"Thank you for having us Queen Finch," I say as I get onto the saddle. I sit down and wipe the crumbs off of my shirt, trying not to look messy in front of the queen. She smiles at us and thanks us for coming, lightly patting Gold on the head as she does so.
"Make sure to tell your mother that I said hello and to come visit!" She calls after Gold as she strides away. She nods and starts running around, the soft yellow glow turning bright slower this time. And then we're in the reptilian kingdom.
"I thought cats and birds hated each other," Bree says from behind me. I shrug and look around the reptilian kingdom. Snakes and lizards of all kinds walk the streets, a bunch of merchants sitting at their stalls and yelling at passerby.
Gold walks through the crowd, drawing the attention of many reptiles. I remember the birds queen's warning about how the reptilian world is by far the most dangerous out of them all. It's known for its crime rate and the amount of things that get stolen from others.
"This place gives me the creeps," I whisper softly into Bree's ear. She nods and looks around as Gold pushes through the crowd. We make it out of the main crowd and into a small flow of reptiles. As we pass by an alley I see a group of lizards staring at us.
I turn away and wait a few minutes, looking around to see if they are following us. I only see the regular reptiles walking around, doing their daily business as normal. A couple stop and stare at us but I don't recognize any of them from the group in the alley.
"There was a group of lizards that looked at us from on of the alleys," I tell Gold quietly. She nods and looks around before turning her eyes back to the road, following the directions the birds queen gave us. I see someone dart by in the shadows and I freeze up.
I look back at Bree and see that she didn't see anything. I shake my head and sigh. I really need to stop being so paranoid. Gold keeps walking through the crowd, us getting closer to the palace in the distance.
The palace doesn't look anything like the bird or cat kingdom's. This one looks as if it's made of scales and the whole thing is black, most likely to attract heat for the reptiles inside. Most of the places we have passed here are made of black materials.
I hear a scream and Gold stops, turning around to see where the source of the noise came from. The lizards from the alley earlier are trying to take a snake's purse, telling and hitting the poor snake. Gold bounds over to them and quickly moves them out of the way, handing the snake their purse back.
They say a quick thank you before quickly slithering off. I pat Gold on the back and smile at her, glad that we stopped to help that snake. Gold goes to turn around but suddenly her eyes go wide and she starts to stumble.
"Shouldn't have messed with us," one of the lizards says. By now the streets are deserted save for us and the lizards. Gold falls to the floor and I hear the lizards laugh. One of them pulls me off of Gold and onto the ground.
"Hey! Let them go!" Bree yells, getting off the saddle and running towards me. Another lizard grabs her and then suddenly my vision goes black. I realize that they put a bag on me as I'm lifted up, upside down , and our over someone's shoulder.
"Lion skin will sell for a lot on the black market," I hear a muffled voice say. I grimace and look around in the dark, trying to see if there's a hole that I can make bigger to slip out of. When I realize there isn't I stop struggling and make my body go deadweight.
I hear the lizard carrying me grumble and tell their friends that I just gained a hundred pounds. I roll my eyes and suddenly feel them put me down. I hear a door close and I wait a couple of minutes inside the bag.
I reach down and undo the tie from the tiny hole at the top, glad for once that my hands are really small. I get it undone and I slip the bag off over my head, setting it down on the floor next to me before standing up and looking around.
Gold is laying next to a sack that's moving around. I realize that Bree is in there and I quickly walk over, untiying the knot and helping her get the bag off her head. She takes in a deep breath as I set the bag down on the floor.
"Thanks Cloud," she says. I nod and smile at her, sitting down on the cold floor as I look over at Gold. She's still knocked out with her saddle on her, the lizards probably not thinking that we could get out of their bags. Bree follows my gaze and lightly pats my hand.
"It's gonna be okay. She'll wake up soon and teleport us out of here," she says to me. I nod and state at the wall, leaning my head against Bree's shoulder as I try to fall asleep.