Chapter 9

Sundew

Sundew had to admit it to herself. She enjoyed Pyrrhia. It was peaceful. And the trees. Nothing tried to eat her here.

Sundew, Cricket, blue and Luna had flown to Pyrrhia just a day ago. They were staying at the little village the Pyrrhians had built for visiting tribes from Pantala. It was a quaint little area, full of plants, in between the Ice kingdom and the Sand kingdom.

Sundew was sitting outside when Luna came out of her hut, yawning.

"Luna." Sundew called to her. "We're leaving soon. We want to get to Jerboa's before dark.

"We have enough time." Luna said tiredly. "We just arrived."

Sundew looked over to Cricket and Blue. Cricket was looking at the small golden lizards running about in the sand. Blue was watching them as well. Sundew got up.

"We should get going." she said to the two.

"Alright." Cricket said, jotting something down in her book before closing it.

"Luna." Blue called to his sister. "We're leaving."

"I figured." Luna came out and walked over to them. "That's why I packed us up." She held two satchels for Blue and Cricket to take. Sundew already had hers.

"We should get there in a few hours if we're lucky." Sundew looked up at the sky.

"She's expecting us, right?" Luna asked.

"Yeah." Sundew looked at her. "I mean she should. I sent a message weeks ago about us visiting."

"Alright." Luna shrugged. "Let's go then."

They all opened their wings, taking off into the sky. It was a perfect morning with a little breeze that blew the smell of the desert. Jerboa lived in a small hut tucked into a small cove along the western beach of the Sand Kingdom. It wasn't much but it was nice and quiet.

Sundew looked back at the village they had just left. The aroma of cooked meat lingered in the air, as smoke billowed up into the sky. She was glad she bought some before they had left. She looked at the others. Each of them carried a satchel around their necks.

Luna had made sure to bring all the supplies they'd need in case of emergency. Of course Cricket packed scrolls and books to write in. Blue had brought fruit from the hives for food. Cricket had persuaded the others to let her bring her arsenal. Her satchel was split into different compartments full of ants, beetles, and roots she could use her leaf-speak on.

As they flew on the landscape turned from green to pale yellow. The desert was hot. Always. It was almost like the Savanna back on Pantala but there they could at least get water. Here it was more complicated.

The heat crawled into Sundew's scales, threatening to give her heat stroke. She flew on even after three hours of non-stop flying.

Sundew squinted. In the distance was the hut they were looking for. "Guys we made it." she flapped her wings harder.

She could hear the others flapping their wings harder as well. As they came closer they could see Jerboa laying on the smooth pebbled beach of the cove. Sundew could also see more dragons.

The four of them landed heavily and breathed deeply. Sundew was the only one to notice the dragons at first. She could recognize some of them. There was Queen Glory, Tsunami, Moonwatcher, Qibli, Sky and she could also see Wren. The ones she couldn't were a Seawing, an Icewing, a Mudwing, or at least she assumed, a Nightwing and a strange looking Sandwing. The same went for another Skywing. There was also a dragon she had never seen before. It was a grey-purple-blue color with streaks of light purple on its wings.

Jerboa looked over to them. "Oh snail brains. I forgot you were coming soon."

"It's alright." Cricket said walking up to the Sandwing. "Hey Moon." Cricket waved.

"Hey guys," Moon came over to them. "What are you doing here?"

"We wanted to come visit." Sundew flicked sand out of her claws. "Jerboa told us if we do, we can rest here."

"Hey guy's," the grey dragon called Moon and the others. "I think I found something."

"What?" Moon turned around.

"So there's a system of Islands around the tip of the Ice Kingdom here. It may lead up to Grairokora." She spoke as she looked at a scroll.

"Uh." Cricket mumbled. "Didn't we come from that way though?"

"Yeah we did." Sundew looked at Moon.

The grey dragon looked up. Her eyes widened. "You must be the other tribes Jerboa told me about." She jumped up and walked over.

Sundew backed up, wary of this strange dragon.

"Wow." The dragon breathed. "Look at those wings. You have four. And so do you. And you. Are you all the same tribe?"

Luna looked to Blue. "We are. Cricket is a Hivewing."

"And what about you?" She turned to Sundew.

Sundew held her ground. "I'm a Leafwing."

"Interesting. Your wings remind me of the Vermilion grove back home. They're about the same size as its leaves too.'' She looked at Sundew's Wings.

"Thanks I guess." Sundew backed away.

"What tribe are you?" Cricket asked. "Are you a hybrid?"

"No, I'm not a hybrid. I get why you would think that with all the tribes here. I'm a Stormwing." She stood a little taller.

"A Stormwing?" Sundew asked.

"Yep. I live on a continent call Grairokora." she handed over the scroll. Sundew looked at it, seeing a map. "I was taken by the ocean and woke up on a beach near here."

"How are you going to get back?" Luna asked.

"Well we're hopefully able to find a way there. Otherwise there's no way back." She looked at the water. The grey dragon shook her head. "Anyway. My name is Mist."

"I'm Luna. This is my brother, Blue and our friends, Sundew and Cricket." Luna pointed to each of them.

"Good to meet you." Mist bowed.

"You as well." Cricket said.

"Mist." Moon called from another spot.

Mist walked over. "What?"

"I think I found it." Moon traced a talon across the map. "Look here. This small island. It leads to another one. That's gotta be the way to Grairokora."

"We did it." Mist breathed.

Cricket looked at Sundew. Sundew shook her head. Cricket was already speaking. "Can we come with you?"

Luna looked at Cricket. "What?"

Mist looked to Moon. Moon had a skeptical face on but nodded. Sundew internally yelled at Cricket for signing them up for something she didn't want to shot Cricket a look instead.

"What?" Cricket looked back. "We were going to visit them anyway."

She had a point. Sundew sighed. "Fine. Only if they agree on it."

Cricket looked to the others. They all nodded and said yes. Sundew couldn't believe this was happening. She was going to another continent, again, without anything to protect herself except for the few random things in her satchel.

Sundew looked at them all. "We should get packing. We can leave at first light."