The Dragon's Redemption

Chapter 22 Gwen

Dreki landed on the soft pure white sand of the beach. They climbed down and walked on the beach and entered the shallow water as far as their ankles. "The water is so warm Dreki and clear," Brieanna said.

"Where are we?" Gwen asked.

"An island far out in the southern ocean."

"Are we alone," Brieanna asked.

"Yes, I've flown here before."

"What was that freezing dark place we flew through?" Gwen asked.

"The great void, the empty nothing, I can pass through it and come out wherever I choose."

"That's some dragon magic, isn't it Gwen?" Brieanna said,

"OH LOOK! The sun is so huge." They sat on the soft sand and watched the sun rise. Because it was so warm they removed their wool pinafores.

"I'm so starving!" Gwen said. Brieanna laughed,

"Let's see what your mom packed." They looked through the bag and each ate a hardboiled egg, a sausage, some bread and several pieces of dried fruit. "Look she even paced some ale for us too."

"Are we going swimming?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, but since we have such soft sand I thought we could practice holds and flips."

"Yes, I'm already good at the hold breaks you showed me. How did you learn so much?"

"My older brother liked to wrestle, he took several championships. My older sister and I let him practice his throws on us if he would show us how to do the throws."

"Who taught you to use the knife?"

"Oother, my clan chief from the village. I really surprised him when I threw him." Gwen laughed at her description of the event.

"Did you wrestle with Sam?"

"Yes," Brieanna blushed, "I think he kind of let me pin him, you know..." Gwen was laughing with her revelation. They began sparing on the soft sand and buy midday Gwen was able to demonstrate several throws and break holds easily. "Now let's swim!" Brieanna said removing her dress and starting to walk into the water.

"Brie, wait...I've never swam!" Gwen said.

"I'll just have to teach you, then Dreki can take us out to deep water." They worked together in the shallow water until Gwen overcame her fear and could easily tread water and swim a short distance unassisted. Then they climbed on to Dreki's back and the dragon swam into deeper water.

"I've never ridden a dragon naked!" Gwen said.

"I have," Brieanna said, them with a mischievous smile added. "We'll need to ride horses naked when we get home."

"My father would have a fit!" Gwen said then giggled. "It would be so much fun. You definitely are a bad influence Brie."

"This water is so clear Dreki," Brieanna said. They started using the dragon as a diving platform and jumped into the water. Dreki used the waves further down the beach to surf allowing the girls to use him as a surf board.

"You both need to get out of the sun for a while, or you fair skin will burn."

"My skin looks OK," Brieanna said.

"It will hurt, believe me. Even dragons can get sun burn. We are going in."

"OH NO!" Brieanna said.

"What's wrong?" Gwen asked.

"I forgot to bring soap and towels."

"I'll show you a nice little fresh water pond with a small water falls," Dreki said. "It has shade and I love to nap there. Hang on tight!" Dreki lifted off the water and flew inland landing in an area shaded by trees and broad leafed bushes.