Although Cole insisted a lot, Gayle denied him. "You are too young Cole. And don't worry. We are going to get everyone back."

The plane took off an hour later with the crew. The Lykae who accompanied Gayle were highly trained specialists in weaponry and combat. Two of them had been to a few war riddled countries from the government's side too. Gayle himself was no less. And now he sat in the aircraft with his fists closed and eyes staring at the ceiling. Both his son and daughter-in-law were missing. He knew that she must have definitely gone to her dragon and together they must have taken off for the search. He felt so frustrated for not allowing her to come with them. Now she had risked her health by flying on Quetz. The only creature he can bank upon for keeping Dawn safe was Quetz himself. As for Daryn, he didn't know what was in store. Every waiting minute was like a stab at his heart. He must have cursed himself for the hundredth time that day for sending Daryn there in a rush. And why wasn't Sedora picking up? At least she should be careful enough about their child?

​​

Gayle picked up the phone and asked the driver, "How long will it take?"

"At least five hours Sir. If I receive a call from the officials of the Venezuela airport about the coordinates of the crash site, should I take the plane there or should we directly go to the airport?" asked the pilot.

"Take the plane to the crash site," he said in a clipped tone.

"Sure," the pilot said and Gayle cut the phone. The night was going to be long. He knew that it took at least eight hours to reach that place but they would be taking a lot of shortcuts—dangerous ones, to reach sooner.

---

Dawn checked the time on her watch. It was 3PM. All her limbs were aching. The legs demanded rest and her body was crying in protest to find someplace warm and cozy to simply get down and sleep. At this point even a rocky ground would have sounded luxury to her. Her brain felt as if it was on a treadmill and she couldn't identify the stop button. Her body was infused not just from muscular aches but also the emotional pain that made her eyelids heavy. She missed Daryn dearly, seriously. She felt dull and weary, even overwhelmed, but she knew that this wasn't the place to have those emotions, because this world meant survival of the fittest. No one had any compassion for the other. All that mattered was who had the power. And Dawn was going to test her power of will, of mind and everything in between.

She didn't feel hungry at all, because every time she thought about food, only bile rose to her throat.

'You must eat Dawn,' said Quetz. 'We might get delayed.'

'Why?' she asked with a frown.

'Because when you slept, I had to lower my altitude of flying and glided a lot, which in turn reduced my speed. So we will get slightly late.'

'Why didn't you wake me up?' she asked irritatingly.

'What would a tired rider be able to do? If you are exhausted even before you reach, you won't be able to do much work. I am glad that you slept.'

Understanding his trepidations about her, Dawn simply tightened her hold around his neck. 'You worry too much Quetz.'

'I can't help it, can I?'

She chuckled.

'Remember what I said about illusions in the jungle. You have to be prepared for them.'

'I am…' she replied although in her heart she knew that she couldn't blast the illusions easily.

'What are you going to do after I get off to the ground?'

'I will hover over you at all times.'

Dawn remembered how Quetz had hovered over her when they had gone to find the Stone of Solaris in the Temple of Anubalis. She patted him. 'Just stay safe and don't look down unless I ask you to. That's rule number one for the illusions.'

'Okay,' he said and with renewed energy started to tear the air with his wings. 'I would be very happy if you eat something human.'

Dawn chuckled again. 'Okay dragon,' she replied and opened her satchel. She marveled at Quetz—he was continuously flying without a break. He was a strong creature and she couldn't feel prouder. She ate cheese and bread and asked, 'Aren't you hungry or tired?'

'I have had my fill before we started, so don't worry.'

A deer had managed to cross the fog and entered Ensmoire the moment Dawn had ordered him to fly. The Eobens had lured him in somehow. That became his supper.

After another three hours of battling with gusts of winds and drizzle, they reached the Amazon jungle.

'Are we still within enchanted forests?'

'Yes, otherwise I will crystallize. And I don't want to shift in my human form at the moment.'

She knew that he wanted to stay as a dragon to scare any creature that would be a threat to her.

'Now tell me the coordinates of the place where we have to go.'

'I don't know the exact coordinates,' she said as she bit her lip.

'What?' Quetz said incredulously. 'Then how are we going to find them? In case you haven't noticed, this place is huge!'

'Why don't you fly in the direction of Arc of Orinico? My guess is that the crash site would be somewhere in between.'

'I don't believe you Dawn! I thought you had the coordinates.'

'If I had waited for them to give us the site location, I would have never been able to come out of the Silver Mansion. My father-in-law, Neal and other members had fortified the place like a citadel of medieval kings. I had to sneak my way out.'

'Dawn, you amaze me!' he said in frustration. But what could he do? He began flying in the direction of Arc of Orinico.

'The gold mine where the blast took place—it belongs to the Silvers?'

'It was bought by Sedora.'

'That's a matter of concern.'

'That is why I am scared, Quetz. That old woman hadn't even bothered to call us nor is she picking up the phone.'

'This all sounds so shady,' he observed.

'Yes,' Dawn sighed.

The entire jungle looked so dark under the night sky and to top it, clouds were floating over them. The trees beneath were so thick as if each of them was wrapped in a mystery of its own. 'Keep low,' she told him because even she was scanning the area.

It was almost two hours of flying over the thick, vast expanse of green and dark jungles before Quetz spotted something. He dived. 'I think I saw some debris of metals tangled in the trees.'

Dawn's breathing became heavy with anticipation. Quetz reached over the site and she realized that he was flying over the debris of the plane. The crash was horrible. Dawn could imagine the impact with the bottom of the plane. The plane had broken into two and was badly mangled and tangled. 'Take me down,' she said, her body trembling like a dry leaf in a desert with anticipation. 'And immediately fly back to the skies.'