Rowan awoke to the beams of sunlight leaking through the cracks in the barn walls. "Ketara?" he yawned. Rowan rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around the room. Ketara was nowhere to be seen. "She's probably out for her morning flight." He thought as he got to his feet and returned to the house to check on everyone.
"Hello anyone home." A delicate voice asked as she opened the door
Astraea walked out of the kitchen with a mug in her hand, froze as she saw the newcomer, and put a hand on her sword. "Who are you?" she asked eyeing the girl up and down.
"Have you seen Rowan around?" the girl asked.
"No, I haven't." Astraea scowled as she took a sip. "Who are you again?"
"I'm Rika, Rowan's sister. I was away at school."
"Oh," Astraea relaxes slightly as she sat on the sofa "Where is Rowan, anyway?"
"Who knows? He will show up soon," Rika shrugged, "I have a surprise for him."
"I better go check on Katrina and Astraea hopefully they are on the mend." Rowan said aloud. He yawned, stretched and proceeded to the house.
Rika walked to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She sat on the couch with Astraea. Drank the coffee and continued to chat.
"Surprises are always fun," Astraea smiled. "What lessons are you taking?"
"I have been training with a blade and learning to control my dragon. He is off on his routine flight." Rika went on.
Astraea whistled "Excellent choices."
"Rowan might not like that I have dated in school. I don't want to talk about that. Plus I missed the farm." Rika said
"Well you should tell him to mind his own business," Astraea scoffed.
Rowan approached the door to the sound of voices and the smell of fresh coffee. "How is everyone faring today...Ri...Rika! Oh, my goodness I am so glad to see you,"
Astraea turned to Rowan, "I took the liberty of making coffee hope you don't mind."
"I'm surprised to see you up and about Astraea. How are you feeling?"
"As if I've been stabbed," she grimaced "But really I'm feeling well."
Rika jumped up and hugged Rowan to death. Rowan wrapped his arms around he and squeezed her tight.
"Sister, I have missed you so. How is your learning going?"
Astraea quietly slipped out of the room to check on Katrina and the others.
"Good, plus I have dragon!" Rika exclaimed. "He is out on flight for now."
"A dragon?!? How did you find a dragon?" Rowan inquired shocked by his sister's revelation.
"I found a dragon egg while I was at school. They had a class for learning about dragons." Rika declared.
"I see..." Rowan looked skeptical but accepted Rika's response. "And what is his name? I wonder what Ketara will think."
"His name is Spike, Rowan," Rick went on.
"That's an interesting name choice. What type of dragon is he?" Rowan asked still excited about the news.
"He is a lighting dragon," Rika said with a smile.
Astraea came back after seeing that the others were still resting, "Speaking of which, I have to tell you guys something, but I can't seem to decide whether to wait until the others are awake or not."
