After about an hour, Leila had started to create lazy circles and barrel rolls. "Hey, show off," Khila called from behind. "Thought you were in a rush?"
"I got tired of flying a straight line," Leila replied, turning so that her friend could read her lips. "I needed a bit of a break."
Khila shook her head and laughed. Leila continued her aerobatics, until a tingling sensation in the back of her mind. "Hey," she said turning back to her friend, flying backwards. "Do you sense something?"
"Very minor, why?" Khila asked.
"I just got the feeling something awful is about to happen..." Leila answered, her voice trailing off.
"Isn't that common with you these days?" Khila asked laughing in a teasing manner.
"Not funny," Leila replied, turning back around. Christina, she called out through her bond.
I sense it too, Christina replied. Sera and I will scout ahead.
Make sure to look down as well as ahead, Leila warned, the sense of danger growing stronger every second. Rustling leaves caught her attention, and she was barely able to dodge an arrow. "Seriously?" She grumbled, diving down behind the trees where the arrow had come from. After landing, she grabbed an arrow from her quiver and loaded her bow.
"Alright, Wench," a somewhat raspy female voice called out. "I know you're in the trees somewhere."
Leila gasped inwardly as she recognized the voice. "You've got to be joking," she said inaudibly. Peering through some bushes, she saw the owner of that arrow. Seeing a low branch right across, she shot the arrow at the branch, and it ricocheted, hitting the woman's shoulder. The woman whirled around to where she thought the arrow came from, her back toward Leila. "It's been what?" Leila called, stepping out of the bushes, her bow loaded. "Two hundred and sixty years?" The woman started to turn, but Leila stopped her. "Unless you want another arrow, drop yours first."
The grey-skinned Dragon Witch smirked, dropping the bow and arrow. "Well, well, the Wench finally learned how to defend herself."
"Get off your high dragon," Leila growled. "I was a hundred and forty when you took me- practically still a child."
"Yes, and your mother had to come and rescue you," she snickered. "I remember you started crying when you realized we weren't taking you to back to her."
Leila was not amused, and pulled back a little tighter on the bow. "Speaking of which, Trixell, what are you even doing here? I thought she drove all of the Tenebrosi out of Gondra."
"She did," Trixell confirmed contemptuously. "But, that doesn't mean she can keep us out forever. Especially with the rumors that the Queen Dragon died a few years ago."
"So what if she did?" Leila asked irritably. "That still doesn't explain why you're here- unless it's because Abraxas still wants me as his Queen; he's going to find it much more difficult than last time to catch me."
"We'll see," Trixell smirked, i at something behind the younger Dragon Witch.
Leila was about to turn around when there was a gasp of pain. Khila stepped out from behind another set of bushes; Pipsqueak flew up just behind her. Trixell's identical twin, Ella, was on the ground knocked out in front of the two. Trixell rushed to her sister's side as Leila crossed her arms and looked at her friends. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Pipsqueak kept disappearing," Khila replied. "I think he was trying to call out so I could follow him. I'm deaf, not blind-" Khila was cut off as Trixell psionically attacked. "Ow!"
"Alright, Wench," Trixell snickered. "This is how it's going to go: you come with me quietly, and your dumb deaf friend here won't be left here in a catatonic state."
"You really shouldn't have said that," Leila said, giving a look to Khila.
"And why not?"
"You don't want to make the dumb deaf girl scream." Quickly covering her ears, she watched- still cringing slightly- as Khila gave a piercing scream. Ella, who was starting to come to, had to cover her ears quickly; while Trixell lost her concentration on her telepathy, losing her connection with Khila.
Khila steadied herself quickly, then turned to Leila; both of her hands held a knife that was ready for to be thrown should the twins try anything.
Leila motioned for Khila to follow her as they made a quick escape; leaving the twins to recover. "Who were they?" Khila asked when they took to the sky.
"The Gemini twins," Leila replied, turning to look at her friend. "Bella Gemín- although everyone calls her Ella- and Trixell Gemín. We just call them the Gemini twins because their last name sounds similar to the constellation- if only they weren't missing the last letter."
Khila giggled for a moment, before getting serious again. "How do you know them, and what did the crazy one want with you?"
"First encounter was two hundred and sixty years ago," Leila said after a few moments. "Trixell is the one you got to watch out for; Ella, I guess it depends on her mood. They took me to become Abraxas's bride. Unfortunately he was going to have to wait since I was far below age; but he knew that if he took me when I was older my mother's influence would have taken hold. I thought I told you about all this?"
"Wait, didn't you tell me that was when you were taken around the time Dr-"
"Don't say his name," Leila said with a warning glare.
"Okay," Khila said, raising her hand peacefully. She knew that was a sensitive subject, so when you were told to drop it, you dropped it. "Anyway, your mother ended up rescuing you, didn't she?"
"With the help of Ella she did," Leila confirmed, a bit sadly. "She was nice to me; which is sad, since she's always hanging around her sister."
Khila nodded and changed to something that was much more important- FOOD! "How much further to the Mountain? I'm starving!"
Leila laughed as she looked at her friend. "You can last half an hour more!"
"But... but... I feel weak," Khila replied dramatically, slowing down a bit for emphasis. "So faint!"
"If that were true, you'd be losing altitude by now," Leila replied, shaking her head. "Okay, we can land in a few minutes. There should be a creek somewhere close by we can rest at."
As they landed by the creek, both girls dug into their sandwiches and rested their wings. Pipsqueak took a bite out of Khila's sandwich and attempted to scamper off. "Little pest!" Khila grumbled, grabbing the miniature dragon with her telekinesis.
"What'd he do this time?" Leila said, turning to her friend.
"Trying to steal my food," Khila answered, glowering at Pip before releasing him.
Leila chuckled and whistled for Pip to come back to her. "Naughty."
Pipsqueak gave her an innocent look, but she rolled her eyes. "You have your own food." Pip sulked away, while Leila shook her head. She was not giving in.
"Next time I'm gonna turn him into my dinner," Khila grumbled.
"You will do no such thing," Leila warned, laughing. "Besides, I know how to get to him. You know that Mingons are like little children: target the thing they love most and they give in."
"True..." Khila replied thoughtfully. "Still, he needs to stay out of my food."
🐉SotP🐲
"She got away again," Trixell seethed, pacing the ground. Ella was a bit surprised that she wasn't wearing a path into the grass. "That is the last time the little piece of fodder will slip through our fingers. The Malevolent Dragon won't be pleased with us."
Especially not with me, Ella thought, knowing Trixell was too furious to focus on her twin's thoughts. She shuddered to think what Abraxas would do to her if they came back empty handed; but then again, they could use this to their advantage. "Calm down, Trixy," she called, using her sister's nickname as she got off the tree she was leaning on. "We have a few of our questions answered: we know that she is friends with the deaf Oliver; If necessary, we can use certain things as leverage over Niguidara.
"We also know where she's going. She was flying East, just like the little mingon had told us."
"If he was telling us the truth," Trixell snarled. Ella made sure to take a couple of steps back, just so that her sister wouldn't accidentally catch her if she lashed out. "You know Mingons have no loyalties."
Ella sighed, sometimes it was impossible to deal with her sister. However, she did know something that her sister didn't. "There's a certain army in that direction," she said, casually looking at her nails.
Trixell turned slowly to her sister. "Camelot?" She asked, a smile crossing her lips.
"Perhaps," Ella teased gently. The last thing she needed was her own sister upset with her about something. "Could be Ragdon."
"Ragdon wouldn't dare cross the border without a cause," Trixell pointed out.
"I'll let my friend know to be on the lookout," Ella said, creating a shadow portal.
🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉
After finishing their lunch, the girls took flight and landed in front of the mountain a few minutes later. "You sure they could only come through here?" Khila asked.
"You remember the tales of old," Leila said, looking over her shoulder. "There was an old entrance here that was lost to some rock collapse or something. I'm wondering if maybe a rock dragon got careless when they were tunneling or something." She turned around and started to examine the rock, looking for any sign of recent disturbance. Suddenly, though, her danger instincts kicked in.
"Hey!" Khila cried in surprise.
Leila whirled around to see a tall man with short hair and brown eyes holding a knife to Khila's throat. Leila could tell he was a Dragon Wizard by the markings on his face. "Who are you?" Leila asked, glaring at the man her bow loaded and ready to launch the arrow.
"Really?" Khila asked. "The guy's holding a knife to my throat and all you're going to ask is who he is?"
The Draco Sapien put more pressure on the knife, silencing her. "It doesn't matter who we are," the man replied. "The question is, who are you and what are you doing on this side of the mountain?"
"I'm Niguidara," Leila replied curtly. "Now let my friend go or you will suffer the consequences." Her markings appeared at will as she aimed at his heart. She blinked twice at Khila, and Khila blinked once.
"What consequences would those be?" The person holding Khila smirked, but Khila took a deep breath, and screamed at the top of her lungs; just as Leila dropped her weapons and covered her ears; her hands just barely muffled the sound, though, as everyone around them cried out in pain- including Khila's captor.
"Those consequences," Khila said, making sure she got a fair distance from him. She grabbed two knives that she kept hidden on her sleeves in case he got back up. While Khila's dress was a noodle strap, she always wore two sleeves that went up her forearms- much to the dismay of her mother. Two dragons appeared a moment later, turns out it was Seraphina and Christina.
"Cute trick," Khila's captor said, getting up, a little unsteady on his feet as his ears were probably still ringing.
"Stand down, Leon," someone called from behind Leila. She turned to see a handsome dark haired, broad shouldered young man with piercing blue-grey eyes. "These two are just trying to pass through."
Khila looked at Leila, just as she turned. "What did he say?"
Leila was about to reply when Leon snorted. "Are you deaf?"
Leila signed what Leon had said, and Khila glowered at him. "Actually, I am."
"That explains why you were so easy."
Khila gaped for a minute; Leila turned away, holding out her hand for Pipsqueak- who had flown off somewhere- to land on. "He's in trouble," she whispered, giggling a bit as she stroked the miniature dragon.
A moment later, Khila threw both of her knives; Leon dodged one, but Khila used her telekinesis to make sure the other struck in his shoulder. "Next time it'll go through the heart!"
"Tell your friend to stand down," the newcomer told Leila. She turned to glare at him.
"He antagonized her," she said defensively. Pipsqueak hissed a warning as smoke started coming out of his nostrils. "He got what was coming to him." The young man looked at her, and Leila just rolled her eyes. "She won't do it again."
Khila called her knives back to her with her TK, then turned to look at the young man. "You got a problem with my retaliations, then make sure you have your minions keep their mouths shut."
"How-"
"I may be deaf, but I'm also resourceful," Khila replied, cutting the young man off smoothly. "I can read body language; and 'Dara's body language is telling me she's annoyed with whatever you said or did. I just thought about what possibly was said, while thinking about things she could be annoyed about."
The young man nodded. "In that case, if you keep yourselves under control, we will help you with what you need."
"We just have a couple of questions," Leila replied, crossing her arms. "First off, who the dragon Flame are you?"
"I'm Deszo Derek Dorjahn, leader of the Shadow Keepers," the young man replied.
Leila put a palm to her forehead. "Of course," she said, shaking it slowly. "I thought you guys were a Myth."
"What kind of name is Deszo?" Khila asked abruptly; Leila was forced to stifle a giggle.
"Before I answer that, I would like to know your names," Deszo replied.
"Marie," Khila replied using her middle name.
"Cara," Leila replied, also using her middle name.
"Try again," Deszo said, a small smirk on his face as he turned to face Leila. "Why would the infamous Niguidara use a false name?"
"Telepath," Leila growled, glaring at him, signing as well to keep Khila in the loop. He must've been a good one to learn their names without Leila or Khila noticing. "Fine, it's Leila; And she's Khila."
"Thank you," Deszo replied, turning to face Khila. "And to your question, what kind of name is Khila?"
Khila scowled a bit, while Leila smothered a smile. She did have that coming to her. "It's my name and I like it. Very unique."
"Exactly," Deszo replied with a smirk. "Anyway, shall I show you two into the caves? We can finish this conversation there."
Leila looked at Deszo suspiciously, but then shrugged. The Shadow Keepers were supposed to keep intruders out of Gondra, should- at some impossible chance- someone come over the mountain. Plus, if they did try to attack her and Khila, they would pay a hefty price via their dragons, and Leila's father.