Traveling with Nomad Dragons

Not wanted? Gone

We stayed at Evelyn and her husbands house for I don't know how many days. It was so dark outside all the time from the snow that I didn't know if the sun was still rising and falling in the sky anymore. Our time at Evelyn's place can be described in one word: boring. There was absolutely nothing to do unless you liked cooking and cleaning.

That is basically what we did all day. Cook, clean and eat. I was getting sick of it by what I thought was our third day here. Why did we even come here? I wondered. Why did Aria drag us to the middle of nowhere?

“Perhaps she just wanted to see an old friend.” thought Zena in my mind. I didn’t respond back to her. I continued to wounder though, why did Aria decide to take us with her? We were strangers that she didn't know that could get her killed. I just didn't understand.

On our fourth day though, I was walking past the kitchen were Evelyn and Aria were cooking when I heard Evelyn voice what I was thinking.

“So, Juniper and Zena seem....nice.” Said Evelyn as she was washing the dishes.

“They are nice.” said Aria thoughtfully, stirring a spoon in a large pot over the fire.

There was a pause and I leaned back against the wall next to the door, waiting.

“Have you known them long?” asked Evelyn.

“Not really. I kinda crashed into them while in a town.” muttered Aria. There was a huff from Arrow who was sitting down by the fire as she recalled the incident. I could practically hear Aria rolling her eyes at her.

There was another pause and then Evelyn asked, “Why did you bring them along then?”

There was no response. I heard someone sit down at the small kitchen table followed by another person.

“It's not that I don't think that wasn't nice of you or that I don't like them. Zena in particular is very sweet, it's just... How do you know you can trust them, Aria?” Evelyn stated.

There was another pause. This time a very long one that seemed to stretch out forever. Finally, there was an answer.

“I can't.” said Aria, softly.

That was it for me. I pushed off the wall and went back the way I came to the room I had been staying in. I stormed in, waking up Zena who was dozing on the bed.

“Get up. We're leaving.” I said to her out loud, as I pulled my back pack closer to me, staring to pack up my belongings that were strewn across the room.

“Wha-? Why?” muttered a sleepy Zena.

“We aren't wanted here. We should never have come.” I muttered. Zena didn't respond. She didn't have to. I was replying the conversation over and over in my mind. She heard it. Finally, I was all packed and ready to go.

“We have to do this fast.” I said to Zena in my mind as we made our way to the front door. I knew that as soon as we opened the door, they would suspect something. The wind whistled so loudly and the door shut with such a band because it was so heavy that there was no way anybody in the house could not know that someone was either exiting or entering.

We got to the door and I pulled with all my strength. It just barley opened enough to let me and Zena slip through before it closed with a deafening bang. Once outside, the cold wind pierced through my flimsy clothes like they weren't even on. We had only been outside for a few seconds and already I was shivering. I started down the snow covered path though, knowing it would lead out of the town. I wrapped my arms around me, trying to keep myself warm.

I don't even know how far we walked, it could have been only a few steps. The wind was constantly pushing against me, trying to force me back. I kept walking though, even though I could feel my body starting to go numb. I pushed forward, through the wind and the snow. I couldn't see barley three feet in front of my face!

Eventually, it got so cold, that my legs stopped working and I collapsed into the snow. All I remembered next was Zena's giant claws as she grew into her full size, scoop me up and then we were flying through the air. That's when I blacked out.

It was warm, I was tired and all I wanted to do was sleep and never wake up. Was that so much to ask? Apparently so since someone kept calling my name, forcing me to wake up. I muttered something about sleep but the voice was very persistent. Finally, just to make them shut up so I could go back to sleep, I groggily opened my eyes. What I found in front of my face was Zena's giant nose! One she saw that I was awake she huffed in relief. Which made a large jet of hair rush over me.

“Zena!” I said! Wiping my face and sitting up right.

“Sorry.” muttered Zena in my mind, moving her face away from mine.

I groaned and looked around, extremely disorientated. We were in a cave what looked like deep inside a mountain since the opening was ten yards away. The cave was just big enough to fit Zena in her full size with me lying in her claws. I stretched out, but then winched as my muscles complained. Zena relinquished her death grip on me and I stumbled away from her on shaky legs.

“Where are we?” I asked, as I leaned against a side of the cave. “What happened?”

“Well, after you collapsed I picked you up and flew a fair amount of miles to the south and west. You were shivering so badly that I was afraid you would die. Then after I found this cave, I warmed you up with my body heat. Then I tried to get you to wake up but you wouldn't, I was so scared.” said Zena, giant tears welling up in her eyes.

“I'm so sorry, Zena.” I said, shakily walking over to her giant snout and hugging it best I could.

“It's okay. Your awake now. That's what matters most.” she said, wrapping a gentle claw around me. We embraced for a few minutes before I pulled away, walking over to a rock and sat down.

“How long was I out for?” I asked.

“About three days.” said Zena.

My eyes widened. “Three days? No wounder I'm hungry, then.” I said, trying to lighten the mood. Zena chuckled and gently pushed my back pack over to me. I opened it and hungrily at the last sandwich and apple. Zena stared at me with longing in her eyes and after a few minutes I noticed.

“Zena, when's the last time you ate?” I asked.

“Four days ago.” She muttered.

“Oh, Zena. I'm so sorry. Where can I get food for you?” I asked, feeling guilty.

“I would have gone hunting but, I wanted to watch over you.” said Zena.

I blinked at her. “Hunting?” I asked.

“Yeah, you know, chase an animal, eat it. It's not like we can go to the store anymore.” she said.

“I know, but still. Hunting? That makes you sound like, an animal.” I said.

Zena chuckled. “I am an animal, you know. Hunting is what dragons used to do before we connected with people.”

“Oh.” I said dumbly. Now I felt really guilty. Zena could have had food all this time but she chose to watch over me.

“Well, you can go hunt now if you want.” I said.

“Are you sure? Will you be okay?” asked Zena, already half getting up.

“I'll be fine.” I said. Zena nodded and then walked out of the cave before spreading her wings and taking off. I sat in silence for a minute after she left. It was strangely quite without her near. It felt weird. I decided that I may as well do something while she was gone so I stood up and walked around for a bit, stretching out my sore legs which resulted in a lot of groans and curses from me.