Sorry this one took so long. I actually had this chapter written once already and decided I didn't like how it turned out. So I scrapped it, wrote a new outline, and basically started all over again.

In any case, on with the story!

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We marched high into the mountains at the beginning of the 4th day. Milena was complaining of getting saddle sore while riding her horse next to Roland and her uncle, the king. Why does she get a horse and we don't? And don't complain to me about your butt getting sore! Wormy and I have been walking this whole way, you know! What about our poor aching feet?!

Other than my feet hurting, I was fine, though. Wormy on the other hand looked like he could keel over and pass out from exhaustion at any second. He was panting like a dog and sweating all over the place. Then there was the smell! Not just him, but we were trudging along right behind a large group of over a hundred big sweaty men. How can these people deal with this?! I wanted to rip my nose off my face so I wouldn't have to deal with that horrible stench!

And then there was the intense boredom. No one said a word other than Wormy or Milena's complaints here and there. There wasn't really all that much to look at, either. To the left... some trees. To the right? Yup, more trees. Oh, and an occasional rock. Yay.

The path was steep, narrow and full of rocks just waiting for you to hurt yourself on. The best part was that there was so many of us packed together, that we couldn't even see the rocks until just before we stepped on them. Wormy would've fallen face-first into a pile of fresh horse droppings if I hadn't have caught him. Normally, I would've let him fall, but I didn't need him being covered in royal horse crap and adding to the foul odor attacking my nose.

It wasn't until about noon that we found a large meadow to rest at. Everybody could spread out in all directions and I could finally breathe.

"Take a ten minute break, then begin the search for the dragon's den!" the king ordered. Thankfully, we weren't included in that order. That was meant for the main force.

Wormy spoke up, "What are we going to do? Not like a few kids are going to be much help here."

"I was thinking of climbing a tree to watch from. I'll get a better view that way," I replied.

Milena had somehow got stuck between Roland and the king while they talked about what they were going to do when the dragon is found. She wasn't really saying anything, but she couldn't find the right timing to properly excuse herself.

Well, nothing I can do about it. In any case, I walked around the men who were taking their break. Most were just sitting around talking, drinking water, sharpening weapons or whatever else. I got a few stares and comments about being a kid, yet still strong enough to carry a monster blade all this way. This slab of metal on a stick didn't really have a scabbard or anything. Instead it was carried on my back, sitting on a series of hooks attached to a harness. It would be kind of hard not to notice, I suppose.

When I found a tree I liked, I jumped up, grabbed a branch and pulled myself up. Then just find another suitable branch, then repeat until I'm at the top. Nothing all that complicated. The men below seemed to be making a commotion about it, though and that confused me. Something about jumping so high with so much weight on my back. It's not that amazing is it?

When I got to the top, I felt a nice breeze coming from the north and that helped me cool down. I couldn't take my jacket off thanks to the harness, so I was really grateful. I sat on a branch and braced my feet against another lower branch and settled in. The wind was making the tree top sway, but it wasn't that big of a deal if I braced myself like that.

Down below, the men were starting to group up into units and decide who would search where. There were two large cliff sides on either end of this mountain pass. The dragon could be hiding in any of the countless caves in either of these cliffs. I could even spot a few of these caves from where I sat in the tree.

After a few minutes, the men headed out and the meadow became deserted. Looking back on the path we came in from, I saw that the teachers were gathering the students around the supply carts. They were probably giving lectures on equipment management or whatever. I was even more thankful I wasn't part of their group, sparing me from something so boring.

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I was probably going to be up there for a while, so I did my best to get comfortable. Thankfully, I was alone up there so I could pull my tail out and take off my hat. My tail was covered in sweat, so I flicked it off as best I could. The wind blowing past my ears also felt pretty good.

"Haaaahhh..." I sighed.

This isn't good... I might fall asleep up here.

I shook my head to clear the thought and wake myself up a bit. After that, all I could do was wait. I had sat there for a couple minutes when I heard a branch snapping down below. I was about to panic and try to hide my tail again, until I saw it was Milena climbing up.

I spotted Wormy down at the bottom of the tree, saying something to Milena, but I couldn't hear him from this high up. The wind wasn't making things any easier, either. I thought he might start climbing too, but he headed off towards Roland and the king. Is he afraid of heights?

Speaking of the king... did I ever bother to learn his name? That's something important, right?

"Fen, can you... h-help me, please?" Milena called out to me from below.

She had managed to get right below me, but couldn't quite make the last jump to the branch where my feet were at. So, I reached down and helped her up. She then sat down next to me on the branch. It would've been fine if it were just that. But the branch I was sitting on tilted upward. So when she sat on it, she slid down and ended up pressed against my side. On my left, was the tree trunk, on my right was Milena.

Thanks to the weird angle, her feet couldn't quite reach the branch I was bracing myself with. So she latched on to me pretty tightly once she started sliding.

"Umm... you're not sliding anymore. You can let go if you want," I said.

But she wasn't having any of that. She didn't even say a word as she shook her head left and right. Why did she come up here if she's afraid of heights, too?

I braced her with my right arm behind her back so might feel a bit more secure. But the moment I did, she let out a quiet "eep!" sound and her face turned red. What did I do wrong, now? I was about to pull my arm back when she hung on to that, too. Make up your mind!

"So... why did you come up here if you're so scared?" I asked.

Milena stuttered, "I-I-I'm n-not scared."

"Yeah, right," I replied.

"It's true! It's n-not the height, it's just... umm..." she said as her face turned redder than before.

This girl is making less and less sense. If it's not the height, then what is it? She wouldn't look me in the eye either. I decided it would be best if I got her mind off of whatever it was that she was thinking about. I pointed out towards the cliffs with my free arm.

"Take a look. We can see a lot from up here." I said. "There's a cool breeze, too."

She looked up and took a look around. She was still a little stiff at first, but after a while she started to relax. But for some reason she began to lean on me like it was on purpose. She's not falling asleep is she? That's dangerous!

...Well, I guess it's okay. I'll make sure she doesn't fall.

While I thought that, I felt some weird fuzzy feeling and my face heated up. It wasn't bad, though, so I just tried to ignore it. We stayed like that for maybe about half an hour when Milena decided to speak up.

"Fen... I think... umm... I think I-" she began. But she didn't get to finish. We were both startled when we heard a loud roar!

I hung on to her to keep her from falling. Once she got herself steady again, I looked out at the left cliff and saw a fiery light coming from a cave.

"Looks like they found the dragon," I said.

I was excited, but Milena didn't look too happy. Instead, she was looking at her hands with a displeased expression on her face.

I could just barely hear her mumble, "Stupid dragon..."

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