Vaeludar turned his gaze away from the mountain peaks towards the Dragon King. “Yes, I am ready to go,” answered Vaeludar, firmly.
“Remember this: these lands are infested with unknown animals and creatures. You are stepping into unknown territory. You may think you may go faster in the air, but dark clouds with toxic fumes lay in the sky.
“Remember, many creatures of darkness could be lurking within these mountains and danger will be lurking around every corner. They may be hiding in the shadows or they may not. No creatures dare to travel beyond this point. Flarefur is the only creature going with you and Griffins are the only creatures that can seem to fly, Vaeludar. Also remember this, time is of the essence. Go and go quickly.”
There was a howl in the surrounding mountains. Loud and noisy, the group took notice of how loud the howling was.
“Is that a Black Dog?” asked Wonomi, alarmed.
A few more howls echoed in the distance.
“That is the howl of a wolf,” said the Dragon King. “You may find more animals than creatures, so the possibility of find any evil here had been narrowed down by one animal.”
“Great,” said Flarefur, in an old-man, soggy voice.
“Vaeludar,” the Dragon King resumed. “You’ll be leading this small group of people and the Griffin through this dangerous territory. You will be giving the orders; you will be the leader. Your foster father is counting on you with this group. Don’t disappoint him.”
“I will not disappoint the man who raised me,” said Vaeludar. “I will lead these people and the Griffin to victory.”
“Very well. In that case, my guards and I must get back. I recommend you all camp here tonight. Our flight that took some dozen of miles to cover, night has fallen fast, and there are going to be more than just wolves in these infested mountains in the night. Guards, we leave.”
The dragon bodyguards rose in the air.
“Vaeludar, this island’s fate is in your hands. Do not fail any of us.” The Dragon King took off, with his guards flying back to the south.
Vaeludar, Flavius, Wonomi, Monico, Galvin, Flarefur, and Marina were all alone in the mountain wilderness. The group was small but well built on supplies that should last a great while, if they don’t do anything rashly.
“Well, what shall we do, Vaeludar?” asked Marina.
Vaeludar’s six companions looked at him, waiting for him to give an order.
“We’ll do what the Dragon suggested: we make camp here for the night. So had anyone brought any firewood with them?”
“I did,” said Flavius, dumping a bag of hollow logs on the rocky ground. They were about three inches think and lumpy.
“Flavius, you build the fire. Wonomi and Monico, you both help with the fire. Marina, use your trancing music to send any unwanted guests away from this campsite. Galvin, you take first watch. And you, Flarefur, how good are you at scouting?”
“That is why I have come,” said Flarefur.
“Then scout a short perimeter of these mountain ranges. I want to get moving at dawn, and I don’t want any unwanted creatures attacking us during the day.”
“Got it,” said Flarefur, flying away to scout the surrounding mountains. “It seems I can fly but if I go too high, there could a tremendous amount of dark energy from the sky that will affect my ability to fly higher.”
“If you can’t fly out, then don’t bother trying to scout. Stay put with us.”
“I can do the scouting, but I wouldn’t be able to get very far,” said Flarefur. “I will go forward and see to that we know where we are going and what the nearby terrain will be like.”
The Griffin soared some short feet from the ground and slowly drifted off in the near horizon. Vaeludar stared at the flying Griffin struggling to maintain his body in the air. He started to wonder if he should go with the Griffin and help him out scout the mountain ranges.
Marina walked to a higher point and sang with a soft, harmonious tone. Her voice was soft and as smooth as a stream flowing downstream, a bass violent played at the softest tone, and birds twittering of love:
Oh, try to come to find us in these mountains
For we are high in the sky;
And there are no nearby fountains
For we are safe from any that can walk or fly
Galvin stood like a statue on the highest rock in that flat area the group landed on. He was acting like a real soldier: taking orders from the higher ups.
Flavius, Wonomi, and Monico piled the logs on the flat ground. Wonomi was rubbing a stick on a log, with his hands spiraling downwards on the stick just like how everyone makes a fire. Smoke was rising, but no fire was sparking. Flavius was blowing softly on the smoke so that fire could rise.
Vaeludar stood and watched as the three fire-making people trying to make a spark of fire appear.
“Are you sure that is real firewood?” asked Vaeludar.
“Yes,” answered Flavius. “A carpenter was selling this at a good price. He told me these were extra logs he didn’t have any use for. Right now, these logs are hard to light though.”
“Then you need dragon fire,” stated Vaeludar.
“Where are we going to get dragon fi…?” Flavius knew what Vaeludar was meaning: the hybrid was going to spew his own fire. He had to back away completely.
Wonomi and Monico looked at Flavius in confusion. Vaeludar opened his mouth, revealing a red color was erupting at the back of his throat. Fire was brewing in his mouth as he was inhaling oxygen.
“Guys, look out,” shouted Flavius.
Flavius ran and forcefully pulled Wonomi and Monico by their arms. They both struggled to break free from Flavius’s grip on them both.
“What’s the meaning of this?” demanded Monico.
“He is going
