Acknowledgements

“Hey Arya?” Kikyo asks, hesitantly. Arya looks at her in confusion.

“What?” Arya demands. Kikyo flinches slightly before motioning forward.

“Come with me for a minute? I have to show you something.” Kikyo says, nodding with her head toward the closet door.

“But first you have to swear on your youth that you will not tell our fathers.” Murtagh says as he stops in front of the closet.

“Or their dragons.” Kikyo adds in as an after thought. Arya looks at them with confusion for a moment before nodding.

“….okay, I swear I won’t tell anyone.” Arya says, holding her right hand up in understanding.

“Okay.” Kikyo says with a nod toward Murtagh. He opens the closet door to reveal two young dragons.

“Oh my god! SO this is the cause of the energy surge.” Arya says, eyes wide in surprise as she watches the baby dragons slowly climb out of the piles of junk in the closet.

“Yeah, it must have been when they were hatching.” Kikyo says, scratching the back of her head.

“We have to get them out of here before your fathers find out where that surge came from.” Arya says, a look of panic suddenly appearing on her face as she runs around the room grabbing essential items from the journey.

“But where are we going to put them?” Kikyo questions. Looking at Arya with confused eyes.

“If we try to move them our fathers will just find out, and we’ll end up getting into trouble either way!” Murtagh says, a look of irritation suddenly appearing on his face as he grasps the situation he had unknowningly gotten himself involved into.

“Yeah, but would either of you rather have your fathers kill them? Because that is what they will do if they find them before they’re old enough to defend themselves.” Arya says, looking at the two of them with a raised eyebrow. Kikyo and Murtagh look at each other. They look at the dragons sleeping on a blanket in the closet with sad looks on their faces. They look back at Arya and slowly nod. “Okay. Well this is that you have to do.” Arya says as she tells them. Once she’s done, she slowly walks out of the room with Kikyo and Murtagh following her carrying their dragons. They slowly walk past their fathers’ rooms and out the door. “Keep up. Otherwise we won’t get there before sunrise.” She says in a hasty voice as she herds the two of them toward the entrance.

“We’re trying, but it honestly isn’t easy!” Kikyo says in an irritated voice as she’s pushed to the limit of her patience.

“Sss…..ahh!” Murtagh shouts as he drops to the ground and his dragon stops next to him. His dragon shrieks and runs around him. Kikyo stops and looks back. She realizes that Murtagh is on the ground and runs toward him.

“Murtagh! Oh my god!” Kikyo shouts as she comes to a stop in front of him.

“Hang on, Kikyo.” Arya says in a worried voice. Kikyo kneels down next to Murtagh.

“Are you alright?” Kikyo asks, worry evident in her voice.

“I'm fine. Just don’t crowd around me like that.” Murtagh says, gently pushing Kikyo away from him. Kikyo backs up and her baby dragon runs to her.

“What the heck?” Kikyo questions, her hand suddenly starting to burn. Once it stops burning, she looks down to see her dragon. When she bends down to pet him, her hand starts to burn again. “Not again! Why does this always happen?” Kikyo demands, glaring at her hand like it had offended her.

“Let me see your hand.” Arya commands once she gets to Kikyo.

“What?” Kikyo asks, looking at Arya with uncomprehending eyes.