Darkling flexed her wings. She glanced over her shoulder at her father, Aspen, who was shaking out his talons as he glared out at the rain.

"Is this necessarily safe?" Asked Darkling worriedly. She was only five; she'd never been to Pyrrhia during a storm, for it risked a hurricane, and Aspen usually said it was too dangerous. But not today; a storm had been separating them for the last ten visits, and it was Darkling's hatching-day in a few weeks.

"We'll be fine." Aspen promised. "And I'm sure when we get to Pyrrhia, Blacksight will be ready for us."

Blacksight was Darkling's mother. She was completely blind, so she usually had a dragon accompany her on the journey. She was Queen Answer's cousin, but she refused to be referred to as royalty by any dragon. It didn't stop Queen Answer from sending guards with her, though.

Darkling stared out at the rain. The soft pitter-patter on the leaves reminded her of once, when she was much younger; Blacksight had been telling her that every raindrop was actually ocean water, and that it was why Darkling wasn't allowed to drink from puddles.

Darkling had grown much in the past few days; her wings had started to get bigger, and she found herself almost as tall as her Father; her shoulders nearly met his height. But it almost seemed that she had stopped growing once the rain hit.

Since both of her parents were short, Darkling was, as destiny would have it, also short. She was shorted than all the other five-year olds, even though she was older than most of them.

"Ready?" Asked Aspen.

"No." Answered Darkling. "But let's go anyway."

Aspen nodded and arrowed into the rain. Darkling realized that he must've been resting his wings for this; she had not. Not until the last few days when she realized they were going.

Darkling flew after him with a quick pace to keep him in her sights, which wasn't very far away from him, since it was foggy and raining cats and dogs around them.

Aspen glanced over his shoulder and slowed to match Darkling's pace. Darkling sighed in relief. "Thank you." She gasped to him.

"What?" Aspen called. "The rain is too loud."

"I said," Darkling was practically yelling now, "Thanks for slowing down!"

He nodded in a, 'You're Welcome.' Gesture, and the wind begun to pick up, making both dragons soar a bit higher than before.

Darkling spotted the first island coming into her sights, and blinked, surprised they were going this fast. Perhaps the wind was on their side? She'd have to find out.

+++

After the course of a few days, resting on islands and then flying again, the storm had calmed down and the sun begun to peak out from behind the gray clouds.

Darkling relished the feel of the sun on her cramped wings as she flew; flying in the rain had caused her joint pain and made her mood miserable, but the sun raised her spirits.

Aspen did a loop in the air beside her, and she grinned at her father. Aspen grinned back.

Darkling closed her eyes, and something stirred behind her eyelids.

  She saw clouds; dark stormy clouds. Wind whipped around her wings and picked her up, flinging her into the air and catching her right before she smashed into the rocky cliffs-

Darkling gasped and jerked to a stop as her eyes flung open, darting around with fear. All was calm. Had she fallen asleep while flying? Had it simply been a bad dream?

"Are you okay?" Aspen's voice sounded beside her. Darkling blinked away her disorientation and glanced at her father. "Yes." She breathed.

The wind begun to pick up again, and Darkling felt that feeling; it was the same feeling as when the hurricane passed over Pantala, and nearly grabbed her and flung her away from her tree. It was the feeling of fear, and panic, and wind. It was the feel of a hurricane.

Darkling turned to tell her father, but he was gone. The sky had begun to turn gray, and the wind swirled calmly around her; she was in the eye of it.

She glanced around as she slowly drifted, then a violent gust picked her up and flung her near the ocean. It was her dream, all over again!

She was flung into the water, engulfed by the waves. She choked and thrashed, water gurgling in her throat. She couldn't breathe!

She glanced around, but couldn't tell what direction was up. Then, BASH! Her head colided with something, and everything subsided into a calm, dull ache and peaceful darkness.