"A Whistler dragon! What on Earth are they?" I whisper-shouted to Alec as he cared for Faith. The pitch of the whistle had knocked her out for the count and we were stuck here until she woke.

"I've read about them, I never actually believed they existed. A dragon that can produce a sound so distinctly high-pitched it can kill a man at close range! It seemed like just a legend."

As the dragon flew away I pushed Krystal angrily. "You are such an idiot! Now we are stuck here on an island of dragons no one believes exist!"

Krystal didn't fight back, she had finally come to her senses. She just turned away and held her breath hopeful that my fuse had been extinguished.

"Guys! Fighting won't help! We need to get out of here!" Moaned Leo anxiously.

"Yeah, we can see that, but we now have a problem with screaming dragons and an unconscious girl to carry!"

Tristen stood up and puffed out his chest to show us his manliness. He was the second oldest after all.

"I'll carry her!"

He picked Faith up quickly and we headed into the cover of the trees as far away from the dragon as we could get. The sun was beginning to set now and if it wasn't safe during the day, what was it like at night? My heart pounded in my chest as we ran. It was so frightening. Thankfully, Krystal spotted a cave not too far away. The first helpful thing she had done all day!

"Come'on!"

We followed her and hid in the dark, cold and damp. Tristen lay Faith down on his lap while Alec and Leo made a fire. Faith started to wake up from her sudden faint.

"Whoa!...my head is killing me!"

Without looking up from his fire, Alec answered her, his voice brisk and husky as if he was on the brink of explosion.

"It's just the bump on your head and the pain will wear off momentarily."

I hugged her glad she was okay. We sat in a worried silence and in that time I almost fell asleep. When I looked up, Alec was the only one awake. He was just staring distantly into the crackling fire. I watched the flames dance in his eyes for a few moments, then I sat up and whispered to him. "Are you okay?"

He glanced up and gasped before looking back down quickly.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were awake."

I yawned heavily and pulled the ends of my sleeves over my hands. The icy cave was hardly protection from the cold night. The only real comfort against the cold was the extensive body heat that aired through the darkness.

"It's fine...Are you fine?"

Alec shook his head and made no eye-contact. I wondered what he was thinking about.

"No. This is all my fault. I should have been more forward with Krystal."

I bum-shuffled over to him and nudged him playfully with my shoulder.

"Hey it's ok! We're all still alive and healthy and I think Krystal finally understands the meaning of teamwork."

He smirked but his face hardened again as if I had said nothing to lighten his feelings.

"We are alive and healthy...for now-"

he turned to me. I saw a fear reflect on his face that I had never seen before. He was normally so confident and brave, I never thought someone like he was capable of such an anxious expression.

"-but now there is a forest of man-eating, wild dragons standing between us and our next meal."

<3 <3 <3