POV: Fendrel
Venom had closed his eyes, but his ears were perked as if he wasn't fully asleep.
Something rustled in the bushes on the other side of the camp.
Fendrel rose from his sitting position and crept toward the movement.
The bushes went still. Muffled breathing sounded from the vegetation.
It doesn't sound like an animal, and the breathing is too quiet to be a dragon's. Is this someone from the human kingdom here?
Fendrel plunged his hands down, grabbed fistfuls of clothes, and threw the watcher into the camp.
The new human yelped and rolled in the dirt, landing on his stomach.
Venom stood and bounded toward the newcomer, causing the others to wake up.
Fendrel took a knife out of his bag and pointed it at the human. "Who are you?"
Something crashed through the trees behind Fendrel. He turned and jumped away just as a massive water dragon stomped in with a territorial snarl.
He's even bigger than Venom!
The water dragon pulled the new human against his chest while Venom bared his fangs and stepped in front of Fendrel. At the sight of Venom, the water dragon calmed down. "Noble Venom."
"Do I know you?" Venom flicked his ears back.
"We met formerly, but only once." The water dragon let go of his human and bowed. "You were looking for a human, asking Ammonite about him—" he eyed Fendrel "—and it looks like you found him."
Venom tilted his head. "...Mar?"
"Yes, sir." The larger dragon, Mar, smiled.
So Fog was right. Venom had been searching around for me years before I met him.
Fendrel stepped out from behind Venom. He calmed his tone. "Who are you two?"
The new human stood. He wore a cloth over the bottom half of his face. "You mean you don't recognize me?" His voice was amused.
"No, I've never met a Newlander before." Fendrel stood rigid.
There was a beat of silence.
Fendrel tried to wrack his brain. Green eyes, a hint of freckles, reddish hair, a teasing smile.
Wait, he's wearing a mask. How do I know what his smile looks like?
"No..." Fendrel's eyes widened. "You're..."
"Yes-s-s." The human nodded slowly.
"You're supposed to be dead!" Fendrel couldn't tell if he was overjoyed or extremely confused.
The human checked himself out. "Obviously not."
"Fendrel?" Venom looked down at Fendrel. "Who is this?"
"This is Frederick." Fendrel pulled the human's cloth down. "My brother."
Frederick pulled a shocked Fendrel into a hug and nodded at the others. "Hey."
"Frederick?" Ember's head popped out of the foliage beyond the camp.
"Hey!" Frederick flung his arms up.
"I saw Fog sneaking away from our camp, so I followed her." Ember used her wing to push aside ferns, revealing a sheepish Fog crouching. She corralled the younger noble into the fire's light with her.
