�What�s wrong, Krita?� Jess asked.
�Nothing�s wrong, it�s just that�yes, it�s what I thought�� she answered quietly and she smiled again.
�What? What do you mean?� Jorden questioned.
�I believe�yes, I�m right. I believe that Paki is coming,� she said, her eyes never leaving the sky. Jess and Jorden looked and squinted their eyes, trying to find whatever Paki was and where it was coming from.
�There!� Jorden said and pointed at a vague dot that was becoming larger and larger every second. Jess watched as the dot began to take form as it came closer. Soon, the outline of a pair of gigantic wings, a long tail and neck were becoming more and more focused. Jess and Jorden watched in awe, as what was clearly a dragon flew over the threesome�s heads and looped back, landing with a ground-shaking boom.
�Hello, Paki,� Krita said calmly.
Paki straightened up and grinned at Krita. The dragon was a golden yellow color, but, unlike Krita, the scales were just a single color. Instead, they were shinier and glistened brightly whenever he made the slightest movement. His torso was broad and strong, and a very large pair of wings folded against his sides. Paki�s powerful hands and feet ended in sharp, ivory claws. Half a dozen horns sprouted from his head in a mow hawk-like fashion, each one sweeping forward slightly. And though his neck shorter than Krita�s, he still stood a good foot above her.
�Sorry I�m late,� he said in a low but smooth voice. �Ah, and who are these two?�
�I�m Jorden, and this is Jess,� Jorden said.
�Well, it�s nice to meet you Jorden, Jess,� Paki said, bowing slightly. �I am Pakisunu, but most dragons call me Paki. �I am a Natcirae dragon, and-�
Paki and Jorden suddenly jumped. Paki looked curiously at Jorden who clapped a hand against his right cheek. He rubbed his face furiously then removed his hand. Jess gasped.
�Jorden! There�s a mark on your face�and it�s getting darker.� �Wha-�
�Great Riko�� Paki whispered, staring confusedly at Jorden�s face.
�And Jess has a mark too,� Krita said. Jorden�s head snapped toward Jess and he gasped.
�Okay, what�s going on here? What is on my face? What�s that mark on Jorden�s face?� Jess said, folding her arms.
�Well, you see, there are different�kinds�of dragons,� Paki said, as if he were uncomfortable. �We�re all mostly the same, except that the Natcirae dragons usually have larger wings because we are sky dragons. The Mirequa dragons all-� Krita glared at Paki. �Well, the dragons from the Abaervli Weyr have those special tail fins, and the�the�.�
�Paki?� Krita asked. Paki�s eyes had grown very large and was staring at a point behind the other three. Jess turned around, as did Jorden and Krita.
�Oh, no�� Krita said, her amber eyes growing big as well.
�Krita�� Jess said, slowly backing up.
�What the hell are those?� Jorden gasped. No less than thirty creatures were making their way toward the group. Horrible, ugly monsters with wrinkly gray skin and long lanky arms ending in clawed fingers that almost touched the ground. They spotted the foursome and one particularly large and ugly one pointed a gruesome finger at them and roared. Soon, the air was filled with growls and screeches as the monsters ran, faster than what Jess and Jorden was possible, seeing the way they hunched over as if old men. However, they had no time to ponder about this as Paki shook them out of their shock.
�Get on our backs! NOW!�
�Wha-� Jess started, but was cut off when Krita yelled, �No time, just get on my back!�
The two didn�t need another telling and Jess clambered onto Krita�s back and Jorden onto Paki�s. �Ready? Hold on!� Paki yelled as he crouched on his hind legs. Krita did the same and they both pushed off, unfolding their great wings and flying madly towards the clouds. Jess yelped and looked down, watching in horror as the creatures gnashed their wicked, pointed teeth at them and clawed at the air where they were seconds before. Krita and Paki were flapping their wings madly. Krita seemed to have a more difficult time, and Jess guessed it was because she was a water dragon and didn�t use her wings as much. At first this was a nerve-wracking thought because they were now all so high in the air that the treetops looked like moss covering a large rock. However, Jess began to trust Krita and calmed down a bit. She was getting used to the way they moved as if they were bobbing in water every time Krita thrust her wings downward and brought them back up.
Jorden was nervously looking downward as well. He wasn�t used to heights, never being in an airplane before. He knew that Jess�s family loved to travel, so she didn�t have as much of a problem, but Jorden was extremely uncomfortable. The only thing that lifted his spirits was the fact that he watched as Krita bobbed up and down when she flew, while Paki hardly moved anywhere at all but forward. This feeling ended shortly though, as Paki yelled, �Hold on, we�re going down!� and went into a steep dive toward the ground.
�AAAAAAH!!!� Jorden screamed, tightening his grip around Paki�s neck. The only thing he heard was his own screaming, the loud whoosh of air, and Jess�s yells of �Yeah! This is like the greatest roller coaster ride EVER! Just without the roller coaster part!� The dragons merely looked at each other, neither knowing what a roller coaster was nor why hurtling towards the ground was like one. When they were close enough to the ground, they opened their wings changing speed dramatically. Paki landed gracefully on the grassy turf, as Krita stumbled slightly and definitely not with as much finesse as Paki. A windswept Jess jumped off of Krita�s back and laughed a bit as she looked at Jorden. He was in a right state, hair standing in every direction and his face screwed up as if it they were still in the air and it would kill him to ever open his eyes again. Paki seemed to have a bit of trouble prying Jorden�s arms off his neck, and was only able to get him off after threatening to fly again and dropping him through a cloud just to see if it keeps his imprint after he fell through. With a small yelp, he jumped off of Paki�s back and hugged the ground.
�A bit scared of heights are we?� Jess was finally able to say after a fit of giggles.
�Never�fly�again�must�stay�on ground�.� Jorden panted and Jess went through another fit of laughter, though she soon calmed down and sighed. Sitting down on a nearby log, she looked up at the dragons and asked, �So, what were those things anyways? Why were they after us?�
Paki and Krita exchanged looks for a fleeting moment, as if unsure of something. Paki spoke up first and said, �Well, those creatures, they�re called deothols. They are living killing machines, though not very intelligent. They used to mostly keep to themselves, attacking small villages once in a long while in search of anything that had the tiniest bit of gold or gems in it. Deothols are extremely greedy, and will even kill their own brothers and sisters if it meant a gain in anything precious. But now�something awful has happened�they joined the enemy. In exchange for their service, they gain treasures in quantities unimaginable. And being the way they are, they will always thirst for more, and if it means working until evil has conquered everything, then so be it to them.�
The humans only stared at Paki, at a loss for words. They knew that these must�ve been the creatures that attacked the dragon in the puddle. And they knew that if the deothols decided to attack them, there wasn�t any tough dragon-hide to prevent them from becoming human mincemeat.