Luna beated her wings over and over again, flying over several trees, finding a place to land. We have been in the air for a long time now, ever since we both escaped from the cheetahs on the mountain. My eyes went to the ground now, my fear of flying creeping up on me once again. I whimpered a bit, curling up my legs under her paw. I know that we've been in the air for a long time, but I was still scared. I know she won't drop me, but I still have that fear. I better look at her again. I looked up at her, the wind blowing against my shaggy hair, as I was still held in her grasp. Her face was full of focus, and she flapped her mighty wings again. A talking dragon....I'm still shocked that I've found one that's talking to me. Not to mention friendly! Man, if Scott and the others were here right now, they wouldn't believe it. Actually...Joshua wouldn't believe it either. Maybe mom would, since she's watching us from heaven.

I looked up at the sky filled with puffy white clouds. Mom...Are you surprised about this? I'm being carried by a dragon. A REAL dragon. Surely, no mother would see this a lot. Watching her son being carried above the earth.

Speaking of the earth, Luna started to glide to the forest, seeing a round clearing through the canopy. It looked to be a perfect place to land. When got close to the ground, she backwinged repeatedly. Just to slow her decent down. When I was only close to the grass, she'd let me go. I landed on my feet and sighed. Finally feeling relieved that I'm not high in the air now. Her wings flapped again, blowing the leaves and the grass around me. I backed away from the black female dragon and she landed to the earth floor with her hind feet first, then lastly her forepaws. She let out a pleased breath, folding her wings upon her back. Luna lowered her head to my level and showed me a grin, "Well, what'd you think?" She let out a giggle, "Not everyday that you get carried by a dragon, huh?"

I shot a glare at her, feeling a bit of irritation coming to me. I can't believe she'd scared me like that! Snatching me off the ground and made me flying with her. And she didn't warn me! She scared me to death! Before I stopped myself, I slapped her nose, "OW!" She jerked up her nose and was scrunching it in pain. She was rubbing her nose with a paw, "Ouch." Then she narrowed her silver eyes at me, "That's twice now!"

I thrusted a finger at the dragon, "Don't ever do that to me again!"

She wrinkled her face, lowering her paw off her face, "Do what?"

I replied through my teeth, "For picking me up off the ground and take off in flight! You didn't warn me!"

Luna said, "Yes, I did. I said 'like this' before I carried you off."

I crossed my arms, with that glare still on my face, "That's not exactly a warning."

She giggled, "Well, at least we were having our joy of flight together. Flying's always fun! I bet you had fun after we took off."

"I wasn't having any fun! You just picked me up and we took off!"

Luna's eyes narrowed and she let out an irritated snort, "Are you serious? We had to fly away. There were too many of them."

"How about next time, warn me."

She replied with a disappointed sigh, "What's your problem?"

I softened my look and sighed too, "I'm not a big fan of flying. Actually, I'm pretty afraid of it." Her face widened up and she started laughing, then I began to narrow my eyes at her, "What's so funny? That's not even funny at all!"

She began to change her laughing to low giggles now, and remarked, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

I was feeling my cheeks turn red by this, "Looked that way to me."

She giggled deeply in her throat, "Its just, I find it a bit odd that you're afraid of flying." Luna waved her paw at me, "I'm sorry. Forget that I even laughed at all."

I rose a brow, "I'll try."

She titled her head at me, "So, why are you afraid of flying? Flying really is fun." She sprouted up her wings, showing their beauty, "I think it is."

"To you maybe." I shook my head, "But to me, nada."

Then she wrinkled her brow, just resettling her wings on her back, "Still, why?" Then she made a giggle and waved her claw at me, "Do you not trust me? I did just save your life."

Despite my small bout of irritation, I found myself smiling at her expression. She did make a point, I've just met her today, and she'd saved my life. I nodded at her, "Oh, I did trust you not to drop me. But it still felt scary to me. I was...Never in the air before."

She had a surprised look now, her ears and frills perked up, "Really?" She shot up her head, "Well, I do know that you never talked to a dragon before, but telling me that you've never been in the air before, you're really missing out!" She made a chuckle and shook her head, "You need to get out more."

I rolled my eyes and turned my back to her, "I just don't like flying, ok? I've been afraid of flying for a long time." I didn't really tell her the whole reason why I don't like flying, but I wasn't in the mood to tell her that.

She hung her head and muttered, "Oh...I'm sorry."

I waved back over me, "Don't worry about it." I was moving my head to look around the woods. Well this place is a lot better than being on a very high mountain. Better down here, than up there. I wouldn't have to worry about falling, if I'm down here! The trees around us were full of green and the small wind made the limbs move. I was trailing my eyes around the area, trying to decide which way I need to go. Ok...Which way?

I started to trot away from Luna, and behind me she cocked her head, "Where do you think you're going?" She was padding after me, her shadow over my small form, "You gonna walk aimlessly around alone? I don't think you know where you're going." Then she locked her narrowed eyes onto my back, "Hey, I still don't know how you got here. How about the beginning?"

I sighed, and stopped right in my tracks. Her chest almost bumped into me, but she managed to stop herself with a firm paw to the ground before it happened. I really have a lot of things swirled around in my mind now. One is about Scott....Another one is about the realization that I'm actually in another world...And lastly is the dragon. I was thinking about her now, most of all. I felt sorry that she'd lost her home...Because of me. That I've gotten her in trouble, because of me. Now I've gotten her involved in this mess, and she's just an innocent dragon. Not an evil one. And that's when Gabby's face showed up now, and guilt from last night came to me again. Now I was feeling scared that she'll get hurt...Because of me.

Maybe I should tell her to go...I don't want her more involved than she already is. I know that we just met, and we're total strangers, but I seriously don't want her death to be on my conscious. Not like Gabby. She's right that I don't know where I'm going, but...I don't want her hurt, or worse dead. This is my problem, not hers.

She snaked her head close to my back and nudged it with her nose, "Mike?"

Then another part in my brain argued with the other one that wants to tell me to leave her. Mike, you don't know how you got here and you don't know this world very well. You think you can do this alone? You outa think that this is an unfamiliar world and you have no earthly idea where you're at. Heck, how can you get home if you don't have any clue at all? And if Scott's alive somewhere, that is IF he's alive at all, how can you find him alone? You really think you can do this, Mike? NO. You need help, and this dragon is MAYBE the only help you're gonna need. Heck, she's a dragon and she killed all those cheetah monsters without a problem. What if they're more of them away from the mountain? Like a whole lot of them? Do you think you can fight alone? No way! You almost died up in the mountain, because you couldn't fight them all alone! You need the dragon's help. You need the dragon's help finding Scott and the others. You need the dragon's help of finding a way to get back home.

You need her help.

My brain clicked at this realization. My part of the brain's right. I can't just tell her to leave me and go off alone. I'll get lost! And since I'm sure that there are probably no towns or cities filled with humans in...Avarilan. Right now, I'm just a lone human wandering in a strange world. I do need her help. I mentally brushed Gabby's face out of my mind. I can't really worry that the dragon will get hurt. She's not Gabby. She seems capable of fighting. Well more than capable, she's a badass!

Now Scott came back into my mind now. That really is a big if. A big if that he's probably alive. There won't be a guarantee. But...If he is alive, then I have to find him. But where can I find him? I don't know where he could be. But...Maybe the dragon can help me find him. That is IF he's still alive that is.

I need her help.

I whirled around to face her and looked straight at her face still right behind me, "I'm sorry about that. I just...Have a lot on my mind."

She actually formed a big grin on her snout, "Still in shock about your flight?"

I nodded twice and shot my head to my right, "Well...Yeah. But...I was mostly thinking about everything else." I had a serious look now, "You're right, I don't know where I'm going. And I was just gonna walk aimlessly around." I let out a sigh and rubbed the back of my neck, giving her a pleading look, "Look, um Luna....I'm probably asking a lot right now, but....I need your help. I'm a bit scared, and I need your help."

Luna replied with a giggle in her throat, "Of course you need my help. I was gonna help you anyways. What, you think I was gonna let you walk off alone?" She shook her head, "I won't let that flow by."

I asked, "But don't you have a home to go back to?" I waved at the mountain that's far away from here, "I mean, you probably don't have a home now. Because of me."

She waved her paw at me, and rose her head above me, "Don't worry about it. It's not the first home I've lost because of Lost Souls."

I frowned at her. Lost Soul? What's a Lost Soul? I asked her, "Lost Souls? Wait...Are you talking about the cheetah? What's a Lost Soul exactly?"

Luna replied, "There'll be time for that." She started to take a few steps forward and the side of her body's beside me. She twisted her neck to gaze down at me, "But for right now, we better get going. Lost Souls are everywhere in the world and there's no telling when we'll meet up more of them." She hissed through her jaws, with her eyes flashing anger, "They really make me sick. They always cause trouble in the world."

I would think that we're going to fly again, but apparently we're not. I think we're gonna walk now. I turned my body to her and asked, "Ok, but you don't want to fly anymore?" I chuckled at her, "Or is it because of me?"

Luna found herself smiling, and held up her head in pride, "Oh, I'd love to take you flying again and make you love it. Since we're stuck together now." Then she had a bit of an apprehensive look when she looked to the sky, and drooped her wings a bit, "But it's best we stick to the ground and walk, and not fly too much."

"Why?"

She thumped her tail and had a narrowed look again, "Because we don't want any of them to spot us from the ground while flying. And other than just worrying about Lost Souls on foot, we might encounter Dark Dragons if we flew. And Lost Souls do ride on them. So if we see them in flight, we'll use anything in the land for cover so they won't spot us. Trust me, they are more dangerous than Lost Souls...More tougher than me. So we'll stick to the ground."

My eyes went wide. Dark Dragons....They must be the dragons that attacked the ship and tried to kill me. I softened my look and nodded timidly, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

Luna let out a small laugh, "My thoughts exactly. I'm not in the mood for fighting all the time." She started to pad away from me to the path in the woods. She started to turn her head, but only her one eye still locked onto me, "Come on, we need to get moving. And while we're at it, you have a lot of explaining to do."

I nodded and started to walk alongside the big black dragon, "Yeah, I sure do." Then I raised a finger and gave her a stern look, "And one last thing, if you're going to snatch me off the ground again and fly, please warn me."

She giggled mischievously deep in her throat, as we're on a dirt path in the woods, "Ha. I'll keep that in mind." I rolled my eyes, seeing that she's being playful about it. She better warn me, or I'll be slapping her nose again!

*****

Nightfall has come to the vast forest, and the three of us haven't made it out of there yet. The crickets were making their noises and it sounded like that they were everywhere. Other than the sound of them, were the sounds of crackling in the flames made by the fire Rick made an hour ago. It was just another cool night, and it was a lot better than sleeping on a tree without a blanket. And me, with Emily sitting beside me, are sitting close to the fire, with Rick sitting across it. I looked up at the night sky, no thick tree branches blocking the view of the stars now. I do hope that if our enemies are searching for us, they won't notice the light from the flames in the night. I'm a bit tired to run away right now. Heck, thanks to all the walking we did, my legs are just killing me a little.

I let out a sigh. All of us have wandered around in the thick forest for hours and we haven't emerged out of them yet. They really do stretch on for a long time! Emily laid her head against my shoulder, not only basking in the warmth of the fire, but also basking in the comfort of me. I held her tighter, wanting her to feel safe with me. After all that happened with us before, she really has been clinging to me. Not to her father, but only to me. I think she's just traumatized by all this. I know she can be tough, but she's pretty scared as well. After not getting her cell phone to work, and after wandering around for hours, I think she's having this feeling that we'll never find any help. That all three of us are just all alone. For some reason, I was getting that feeling too. I did have hopes, but now....I'm not so sure. At the rate that we have been going...I kinda think that Emily might be onto something. I looked right at Rick, who was just staring at the flames, pretty lost in his own thoughts. Rick however, seems to not lose that hope.

Unlike Emily's father, he was dead set on getting us out of this. Especially his only daughter. Me, well...I'm getting a feeling that despite everything, I keep seeing the looks he's given me. He still hates me, and it's for something that I'm not. I'm not a bad boyfriend, and wouldn't be a bad boyfriend to Emily at all. I don't think he has let that go. Not to really mention accept me as his daughter's boyfriend.

I shifted around on the rock, trying to find a comfy spot on it. Frustration was built within my chest...A little bit. He really needs to cut me a break. What more does he want? I've been comforting Emily for several hours, after escaping these monster cheetahs, not to mention, escaping a flying scaly monster that'd almost burned us alive! Seriously, Mr. Harper, when are you going to cut me some slack? I'm protecting your daughter!

And like Rick has read my mind, he looked up from the fire and right at me. Showing a bit of fire in his eyes. And no, it's not the fire from the campfire that he'd made, but the fire within Rick. He really doesn't like me. Not liking the scene of his daughter close to me. I let out another sigh, only a bit of irritance. Rick...She's your daughter. You need to quit doing this to her.

Emily spoke to Rick, while my hand was rubbing her arm, "So....What do we do in the morning? Keep walking around in the woods?"

Rick replied with a nod, "Might as well. Can't exactly stay in one place and wait for help. We have to find it."

Emily huffed and leaned away from me, "Dad, we've been walking in the woods for hours. We haven't exactly left them yet."

Rick turned his eyes to the blackened woods, with a look of uncertainty, "Yeah, I'll admit....It's really ridiculous that these woods just go on forever. I'd think we'd exit them by now." Then his eyes lit up with hope, "But I think we'll be out of the woods sooner or later and find help. There's gotta be a town somewhere up the road."

His daughter said, "But dad...I'm getting a feeling that we won't find help."

Rick turned and gave her a stern look, "Now Emily, don't go giving up now. Besides, its only been a whole day. I think that we'll find help tomorrow."

That's when I asked the certain question bubbling in my brain, "What if we don't find help?"

Rick flashed his fire from his eyes at me again, "Well...If we don't find help, then we're on our own."

Emily sighed, her voice sounding a bit tired, "I had a feeling you'd say that."

He held out a hand, "Look, guys, all that we have to do is keep moving and maybe we can find help. Then if we don't...Then..."

I asked, "Then what?"

Rick closed his eyes and let out an uncertain sigh, "I haven't thought that far up ahead." He held up a finger, "BUT, I still think that we'll find help."

I shook my head, and said before I could stop myself, "I'm like Emily...I'm getting a feeling that we won't find help either."

Emily added after me, "Yeah, I don't really see much hope right now."

He had a small hint of a smile, not accepting it one bit, "I think we will."

Emily giggled at him, "Wow, acting like an optimist."

Rick made a response to his daughter's comment, leaning himself back on the spot he's sitting on the ground, "Well I do know that you're an optimist yourself. Where did you think you take that from? Your mother?" He made a gesture to her, "I'm just surprised that you're not acting like your...Usual, optimistic self."

Emily only stared at him with a bit of a wide look, until she said with only a tiny nod, "I'm trying. But It's...Kinda hard right now." She motioned her hand around us, around the dark woods, "I mean, my cell phone's not working, there hasn't been any cars or anything like that out here, we hiked in the woods for hours, still haven't found any other human out here, not one time that we had. It's a little hard to be optimistic at the moment." She rubbed her arms together, feeling chilled despite the warm fire, "I'm still scared too."

Rick nodded at her, "I know. I am too."

I was about to wrap her around with my arm again, "We all are." But Emily just shifted away from my reach, leaving me shocked about it.

She buried her hand in her pocket and pulled out her phone, "I'm going to call mom, or someone again."

Rick was giving her a stern voice, "Emily, I told you to not waste the battery."

Emily gave her dad a glare and shot up from the rock, "Dad, mom's probably worried about me. I should try again."

He got up from the ground and argued in a calm voice, "Emily, I don't think that she's worried about you. She probably thinks that we're having fun on the ship right now." He rolled his eyes, "Ya, not having fun now." Then he shook his head and waved his hand down at her, "Just put the phone away. Remember, we may need it for later. And it's not going to do us any good if you waste the battery."

For once, I had to agree with him and I spoke, "He's right, Em. We need to save it."

But she turned her phone on anyways, and tried it again when dialing a phone number. Rick across from us, pinched two fingers at the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. She held it close to her ear, and after a second occurred, threw her hand down and let out a curse, "Shit!" Seeing her having that outburst, I really felt sorry for her. She can't even call for help, let alone call her mom. She's been left disappointed again.

Rick pulled his fingers off his face and remarked, like he always knew that it would happen, "Told you."

Emily just growled and snapped, "I can't take this anymore!"

I got up from the rock and turned to face her, "Emily, calm down."

"I am frustrated and I am scared! How can I be calm about this?! I can't call anyone!"

Rick started to say this, "Emily-"

But she cut off his voice when she turned away from me, paced fast around the fire, and shoved her phone into her father's hand, "Just take it! Since you're so worried about me using it so much, then YOU take it!"

Rick shot daggers at her, and said in a very stern voice, "Emily."

I can see Emily's lip quivered as she closed her eyes, trying not to break down and cry. She lowered her head and said in a hushed whisper, "I'm sorry."

Rick came and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest and his chin resting on top of her head. Emily just buried her head in his chest. He held her for a moment, rubbing her back with his hands, before he let out a breath and said, "It's ok." I only just stood there staring at them, really feeling bad for Emily.

After another moment of silence passed, Emily wanted to get free of his embrace, so he'd let her go. Emily backed away and brushed a strand of hair off her face, "Dad..." She looked at me, "Scott...I want to take a walk, have some time alone. I'm...Really stressed now."

Rick had a look of apprehension on his face. His protective fatherly instincts, I can tell, are kicking in now, "Are you sure? I don't think that's a-"

Emily turned her gaze to him and answered before he asked, "Yes, dad. I'm sure." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, let it out, and opened them back up, "I just want to be alone right now. And I won't go far. So...I'll be right back." Rick stared at her, until she decided to not wait for him to speak and walked away from the fire in fast strides. Brushing a scrub bush away with a sharp reflex of her hand.

Rick and I just watched her form disappear in the darkness. I, in all honesty, did not like the way this was going. If the evil cheetahs are searching for us then they might find her. I had the urge to go after her now. But Rick said after several seconds of silence, starting off with a sigh, "Let her go." He sat back down on the dirt, looking to the fire still making crackling noises, "If she wants to be alone, then lets leave her alone." He saw me still standing, still staring off the direction she went to. He let an annoyed sigh escape his lips and just ordered, "Just sit down, Scott."

I twisted my neck to see him, and sighed too. Well...Alright. I'll try not to trouble myself about it. She said she won't go far anyways, so she'll be back. Hopefully, there won't be any trouble and be gone long. I sat back down on the rock, resting my chin on my hands. I only moved my eyes off to that direction again. I hope she'll feel a little better. It's a bit depressing watching her that way. She's not acting like her optimistic self.

Emily...

*****

Emily smacked away a low tree branch like a fly, and stride past another tree. Her blonde hair swinging back and forth with each pace. Focusing on trying to calm herself down by having a walk. But she can't. She's still worked up. Worked up and scared by everything. By the monsters that almost killed her last night, everyone from the ship that's in trouble and suffering a worst fate, losing her friend and it's Mike, haven't found any sort of help ever since escaping, feeling dirty and haven't took a bath for what seemed like forever, that her phone's not working and can't even call for help...Can't call her own mother.

She stopped in her tracks, and her lip started quivering. Feeling that she's going to break down in tears with her form shaking. She hung her head after that, looking toward her feet. She hasn't called her mother since the morning before last night came. And out of everything else....She's worked up about not getting ahold of Hilary. She's thinking that her mother's trying to call her and can't reach her either. Emily can really get the feeling, and she's imagining her mother's face. That she's worried about her daughter so much. And after all the horror that Emily suffered from last night....She wants to hear her voice. She wants to hear her mother's voice. The young girl made her way to a different tree and pressed her back against it. Slowly slid herself down and sat.

She wants to go home.

She's scared and wants to go home.

Emily held her legs to her chest, and started to break down to cry in them. She's trying to not jump to conclusions. Everyone knows her by her personality, that she's an optimist. But problem is, she's not feeling optimistic. She's not feeling like herself. Throughout the whole day, she's been having this worried feeling that she, Scott, and Rick won't find any help at all. That they're just alone against an unknown enemy. Along with that feeling, she has another one. She's worried that even though they've escaped their captors last night, that moment of escape won't last for long and their captors will find them. And that feeling scares her. She has tried more than once to shake off those feelings, but they're like a dark cloud over her head.

The seventeen year old girl can remember the screams that happened on the ship the other night. For the first time in her life, on that night, she saw what terror really was. And what she saw that happened on the cruise ship, and what she saw that happened in the stone chamber that has the big, blue crystal...It was terrifying. And there really were monsters and they've terrified her. Everything that'd happened to her that night, shook her to the core. She's afraid that the monsters that tried to kill her, will find her again and this time succeed. Not only her, but also Scott and Rick. She doesn't want to die, doesn't want both of them to die.

As the flow of tears have finally stopped, Emily rose her head off her knees, sniffing her nose. Then she looked up through the small clearing in the canopy, barely seeing the stars. Muttering to herself in a tight, quivering voice, "Mom..." She has this wish right now. That if the monsters find her, if she's going to die VERY soon, and if there's no way out, she wants to say 'goodbye' and 'I love you' to her mother. But with her phone that won't get any reception...She can't. She won't make that wish come true.

Emily sighed and slowly got up from the ground. Sniffing her nose from the tearful moment that happened, and her back still laid against the bark of the tree. Having to shed some tears, made her feel a little better. But her fear's still there and it's clawing at her chest. She doesn't think she can ever shake it off.

Although she has the feeling that there is no help to find, she remembered her father's words just now. From her father's words, she hoping that he's right. She can only hope.

Emily wiped her face and eyes with her hand, and made a step away from the tree. That her feeling of wanting to be alone has passed now, and she's gonna head back to Scott and Rick.

But before she could make another step, she heard a stick snap from a distance and turned directly to the source of the noise. Her face went wide when she barely saw something move through the darkness of the woods. It moved fast. Emily made a pace to where she saw it and called out, "Scott? Is that you?" She wrinkled her face. She said that she'd be back for them, why would they look for her? Then a creepy feeling came and the fear she has been having all day, clawed at her again. She had to get back to her father and Scott, NOW.

Emily made her body turn, and when she did, something big stood in front of her. She gasped and her eyes went wide with fear. Her blood turning cold at what she'd saw.

*****

I said to Rick whose still sitting across from the fire, "Well I was just thinking maybe someone would send someone to search for the ship. You know like the coast guard or something! Surely the company who owns that ship would do that."

Rick let out a bit of a grumble, as the wood was being popped by the fire, "That would be fine. But there's a problem at your logic." He rose a finger, "The problem, is that we're not on the ship we're OFF it. So even if they did find the ship, they still wouldn't find us. They wouldn't even know exactly where we are. We're on land."

I had a glum look now, as the realization came now, "Oh." Then my eyebrows went up, "But maybe they would search for us on land?"

Rick let out an exasperated sigh and slammed his hands on his lap, "How are they supposed to find us? We're out in the middle of nowhere and we don't know where we're at. We could be anywhere!"

I glared at him, "I was just thinking-"

"That's why we have to FIND help. Not WAIT for it. They won't find us if we just stand around and do nothing."

I said in a defensive tone, "Give me a break, I was just trying to-"

He was waving at me in a bit of disgust, "You know what? Why don't you just keep your ideas to yourself and just listen to me. You're not doing any good right now."

My jaw dropped at that and I flashed a lot of anger in my eyes, "What the hell does that mean?"

He was glaring at me now, "What it means is that I know what kind of person that you are. Because you are just like your brother. Both of you are just a couple of no good bad boys who get into fights and crap like that. YOU are no good to my daughter, and she's blind and can't see it."

That really got to me and I shot up from the rock in anger, "Are you kidding me?! You're still worked up about what happened on the ship?! I didn't do anything wrong! I have been comforting your daughter for hours! Where were you? Other than just focusing on getting us out of here!"

Rick got up furiously from the ground and walked fast around the fire to stand right in front of me, "I did comfort her today. And at least, I'm TRYING to get us out of here. And as for Emily, you haven't done a good job at comforting her." He shot his hand toward the path Emily took to walk off, "She's still scared and she walked off. Talk about good comforting skills you have."

"Screw you, Rick! I'm trying my best!"

"Not hard enough!"

"Well if I'm not trying hard enough, then you're not trying hard enough either!"

"What?!"

Before more heated words could be exchanged, we heard a scream. We both turned our attention to where Emily walked off and we realized that it was Emily screaming. My eyes went wide. Emily?

Then we can hear someone running and it was Emily, bolting past a bush, and skidded to a stop in front of us, "Run!"

Rick showed his concern and asked, "Whoa, what's going on?" Before she could get an answer out of her mouth, all of us can hear something coming behind her. The sound of bushes rustling in the woods and the cracking of sticks filled the air other than the fire near us. Emily let out a small gasp and hid behind me. That was when me and Rick saw something tall coming out of the darkness and into the light. My eyes went wide at what it was and Rick only let out an sharp gasp, pretty startled at the monster showing up.

Taking a few steps into the light emitted by the fire, there was this creature with short white fur all over, stands ten feet tall on two feet, heavy built body, pointed ears and sharp yellow eyes, and it began to show it's teeth when it growled through it's canine muzzle. It looked like some kind of werewolf type of creature, and it was taller than us!

Emily was tugging the back of my shirt behind me, urging me to run away. I was just too shocked to move. Rick whispered as the menacing monster continued to growl and narrowed it's gaze, "Just...Back away...Real slow." And so we did, and Emily was breathing in trembles, following with my steps and moving back with me. The creature moved another few steps along with us, not letting us move far. We have to do something. We have to get away from that thing!

The monster let out a loud bark and bared fangs once more, unsheathing it's claws and ready to attack us. Before it could, Rick picked up some firewood from the fire, careful not to burn himself and threw it right at the werewolf monster, right at it's face. It yelped and Rick whirled around, shouting, "RUN NOW!" Me and Emily screamed, when turning around and dashing with him. After we ran in the woos now close behind Rick, we can hear the wolf creature howling. Possibly brushed off the pain from that log and is now coming after us.

We all ran on a trail, Rick ducking down to dodge a low branch, and while holding Emily's hand and running too, we did the same, and kept going. We didn't look back to see that creature behind us. I didn't want to look at the scary thing again! God, first two legged cheetahs, dragons, now a werewolf creature! What kind of place is this?! We sprinted past several trees and bushes in the thick woods, until we came into an area that didn't seem to have thick trees. Behind us, we can hear several tree branches being knocked away by that monster, but didn't look back to find out. That thing can really run through those woods better than a big dragon! This is a little tough to lose!

Rick, his daughter and I ran with all our might, my heart thumping hard in my chest, breathing fast while at it. Emily tripped and fell to her knees, cried out in surprise. But with my hand still ahold of hers, I pulled her up and we moved back to our running pace. Not slowing down. Then all three of us came across a round clearing in the woods, finding a large hollowed tree lying on the ground near the edge of it. It wasn't very tall like all the trees that are standing so high, it was only short. I glanced back, seeing the monster's not literally right behind us, but probably still chasing us. That's when a idea came, when I gazed back at the tree. It seems big enough for all three of us to hide in. I made a whisper to them, "Guys, hurry. We can hide in there."

Rick actually nodded to the idea and we all ran to hide in it, before that creature could get here. We ran to one end of that tree and Rick got on his hands and knees to crawl inside it. I was right, it was big enough for us to fit in. I followed up after him, and Emily crawled up behind me. Huddling close together, we curled ourselves inside the tree when we stopped crawling. We are now in the middle of it. We were breathing quietly, breathing through our noses, being as quiet as possible so we can hear any noise outside of it. And that's when we can hear it.

We can hear big footsteps walking around the clearing, losing sight of us. It sounded like it has slowed down, trying to search for us. I can feel Emily shaking in total fear, her eyes wide too. She was mumbling to herself, praying to god. I put a finger to my mouth and quietly shushed her. Rick strained his face to listen outside. Then I can hear the thing sniffing loudly. My eyes were going wide at that. It's trying to catch our scent! Please don't catch the scent. Please don't look in here.

But it happened, when the wolf's head peeked through the end we crawled through. Emily saw it and screamed her head off. The wolf monster growled and tried to reach it's hand out to grab her, but she was too far out of reach from it's grasp. But she crawled further away anyway. Rick shouted when he started to crawl to the other end of the tree to escape, "Run!"

I looked to the monster who had just disappeared and I knew what was going to happen. I called out to Rick, "Wait!" Then Rick cried out, when the monster actually ran to the other end of that tree and tried to reach through that opening to grab Rick. He immediately scooted back away from the white furred hand. Then a realization came. We were trapped. If we try to leave through either end of the hollowed tree, it'll catch one of us.

Rick shot a glare at me, "Nice idea, Scott! It has us trapped!" I shot a narrowed glance back at him. I didn't know what would happen! I thought it would work!

The monster stared at us through that opening, baring it's fangs. Then it disappeared from that end shortly after. Emily was shouting out in panic, "What's it doing?! What's it doing out there?!" A big hand smashed through a hole in the tree and Emily screamed in terror. The hand pulled out and it went through the hollowed tree again, making another hole, trying to grab one of us. I gasped. No...It's going to do this! What do we do?! If we run out, it'll catch us immediately! The big hand smashed another hole, only near the other end of the tree. Emily was pleading the monster now with tears, "Leave us alone, leave us alone!!!" Then cried out when it made a hole after that. It was making hole after hole until it reaches us in the middle. Shit!

The moment came when the monster made another hole in the tree, right on top of us! I tried to duck down as far as I could, when the monster tried to grab my shirt. I found a rock and hit it's hand with it hard. It yelped and roughly pulled the hand out. Emily was balling her eyes out, seeing that our end was gonna come. It happened again, when it made a hole close to her and tried to grab her shirt, which it actually succeeded. She let out a high pitched scream of horror, "Noooo!!!" It tried to pull her out through that hole, but then we heard a roar that made our blood turn cold. Now what?! We heard wings flapping and then we heard a loud thump to the ground close to the tree, like something came up from the sky and landed.

The werewolf monster has let go of Emily and she'd slumped back down. Worried about the roar now, she cuddled close to me, as everything was quiet at the moment. Where did it go? And that roar...Was it a dragon? God, that's not something that we need to see now!

Then we can hear growling outside, and that's when I decided to crawl over Emily to crawl out of the tree, to see what was going on. Emily tried to stop me, "Scott, wait." But I didn't and crawled till I was out through one end of the tree, looking over to see a dragon and the werewolf creature circling each other like hunters getting ready to fight. The dragon has green scales, yellow underbelly, yellow eyes with two straight golden horns sticking up out of it's skull. The green scaly dragon was baring it's jaws, growling deep in it's throat.

The werewolf lunged itself at the dragon's chest, started tumbling around on the ground with it. The dragon was roaring in anger at it's attack. Clawing at it to fight back. I stepped further out of the hollowed tree, shocked at what I'm seeing. Emily and Rick came out of there moments later, in the midst of all the snarling and fighting.

The dragon used both hind feet to kick the wolf monster off of it, after the werewolf was pinning it to the ground. Knocking the wolf down on it's back. The green dragon rolled to it's feet, shaking itself of all the clunks of dirt on it's scales. Emily was letting out a gasp and put her hand over her mouth. None of us didn't move, we were just watching.

The wolf monster recovered itself after getting knocked over and it drew up it's head for a haunting howl to the sky. The dragon followed that up with a earth shaking roar, that made us cover our ears. The dragon flared it's wings in threatening display and rammed itself into the monster, pinning it down below it's scaled chest. The wolf creature thrashed and squirmed beneath the dragon, but it didn't do any good. The dragon was stronger than the werewolf. The wolf tried to use it's fangs to bite into the dragon's leg. But the dragon drew it's jaws down to the wolf's neck and bit sharply down in it. Without a second to lose, the dragon tore it off in a bloody mess. Emily groaned at the blood she saw and now the wolf laid lifelessly below the triumphant dragon. Blood oozing out of the area of the throat.

The dragon looked to the sky and roared in victory over the battle. It rang out over the forest. I was staring in shock at the thing. Wow...The dragon killed it. Rick whispered to us to run into the woods, and the dragon flicked it's ears and caught it's attention to us watching the whole scene. We all gasped when it saw us, and it padded off the werewolf's body and up to us. It wasn't running toward us like a monster, but slowly. I frowned at it. Hmm, the scales are green, not black like the other dragons that we all saw flying above the cruise ship, and the one that was chasing us last night. This one has a different color. I'm getting a feeling that this one's different. I mean, it's not roaring at us, it just...Saved us. Or...Did it not know that we were hiding in that tree and that monster was attacking us, and knows now? I'm not sure now. But the dragon wasn't blowing fire at us, it's walking toward us. That's...A good sign, right?

I honestly had the urge to run away from that thing, considering what happened to us before, but...I just stood my ground. Watching that thing slink closer to us. Rick was whispering to us, "Guys we need to go, NOW."

I held out a hand behind me, "Wait."

Rick gave me a confused look at what I'm doing, "Are you crazy? It's a dragon we need to leave."

Emily pleaded to me in a whisper too, while standing close behind with me, looking at it past my head and over my shoulder, "I...I think we should go, Scott. It's...Making me nervous."

I whispered back over my shoulder, as the green dragon was halfway there to us, "I don't think it's going to hurt us. It would've done so by now." I gestured softly to the green thing, "I mean, look at it. It's not roaring and charging at us."

Rick grumbled to himself, and Emily still had that fearful look now with her tear stained face, "I...I still don't like this."

The green dragon was almost there, softly padded with each paw on the grass. I threw another whisper to her, "Just stay close, ok?" I looked back a little to see Emily shaking a bit at the sight of the thing. Rick was tugging at Emily's arm, urging her to run with him now. But she didn't budge. She didn't want to leave me. He sucked in a breath and stopped doing so, when he began to back away. The green dragon finally got closer and stopped where it was at, right in front of me and Emily, it's shadow over us. Emily was tensing up behind me, and I could feel it with her grip on my shoulders. It was looking down at us, cocking it's green head. I wasn't sure, but I think I saw it's eyes showing curiosity. I was tilting my head. Is that thing...Curious? About us?

The dragon was resettling it's wings, not taking it's gaze off of us. I heard Emily pleading to it over my shoulder, "Please don't hurt us."

The dragon lowered it's head to our level and she'd gasped behind me. Bringing it's snout close to me. It blew air out of it's nose and it hit me. I was just staring right in it's yellow eyes and they've stared right back. When a second passed, and as the thing was still gazed to me, I was feeling Emily starting to relax her grip. Probably starting to relax a bit. I said to the creature, "You're not gonna hurt us, are you?" The dragon only blinked at me, and rose it's head high above me, curling it's neck into a shape of an s.

I was about to form a smile, thinking that the silent answer coming from the dragon's a no, until Rick suddenly shoved me and Emily away and he had a long stick in both hands. Raising it above his shoulder like he's about to attack it, "Stay back!" The dragon snorted and appeared to have a surprised look shone in it's eyes. It backed away a few steps, flapping it's wings a bit in reflex. Rick snarled, "Stay away from my daughter!"

Emily protested behind him, "Dad wait!"

I joined in, "It's friendly!"

But the overprotective father ignored us, shouting two heated words at the green dragon, "STAY BACK!" The dragon then sat down on it's haunches and used it's forepaws to grab Rick off the ground and he screamed. Dropping the big stick to the ground after being lifted.

Emily screamed too, and I hollered at the dragon, "Hey, put him down!" Crap! I think Rick made it angry. I paced up to them, as the dragon brought Rick closer to it's snout, looking intently at my girlfriend's now terrified parent. I said to the green beast, "Wait, don't hurt him!" I don't really know if that thing really can understand me, I think that's impossible. But I just hollered at it anyways. I tried again when I held out my hand, "Come on, put him down."

Emily nearby was about to have another breakdown, "Please put him down!"

Rick was shaking in the dragon's paws, shielding his face away from it's eyes. God, this is the first time I'd seen Rick so frightened. And I haven't met him for very long. Rick really is scared. Emily near me was putting her hands to her mouth, worried to death for her father.

After a moment passed, nothing terrible happened. The dragon was just staring intently at Rick. Watching him tremble. It didn't have an angry look, or growl, or anything. It was just staring at him.

And then something happened that came from the dragon's muzzle, "You're really scared, aren't you?"

My face widened and Emily let out a gasp. Rick shot his hands down and looked right at the dragon in shock. What? ....It...It can talk?! What the hell?

The green dragon spoke again with a small smile showing on it's snout, and judging by the sound of it's voice it's male, "I'm surprised you didn't thank me for saving your life. Don't creatures like you show gratitude?"

Rick spoke toward his face, "You...Can talk?"

The dragon made a rumble in his throat when he chuckled, "Of course I can talk." He narrowed his eyes in curiosity at Rick, "You really don't know dragons much, huh? Now I'm VERY curious about you."

I turned to Emily, who walked up and stood beside me with that look still on her face. She was just surprised as I was. None of us didn't expect that. I looked up at the male dragon and asked him, "So...You can talk?"

The dragon looked away from Rick, still within his grasp, down at me with another rumble, swishing his tail across the grass, "Well duh. We already covered that."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Hey, wait a minute. If you can speak the whole time, why didn't you just say something a few minutes ago?"

The drake shrugged his shoulders, "I was more curious about you than anything else. I think I was just...A bit speechless."

Rick coughed at him, "Erhm." The dragon turned his snout to face him and Rick glared, "If you don't mind, can you put me down now?"

The dragon's eyes went wide and he nodded profusely, "Oh right! Sorry." With that, he lowered Rick to the dirt and let him go. Rick groaned and stretched after being held by the drake. The green dragon shyly looked away and thumped his tail behind him, "Um, again sorry." Then he waved a paw when Rick went to his daughter and stood beside her, "And sorry for not saying a word before also. I guess I really look like a fool."

Rick asked the dragon when he wrapped an arm around his daughter, "So...You're not going to attack us?"

He let out an annoyed snort, "Haven't we covered that also?" He gestured his horned head back to the werewolf creature still lying dead several feet from us, "I did save you from that monster over there. You should be lucky that I was flying over the area and heard you scream." He pointed a talon at Emily between us, "I think those screams came from the female...Whatever you creatures are." He drew another smile again, "Your screams brought me here and saved your lives. Didn't really think I'd find anything tonight. Total surprise."

Emily actually smiled and giggled despite what happened earlier, "Yeah...Total surprise." Then she frowned, "Wait a second, I thought all dragons were evil. You're...Not acting like you're evil."

I nodded and added, "Yeah, plus you can talk."

Rick added too, "You just saved our lives." But then he had a somewhat grim look, "Well, a minute ago, I thought you were going to kill us. Including me."

The green dragon got off his haunches and replied with a bit of a tilt of his head, "Evil? Kill you? Now where did you get that idea?"

Rick made a retort, "You just picked me up off the ground, that gave me the idea!"

He let out a laugh, "Only because you were going to attack me with that stick! Had to restrain you in some way." He shook his head, "Kill you...No. You don't look like the threatening type. You three appeared to be in trouble, and I swooped down and saved you from a Wolfir."

I furrowed my brow, "A what?"

"A Wolfir." The dragon waved his paw at the werewolf creature, "That over there is a Wolfir." Then he made a step toward us, "Back to the topic right now. I can see that you never met dragons before and don't know my kind that much." He gently put a paw to his chest, "I can assure you, I'm not evil. Actually, most of my kind's not evil at all." He made a growl now, "The only ones that are evil, are Dark Dragons."

I muttered, "Dark Dragons?" Then a thought came to me. About the ones that attacked the ship and tried to chase us in the forest last night. Those black dragons...Are they the Dark Dragons? Kinda makes sense, since this one's not really attacking us. I...Still can't believe that there are more dragons, like him, that aren't evil. Buy why? Why are...Those dragons evil? What's going on here?

The drake cocked his head down at us with another step, "You really are not from Avarilan, are you?" I frowned at that. Avarilan....What's that? I never heard of that word, nor...Heard of the place. Then he wrinkled his scaled face and hummed, "I've never seen creatures like you before. You're pretty new to me. And-"

Rick cut him off, "Wait, Avarilan? What's that?"

The dragon reared back his head in surprise, "Huh? You really aren't from around here?" He motioned his paw around the area, meaning the world around us, "We, including you three, are standing in a world called Avarilan." My eyes went wide at that. What? ....What's he talking about? That's...Impossible...Isn't it? Well I guess with all the weird stuff that's happened to us and what we've encountered...I guess it's no wonder that I've felt like we are in a different place. I couldn't quite place it before, but now I do. But...How did we get here?

The dragon giggled at us, "Now I'm REALLY curious about you." He made a couple steps towards us, lowering his head to our levels, "What are you three? Cause I never seen anything so quite like you." He brought his nose close to Emily and began to sniff her.

Emily backed up a bit from his invading nose, "What are you doing? Quit doing that!"

The dragon drew it back and stated, "So what are you? You don't have a lot of fur except on top of your heads. Are all three of you....Some kind of furless cheetahs?"

Emily's eyes went wide in offense, "What?!" Then she narrowed her look, "No, we're humans!"

He cocked his head, "Humans? ....I never heard of humans before."

Rick got in between them, and shoved his nose away from us with a fierce gaze, "Ok, that's enough. I'm tired of this." He shrugged with his hands, "What are you talking about? What do you mean that we're...In Avarilan?"

I joined in on the questioning, "Yeah, what do you mean? And...Tell us what's going on here!"

Then the dragon bore a serious look and rose his head over us, "I could ask you the same thing. Where did you guys come from? You're...Not from around here, I can see that."

That's when Emily had a desperate look on her face and pleaded, "Are you really friendly? Then please, help us!"

I shouted at the scaly drake, "Yes, help us! Help us find a way home! We've been walking around in the woods for hours and-"

He held out his paw, "Calm down. Listen, start at the very beginning....What happened to you? How did you get here?"

Rick sighed and nodded, "It's a long story, but I'll make it short." He gestured to Emily and me, "I was on a...What you would call a ship, with my daughter and him. Along with several humans. Then one night, a light came to the sky." He threw his hands in the air, "And then all of a sudden, we were under attack and kidnapped by a lot of black dragons and...A bunch of two legged cheetahs with black fur and...And..."

Emily started to cry and shouted out, "We escaped from them! They're...Horrible! They're a bunch of horrible monsters!"

The green dragon nodded, as he realized something, "So that's why you thought I was evil. You were attacked by Dark Dragons, and also by the Lost Souls. Now I understand."

I shook my head in confusion at this, "What? Lost Souls? What's a Lost Soul? I don't understand this."

Emily ran into the thing's chest, tears still flowing down her face when she said through a sob, "A lot of us have died and we're alone out here! And...I'm scared!" She sniffed her nose and thrusted her finger at me behind her, mumbling this, "His brother was with us, but...We don't know what happened to him."

The drake's frills flared and he had a pity look now staring at me, "W-What?"

Rick narrowed his eyes and said, "It's what she said. We're all in trouble here and we're all alone." He spread out his arms, exclaiming this, "We've been trying to look for help, but we hadn't found any!"

I interrogated the creature, "Look, what's going on here?! Why is this happening to us?! How did we even get here?! Are we...Really in another world?" I'm still trying to process that, but there really is no denying it. We are in another world. But seriously, how did we get here?

Rick asked angrily, "Yes, what's going on here?! Why is this happening to me and my daughter?!"

Emily pressed her forehead against his chest, begging once more, "Please...Help us. I'm scared, I'm scared of everything! I want to go home!" She looked up at him and he returned the gaze, "Help me! Help us! Help us get home!!!" She really started to break down in tears and pressing her head to his chest.

By the look that the dragon has...He feels sorry for us, sorry for her. And by my surprise, he gently started rubbing her back with his paw, "Shh, don't cry. You're safe."

Rick came up to them and grabbed Emily's wrist, "Emily, come here." She did, as the dragon removed his paw off her, and she buried her face into her father's chest. He rubbed her back consolingly. While the dragon still had that pity look for her.

I walked up and said, "We really were in danger. And...We're lost, and we need help." I shook my head, "We have no idea where we're going." I heard Emily calmed down a minute later, and she pulled herself away from her father. Looking up at the dragon, wiping her face off.

The dragon nodded after a moment of silence, "I'm sorry for what has transpired with all three of you. Including what happened for...The other humans." He shook his head, "I know that none of that was supposed to happen to you. Seems to me that your kind has gotten involuntarily involved into something you never heard of. Lost Souls and Dark Dragons are evil and don't have a care in the world, and they've gotten you all involved." He nodded after that, "I'll help you. You certainly look like you need it."

Rick let out a sigh and asked once more, "So...What's going on here? Why is all this happening?"

The male dragon sighed, "It's a long story." He moved his snout to the sky, "And it's pretty dark as it is." He glanced down at each of us, "First off, I think we need to get away from here, and find a place to sleep. Then we'll talk some things tomorrow."

I asked, "Are we flying on your back, or something?"

He shook his head, "No. We better walk right now. I was flying around, yes, but it's best not to have a habit of that."

Rick asked, "Why is that?"

"Because Lost Souls are everywhere in the world, and flying around too much means the odds of them spotting us from the ground are high. Don't exactly want them to find out where we're going. Plus, Dark Dragons fly too, and encountering them in the air could be dangerous. They can be tough in groups, even to a lone dragon like me. So we better walk." Then he made a nod to us, "I think with that out of the way, we haven't introduced ourselves yet! I think, I'll start." He held up his head and smiled, "My name's Damonen. But if it'll make it easier for you, you can call me Damon." He lowered his snout to Emily, "You're Emily, right?" She nodded at him and he asked me and Rick, "What about you two? I'm sure you have names too."

I put a hand to my chest, "My name's Scott."

Rick nodded to Damon, "Rick."

Damon nodded to us, "Scott, Emily, and Rick." He hummed, "Hmm....Pretty foreign names to me."

I just giggled a bit at that, and Rick rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He gestured to him, "So which way? I know we're going to do some more walking now."

Damon whirled around, his long tail almost taking Rick and Emily's heads off, "Just follow me. And don't worry, you're safe with me. Lets go." He began to trot away to the edge of the clearing, walking past the dead werewolf creature known as the Wolfir, with his wings folding against his back, and his tail shaking back and forth. Since these part of the woods don't look thick, he can traverse through them.

I walked up to Rick and Emily, and we all strided together to follow the big green drake ahead of us. Rick sighed and remarked, "Well...This was really unexpected. We were running away from a dragon last night, and we're following one. Talk about a big turnaround."

I chuckled and stated, "Hey, it's better than having fire breathing down our asses."

Emily began to show a hint of a smile, as she locked her eyes on Damon, "I'm just...Happy we had found help."

Rick wrapped his arm around her, "He'll get us home, honey. He will."

We all started to walk on a trail now. I hope we can go back home.

I hope we can.

*****

I'm sitting in front of the fire that Luna made, the fire crackling in the wood during the cool night. I looked up at the black female dragon, whose laying on her stomach with her tail held close to the side of her body. The glare from the fire shined on her black scales. She was using her talons to start clawing at the grass and dirt, making deep gouges. I went back to stare at the orange flames, sighing to myself.

It's been several hours since we've both met each other for the first time. And now I'm just traveling with her. Frankly, I'm still shocked that this happened. Actually, I'm still shocked about everything. Just trying to wrap my mind around everything too.

After me and her escaped from the cheetahs, who I now know as Lost Souls, and after we started to travel together, I told her everything. About what happened to me and all. How the Lost Souls and Dark Dragons have kidnapped me, and how I got into her mountain, that was all I told her. There were a couple things that I have left out. One thing I left out was Gabby. I didn't tell her about the human girl at all. I...I didn't want to get into that. I just wanted to forget Gabby's face. That's what I want to do now.

I did tell her about the green light in the sky. The one I saw while standing on the cruise ship. I know that I didn't know what to think about that light, but I think I'm starting to figure it out now. The far too coincidental part is that after the light shot up in the sky and disappeared, land appeared out of nowhere close to the ship, and then the Lost Souls and Dark Dragons showed up after that. And then I find out that I'm in Avarilan later. Now I think things are coming together.

That light had something to do with it. It brought me to this world. Brought everyone to this world. Brought the ship to this world as well.

I looked to Luna again, who hasn't noticed me staring at her. She says that she never knew of this light. That's a big mystery to her. She never heard about it ever. And quite frankly enough...She says that she has no idea about where my world's at, and has NO idea how to get me back home. I would've thought about finding that light again, thinking that it would get me back home, but how? I honestly don't think that it's possible. Throughout most of the day, as we've walked together in these woods, she never came up with an idea for me to get home. I don't blame her. I don't blame her for not coming up with an idea at all. Things are just too complicated and mysterious...Even for me!

But then that means...I'm stuck in this world. I'm stuck in this world forever. And if I find Scott, alive and well.....He's stuck in this world with me. We can never go back home. Neither would Emily and Rick, if they're alive too. We're all stuck here. We're all stuck in Avarilan.

I closed my eyes when I lowered my gaze to my lap. Scott...

The only other thing I decided not to tell Luna about, was Scott. At least not yet. Why? ...Because I don't know where he's at. I didn't even know where that stone fortress was at before I ended up on the snow peaked mountain. That was the last known location of where Scott was at, and I don't know where. He could be anywhere in this world, that is IF he's alive. So...I guess that's another reason why I didn't tell her about him, because a part of me thinks he didn't make it out of there and he's dead. It's like, what would be the point in looking for him if he's dead? I don't want to believe that, but that part inside me is there. But other than feeling that part poking around in my body like a thorn, my hope that my brother being alive is there too.

Either Scott's dead or alive...I can't pick it. Besides that, Luna wouldn't know where he's at if I did tell her about him. Though I'm sure she would help me find him, probably whether he's either alive or dead. Heck, neither of us wouldn't know. But without any clue to know where to find him, there would be nothing either of us can do about it. I probably shouldn't kept that from her and just told her, but I will. Maybe I'll tell her that tomorrow. Besides...We just started to travel in this unfamiliar world together.

My eyes drawn to her once more, now looking at the fire after done digging into the ground, and her wings laid to her sides. I don't even know her that much. Now that the thought came to me, I don't know her that much at all. Well both of us haven't talked about our pasts...Well not yet anyways.

Ever since I've told her how I ended up here, we were both just quiet. Mostly because my mind was wrapped about so many things. Luna...Appeared to be focused on protecting me from any Lost Soul that could attack us out of nowhere. Seems very committed into doing that. And not only that...She appeared to be deep in thought too. Probably after not knowing how to get me back home after discussing about it...She was probably trying to think of a way to get me home. Like ANY way at all.

It's nice that she's trying to think, but if she doesn't know how, then...I guess I'll have to live with living in this world forever. But...I don't want that. I have an uncle waiting for me!

Honestly...I don't think that's the only thing that's on her mind. Something else probably is. I could be wrong though. But honestly, I think a few times while walking beside her, and one time while I was eating with her after finding several apples from a apple tree, which is a big surprise that a dragon like her actually likes eating apples, I saw her having this type of...Look in her eyes. Like something was bothering her. I would've asked what's wrong to her, but then I don't see it, like that look wasn't there before. Like I said, I could be wrong, but still...I could've sworn it was there.

I know we don't know each other, but I hope Luna's alright.

I let out a sigh to myself and Luna turned her snout to me, noticing that my head's hung down. She asked in a concern tone, "You ok?"

I nodded and looked up at her, "Yeah...I just got a lot of things on my mind."

Luan arched her neck, stretched up her wings and then laid them back down, "Still trying to wrap your head around the thought that you're in another world?"

I let out a breath and nodded again, "Yeah....I just can't believe it. Not only that, but I'm just shocked by everything that's happened."

She gave me a pity look, "I know that I said it before, but I'm sorry for what happened to you the other night. It must've been horrible."

Oh, you have no idea. I murmured, "It was."

She was shifting her stomach along the ground to get closer to me, laying her tail straight out behind her. She snaked her muzzle down to me and nuzzled the top of my head with her nose, "I know that things have gotten so bad for you, but you're with me now." I looked at her eyes and she smiled. I returned the gesture by smiling back. She went on, "I know that I don't know how to get you back to your home, to this..." She was waving her paw side to side, her smile went off her face while trying to say the name of my home, "Florida." Her smirk came back, "But I wouldn't mind looking after you. You're an interesting...Creature. I like it when I discover new things."

I chuckled at that, "Well I think meeting a dragon like you is an interesting thing too. You're pretty better than the...Dark Dragons that you told me about." I raised my eyebrows, "And by better, I mean not trying to burn me alive, or blow me to bits, or tear me apart, or-"

Luna was tossing up her head laughing, "Alright! I get it!" I was laughing along with her. She was reduced to giggling now, and stating, "I'm the friendly type anyways. I'm not exactly as 'dark' as them."

I was nodding in agreement, "I can tell. And I thought you were one of them." I rolled up my eyes and remarked, "My darn fault for slapping your nose back at the cave and throwing ash at your eyes. Should've just waited until you spoke."

Luna shook her head with a giggle, "Oh, there's no need to apologize." Then she rose one talon, "But a lesson has been learned for you. Always have the patience to wait for others to speak, before doing something drastic."

I rolled my eyes to myself and laughed a little, "Lesson pretty much learned." Now a thought has crossed my mind, about the Lost Souls and the Dark Dragons. She still hasn't told me much about them. I looked up at her with a look of curiosity, "Well since we're talking about Dark Dragons, can you tell me about them? Like why they are doing this and all? Why are they evil? And...What are the Lost Souls?"

Luna bore a serious look and began to tell the tale when she looked toward the flames, "Honestly...Dark Dragons, and Lost Souls are not natural creatures...They were made to be evil. They weren't exactly born like me and you. They were magically created." She looked down beside me, "See, there are cheetahs that are exactly normal. Not dark furred, no glowing red eyes, not growing really long claws on their paws, nothing like that at all. The normal ones have colored fur, not dark." She waved a paw, "Basically, according to what I've heard...The cheetahs that we've fought...Used to be normal cheetahs. But the thing about it is that...They don't have souls. Because every last one of them would lose their soul after they die."

My eyes went wide, "So they're like the...Undead?"

"They were brought back to life by dark magic. As in the glowing red eyes, that's the sign of the evil magic in all of them. And that's why they're referred to as Lost Souls. Because all their souls have been lost. From what I've known, there really were a mass population of cheetahs in Avarilan. But for years the Dark Dragons, also magically made by dark magic, have slaughtered so many throughout the years and took their bodies...Back to their master."

I frowned, "Master?"

She gave me a small nod and her face darkened, "The Dark Dragons were created and brought to life by their master, and the Dark Dragons bring the cheetahs who've perished in battle to their master to infuse dark magic in their bodies and bring them back to life with no soul at all. And you know what that means after that." She let out a sigh, "This world has been at war with those monsters created by magic of evil. And my kind has been involved in it for years."

I sighed and shook my head, "God."

Luna sighed too and replied, "So you see what you're dealing with and how serious they are. They only follow orders from one master, and they do not intend to fail."

Man...That sounds horrible. And scary at the same time. This world has been in a war for...God only knows how long and it's horrible.

But wait...Who's their master? She didn't mention that part yet. I asked Luna, "I had to ask...Who's their master?"

She was about to open her snout to answer that question, but we both heard a stick snap in the distance, turning both our heads to the sound. It came from the darkness in the woods. Luna hissed, got up on all fours and spun around to face the trees. I got up too, doing the same thing. She tensed her body beside me, flaring her wings, getting ready to attack. We both stared at the darkness, but nothing else happened. It was all just quiet. And that bothered us a little bit.

I whispered to her, "What was that? A Lost Soul?"

She narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth a bit, "Maybe."

We both stood watch at the same area, but still nothing. I let out another whisper after several moments of silence went by, "Maybe...It was just something in the woods. No Lost Soul, I guess."

Luna started to sag her wings to her sides, softening her eyes, "Maybe you're right." She puffed out her scaled chest and let it out slowly, letting herself relax, "Nothing to worry about."

Then when she started to turn around to face and lie down on the fire and I was about to myself, when something small hit her shoulder. She let out a small cry of pain, "Ow."

I didn't notice it yet, when I looked at her, "What, what is it?" I saw it on her shoulder and it was a dart that struck her shoulder. My eyes widen at it, "Oh crap." Then a dart came flying and hit my arm now, "Ouch!" I pulled the thing out and threw it down to the ground. Crap, that hurt! I looked up at Luna's face and saw that she moaned out softly and her eyelids began to droop. She was starting to fall asleep. The dragon fell to her side with a thud and just laid there, her eyes now fully closed.

I called out to her, starting to fall asleep myself, "Luna....We....Are...." My eyes started to droop and I was feeling so tired now. I let out a small quiet moan, as I went down to my knees and then fell down to my back. Looking up at the stars in the sky, I was feeling drowsiness overcome me. When my eyes were about to close, I saw about four figures that are standing on two feet, they stood around in a circle looking down at me.

Then everything went dark.