The Reunion of Loved Ones

30. Sweet dreams

Dana had just taken a bite of the last piece of rye bread when she heard someone scream miserably. She jumped up in shock and looked around wildly. Was it an unknown animal species that had decided to enter their camping spot in search of food? Another cry sounded and Dana swallowed: this sounded human. Lana, who had been leaning against a rock, had also jumped up. They looked at each other, realised who was missing, and shouted simultaneously: 'Ivana!'

They ran around the two dragons, who had risen at the commotion and were looking around with a disturbed look in their eyes. Dana felt as if she was having déjà vu. She had gotten up once before during this journey without Ivana lying at their campsite. The last time, the masked figure had left her paralyzed on a plain. Had he come back now to finish the job? Had Ivana unconsciously seen more than she had admitted? Did the masked figure now want to ensure that his identity remained a secret? Had they inadvertently disturbed him the last time, and had he now killed Ivana?

A little further on, Dana saw Audacus lying down, calming a convulsing Ivana by soothingly stroking her crown with his snout. Fortunately, the masked figure was nowhere to be seen. Dana anxiously fell to her knees next to her sister and looked her over from head to toe. Although it seemed as if Ivana was in agonising pain, Dana saw nothing that could be causing her sister pain. She suspected Ivana was having a bad dream and was about to wake her when Audacus, with a sweeping motion of his tail, knocked her away from Ivana. Lana chuckled as Dana fell gracefully into the sand. She herself walked firmly up to Audacus, who curled his lip and growled at her in warning.

Dana did not understand the dragon's reaction and groaning, she got back up. She brushed the sand from her clothes and hair and walked back to Audacus, who followed her closely. When she stood next to Lana, he winked with a grin on his snout as if he were laughing at her too. She could not communicate telepathically with another dragon, but she had to know what was going on with Ivana, who did not wake up from the commotion they had caused. In short, she could not still be asleep because Ivana was not normally a deep sleeper. Years of sharing a room had taught Dana this.

Dana put her hands on her hips and asked irritably: 'What was that necessary for?' The dragon hummed happily, and a rumbling sound came from his throat. He was actually laughing at her! 'Why can't we touch Ivana?' His humming took on a triumphant tone, and Dana began to get annoyed. She kicked some sand up into Audacus' eyes, who roared angrily. Dana, however, did not move a muscle as Audacus grumbled and cleaned his eye with his forepaw. It was clear that Ivana's dragon knew what was happening to Ivana, and she would find out what it was.

Before Audacus had to explain anything, Ivana suddenly shot up so fast that Lana screamed in fright and, in a reflex – and under the influence of her growing vampire powers – punched Ivana in the jaw. Dana's mouth fell open as Ivana turned her head towards them, and she could see that Ivana's cheeks were wet with tears.

'Lana!' Dana cried out accusingly, suspecting that Lana was the cause of Ivana's tears. 'What on earth was that for! Look what you've done!'

Lana hissed menacingly and kicked sand in her face. Dana, whose irritation threshold had been reached, angrily pounced on her sister. However, she was caught by Lana's left arm before she could deliver more than one blow and was thrown spinning through the air by her. Dana flew about twenty feet through the air and landed on her arm, which broke under the sudden impact. She screamed in pain and clutched her injured arm.

'Stop!' Ivana shouted as Lana was about to run at Dana again. 'Stop fighting! I wasn't crying because of Lana! She isn't...'

But Lana ignored her and ducked under Ivana's outstretched arm. Dana clutched her injured arm to her body as she tried to avoid Lana's quick and powerful blows as best she could. Every movement, however, caused stabs of pain in her arm, and soon Dana became dizzy. Her movements slowed, and she executed them less well, allowing Lana to land a few solid blows.