Laud was sitting on a rock when he heard Sabrus. He quickly ran back to where he was instructed to stay.
"I saw no one," Sabrus said, and Laud's face dropped.
"It does not mean anything, they could have left in one of the boats," Sabrus said and asked Laud to get on his back. He took off, and Shaban and Markeen came out of hiding as they watched Sabrus.
They then continued their descent from the castle.
"Where is the boy?" Markeen asked as she looked behind trees and rocks.
"The dragon might have eaten him," Shaban stated and Markeen looked at him and shook his head.
"What? It is possible," Shaban said and continued down the mountain. When they got to the base of the mountain. They saw someone rolling a boat down the river.
They ran to see who it was. They got there but only the boat was at the river bank.
"Hey, where is everyone?"
Lord said and Shaban and Markeen turned around. They turned to see Lord with a coconut in his hand. He gulped it toss the coconut over his shoulders.
"Who are you?"
Shaban asked as he unsheathed his knife.
"I am Lor… Loric, now it's your turn," Lord said and got closer to them.
"There was an attack, the town is now in ashes,"
Shaban said and he dug his nails into his palm.
"By any chance, did you happen to see a boy with blond hair and blue eyes?"
Loric asked and Shaban bowed his head.
"We just saw a boy like that hours ago," Markeen said just before Shaban interrupted,
"I'm really sorry, a dragon ate him."
Shaban sighed.
Loric chuckled, "All they do is destroy, they have taken from me everything I love. It is about time someone stood up to them."
"Yeah," Shaban yelled in agreement.
Markeen was not as enthusiastic as Shaban. Loric walked to the boat.
"There is nothing here for me anymore," Loric said and got into the boat. Shaban gestured at Markeen to get on the boat. She walked along the river.
Shaban ignored her and ran toward Loric's boat. He got on and watched, Markeen as they sailed away.
About an hour later they saw Markeen headed toward them on the Bird.
Sabrus and Laud landed in Piek a region in Boik. To not draw attention, Sabrus landed miles away from town.
"What are we doing here?"
Laud asked as he looked around. He was surrounded by greens. It was not a thick forest, the number of trees was less dense.
"You will have to learn the ways of a rider if you are going to avenge your people," Sabrus said to Laud.
"What is the use," Laud said and sat on a tree stump.
"A dragon rider should learn to be one with their dragon. This would give you an advantage compared to a regular human," Sabrus said to Laud but he was not convinced.
"Blue IV killed mother, you might kill me one day," Laud said, he took a stone and threw it at a tree.
"Why do you think Blue IV did that?"
Sabrus asked, he knew Laud was young but he considered it a good thing.
"I don't know, because she turned bad," Laud said and got up. He proceeded to kick around a stick.
"It's because she was told to do so."
"Who would tell Blue IV to do something that horrible?"
"An Alpha, an alpha is like a mother who tells her kids what to do," Sabrus explained.
"Why did IV just refuse?"
"Because she can't, the only way a dragon can disobey an alpha. Is it the bond between and a rider is really strong," Sabrus explained and Laud stopped kicking the stick.
"So teaching me the ways of a rider would stop you from obeying the alpha," Laud asked.
"Yes, it would also…,"
"I would learn the way of the dragon and teach others, so dragons cannot be controlled by the alpha. When do we start?"
Laud said as he struck a heroic pose.