The Final Storm (Part 3)

The Fire Brothers are Betrayed

“Uncle Ralem? Uncle Ralem!” Ralem blinked awake, finding himself in the familiar soft canopy of dragon wings. Soft sunlight filtered through the dragon’s outstretched wing, illuminating Aidan held in the arms of Jaydon, who was still asleep with an almost angelic smile gracing his face, his iris’s shining through closed lids. Aidan looked a little uncomfortable. “Uncle Ralem, could you get him off me?”

            Ralem processed the situation quickly. “Okay, just stay perfectly still. Don’t say anything, okay?” He was so glad to hear his own voice was back to normal, not high pitched like a little kid. He reached over Aidan and started scratching Jaydon’s chin.  Jaydon purred contentedly in his sleep, hugging Aidan even tighter. “Blueberry Pies.” Aidan made a squeaky sound, his eyes bugging out of his head.

            “Sorry!” Ralem whispered, resorting to gently speaking in his mind to his dragon. Jaydon purred even louder, squeezing Aidan into a death grip. Aidan’s lips were starting to turn blue. Frantically, Ralem started peeling Jaydon’s fingers from his nephew’s side. Then he accidentally dug his elbow into Jaydon’s rib cage.

            Jaydon subconsciously kicked him hard in the stomach with such force that he flew out of the dragon’s wings and onto the floor, where the room spun in crazy circles. He sat there, on his butt, trying to get his bearings together.

            Jaydon’s eyes snapped open and he saw Aidan, getting squeezed in his grasp. He quickly let him loose. “I’m sorry Ralem. I didn’t mean that. But… wow, wasn’t that dream amazing? Haha, the looks on the cats faces!”

            Aidan was wheezing for breath, he could hardly hear what Jaydon was saying.

            “And did you see the whale snatch them up? We are such a team! That was the best idea ever, Ralem. We should tell stories every night!” Jaydon hugged Aidan briefly before lifting his wings. And standing there was Ralem, with one eyebrow raised. Jaydon’s eyes hopped from Aidan to Ralem before realizing his mistake. “Wow, you did look a lot like Aidan,” he said drily.

            “Yeah, and you were a cute little dragon too,” Ralem replied back, getting a shirt on. “Come on, we’ve got a Princess to save.”

            They marched downstairs when they were ready. Jaydon had needed help putting his clothes on- his wings made it rather hard to put anything on his torso. The shirt was so stretched by the time they were finished putting it on that it hung loosely on his back. Jaydon rolled his shoulders experimentally, letting the wings unfold to see if the shirt got in the way. Crash! His wings knocked a vase to the floor, where it shattered into a million pieces. “Oops,” he quickly folded them back up, bending to gather the pieces.

            “Don’t worry about it,” Ralem said as Jaydon cut his finger on a sharp shard. “I doubt that’s even theirs. I bet they ate the last owners of this house.”

            “Really?” Aidan’s eyes widened.

            “That was a joke,” Ralem said quickly, starting for the ladder. “Let’s go.”

            In the kitchen they saw the broad back of one of their hosts, covered in a thick wolf cape that fell over the side of the chair. His red hair drooped over his face as he wolfed down some lamb, his braided beard almost in the food bowl. He licked his lips as they approached, raising his head to acknowledge their entrance. “Good sleep?” he grunted.

            “Yes. Thank you for your hospitality,” Ralem began. He could tell by the flame-haired warrior’s voice, it was Cahal.

            Cahal patted the seat next to him, “Sit.”