The wind whipped around Ruby as she rode Erceba through the blue sky filled with chubby white clouds. 

Erceba was the town's dragon - he was everyone's and no one's - like a stray cat or dog, except about four tons heavier. Despite the fact that no one knew who he belonged to, it was an unspoken rule that if he did belong to anyone else, it was Ruby. His once shiny golden scales had turned a dim yellow, a few of them missing or grey. The tendrils that grew from the back of his head had curled inward with age, but still held an air of power. 

His giant mouth was filled with too many teeth and his golden eyes drooped somewhat. Not to mention his unproportionate massive wings - the biggest set of wings anyone in Ruby's village had ever seen on a dragon. All these little imperfections only made him more lovable, especially to Ruby. 

The reins were so loose in her hands, they hovered in her fingers. She was tempted to let go and just sit, but the thought of miles of the earth below changed her mind. 

She thought about Nick, his sparkling blue eyes, perfect blonde hair, and tan skin. She was almost positive they'd be married someday in the distant future. The sour thought that ruined it was how he oh-so obviously liked a different girl. Ruby couldn't help but wish her red hair was a different color or her brown eyes were magically the same color as his crush.

I wonder if- Erceba jerked her out of her thoughts. One moment, they were peacefully gliding through the air, the next, falling towards their deaths. 

Ruby clung to the harness as tightly as possible. She tried to think of something to stop their fall, or at least slow it but her mind was going a million miles per hour. No sound came out, the only thing to leave her throat was a scream-like squeak. The ground seemed so close now. Treetops were popping up all around them. 

No, we're not going to die. She grabbed the reins higher up, pulling back with all her might. The wind sailed underneath Erceba's belly for one wonderful moment, then the tip of his oversized wing nicked an especially tall tree, and they went flying in circles. The world around Ruby spun too fast to focus on anything. 

Her vision started to tunnel and her body felt weak. 

CRACK! 

Right after it exploded out of the forest somewhere, something slammed against Erceba, stopping their nauseating ride. Then Ruby passed out.

***

Ruby was awake before she opened her eyes, slightly afraid of what she might see. A sharp pain pounded in her left arm, somewhere above her elbow.

Am I dead? No, I can't be. You don't feel pain if you're dead.

She peeked one eye open, then the other. There was a ceiling above her, a smooth grey one that looked like it was made from rock. Where am I? Where's Erceba!? The thought of her dragon pulled her awake, forcing her to sit up. She was in some kind of cave, but where the mouth was, a wooden wall and door were built. There was a small kitchen, a sitting area consisting of furs and some funny looking chairs, then there was the spot where she was.

The bed she was on was covered with furs of grey and brown, the softest things she'd ever felt. Did that mean she was in someone's . . . was it a house? That's strange. It's like it's from the middle ages or something. I pity the poor person who lives here.

Without warning, her wounded arm reminded her it was hurt, begging her to look. Sucking up all the bravery she could, Ruby took a glance. Thankfully, it'd been patched up. She took a deep breath and slid off the bed. If felt weird to walk, the last time she was awake, she'd been flying. For six hours.

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She pushed the heavy wooden door open, momentarily blinded by the light that poured into the place.

After blinking at the speed of light, she finally managed to get a good view of wherever she was now. The cave was in the side of a giant crater about four acres across and five wide. Trees peeked over the top of the "earth bowl" curious to see what lived there. Little brown shacks popped up here and there. One of them - it was slightly downhill from where she was standing - was much bigger than the others, sitting in the middle of the crater.

It vaguely resembled something like a barn.

As she was making her way to the barn-thing, something caught her eye. Up in front of the trees, a huge, strange shape hovered in the middle of the air. It was like someone had broken part of the top of an upturned glass bowl. Waiting outside the door of the place was a dragon. In all her expensive classes of Dragon Stuff, Ruby had never heard of much less seen anything like it. It was small, and long, with sparkling white and silver scales and fin-like films decorating different parts of its body. 

It reminded her of a Chinese dragon, except minus a bunch of qualities. Its tendrils were silver and long, gracefully trailing behind it wherever it turned its head. When it turned to face her, she was met with two, round eyes. One crystal blue, and the other emerald green. 

It had been whimpering at the door up until the moment it realized she was there. It arched its back, one wide row of spikes emerging from its nose all the way to the end of its tail, growling at her as a warning. She held up her hands defensively.

"Shh, it's okay. Just calm-"

A deep roar erupted from inside the barn. Ruby's eyebrows furrowed together at the sound. Erceba. The small dragon stopped growling, turning to the door and scratching at it with a pitiful whimper again. It looked at Ruby, now wanting her help more than anything. She managed to smile.

"Not much of a guard dog, are you?"

She unlocked the door, taking a deep breath. Then kicked it open. What she saw inside, she did not expect.

"Get away from my . . ." A boy sat in front of Erceba, who was laying on the ground with his head down, the boy's back to the door. When Ruby barged in, yelling before she knew what awaited her, he turned abruptly around, his hands covered in blood. The silver dragon happily scuttled over to him and wrapped itself around his torso. 

Ruby stepped back in surprise, she didn't have anything to say anymore.

"I'm helping him, I promise. See your arm? That- that was from me. I just want to help, okay?"

Ruby glanced at her arm when he mentioned it, but quickly looked back up in fascination and confusion. Instead of a thick head of hair, vibrant blue, yellow, and green feathers grew from his head, styled like any normal human hair but . . . more feathery. From his back grew a pair of wings, identical to a dragonfly's but human-sized. And on a human - or whatever he was, she wasn't so sure anymore.

He had bright green eyes and freckles that dotted his nose. He stroked his dragon, cooing to it.

"I see you've met Fish."

"Fish?"

He tapped his dragon's head. Ruby shifted on her feet.

"What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"Falling from the sky on my dragon after a bad wing got hold of his wing."

"Oh. Well, you didn't miss much after you passed out. I mean, look around you. Kind of explains itself, you know."

"Not really. You saved us then? And where are we exactly? What's your name and why are you helping us?"

The boy started laughing, his dragon- Fish - getting himself comfortable again after being jostled around by his owner.

"One question at a time, please! Great snakes!"

He chuckled to himself, turning back to Erceba. Ruby bit her lip.

"What's your name?"

"Owen. What's yours?"

She opened her mouth, about to lie to him about it, but then she thought why not. It wasn't like she was ever going to see him again anyway. "Ruby. Ruby Sonia."

He raised his eyebrows, wrapping a bandage around Erceba's leg. 

"What happened to your hair?"

He stopped what he was doing, setting his arm on his head and turning to face her. "Do you mind? I'm busy."

"Yes. And you don't look busy to me."

Owen narrowed his eyes, but a smile brightened his features.

"Fish ate all my hair so I replaced it with feathers."

"Nope." Honestly, she believed him there for a second. He laughed, somewhat with annoyance.

"Where did you guys even come from? I haven't seen anyone for ages . . ." His smile faded at the last part.

"I know what you're doing, but I'll tell you anyway. Scale's End. I don't know which direction it is from here, because I don't know where here is. Where do you come from?"

"Cloppenburg, Scottland."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "That's not funny."

Owen turned back to Erceba. "I don't know what you mean. Scale's End sounds made-up."

"But . . ." everything started falling together in her mind, which now shattered into a million little pieces.

"Cloppenburg . . . that was four hundred years ago."