The Final Storm (Part 3)

Emerald Wings

Unfortunately, they weren’t kicking cat butt. Actually they were plowing through the marshlands of lower Talia. Overhead loomed the mountain range that separated Vulnaire and Talia from Baroke. Mouthlike caves speckled across the lower portion of the mountains, and the dragon could smell that some of them were occupied. Scraggly trees and bushes grew in every place possible and Jaydon could spot some delicious looking mountain goats looking down at them from the mountain crags.

            “Hey I caught a frog!” Aidan appeared from behind a jungle of reeds. In his hands a buggy eyed bullfrog hung glumly. It blinked.

            “That’s neat, Aidan,” Ralem complimented, “Now we can have frog legs for dinner.”

            “No!” Aidan turned the frog around to look it in the eye. “I’m going to keep him and name him Sammy.”

            “Sammy? Okay, let me see him,” Jaydon held his hand out. Aidan reluctantly handed his frog over. Jaydon grabbed the slimy creature and considered it.

            “Isn’t he big?” Aidan said proudly, “I caught him myself.”

            “Yeah. He is big,” Jaydon muttered. He poked the frog in the stomach. “He’s fat too.”

            “Yeah he is. But he was fast-” Jaydon had turned around. “Hey! Are you letting him go?”

            Jaydon shook his head vigorously, turning so that Aidan could not see his face, “Nnmph.”

            Ralem started laughing.

            “Uncle Ralem!” Aidan cried, “He ate my frog!”

            Jaydon turned around to defend himself, but then Ralem caught sight of two green frog legs sticking out of his mouth, which only made him laugh harder. Aidan let out a cry of indignation, smacking Jaydon on the legs with little fists. “Hey!” Jaydon quickly swallowed, but it didn’t seem like it was going down too well. He knocked at his rib cage, his mouth open like a fish. Ralem tried to make a serious face but failed and managed to choke out “Are you okay?” while he snickered.

            Jaydon gave him a look like, “No, I am definitely not okay!” He bent over, convulsing as he choked on the frog. “Mmmph!” he cried, “Mmmph!” Ralem walked over, chuckling, and hit him hard on the back. The frog flew out of his mouth and landed, bedraggled and slimy, into a net of reeds. It shook itself, looked at them reproachfully with big buggy eyes, then hopped back into the water.

            Jaydon coughed as Ralem burst into hysterical laughter, his tones reaching crazy hyena. “I was… choking!” Jaydon gasped, shoving Ralem roughly, “You shouldn’t have laughed!”

            Ralem could hardly breathe, “What was wrong? Got a frog in your throat? Ahahaaaa!!!”

            Jaydon turned red when even Aidan started laughing, “I could have died! And here you two are, laughing your heads off!”

            They didn’t stop laughing. “Fine then,” Jaydon snapped, “I’m going ahead to find a shelter. You chuckling fools can stay here and rot.” He started to stomp away.

            “Let’s get him some dinner,” Ralem whispered to Aidan, tears in his eyes. He could hardly talk through the bursts of laughter.

            Aidan nodded enthusiastically. And the hunt started.