Chapter 3

Re and Aurora woke the next morning, to find it raining again. This dampened Re's mood. Aurora spotted the disappointed looks on both his face and on the faces of Apollo and Avalon. She giggled.

"Don't worry," she said. "It will stop raining this afternoon. You'll still get a chance to go out and enjoy the world."

"I wanted to be out all day," Re said. "Oh, well. I guess you can't have everything."

"Serenity and Chris understand," Aurora said. "They can wait until it stops." Apollo and Avalon flew off and disappeared into the rest of the mountain. Re and Aurora sat on their respective cushions to watch the rain outside. Aurora lit the fireplace with her blue fire. She snuggled close to Re.

"We'll be able to retire soon," she said.

"We've got a few years still," Re pointed out. "It's still too early to think about retirement." He stretched his wings to keep them from cramping up.

Just as Aurora predicted, the rain stopped right after lunchtime. She and Re got to their feet and stretched. Aurora clicked her talons and their saddles appeared on their backs. They flew up to the balcony outside Chris and Serenity's room. Edelweiss and Black Widow were off playing with the other dragonets. Serenity and Chris were both ready for the long flight. Serenity had packed a picnic dinner. She mounted Aurora and Chris mounted Re. The two dragons spread their wings and took off.

They flew all over the Archipelago. They visited the other dragons who own islands: Screaming Island, Fireworm Island, Breakneck Bog, and Eel Island. Re and Aurora weren't concerned about the eels, dragons stayed in the sky and eels stayed in the water. Plus Serenity had the antidote to eel poisoning.

As the sun began to set, they turned and headed towards Berk which was their last destination. They planed to eat their picnic in the woods behind the arena. They flew over the ocean and spotted a red Scauldron swimming absentmindedly below them. She paid the Draconian dragons no mind.

Eventually they landed on Berk, quite far from the village. The dragons came to a halt at the base of a taller mountain. Serenity and Chris dismounted.

"That was fun," Serenity said, as she got her picnic basket off Aurora's saddle.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of flying," Chris said. He sat on a fallen log and Serenity sat next to him and opened the picnic basket. Re and Aurora laid down on the grass, at the base of a large pine tree.

"Great day to be a dragon," Aurora said.

"Indeed," Re agreed. He looked over at Serenity and Chris, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"What are you thinking?" Aurora asked, a bit nervously.

"Watch and see," Re snickered. He picked up a large stone and slammed it into his free paw. Chris felt it and shouted in surprise. Re snickered. Aurora gave him a look of disapproval. He was about to say something when he felt a sharp pinch on his shoulder. He hissed and glared at Chris, who had pinched his own shoulder to get back at Re. The green dragon got to his feet. Chris must have realized what Re was about to do, because he jumped up and took off running. Re took off after him. Serenity still sat on the log, looking both amused and annoyed. Aurora got up and joined her.

"I really wish they wouldn't use the special connection to cause each other pain," Aurora said.

"I get the feeling they'll use it when their sparing," Serenity said. Aurora nodded in agreement. They watched the two chase each other around the clearing. Serenity handed Aurora a hard boiled egg, which the Queen ate eagerly.

Chris was running so fast, he was stumbling over the uneven ground. Suddenly he stepped in a loose tree root and fell the ground. He felt a stabbing pain on his ankle, which Re felt also. Chris painfully freed his ankle and Re helped him to his feet. They both limped back to the clearing. They were both a bit embarrassed.

When they got back to the clearing Serenity and Aurora got to their feet, looking concerned. Serenity got her medical bag off Aurora's saddle.

"What happened?" she asked. She helped Re support Chris until he was sitting down on the log.

"I tripped and hurt my ankle," Chris said wincing. Serenity pulled off his boot and rested his foot on the picnic basket. She examined it. Re and Aurora laid back down on the grass, it got the pressure off Re's foot.

"Is it bad?" Chris asked, still wincing.

"No," Serenity assured him. "It's just a sprain." She reached into her bag and pulled out an ankle brace. She secured it around his foot. Chris tried to keep a strait face as she tightened the straps.

"There," Serenity said as she finished up.

"Thanks," Chris said. Serenity put his boot back on and closed her bag. She could hear Re breathe a sigh of relief. Serenity sat back on the log.

"I thought your specialty was dragons," Chris said.

"Well, you have half a dragon's heart," Serenity said. "So you count." Chris smiled at her.

Re and Aurora settled down again. The pain in Re's paw subsided. Aurora looked at him with a smug look.

"Let that be a lesson to you," she said. Re scowled at her.

"Oh hush up," he said. "It was just a bit of fun."

"You call hurting each other fun?" Aurora asked. Re shook himself and snorted. Aurora got to her feet.

"You don't get this upset when we're sparing," Re pointed out.

"Yes, but that's when you fight fare," said Aurora. "I know you didn't give Chris half your heart just so you could hurt both him and yourself. I mean I don't mind you two chasing each other like hatchlings, but I do mind you smashing yourself with a rock just as a prank." Re got up as well.

"He can do the same to me," he said. Aurora flared her nostrils and narrowed her eyes.

"I don't want him hurt you anymore than you hurting him," she said sternly. "It may seem all fun and games until it gets to the point where even Serenity can't save you."

"Can you see that happening?" Re asked.

"It doesn't take a foreseer to see that bad things will happen if that continues," said Aurora. Re heaved a huge sigh. He was about to say something when suddenly there came a loud rumbling sound, and the ground shook. Re looked up and saw huge boulders rolling down the mountain, heading right for Aurora. Re acted quickly. He ran towards Aurora as fast as he could. He pushed her out of the way, just as all the rocks fell on top of him. Aurora rolled out of harm's way. She jumped to her feet and turned just in time to see her soul mate disappear under a mountain of rocks.

"NOOOOO!" Aurora screamed.