Staring at Ter and Tir, who were both sleeping in a coil of his tail, Jake smiled. Next to him was a pile of bones, everything that remained of the sea serpent. It was night outside, and he listened to the distant screams from the forest. He couldn't leave them here, alone. He had tried to leave moments before, as they were deep asleep and wouldn't wake for almost a day.

That left only one other option; he needed to bring them along. Even though it was dangerous, and would make his journey more difficult. Sighing in resignation, he stared at the moonlit clouds drifting by, and his breathing became slow and deep. He knew he needed to sleep, but for some reason, he wasn't all that tired yet. Staring at the moon, he decided he would take his half-siblings, and leave tomorrow.

The decision unburdened him immediately, and his mind blank, he silently stared at the silvery clouds against the star-filled sky. A calmness and tranquility he had not felt since his father's death a few years ago filled him. As he enjoyed the peace, he didn't notice that blue specs of light began seeping through the cracks in the walls and ground. Slowly they floated towards him, and only when the first one touched a scale on his wing did he notice.

Looking at them, he woke from his meditative state, and the specs began disappearing back from where they came. He just did something extraordinarily important, he knew it! Trying to return to the same state, he quickly felt that he was too exuberant, and no matter what he did, he couldn't return to the thoughtless state of before. Never mind then, he sighed in regret. He had a vague idea of what had happened, and he would try again. But not now. Lying down, curling around his siblings, he closed his eyes.

--

"Really! Really! We come? No stay behind?" Ter was jumping up and down in excitement, while Tir kept rubbing her head and neck against Jake's tail. It was late in the morning of the second day after they had eaten the sea serpent, and Jake had told them that it was time to leave.

"Yes, Ter, you both can come. But it will be dangerous, more dangerous than when we lived in the cave next to the sea. So we will have to practice a few things. First, you will both have to ride on my back and hold on tight. If I have to hold you all the time, I won't be able to use my claws if I need to." Seeing the two lizards nod their small angular heads vigorously, Jake grinned and lowered a wing.

"Climb on, and hold onto the frills on my neck." He wasn't even fully finished speaking when the pair rushed on to his wing, across his back, and gripped the smooth silvery membranes behind his jaws and those lined along the back of his neck. It felt like someone tugging his hair, but not so hard it hurt, Jake thought, shaking his head.

"I am going to fly a bit, make sure you hang on. If you can't anymore, tell me, and I will go back."

"Flying, flying, flying!' Ter yelled while Tir gave a short tug on his frills causing Jake to groan.

Carefully he maneuvered to the edge and jumped out, spreading his wings as soon as he had the room for it. The two reptiles on his back became quiet, but from their breathing, he heard they weren't scared. Gliding forward, he turned his long neck around to take a look, and he saw that they were both staring at everything, swirling their little heads about, eyes as round as saucers.

Seeing that they were both fine, Jake smiled. This might work. "Listen carefully. I am going to fly faster and make some movements. Make sure you keep holding on tight.”

Seeing them both nod, he began flapping his wings, slow at first but faster when he saw they were both fine. He accelerated until the air began whistling around his ears, and he was almost going as fast as he could. Seeing them lower their heads and sticking close to him, big grins and all fine, he stopped flapping and began gliding through the air. He tried turns and going sharply up and down until he felt he had done everything he might need to do to flee.

"Are you two still ok?"

"Yess, big brother! Thiss great!" Ter squealed in his lispy voice.

Tir was quiet for a while before staring at him, a crafty look in her eyes. "We leave now, big brother?"

Jake noticed that Tir had become smarter and better at speech again, which seemed to happen faster with her than her brother. He thought it might have something to do with what they ate. "Not yet, I need to hunt for food."

"We come?" Tir asked, hopefully.

Laughing, as he turned back to the mountain below them, Jake laughed. "No, little one. You will stay in the cave and wait." Seeing Tir's sad face, he smirked and hurried back to the cave, carefully landing on the ledge.

"Off you two go and hide where I told you." Seeing the two rush off, not seeming any worse for wear, Jake jumped back out. Now let's see if we can find some more sea serpents! He felt his ever-present hunger stick up its head as he began scanning around.

--

Three days later, Jake desperately looked for a place to land. The seemingly endless blue and green sea stretched out below him in every direction, glittering in the bright sun. Tir and Ter had long since gotten used to flying and were staring at the sea in boredom.

Since they left their small island, they had not seen a single piece of land. Their food was gone, and if they didn't find any land before it became night, they would need to spend the night in the sea and hunt. Jake was dead tired, flying three days and two nights straight. He had expected to find some other islands. But no matter how high he flew, there were none. He kept telling himself that he would find one soon and kept flying.

Feeling how sore his muscles were, Jake knew if he flew any longer, he might not be able to defend them in the sea. Groaning, he took a long final look but found nothing, and he started descending. He examined the sea below, hoping to find some reefs or shallow water, but there was nothing.

"Brother, we go swimming?" A sleepy yawn followed Tir's high-pitched voice.

"Yes, Tir. I cannot fly anymore, and I need to rest and hunt. There isn't any land anywhere that I can see, so we are going to spend the night in the sea."

The two began talking actively between each other, making all kinds of plans to go exploring when Jake shouted. "QUIET!' He had never yelled at them before, but he was so tired and hungry. Seeing them start and looked at him with wide-open eyes, he sighed.

"The sea is very dangerous, especially for small lizards like you two. Many predators are there, and they can come from all sides. When we go in the water, you will stay close to me all the time. Do you understand?" His voice was harsh and rough, and Jake saw the two seemed scared, which was probably a good thing, he decided.

A few minutes later, they were skirting across the waves, Jake trying to determine if there was anything dangerous down below. Seriously, I didn't want to go in here again like this! If this keeps happening, I will turn into a water dragon afraid of water. Flexing his muscles, he came to a sudden stop above the water, waited for a second and dove inside.

As soon as he felt the water envelop him, his sore muscles eased up, and a small influx of energy began refreshing his tired mind. Looking around for any danger, he just saw an ever-darkening blue below him and infinite blue all around. As he kept an eye on the two small ones that began darting through the water around him, bubbling with excess energy, he felt something touch his mind.

It was the most peculiar sensation, vaguely reminiscent to when he was dreaming about being a dragon and, at the same time, foreign and scary. Trying to block the probing sensation from entering into the confines of his mind, Jake felt it almost back up a step.

"You are not of Lauriuna's blood! How can there be another pure-blooded water dragon!" A deep and confused voice seemed to drift from nowhere, startling him and causing Tir and Ter to hide below his wings.

Looking around through the blue water, Jake saw nothing move. Feeling his usually slow dragon heart begin to pump more vigorously, he tried probing around with his mind. He felt the strong and steady movement of the sea around him, and the small particles of energy that were drifting through it.

"You are young and unknowing!" The voice came again, and this time Jake felt its origins. It was far below them, so far, he began doubting there was even a bottom to this sea. Should he reply?

"It has been eons since I spoke to someone. You should feel honored! Now speak, who are you, and where are you from? I don't wish to scour your mind, but I will if you don't answer me!"