Author's Note

Sorry for the very short and very rushed chapter but my dads nephew has come over again and I can't be asked to do much stuff when he's here so I tried getting out a chapter for you guys to enjoy an the meantime.

Though like always I appreciate any and all comments that you guys decide to share whether It be something you liked or something you hated so don't hold back whether It's positive or negative. And like always see ya!

Another Day, Another Migraine

"C'mon, C'mon!" I said sprinting back down the path as fast as I can.

"What are you doing?" Aesthyr asked

"I'm trying to hurry and get back to the others." I said

"So then why aren't you?" She asked

"What *pant* are you talking about? I running as fast as I can." I said

"Wait, this Is you running!?" she asked flabbergasted

"Of course It *pant* Is." I said

" Maker above, how much have dragons changed since I've been gone?" Aesthyr asked herself

"What did you say?" I asked

"Nothing, look If you run on all fours you'll get to where you need to get to a little bit faster." She said

"Really?" I asked a bit skeptical

"Have I lied to you yet?" She questioned

"We met like a couple of hours ago." I responded

"Well I mean you don't have to do It, but It would help get there sooner." She said

"Fine, but If I mess up I'm blaming you," I say as I slowly come to a stop and proceed to get on all fours.

"This feels so wrong," I said to myself.

"Why do you think that? Dragons did this anytime they needed to get anywhere In a rush back In my time." She said

I awkwardly start moving forward at first but surprisingly after a couple of seconds, It starts to feel second nature to me as I start gradually moving faster than I ever did on two feet.

"Ok, this does feel *pant* faster." I said

"Told you," She said sounding smug.

Thanks to Aesthyr I was able to make it back to the crossroad In only what I hoped was a few minutes as I rushed past the trees and ran back towards our little hideaway.

I start to slow down as I get near the entrance and I get back on my feet as I slowly start to make my way inside hoping that neither one of them would notice me.

"Ok, so far so go-"

"Welcome back Falkor," Ember said as I screamed a very manly scream.

"O-oh h-hey Ember," I said shakingly as I look towards her direction, "And Garble," I added on.

"*snnrk* You screamed like a drakina, no offense Ember," Garble said giving me hope that I was In the clear.

"Does that mean you're not upset?" I asked hesitantly

"Oh no don't get me wrong I still feel like punching you In the face for making us worry but It was still funny," Garble said instantly frowning as well as instantly crushing any chance I had of getting away with this.

"Pretty much, also none taken Garble, he did sound like one for a second," Ember said looking down at me from the pile of gems she was on holding Smolder In her arms while stroking the fin-like appendage back as Garble stood In front at the bottom.

Both which I should mention looked a bit peeved at me right now.

"Now I could've sworn that you had more brains than most drakes In the Dragon Lands so explain to me why you took so long to come back It's night now even though you said you were only going 'a bit outside of our place'." Ember said upset

"Well, I can assure you I have a very good reason as to why this happened." I said

"We're listening," Ember said as they both waited.

[Hey Aesthyr,] I said hoping she could hear me.

"Don't worry I can still hear you, what do you need?" She asked

[Ok good, I was just wondering If was ok If I told Ember and Garble about you?] I asked

"I don't see the problem In doing that, If anything It comes down to Whether they believe you or not." She said

[Good to know thanks,] I said to her before shifting my attention back towards the others.

"So just to make It clear I was going to come back earlier than I did, but when I was about to make my way back I heard a voice calling out for help and so wanting to help I followed It," I started off with.

"Then when I got to the voice I found It coming from a ring where It asked me to help get It out, so I agreed and put It on so that way I wouldn't have to worry about carrying It In my hand all the time, but when I did Its like I was falling asleep and I couldn't do anything about It," I continued with.

"Then when I woke up again I was somewhere else where there wasn't anything else except pitch-black darkness, though I wasn't alone since the voice that was coming from the ring turned out to be a drakina by the name of Aesthyr," I explained causing both of their eyes to widen.

"She used to be a draconic armorer before being trapped In the ring I found, then after that not much happened, we talked and then I started to wake up again only to find that It was night, so I got up and ran back here as fast as I could, leading us to where we are now, and that's pretty much everything that happened," I said as I waited in silence.
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Finally, after a couple of seconds, I see Ember sigh as she looks towards Garble. "What do you think Garble, do you think he's telling the truth?" She asked causing Garble to sigh as he continued to look at me frowning.

"I believe him, I don't know anything about that ring stuff he was talking about but I could see him doing something stupid like that." He said

"Well If you believe him then I guess we can just ignore this happening," Ember said causing me to sigh In relief.

"Thanks for believi-"

"BUT, next time you go out one of us will come with you just in case something happens to you, Is that clear?" Ember questioned

"Y-yeah that's clear alright," I said slightly hesitant.

"Good," Ember said as her face shifted Into more of a relieved expression.

A drakina who knows what she wants and tries to act dominant around drakes when the time calls for It. Haven't seen one of those In a while, I like her already.Aesthyr said

"Yeah, she's pretty fierce sometimes but otherwise, she's probably one of the only drakinas I could feel comfortable around," I said with a smile.

Well whoever her mate will be In the future Is certainly going to have a lot to work with," She said sounding amused.

[Yeah, In the future,] I said to her feeling a bit annoyed for some reason.

"Ohhhhhhh, interesting," Aesthyr said as she started to giggle.

[What's so funny?] I asked confused at her sudden laughter.

"Oh don't worry about It, just something that I found amusing at the moment," She said as Ember and Garble made their way closer.

[Oh ok then,] I said to her before approaching the others.

"Again guys sorry for making you worry," Is what I would've said If Garble hadn't scratched me on the arm causing some pain but not enough to leave any real damage.

"That was for making us worry for no reason," Garble said before engulfing me In a hug, "And this Is for not dying," He said as I reciprocated smiling at this rare moment of him not caring about being tough with me.

"I guess that's fair, sorry for making you worry again," I said as we ended our hug.

"Good because you should be," He said slightly still upset.

"But I'm glad your here, don't like you made us worry like I said, but I'm glad your here," He said earnestly as I turned towards Ember as she walked up to us with a sleeping Smolder as her front half was dangling over Embers shoulder.

"Anything you want to add on as well?" I asked

"Nope, Garble pretty much said and did everything I wanted to say and do," She said before picking Smolder up again and holding her In her arms.

"Now we can talk about your ring stuff and whatnot In the morning but now If you don't mind i would like to be able to go to sleep now without having to worry about anything except for tomorrow," She said as her body slightly deflates with how tired she felt.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," I said as we make our way back to and In the one by one as we start to make ourselves comfortable and fall asleep.

"Hey Falkor." Garble whispered

"Mmh yeah?" I asked almost asleep

"Is It ok If I sleep with you tonight, I-I know Its stupid that I'm asking but I jus-"

"Garble," I said cutting him off.

"Y-yeah?" He asked hesitantly

"Shut up and get over here," I said as I hear and feel him position himself under my left arm and he slightly snuggles into me.

"You good now?" I asked

"Y-yeah thanks." He said

"Good, now sleep," I told him as we both start to drift off to sleep.

I start to feel myself wake up as I blearily open my eyes as I find Garble still under my arm smiling which caused me to smile as he seemed to enjoy being next to me last night.

"Probably just wanted to feel sure you were still here." Aesthyr said

[Yeah probably,] I told her as I went to scratch my face only to come Into contact with something causing me to feel excruciating pain.

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffuck," I said as quietly as I could not wanting to wake the others up as I shakingly tried to feel around where the pain came from.

After a couple of seconds, I was able to find It as I felt It again causing me to pull back In pain.

However, when I started to feel around It I felt something above the painful area that I was able to slightly flick upwards. 'Is that my scale?' I thought to myself

"It sure Is, and It seems like your brother has perfect timing as well," Aesthyr said causing me to look over to him as I saw the same thing happening on his right cheek as well only he wasn't aware of the pain It could cause yet.

'Oh no, are we-"

"Molting? Yep, congratulations though, you're finally on your way to becoming a young dragon, good luck," She said
as she laughed causing me to groan at the situation I would now have to deal with.