Dragon of Three Colors

Chapter 4

No matter how I tried I couldn't stop the questions from circling in my head. I spent most of the flight worrying about answers. It wasn't until Akara turned to look at me in unabashed amazement that I finally snapped out of my thoughts. "Ok seriously how tough can you be? Most people are freaking out or sick by now. I mean look at your friend." I turned my gaze towards Storm and my eyes widened. Now how can I put this delicately? Um yea, he looked terrible. His eyes were squeezed shut and he had his head resting on Kali's back. He looked a little pale. Wait is he really-?

"Storm I swear on everything good in this world if you get sick on me you will be riding in Nightshade's paw the rest of the time and trust me it's not near as comfortable as it is up here." Kali's shout was so sudden it startled me. When I heard Akara laughing in front of me I couldn't hold it in anymore. I started laughing hysterically. Storm opened his eyes and looked over to me and Akara having fun at his expense and appropriately sent us a not so nice gesture in return. This, of course, only served to send us into another laughing fit.

Once we calmed down I sent him the most sympathetic look I could manage. I guess he saw the "Sorry not sorry" look in my eyes because even though he continued to glare it had softened to a playful glare. Good, he doesn't hate me, as long as he doesn't hate me he'll come around. I faced back towards the front to find Akara still looking at me. "What? Is there something on my face?" I started wiping random places on my face only to have Akara grab my wrist and stop me. "There's nothing on your face Silvia. I'm just still amazed at your endurance. Like I said before, most people are just like your friend over there. Sick, groaning, and scared." Scared of what? The height? I guess we were really high up. But that shouldn't bother us.

"Do you mean scared of the heights? Storm and I love them. We still have tree climbing competitions like when we were kids. It helps us find high and stable places so we can survey the area or simply hang out." Akara laughs. "That puts a whole new meaning to 'friends in high places.'" We all groan at her terrible pun, even Storm, and she grins. "Ok, that was pretty bad. Anyway, I didn't mean scared of heights. I meant scared of the rider they go with. Kali looks like she might push Storm off of Nightshade if he so much as gags." I let another small burst of laughter escape me as Storm looks up at Kali in panic. I think I see his arms tighten their hold and my suspicions are confirmed when Kali says, "Storm loosen your hold I can't breathe."

Akara and I laugh and smile at each other. They have such an amazing smile but something seems different. "Wait a minute." I look closer and gasp. How did I not see it before? Akara looks just like a normal person from a distance but when you get closer you notice some things. Their eyes don't have round pupils, they have slits like a cat and all of their teeth are pointed! My shock must show on my face because they smile even bigger showing off their pointed grin. "You must have noticed the telltale Kaveva traits. Pretty cool right?" They open their mouth a bit so I can see their teeth better.

I absentmindedly wonder how often they get asked about this. It must happen pretty often because they offer me a closer look without me having to ask for one. I can't help but give in to my curiosity so I decided to take them up on the offer to investigate further. When I look closer I can see how each one is razor sharp with ends that look so pointy that even the most professional dentists must play rock, paper, scissors to see who takes care of them that day. Honestly, I was shocked at how lethal their teeth looked. Akara chuckles. "How did you know about the dentist thing?" My eyes widen. "Did I say that out loud?" She laughs a little harder and nods her head while I blush in embarrassment.

Akara informed me that they can change their eyes and teeth to look and feel normal but it takes a lot of their energy to do so for an extended period of time. They said this is why many won't do so for more than a couple of minutes/hours depending on the situation. Well, Akara is right. The slit pupils, sharp teeth, and slight body alteration ability is pretty cool. When I look back to check on Storm, Kali is looking at Akara with an amused smile on her face. "Showing off again Akara?" She laughs a bit before looking at me. "You are taking this extremely well, unlike most others." She glances at Storm when she says "others" and I can't help but crack a smile. She grins at me before asking, "Are you sure you've never ridden a dragon before? The only people who don't react to their ride to the school have all admitted to riding dragons before.