Wings of Fire: Revenant

Chapter Twelve

The four friends parted ways on the morning of their first day off, saying their goodbyes amongst a bustling throng of departing dragons.

"I'll see if I can smuggle back some fried mountain goat from the party," Cliff said, running his forked tongue across his lips.

"Eyuck! Thanks, but no thanks," Peacemaker replied with a grimace.

"Don't worry; you can have whatever garnish it comes with. I sure hope you like dehydrated oranges," Cliff said, cackling as he soared away across the sky.

"Be safe," Auklet told them as she lighted into the air, wings already angled towards the sea. "I'll see you all when I get back."

Peacemaker watched her go, thinking back to a similar conversation he had had with Moon a few days before.

"I just want you to be safe," she'd said.

"I will be," he had replied. "Come on, don't you think you would have had a vision if I was going to fly off somewhere and die?"

She'd wrinkled her snout at him. "That is not reassuring."

"I'll be fine," he'd sighed impatiently. "I'm not a hatchling, Moon. I can take care of myself."

"I know you can," she'd replied softly. "It's just ... just ... stay with Seeker, all right? I don't want you getting lost over there."

Peacemaker had agreed to this after some eye rolling, and that had been the end of the conversation. He didn't know why Moon was all hot and bothered over this idea, and wasn't really interested in dragging out the argument long enough to find out. All that mattered now was that he was here with Seeker, starting the journey to their tribe's once lost kingdom.

The flight would take almost the whole day to complete, so the two of them had each packed a satchel of food and water for the long journey. Along with these provisions, the bags also held the many jars of dried herbs that Orchid had sent from the rainforest.

Even after extensive research, Peacemaker hadn't managed to discover a cure that Seeker's father hadn't already tried. Still determined to find some way to help, he had written to Orchid and asked if she could send a large supply of all the herbs that Seeker said her father most frequently used.

Peacemaker had surprised Seeker with these just a few days before they set out on their journey, and she had promptly tackled him in an enormous hug.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't do more," Peacemaker had told her, thinking of the miracle cure he had been hoping to find.

"Do more?" Seeker had replied incredulously. "Peacemaker, you've done so much more than I ever expected. Thank you."

The jars of herbs now clinked noisily together in their satchels as the two of them departed Jade Mountain on the first leg of their journey.

The flight took them west, across the tail end of the mountain range, and all the way to the outskirts of the Kingdom of Sand. Here the flat, sandy desert gave way to rolling hills of rock and gravel, dotted sparsely with cacti and scrub grass. It wasn't the most exciting landscape to be flying over for what seemed like forever, but the two of them kept themselves entertained with talk of their homes.

Peacemaker told Seeker about the rainforest – about the harvest festivals, the yearly Night-Rain jubilee, and the way the moon globe trees lit up the forest every night.

In return, she told him about the settlement – about which parts of the ancient city remained, and which parts had tumbled from the sharply eroded cliffs and into the sea. She told him how bits of roofs or columns sometimes appeared when the tide was out, and how you could dive into the water and find ancient statues fused into the bright coral reefs.