The Other-worldly Protector

Chapter 21: Three Months Later...

Glowing in the sunlight, Discovery Island stood proud with its magnificent mountain range and lush green forests. Above, the clouds were huge weightless clumps of cotton, floating in the eternal blue.

"And DIVE!"

"RWAAAAAAYRH!"

Without warning, a purple bullet tore through an unsuspecting cloud, leaving a gaping hole and a trail of swirling mist as it whizzed away.

The air around Whiplash whistled as she shot towards the sparkling sea, undoubtedly shattering the sound barrier. Kiara pressed herself against the dragon's back as the two became one magnificent being in their dive. Her hood was up as her usual blue jacket complimented the dragon's shimmering purple scales and her black scarf was pulled halfway up her face — what had become a habit of hers when flying.

Curving her wings, Whiplash twirled on her way down, becoming a blur to the outside world, but to Kiara and her, this was a well-practised performance.

"WOOHOO!" Kiara whooped as they neared the water's surface; the thrill and adrenaline rush was a welcomed feeling that energised every fibre of her being.

"It's splash time!" Whiplash announced before slamming her wings outward, instantly ending the dive a metre from hitting the water. The sudden movement bent the water and sent a huge wave spraying up all around them, like a giant ripple, and for a moment the dragon and rider were surrounded by a wall of cascading saltwater. The waves fanned outwards and the pair began to ascend again.

"YEAH!" Kiara cheered as every flap made them bounce back up to the clouds. She pumped her fist in the air as they looped-the-loop on her way up. In no time the pair were above the clouds floating on a gentle spring breeze. "This is wonderful," Kiara breathed as she soaked in the view that could only be felt on the back of a dragon. Whiplash nodded in agreement.

It had been exactly 100 days since Kiara landed on Discovery Island, and, while finding the crystal was always her top priority, Kiara loved flying with her dragon more than anything. It was the only time where she felt truly free of all bonds and worries, where she could forget the sour disappointment at the fact that raking every inch of the island over a course of three months hadn't revealed a trace of the crystal, where all she could feel was the crisp breeze lifting her spirit. Only in the sky, as she rode the wind with Whiplash, could Kiara breathe pure joy.

The pair were on their way to a rock stack not far from Discovery to meet up with Robbie. Though Kiara had befriended almost all dragons on the island, Whiplash and Robbie were always closest to her as best friends, so naturally the three spent most of their time together. Robbie even moved into their cave, which had resulted in the most humorous of nights. The two dragons were the only ones who stuck with Kiara and helped with her continuous search. She couldn't thank them enough.

A loud squawk pulled Kiara from her stream of thoughts. She glanced to the right and spotted a crown of horns poke up from the cloud below. A moment later, a deadly nadder with sapphire scales with a pattern of striking orange scales down her back and tail bounced out of the cloud.

"Stella!" Kiara greeted the dragon, and so did Whiplash with a friendly roar. Stella energetically squawked her reply before dropping back into the clouds and bouncing back up on Whip's other side. Kiara giggled at the playful nadder's behaviour. "I told you we should have called her Cloud-Jumper," she said to Whiplash as Stella continued to swoop in and out of clouds.

"And I told you Cloud-Jumper is taken," Whiplash replied. Stella squawked once more and jerked her head away, as if to say 'see ya later', before flying off in the opposite direction. She was probably heading back to Discovery.