The Heart of A Dragon Rider

Chapter 28: Peeping Jackson

Blah. I didn't just change and edit, I redid this whole chapter itself. -Takes deep breath to hide annoyance with Watty-

Enjoy.

MAJOR EDITS AND CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE.

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"Leto?" I patted her neck gently and bent down, my eyes flicking over her scaled form in concern. "Are you alright? Do you need rest?"

Leto released a heavy breath, indicating that she indeed needed a rest. I searched for a clearing in the forest we were flying above and pointed it out to her. She eyed it, circling it from above and then flew down. She was careful to dodge trees and branches as she landed in the clearing. It had a river that was good..

My legs were like jelly when I climbed, slowly, off of the dragon's back and stood still so I wouldn't make my legs give out. I listened to the sounds of the forest, but was only greeted by the song of crickets. I turned back to Leto and began removing my backpack. "Are you alright?"

She settled down into a laying position, bending her head and breathing a flame under her belly before settling down completely. "Just exhausted," she murmured. "Will you be okay if I sleep?"

I smiled. "I'll be fine. Get some rest, you deserve it."

Leto tucked her head under her white wing and I could tell it didn't take long for her to fall into a deep slumber. I slid my backpack down and pulled one of the daggers I stole from the weaponry in TTC and decided to look around.

It didn't seem to have anything we needed to worry about so far, maybe a few annoying foxes. Otherwise, it was all squirrels and birds for the most part. I sat near Leto, but some bit away, and slid down the side of a tree and scraped the bark with the dagger's blade quietly.

I watched as a cricket made it's way up a blade of grass near by leg, making it's nightly noises. I rested my head against the tree and sighed softly, the scraping of the dagger beginning to slow as a weary heaviness began to creep upwards in my head.

The song of the crickets only grew louder, and the dagger slipped from my hand as darkness engulfed me like one would hug a friend.

--

A loud roar jolted me awake, making me shoot to my feet. My senses were now awake and on high alert, my eyes darting around. What was going on? Suddenly Leto whipped through the trees furiously and dropped a body from five feet in the forest. The body landed with a loud thud, followed by a groan. "Ow."

Eyes locked onto the body I ushered forward, knowing Leto was about to land nearby in case I needed help. I stormed up to them and looked to see who it was, wondering if it was some poor hiker who'd seen Leto.

Sadly, that was not the case at all.

Standing below me, gazing up with those annoyingly gorgeous brown eyes was Jackson. He was coughing hard, rolling onto his side. "That was completely unneeded, thanks."

Leto's nostrils flared as she glared at Jackson, her tail lashing out and hitting him. The hit sent him stumbling once more a few feet away.

"Shit!" he yelled as he landed on a hard surface. "Crap, sorry! No need to kill me for goodness sake!"

Leto edged forward again, but I stopped her by holding my arm out. Hesitantly, Leto stopped and backed off while her lip remained curled up in a soft snarl.

"Jackson," I announced coolly, raising my eyebrows at him as he weakly sat up. "What are you doing here? How did you get here in the first place?"

The brown-haired guy held his index finger up, signaling he needed a minute. He rolled over onto his hands and knees and caught his breath before staggering to his feet. "Damn."