Wings of fire #17-Lost

Chapter 8

It took a while for Gleam to arise from her sleep and by the time she did, Winter had formed a plan to get her off his back. All he needed to do was get her back to Sanctuary so Riptide could look her over and then he'd fly off as fast as he could for more info on Kinkajou's exact location. It seemed like an easy enough plan, but Winter knew from experience that it would probably take some time to fulfill. They could run into enemies, storms, or injuries that would slow them down. Then who knew how long it would be before Gleam noticed Winter gone and followed him. "I just need to hope for the best so I can do this. Besides, Gleam wants to be on Pyrrhia so why should I worry."

When Gleam finally arose from her sleep, Winter and her flew off from the small island and headed in some random direction. Winter still had no idea where his home was and Gleam had never been there, so they just had to fly and get some directions. Maybe he would be lucky and find Panatala considering he knew the directions from there.

Still, the important thing was he needed to figure out what he was supposed to be doing as a member of a new and stressful prophecy. Why did he have to be a part of this anyway? He was just the dragon who took care of humans and didn't have any other purpose. If you were going to get someone to solve a prophecy against a threat like Beauty, call Moon or Turtle or Kinkajou or even Qibli. They were the experts, not him.

"You ok?" Gleam asked from Winter's side. Winter thought for a minute before answering. Was he ok? Should he tell her, a stranger to him, what he was going through. Could she even understand his pain?

"I guess." Winter mumbled.

"You don't look ok." Gleam observed. "There's a pale expression on your face along with your shivering talons, and your mind was whirring in your sleep all night. 

"Wait! Mind Whirring!"

"What do you mean by mind whirring?!" Winter asked in surprise. "Can you read minds?"

Gleam ducked her head as if embarrassed. "Kind of. I'm actually and animus and was forced by kidnappers when I was two to enchant myself to read minds." Winter was startled and a little annoyed. She had to have known he was trying to get rid of her. But still...

"Animus!" Winter gasped. "So your animus magic is still with you? On our continent, all the animus magic vanished and so far we can't get it back. Very annoying stuff."

"Huh." Gleam frowned. "Well maybe I can help. And now since we've brought all of this up, I might want to tell you something."

"You know that I'm trying to get rid of you..."

"Yes." Gleam admitted. "I know that you have to find your friend and all, but why exactly do you find it hard for me to help you? My animus magic could come in in handy you know."

Winter thought about the situation for a moment. Her powers would be helpful in finding Kinkajou since the magic was gone in Pyrrhia. Should he take her to find his lost friend. "I guess I have no choice here."  Winter agreed, which made Gleam incredibly happy. "Well since that's over, I guess we should be getting to Pyrrhia as soon as possible."

"Question." Winter said to Gleam. "How much of your soul is left? Have you used much of your magic?" If she had, it would mean they would need to be careful in using her. Would she even be of any use with little soul. "She doesn't seem anywhere close to the dragons of legend who used to much magic, so maybe I don't have to worry."

Gleam seemed to be in thought, for she didn't answer for a moment. "Well as I told you before, I was kidnapped when I was very young. They had me do three things, but nothing has ever been done since. My father was worried about me losing it, so he made me never use my power again. However, we're on the run so I should be ok to use some after four years." Winter sighed in relief at hearing this. So he could ask her...

"Well could you maybe use the animus magic to find out where Pyrrhia is then?"

Gleam smirked at Winter. "Already done! I enchanted myself to be able to find out directions to anywhere whenever I want!" She smiled in pride and Winter was almost stunned. She seemed to be able to do better enchanting than Turtle could do. He did objects, but she did it on herself! 

"One more question." Winter asked and Gleam looked back at him with curious eyes. "How much of your soul do you think it would take to enchant say... a whole continent of dragons or maybe two?" Winter wanted to know if bringing back animus magic was ok for her or maybe getting rid of Beauty's control over dragons if it was control as expected.

"I can get enough for one continent of dragons I think, but not two. After that, I'd loose it." Winter nodded as he understood that too much use of her magic would be over the line.

"I think she's trying her hardest to help me, but this may be her limit..."

They were only a days journey away from Winter's home, but they needed to rest from the lack of sleep and food. Winter and Gleam found a small deserted island and settled down to rest. Winter found them a few coconuts, fruit, and then complained about the lack of meat. After that, he laid down on the sandy island and passed out cold, leaving Gleam to stare into the burning sun that was setting. "I've never saw the sun back in my home, only the moon. This heat it gives off his truly remarkable."  Gleam looked back at the sleeping shape of Winter and wondered what kind of a world he lived in. While the dragon was made for temperatures close to the arctic, Gleam's home had seemed frigid to him and his friend, Changbai.

Another thing she was curious about was what the true personality of his continent was like. Winter was a stone-cold dragon who seemed to dislike everyone with first look, but then Changbai was a much nicer dragon and seemed to want to be friends with dragons at first look! What really were the dragons of this continent like?

"Maybe they'll be welcoming, but they could also push me away. I still don't know if this is a good idea." The worst of the news was what she'd heard of these special dragons who could read minds like her, but also for tell the future. What would happen if they were like her father and tried to control her?

Gleam calmed her self and walked over to where Winter slept. She closed her eyes, deciding to fix this when they got there.