Baudron woke after a few hours, groaning and cursing before looking at Mason.

"You go and sleep. I'd rather stay awake. Just have nightmares about falling into the lava," he grumbled as he stretched and sat down, staring angrily at the lava below.

Mason nodded, putting his head on his tail. He couldn't remember falling asleep but must have, because he woke from a prod. As he turned to stretch, he heard a warning hiss from the side.

Now what?

His eyes shot open, and he saw Baudron, close to him and crouched low on the ground. The brown dragon was staring at the air in fear.

Following his gaze, Mason saw that the sky had turned a lighter grey. He must have slept a long time, which it didn't actually feel like. He frowned when he saw nothing but swirling clouds of smog, dust, and soot. There didn't seem anything wrong, and he was about to ask Baudron what was going on when a group of giant bats flew across. Their high-pitched screams caused an instant migraine to pop into his head, and he wondered how the noise hadn't woken him up.

They passed in an instant, and beside him, Baudron sighed. "They've been flying over for a while now. At first, I thought they would find us, but none have looked down."

Mason shook his head as knowledge from an old school paper drifted up. "They don't look. They use those sounds to find things."

Baudron gaped at him before shaking his head. "This isn't the time for jokes... "

Mason didn't smile, just looked at the other until his eyes widened.

"How…?"

"I'll explain later. But for now- how many are there?" He asked, trying to remember how many he saw just now.

"I don't know, seven or eight?" Baudron replied. "Why? You can't be planning to..."

Mason's wicked grin silenced the other, and together they silently waited for the bats to show up again. Feeling Baudron's worried looks, Mason began planning ahead. If they were going to fly around the mountains here, they needed to know what to expect from these things.

A minute later, the bats crossed over, and he counted seven. They were roughly his size but more wing than torso. Thinking back to the aerial battle they had seen when arriving at the mountains, he guessed these were the small specs that had been attacking the larger one. He was pretty sure that one had been a dragon and that one had managed to end two or three of them before it was downed.

"Too many to kill without knowing what to expect," he whispered, turning to Baudron. "Let's see if we can get to the ledge and see what they are up to. I don't believe they are just flying around without reason."

"Foolishness! Let's just stay here until they leave, "Baudron hissed back. "We had plenty to eat yesterday, so we should be fine for a few days."

Mason knew the other had a point, but he felt antsy. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. "Fine, you stay here. I'll go up and see what they are up to."

Baudron tried to dissuade him, but as soon as the giant bats passed above again, Mason shot up. Flapping as lightly as he could, which proved harder than he had imagined, he flew towards a ledge just below the entrance. The bats would fly across it first, so it should block their view of him.

His wings barely touched the stone when the bats crossed again, screeching loudly. This close, Mason could make out their eyes, big black orbs that seemed unfocused.

They're looking for something… us? Both curious and worried, Mason climbed up the stone edge behind him. It was another twelve meters to the top, easy for a dragon.

Sticking his head outside to look around, Mason sucked in his breath as he pulled it back in immediately. Perhaps forty meters from him, hiding behind a massive overhanging boulder, crouched another dragon. Yellow and brown, she blended well against the ground.

Hanging just below the edge, Mason was stumped. How big was the chance that some random dragon would get cornered this close to them? The Eye of the Hound was an immense area, far too big for a random coincidence. That left two options that he could think of. The dragon knew they were here and came looking, or this was another new arrival.

Either way, he couldn't really leave that dragon to fend for itself. Waiting for the bats to pass again, he jumped down and floated beside Baudron.

The massive brown dragon was still crouched low, looking at him in anticipation.

"There's another dragon up there, hiding. I think that's what bats are searching for," Mason whispered. "I am going to try and get him to come down here with us. With three of us, we might be able to kill those bats or at least chase them away."

Baudron was staring at him for a while before nodding. "Be careful."

Mason didn't reply but just grinned and flew back up as soon as the bats came across again. When he was back at the ledge, he was glad to see that the dragon was still in the same spot. Now, how the hell was he going to get that dragon's attention without warning the bats?

Following the bats' flight, he saw they were circling around a large stone outcrop, disappearing behind it for a short while before reappearing on the other side. From there, their shadows grew bigger as they flew low across the side of the nearby mountain before angling back to pass across Mason. Following them, he counted as they disappeared behind the outcrop.

Almost six seconds, he thought, when they reappeared. Plenty of time! He looked around for a rock he could throw at the other dragon. Ripping a fix sized one from the wall, he grabbed it and waited until the bats flew past. Then with a quick scuttle up the wall, he tossed the stone towards the dragon, striking it on the flank.

The dragon's head snapped around, her one good eye scanning around before focusing on Mason with a look of shock and surprise on a distinctly feminine draconic visage. The dragon began crawling up but stopped when Mason started shaking its head and pointing up before disappearing back below.

She better stay there, Mason thought, waiting for the bats to pass. This time he didn't wait for them to disappear behind the outcrop. Scrambling up, he followed them while beckoning the dragon praying she would understand. When the bats disappeared behind the outcrop, he turned and saw the yellow and brown dragon lope towards him. Her movements were uneven and clumsy, and he saw blood on her flank and long gashes on her hind leg.

When she was four meters away, Mason dropped back down, gliding to the ledge a few meters below and pressing his back against it. A second later, something slammed into the ground beside him.

"Put your back against the wall, "Mason hissed as he looked at the badly injured dragon. She had dozens of scars criss-cross around her back, similar to what Baudron had when he first met him.

Without a sound, the dragon hauled herself up before slumping beside him.

Mason looked up, praying the bats hadn't noticed them. She was obviously not in any fighting shape, and he didn't like his and Baudron's odds on their own. A minute later, the bats passed above again, and he sighed in relief.

"Let's go down and hide, "he said, turning his gaze back to the wounded dragon. All he got was a weary nod. The single open eye was hazy and unfocused now, and he wondered if she could even make it below. She was too big to carry too. He hadn't noticed before, but even malnourished and underfed, she was as big as Baudron, and her wingspan must be almost twice his.

Moving to the side, he glided down. His neck craned around to see if she could follow. She managed to open her wings but began falling instead of gliding. Her large wings had holes on the joint areas that reminded Mason of an article on birds in captivity.

They wing-clipped her… Mason thought as he felt white-hot anger at the image of someone wing-clipping a dragon.

She was falling towards the lava below, and he suppressed his anger. There would be time for that later. He spread his wings wide and angled below her, flapping a single time. The female dragon's body landed on his back with a thud, and her weight pressed him down. Immediately his controlled descent turned into a free fall. He barely managed to direct them to the ledge on which Baudron was sitting. A moment before she would crush him, he wiggled out from underneath, folded his wings, and slammed feet first into the ground. Ignoring the heavy collision of the dragon and her subsequent groan, he stared at the sky.

A minute passed, and his tension was rising when the bats passed above again as if nothing had changed. Taking a deep breath, he turned to see Baudron beside the female dragon. Both her eyes were closed now, and she was breathing superficially.

"She needs help, "Baudron whispered. The large dragon had a worried look on his face as he looked at the yellow dragon before turning to Mason.

"She is bleeding out and starving. If we don't get her food within a few hours, she will not wake up again."

Looking at the wounded Dragon, Mason cursed under his breath. He didn't get her out from under that rock just for her to die now. Besides the fact that he needed answers, having more dragons during their search would be better.

"We can't get out of here until those Bats leave, "he said. "Any idea how long she will be last?"

Baudron inspected her again, and after a moment, put his claw on her head. A soft brown glow emanated from it, and he sighed.

"Three to four hours. She needs food then, or she won't wake to eat it."

Mason nodded, but his gaze was locked on Baudron's hand. "What did you just do?"

"I can use the earth mana to inspect her, see what is broken, "Baudron said with a shrug as if it wasn't a big deal.

Mason blinked. Could the brown dragon be some type of healer?

"Can't you use the same way to fix what is wrong with her?"

Baudron shook his head. "I've tried, but I don't know how. Perhaps I am not strong enough yet?"

"Could be…" Mason muttered, his mind spinning as he thought of the implications of having a healer along.

As ideas on how to get Baudron to learn how to control his powers better bubbled up in Mason's mind, the time passed slowly. Finally, hours later, Mason was staring at the sky and realizing something was up. Those Bats should be back by now, but nothing was passing over yet. Waiting another minute, he turned to Baudron, who was still looking after the female dragon.

"I think they might be gone. I'm going to see, and if the coast is clear, I am going hunting for Etag, "Mason said as he got up and unfurled his wings.

"Be careful!" Baudron whispered in his rumbling voice.

Aren't I always? Mason thought with a grin as he flew to the edge. Looking around, he quickly saw the sky was free of Bats. He scanned the mountainside and peaks he could see, but there was nothing there either. The sun was coming across the leftmost mountain range, its light slowly pushing the shadowy darkness away.

Was it the light? Mason wasn't sure, but it would make sense. Looking down, he saw Baudron look at him. He waved before jumping up and flying out of the fissure.

"Now, let's go get some breakfast!"