"Well please don't be in the air if you decide to pass out, please don't be flying. Honestly, I'd love to try and catch you, but I'm not doing to well myself. I can't guarantee that I could save you. So please land if your not feeling well enough to fly." Jerrar begged her. He broke open the melon, which was fairly soft, but juicy nonetheless.

He handed the slightly larger half to her and turned his head to look back at the dueling drakes, but oddly enough they were no where to be seen. He figured that they may have settled their dispute and headed back to their burrows for the day.

Kiriei nodded. "Yes, I'll be careful," she said, accepting the melon portion that was offered to her. She ate the melon greedily, but left the husks untouched. After another brief moment spent under the shade of Jerrar's wings, she turned to him and smiled. "We should get going," she said. "Unless there's an emergency, we can next stop when we reach those trees in the distance. Then we could both rest in the shade." Having already decided, Kiriei wriggled out from under Jerrar's wing and lifted lightly into the air. She beckoned him to follow.

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Jerrar had eaten his half of the melon greedily and thought it to be slightly sour and too soft for his liking, but it soothed his throat and he appreciated it.

"Of coarse." Jerrar began his short run along the burning sand and before he could spread his wing and lift into the air, he was pummeled by one of the drakes. Twice his size, he knocked Jerrar to the side, causing him to skid across the extremely hot dry ground. "I suppose I'm not welcome here." He murmured and stood up as quickly as he could, he could feel his scales beginning to become soft because of the heat drew the moisture from his skin to the scales.

The drake had also quickly recovered and charged for Jerrar once more. The bulky reptile had no need for light bones, and their large claws were mainly for digging, but were handy weapons when sparring. Jerrar would not be able to defeat this beast, so he would have to find a way to escape. These drakes were not as agile as they were strong, so Jerrar was able to hop out of the way as the drake sped by him. Jerrar could feel the force of the drake when he passed and knew he needed to avoid getting hit by him at all costs.

Jerrar readied himself as the drake slowed and turned to face his opponent, prepared to charge again. Jerrar was planning on pouncing on the head of the drake and leaping into the air, but as the drake approached with great speed, the force Jerrar had feared suddenly hit him in the side.

Jerrar had been knocked unconscious, and the victor had been the second drake. The drake that had thundered into Jerrar was about to finish him off when the first one chomped down on his tail and drew him into another quarrel over who was stronger.

Kiriei was steadily on her way, perfectly safe in the air. She turned to be sure Jerrar was following her and was horrified to see him lying on the ground, having just been beaten by a pair of drakes. "Jerrar!" she exclaimed, turning around immediately and landing beside him. She shook him, vigorously but carefully, in case his was injured. "Jerrar, Jerrar!" She saw that he was unconscious and looked around for some form of shelter to take him to. Kiriei spotted a nearby drake burrow and moved toward it. The drake inside peaked its head out to protest. It clearly didn't like the idea of someone else going in its den.

The Night dragon gave the drake a good hard stare. "Go to sleep," she said, her voice menacing yet soothing, and her eyes glowing and hypnotic. Suddenly, the drake seemed to think sleep was a very good idea and it wandered off into the tunnels for a nap. Kiriei laboriously managed to drag Jerrar into the shade of the burrow, and prayed that there weren't any other residents in this den who might sneak up on them.

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Jerrar gasped and coughed. Grunting in pain. "It hurts." He murmured. Jerrar hardly moved and his breaths were taken in short and slow. Though the pain was excruciating, Jerrar was glad that it had not been Kiriei that had been hit. He told himself that she was more fragile than him and, although he did not know much about her past, he had been through worse and if she had gotten hit, she may not have survived. For this he was thankful.

Jerrar was not bleeding and there was no obvious injury except for a visible scratch on the scales from the friction between the Jerrar's smoother scales and the drakes rougher ones. It was clear that Jerrar tried not to move his side too much and it hurt when Kiriei had moved him.

Perhaps the pain had woken Jerrar up, or maybe it was the motion of being moved. Either way, he was now fully conscious and feeling every bit of pain the drake dealt him. Kiriei leaned toward him and gave him gentle strokes along his back with the soft part of her front paw. "It's okay," she said in a half whisper. "You're going to be just fine. We can rest in here for as long as we need." The Night dragon offered a slight smile, "I'm going to put you to sleep now, alright?" she said, already pushing a sweet and relaxing dream into the Sand-Fire dragon's mind.

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Jerrar welcomed the dream. It was no nightmare, but neither was it a grand fantasy. Jerrar was running through a field of melons, melons that just grew out to the horizon in all directions. Jerrar seemed to be extremely agile and avoid stepping on any melon, no matter how close they grew, and he was proud of this ability. Jerrar ran a certain direction, as if he had run across a certain path many times, he seemed to know where he was going. Soon the air elder came into view. He was pushing melons up with bursts of air and watching them float there. Jarrar passed him and smiled. He then passed the water elder who was making the water in the melons glow and the sight was spectacular. Jerrar leaped over the glowing melons and time slowed allowing him to watch the water pulse with light as if it were an orchestra. He smiled at the water elder then landed softly. Next came the earth elder, the little crazy serpentine geezer was covering melons in dirt for no reason and he waved at Jerrar she he sprinted past. Then came the fire elder. Jerrar could not make out her face, but all he saw was a blaze of red and a burst of friendly fire that enveloped the melons and roasted them into delicious creations. He jumped through the flames and kept going, towards a mostly translucent figure. It was what he imagined the spirit elder to be, wise and all knowing, almost immortal. He felt an air of cold envelope him as he passed by the spirit elder. Jerrar made his way to the top of a slight hill to great the dark figure of a time dragon. Without control Jerrar leaped directly into the darkness and was pulled through what may have been Jerrar's version of a time leap. Suddenly it was all grey and red. Red bubbling volcanoes, grey ash filled sky, and cracked lifeless ground. Jarrar gasped and the dream disappeared. After that he slept without another dream to comfort nor disturb his slumber.

While Jerrar was sleeping peacefully, Kiriei was playing the lookout. She was very attentive, looking whenever she heard a sound or saw a motion, and she didn't let her attention waver from this task whatsoever. If anything bad was about to happen, she was determined to see it before hand and stop it before it got bad. For now, the coast was clear, but experience told her that could change at any minute.

Over time, the sun crept lower on the horizon until they were coming on nightfall. It was at this point that the sleep magic she'd used on Jerrar started to wear off... as well as the magic she'd used on the drake. She heard it lumbering back up the tunnels, but sent it back to bed moments later. On Jerrar's end, she actually shook him lightly in hopes of waking him up faster. Kiriei was eager to get out of there, and she hoped to the spirits that he could still fly... or even move. That was quite the hit he'd taken, and he'd doubtlessly be sore-- if not worse.

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Jerrar awoke with a gasp, but quickly exhaled in pain. He rubbed his side softly with his paw. The coolness of the night eased Jerrar's pain, but not by much. He blinked to clear his foggy vision and looked at Kiriei in the little light that crescent moon offered into the burrow. "Are you okay?" He asked, gently moving his legs into place to where he may be able to stand once he found the strength to.

Jerrar's side hurt terribly. Just breathing hurt and if he took too deep of a breath the pain was almost unbearable. It hurt like a bruise, a really big bruise. Just flexing his muscles the slightest bit would cause it to burn with pain. But he hid it the best he could, but clenching his jaw closed to try and ease the pain. It helped little to hide that he was injured. He could scarcely think straight, but every once in a while he would find a sweet spot where he was able to hold his breathe and be able to cease the pain completely.

Kiriei offered a slight smile. "I'm just fine," she responded. "How about you? Can you move... do you think you can fly?" Though she tried not to make it overly obvious, Kiriei was just dying to get out of there. They were surrounded by potentially dangerous drakes, there was no water and little food (only the lizard Kiri still had with her), and she needed someplace where she'd feel safe to rest and get some sleep. They were probably only ten miles from the forest in the distance, yet they never seemed to reach it.

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"I hope so." He said forcing himself up onto his feet and though the journey was painful, when he he was standing the pain was just a subtle stinging. "I feel much better now, though." He replied, making his way, slowly, stiffly out the burrow and into the night. He made sure that he could not see anymore drakes before emerging completely. It hurt when he walked, but he could live with it, though he would have to run in order to take off, he wondered how quickly he could run fast enough to take off. If he could sprint a few feet, perhaps he could, or should he try to start off slow then jump?

While Jerrar was preparing to take off Kiriei flapped her wings and rose vertically into the air. The fire dragon had to do running takeoffs though, she hoped he could pull it off. As Kiriei glanced around the sun had already dipped below the horizon. They were in a state of twilight where its rays hadn't completely disappeared, though it would soon be dark. And cold. The desert got very cold at night, Kiriei knew this much. She'd rather get to the treeline before it reached its lowest point, as she wasn't sure how bad it could get.

As Jerrar readied himself for flight, Kiriei scanned the surrounding area. If she saw anything out of place, this time she could warn him about it. They didn't need any more delays, and certainly not any more injuries. Kiriei heard her stomach give a rumble and glanced down at the lizard still in her hand. It seemed to gaze back at her for a moment, blink, then start fidgeting like crazy. The Night dragon turned her attention back to Jerrar.

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Jerrar walked around for a moment to test the pain, trying to calculate how badly it would hurt. He envied Kiriei for being able to simply lift herself into the air. Maybe sometime when he wasn't hurting, he might ask her to teach him. But now was not the time, he needed to get into the air. He unfolded his wings and to his surprise he felt no added pain. That was good. Jerrar mentally readied himself, convincing himself that it would hurt and he would have to hold on long enough to jump.

Jerrar hesitated, but then with little notice he began to sprint forward. He clenched his jaw shut as he quickly accelerated in speed, and the pain increased to match. He then let his wings push downward on the air and he in moments he was airborne. He kept going forward, towards the green, knowing Kiriei would catch up.

Kiriei gave a sigh of relief. He made it. She tilted her wings so she could simply glide into place beside him. For once it seemed like they might be able to make some progress. As they got closer to the forest, Kiriei could see a small tendril of smoke rising out of the trees. Where there was smoke, there was fire, and that lead to either civilization, food, or both. Part of her wanted to glide right over there without a second thought, but another part of her worried for the presence of humans. In what felt like a brief moment to her (night travel was her favorite kind), they were over the trees. Kiriei chose this moment to point the smoke out to Jerrar.

"See that smoke over there?" she asked, pointing at the thin tendril of rising gray ash, "Do you think we should get closer or steer clear?"

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Jerrar was quiet, thinking it over. "What we were to find shelter in these woods, where I could rest. Then maybe you could go investigate. You are much stealthier at night and it is unlikely that you would be seen if that is a human fire." He offered. The pain was not as bad as it had been before, or while he was running but it was still a constant throbbing pain. Flying did not seem to be too painful as long as he made sure to control his breathing.

The smoke was nearly invisible to Jerrar, though he could see it silhouetted against the darkening sky that still seemed to hold on to the bits of sunlight that were quickly fading to a darkness. Jerrar was following Kiriei, despite the fact the she flew beside him, if she made the smallest adjustment to her flight, he mirrored the action.

"Sounds like a plan," Kiriei responded. She scanned the trees until she saw a suitable landing point then adjusted her flight pattern. She drifted right down into the middle of the clearing and landed without difficulty. She waited until Jerrar was safely landed then spoke quietly. "Rest closer to the treeline if you can. You'll be less easy to see from the air that way and you'll have more cover. I'll go check out that smoke." With that, Kiriei turned and stalked off into the woods.

Kiriei couldn't turn invisible like your standard Night dragon, but in the dark of night with her pitch black scales she may as well have been. Instinct took over and she sort of wove between the trees and bushes. She adjusted the way her paws landed so that her movements were almost silent and she stayed lower to the ground than she normally would have. It was a bit slower to walk there, but she would have been more noticeable if she'd flown, and she hadn't seen a spot near the fire to land without causing a ruckus.

As she got closer, Kiriei could hear the sound of human snoring. Her ears pointed back as her nerves went on edge, but she continued on to investigate anyway. From her vantage point in the bushes it looked like the humans were all asleep and weren't going to bother her. But they had weapons. If they should wake up and wander in their direction... Kiriei was torn. Should she leave them alone, hinder them somehow, flee?

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Jerrar did as she said and flopped down in the soft grass between the trees, welcoming the cool dampness that it offered. Through the pain in his sides he hardly noticed the burning of his wings until it was soothed by the cold dew of the grass. He had flopped down just our of sight of the sky above the small clearing, making sure he was partly hidden by shrubs.

He hurt terribly, but the lack of dry air and sun, made him feel better than he had been. A thought crossed his mind while he was wondering how badly he was hurt: Why was it him that kept getting injured?

It was a question that Jerrar thought deeply about. He was glad that Kiriei was not getting hurt, but the pain was getting quite irritating. He did not wish unfortune on Kiriei, but he did wish that he did not have to keep hurting himself. All this pain began when he joined Kiriei on her journey to find a bunch of legendary 'elders' that Jerrar had not ever believed in. Since then he had had one of his wings smashed, gotten attacked by a gryphon, nearly went mad while developing his power to breathe fire, and then getting rammed by an angry drake. "What will happen to me next?" He questioned the lizard that Kiriei had left with him.

The lizard replied with a flicking of his tongue and a blank stare. Jerrar sighed and set his head down on a small patch of moss. His ears were also burnt and the feeling was refreshing as they set upon the moist moss.

Kiriei decided not to bother the humans too much and went off for a brief hunting episode instead. She caught three rabbits and a small fox and decided that was more than enough. She brought her kill back to their resting place, sparring any other wildlife she saw along the way. When she emerged into the clearing she was impressed that it took her a good ten seconds before spotting Jerrar, which was rather a long time with her clear night vision. After spotting her companion Kiriei wandered over to him, delivering a full report.

"It's a small camp of humans," she said. "I decided not to bother them and we shouldn't meet again unless they're heading this way-- which I doubt. As far as I can tell, there's only more forest in that direction. Anyway, I went hunting for a bit. Hungry?"

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Jerrar found that he had dozed off for a minute and he opened his eyes. He lifted his head, "Yes, very." He replied. Perhaps they would revisit each of the elders when they finally got to the time elder. The time elder...why were they going to see the time elder? Jerrar looked up at Kireie, hardly able to see anything but her bright blue eyes reflecting what little light there was around them.

"Kiri, would you mind if I asked why exactly we are going to see the time elder?" Jerrar wondered if he had known at one point, or if he never knew if there was a point. He vaguely remembered the day they met and he mentioned the story of the spirit elder, though it had probably only been two or three moons since then. So much had happened that it all seemed blurred together.

Kiriei gave Jerrar the fox and took the three rabbits for herself, which was a pretty even split. She was about ready to dig in when a question was asked. So... had the time finally come for her to explain things to Jerrar? They'd been together on this journey for so long, and he'd gone through so much pain... he had a right to know. But it was still a hard thing for her to say because she was worried that he would hate her when she told him.

Still though, it wasn't fair to keep it from him, so she may as well just come out of it. "A long time ago," she started, "There was a pivotal moment in history. The results turned humans and dragons against each other forever. It's been so long since then that hardly anyone knows what it was. I want to ask the time elder about it and maybe use that information to fix whatever went wrong between our two races. I can't stand the constant squabbles we have with the humans and I have a bad feeling it's only going to get worse... I'm sorry. I know you don't like humans very much. Are you mad at me now that you know what I want to do?"

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