DRAGONQUEEN: RISE OF THE SILVER PHOENIX

Chapter 23 - Valley of death

Lisa with her bedhead looks hilarious. But I can not afford to laugh right now. I need her to do something very important that I can't entrust my advisors to do. I want the royal families to still be there when I get back.

"Since when did my best friend become this bossy," Lisa complains.

"Since I have the responsibility of an entire kingdom riding on my back and the weight is anything but light. I need you to try and keep the royals at the castle until I get back. If they want to return let Hawkeye know he will organize a dragon to take them home for me," Rebecca replies.

"But Elizabeth can handle it," Lisa replies.

"Then I would have contacted her. Have you forgotten that she is still wearing that slave necklace? To them, she doesn't exist. They won't even listen to her. She isn't ready to handle this kind of diplomacy. One wrong word or toe is out of line and it is blown out of proportion. If your mother was there I would have asked her to handle this," replies Rebecca.

"Where the hell are you that you can't do it yourself!?" Lisa cuts back.

"I am at the entrance to the Valley of death. I need to do this now. This is the only chance I'll get. If all goes well, I'll be back today or tomorrow at the latest," Rebecca replies.

"Are you crazy?!" Lisa cries out. Her eyes are flashing with anger and worry. "Do you have any idea how dangerous the sharkdragons are? They are as fast as fighter jets! Come home, Rebecca. Your kingdom needs you," Lisa tries desperately.

"That's exactly why I am doing this Lisa. Please. This must be done and I can not postpone it. It must be done now. We need the sharkdragons Lisa. If I am the dragonqueen we will gain a powerful ally against Drachna. I know their weakness and we can do this. I trust Lila with my life and I know she will get us there," Rebecca replies.

"If I can not change your mind all I can do is wish you luck," replies Lisa.

"Thank you, Lisa. I could not ask for more. Good luck with the royals. I believe Marilyn and Arwin will be the easiest to persuade and maybe they can also help. Just be careful. She is a redhead," Rebecca says.

"She is a cool redhead. I will start with her. See you later," says Lisa.

"See you soon Lisa," replies Rebecca.

With the swipe of her hand, she guides the water into her water bottle.

She looks up at the dawn grey sky above the mountain ridge where she and Lila have landed for a quick rest before taking on the mountain range before them. From now on the open sky is forbidden to them.

"Lila, we can not risk taking a chance from here on out. We stay as close to the mountainside as we can and we keep moving," says Rebecca as she mounts Lila.

"Got it. If we stop moving we are dead. If I fly in the open sky we are dead. But if we keep moving as close as possible to the mountains we are safe. What makes you think this will work?" Lila asks.

"A sharkdragon's speed is not just his strength, but also his greatest weakness. When they deal with tight corners they have to slow down or suffer severe consequences. Let's go," says Rebecca.

Lila travels in a western direction. It wasn't long before Rebecca feels a sudden rush of wind on her left side and a grey streak passing her along with the rush of wind.

"For crying out loud. Why is this dragon flying so close to the mountains!? We can't let them get to the breeding caves. They will kill our hatchlings, Thwuak," says a female voice on Rebecca's left.