Quetz gritted his teeth but had to concede to his rider. The determination in Dawn's voice was strong. 'About six hours through the enchanted forests.'

'Great. Tell me what all I need to pack for the journey.'

​​

'Food, clothes, medicines, warm clothes as I will be flying at a higher altitude, water, insect repellant and coordinates of the place where you want to go.'

'Okay, wait for me!' she said.

'Dawn, tell me what happened. Rethink your decision. This could be a trap too.'

'No this isn't a trap. I know. Daryn is missing. His plane crashed in the Amazon jungles.'

Quetz didn't know how to respond to that. 'When are you coming?' he asked. He understood her anguish. It affected him too.

'Like I said, half an hour!'

Dawn cut him off and started dumping things in her satchel. She changed into her black leather pants and jacket. As if on instinct she strapped daggers across her waist. She could feel the presence of the bolt across her back as soon as she remembered it. It was like her invisible weapon. She didn't know what she would be up against over there. Vampires? They were killers in every sense.

When Dawn was ready, she peeped over the railing of the balcony. There were members of the clan sprawled across the gardens for heavy security. Some of them were planning things with Gayle and Neal. Brenda and Cole were also standing with them. Those near Gayle appeared to be in deep discussions. On the center of the table there was a map of the jungles. She had to somehow trick all of them and go to Ensmoire.

Dawn wore a black thick fur coat over her satchel, and walked down the stairs. She straight went to the kitchen, smiled at the servant who became nervous with the owner's presence, picked up a bottle of water, pineapple juice apart from bread, cheese and fruits from the fridge and opened the door of the backyard. The place was empty. Cool! Dawn opened the fence and walked out as quietly as possible. Once she was fifty feet away from the mansion, she sprinted to Ensmoire.

'Dawn, slow down!' Quetz berated. But she wouldn't. Through the silent woods and foothills, Dawn just dashed to her dragon. She didn't pause to listen to weird sounds of other wild creatures around. The whole forest was engulfed in eerie stillness. 'You shouldn't have gone Daryn. At least you should have asked me.' If he had asked her, none of this would have happened. He would have been still with her. Night became ever darker with clouds covering the moon and the stars. Dawn knew her way, so she continued to run with speed. She didn't have time to ponder. When she reached the fog surrounding Ensmoire, she stopped to take a breath. The air had become cold and she had to fly her dragon. Her throat became dry and she took out her juice. Sipping it, she entered the fog.

Quetz was waiting for her on the other side. He gave her a warning look with his deep blue eyes that looked darker in the night. His whole persona came off as dangerous against the ebony of the lands. 'Are you sure about this?' he asked.

'Never surer,' she replied and without wasting time, she held a spike on his neck and climbed atop him. 'Keep as low as possible,' she instructed. 'The air up there might be freezing for me.'

'I will,' said Quetz and with powerful strokes of wings, he took off to the night sky. Soon the ground below them dwindled and they were flying out of Ensmoire, over the river that flowed the valleys, destination south.

They flew low and fast over the forests. River Lifye receded behind them and the land became dry and rocky. The wind only became chillier as they ascended.

Dawn sagged herself against Quetz's neck to keep herself from getting colder. His muscles rippled under his skin when he flew.

The topography of the land changed and the rocky planes were now covered with bushes and occasional trees. Clouds still covered the moon and the stars, darkening the skies and lightning flashed in the distance. Winds howled strongly around them. She felt colder and her limbs started to freeze.

'Are you okay?' he asked.

'It is very cold,' she answered. 'Can you go down?'

'No, I can't,' he said. All of a sudden, Dawn felt her dragon's neck becoming warmer. Her lips curled and Quetz breathed a small amount of fire. She clung to him like her personal heater.

'I forgot you are a fire dragon,' she chuckled.

'You should wrap scarves around your face,' he suggested.

'Hmm…'

The wind grew stronger and Dawn opened the zip of her satchel to find a woolen scarf, which she had picked up on an afterthought. She wrapped it around her head and face to protect her eyes and hugged Quetz tightly.

'I am scared for you, girl,' he said.

'Don't be,' she patted him on the side.

'If you get tired, let me know, because then I will stop.'

But there was no time to waste, to stop. Daryn was somewhere there… waiting for her…

Soon the clouds cleared and the sky became clear. Stars and moon dazzled brightly.

'Do you know the way well?'

'Of course!'

She didn't know how or when but feeling the warmth of his neck and after all the tension that was in her body, Dawn slumbered off. Quetz lowered himself and glided by keeping his wings spread out in order to give maximum comfort to his sleeping rider. He would occasionally flap his wings to gain height and then glide again. Other than that, he would breathe small amounts of fire to keep his neck warm at all times. Quetz didn't know whether to sympathize with Dawn or marvel at her courage. One thing he knew, if her mate was in danger, there was no power in the world that would stop her from rescuing him. However, if he died, she would wither away and with her… even he would cease to live. So it was compulsory for him to find Daryn.

Dawn jolted awake, eyes darting as she tried to clear the nightmare she had seen. 'I need to go down,' she said. Her chest was gripped with fear. She was sweating and she needed the rest. 'Can you fly low?'

'Yes,' he replied and dived down. 'Do you want me to land?'

'No, keep going,' she said.

Dawn opened her satchel and took out water. She drained it all. 'We might need more water.'

'There's plenty on the way,' he assured her.

When she felt better, they took off to the skies. 'How much time is left?'

'Two hours.'

---

There was pandemonium in the Silver Mansion when they came to know that Dawn had left. Gayle tried to communicate with her mentally but she was gone too far.

"I can't waste a minute more," he said. "Prepare the jet to fly. We are going now!"

Neal gritted his teeth at Dawn's impulsiveness. Almost every other clan member was tense. As for Brenda, she was barely breathing. Gayle had left Dawn in her care, and one mistake from her cost such a heavy price. "Can I come with you?" she asked him slowly, feeling very scared.

He nodded. "Yes, we would need a doctor!" Brenda was now a part of the rescue team.