The Dragon's Bounty III:Dying Light

Chapter 5

           Khan laid in his room asleep, snoring a bit. Suddenly, he was jolted awake by a blunt pain in his gut. He looked up to see Blake floating above him, giggling and clapping his glowing red hands.
            Khan sighed. "Locked doors can't hold you, huh?" He asked. Blake just continued to laugh. Khan stretched. "Well, I'm up now. Maybe there'll be something to do today." He got out of bed and dressed himself before walking down the stairs, holding on to Blake's foot and towing him along through the air. He looked out the window at the sunrise. Blake stopped giggling and stared at the horizon, mesmerized. Khan smiled. "Pretty, isn't it?" He asked.
             Blake smiled and clapped his hands. "Boodful." He said.
             Khan chuckled. "That's right. Beautiful." Blake's hair began to stretch and grow, mimicking Khan's hair. Khan glanced at it. "I like your style, kid." He said, walking to the pantry to grab some breakfast. "Whataya want? Eggs and bacon, or toast and jam?" Blake floated over to Khan. Khan placed the two options on the table and allowed Blake to choose. Blake floated over and blasted the bread. "Bacon and eggs it is." Khan said, taking the boxes before Blake could blast them. He went back into the kitchen and began cooking. Blake sat on the bar and waited patiently. Aro came down the stairs with a yawn. Blake waved at him with a giggle. Aro groggily smiled and waved back. Blake's hair once again moved around until it had mimicked Aro's, right down to a vine as the bandana around his head.
            Aro raised his eyebrows. "I was right, he can change his hairstyle at will." He smiled and sat down at the bar beside where Blake sat dangling his legs.
            "Hungee." Blake said with a frown.
            Aro patted him on the head. "I'm sure Khan will be done soon. Just hang in there, champ."
            Blake smiled and looked back at the sunrise. "Pyetty." He said.
            Aro turned around and looked. "So it is." He said. Blake giggled and clapped his hands. Khan came out of the kitchen with three plates of bacon and eggs. He placed the smallest in front of Blake and one if the others in front of Aro, both of which began devouring it. Khan laughed as he ate the food himself. Lance drifted down the stairs, drawn by the smell of bacon. Once he'd reached the bar, he opened his eyes.
             "Relinquish the pig." He said. Khan nodded his head toward the kitchen. Lance floated in and fixed his own plate. Once everyone had come down and eaten, the group sat around one of the tables.
            "So, what's on the agenda today?" Andrew asked.
            Khan shrugged. "Hadn't planned anything. There isn't much going on right now."
            "A month and six days." Huey said, his head propped on his arms. "Feels so close yet so far, and I don't know which is better." Everyone nodded.
            Aro sighed. "I know what you mean. I wanna get it over with, but at the same time I want as much time as I can get between me and the possible end."
            Lance slammed his hand onto the table. "I'm tired of living in fear!" He shouted. "It'll happen when it happens, and there's nothing we can do about it." Everyone nodded sternly.
            "All we can do is be ready for when it does." Huey said. Lance nodded.
            "But the question is, are we?" Destiny asked.
            Khan stood. "We've been training and honing our skills as a team for almost a year now. If we aren't ready now, then we never will be."
           "Wonder when Kai and the others will get back." Emma said. She had spent the last few days attempting to pull Heartstorm from its scabbard, but to no avail.
           Huey shrugged. "They're probably messing around underground while we're up here boring ourselves." He said, propping his chin on the table. "Maybe we should pay them a visit."
           Khan shook his head. "I'm sure they're fine. We need to focus on making sure there's nothing else going on up here." There was a knock at the tavern door. Everyone looked over to it.
           Dagger opened the door and walked inside. "Hey, guys?" He asked. Everyone nodded. "I have a job for you." Everyone smiled and stood.
           "Something to do?!" Andrew shouted. Dagger smiled and nodded. Everyone leaned over toward him.
           "I need you to watch the castle because I'm taking Kathrine out today." Everyone frowned.
           "That's not a job." Aro said.
           Dagger shrugged. "Well, I tried." He said. "If you're not interested I'm sure Ethan and Alex can handle it." Aro and Andrew scrambled over to him.
            "Please." Aro said.
            "We're so bored." Andrew said.
            Dagger smiled. "Just don't go in my room." He said. Aro and Andrew nodded, racing off toward the castle. Dagger shrugged. "Well, I'm off. See you all later. Good luck with your boredom problem."
            Khan nodded. "We'll need it." He said. And with that, Dagger disappeared. Khan sat back down. "Now what?" He asked. Everyone else sat down as well.
            "Someone has to watch Blake." Destiny said.
            "Sounds like a job for the woman." Lance said, speedwalking toward the door. Destiny launched a vine from her palm and wrapped it around Lance's ankle, tripping him and reeling him back in.
            "Sounds like a job for dada." She said.
            Lance sighed. "Fine. I'll take him out flying." He said, floating to his feet and dusting himself off. He grabbed Blake and flew out the window.
            "Now that that's settled, what'll we do?" Huey asked. Khan shrugged.
            "We could always try to pull the sword from the scabbard." Emma said, tugging on the hilt of the sword.
            Khan shrugged. "Don't know how we could help you with that, but you can do it if you want." Emma nodded and continued to tug on the sword.
            Huey sat down and sighed. "I wonder what the others are up to."