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Chapter Three
    It was already late in the day when Jillia decided to head off. So, only an hour after her departure, the sun was beginning to set. She felt emotionally and physically exhausted after her first day on her quest. She still wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but Jillia figured a definite path would make itself apparently eventually.

    Anyway, it was time to camp out for the night. At first she worried about where she was going to sleep, but then realized that all those days where her claws felt like they were on fire from digging so much would come in handy after all.

It didn't take Jillia to create a small, underground den for herself. She closed her eyes, feeling safe and secure. It was almost as if she were back home, thought Jillia, as she drifted off to sleep in her burrow.

The next morning she awoke with a jolt. Jillia looked from side to side. What had disturbed her slumber?

Then she saw it. A shadow in the entrance to her small tunnel, silhouetted against the rising sun. An intruder!

At first Jillia shrunk back, before realizing what it was. A dragon! Here was her chance to get revenge, or...or something.

Before she had time to think, Jillia lunged forward and swiped her claws out at the dragon. The dragon recoiled in surprise, dashing outside.

Once they were in the sunlight, Jillia could see that this was a young dragon, about her age. He was black and skinny with purple spikes and horn. His eyes were green. On his shoulder was a red tattoo of a dragon.

"Ah! Um...hey. I didn't realize anyone lived here. Please don't kill me..." he said.

Jillia looked him over. He didn't seem like much of a threat. "Who are you?" she growled.

Mallumo realized that he didn't have much to be afraid of. "Mallumo. Prince Mallumo." he added, sticking his head high in the air.

Jillia blinked in surprise. "Prince?"

Mallumo looked at her as if she were stupid. "Why of course. Why else would I bear the royal mark?" he said, gesturing to the tattoo on his shoulder.

Jillia rolled her eyes. This dragon may not be trying to eat her, but she hated him all the same.

Mallumo went on. "And you must be a walkese. Well, a dignified being such as myself has no business with lower creatures such as yourself."

Jillia had had enough. "That's it, you're gonna get it!" she snarled, leaping at the young dragon. They rolled in the grass for several minutes, Jillia clearly having the upper hand. Then suddenly, they heard a loud crash and it started to rain.

"I hate getting wet!" cried Mallumo, darting around, trying to find shelter.

"Good thing I've got my tunnel." proclaimed Jillia, heading proudly back towards her makeshift den.

"Are you crazy?" said Mallumo, "Anything underground will be flooded!"

Jillia remembered all the fortifications they had to make to the tunnels at home before a rain storm. She didn't have the skill to do them on her own.

"Oh...yeah." she said, embarrassed.

At the same time, they both spotted a large cave carved into the side of a tall mountain. They made a mad dash for it, slipping and sliding on the tall, wet grass.

By the time they reached the shelter, they were both soaked. They were angry that they had to share the place, shooting several threatening glares at eachother.

"This is my cave!" announced Jillia.

"I saw it first!" Mallumo argued.

They were both interrupted by a threatening growl from deep within the dark cave. A huge head popped out of the shadows. It was a dragon, but not a young one like Mallumo. No, this one was huge: the head alone far bigger than both of them combined.

"Kiu aŭdac misfaras en mia kuŝejo?" the dragon growled. Jillia could not understand what it was saying, but apparently the young prince did.

    "Mallumo." he proclaimed nervously.

    The dragon glared in response and let out a low growl.  "Mi estas indiferenta kiu vi estas. Neniu estas permesita tie ĉi! Eble kiel puno, mi volo ..ig vin mia vespermanĝo!"

    "Um...we ne gusto bona, honesta!" Mallumo said.

Jillia's head whipped from side to side as she attempted to follow the conversation. "What's it saying?" she asked finally.

"He wants to eat us!" said Mallumo. They both let out shrieks and tried to escape, but the dragon blocked their path.

"Vi ne vol eskap tio facile!" snarled the dragon as it lunged towards them. Jillia gaped in shock. Was this the end of her journey?

But before she could be eaten, she felt something pull her between two rocks, out of the way. It was Mallumo. "I have a plan." he said. After a few seconds of discussion, they were ready for action.

The dragon let out a frustrated roar. "Kie vi estas?" it bellowed, looking around.

Suddenly, Mallumo dashed towards it. "Ne povas kapt mi! Can't catch me!" he said in a taunting voice. The dragon snapped at him, distracted.

Meanwhile, Jillia climbed up the side of the cave, digging in her claws for balance. She found that on the roof of the cave, as Mallumo had described, there were several stalactites that looked unstable.

She jumped on the first one and it started to fall. Before it detached completely, Jillia jumped onto the next one, until they were all plummeting towards the cave floor.

The dragon leaped back in surprise as they hit, and he took cover in a deeper part of the cave.

    "Come on!" called Mallumo, rushing towards the exit, Jillia close behind him.

    The duo stood catching their breath for several minutes before speaking to eachother. Jillia considered something carefully.

    "Hey." she panted, "We make a pretty good team."

    Mallumo looked at her. "I suppose." he said, his usual snootiness back. "If that dragon had known I was the prince, then well, perhaps we wouldn't have had to get our claws dirty!"

    "So why didn't you just tell him?" asked Jillia in surprise.

    "Well..." said Mallumo, glancing around, "I'm kind of running away from my parents."

    Jillia blinked, not understanding why anyone would give up the royal life. "Why would you do that?" she asked curiously.

    "They grounded me for something stupid, so now I'm going to teach them a lesson!" Mallumo said rebelliously, "But ah, I'm not sure once."

    Jillia rolled her eyes inwardly. "Well, I guess we're both on the same side. I'm trying to get back all of the land that used to belong to the walkese."

    "Hm." replied Mallumo simply. They both seemed to consider the same thing.

"What say we team up? I need you to translate all my vulgar insults into dragon language, and you need me to do everything that your royal claws are too soft to handle." Jillia said reluctantly. She didn't like Mallumo, but she did need a translator.

Mallumo hesitated for a moment before answering. "I see the commoner needs my assistance. Very well, I shall accompany you."

Jillia glared at him angrily. This was going to be a long journey.

"So, where are we going?" Mallumo asked.

Jillia though for several seconds. "I have no idea." she said finally.

In a castle a few miles away, two dragons sat beside eachother. One, King Ektir the Proud, was black with green spikes. The other, Queen Juvela the Stunning was dark red with purple spikes.

"I haven't seen our Mallumo since last night. I'm getting quite worried." said the queen in a concerned tone of voice.

King Ektir nodded. "I know, honey. I called in..."

"No, you know I don't like it when we use her. She...she worries me." repleid Juvela.

"I don't quite like her either, but we don't have any other options. In fact, I'm meeting with her now." he said, turning to leave.

"Be careful." cautioned Juvela as Ektir left the room.

Ektir came out into a bigger room with a large balcony. The room seemed to drop several degrees as a figure crept out of the shadows. It was an average size dragon.

She was pale blue with a white puff on her chest and tail tip. Her spikes were white as well. She had two sets of horns: the ones farther back were long and jagged, and the front ones were short. The dragon wore a dragon skull as well as reinforced claws and armor covering her legs, which became a lighter lower on the leg.

"Bianca the Cold, at your service." she said. As her title described, her voice was so icy it seemed icicles may appear out of her words as she spoke them.

"I see you got my message, Bianca." said Ektir, taking several steps back.

"You said that you had an assignment for me, your majesty. Which of your enemies needs killing? A dangerous leader? Someone who knows too much? Or something new?" the assassin asked.

"N-No...nothing like that. You see, my son, Prince Mallumo, seems to be missing. He hasn't been seen for quite some time and my wife and I are starting to worry."

"Naturally." she said. Her dagger-like blue eyes squinted at her king.

Ektir looked away. "Well...I, we want you to find him." he finally managed to ask.

Bianca seemed disappointed, though it was difficult to read her emotions. "Very well then. I'll get on that immediately." She started walking towards the balcony.

"And Bianca." Ektir added.

"Yes?"

"I want him back alive. Do not harm him." he confirmed, glaring in her direction.

"Of course." Bianca said over her shoulder, face still solid as stone. Before the king could say anything else, Bianca the Cold ran off of the balcony, spread her wings and flew towards her new target.

Bianca the Cold was on the hunt.