Dusty's 8th adventure - Part 4

Read the start of this story Here <-- click
Part 2
Part 3

No title yet, sorry. Working on this in between Zack's story, Bouncer and a few other projects... as well as the mentorship programme.

As ever, FIRST DRAFT spelling, grammar, punctuation etc will not be changed or altered until I go over it as a whole after the story is finished.

HOWEVER, if there are any plot-holes, things that don't work or even suggestions on something I may use, please feel free to pipe up and let me know.

I don't really want 'good post' comments, but rather genuine replies and advice etc. I always appreciate those.

The fourth part of Dusty's 8th Adventure.

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Drake stood looking at Dusty’s reaction and he smiled.

Dusty smiled back at him and a thought crossed her mind. Drake seemed more agile than he had before. He seemed younger, somehow and Dusty wondered if the environment agreed with him the way the sunshine agreed with some humans.

Dusty looked beyond him, beyond the edges of his plateau and past the opposite ‘bank’ of the river of lava.

Away in the distance, a range of mountains rose from ground-level. Purple clouds swathed their peaks. Flashes of lightning lit the underside of the clouds and pulses of muted light lit them from within. They were too far away to hear the rumbles of thunder, but Dusty knew they would have been devastating if she had been there.

“That’s the Wraith Mountains,” Dusty said after studying the mountain range.

“Yes,” he said. “I hazard a guess that you usually only see that range of mountains from the other side, across the Ash Desert?”

“That’s right,” Dusty said in a whisper. “I never knew this was what lay on the other side.”

“No. Not many do,” Drake said in a solemn tone, his face stern but not angry. “And I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

“Oh of course,” Dusty said.

His face altered and softened. He smiled at her promise. “Look,” he pointed to another plateau. “That’s where the Phoenix live. They made their nest over there, amongst the rocks.”

Dusty looked and tried to spot the magical birds. It was impossible amongst the glowing red and orange rocks. She saw a glint of gold and a spark of blue and she concentrated. At last she saw through their camouflage and the birds stood out from their surroundings as though they had intended to reveal themselves all along.

“Even amongst dragons, the phoenix are a wonder because they are the only two and there has only ever been those two in the whole world,” he said. His voice sounded low as though he was scared to let them hear him.

Dusty looked around at Drake and she saw the gleaming eyes of someone that is still passionate about his life-s work, even after such a long time – and Dusty realised it had been such a long time for him and his dragons.

“Two?” Dusty said. “I really did think there was only one.”

“How would they reproduce?” Drake asked and looked down at Dusty with the same smile her grandad gave her when she figured something out for herself.

“Phoenix are secretive birds and only very few are fortunate enough to get close enough to study them. Even those few who pass on their information have had to sometimes guess.”

They walked along the plateau and Drake told Dusty all about his pets. They needed no feeding, for of course, they were quite capable of catching their own food. But, as Drake explained, if left to their own devices for too long, they can become feral and revert to their pre-domesticated natures and a feral dragon, wyvern, basilisk or cockatrice would soon become a huge problem for humans in a short space of time, and no one wanted that!

“Do you have any other pets that do need feeding?” Dusty asked.

“No. I have a friend that calls round from time to time, but no other pets,” Drake said. “A black cat called Nightshade comes to see me, but again, he catches his own food. He comes and goes as he pleases, usually at night. You’ll probably not see him, he’s not fond of strange people.”