The sun started to dip under the mountains in the far distance. But it's decent and beautiful colors were ignored by the three friends tramping through the high bushes below.
"Grayson!!!" Annessa Lavigne called as loud as she could.
"General??!!!" Blaze yelled from her left, a few miles away.
"Dearie!!!!" Freya joined in from Annessa's right.
"He's not here!" Annessa yelled to the others.
Their other teammate and leader, usually wandered around the area surrounding their camp. Except last night he didn't return like he always did. Which of course led to them wandering through the chest tall bushes, looking for him.
Blaze appeared next to Annessa in a rush of wind. Freya on the other hand walked slowly over to them, trying to avoid being scratched by the bush's thorns.
"So what do we do now?" Freya asked when she finally reached them.
Annessa hopelessly glanced around. When her eyes landed on the mountain peak farthest from them.
The clouds that hung around it's top didn't look right. They didn't drift and roll like the other clouds, instead they swirled around the top, thickening with every turn.
"Guys?" The other two turned to Annessa.
"Do those clouds look normal to you?"
"I don't know, maybe. It's a new planet. I don't know how clouds are normally here." Blaze pointed out.
"That may be true, but I think Annessa might be onto something."
"And why do you think that?"
"I have a feeling."
Blaze glanced at Annessa, who simply shrugged.
"So the clouds are weird and give Freya feelings, but back to the point, where is General?"
"I think the clouds are the point." Annessa said.
"They are clouds!"
"But weird clouds that give Freya feelings."
"So? Flowers give Freya feelings!"
"That is true, but this is different."
"How?!"
"I can't explain it-"
"Duck!" Annessa pulled both of them to the ground.
"What was that about?!?" Blaze asked.
Annessa slapped a hand over his mouth, and pointed up at the sky.
Freya and Blaze looked up just in time for a huge shadow to pass over them.
The shadow was casted by an even larger being, covered in scales and was longer than three football fields, most of Which was from its neck and tail.
"Is that a dragon!" Freya whispered in awe.
"It certainly looks like it."
The dragon circled around the plane a few times, before swooping down and grabbing it in it's mouth.
It was a long worm with hundreds of legs, like a giant centipede.
The worm thing wrapped around the dragon's neck, and seemed to tighten its body to strangle the dragon.
The dragon responded by biting down on its head. And with a sickening crunch, that Annessa and her friends could hear miles away, the worm stopped moving.
The dragon, now with it's dead prey, lifted off of the ground and flew off towards the mountains and weird clouds.
"Please tell me we're not going to follow the dragon?" Blaze asked, already knowing the answer.
Without responding, Annessa stood up and started running towards the mountains and dragon.
"Come on, we can't let her go it alone." Freya pulled Blaze up, and followed after their younger teammate.
With Blaze's teleportation, and Annessa's own powers, they made it to the top within the night.
At the peak of the mountain was a huge cave that seemed to go down into the heart of the mountain ranges.
But the three adventures stood in the opening, wondering if they should proceed.
"It is freezing up here." Freya muttered absentmindedly.
She was right though, without the sun and the height of the mountain, caused the fog to freeze into a cotton candy like mist.
"We need to go in."
"Why?! Why did we even come up here?"
"Because Dearie is in there." Freya stated, more busy with getting warm then her teammates sudden attention.
"And how do you know that? And don't say it's a feeling!"
"It is technically a feeling, but closer to magic."
"How so?" Annessa asked.
"As a Erastís, those I have an emotional bond with, I can feel where they are within a square mile."
"You mean we have to go into the murder hole now?"
"Only if we want General back." Blaze said.
The three shared a look before wordlessly agreeing to enter the cave.
One to never miss out on dramatics, Annessa jumped headfirst into the drop off, she transformed into a bat and glided down, hidden in the shadows.
Freya grabbed Blaze's arm tightly as he lowered them down into the hole, on a platform of magic energy.
Only a foot down, they came to a cleared out level, with many below it.
The huge dragon they saw before, was on the bottom level sharing it's worm with other, bigger dragons.
"What are you guys doing here?"
All three of them turned to see General Grayson, calmly sitting next to a huge pile of gold, jewels, and gems, reading a book.
"We're looking for YOU!!!" Blaze shouted.
Annessa kicked him, hoping none of the dragons had heard him. Thankfully none of them had.
"Why?"
"Because we were worried about you!" Freya whispered yell. While sitting next to him and hitting him once in the shoulder.
"Oh."
"So imma take it you're not dinner?" Annessa asked, glancing down at the worm.
"No, they don't like to eat human-like beings."
"And you're not a prisoner." Blaze said it instead of asked.
"I think I'm their pet more than anything."
"So why did you stay!?"
"I saw no reason to leave."
The three others sighed deeply.
Freya grabbed the book Grayson had been reading, and tossed it into the pile of treasure. While Annessa pulled Grayson to his feet and over to Blaze.
"You can't get rid of us, by joining a bunch of dragons."
"I can't escape you people, no matter who I join." Grayson pointed out.
Blaze ignored him, and teleported them all out of the cave.
