"Dammit, wake up!" Mason said, shaking the unconscious dragon.

It was heavier than it looked and bigger than he was, and wholly unmovable. He estimated that the kobolds had left half an hour ago, and the dragon still hadn't as much as groaned.

The small wounds had stopped bleeding and were closing up almost visibly. Mason worried that if they stuck around for too long, the kobolds would come back with reinforcements.

Better check again, he thought and flew up. High above the ground, but not so far he wouldn't be able to recognize the kobolds, he circled a few times across the shimmering hot desert. The burning sun was almost right above him, warming his scales, and he let out a comfortable sigh.

The only thing moving was the sand, blown around by the harsh wind. Mason took a last quick scan before diving back down, the scalding hot wind feeling like a nice warm cloak on his thinly scaled belly. Below him, he saw the dragon move, staring up at him.

"About time you woke up!" Mason roared before slamming down into the ground and scattering sand everywhere.

The dragon scuttled back, fear and confusion on its long stubby snout, but also longing. Its grey speckled brown eyes seemed glued to Mason's wings.

"Listen, I'd love to stay and chat, but those kobolds will get back here as soon as they can. We need to leave and find a place to lay low."

It was silent for a while until the dragon blinked twice before turning his gaze on Mason. "Are you from the Shadow Wing? Will you take me there?" The dragon spoke in a deep but hollow voice as if boulders tumbled down a deep cavern. His eyes widened in fear, and he looked at his back before shaking his head and looking at Mason. The pleading in his eyes almost made Mason go over to hug him.

"I know it looks bad, but my wings, they will heal!" His voice cracked halfway, and his head lowered as his eyes turned away from Mason.

Mason took a few steps closer, noticing that even with its head bent, the brown dragon was much taller than him. "Take it easy, big guy. I am not from this continent, but if you tell me where they are, I'll bring you to them."

The dragon surged back, and he looked at Mason, his gaze hot and piercing. "How is that possible? Are you one of the hound's lackeys?"

"I have no idea who the hound is… I am just a dragon, lost and trying to find his way back home." In the end, Mason couldn't keep the weary loss from his voice.

"Dragon? You mean drake…" The dragon rumbled, but he stopped backing up.

"I don't care what these idiot kobolds here tell you. If it quacks like a duck, moves like a duck, its blood well a duck…" Mason said, angry at the other dragon but not completely sure why.

He saw the confused look of the other, and he shook his head as he realized what he had said. He probably doesn't know what a duck is…dammit.

"Never mind. My name is Mason. Did they give you one?"

"Baudron Taintedblood-" The other replied mechanically, before stopping at the end.

Mason growled before shaking his head and turning to the direction the sun had risen from. "The cursed? Let me guess, that's what those slavers called you? Well, Baudron, let's get the hell out of here."

When he didn't get a response, Mason turned. Baudron was staring at him, uncertain and worriedly.

"What's the matter?"

"That is deeper into the desert. We will die of thirst and hunger if we go there!"

Mason cursed softly. He had forgotten that not all dragons were the same, and the few scales Baudron still had were brown. That probably meant he wasn't as good with heat as he was. "How long can you still go without water or food?"

Baudron's head dropped again with a look of worry. "The last water I had was the day before yesterday, the day I fled. If I don't get water soon, I'll die."

Mason frowned. There should be water here. He had found a few oases, but the closest was two days flying from where he came. On foot, it would be even longer. "I have no idea how to find water here…" he admitted.

Baudron looked at him in disbelief. "How… how do you still live if you don't have water?"

Wondering how much the other knew about dragons, Mason decided to keep it simple. "Not all dragons are the same. The heat only makes me stronger, and I have little use for water."

"Inferno drake…!" Baudron gasped, and this time he stumbled back until he was a good distance from Mason.

"I won't hurt you, and I have no idea what you are talking about!" Mason said, worried the other might run. It was the first thing he had found since coming here that didn't try to kill or attack him, and the idea of being alone again suddenly seemed horrifying.

His words barely seemed to register, and he shook his head, trying again. "I am not from here, and from where I am, nobody fears me! No dragons are enslaved either!"

This time Baudron looked at him again. "No slaves?"

"No! Instead, Kobolds want nothing more than to become awoken and change into one the ancestors!" Some embellishment never hurt, Mason thought as he finally seemed to get through to the other again. "Now, let's go. We can't stay here. And unless you know where we can find your water, going further in or not matters little. At least there aren't any hunters that way."

Baudron sighed before nodding. He trudged back to Mason, and together they ambled up the hill. From the top, the rest of the sprawling, blistering desert lay in front of them, and Mason finally realized it looked a lot bigger now that he knew he might have to walk across it.

As they continued, he turned to look at Baudron. "So, any idea about how to find water?"

"I do, but we need to find a Taznir stone hill."

"A what?" Mason asked, wondering what the other was up to.

"A tall hill made of dark brown rock. Because they are covered in sand, they are hard to find."

Mason blinked. All he had seen was white sandy hills and heat shimmers, no brown stone of any kind. With how white everything was, he knew that he would have seen any from in the air.

"And how do we find them?"

"To me, they stick out like a beacon in the desert, but…" Baudron looked across his shoulder at the small stubs, and a look of pain crossed his snout.

Mason didn't know what to say. He could no longer imagine a world where he couldn't fly, and the idea of something ripping his wings apart sounded worse than death.

They continued on in silence for a while, the flowing hills passing by slow as Mason realized how vast the desert really was. From the air, he had passed the hills, hundreds a day, but on foot? It took them over an hour to cross a single one. When they finally stood at the top of the next hill, Baudron was struggling to keep up.

"Can you see anything from up here?" Mason asked as he stared around, wishing he could help. Baudron's heavy, labarous breathing sounded as if he could die at any minute. That would leave him alone, and that prospect horrified him.

Baudron struggled to raise his head, staring around. A dull look in his eyes, he shook his head. "Nothing…"

Sand flung by the wind pelted Mason's scales as he looked around in frustration. There was only a single thing he could think of, but he barely dared try. If he failed, that would mean there was nothing he could do and Baudron might die. As Baudron lay on the ground, he shivered. The hell! Since when did I become such a sissy! Stretching himself, he turned to Baudron and examined the other.

Although somewhat malnourished, the other probably weighed twice what he did. Spreading his wings and feeling his powerful muscles, grown strong from flying all day every day for so long, he shrugged.

"Baudron, get up. We are going to try something." As he spoke, Mason moved beside the other and stared into his listless eyes.

It took a few moments before the other seemed to realize what was going to happen, and he struggled up. "Are you crazy? There is no way you can get both of us off the ground!"

"And then what? I wait here until you die from thirst and then go on as if nothing happened?" Mason shoved the other to the side of the steepest side of the hill. "We are going to try. The worst thing that can happen is that we fall!"

Baudron blinked and suddenly barked a laugh. "Oh, right. If that's the worst thing that can happen, what can go wrong?" He burst out laughing.

Mason grinned when he saw the other laugh. "See? You feel better already! Now get ready. I am going to go up and fly by you. Lie on your back and raise your hands so I can grab them, then we are going to use the drop of the hill to get air. If all goes well, after that, I will try and get up as high as I can. As soon as you see what you are looking for, yell, and point with your tail!"

Silence followed as Baudron gaped at him for a moment. "You are serious? You are serious... "

The big earth dragon hesitated for a second before nodding and rolling on his back. "Fine, I mean, if the worst that can happen is we fall…" He snorted.

Mason steeled himself as he stared at the drop before jumping in the air and swirling across the hill. Baudron's hands looked small, and he hoped he wouldn't miss.

As the hot, sand-laden air rushed past, Mason stretched his hands and prepared himself. With impeccable timing, he and Baudron grabbed each other's taloned hands, and then it felt like he was chained to the ground. Baudron dragged a bit across the ground, but Mason careened forward, held down by the others immense weight, and he flung across the sandy edge and down the hill. Baudron let go of him, but it was too late, and both toppled and rolled down the hill. When they finally slowed down and came to a groaning halt at the bottom, Mason was so dizzy he felt like vomiting.

A soft chuckle came from beside him, and a second later, Baudron was laughing so loud the sand around him shook. He tried something a few times, and as Mason rose up to stare at him, he finally managed. "Falling really wasn't that bad!"

Mason grinned but knowing that he had failed dampened his mood.

"Damnit, now what?" he muttered, waiting for Baudron to get a grip.

The rest of the day, they continued forward, and Baudron became weaker and weaker until he moved so slow Mason stopped halfway up a hill.

"We need to rest."

Baudron didn't look up at him but kept placing a paw in front of the other.

"Baudron?"

The other shook his head but didn't stop. "If I stop now, I won't get up again. Let's go to the last top…"

Mason nodded and followed the brown dragon further up the hill. It was almost dark when they arrived, and Baudron slumped into a big heap.

The hill had a slight edge to one side, as did they all, leading to the steep incline down. It reminded Mason of waves just before they broke on the coast. The memory of the sea brought the memories of Jake and the others, and he wondered how they were doing.

"What's that?" Baudron's whisper took a moment to register, and then Mason looked at the other who was staring in the sky. Far above, dots flew in circles, seeming oddly familiar.

Mason frowned as he looked, trying to see what it was when he realized something. They were those birds, the ones he had hunted to oblivion so long ago on the island! A rumble from his stomach at the memory of their taste made him hungry.

"That's food, and I am going to bring us some! Wait here!" Mason said before jumping up and flapping away. As soon as he was in the air, he felt free and mobile, not like trudging on the ground. Nobody will ever take my wings! He thought as he relished in the simple act of flying higher.