Chapter 4

Belkio lay in his nest, staring up at the night sky. He couldn't believe it! What had he gotten into? After the elders had finely stopped talking, they sent Belkio and Jerru off to bed, ordering them to come back the next night. But Belkio couldn't sleep. Who could, when you knew the next day you'd be among alien creatures? It wasn't until the sun was well in the sky before Belkio fell asleep. In his dream the humans danced around him with sharp stones ready to pierce his scales. But even in his dream Belkio knew how hard it would be for them to actually pierce his tough scales. He struggled in his sleep for a while, then relaxed into a deep slumber. *** Belkio stretched, clawing his favorite tree by accident. He scowled, and lifted it back upright. Belkio had a feeling this wasn't going to be a good night. Well he'd best be getting off to Dragons Glade, or he'd be late. He scrambled to his feet, stretched once more, and began his short flight to Dragons Glade. A few minutes later, when he was quite close to Dragons Glade, he heard a faint roar of greeting. Belkio squinted, and just barely made out the shape of Jerru flying towards the Glade also. How the heck did he hear my wing beats all the way across the sky? Belkio pondered. As he got closer, he saw it wasn't Jerru after all, but his father, Dimplo. Belkio nodded hello and dived into the glade, a little too fast, because he crashed into the ground. Dimplo came in after him, and muttered something under his breath that sounded like "Clumsy mumble mumble mumble shouldn't be
mumble mumble." They then sat in silence, the sound of Bright Fawn woods and their impatient breathing was the only thing to hear, well to Belkio anyway. But he'd bet a whole feast of nuts and berries (which was the dragons' diet at that time) that Dimplo was listening to his heartbeat, the worms wiggling in the ground, and who knows what else. Dimplo was the 'listener', the dragon with the best hearing ever. Yet Jerru had admitted that he himself didn't have that good ears, for a purple anyway. He was better at sight. After a minute or two, Nestria and Centare appeared, and timidly following them was Jerru. They waited a good five minutes before the last dragon, Canto, appeared. He looked apologetic, and admitted that he had slept longer than he had expected. After they had all settled down, Centare started it by announcing, "I have arranged a meeting with Brostiff today, and we must hurry in order to keep the time expected. Also you young spies must have some training first, before you go about your spy business at Twisting Creek. So I have made time for me to be your trainer." Belkio's heart leaped. Centare was to be his trainer?! This was absurd! Yet it was exciting at the same time... "So we must hurry. Come now young ones, we must fly swiftly. Brostiff will be waiting for us." Belkio immediently leaped to his feet, not wanting to disapoint Brostiff and Centare. Jerru must have felt the same way, because he was up in the sky before Belkio was on his feet. Belkio raced after him, with Centare swiftly following. Belkio quickly caught up with Jerru, and even had to slow down in order to avoid passing him. Even though Jerru was just as old as himself, Belkio was a red and thus a better flier. Centare caught up, and took the lead, steering them in the right direction. As they glided though misty clouds and across clear skys, Belkio engaged in conversation with Jerru. Belkio discovered that Jerru was quite like him; he loved the look of Burning Star lake, liked to take swims in it on hot days, and sometimes had trouble sleeping at night. As they chattered away, Centare studied the clouds up at the mountain peaks. He rumbled with please. Brostiff had managed to keep them from being blizzerd clouds, which would have been very hard to get through without being either swept away, or lost. As they got closer, the gossip stopped, and the two new found friends stared up at the mountain known as Stormflight Peak.