Chapter 6

Hector swallowed a heavy lump in the back of his throat. Though he had seen dragons fly across the sky countless times, this would be the first time he road one. If the idea alone didn't sound crazy enough, he'd be jumping out of his skin with excitement. Wrapping the ends of the vine around his hands, he lowered himself closer to Summer. If her take off was anything like Lemondrop, it was going to be a bumpy ride.

"Ready?" Summer asked.

"Uh…is it too late for me to change my mind?"

"Nope."

With that Summer took to the sky.

Hector felt the air pull against his skin, hair blowing in the wind, and fought the urge to look down, afraid of what he might see…or not see. He hugged Summer's neck, pressing his knees into the her sides wishing this trip was over and was back on solid ground once again.

After a while Summer's flight seemed to even out and found the courage to open his eyes, and though his first impulse was to shut them, Hector found himself entranced by the breath taking view. Lemondrop glided to their right, keeping close, his radiant scales shifting from hues of orange and yellow almost blending in with descending sun. Off in the distance, he could see other dragons flying about, pulling off several deep turns or spins, which made Hector feel a bit sick to his stomach. Pulling his gaze away from the gut wrenching performance he tilted his gaze down a bit, making out the rim of the jungle far off in the distance. Summer was right; we haven't even reached the edge of the jungle. Beyond that was the open desert plain. A shallow sigh escaped his lips as he heard stores from elders he pass from time to time of an ancient city buried somewhere beneath the sand. It was a nice dream and fine way to pass the time along, but that was all they were…just stories.

Feeling a bit bolder, Hector relaxed his posture leaning back, he still maintained a steady grip on the vine, truly grateful for that as he nearly jerked as Summer came to a sudden stop, tilting her body so that it seemed as though she were standing. It would have been an amusing sight if it wasn't for the fact he almost slipped down her back.

"Hey, what gives?" he shouted.

Summer didn't answer him at first and before he could ask again, Lemondrop appear behind her taking a similar stance.

"Keep quiet scavenger," Lemondrop whispered.

"Uh…"

"Hello there Scales," he heard Summer say, "what brings you all the way out here?"

"I can say the same about you."

Doing his best, Hector peered beyond Summer's neck to see a yellow dragon hovering before her. He was pleased that the sun was setting behind them as his scales would easily reflect the light and leave him seeing red. It was strange as his tail ended in a stinger commonly found on a scorpion. Could this be one of those Sandwings I've heard about?

"There have been sightings of Desert Crocs lately," Scales said eyeing Summer with a confused manner. "What's with the vine?"

Hector quickly snapped his head back, clinging closer to Summer's body, heart pounding. Please don't him see me.

"Oh this, thought I trying something different. I mean why does everyone need to wear gold and silver when you can go all natural?" Summer said shifting her body a bit and pulling her forelegs back so that her shoulders would conceal more of his body, "But what about the Desert Crocs, do you think there will be another attempt on the Mudwing queen's life?"

"There's been no official proof of that," he heard the Sandwing muttered, "but Queen Thorn doesn't want to take any chances so that's why we've double patrols regardless of Queen Moorhen's disapproval. I was on my way to pick up Blackberry for training when I saw the two of you."

"Oh Lemondrop and I were just heading for the Jade Academy to catch up some late case project."

"Oh really," Scales said sounding a bit disappointed.

Can we please wrap this up?

"Summer," Lemondrop said coming to float close to her, "it's starting to get late and unlike you Nightwings, we Rainwings do not like staying up after sun set."

"Right," Summer said, "take care of yourself Scales and go easy on Blackberry will you, he means well but he pushes himself too hard to prove he's a fierce warrior."

Hector heard a slight chuckle and rolled his eyes. Will you just get lost already? My hands are killing me.

Hector felt another sudden jerk as Summer turned and flew on, the air rushing past him and glancing over his shoulder he breathed a solemn sigh of relief at the sight of the Sandwing dragon dwindling into the distance.

Finally.

Sometime later, as the last remaining slivers of sunlight faded, Summer and Lemondrop drifted toward the ground. It took her a bit more effort to land gracefully with Hector clinging to her back. Once she did, the scavenger slid down her wing, laying flat on his back, arms and legs spread out and breathing heavily.

"That was a close one," Lemondrop said casting his gaze about the clearing they picked to rest for the night. "Who knew we run into Scales all the way out here."

"Do you think we should have mentioned Hector or the stone?" Summer asked laying down next to Hector. "He is a member of our winglet."

"And the son of a proud loyal Sandwing royal guard." Lemondrop replied with a slight snarl in his voice.

Summer took on a confused expression. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means if he were to learn about either Hector or the stone, he'd fly off and tell Queen Thorn and she'll come and take them both away."

"Queen Thorn would never do anything like that." Summer snapped.

"Please, Sandwings are well known for hording magical items."

Summer rolled her eyes, turning her gaze away from the Rainwing. It would be pointless to try and auger with him once he set his mind on something. Instead she turned to gaze down at Hector, a warm smile forming on her face. "Well that wasn't so bad," she said with a sly grin, "I hope you weren't too terrified up there."

"Terrified," Hector said looking up at her, "are you kidding? That was amazing."

"Uh?" Lemondrop muttered looking confused. "After all that whining and moaning you did about being carried in the first place?"

"Well that was different," Hector replied sitting up. "You have no idea how many times I would hide away in the forest, gaze up to see you dragons soaring between the clouds and just wish I could be up there with you."

"Really?" Summer asked.

"Yes."

"Well good thing we still have a ways to go," Lemondrop said, "As for me, I'm going to bed, good night you two." With that the Rainwing brought his tail along his side, folded his wings close to his body and began to disappear as his scales blended in with the landscape.

"That is still so weird to me," Hector muttered then turned to gaze up at Summer, a sly grin on his face. "You have to wonder if they pee on one other by accident when they do that."

"I heard that."

Summer chuckled a bit gently unwrapping the vine from her neck. "It is getting late and it's too dangerous to start a fire. Even from this distance, it's possible a group of Nightwings might see it," she paused to position her wing so that it hovered above the ground, "come you can sleep beside me, my wing will keep you hidden and warm."

Hector was hesitated at first, as though the idea of crawling underneath the folds of her wings was the same as entering his own grave, but he had come to trust and in some ways respect this dragon. If Summer had any plans of killing him, he knew she would have done so long before, so swallowing his misgivings, Hector slipped in beneath her wings, a shudder coming over him as she lowered the edge to the ground just enough for a sliver of breeze to slip through.

As he sat there, gazing into the darkness around him, knowing there was nothing more he could do in the matter, he decided it would be best to get some sleep. Laying down, he placed his head against Summer's side, the gentle rhythmic rise and fall of her waist was vary soothing and quickly fell to sleep.

The darkness he awoke to was cold and stifling, swallowing him whole. No matter how far he ran there was no end to it.

"Summer…Lemondrop!" he shouted, yet the sound of his voice only travel a few inches barely higher than a whisper. He clutched his throat gasping for air that would not come forth. "Where am I?"

"How interesting."

Hector turned around, yet there was nothing behind other than darkness. "Who's there?"

There was no answer, only a sensation of cold. Something brushed along his back sending shivers up and down his spine.

"You have been touched by magic," the voice said from behind once more, "I can smell it flowing through you."

Hector spun about once more; reaching for a dagger he knew was not there, facing a threat which lurked in darkness, heart racing to the point of bursting. "Show yourself!"

"How so bold," the voice said drawing closer now, "for one so full of fear!"

Suddenly, a human skull with strands of hair and routing skin clinging to it flashed before him. Blue fire burned within its ghostly eyes, foul breath flowed between its teeth. The sight of such a thing brought forth a wailing scream from the depths of Hector and waved a hand before him. At the same time, a bright flare formed around him, causing the skull to evaporate in a swirl of mist.

"You…" the voice said showing a hint of surprise, "you were not only touched by magic, it flows through you. Could you be the one, the one foretold who shall set me free?"

Hector could fathom any of what was going on. The darkness and cold clung to him like a second skin with no end in sight and now there was this voice all around him sending rivers of chill throughout his body.

"Just what do you—" he began but was interrupted as a whirlwind slammed into his body. It tore against the darkness and forced Hector off his feet. Fear swelled up within him with the thought of being blown away, though as strongly and suddenly as the wind formed, it was gone. Hector fell to his hands and knees, wincing at the hard smack of falling on top of stone.

"Stone?"

Standing, though still felt woozy, as though something was pulling against him, he could see that the darkness was gone, though there was still a deep chill running down his spine as he found himself in a huge open chamber. Several statues carved in the likeness of dragons were position in a ring with their backs facing him, wings unfurled as though they were ready to take flight. In the center of the ring, Hector could make out what appeared to be a woman, her arms up as though she was reeling from some unknown threat, yet the expression appeared to be one of anger.

"Just what happened here?"

"This is the place where my order betrayed me."

Hector turned about, looking for the source of the voice, yet like before it came from all around him.

"Those that I trusted as equals betrayed me, ruled by fear and blind foolish faith, turned on me just as I had reached an important discovery which would have granted our kin vast power and greatly changed the balance of nature." There was a pause as the room was filled with the sound of moans and cries of anguish, and as Hector turned back to the statue his own fear began to rise at the sight of the statue's eyes glowing bright red. "For untold years I have been trapped within this place, waiting for the one foretold in my vision to set me free."

"I…I…" Hector stammered eyeing the statue, fear swelling up throughout his body, "I don't know how."

The glow of the statue's eyes began to flare, small embers rise from the cracks. "Say my name and release me."

"I don't even know who you are," he protested.

"Yes you do," the voice proclaimed, its deep tone bouncing off the walls in a thundering boom, "the truth is buried deep within the core of your mind."

The sound became unbearable and brought his hands up, clamping them against his ears. "Go away demon!"

"Release me!"

"No!" Hector screamed, closing his eyes as if the action alone would be enough to block out this terrible nightmare.