The Ender Eye led the way towards Diamond Heights. Abbigail wondered why they weren't here after they were at the Pinkolson's. Beside her, Denny seemed equally bewildered. Behind them, Saxon was whistling an unknown tune. He suddenly took out a blue bottle and offered it to Trevor.
"Here's somesing I made." He said. "Just try a sip, trust me you'll like it."
Trevor eyed the suspicious liquid. He had learned the hard way in the academy not to mess with unknown potions, especially if someone offers it to you like that.
"What is it?" He asked.
"It's just a little water, sugar, and…a netherwart." Saxon replied casually.
Trevor stepped away. "I don't want to drink netherwarts."
Saxon tucked his fists in and flapped his elbows up and down. "Bawk! Bok Bok! I sink we have a chicken!"
"Fine! Gimme that!" Trevor grabbed the bottle and drank it all in one long gulp.
"Wow! You are right!" Trevor said in a high pitched voice. His words were coming out so fast that Abbigail and Denny looked back. "That actually tasted pretty good!" Trevor ran circles around Saxon. He was as excited as a three-year old. "I didn't know netherwarts were this delicious!"
Saxon chuckled. "See, I told you zat…"
"Huh, what was that?" Trevor was still running in circles, his words tumbling out in a rapid fire of shrill sounds. "Why is everyone walking so slow now?" He zoomed past Abbigail and Denny, who looked sternly at Saxon.
Saxon was now barely suppressing his laughter. "What?" He said, bending over with hands on his stomach. "I just-haha-gave him a little…" He dismissed something with his hand. "Eh, don't worry, it'll wear off. I hope."
The group, except Trevor, turned back to the Eye. It began to circle around and around, as if it's not certain where to go.
"Arr we still going the right way?" Denny asked.
"Yeah we are just… wait what?" Abbigail said, but the Eye suddenly shot into the air and disappeared.
"Where'd it go?" They spun around, but they couldn't find the Eye anywhere.
"Abbi," Denny said, crossing his arms, "You aren' getting us lost are you?" Luna came down and glared at Abbigail, evidently she sensed what was going on.
Trevor zoomed past them again. "Oh ok we're going this way now that's fine by me I was getting ahead anyway. Come on keep up!"
"If you are looking for me," a man shouted from over their heads, "you are headed the wrong way."
The sky darkened, and a second Ender Dragon, almost twice the size of Luna, pounded down beside them. A man jumped down from its back. He had flowing blond hair, smooth but solid wheat-colored skin, and clothed in scarlet velvet. His nose stood between his dazzling blue eyes. He stood tall and straight. Beneath his crimson robes, there were hints of bulky arms and solid abs. He approached the group with a solemn walk that bespoke of nobility.
"Who arr you?" Denny demanded.
Upon reaching them, the man bent down and took Abbigail's hand in his and kissed its back. Abbigail blushed slightly at his touch. Denny seemed unimpressed.
"Someone who has heard that a charming young lady was recruiting the new generation of Enderknights." He stepped back and addressed the group. "My name is Allister Evanstein the Third." He bent his knee, placed his right foot backwards, waved his right hand to meet his stomach, and bowed.
"And this here, is the almighty Thunderdome." Allistar stood up and patted the huge dragon by the muzzle. At his words, Thunderdome wagged his tail like a hound. Luna turned her head to the side at Thunderdome's gaze.
"Hey, you two both get dragons?" Saxon jumped in. "When can I get mine?"
Abbigail ignored him, and spoke to Allistar. "We were on our way to find you. Looks like you found us first. Welcome to the team." Denny still looked pissed. At this time, Trevor walked up. He was panting heavily and bent over his knees.
"Wel…Welcome to…to the t-team."He pumped his fist, before collapsing on the floor. "Imma… just…huff…lay down… for a little bit… huff, uff…"
"My name is Abbigail." She said, not some charming young lady, though the compliment did tickle something in her. "This here is Denny, over there is Saxon, and lying on the ground is Trevor."
"Mr. Evanstein, can I offer you a drink?" Saxon piped up, a smile crooking across his face.
"You were riding him?" Abbigail looked up at Thunderdome. "How long ago did he hatch?"
"Nearly half a year ago." Allistar replied, "Shortly after yours from what I've gathered."
The Eye had returned and dropped into Denny's hand. He threw it in the air and watched it drift north.
"Alrigh', fancy dragons, let's move along now." He drawled.
Allistar ignored him. "Have you ridden your dragon yet?" He asked Abbigail, looking at Luna, who was now determinedly avoiding Thunderdome by taunting him with her tail.
"No, I don't think Luna is ready for that…" Abbigail said. Luna snapped her head around and hissed like a cat.
"What? You're still young." Luna hmphed, sending a puff of purple smoke out of her nostrils.
"Well if you could carry me all this time why didn't you let me know?!" Now Abbigail is frustrated. All this time she had been walking and Luna just didn't say anything.
Instead Luna muzzled Abbigail onto her neck. "Come on, let's see if she can do her job." Allistar jumped on top of Thunderdome and dug his spiked heels into the dragon's sides. Thunderdome's eyes widened for a second, then took off.
Meanwhile, Abbigail had clambered onto Luna facing her tail. She was sitting somewhere between the wing joints and the tallest scale on Luna's back.
"Yeah ze front of the dragon is zee ozer side." Saxon remarked. Abbigail could almost see him facepalm.
"I know." She growled. "Hold on." She turned around and climbed like a baby monkey to the base of Luna's neck.
As soon as she did, Luna heaved and launched into the air. "Woah-oah-oah!" Abbigail shouted. It was like riding a powerful horse, that flew.
"Reaaaally wish we got dragons too." Saxon sighed as he gazed up from the ground.
"I think… I don't know if…" Trevor gasped from the ground.
"Take a breath, dude." Saxon patted him on the small of the back.
Luna and Abbigail soared into the blue sky and found Allistar and Thunderdome waiting for them behind a cloud. As they approached, Abbigail reached up and brushed the white fluff with her hand. The cloud burst into droplets and rained all over her.
"What the!" She shouted, "Didn't know about that." She hastily shook her hand dry.
Allistar chuckled. "I can see it really is your first time up here. Come, let Luna learn your guide." He squeezed Thunderdome with his knees and they flew into the distance.
"You ready, girl?" Abbigail patted Luna's neck, and her dragon flapped her wings frantically to catch up with the other's long, slow, strokes.
"Hey Abbi, watch this!" Allistar clenched Thunderdome's neck, and the dragon tucked his wings in. Spinning like an arrow, he dived into the clouds.
"Woohoo!" Abbigail shouted as Luna imitated Thunderdome, coming up behind them.
"How about this?" Allistar tucked his toes in and Thunderdome stopped in mid air, hovering like a balloon. Luna shot right past and came around in a big circle.
"No problem!" Luna stopped next to them, waving her wings back and forth.
"I have one last trick to show you." Allistar said. He pressed his heels in and Thunderdome shot into the distance. Luna followed eagerly.
They had almost caught up when the huge dragon before them suddenly shot upwards and over their heads. "Behind you!" Allistar shouted. Abbigail turned her head and saw Thunderdome right on their tail. If this was combat, they would be sitting ducks.
Luna seemed impressed. She jolted her scales and pushed Abbigail onto her neck. Then, she accelerated, turned upwards, and fell down.
"Woah-oah-oah!" Luna scrambled to keep herself in the air, her legs flailing helplessly. Abbigail clung to her neck for dear life, she closed her eyes, then…
They were back in the air, but not on their own. "You might be right. Luna needs some practice before she can pull tricks like that." Allistar said. Abbigail opened her eyes, and found herself on Thunderdome's back. Luna woke up in Thunderdom's paws her and shook her head in a dazed effort. She looked up and saw the other with a goofy smile on his face with his paws at her sides.
Allistar extended his hand and helped Abbigail up. He pulled her up behind him. Clutching his strong waist, she felt the warmth through his robes, Thunderdome's steady beating and rhythmic ripples under his scales, and felt, for the first time since she left the farm, safe.
"Let us return to the others now." Allistar suggested. "I think that's plenty for your first time in the sky."
It was close to sundown. The group were following the Eye northward, then west, when the relic suddenly dropped onto the ground, and its light faded away.
"Whot?" Saxon exclaimed. Abbigail went to pick up the Eye. She shook it a bit, trying to bring it back to life.
"Did somethin' go wrong?" asked Denny cautiously.
Abbigail hesitated a bit. Luna came down to the ground, followed closely by Thunderdome, who was breathing down her tail and sniffing her eagerly.
"Let's set up here for the night." Abbigail suggested, and the group broke up to set up camp.
After the firewood was gathered, Luna charged forward and puffed on the wood. However, she could only send small sparks that cannot even reach the mound. Smoke wheezing out of her nostrils, she turned to Thunderdome for help. He elegantly walked forward, like his master, and with one gentle breath, set the pile ablaze.
"Guess we won't be needing zis anymore." Saxon looked sheepishly down at his flint and steel. He put them away and set up a pot for dinner.
"Here, I brought some." Allistar took out a large sack and pulled out stacks upon stacks of pristine carrots, fresh steaks, juicy apples, and all other sorts of food. "I bought these just before I set out."
"Ooh, delicious!" Trevor pierced a radish on his sword and started toasting it on the fire.
"It's ok, I guess." Denny took a bite out of a carrot.
After everyone has eaten their fill, they sat around the fire. Denny motioned to sit next to Abbigail, but Allistar stepped in and took his spot. Disgruntled, he found another log and sat opposite them. Saxon and Trevor plopped down on two stumps. The dragons were already asleep under a nearby ledge, with Thunderdome's massive figure concealing Luna's petite one.
"So I guess zis is it?" Saxon said, looking around the circle. "Zis is ze entire team? Your glowing Eye seems to be taking a break."
Abbigail checked the Eye in her pouch. It was still lifeless. "Yeah, I guess this is it." She put the Eye away again.
"Well, I'll be the first to formally introduce myself!" Saxon nodded at Allistar, stood up and approached the fire. "My name is Saxon, and I specialize in potion brewing."
"You're not talking about alteration potions are you?" Allistar interjected. "Isn't that illegal?" Abbigail could sense something in his words, something like, hatred? He was looking like how she felt when she learned her parents were killed by the Legion.
"In all six kingdoms!" Saxon confirmed proudly. "It's illegal, dangerous, and exdreamly difficult." He puffed out his chest and patted himself proudly. "Not a problem for me though. Your pal Saxon has YEARS of experience." He bowed.
"I don't claim to be ze best brewer, but I've made my fair share of potions." He eyed Trevor meaningfully. "and I'm not just talking speed enhancements."
"Once I made a potion of invicibility" Saxon continued. "I say once, because I lost sight of my buyer and he never paid up." Chuckles rippled through the circle.
"So how about you, speedy?" Saxon retreated to his stump. "Tell us about yourself."
"What? Oh okay." Trevor startled. "Well I'm Trevor. I was an apprentice enchanter at Twin Pass, hoping to train at Etherea one day. That's mostly it, I guess." He finished somewhat sheepishly.
"So if I asked you to make my boots unbreaking," Saxon raised his foot to bring his tattered shoes into the fire light, "Could you do it? Would save me buying a new pair after all zis walking."
"Oh no I can't." Trevor waved his hands in front of him. "I haven't actually been able to enchant anything yet. I'm still learning."
Saxon waited for Trevor to continue, but after an awkward silence, he decided Trevor wasn't going to say anything else.
"Give it up for Trevor everyone: the enchanter!" Saxon announced to the group, and clapped a few times. The others followed lightly.
"Denny." The masked man addressed the ginger hair next. "You were a farmer, right?"
"Yeah, my entire family too." Denny replied. "We supply much of the food fur Hyperia, an' Diamond Heights."
"I thought I recognized your surname." Allistar interjected again. "I'm sure you remembered mine." Denny glared at him, stood up and headed into the woods.
"So Abbi," Allistar inched closer on the log, "Are you ready to become the first Enderqueen to rule all of Ardonia?"
Abbigail moved to the edge. Not this close, not yet. "I don't plan on ruling Ardonia."
"The Enderkings have always ruled." Allistar persisted. "Well, at least until King Rendor stepped down, and created the six kingdoms."
"Wasn't that a good thing?" Abbigail repositioned herself. The edge was jagged and really difficult to find a comfortable posture. "The people rebelled for years in order to have free kingdoms."
"Ordinary people don't know what's best for them, Abbi." Allistar proclaimed. Saxon made a snorting sound behind his bowl of stew. Trevor fidgeted with his potato. "That's why it takes a strong leader to rule them." Allistar ignored them and continued. "As soon as Rendor gave up his power and retreated into the End, the Nether army attacked. The Great War never would have happened if it weren't for him."
Abbigail stood up. Just what is this man thinking? She noticed Luna peeking out from behind Thunderdome, her teeth bared in a growl. The other dragon opened one eye, raised his left wing, and gently subdued Luna back into her sleeping position.
"Perhaps you're putting too much pressure on yourself." She felt someone grab her hand. "I can help with that. Allow me to rule with you, as King and Queen."
What felt warm and comforting in the sky a few hours ago was now cold and harsh. "I can manage on my own." Abbigail threw Allistar's hand away and went into the woods after Denny. Saxon finally put down the bowl and wiped the remains from his mouth. Silently, he and Trevor began cleaning up the dishes and Abbigail thought she saw Saxon roll his eyes at Allistar.
"If you've finished, sir, I'll handle that." He said coldly and took away the empty bowl.
Abbigail found Denny sitting on a log near a small ledge, overlooking the woods below. The moon spilled its pale silver rays down, reflecting on his hair, making him look like a tired lion.
"Is everything alright, Denny?" Abbigail approached him. "You kind of just stormed off there."
Denny sighed, Abbigail placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, I jus- I can' stand Allister!"
"I mean, I don't agree with him, but he has a point." Abbigail tried to reason.
"Not tha'." Denny kept staring into the distance. "He's a Diamond Heights… person" he blurted after a short moment. His ears have turned red. Abbigail knew him by now that this was the sign of him on the verge of swearing.
"What's wrong with that?" She ventured cautiously.
"Pinkolson farm has always done the 'ard work to feed people like those in Diamond Heights." Denny still had his gaze set on the horizon, but his words came out like water pent up behind a dam. "Yet somehow we stayed poor and they just go' richer. An' their always looking down on us, like we no different than our farm animals. I've been ter his house befor'. I saw the dragon egg on display." He whirled around to face Abbigail. "Like a trophy!" He was panting now. "Of cour' it hatches for him."
"Dragons have always been known to hatch for the right person. Maybe there's more to him that we're not seeing." Abbigail was feeling it too, that sensation of being trapped on a farm. Even though Mr. Finch always went to Oakendale, she had never been there herself. But he did mention once or twice how some people treated him like dirt, like they had to stoop themselves to be buying their crops. A couple of times, men in carriages whistled at her as they passed by the land.
"But you are right." She continued. "Even though I've never really been outside of my farm, I've had those type of people come by. Still," she held Denny's hand in hers. She could feel the crusty skin on both their hands, a reminder of their pasts. "We are all Engerknights now. We should try to stay together."
"Yeah," Abbigail felt Denny's muscles relax. "Yer right. Sorry, I don' mean ter come across as a problem." He turned around and looked at her. The moon slanted across his face. His freckles, which should have casted shadows, instead glinted under the light. "Thank you, Abbi."
They headed back to the camp together, but as they came sight of the fire, they realized that their hands were still linked and let go.
Abbigail felt the Eye tug in her pouch. "Rest well, everyone." She announced. "We have a long trek tomorrow."
"Your tent is over here, sir." Saxon halted Allistar following Abbigail. She noticed that he had deliberately set up their tents opposite from each other across the fire, while his and Trevor's faced Denny's.