Warriors of the Dragon

Nightmares

A/N: This was recently edited to add some parts... Let me know if you think I need to make it smoother. I wasn't sure if putting Malina's name in was too confusing, because I hadn't mentioned her name yet. I've started the third book so I wanted to add some more important details to this book. I may add some more edited parts later. I found a couple typos that I have fixed in the master copy and I'm sure I didn't have updated versions posted.

Malina the naiad had woken up on her Gargoyle's back after having a vivid nightmare. The Duvendis in her nightmare was the female Duvendis that was travelling with them. She stood before Malina with blood dripping from the mouth of her black snarling mask and the eerie sound of her hiss shook Malina where she cowered in fear, her feet sunk deep in a puddle of paralyzing water. She couldn't move. She watched the blood drip to the water that the Duvendis stood on the surface of and it tinged the water red. Malina's nose filled with the smell of death and the Duvendis lunged toward her with a dagger that she stabbed deep into her heart. She cried out in pain- the pain was too real. She had fallen back with a dropping sensation adding to the cold fear pooling in her stomach and the piercing pain. The Duvendis leaned over her with malice as Malina's body seemed frozen as it sunk in the cold bloody water. Malina couldn't scream as the pain overtook her, but when her eyes opened to the dawn sky, the pain had faded and she found herself sweating and shaking on her dragon. It was a dream, she told her still pounding heart. She had had them for years. The sight of the Duvendis again must've brought them back from the depths of her memory. She swallowed and looked over to where the others had camped as she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.

The Felis and Cervus Raptor had returned looking well-fed and bloated. Bloody remnants were still stuck in the Felis' whiskers and its big yellow eyes closed happily as its rider stroked its soft neck. To Malina's horror, the rider's eerie eyes turned to her where she sat up between her Gargoyle's shoulder blades. She laid back down and looked away, grimacing at the beautiful dark blue sky that was tinged with red from the slowly rising sun. Her naiad companion, Quinnelin had slept on his dark green bird-like Crocodilian dragon. It had a crest of bright blue and aqua feathers around its long neck and on its underside. Its head was nearly identical to a crocodile's along with the shape of its long flat body and thick muscular tail. The end of its tail was tall and narrow like a rudder and was more for swimming than flying but its colorful bird-like wings were large and matched the feathers near the base of the tail that stuck out on either side to aid in lift and turning. Malina knew both dragons were irritable since they had been taken from their mates during breeding season to fly on this mission. She was surprised neither of them felt the need to fight the male Felis, who she could tell was still showing his breeding colors. She wondered if he had a mate he was taken from as well.

When Craven sat up, he saw the dark elves standing side-by-side facing the rising sun just outside the forest. He had a painful, fitful sleep, feeling like he was being electrocuted over and over again in his dreams. The Air clan humans had begun to disassemble their gold tent in the dim light of the early sun. Craven still sat by the dying embers and he watched as the two small humans worked silently to pack up their tent. It was folded carefully and strapped to the Canid dragon's light blue and grey-scaled back. Craven hadn't bothered to unpack the tent from Crow's back and Rauka didn't unpack hers either. She had fallen asleep lying in the grass by the fire near her dragon.

The Earth humans had also slept beside the fire, each in plush sleeping furs laid out on the grass. Only the Undine had retreated to hide in their pale triangular tents. They rose next, looking towards the naiads who still laid on the backs of their dragons. The ink-spitting grey and blue Gargoyle was the larger of the two and sported various fins and two sets of pale eyes, one for under water set on the side of its head and one for above the water set on the top of its head. Similarly, it had both nostrils set on top of its nose and gills on the sides of its long thick neck. The female naiad lounged on the Gargoyle's bare back between two enormous bat-like wings