Young Writers Society

Zoltar woke with a yell, his whole scaly body trembling in fright. He looked around with wild eyes, expecting to see the frozen walls of an Ice Talon prison, but instead saw Emerald and Shiraku, their sides steadily rising and falling with each breath as they slept.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He must have rolled away from Emerald in the night, allowing the freezing wind to blow against his back. That could have influenced his sleep. Shivering he took a few deep breaths as he tried to calm his shaken nerves. It had all been a dream. Still, it had been so vivid.

Thankfully he hadn’t woken Emerald or Shiraku, but Felistia wasn’t with them. He looked around him. She was a few steps away from them, looking towards the far off snows whirling in the south as her scales gleamed porcelain white in the shimmering light of the two moons.

Zoltar swallowed, trying to still his racing heart. It had only been a dream. It was just his fear talking. Felistia hadn’t don’t anything wrong…yet.

As soon as he thought that, Zoltar felt ashamed. How could he think that? She was his friend. Not only that, but she’d helped him save Emerald’s life in the Maze. She wasn’t going to betray him just because she wanted to leave the group. She had her own life and wasn’t obligated to stay with him and this stupid quest.

Then Zoltar felt a cold shiver run down his back. He was being watched. He glanced back at Felistia to find that she was staring at him with her golden orb like eyes. As if sensing something was wrong, she got up and started to pad silently towards him.

“Are you okay?” she asked sitting down next to him, “You look like you had a nightmare.”

Zoltar felt his heart start to beat like a war drum against his rib cage as her dark shadow fell over his face. He hastily got up, so that her snake like shadow no longer loomed over him. Was it just him or did she seem larger in the pale moonlight?

“What was it about this time?” Felistia asked as she wrapped one of her silver wings over his back.

Zoltar resisted the urge to recoil from her touch. He kept seeing flashes of her baring her teeth and lashing out at him with her claws.

‘It was just a dream,’ he told himself firmly, ‘Remember what Emerald told you. She’s your friend. Now talk to her.’

Taking a deep breath, Zoltar relaxed his muscles, “I did have another nightmare. I don’t know why I had it. Maybe it’s because I’m afraid that I’ll fail this mission and let my tribe and friends down. I’m not sure why I had the dream, but…” Zoltar hesitated for a moment before sighing, “It was about you.”

Felistia’s eyes widened and Zoltar felt her flinch, but she didn’t say anything.

“I was alone in the Ice Talon Kingdom. For some reason Emerald and Shiraku were being held in the prison and I was trying to rescue them. Then you appeared,” Zoltar dropped his eyes, suddenly feeling ashamed about his dream, “You said something about the queen rewarding you for bringing me in. We fought and the dream ended with you killing me. Again I’m not sure why I dreamt this. I know you’d never hurt me. I guess I must had just been picking up on your distant behavior the last few days. That might have been what caused the dream or maybe it’s just my stress. I don’t know.”

Felistia remained silent, her eyes trained on the snow cloaked ground. Finally she sighed, “I guess I have been a bit off the last few days. I thought, or I guess hoped, you wouldn’t notice it,” She scratched behind the back of her horns awkwardly, “You see, you’re not the only one who has a lot on their plate right now. I’ve had to think over a lot since we left the island. That’s probably why I came across a bit grouchy on the beach yesterday. I guess I owe you an apology for worrying you.”

She laughed lightly, “It must have looked like I’d swapped moods with Shiraku for a little while. No wonder you’re worrying. Now that I look back I have been quite different.”

Zoltar smiled, breathing a quiet sigh of relief. Emerald had been right about Felistia.

“Well enough about how I’ve been. What about you? You’re clearly under strain,” Felistia said, brush his wing with her snout.

“I guess I am quite stressed. I’m just worried about what’s going to happen tomorrow. I’m not sure how I’m going to do this on my own.I’ve never been this close to the Ice Talon Kingdom, let alone flown to the palace. On top of that I have to do it without being seen. The whole thing seems impossible to me.”

Felistia was silent and for a moment Zoltar felt like he’d hit a sore spot, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” He interjected quickly. He didn’t want to offend her.

“No, that’s fine. I’ve just been wondering the same thing myself or at least along those lines,” Felistia sighed, “You mustn’t think that I’m against you going Zoltar. Almost the opposite really.”

She growled softly, scrapping at the frost bitten ground with her claws,” By now you must have realized I have a few enemies back there. You managing to steal one of the Queen’s diamonds would be quite gratifying to see.”

Zoltar looked at her, questioningly.

“I guess you could fly with me to the heart of the Ice Talon Kingdom. I know all the secret paths and some company would be good,” She flashed him a smile, but the look on her face was cold as steel, “Then we split up okay? You can’t go where I’m going.”

Zoltar nodded, “Thank you Felistia. This means so much to me.”

“Don’t mention it,” Felistia murmured, before yawning loudly, “I need to get back to sleep. You should too. It’s going to be a long flight tomorrow.” She got to her feet, splaying her claws as she stretched. She flopped down just a little way from where the others were sleeping. Soon her sides rose and fell with the calm of sleep.

A deep sigh escaped Zoltar’s jaws. He couldn’t believe how relieved he was that Felistia was coming with him tomorrow. Only now did he realize how worried he’d been about the whole matter. Without Felistia’s help he’d be spotted and captured within hours of entering the kingdom. Now with her help hopefully it would be somewhat easy sailing until the palace. Then things would get tricky. He’d try to get a little more information out of her regarding the palace tomorrow.

For now though sleep was his main focus.

Zoltar stood up and walked over to where Emerald was curled up, snoring softly. He lay down next to her, tucking his wings around him to fight off the biting cold. Soon his eyes began to grow heavy and he was carried off into a gentle sleep.