Chapter 2

Amora found herself in a in a meadow she had never seen before. She looked around in wonder. "What is this place?" she asked herself. It looked like it came straight out of a fantasy story. There were strange creatures fluttering about in the sky. Amora took a few steps back. "What are those things?" She thought to herself. Memories of her father's stories about chupacabras came back to her. She was nervous. She looked for a place to hide. She spotted a nearby shrub that was bushy enough to hide her. Hoping the creatures hadn't seen her, she dove into the shrub.

Meanwhile in the sky, four dragons were happily zipping through the clouds, looping and laughing as they soared. Three human children rode on their backs. Why three when there's four dragons you may ask? This is because one child was riding a two headed dragon. Both with different personalities. "Higher!" The child yipped happily. "You sure about that?" one of the heads asked. "Oh c'mon Zaky." the other head said. "The higher the better!" This head was a female. The other a male. You guessed it. It was none other than Zak and Wheezie. And the child riding on them was Enrique, a boy from Colombia. "Ok, here it goes." Wheezie said, rocketing into the sky. Enrique cheered as they flew higher. Zak just closed his eyes with his only hand. The other two dragons, the shy and smart Cassie and the strong and fearful Ord followed their two headed friend. Their riders were young brother and sister, Max and Emmy. Max rode on Ord. Emmy on Cassie. "Whee!" Max exclaimed with joy. Ord kept flying until he spotted a Dragon Berry bush in the meadow.

"Ooh, snack time." He said. He flew forward and snapped a bunch of them off of the bush. "Mmmmmmmm, tasty." he said. The others followed in suit. Amora kept watching the figures. She still hid in the shrub, which she noticed was covered in some berries. She plucked one and took a bite. Amora loved the taste. She heard Emmy giggle. "Hey Rod," she said. "save some for us." "Don't worry Emmy." said Cassie "There some more Dragon Berry bushes over there." Cassie pointed to more bushes. Coincidently, it what where Amora was hiding.

"Uh oh." She said. She frantically began to think of a way to stay hidden or find a better hiding place. But before Amora could make a run for it, Cassie and Emmy had already came to her hiding place. She decided to stay as quiet as she could. "Here's a nice bush." Cassie said, and began plucking berries from it.
Emmy followed in suit, picking and eating the Dragon Berries. Amora began to shiver. She desperately tried to stop. Amora's shivering caused the bush to shake. Cassie noticed this. "Hey," she said. "The bush is shaking." Zak and Wheezie came over to inspect. "Maybe it's trying to tell us not to pick too many berries." said Wheezie.
"Don't be silly Wheezie." said her brother Zak. "It's obvious someone's hiding inside of it." Amora gasped. Cassie started rifling through the bush's branches. "Now who could be hiding in-?" she said but she stopped. Amora had been caught. Cassie gasped. Amora screamed in fear. "AAHHHH!!!" Cassie screamed, surprised by the stranger. Zak and Wheezie screamed too. "Please don't hurt me." said Amora. Ord and Max came over to see what was going on. "What happened?" Max asked. "Is it a monster?" Ord asked in fear. Amora carefully stepped out. "Hey," she said. "You don't look like chupacabras." "No," said Cassie. "We're dragons."
"But..." Amora hesitated. "I thought dragons were a myth." "Nope." said Max. "They're real." said Emmy. "And very friendly. Mui simpatico." said Enrique. Amora smiled. She decided to introduce herself. "My name is Amora." "Hi Amora." The dragons said. "That's a pretty name." said Wheezie. "I'm Wheezie." "I'm Zak." her brother said. "My name is Cassie." the young pink dragon said. "This is Ord." Max said pointing out his blue buddy. "I'm Max." he added. "My name is Emmy." said the girl. "And this is Enrique." "Hola." Enrique greeted. "Um, it's nice to meet all of you." Amora said. "W-where am I?" she asked.
"This is Dragon Land." said Zak "Where us dragons live." Wheezie added. "I see." Amora said. "I can see this is your first time here." said Cassie. Amora nodded. "It was the same for us when we first came to Dragon Land." said Emmy. "How long have you been here?" Amora asked. "Oh, it feels like forever." said Emmy. "Probably because we've made such good friends here." said Enrique. "You live here?" Amora asked. "No." said Emmy. "We visit here every now and then." "That's cool." said Amora. "So... how did I get here?" she asked. "You must've had a magic dragon scale." Max said. "Definitely." said Emmy. "I did." said Amora. "Mi Abuilita gave it to me." "Cool." Emmy said. Enrique and Max grinned. Amora stood up. The kids gaped. "You're a grown-up." said Max. "Technically yes." said Amora. "But I'm only 19 years old." They smiled. The dragons did too. Then they noticed the time.

"Uh oh, Quetzal wanted to meet with us now. We'll be late." Cassie said. "Who's Quetzal?" Amora asked. "Quetzal's our teacher at the School in the Sky." said Zak. Amora looked up. Wheezie laugh in her usual way, a giggling laugh with a snort. "It's not really in the sky." she said. "I don't follow." Amora said. It confused her greatly. "We'll show you." Max suggested. He crawled onto Ord's "Definitely." said Emmy. She crawled onto Cassie's back. And Enrique got on to Zak and Wheezie's back. Amora looked at them. "Uh oh." said Cassie. "Amora doesn't have someone to ride on." "And it's to far to walk to the School." said Zak. "Looks like I'm stuck here." Amora said. Cassie looked around to see what could help Amora. "Look." she said. She had spotted another dragon coming toward them. Amora looked and saw a gray colored dragon swooping down from the sky. Unlike the dragons Amora had already met, this dragon was an adult so he was taller. He deftly landed on his two feet.
Amora hid behind Ord for she didn't know him well yet. "Hello." The gray dragon said. "Quetzal sent me to look for you." Amora peeked out from behind Ord. "Who is this?" The gray dragon asked. Amora came out from behind Ord. "This is our new friend Amora." said Ord. "She's a grown-up." said Max. "I see." The gray dragon said. "Hello Amora. I'm Kepha." Amora waved. "Hello." she said. Kepha smiled. "We best be getting off. Don't want to be late."
Amora approached him. "Uh.. do you mind giving me a lift?" she asked.
Kepha smiled. "Of course." he said. "Climb on." Amora climbed on to Kepha's back. "You know, this is my first time riding a dragon." she said. Kepha and the others leapt into the sky and took off. Amora held on for dear life. Her eyes were shut tight. "Don't be afraid." said Kepha. Amora shivered in fear. "Please God, don't let me fall." she prayed. They soon landed in front of the School in the Sky, where Quetzal waited for them. "Ah there you are." he said with his Spanish accent. "Hi Quetzal." said Max as he got off of Ord's back. "Hello Max." He said. He then saw Amora. "I see you've brought a new friend." he said.
Amora was still holding on to Kepha and her eyes were still shut. He chuckled. "Don't worry." Kepha said. "You can hop off now." Amora cautiously did so. She almost fell to the ground but Kepha caught her. "I'm all right." she said, a little embarrassed for her clumsiness. "This is Amora." said Cassie. "She's new here." "And she's a grown-up." said Wheezie. "Hola Amora." said Quetzal as he approached her. "It's nice to meet you." "You speak Spanish?" Amora asked. "Si, si." said Quetzal. "I come from Mexico." Amora couldn't help but laugh. She should've guessed. "You know Amora," Quetzal began. "if I'm correct your name means 'love.' "
Amora smiled and nodded. "My mom gave it to me." she said. Her smile soon became a frown. "What's wrong?" Kepha asked. "My mother." Amora said tearing up. "I lost her and my father when I was little." Kepha frowned. "Oh dear." he said. "I'm sorry to hear that querida." said Quetzal. Amora sniffled. The others were likewise sympathetic. Kepha put a hand on Amora's shoulder in silent support. They stood there in silent support for a few minutes, before Quetzal spoke. "I brought you here because I have dire news." he said. "Oh yeah that's right." said Kepha. "What do you need us for?" Ord asked. "It seems that Kepha's little sister, Avea has fallen ill." said Quetzal. "Oh dear." said Cassie. "How bad is it?" Amora asked. "I hope it's not too bad." Zak said. "If we don't find the medicine she needs, it will be very bad." Quetzal said. "Where can we find it?" Emmy asked.

"I called Dr. Booboogone. She said she might have some." said Quetzal. "I'm afraid I don't." said a somewhat elderly female voice. Everyone looked up to see that Doctor Booboogone herself was flying to where they were. "Dr. Booboogone." Ord cried out. The good dragon doctor landed where the group was. "I'm sorry, but I don't have the medicine that Avea needs." she said. Kepha looked worried. "What's Avea sick with?" Enrique asked. Amora listened intently to the conversation. "I'm afraid she's got Achy Fever." said Dr. Booboogone. "Achy Fever?" Max asked. "It's a sickness only us dragons can get." said Cassie. "Yeah." Zak said. "You get a fever, your arms, legs and wings ache, and you always feel tired." "Not fun." said Wheezie. "Sounds like mono back where I come from." Amora said. "It's not any fun either." "How can we get the medicine for Avea if Dr. Booboogone doesn't have it." Ord asked in worry. "There's another source." the doctor said. "There's a valley, a long way from here, where medicinal herbs and plants grow in abundance." she explained. Dr. Booboogone pulled a chart from her pouch. Amora was surprised to see that like a kangaroo, dragons had pouches. The doctor showed the chart to the others. "These are the exact herbs you need for me to make the medicine." she said. She pointed to each one.

The others watched her, making mental notes of everything they needed. "We need: four green thistle leaves, three ruby red herb roots, 2 yellow sour flowers, and Dragon Berries, three unripe and five ripe." said Dr. Booboogone. "Got it." said Max. He started to got on Ord's back but was stopped. "Wait just a minute." said Dr. Booboogone. "Take this chart with you. So you won't forget what to get. There's also a map on the other side."

"Let's hurry then." Kepha said. "The sooner we fetch them, the sooner she is cured." Amora nodded. The kids leapt onto the backs of their respective dragons. Amora cautiously climbed back onto Kepha's. "Don't worry Amora." said Kepha with a warm smile. "I won't anything bad happen to you." "Thanks." She said. She felt a little better knowing that this dragon was looking out for her. They took off. "Good luck Niños." Quetzal called out. "And welcome to Dragon Land Amora." "Gracias Quetzal." said Amora. She soon realized that her eyes weren't close when Kepha was flying. "Wow." She said, looking out at the valley below. "It's beautiful." "Not so afraid now Amora?" Kepha asked. "No, I'm not." Amora said. She smiled. "I guess it just takes a little getting used too." Kepha chuckled.

Amora laughed along. Looking back, she felt silly for being so afraid. Zak and Wheezie flew next to them. Enrique on their back. "I remember my first time in Dragon Land." he said to Amora. "I was kind of scared myself." "Really?" Amora asked. "Si it's true." said Enrique. "But I made friends here and love coming here as well." Amora smiled. She was starting to like this place as well. Plus, it seemed to be a lot better than where really lived. Amora looked at the others flying beside her. The dragons looked so graceful in flight, each one staring straight ahead, completely focused. She marveled at how smoothly they took to the skies. One would think such bulky creatures were clumsy flyers. Not so.

She yawned. She began to feel a little tired. Making sure to keep a firm grip, she lay her head down on Kepha's shoulder, and soon drifted off into a cozy sleep. As Amora fell asleep, Kepha looked back for a little bit. "You know," he thought to himself. "She's awful lovely for a…" He began. Kepha shook his head. "Stop thinking like that, she's a human and you're a dragon." He scolded himself. "Still, very beautiful... GAH!!!" He shook his head and refocused on flying.