Chapter 4 - Poison

Luna woke the next morning an our before dawn and found the Peridot necklace next to her.
Eikki was packing his bag.
“What’s going on?” She could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong.
“Keep the necklace until we get to Mount Fliff. If I wore it, I could turn into a dragon during the day. So it’s best you wear it for now.”
‘What caused this?’ She thought as she rolled up her palette.
She sat down and threw some twigs in the burning coals in front of her.
“I’m going to tell you something, and please don’t get freaked out when I do…” He said and sat beside her.
“OK,” She said hesitantly.
“Ermmm… When I wear Peridot, I can partially change into a dragon. I can stay in human form but I have scales, fangs, talons, etc… And if I do that, I have poison in my system… Last night, you ran away because I changed into a dragon. I found you and you tried running away again, so I poisoned you… It erases memory from 12 hours before, and if I poison you more than four times… You’ll die. So that’s why I’m letting you have the Peridot for now.”
“You would… Keep yourself from trying to kill me?”
“You found this Peridot,” He touched the Peridot and his eyes flickered from brown to yellow, and his teeth became fangs.
“I know there is more… But if there isn’t, there is no hope for the Peridot dragons. So I need you to try and find more… So my children can carry on this race.”
“Wait… you’re saying, that you’re the last… Of the Peridot dragons?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t pity me. I’m fine… Let’s get going,” He stood up and handed her her bag.

Luna kept pace with Eikki almost the whole day, although it seemed like he slowed down quite a bit.
They hardly exchanged words and the silence awkward to Luna.
But into the long hours of the afternoon, Eikki started conversation.
“So… Did Orfeo name you Luna or did your parents?”
“Orfeo did. My parents died when I was seven and Orfeo saved me.”
“What was your name then?”
“I don’t really know… I have a locket I always carry with me… Its in my pocket…”
She pulled out a gold locket and opened it.
“They were my parents,” She showed him the picture and he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw their faces.
“What?” She asked.
“I knew these people, are you sure they were your parents?”
“I’m positive… How did you know them?”
“Did you have a brother?” He asked, ignoring her question.
“No, I don’t think so, although there was a boy that came around a lot. I have only a few memories of him, but they were good ones. I guess you could say my parents thought of him as a son.”
“Did you have a sister?”
“Yes, she was older than me.”
“What was her name?”
“I don’t remember. And how did you know my parents?”
“Luna… That boy you talked about…” He looked her dead in the eye. “That boy was me.”
“YOU?!?” She dropped her bag. “How can that be possible? The boy I remember died… He died, I know he did.”
“No Luna, your sister had blond hair and green eyes, like your father, and you have brown hair and brown eyes like your mother!” He said looking at the black and white picture of her parents. “You did have a brother… I remember now… His name was Ra- Ra-e- Rezi! He had blue eyes and…. White hair! I saw him a couple of years ago at a tavern!”
Luna remembered Rezi, but he was not her brother.
“No he wasn’t, I didn’t have a brother!”
“Then why did he live with you and call you sister?”
“I don’t know, but you must be mistaken… Eikki, Rezi drowned. I watched him drown, I MAY have been wrong about your death… But I SAW Rezi die,” She swallowed hard. She hadn’t thought about Rezi for a long time, all because it was too hard. She didn’t want to remember.
So much of this was overwhelming, but inside Luna, a new light shined. Maybe she could fill in the lost pieces of her past with Eikki.
“Give me the Peridot!” He ripped it from her neck and wrapped it around his wrist, then he transformed into a dragon. “Get on, we’re flying to Fliff!”
“Why didn’t you do this earlier?” She yelled as she hopped in his back.
“Because, I’ll sleep for three days afterwards!”
And he swiftly flew away, into the clouds.
It was the most amazing scene Luna had ever saw.
The sun was shining on the top layer of clouds, and they floated along like a boat at sea.

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