Alika and Tarka trudged north through the mountain pass, one paw in front of the other. As the days had gone by, the slopes of the pass had become gentler, the valley before them wider. At first, she’d been nervous every time Tarka had shouted, but the avalanche hadn’t repeated itself, and it seemed that they were out of the danger zone for now.

On the clearest days, Alika could see tall peaks rising over the ridges of the slopes. It seemed that the mountains went on forever and ever. Serka had told them tales of the great ocean beyond the ice, but Alika could hardly believe it. How far did they have to walk?

Every day she could, Alika had looked up at the rings. They were supposed to get closer, but she barely saw it. Were they really higher in the sky, or was it just that the mountains before them were shorter? The path before them seemed endless. Their parents had flown it; how long would it take them to walk? The spirit couldn’t have been serious about them finding their pack before winter, not at this rate.

The smaller of the Twins rested above the rings as if grieving for her shattered sister. Alika’s paws were sore and tired. She could tell that summer was ending, with the chilly autumn winds making noisy wails as they whipped through the pass. When the two slept, their makeshifts den were covered with shed fur in the mornings. Soon, their winter coats would come in.

Still, she could tell that they were getting further north. The snow had melted, and the path between the mountains was graced with shrubs and grasses the colors of the setting sun. The slopes above them were rocky and brown, but plant life grew ever the same.

Alika’s stomach growled. Though the constant walking kept her warm, it had been ages since they’d had anything but meager meals of berries to eat. It wasn’t enough for two growing dragons. Sooner or later, she’d need to hunt.

As Alika walked along the path, Tarka ran in circles around her. Though his flame had not yet sparked, every new color, plant, or critter that he saw seemed to light him up with excitement. Even feeling the crunch of grass under his paws filled him with joy.

“Alika, look, look!” Tarka said, gesturing at a small hole in the ground with his wing. “It’s a den! A tiny den! I can smell prey inside.”

Alika glanced over and sniffed. He was right, there was something inside — she could even hear it moving.

“It’s probably too fast to catch, and too small to make a good meal,” Alika rumbled unhappily. She pawed at the ground, but whatever was inside just went further down. There’s no way they’d be able to get at it, not that way.

“There’s another hole!” Tarka shouted, running across the pass and almost tripping Alika. “It would be so cool if Hedi was here with us. He’d love this!”

Alika missed Hedi but was glad that they hadn’t seen any wolves since the Wulfwoods. So far, there’d been nothing she thought would pose a danger.

Suddenly, Alika smelled another animal on the breeze. This one was larger than what Tarka had found — a prey animal around their size. Her ears perked, and she scanned the slope for the culprit. Sure enough, she could see something moving above them. Perched on the rocks was a white-furred animal with hooves and two curved horns. Its head was dipped down into the dry grass, pulling and chewing on it. A mountain goat, its tail short and fluffy.

“I wonder if Hedi eats berries,” Tarka continued. “Or maybe wolves only eat meat?”

“Tarka, quiet,” Alika said. The goat hadn’t noticed them, and she didn’t want their echoing voices to alert it.

“Hm? Why? ” Tarka asked.

Alika pointed her wing up at the goat. “I’m going to hunt.”

Tarka cocked his head, staring at the goat. “You’re going to hunt that? For your first time? It looks big, and its horns look sharp.”

“I’ve hunted with Mom before.” Alika glared at Tarka. “I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t think that counts.” Tarka shrugged his wings. “You said you were just watching her.”

“I paid attention,” Alika hissed. “Either way, we have to learn how to hunt eventually. Can you smell it?”

Tarka’s nostrils flared, and he made annoyingly loud sniffing noises. “Yeah! It smells tasty. Are you sure it won’t attack us, though?”

“It’s a goat, not a moose,” Alika replied assuredly. “We’re downwind right now. You go upwind and scare it, so it’ll come this way. Maybe it’ll fall off the slope.”

Tarka bobbed his head, swishing his tail. “Yeah! I can be scary!”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Alika shooed him off with a wing and watched as he slunk down the mountain pass. The goat still hadn’t moved — the ledge it was on seemed to provide Tarka with cover. Meanwhile, Alika crept up the ledge, keeping her head to the ground and her pawsteps as quiet as possible. Just like Serka had told her: when hunting from the ground, stay downwind and hide in brush or snow.

Alika held still. Any closer, and she was sure it would spot her. Now, she just had to wait for Tarka to do his job.

The goat kept chewing, each munch long and loud. Alika’s heart raced, and the dry grasses crunched under her talons. C’mon, where was Tarka? Why was he taking so long? She stiffened her tail, keeping it from whipping back and forth impatiently.

Suddenly, the mountain goat stopped chewing, and a morsel of grass fell from its chin. It lifted its head. Had it spotted her?

“Roar!” Tarka yelled out. A flap of white wings was visible through the brush. “Hey, goat! I’m a scary dragon! I’m gonna get you!”

The goat lowered its head and resumed grazing.

Tarka let out another roar, though to Alika it seemed more like a loud squeak. She let out a sigh. Apparently, she’d overestimated his intimidation abilities. Well, perhaps he’d be a good enough distraction?

Alika coiled her body, tensing her her legs. She leaped out from the brush, sprinting and climbing the ledge. It wasn’t that far. All Tarka needed to do was keep the goat from looking at her. It was close, so close she could almost taste it.

Alika stretched her talons out as she pounced, only for the mountain goat to make a magnificent leap out from her grasp, causing her to crash into the grass it had been eating. The goat landed partway down from the ledge, prancing along the sheer cliffside as if to taunt her into falling after it.

Alika was hungry enough that it worked. She jumped off the cliff, spreading her wings and aiming to fall on top of the goat.

“Alika!” Tarka yelped, running off to where she’d jumped from.

The mountain goat lowered its head down. Its horns rose from the back of its skull, ready to impale Alika.

With a twist of her wings, Alika swooped to the side, sinking her hindtalons into the goat’s backside. Her momentum pulled the two of them off the cliffside together. Alika let go, and the goat made a pained bleating noise as it fell through the air, crashing into the bottom of the pass. The wind didn’t manage to keep Alika aloft, and she rolled through the dirt a moment later.

Before the goat could get up, Alika jumped on top of it, sinking her talons into its side and clamping the underside of its throat with her jaws. It began thrashing, trying to hit her with its horns, but to no avail. Alika just bit down harder, and after a few moments of trying to escape, it gave up and lay limp, letting out a long, defeated bleat.

“You flew!” Tarka exclaimed, climbing down safely from the cliff. “You flew, you flew!”

“Meh,” the goat said. “It was more of a glide than a fly.”

Tarka ran up to Alika’s side, staring at the goat. He poked at the goat’s horns cautiously before pulling his paw back.

“Don’t move,” Alika growled. “You should be frightened.”

“I am frightened! Terribly frightened!” The goat bleated out, continuing to lay as limp as it could. “But I had little chance against a gliding bear.”

“We’re dragons!” Tarka exclaimed. “And Alika was flying, not gliding!”

Alika snorted. The goat was right. That had definitely been a glide, not a fly, but it was good to know that she could do that. Still, Serka had warned them to kill their prey quickly and not to talk with them for a reason, so Alika began clamping down on the goat’s throat, trying to choke it.

“Wait, wait!” the goat wheezed. “Please, I can help you!”

Alika had no plans of letting the goat speak more, but Tarka shook Alika’s snout with a paw, trying to push her off.

“He says he can help us!” Tarka said. “I want to hear what he has to say! Please?”

Alika puffed out a bit of smoke and lashed her tail. Really? Tarka wanted to talk to the goat they were about to eat? That was a terrible idea. Still, she had to admit she was slightly curious as to what the goat had to say. She let off on the choking just a little, still keeping her jaws in place.

“What?” Alika snapped.

“I’ve heard stories about dragons,” the goat said, its eyes shifting between the two of them. “Lots of stories about dragons and their famed love for treasure. Do you want treasure?”

“Yeah!” Tarka announced, excitedly stomping up and down.

“Well, I know the location of a secret dragon treasure from long ago,” the goat continued. “I can tell you where it is! If you spare me, of course.”

Alika rolled her eyes. This was the angle the goat was going with? No wonder Mother had told them not to let their prey speak.

“It’s the map!” Tarka gasped. “The map to the Emerald Isle! He knows where it is!”

“Yes!” the goat bleated. “That I do! Just let me go, and I can take you to i—”

Alika bit down harder on the goat’s throat, cutting off his air supply. The goat began writhing and thrashing, before going limp. The goat’s eyes rolled up in its head, and Alika kept her jaws in place, just to make sure that he wasn’t faking dying.

“Alika?” Tarka squealed. He grabbed her head and tried to push her off the goat, but she didn’t budge. “Why did you do that? He was going to tell us where the map was!”

Alika waited a little longer to answer, poking the goat’s underbelly with a sharp talon. There was no movement. She lifted her head and used a wing to push Tarka off her.

“He was obviously lying,” Alika replied. “Mom told us not to talk to prey, remember? This is why.”

“Well, what if he wasn’t lying?” Tarka asked. “What if the map to the Emerald Isle has been hidden for centuries among the goats? Maybe they’ve been keeping it! We could have found the Emerald Isle!”

Alika stared at him. Couldn’t he tell how ridiculous he sounded right now? “Tarka, you can’t eat a map.”

“Unless you’re a goat,” Tarka pointed out. “Oh no! What if the goats ate it?”

Alika let out a long exhale and lifted one of the goat’s legs. She was hungry, and even if they hadn’t seen any, a fresh kill would attract other predators. “C’mon, eat up. We got lucky with this hunt, but who knows when we’ll eat next.”