get to you Lemondrop," Summer said eyeing Hector, "Now are you going to be okay?"

"I…I think so," Lemondrop said eyeing the stone wearily as though it were a viper ready to strike. "Though what are we going to do about this? How many other dragons know about this?"

"You're the only other one," Summer said, "I introduced Hector to Peacemaker and Firefly, but neither of them seemed to understand him."

"So it's only those who touch it are effected," Lemondrop said, his scales changing from shades of blue. "Maybe we should take this thing to Starflight."

"Who's Starflight?" Hector asked.

"One of the Dragonets of Destiny," Lemondrop said with a hint of pride in her voice, "he helped to bring an end to the Sandwing war and rescued a number of Rainwing from the clutches of the Nightwings."

"Yes," Summer added, "though it's a shame he's blind."

Hector arched an eyebrow. "How is a blind dragon going to be of any help?"

"Because before he lost his sight," Lemondrop said, "he spend nearly every waking moment with his nose in a scroll, mainly covering the history of Pyrrhia. If there's any dragon who might know about this thing it would be him."

"Then where is he?"

"You sure ask a lot of question for a scavenger," Lemondrop muttered, giving him a strange look.

Hector returned the look with one of anger and would give anything to punch the male dragon square in the jaw. Before he could act on his feelings, Summer came to stand between them glancing down at him saying, "He lives at the Jade Mountain Academy, tending to the school library," she then turned to face Lemondrop narrowing her eyes and pulling back her lips to form a snarl. "Now before either of you say something else that might trigger a useless argument, we should really get going." She then moved to stand behind Hector, "It'll take us about two days to get there."

Hector eyed the Nightwing with a confused look. Just what was she up to? A sudden rush of fear swelled up within him as he took note of how she was reaching out for him.

"Whoa!" Hector shouted jumping clear of her claws. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Well I don't have a cage," Summer said in a causal manner, "so I'll have to carry you.

"No way," he snapped angrily, "I'm not about to let you carry me like some cow. And what are the chances of you stabbing me with those claws?"

Summer eyed her paw, curling her fingers, "Geez, I've never thought about it that way. I've always picked up animal this way."

"And how many of those creatures enjoy or even lived through the ride?"

"Okay you might have a point there," Summer said her scales turning purple.

"Whoa," Lemondrop said eyeing her. "When did you learn that?"

"It just kind of happened," Summer replied glancing past her wing, "but honestly Hector, I don't feel right with leaving you on your own. There are far more dangers lurking in the jungle. And what if another dragon spots you? They won't be able to understand you like we can. I promise to be gentle."

"No!" Hector shouted. "Look just point me in the right direction of this mountain and I'll get there on my own."

"Are you beyond mad?" Lemondrop said his scale shifting to startling orange and red hues. "Even if you could make your way out of the jungle, it would take you a month to reach the Jade Mountain on foot."

"I'm afraid Lemondrop is right," Summer said calmly, "carrying you is the only way."

Hector turned his back on Summer, placing his arms across his chest. "I said no."

Oh how can such a small puny creature be so strong will and annoying?

Summer could feel that Lemondrop was just as annoyed, though that could be related to the fact his buzz was quickly fading due to the shock of understanding Hector.

Though she could not admit it openly, she understood how afraid Hector felt. Before she even knew about her gifts it was difficult to be around their live stock, the fear and terror rolling off them taking their toll on her and more often enough spent most her time with the Rainwings as they didn't eat much meat and their emotions ran mainly up beat and cheerful.

She knew how angry Hector felt as well. It was not just the idea of being snatched from the ground like some common piece of prey, but not being in control. There was something else, a lingering sensation of wonder and a bit of excitement, though for what she could not fully grasp.

"Oh this is going to take us forever," Lemondrop's voice ranged out breaking the drowning silence in the air. "Thankfully I have a better idea." Making his way toward a nearby tree, the Rainwing cut loose a thick long vine, then turned to face Summer and to her surprise, wrapped it around her neck, placing the ends about her back.

"There," he said addressing Hector, "now you can ride on her back."

"Lemondrop?" Summer asked an expression of confusion on her face.

"What?" He answered quickly, "Oh this, I once read something in a scroll that scavenger would ride a top the backs of cows while traveling far distances. Crazy I know," he paused with a slight chuckle, "but I figure this would be better."

"You're partly right," Hector said drawing Summer's attention, "they're called horses, not cows."

"Whatever?" Lemondrop commented rolling his eyes.

Summer eyed the vine, twisting her neck about to test its limits. It felt rather strange wearing it. She had seen a number of Nightwing faulting gold or silver objects as a way of standing out or attracting potential mates.

"Well," she said eyeing the scavenger, "what do you think?"

As he turned to glance up at her, Summer could tell he was rather amused by the idea, though attempted to hide it well with a solemn expression saying, "I don't know, are you sure you can handle my weight?"

Summer could not stop herself from laughing. "Please I can carry full grown cows…real cows mind you, so it should be no problem for me," she then laid flat along the ground, position her wings to give Hector something to climb up her side.

Hector appeared hesitant at first, eyeing her with keen interest, though Summer could feel that it was not fear that ruled his heart, but awe.

Does he really want to ride on my back?

"While we're young!" Lemondrop moan feeling annoyed.

Summer shot him an annoyed expression of her own. He wasn't really helping matters. Though it would be far easier to force the issue and just carry Hector normally, the scavenger would never trust or respect her again and until she figured out what to make of this stone, they need to work together. She snapped her head back looking on in surprise to see Hector climbing up her wing and slowly positioned himself at the base of her neck taking a firm grip of the vine. The sight of him sitting there caused a smile to form at how natural he looked, as though they were meant to be together in this way.

Hector returned her gaze, but frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Don't get any ideas Summer," he said, "I'm only doing this because Lemondrop said it would take so long for me to reach this mountain of yours."

"If you say so," Summer said with a sly grin. She could tell he was lying, though about what was unclear.

"We good now?" Lemondrop asked. Picking up the stone, he placed it in a pouch he held hidden between his wings. Arching his back, he then jumped into the air, flapping his wings with powerful thrust, flying off over the tree line.