“Buckle up,” Ember warned as she and Yuki prepared to take off. 

The plan for the flight today wasn’t one of traveling at a moderate pace. Yuki was getting a chance to test her speed for the first time. Ember had given the rest instructions on how to ride at high speeds. They were to get their bodies as close to their rides as possible, flattening themselves. Then they needed to stay as still as possible.

“You all have your goggles ready?” Ember asked.

“Yep,” Erica replied. “These are much more comfortable than I thought they would be.”

“They have to be. When you need to wear them for long periods of time, I would hope they would be comfortable.”

“Do we need head protection?” Akira asked.

“I don’t think so, and I also didn’t bring any,” Ember said. “You should be fine. Sometimes, there are unexpected objects flying through the air, but for the most part, they will bounce off of me and Yuki rather than hit you.”

“Alright. Then I’m ready.”

“Everyone else?”

They all replied with an affirmative.

“Then let’s get going. Yuki,” Ember said, giving her a nod. 

“I’ll be right behind,” she replied.

Yuki spread her wings, stretching them out as she waited for Ember to take off. Ember gave her wings a few mighty flaps, kicking up dust and rustling the branches of trees. She lifted into the air before pumping her wings once more and propelling herself forward. Then she hovered above, waiting. Yuki followed after her, rising into the air until they were at the same level. 

“Hold on tight,” Ember said. 

She turned around and blasted forward, Yuki chasing after her. They pumped their wings furiously, each flap pushing them further and further as they cut through the air. The land below them began to blur as they picked up speed. As Yuki blinked, her transparent eyelids fell down, protecting her eyes from any dust or debris that floated in the air. 

‘Time to see how fast I can go.’

Together, the two of them zoomed through the sky, their wings a blur as they churned the air. Yuki kept her eyes locked onto the scarlet bullet ahead of her as she matched her pace. 

It was then that Yuki remembered that Ember had said that they would reach the stop within the day. That meant that it would be possibly hours until they had a rest for lunch.

‘I guess I’ll be testing my stamina while I’m at it.’

Yuki’s stamina, she found, wasn’t actually a worry. All her training and battling had prepared her body for such long distance flights at high speeds. What she did find was that she was slower than she would have liked. Although, what she would have liked probably was unrealistic to begin with.

‘Maybe I’m built for more stamina than I am for speed. I guess that’s not a bad trade off.’

They had been flying for about three hours so far by Yuki’s count. She couldn’t calculate their speed all that well as things were moving too fast for her to keep track off. She worried for a bit about how comfortable Erica and Yuna were on her back, but since Erica hadn’t been complaining, she guessed that everything was alright for the most part.

The first break came somewhere around midday when the sun was high in the sky, its rays pounding down on Yuki’s scales. There were no clouds to be seen for miles and miles. 

[We’ll be landing for a bit,] Ember said. [This sun isn’t good for our passengers.]

‘I was thinking the same thing.’

They banked right and landed beside a pool filled with glistening blue water. Their passengers hopped off of their backs and after changing back into their elven forms, they went to sit under the shade of the trees. 

“We’re going to wait a few hours for the sun to move,” Ember said. “Flying right now would be a bad idea.”

“Was it getting hot for you all?” Yuki asked, directing her question to Akira.

“A little bit,” she replied. “An hour of that would be bad though.”

“Well, then we’ll be resting here for a bit. I’ll be taking a quick nap to regain some of my energy,” Yuki said. “Ember, are you going to nap as well?”

“I might. Akira, wake us up in two hours,” she said. 

“I will.”

Yuki laid back onto the soft ground and closed her eyes, the fatigue from the flying taking her away to a deep sleep. When she was awoken with a bit of shaking from Akira, the sun had traveled some in the sky. She heard some laughter and looked at the pool. Erica was in it with Yuna, the two of them splashing around. Yuna was using her magic to chase Erica around with a lasso of water. Mathali was at the bank, watching them like a life guard.

“They’re having fun,” Yuki commented, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

“They didn’t want to wait two hours doing nothing,” Akira replied. “Can’t blame them.”

“Reading?” Yuki asked, glancing at the book in Akira’s hands.

“Mhm. I brought a few with me in case something like this happened,” she said. She leaned over beside Ember who was still asleep and poked her in the cheek. “This one won’t wake up. I don’t really want to yell either.”

“Hmm. Let me help then.”

Yuki cupped her hands and cold water pooled within them. She shuffled over to Ember and promptly dropped the water right on to her face.

Ember’s eyes shot open as she let out a gasp. Yuki grinned at her while she wiped the water away from her face. 

“What was that for?” she asked as she sat up. 

“Akira couldn’t get you to wake up, so I helped her a little bit,” Yuki replied. 

“You could have used your bond, you know.”

“It’s not as fun though.”

“Hmph. Where are the others?”

“Playing,” Yuki said, pointing at the pool. “We should get going soon, right?”

“Yeah. Call them back and I’ll help dry them off before we get back to flying,” Ember said.

Yuki did that and they came back, their clothes dripping wet. Ember waved a hand at them and a field of heat surrounded them. 

“I can dry myself off,” Yuna offered.

“This is easier,” Ember smiled. “You should be dry in a minute or two.”

True to her word, the water was gone quickly. They prepared once more to set out, Yuki and Ember changing back into their dragon forms. Their passengers mounted up once again and they took off, soaring into the sky.

[This part will take us into the night,] Ember said to Yuki. [We won’t go as hard, but we should be there in four hours. Think you can hold up?]

‘Should be manageable,’ Yuki replied. ‘I’ll be right behind.’

[Let’s go then. You’re about to meet dragon civilization for the first time.]