Fire and Ash

Chapter 2

"Wait, hold on," Sky said, flying up beside Moon and Qibli. "What is Jade Mountain Academy, again?" 

"An academy, Sky, how goofball-ish can you get," Wren joked, standing up and balancing on the ridge of Sky's wing. 

"Wren," Sky scolded, but he was shaking with laughter now, and the human yelped and had to sit down again to avoid falling off. 

"You know what Jade Mountain is, right?" Moonwatcher asked. 

"Uh," Wren said. "No?" 

"What? How could you not? It's the tallest mountain in all of Pyrrhia!" Tsunami yelped. 

"We did once see a really big mountain that was full of dragons flying around," Sky offered. "It looked kind of like a snake lunging towards the sky-"

"Yup," Qibli said, "that's Jade Mountain if I've ever heard someone talk about it." 

"There's a school built into the mountain," Moon explained. "Dragons from every tribe can go there." 

"Whoa," Sky said. "That does sound pretty awesome. Doesn't it, Wren?" 

"Yeah, and dangerous," Wren rolled over on her dragon's back. "Sky, what happened to staying away from other dragons? We were fine on our own. What if one of them tries to eat me?" 

"They wouldn't dare," Sky replied bravely, spreading his wings and soaring up over the others. "I'm far too daring and fierce to ever let anyone eat you, Wren." 

"Daring and fierce are two words I would not use to describe you," Lynx said with a laugh, soaring up beside Sky. "But I'm sure Moon, Qibli, and Tsunami will keep anyone from eating you, Wren. And no one would dare eat something that can talk. That's just, like, uber-gross." 

"See?" Sky said, craning his neck to look at Wren. "No one will eat you, because you're uber-gross." 

"Wow, I'm so glad you all think so highly of me," Wren replied. 

"Your minds are so weird," Moon said, flying up beside Sky and Wren as well. "No offense. I mean it as a compliment. But it's like a big jumbled-up mess of Human and Dragon in there, half of it is squeaking and emotions, and the other half is legible thoughts. It's pretty amazing." 

"That's not 'squeaking and emotions'," said Wren firmly, standing up on Sky's back. "That is my original language, and it's totally awesome, so there." 

Sky laughed. 

"We're nearly there," Moon continued, her eyes returning to the mountain up ahead. It's peaks were swarming with dragons - Sky suddenly felt anxiety building up in his chest, making his wingbeats harder and harder. Everything he'd ever been taught since he was a hatchling started pounding through his head - Other dragons are dangerous. Not as dangerous as humans, but close. They will poke you and prod you and try to figure out what's wrong with you, and even though they might not kill you, there's a good chance that they might eat me. And you never know. They don't like dragons who look different from themselves. 

He remembered the time he was locked up by Queen (apparently Princess) Burn's head general, and he remembered how cruel General Sandstorm had been. 

"Sky," a voice shook him from his thoughts. "Sky!" 

"Ah!" he yelped, flapping his wings madly. 

"Sky! Calm down!" That was Wren's voice, speaking in their mixed hybrid language between Dragon and Human. That was a voice Sky could trust. His mind cleared and he realized the dragon he'd lashed out was Qibli.