Chapter Five

Riley looked behind himself. The dark shadows faded away. The figure started to show up in color.

“Knew it” Riley said aloud.

“What?” Sarina asked him. Riley stared at the guy for a while. The figure looked Arabian. He wore one a white cowboy hat, with bright red pants and a blue, button up shirt. He wasn’t riding an unicorn, instead he was riding an animal without a horn.

“That guy is dreaming. He won’t harm us. Whatever you felt, he scared them off” Riley said. Sarina slowed down Rosamond and then Rosamond came to a complete stop. The cowboy raced by them screaming on top of his lungs.

“What a strange guy” Selina said. Sarina laughed.

“You have a beautiful laugh” Riley commented. Sarina blushed at his comment. Sarina realized she was blushing, so she got off the unicorn and started scolding at him.

“Now what?! We’re in the middle of no where!” She yelled at him. Riley started to laugh at her. Sarina was getting mad at him for no reason.

“Why are you so upset princess?” Riley said half jokingly.

“Hmph” Sarina went. She threw her head back and walked away.

Riley laughed at her. Sarina turned back around and walked toward him. She pushed up which made Riley trip and fall to the ground.

“You think this is funny!?” Sarina yelled furiously. “THIS ISN’T FUNNY! WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF WHO KNOWS WHERE! And you think this is funny. YOU’RE PATHETIC!”

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you saying such things? You aren’t making any sense. How am I pathetic? Tell me princess” Riley said to her with a smile.

“You’re strange. Why did I ask you to come with us? Tell me, I demand you” Sarina demanded with fierceness.

“You’re a spoiled brat and you asked me to come with you to protect you two. Remember? Do I need to replay that memory in your head? I could do that. There, you learn something else about me. I could choose the memory’s for you to see. I could also shuffle some of your memory’s and hide them or make it harder for you to access them at all” Riley explained to Sarina. Sarina glared at him then turned away from him.

“We must be going. We need to get to Hippa soon” Sarina said with no emotions in her tone. Selina just sat on Rosamond and looked at the ground. They started to move forward. Selina looked up and saw beautiful, green hills they were heading.

Sarina and Riley walked next to the unicorn. There were leaves everywhere that would crunch beneath their feet.

“Where’s Hippa?” Selina asked to break the silence around everyone.

“It’s over those hills” Sarina answered.

The sun was setting over the hills. Sarina avoided Riley. Riley looked everywhere but at Sarina. Selina sat on the unicorn watching them both.

I feel so bashful around Riley but why? I hate being bashful. I feel so warm and dizzy all of a sudden Sarina thought. Sarina fainted. Everyone stopped walking. Riley kneeled beside her. He stared down at her then looked up at Selina.

“Selina, there should be a river near by. Rosamond should be able to find the river. Unicorns are known for their good sense of direction” Riley told her. He got up and walked over to Rosamond. Rosamond just stared at him. “Rosamond, there’s a river near by, take Selina and show her where the river is. Go.”

Rosamond ran off with Selina on her back. Riley watched them disappear in the distance. He went toward Sarina and kneeled beside her. He picked up her head and laid her head on his lap. He gently moved his thumb across her soft cheek. Riley stroked her cheek then her hair. Her hair felt so soft. Before he knew it, Rosamond and Selina returned. Selina had a purple canteen in her hand.

“Here you go. I filled it up with water” Selina said while handing him the canteen. He took the canteen and looked into his bag.

“I brought a wash towel” Riley told Selina when he opened up the canteen. He took out a bright green wash towel and a small blue bowl out of his bag. He poured the water into the bowl then after he did that, he soaked the towel in the water. After that, he rinsed out the extra water leaving the towel damp.

He folded the towel and laid it on top of Sarina’s forehead. Selina stood over him and watched. She was awed at his performance.

“How did you know what to do?” She asked him. She kneeled down beside him. Riley took a breath than released it into in the air.

“I guess I just do. Why don’t you go out and look for some wood before it gets dark” Riley said to her. Selina stood up and left him alone.

Sarina opened her eyes and saw Riley staring down at her. She sat up so fast that she looked like she was going to start flying. Riley grabbed her shoulders and forced her back down onto his lap.

“You’re weak princess. You need to rest” Riley explained.

“I don’t need you to take care of me. I can take care of myself” Sarina told him with such force. Her voice made her sound like she didn’t want him but her eyes told another story. She kept eye contact with him. She didn’t dare to blink. Riley smiled at Sarina. He knew what Sarina was doing. She was testing him to see if she could trust him.

Riley stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers gently. Sarina started to blush.

“Don’t worry princess, I’ll take care of you even if you don’t want me too. I’m here to protect you and your sister” Riley said. Selina came back with a whole bunch of wood.

“I found a whole bunch of wood over by that cave! It was cool” Selina said excitingly. Riley eyes grew big.

“What cave?” He asked her.

“The cave over there” Selina responded, she pointed to a black spot. The sun was almost set. Riley got a pillow out for Sarina.

“Here” Riley said to Sarina while handing her a pillow. “I’m going to investigate that cave.” Sarina sat up and grabbed the pillow from him. The pillow was white and fluffy. “You guys better be ready for anything. We’re out in the wild and in animals territory. Some animals will kill us for trespassing on their territory.” Riley looked through his bag for a flashlight and off he went.

He headed toward the dark cave. He stopped in front of the cave and looked up. He looked at the stars but no moon out. He sighed.

“No moon out. NO protection from the moon, that means something bad is going to happen” Riley said quietly to himself. He heard someone running toward him. He turned around. He saw Sarina running toward him. Then behind her was Selina followed by Rosamond. Sarina stopped in front of him. Riley raised his eyebrows.

“What’s this princess? You don’t want me to go alone?” He asked her.

“It would be dangerous to be alone. It’s not like I have feelings for you or anything. So stop thinking” Sarina said to him. She crossed her arms and looked away. Riley smiled at her. He put his arm around her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I will protect you. But you shouldn’t come, you might get hurt.” Sarina looked at him then unfolded her arms to push him away.

“I can take care of myself thank you very much!” She yelled at him. Riley chuckled then got serious.

“Ok. We’ll go in together.” Riley looked at Selina. “But I don’t think Selina nor Rosamond should go in” Riley stated. Selina glared at him.

“I know spells how to protect myself. And I’m stronger than I look” Selina said.

“Ok. Fine” Riley said to them. “Let’s stick together. Got it?” Sarina and Selina nodded.

They entered into the dark cave. They kept walking into more darkness. All of a sudden there was a faded light. The more they walked, the closer they got. Riley stopped. Sarina and Selina bumped into him.

“What’s the” Sarina started to say but Riley hushed her. He closed his eyes and concentrated listening closely to the sound. The sound was something sleeping.

“What’s that noise?” Selina whispered.

Riley started walking toward the noise with caution. The girls watched him move slowly toward a huge rock. Riley hid behind it. He slowly looked to the left of the rock. Riley gasped with fright.

A giant dragon was lying down sleeping. The dragon wings were as long as a football field. The body was 10 times bigger than human size. The dragon was bright red. Next to the dragon was a baby dragon. The baby dragon was a lot smaller than the big dragon. The baby dragon was also red, but with really small wings and body. The body was only 3 feet and the wings were only 4 feet long.

The dragons were sleeping side by side. Riley tiptoed back toward the girls.

“Dragons” He whispered. “They’re sleeping. Be extra quiet. The lightest noise they hear, could wake them.” Riley tried to not kick any small rocks. Sarina and Selina did the same except one of them kicked a small rock. The rock hit the wall and made a small noise.

They stopped and looked behind to make sure the dragons were still sleeping. The dragons made a snoring sound. Riley relaxed. They started to walk again.

“It’s getting warm” Selina said softly. Selina broke out in sweat. Riley stopped walking. He turned around. A huge red dragon was staring down at them.