Healed

Chapter 2

It only took Sora and Umber half a day to reach the Sky Kingdom. They would have gotten there sooner but they made several snack stops along the way.

Moorhen had decided they didn't need any escorts, trusting the sibs to follow orders or face the consequences. Of course, their orders weren't hard at all: Go to the Sky Kingdom and don't come back until you feel healed.

They had just crossed the Claws of the Cloud Mountains and Umber noted how the rocky terrain slowly shifted into thick forests full of prey scent. His mouth began to water again. Mmmmm food, he thought.

A quick wing check from his sister brought his attention back to the present.

"Are you thinking about eating again?" She laughed. It was so wonderful to hear her laugh. The sun was warm and the sky a sharp blue. Sora and Umber flowed along the airstream that connected the mountains to the Sky Kingdom, their wings feeling lighter than they had for years.

He still couldn't believe the war was really over. But it was. His brother Clay and the other Dragonets of Destiny had save them. Umber's mind began to wander and he thought of his old winglet.

I wonder what Turtle is up to. I hope he wasn't too lonely when I left. I should write him a letter...or get Sora to help me write a letter. I didn't stay at the Academy long enough to learn how to read and write...can you even send letters to the Kingdom of the Sea? Wouldn't the parchment get all soggy? OH! I wonder what Qibli's up to!

Qibli's handsome, roughish face came to mind. His intelligent yet kind eyes that held a dab of mystery to them. And of course his cool scar that zigzagged across his snout. As much as he adored that beautiful dragon he knew his infatuation was one sided. When Qibli had stepped into the room that day Umber had noticed the way the SandWing had looked at Moon. Even in the brief time Umber was there he could see their relationship growing.

But he didn't mind. He was just thankful to have met Qibli to begin with.

I'm sure there will be plenty more handsome dragons in my future, he joked to himself with a big smile on his face. Soon the forest became less dense and small villages and dwellings began to appear. These villages soon turned to towns, and then to cities and soon enough Queen Ruby's palace came into view.

"Oh my mud slides! Would you look at the size of this place?" Umber yelled to his sister. It was easily three, no, FOUR times larger than Moorhen's palace with startling tall towers that reached so high that they split the passing clouds.

And right next to the palace was something Umber had never seen in any of the pictures or descriptions of the Queen Ruby's palace. Attached to the castle was a massive, roofless colosseum that was equal in height to the palace walls. At first Umber was reminded of the infamous fighting arena that Queen Scarlet had made but this one didn't have benches lined along the inner walls. In fact the walls were so high Umber couldn't even see what was inside. However, the outer wall was punctured with hundreds of windows indicating rooms of some sort on the other side. As Umber got closer he could see there were more of these roofless dome structures.

There were five in total. Four of them were arranged in a diamond shape with each colosseum facing North, East, South or West, and each was the size of a palace. They were all connected to each other via arched walkways and all walkways led to a central domed building that was three times larger the others. It was like a vast city all on its own and elegantly wedged between all the buildings were numerous gardens.

"That's the new healing center," Sora gentle voice indicated. Wow,Umber thought.

"So...should we go there first?" Umber asked and Sora nodded.