Sharp As A Tiger, Quick as a Dragon [PERMANENTLY UNCOMPLETED]

Chapter 25: The Thing About Fear

We each heard our hearts drumming in our chest as we laid low and close to the ground. There was pin drop silence as we watched with our hearts in our throats. The hunt was on. There was no way we could stop it. It was inevitable. There was no option to quit. Either we die or they die. There was no choice dealing with participation. It was mandatory. As we lay there on the ground, sweat beading from our foreheads and fear suffocating us with its grasp that grew tighter and tighter, a thought popped into my mind. "How did this all happen?!"
********************************************^Flashback^*********************************************

It was the day after our visit to the fairies' hollow. We spread out the map Great Aunt Alice gave us and checked off all the items we have redeemed. All we had left was the three Hands of Evendra, the Wand of Healing, and The Wheel of Justice. However, we were running out of time. I was beginning to notice the change in the Aura of Dragons. This is a special power which is essential for a Dite to develop because with this power [the power to detect and use the Aura of Dragons] I will be able to tell when something is amiss with my beloved dragons. Plus it is through the Aura of Dragons that I can contact a dragon or a former Dite. Anyway, through the Aura of Dragons I could see the fatal illness slyly creeping in and affecting the dragon world. It won't be long before every dragon will be infected and this will bring upon the extinction of these marvelous creatures. I will never be able to live with myself if that happened. Also, if the dragon race is exterminated, the world will become unbalance and descend into chaos. I can't let that happen. No matter what obstacles fate throws my way, I HAVE to win this race.

We stopped by a clearing in the woods for a break. Yedana was cooking some food using firewood we gathered to start a fire, Tom was laying down and staring into the sky (for what reason, I don't know), and I had Grandma Alice's map spread out before me, so I can study it. According to the map we had to go to Lycaon Kingdom to find the first Hands of Evendra. However, as I examined the map, where Lycaon Kingdom is said to be on the map, there was no picture of a huge castle or anything of the such. Instead, there was a huge forest. This confused me.
'Maybe, it used to be a kingdom, but something happened and it was abandoned. Then it was overridden by moss, trees, and other plants. And so it turned into a forest. But Lycaon Kingdom was the name of the old kingdom and it was so familiar, that no one changed its name, so it's still called that today. Or no one changed it, so it will stay as a reminder to everyone that this is the consequence for whatever mistakes the kingdom had made for that kingdom to be abandoned.' I chuckled silently to myself.
My mom always told me I had an over active imagination.
I sighed. We will never know until we get there. I put the map back into my bag, walked over, and sat down next to Tom.
"What are staring at Tom?" I asked curiously.
"Isn't the night sky so beautiful," Tom said more to himself than to me, "Wherever we go, you can always just look up and you would be under the same sky. It's like a piece of home that carries itself." I nodded. Tom smiled, still staring at the sky.
"One day I will join the stars," he said smiling at the sky "One day I will go back home..." I stared at him. 'What has gotten into him?!"
"Tom, what are you talking about?" I asked. Tom opened his mouth to say something.
"Food's ready!" Yedana called. Tom closed his mouth and smiled at me. A smile that showed years of pain, hardship, and wisdom.
"That story is for another time, kiddo," he answered and walked over to where Yedana was serving the food, still smiling that same smile "Another time," he repeated quietly.
I watched him for a moment, and I realized that there was more to Tom than he showed, more to him than any of us knew.
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"So where to, Captain?" asked Yedana as we lifted up into the sky. I steered Forest Queen a little to the right.
"Lycaon Kingdom," I answered. Silence. I looked behind me at Yedana. She was really pale.
"What?" I asked, brows furrowed.
"N-nothing," She answered gulping visibly. One of my eyebrows raised.
"Sure looks like something," I mumbled back as I urged my dragon to go faster. She didn't reply. Everyone was silent for the rest of the ride. After a few minutes, we landed a few feet away from a forest. My dragon absolutely refused to land inside the forest. She seemed...scared. One side of me knew that that was bad news. Dragons don't get scared easily. However, the other side of me hoped that it wasn't anything major. I have to finish this mission successfully. I just have to.

We land in a small clearing towards the beginning of the Lycaon Kingdom forest. It took a lot of coaxing in order to get Forest Queen to do that. Whatever has gotten into her. I return my dragon back to her card, and start to take a step forward. Whoosh. I stop mid-stride. My tiger hearing automatically activates. There was a eerie silence. I sense Yedana and Tom behind me, a little shaken by my sudden abruptness. Then all of a sudden, BAM! Sharp yellow eyes can be seen through the darkness enveloping the trees. We all stumble back by the sharp fear that was driven into us by those strange yellow eyes. Soon those eyes get closer and closer and became more numerous cornering us until we were standing in a tight circle facing outward in the middle of the clearing. A gasp escaped our lips, as they came into view. We stood there frozen in fear, as they walked closer in a menacing fashion. Soon, we felt the feeling come back into our legs. I didn't wait for the fear to melt away from the rest of my body. I shot off running in a gap that I found in the creatures' formation. 'It was obviously put there on purpose. It's a trap!' I thought as I ran. But I couldn't care less. I sensed Yedana and Tom stagger behind me, struggling to keep up. From that point on I knew. The hunt was on.