Chapter four: Dary

       If he could, Dary would never touch the ground. Why walk when you could fly? Why run when you could ride the wind all around the world?
              Dary was born into his powers, and he couldn't imagine life without the wind under his wings. Until the day The King asked him to watch over his only heir. By accepting, Dary had to give up his wings, his fire, and his freedom. Too risky, The King had said. When she has proper training, then you can have your scale back.
        By now Dary was okay with it. He had three really awesome friends all with a part to play: the best friend, the innocent, and the hero. Then there was him: the protector. That was okay, but it got old. No one at school except Chriss, Cody and Crystal, actually talked to him. He even felt like they didn't remember him sometimes either. Some things just kept him separate: the letter C, a likeable personality, and a family. Dary had a close relationship with his mother, but they couldn't see each other until he got his scale back.
         The upside was that he still had the two things no one could take away from him. When Crystal got her first stone, Dary remembered Guinevere. She was acute little phoenix, with light yellow feathers and unique hazel eyes. Dary still talked with her even though he had released her from the powers of the stone. Dary hoped Crystal would release Arrien once she found the second stone. Every dragon has three weaknesses. When they are untrained and unscaled, they have two stones and a scale. Once they are fully trained, they have two wings, and millions of scales.
           Now that Crystal found her powers and Arrien, she had to find the guardian of the second stone. Dary had no idea where to start, but Chriss did.
          "We need to go to The Gamers' Dome. It's our best chance to find other who might have heard about another wolf," Chriss planned as he sipped his morning coffee in the lounge at school.
            "I agree. Now how do we get there?" Dary questioned.
            "Are you still friends with Hunter from the Renaissance Club?"
             "Yeah. Why?"
            "There is bound to be a group going from the club this weekend. They are having a tournament to crown a new prince."
             "Great," Dary responded sarcastically. The Gamers' Dome was a nerds paradise. And secretly, Dary couldn't be happier about going. From live reenactments to real horse-backed challenges. All of it was set in medieval times and everyone had a character, and I mean everyone. The last time Dary was there with Chriss and Crystal he had to make a character profile for himself. He had to dress and act just like his character, but Dary thought it was fun. To be able to act like someone totally different and no one would know who you really were.
              Dary's character was a knight with a really bad sense of humor. No one ever laughed. Chriss was a thief and pickpocket. And he hated it. The only thing he was allowed to steal was gold coins from the staff. Ironically, Crystal's Uncle owned The Gamers' Dome. He liked to be called the King of The Games. And since he was King, Crystal got the special treatment and got to be a princess. Dary found that extremely amusing since Crystal was the complete opposite of proper and polite. She could make a grown man cry just by looking at them with her piercing amber eyes and sarcastic eyebrows.
               Hunter was easy to find. If you walked into the computer lab, you could hear the sound of his ego. Although he was a nerd and video game addict, his looks can kill. And they had. The only thing that keeps his mind off breaking hearts is the internet. Dary look a deep breath and walked closer to the sounds of special effects and the crack of newly opened soda cans. Hunter saw Dary coming and motioned for a pause in the game. He took off his head set and eyed Dary coldly. "Hey Hunter." Dary said emotionless.
              "Dary. What do you want?" Hunter responded rather friendly.
              "Just wanted to know if any of you guys are heading up to The Gamers' Dome this weekend for the tournament."
              "Maybe we are and maybe we aren't. Whats it to you?"
               Dary smiled, "Oh Crystal just wanted to see if you could give us a ride up there. I heard she was going to be presenting the winner of the tournament with a special prize." At that, Hunter's eyes lit up.
              "Well lucky for her I plan on winning the tournament. I guess we could give you guys a ride up, but just this once. We leave Friday after school at 4:00. Don't be late," Hunter said as he picked his controller and head set back up.
               "Thanks," Dary remarked, but Hunter just waved his hand with out taking his eyes off the 80" flat screen. 

                 Dary met up with Chriss after his chat with Hunter to relay the news. "We're in. He agreed the minute he knew Crystal was coming."
                 "Figures. He wouldnt miss the chance to kiss up to her. Does he know she found the first stone?" Chriss didnt even look up from the book he was buring through.
                   "I dont think so. He just thinks its a planned thing with the tournament."
                  "Good. Lets try to keep it on the downlow."
                   "That will be difficult," Dary shrugged, " even I can smell Arrien a mile away. We need to find the second stone as soon as possible before some real nasty things start chasing us."
                   "I agree. I'll start packing. Can you tell Crystal about this and what we need to do? I'll talk to Cody," Chriss said while he closed his book. Dary caught a glance the title of what Chriss had been reading while he strolled out the front door of the school. It read: "HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON."

                    Dary found Arrien first. He was sprawled out under an oak tree just outside of the school grounds. His now orange starred eye, after a good bath the red turned to its origional color, was resting comfortable on his paw. The red patches on his body were also a fiery orange now, and moved with the slight breeze. Arrien's eyes twitched and he looked up at Dary with eager eyes and a playful yip. Dary nodded at the wolf and looked around for Crystal. Arrien stood up to shake his fur clean and motioned up. Dary understood and started to climb the tree.
                Half way up the enormous oak, Dary found Crystal. She was had her back against the trunk of the tree with her feet out on a sturdy branch. One of her knees was bent and she had her hand resting on it. She was staring into the clouds when Dary finally managed to reach her level in the tree. "When are we leaving?" Crystal questioned without turning towards him                
                    "We leave for The Gamers' Dome on friday at 4 O'clock."
                  "You know I never realised how much of a challenge this would be. Was it this hard for you when you were in training?"
                   "Harder. I didnt have anyone to help me. You have Chriss, Cody, and me. We wont let anyone hurt you."
                   "If my father hadnt told you to make sure of my safety, would you still be here now?" Honestly Dary didnt know. The King took everything away from him, but that wasnt exactly Crystal's fault.
                   "Yes. I may not have felt the same way 5 years ago, but now I'm glad I get to go through this with you."
                     "He talked to me last night. My father. He told me where the second stone is and how to get it." Crystal focused her gaze down at Arrien now and Dary could tell she was holding back something.
                     "Well where is it?"
                     "Its under The Gamers' Dome. The only catch is that there are hundereds of tunnels down there and theres an ice troll guarding it."
                       "Piece of cake," Dary said as he made his way down the tree.
                     "Haha very funny. Might be easy for a full dragon like you!" Crystal yelled after him. "What was guarding your second stone huh?" Crystal was now on the ground staring Dary down.
                      "Oh just a few cylops."
                       "A few?? as in...?"
                        "I think there were 12," Dary loved toying with Crystal. Dary actually had to fight something a lot worse but he didnt want to out brag her just yet.
                        "Oh well then. Mr. I'm better at fighting than you."
                         "You said it not me," and Dary decided to hastily make an escape after Crysal attempted to punch him. He out ran her easily and let himself in Cody's back door. Chriss was there talking to Cody at the kitchen table. "Hey guys."
                         "Why do you look winded?" Cody pondered.
                           "Oh just wait." A minute later Crystal appeared at the back door with Arrien in front of her.
                          "No need to get Arrien rilled up Crystal. I'm sure Dary was just messing with you," Chriss reasoned. Crystal collected herself and flashed a dragon slitted eye towards Dary. Chriss continued, "Now that we are all here we can disguss our plans. Crystal any idea of who could help us in The Gamers' Dome?"
                          "That wont be necessary, I know where it is." Crystal explained and Cody made it obvious that he was excited about going to The Gamers' Dome. Dary wished he could share in the excitement but he was the oldest and most responsible so he held back his feelings. Chriss was rubbing his hand in his jet black hair as he stared at the table. Crystal told Cody to shut up and Chriss broke the awkward silence by telling everyone to go home and get some sleep. Dary got up from the table and walked out the door towards the compound's homeless shelter.