World Of Fire (Arula: Five)

Chapter 4

That next morning, Jason found Karma in stables kneeling down in front of the very large ryder-wolf named Samson. Samson was a completely white wolf, except for the tips of his ears which was black, and icy blue eyes that stared into your very soul. Karma was petting the wolf's large head while muttering her checklist before they set off to Argo. As Jason entered, Angel, the long-tail fox, came bounding over to him, yipping in excitement. Jason bent down to pet her. The long-tail fox pushed up against him, enjoying the attention and Jason could feel his allergies starting to act up.

Karma glanced up and smiled at Jason as he came up to her. "Ready?" She asked.

"Ready to confront a bunch of possibly very dangerous, fire-breathing dragons that may or may not eat us? Oh, yeah." Jason said sarcastically and Karma laughed. Jason bent down to pet Samson and ask, "are we taking the wolves?" Karma shook her head.

"Oh, no." She said. "The hot desert sand would hurt his paws and the heat wouldn't do good for his thick fur. Samson isn't meant to be out in the heated desert," she then picked up the large wolf's head and said in a baby voice, "aren't you? Because it wouldn't be nice of me, huh?" Samson replied by staring back her then giving her a small lick on the nose. Jason rolled his eyes and stood. His nose started to twitch, and he turned his head to sneeze. Darn allergies, he thought to himself, then to Karma, he said,

"So the horses?" Karma nodded. Jason walked up to his brown mare and patted it on its thick neck. "Looks like we're going on a long journey." He then started to prepare his horse for the journey ahead. Karma stood and did the same with her white horse, Pepper. "When are we taking off?"

"As soon as possible." Karma answered. "We need to head to Dumon on our way there, that's where we're meeting up with Omar, Mika, and Dagner. We could use their help on this. Once we meet up with them, we'll make our way to Argo and then Dragon Mountain to hopefully put an end to this whole dragon raiding business."

"Sounds like a plan." Jason said and swung up on his horse. "Ready when you are."

----

Karma and Jason rode pass the courtyard, which was busy with life. As Jason had suggested, servants were busy loading up crates, bags, and baskets with supplies for Argo. They loaded up horses and another creature that Jason couldn't figure out. The creatures had the head and body of a horse, a neck, tail, and legs of a camel. It even had a hump in between its shoulder blades. Before Jason could ask, Karma answered for him. "Those are hormels." She said. "Kind of a horse-camel hybrid. They inhabitant the desert part of Arula. We would be probably be riding on of those when we reach Argo."

Jason closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. He finally looked at Karma and said, "you have a messed up imagination, you know that, right?" Karma laughed.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Karma answered and kicked her horse into a trot. She went over to Lord Talso, who was sitting on his hormel overseeing the process. "My Lord." Karma said to him and Lord Talso smiled brightly when he saw her.

"Creator!" He said happily. "It pleases me to see that you are coming with us on the journey to my home."

"Yes," Karma said. "Though my companion and I will be making a quick stopped at Dumon to meet up with some of my other companions to help me out on this quest."

"Excellent! The more the merrier!" He said. "I am also happy to see how generous you are being with your supplies. I do not wish to drain you of all your own supplies though." Karma chuckled softly.

"Don't be." She said. "It is our pleasure to help you out. It is my job as the Creator to make sure that everything is at peace in my world." Lord Talso nodded at this. He then looked at Jason who waited at the far end of the courtyard for Karma.

"Your boyfriend is very good at running things, you know, I am not surprise that he does not have a more important role in Shurli." Karma's eyes grew wide.

"N-no! You're mistaking, my lord. Jason is not my boyfriend. We're-we're just friends." Karma said flabbergasted. Lord Talso gave Karma small smile.

"Pity." He said. "But I don't doubt that he will be great at running things, and doubt that you two make a good match. I am very good at seeing things like that." Karma opened and closed her mouth, unsure of what to say. Lord Talso laughed. "Do not let my words shut down your mind, Creator." He patted her on the shoulder. "We shall see each other again in Argo." Lord Talso turned his hormel around and prepared for his own journey ahead. Shaking her head, Karma rode up to Jason and together they rode out of Shurli and began their journey.

----

The summer weather was good to Karma and Jason as they rode cross-country. They rode alongside Lord Talso and his traveling party for several days. They rode all day and most of the night, resting when they knew their mounts couldn't take another step forward. The summer nights were always Karma's favorite. The stars had always glittered the night sky, and the northern lights lit up most nights, making the sky look even more beautiful.

But on recent nights, Karma had notice that the stars did not shine as brightly as they should, nor were there hardly any stars in the skies at all. It was all one black void. Even the northern lights didn't shine. This greatly concerned Karma. Especially one night, as she stared at the black void when the story about the stars that Omar had once told Karma popped in her head. It didn't seem possible that this was the reason why the stars weren't appearing as they should. It was just a story, right? Dread filled Karma as she thought that maybe, it wasn't a story after all. And the stars were telling her that Arula was in a bigger danger than Karma had realized.

Finally, after a two-week journey, Karma and Jason parted from Lord Talso's traveling party and made their way to Dumon where they would meet with the others. It took another two long days to reach Dumon. When they began to see rooftops of the town, Karma and Jason smiled, because they can finally take a break after a long journey. But their celebration was cut short when they saw a tunnel of smoke rising above the town. Concern and worried, Karma and Jason kicked their horses into a run and what they saw they could have never excepted. Dumon was on fire.