Mount Byrne

Dragons!

 

              Ari's Perspective

              "We're never going to find that stupid cave!!" Auria shouted from frustration. I wonder about her sometimes. Her mood swings are quicker than a whip, and even less dependable. Two seconds ago she was as chipper as can be, throwing skipping rocks in the river which was temporarily still at the area. Within a grand total of 15 minutes she turned into Leiutenant Grumpy-Gills.

              "You seem to be missing the point, Lochlan."(Authors’ note: Auria's last name) Hanako grumbled, irritated. "In order to find the cave, you cannot be searching for it. It shows itself to you in time."

              "Oh, I'm sorry, Little Miss Cryptic."

              "Auria." I warned grimly.

              Then a ludicrous idea popped into my mind. "I think we should turn back."

              "What?" Raye asked, puzzlement fixed in her expression.

              "I remember something in the directions talking about surrendering to Heaven's Tears."

              "Which...means?" Kaoru said, wholly interested.

              "The Falls. We're supposed to surrender to the Falls."

              "You mean...swim?!?!" Kaydra panicked. "I can't swim! Have you forgotten?!?!"

              "No. I can't swim either, Kay. But I don't mean swim. I mean sink. Like a rock. Straight to the bottom."

              "Zis is insane!" LeVidia, that French human, sniffed.

              "Yes, I know how ludicrous this sounds right now, but I think... that it shows the gaurdians wether we really want the reward or not."

              Megan shook her head in dismay."I'm worried about myself. She's actually making sense."

              "Well, lets suck it up and leave." Kaydra said, after thinking this through."C'mon pansies, we're not getting anywhere standing around here." I was really grateful because I knew how ultimately afraid of water she was.

              "Thanks, Kay." I said.

              "I've got your back at all times Ari, even when I wish I don't." she said, and turned on her heel toward the roaring sound of the Falls. Slowly, gradually, the rest of the group joined us toward the Falls.

              The deafening roar was a sure sign that we were there, were it not for the mist soaking us to the bone. At this point, Kaydra looked timidly into the River, the rocks sending little red flags all over in my mind.

              "A-ari... what if this isn't right? What if this will get us killed instead?"

              "It's okay, Kay. You don't have to go if you don't want to. I'll go first." I said, patted her shoulder, and dove in. "You see, if I'm wrong, I'm in deep trouble. Bad pun. Not on purpose, I swear. I can't swim very well either."(Note from Sylph to Ari: dude, you're supposed to put the quotation marks on EITHER SIDE of ANYTHING ANYONE says, no matter where that makes them fall in the sentence.)

              The undercurrent sucked me in and swallowed me whole, pure darkness and murky water the only thing I could see.

Kaydra's Perspective

              I frantically looked into the river. I couldn't see Ari anywhere, and the river was going at the speed of light. The Falls were only a few feet away. Within one minute, she was tossed over.

              "Ari!" Tao yelped, looking over my shoulder at the same sight.  For some reason, I cringed.

              "You See?! You SEE?!?!" LeVidia yelped, "I knew zat zis was going to be bad! vairy, vairy bad!"

              "Shut up, Lev!" Hanako snapped, jumping in. There wasn't anything else I could think to do. So, with a hezitant breath, I dropped into the whirling currents beneath me. Immediately I couldn't breathe, and my instincts fought with me, trying to keep me afloat.

              My only chance of surviving this one was to sink to the bottom and grab onto a rock or something near the bottom before I hit the waterfalls.

              I felt the current getting stronger and I realized I was just about to go over the Falls. My legs kicked into overdrive and they hit a sharp rock (Note to the Other Author: Rock was originally Sock. O_O Comment FROM the other Author : OMyToast, it'a a sharp SOCK!  Wait, who would wear that?), drawing blood which dissolved to make faintly red water. I panicked when I was sent over the falls, every rock out of reach.

              At the moment when I was just about to hit the rocks at the bottom of the falls, two arms grabbed onto me and pulled me back into the water fall. I was being pulled up and out of the water. They pulled me throught the back of the Falls and into a dark, mostly dry place.

              My vision was blurry, but I could tell that it was Hanako and Ari who had pulled me inside. They let me go, and I finally coughed all of the water out of my lungs -- and possibly Nemo.

              "Are you excited, kaydra?" Hanako asked.

              "About what?" I said grimly, looking down at my somewhat painful leg.

              "We're here." Ari said, then started reciting the ballad in the ancient Elven tongue, being the only one in the room that had elven lineage. At the words, the crystals covering the walls lit up the cave with an icy blue glow.

              Auria healed my leg, and laughed at my temporarily blue-tinted hair. Later on, Raye splashed in and gasped. "Nobody told me the cave glowed!"

              I finally stood up and saw the beautiful eggs, about the size of a squashed basketball, with exotic colors and wisps or specks of paler colors mixed in.

              "So... they supposedly 'call' to you?" I said, my voice hoarse and water-logged.

              "From what I've heard, not really." Hanako said, shaking water from her hair. "It's more of a wander around aimlessly and trip over the right one. You just know when you've got the right one."

              It was then that Alex pulled himself in. "Nobody touch the water. Tao's coming next." he said, gasping for air at the same time.

             A moment later, we saw why touching the water would be a bad idea. The water was actually visibly sparking.

              Do. Not. Touch.

              Got it.

              He hurriedly hauled himself into the cave, and immediately began shaking water off, still sparking and fizzling. He dried quickly and got as far away from the water as possible. He then wobbled and fell over, exhausted.

              "I...hate...water." he panted "I swear...it's gonna...kill me... someday."

              "Tao!" Ari shouted, running over to him and kneeling down. I felt a pang of something I couldn't explain at the sight and walked over to Alex, as she said "Are you alright?"

              "Yeah." he said. I felt another pang as she laid his head on her lap. Alex put an arm around my shoulders. "I just... wasted a lot...of energy fizzing out, that's all." he closed his eyes and waited for his breathing to settle, Ari stroking his hair and kissing his forehead. I closed mine to keep whatever the attacking emotion was at bay, leaning my head against Alex.

              "Okay, lovebirds." Hanako said, snapping us out of whatever we had been thinking, "Time's up! Get looking for your dragon!"

              Reluctantly, Alex pulled his arm away and began wandering among the eggs.

              Tapping into my mind-reading, I began to hear tiny(Note to the other author; Tiny was Timmy two seconds ago. OMT, Timmy, speak to me!), faint voices, whispering.

              "She's here! She's here!" called one, throught the network mentality I had tapped into. "Lanfen, say something. She's listening."

              "Am I allowed to speak?" I thought. into the network.

              "Well you are speaking." said one that sounded like Alex on a bad day. "Who's gonna stop you?"

              "Charlotte!" chastized a new, excited dracling. "Kaydra, here! Come over here!"

              "Okay." I said out loud, earning an odd look from Alex and a knowing look from Ari, who had evidently had the same idea.   I walked toward the dracling who had called to me and found the egg in what looked like a crystal throne. It was a rich, opalescent pinkish-purple, with a design of gray swirls and dots.

              "Pretty." I said, startling the inhabitant when I picked up the egg. I sat in the "seat" and re-connected to the network. I almost shivered with borrowed excitement when I found the mind of the dragon in my lap. "Break it!" the egg quivered in my hands. "Smash the egg!"

              "Okay." I thought, standing back up. "Sorry if I hurt you."

              "Just do it, dang it!"

              I raised it above my head and brought it to the ground with as much force as possible. The egg shattered, leaving a cat-sized, slime covered, baby dragon in the rubble.

              It stretched blindly, tiny, feather-like scales on it's bird-like wings glittering in the dim light. She was the same color as the egg, complete with swirly, gray markings. On either side of her head, she had a bony frill, half on her jaw, half on the side of her skull, beginning barely behind her cat-like ears. I picked her up and carried her to the pool we had come in through, feeling her mind entwine with mine as I did.

              I heard another egg shatter, and an instant later, Alex gasped and evidently tripped. I chuckled when I realized Alex's dragon was Charlotte.

              I carefully washed the slime off of a bewildered Lanfen.

              Why is it so bright? was the first thing she said through our link.

              You aint seen nutin' yet. was the first thing I said.

              She sent me a groan.

Alex's Perspective.

              What are you doing in my head? I muttered, honestly somewhat frightened.

              How did you miss that memo? she asked, reminding me of that snob, Ari, and then curled into a ball with her eyes squeezed shut. It's what we do.

              I glared at the slimy dragon at my feet.

              Oh, now you're pulling an attitude on me. I was beginning to regret consenting to become a dragon rider.

              Yup. she stretched her wings and yawned It's not about to change either.

              I sighed. If my life didn't suck already, it was just about to get a whole lot worse.

Tao's Perspective

              I wandered aimlessly through the cave. This is not what I had planned to do ever since I was 9. I was physically exhausted, mentally famished, and now almost utterly blinded.

              Suddenly, my foot was caught in the edge of something in a puddle. *Thunk* *Oof !*

              The impact of my fall ended up cracking the egg. I hadn't seen that had evidently rolled out of the water when I hit it.  If this one's not mine, then I'm screwed.

              The animal I had couldn't be a dragon. It was a black beast, with a red sheen to it, and deep maroon eyes that were barely open to slits. Without the wings, I could call it a cross between a gecko and a cat.

              Hello, Tao. It said, almost drowsily.  It's nice to finally meet you.

              Uh... hello? I answered, confused.

              My name is Grimloch.  And by the way, you're not talking on the phone. Goodnight.

              Either from the last spark into the water, or from confusion, I passed out.

Ari's Perspective.

              It felt almost as if every grain of my being was telling me to go to the pearlescent, pastel, baby blue egg. It had wisps of silver with a metallic shimmer to it.  Once I picked it up, the host of the egg shook in my palms, and the egg shattered before my eyes. I closed them, trying not to get impaled by egg shells.

              The wet, cat-sized dragon made a funny sound -- like a cross between a squeak and a purr.

              Hello, Ari. It said happily. I just stood there and looked at it. Never in my past years had this future occured to me in New York. Its wings looked almost like a bat's wings, except the "fingers" were covered in tiny, blue scales.  As the wing extended, claws were on the ends of each "finger". Silver eyes stared back at me. Silver markings lined the dragon -- a crescent moon shape on its back, nearly hidden by its gangly wings. It already had horns, sharp enough to use like a blade. Note to self: Steer clear of those in the future.

              The feet were very interesting objects. It was a strange cross between(note to the other author: QUIT PUTTING FROM WHERE IT SHOULDN'T BE!!!) a paw and talons, but it was covered in scales instead of fur or skin.

              My name is Andromed. You know, you're a lot taller in person.

              In... person??

              Yeah.

              Oh. I forgot it reads minds, too.

              Prettier, too. Lots.

              Oh, and this is coming from a dragon.

              What's that supposed to mean??

              Nothing bad.. just... I'd prefer to be attractive to something even remotely the same species as I am... you know...

              I get it now. It stretched out on my lap, extending its claws, jabbing me a bit.

              Ouch.

              He'd better get out of that habit while he's young.

Kaydra's Perspective

              I looked around the beautiful cave from "my" throne, cradling my sleeping dragon in my arms.

              You may want to get Tao out of that puddle. I told Ari, through “the network”. Startled, she looked around, her eyes lighting up after finding him, with his slimy, black lump named Grimloch asleep on his chest. I smirked, glancing at the eggshell at my feet.

              “And they say they’re indestructable.” I said, scratching the scales above Lanfen’s eyes.

              “Supposedly, they are, except to the person who’s supposed to break them.” Hanako said as she passed me for the third time, still wandering in search of the dragon I heard exasperatedly calling for her.

              Ari drug him out gently and lay his head back on her lap again, wiping the last of the water out of his hair -- shocking her a bit.

              “S-sorry.” he said, groggily. Why was I suddenly mad at Ari?? I felt like lava-hot acid was churning in my heart, eating me away without mercy.

              But why??

              And then it hit me.

              No way, I can’t have a crush on Tao!! NO! BAD, BAD KAYDRA!!! He’s Ari’s!!

Tao’s Perspective

              I wish I had a battery. Or, I dunno, lightning.

              C’mon, people, I wanna move!

              “No, Ari, Ari don’t drop me, Ari please, careful.”

              “It’s all right, Tao.” She said calmly. “I’ve been lugging that Heavyblade that’s exactly two hundred pounds everywhere, sometimes with one hand. I think I can handle this.”

              She’s got a point there. Dang, that’s embarrassing! I weigh less than her sword!

              She pulled off her now-dry cloak and rubbed it against my hair.

              That made the stinging sensation go away, and it felt better, but I was still slightly woozy. I tried to sit up.

              “Nope.” She insisted, pushing me back down on her lap. She dried off the rest of my face, then put the cloak back on.

              “See? Isn’t that better?”

              “Yeah. Thanks.” I said, taking her hand in mine.

              “I don’t like seeing you like this, Tao.”

              “I don’t like seeing me like this.” I groaned.

              “Tao.” she said in between laughter.

              “Do you know what would make me feel better?” I asked, scheming a brilliant, mischevious plan in my mind.

              “What??” She said, without the slightest hint of suspicion. I lifted myself up (without being pushed back down) a little and kissed her. When I pulled away, her face was a burning scarlet,  the color looking almost airbrushed across her cheekbones.

              She laughed a bit, saying something about my facial expression, then helped me to stand up.

              “By the way.” She said, “You don’t have to catch me off guard to do that.” I turned a bit red myself when she kissed me, then laughed again when we broke apart. “You can’t be embarrased at all, are you?”

              “Wh-.. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I stuttered, feeling my face heat up.

              She dropped it, and took my hand, leading me toward her dragon. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw what looked like an angered Kaydra glaring at something in the region or her feet. Sometimes that girl’s mood swings are too much for me to keep up with. I guess that’s why she and Alex make a great couple.

              I shook my head in confusion, and came to meet Andromed.

Ari’s Perspective

              Uhm... does... anybody know why Kaydra’s seriously miffed at me?

Author's Note

Ignore the notes between the authors. We'll take most of them out later.