Authors Note Chapter 5

So wow, ever since I stopped working on my Halo story this one has reached more views and words then it and it's one chapter behind. Lol I should start working on it again.

Fox

Almost There

Darian yawned, stretching his arms as he sat up slowly from the bed. He looked around him, rubbing his eyes in the process. Tara was still sleeping, her arm hanging off of the bed. Dart was nowhere to be found and Shane was sitting by the fire. Darian sighed; he was beginning to miss the comfort of a real bed. He walked over to Shane, sitting down beside him.

"Morning." Shane greeted.

"You're up early." Darian sighed, warming his hands by the fire.

It was still pretty dark outside, it seems as if night lasts longer in Endiness then it would on Earth, or maybe daylight savings time just switched.

"Can't sleep." Shane said calmly.

"Why not?" Darian asked.

"The damn voice in my head won't shut up." Shane sighed.

Darian couldn't help but laugh. Shane also thought he could hear the low rumble of a laugh coming from the voice in his head.

"I guess I'm not the only one who hears things." Darian said, continuing to laugh, "The dragons are quite talkative."

"It gets kind of annoying." Shane said.

"Yeah I realize that sometimes." Darian chuckled, "But they are pretty useful sometimes."

"Eh."

Darian and Shane sat in silence for a few minutes, both thinking about their own things. The silence was broken when Darian finally spoke up.

"So you're a Wingly?" he asked.

"Yeah." Shane replied, "I'm also the last one back in our world. At least I haven't met any others."

"What about your parents?" Darian asked.

"Died along time ago, not sure of what though, I was young. Winglies don't have kids that often or that quickly, they live for so long that they don't really even worry about it." Shane explained.

"I see." Darian said.

Their conversation ended with that. Both not being able to think of anything to say too continue it. Again the silence was broken when Dart appeared, hoisting a Deer over his shoulder.

"I see you two are awake." Dart said as he dropped the Deer by the fire.

"Did you catch that on foot?" Darian asked, watching Dart as he sat down beside them.

"Yep." Dart said, pulling out a small knife.

"I'm guessing this is breakfast." Shane said quietly.

"Correct, now let's skin it and cook it before the girl wakes up." Dart said as he cut into the skin of the deer.

"Yeah, don't want to gross her out." Darian laughed.

A few hours later Tara had woke up. She didn't ask any questions as to where the food came from but was a little worried before she took her first bite. She was fine after she dug in though.

"Tastes like chicken!" She laughed, "Where'd ya get it?"

"The wild." Dart answered, deciding not to tell her what the meat was exactly.

"Oh cool." Tara said before taking another bite.

Darian and Shane chuckled quietly.

"What!?" Tara asked.

"Oh nothing." Darian said between laughs.

A few hours later and they set off again. Daylight had finally dawned and Dart was determined to make it too Bale today. It wasn't too long after they had set out that they made it into the Prairie. They walked down the steep hill that was the "entrance". They looked around the area.

"This place never changes." He smirked as he continued on.

"At least our tour guide knows where he's going." Shane said quietly.

Tara laughed, Dart and Darian didn't though.

"I wouldn't piss him off." Darian said, smirking.

Shane grunted and Tara stopped laughing quickly. Dart smiled at their reactions. The journey through the Prairie wasn't a long one. Dart knew exactly which path to take. Eventually they all came up to a river.

Darian examined the rushing waters.

"How are we getting across this one?" Darian asked, before noticing the large log wedged in between the two riverbeds.

"This way." Dart said before he climbed on top of the log, moving along the old bark swiftly.

Darian wasn't too sure if that was really safe but Tara climbed on quickly, staying close behind Dart.

"Of course I'm the only one who doesn't like this idea." Darian sighed as he too climbed on.

Tara and Darian were halfway across when Dart finished. He turned around and smiled at them.

"Come on guys, hurry." Dart said between laughs.

Darian grunted as they tried to speed it up. Tara lost her footing and slipped, tipping sideways off of the log. She screamed as she fell but never hit water. Darian held her by her waist, holding her in his strong grip.

"Come on." He said as he hoisted her back onto the log.

"Thanks." Tara wheezed.

Darian and Tara both finished crossing the log, Tara was breathing heavily and Darian was making a mental note to never do that again. They turned around and noticed Shane still standing on the other side.

"You coming?" Darian called over.

"Yep." Shane said, a smile spreading across his face.

The luminescent wings appeared on his back as he took off towards them. In a matter of seconds he had crossed.

"You're a jackass you know that right?" Darian asked.

"I could've carried you all over." Shane said, still smirking.

"And you didn't why?" Tara asked.

"I think Dart wanted to see if you could do it." Shane laughed, Dart also beginning to laugh.

"I think I hate you both." Darian sighed.

Conversation ended for a while, they had left the Prairie shortly after the log incident and were coming up to a small mountain. Dart stopped for a few seconds, looking around before he turned off of the path. Shortly after that they were at a wide cave entrance.

"We're almost too Bale. But we've got too travel through the Limestone Caves first. Here's a hint, keep your swords out." Dart said as he unsheathed his sword, followed by Shane and Darian.

"Great." Darian sighed.

The light from outside quickly dimmed as they made their way deeper into the caves. They had been attacked by many weird, slimy creatures. Darian's, Dart's and Shane's swords all dripped with green slime.

"Well this is gross." Darian sighed.

"Quite." Shane muttered.

Dart stopped at what seemed to be a dead end. He turned around, looking at his three companions.

"Try not to hit a wall okay? Just jump and move with the water." Dart explained before he jumped off the side. A splash was heard by the others.

"Ride the water?" Darian asked the others.

He didn't realize he was talking to himself when he watched Shane and Tara both jump off following Dart.

"Am I the only sensible one?" Darian asked as he too jumped off.

Darian landed at the top of what looked like to be a large chute. There was a stream of water below him that picked him up and brought him tumbling through the chute. He couldn't control his body as it shot to the bottom. He rolled onto the ground, looking up he saw Tara, Dart and Shane all looking at him, smiles plastered on their faces.

"Right then." Darian sighed, trying to shrug off the embarrassment.

Dart lead them on, entering a large room that was brighter than the others. A bright light shining at the other end.

"That's the end." Dart said as he skipped over a rock.

"Good." Tara said, tripping over a stone.

Dart stopped. He thought he heard a slithering sound. He then noticed the many skeletons that littered this area of the cave. He saw one that was holding a bow and had a full quiver of arrows; he didn't have a chance to use them. He ran over to the skeleton, grabbing the bow and quiver and tossing them to Tara.

"Can you use those?" Dart asked.

Tara caught the bow and quiver. She looked at them in shock for a few seconds then swung the quiver over her shoulder and pulled the string on the bow.

"Yeah, I took archery classes back home." Tara said.

"Good." Dart said.

I should've known there would've been more than one of those damned snakes. Dart thought as he heard the slithering sound again.

Everyone else heard the slithering sound this time.

"What was that?" Darian asked, tightening his grip on his sword.

"It looks like we have a fight on our hands." Dart said as he looked around, waiting for the slither again.

"Over there!" Dart said, pointing in the direction of the tunnel.

"Got it." Tara said, she already had an arrow strung.

She pulled the string back and released. The huge snake roared as it shot out of the tunnel, the arrow piercing its hide as it slithered out. The snake moved towards the group. Dart and Darian stood there ground, Tara backed up, and Shane took off into the air. Shane flew over the snake shooting fireballs at its body. The snake ignored him as it attacked Darian and Dart. The snake revealed its fangs as it lunged. Dart lifted up his blade, swinging and hitting the fangs in the snake's mouth. The snake roared in pain, lifting its body up vertically. Darian ran forward, plunging his sword deep into the body of the snake. The snake roared again, swiping its tail at Darian, hitting him sending him flying.

Tara shot as many arrows as she could at the Snake. When she saw Darian get hit she ran over, kneeling beside him.

"Darian are you alright?" Tara asked, noticing a large scratch through a rip in Darian's shirt.

Shane landed beside Dart and drew his sword. Dart and Shane both charged at the snake. Shane slashed upward, cutting into the snake. Dart jumped up, slicing across the snake's face. They both backed up, the snake was bleeding but was still on the attack.

"How is it still alive?" Shane asked.

"This one is tougher than the last one I fought." Dart said.

Darian growled as he watched Dart and Shane about to be eaten by the snake.

"That's ENOUGH!" Darian yelled as he burst into flame.

The dragoon transformation was quick. Darian shot out of the fire. He rammed into the snake, knocking it too the side. The snake looked at him as he hovered above it.

"I've had enough of this bullshit." Darian said as he charged at the snake.

He swung his sword, slicing open a deep gash. He flew up then back down, striking again. He flew to the side then back once again, repeating his slashing manoeuvre. He flew straight up into the air again and brought his sword down one last time, plunging it into the snake's head. Ripping his sword out a fiery aura exploded out of it, incinerating the snake.

Darian landed as the dragoon transformation faded. He fell to one knee exhausted. Everybody ran over to him, Dart helped him up.

"Is it dead?" Darian asked.

Tara looked back over at the charred body of the snake.

"Yeah it's dead." She said, surprised by the amount of damage that Darian had done to it.

"Come on guys, we need to get out of here." Dart said, leading the way to the exit of the cave.

A few minutes later they were all standing outside; the sky was painted orange as the sun set. Darian had managed to get back to his feet, the exhaustion lifted by a healing potion given to him by Dart.

"You can see the castle from here." Dart said as he pointed along the horizon.

Tara, Shane, and Darian all looked where Dart pointed. They definitely could see the castle, and the large city below it.

"Wow." Tara said in amazement.

"Cool." Darian said, having never seen a real castle before.

"Better than the broken down ones back where we come from." Shane said calmly.

Dart laughed at their reactions.

"Come on, we've still got about an hours walk until we're there." He said as he started off again, followed closely by Tara, Darian and Shane.

Well there it is chapter 5. Hope you all like it cause I took out of my study time just to write it for you all lol. Wish me luck on my last two exams; I'll need it if I want to be writing and not working over the summer.

Fox