The Dragon Master

Hargeon Arrival

"You got us lost, didn't you?" I asked Leema, while we were looking over his shoulder and at the map in his hands.

"No, I didn't." He argued, trying to hide the map from my eyes.

"You did!" I yelled, glaring at him. "I thought you said that you knew where you were going!"

Leema frowned at me. "Yeah, I do. Just leave me alone for a minute."

I sighed and decided that I would go and look for a path out of the forest we were stuck in. I willed my wings to form and then jumped up into the air, flying over the trees to try and see where we were. Once I was high over the trees, I looked around, seeing more and more forest and then a large body of water. It was straight ahead, and flying there would be a breeze. I mean, if someone was flying well then we'd be able to get there.

I don't mean Kami. He's doing much better at flying. It's just Leema who sucks.

I turned my body down and dove back to the others, spreading my wings in time so that I wouldn't crash into the ground and glided instead. When I landed, I looked at Leema and said, "I think that it's that way." I pointed straight ahead.

He sighed. "I don't think that we'd be able to get there in a straight line."

"Which is why we should fly." I smirked, pointing my finger upwards.

"Yeah!" Kami agreed enthusiasticly while Nefta smiled, and nodded, telling me that she had agreed. I looked back at Leema, who was frowning.

"No." He said, crossing his arms.

"You won't get any better if you just keep avoiding flying!" I told him. "You're doing a little better." I crossed my arms.

Leema looked at all of us, who were looking right back at him. After about a 5 minute staring contest, he sighed and gave in. "But if I start to fall, could we please just walk?"

"Fine." I agreed. "Now, come on!" Spreading my wings again, I took off and flew into the air, knowing that the others were following.

~*~

Finally arriving at the city, there was a large sign that said, Welcome to Hargeon. Smiling, I knew that we had finally arrived. I turned and looked to see Nefta land gracefully, Kami landing pretty steadily, and Leema face plant. It made me laugh.

"Shut up, Kida." He growled, standing up.

"Sorry!" I apologized, still giggling.

He sighed. "Come on, I'll lead you to the house."

We walked through the streets, with me and Kami looking around with saucer eyes, taking everything in, while both Leema and Nefta seemed pretty calm. I grinned as we got closer, and I couldn't wait to finally meet my father.

Leema led us to a large house, and he opened the gates for us, leading us through the front doors. We walked through the house, with me still looking around and taking everything in, when Leema led us to large glass doors. He opened them saying, "Mr. Fredrick, I've found your daughter."

I walked out from behind Leema and looked to see an older man. His hair was white, and his eyes the same blue as mine. Wrinkles were on his skin, and it was obvious he was old. He was wearing simple black pants and green shirt, with a bow tie. Tea was on the table in front of him, and right across from him was-

"Bill?" I asked, while Leema screamed and flew up on the roof.

"Hello, Kida!" He smiled. "Kami, and my little girl!"

Nefta frowned and just looked at him while Kami waved and said, "Hi, Grandpa Bill!"

"You're here?" I asked.

"Of course!" He said. "Me and Fredrick go waaaaaay back!"

My dad agreed, smiling and nodding his head. He grasped a walking cane and stood up, walking to me. Stopping right in front of me, he wasn't much taller, but I still looked up to see his eyes. He smiled, and gently hugged me. "I know that you don't know me very well, but it's wonderful to see you."

I smiled and hugged him back without a thought.

~*~

I was standing on the balcony and looking down below at Leema and Kami, who were playing in the pool. Leema, who was much better at his magic, was making the water come up in waves and go after Kami, who squealed and ran away from them every time they got close. I smiled as I watched them, placing my chin on my hand.

"I'm really thankful that Leema was able to find you and bring you here." My dad said, handing me a tea cup which I accepted.

"Yeah, I am too." I agreed. "But he can be a jerk sometimes."

Leema turned his head and glared at me, reminding me that he had Dragon-like hearing. I smirked and waved to him, which caused him to roll his eyes and look away, returning to whatever game he was playing with Kami.

"That's just Leema being Leema." Dad chuckled. "He's really passionate about Dragon culture, so he spent as much time as he could learing about it without learinging it from Dragons themselves."

"Huh." I shrugged. "Well, that's alright. I'm just glad that I can have him as a brother."

"A brother?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, and Kami's as much of a little brother as I'll ever have."

Dad smiled. "I think that it's sweet."

For a moment there was silence. "Hey, I uh, don't mean to be rude, but I thought that you'd be much younger."

Dad laughed at that, surprising me for a moment. "So did I. You're sixteen in Dragon years, correct?" I nodded. "About every twenty years or so is one Dragon year. In human years, you would be about three hundred twenty years old."

My eyes widened. "How have you survived for that long?! My mom said that humans don't usually live much longer than one hundred years!"

"Your mother granted me an extended life period. It happens when a human and Dragon mate."

"Oh." I said. "So, what about me?"

"You'll live as long as most Dragons, which is usually a little less than one thousand years. As far as I know, you were one of the last beings born in Dragon land, and if things are going as they are right now, then no more Dragons will be born."

"You know about all that?" I asked.

Dad nodded. "Yes. I know that you probably want to get back to them soon and help them to get Dragon Land back, and it's alright. I just wanted to see you before I die."

"Before you die? How much longer do you have?"

"Not long at all." He refused to give me any more details. "Will you stay the night?"

I smiled. "Of course."

Dad smiled back. "That locket. Do you have anything in it?"

"Uh, no." I said, opening it and then closing it. "Why?"

"Why don't we take a picture together? That way, you'll remember me."

I nodded. "Yeah!" I looked back out at the boys. "Leema, Kami! Come here!"

~*~

I was lying down in a bed for once, admiring the tiny picture in my locket. I was holding Kami on my side, with Leema on my right, Nefta on my left with Bubble on her shoulder, and my dad sitting down in the chair right in front of me. Bill offered to take the picture, which I thought was generous.

I closed the locket, smiling as I rolled over on my side, finally closing my eyes and going to sleep.