Ramaeka (The Ramaeka Series Book 1) by G. Corin Page B

away.  All of this
running and hiding was much too nerve-wracking for a poor growing dragon like
himself he thought grumpily as he trotted along behind Shady.
    Shady called a
stop near a small lake.  While cover was minimal he told them that they would
need to stay and stock up their supplies before hitting the mountain range.
    “It’s going to
take us around a week and a half to get across,” he explained.  “That’s if we
don’t get hit by bad weather.  From here there won’t be as much game or edible
plants so we gotta get everything we can.”
    Stripe and
Ramaeka nodded in agreement.  Ramaeka watched over the camp for the rest of the
day while Shady and Stripe hunted.  He wasn’t quite as good as them with a
sling yet though he was the best at finding prey.  It was fairly easy when you
could smell it a mile away he thought to himself yawning as he lazily checked
the fishing lines he had set.  By the time the other two returned to camp he
had managed to catch three decent sized fish.
    “Good work,”
Shady said approvingly.  Ramaeka blinked in surprise, it was the first time
that Shady had ever said anything nice to him.
    “Th- thanks,”
he stuttered as Shady walked away carrying several rabbits.  Stripe grinned and
winked at him.
    They ate one
of Ramaeka’s fish for dinner with tubers Stripe called potatoes before spending
the evening skinning and gutting their catch away from camp.
    The next four
days were spent in the same fashion, cutting the meat into thin strips, salting
and then smoking the slices over green twigs to dry them out.  With his superior
nose and eyes Ramaeka found as many fruit trees and bushes as he could along
with edible plants and tubers.  Being at the base of the mountains it was
rather cold though the days were sunny.  Ramaeka wished that they could stay
longer by the small lake; it was the most fun he had ever had.  It was also
extremely relaxing after all of their running, they all quickly regained their
energy.
    In fact, he
thought with slight annoyance, Stripe’s energy seemed to have doubled.  The
older boy was practically bouncing around getting in both Ramaeka and Shady’s
way.
    “That’s it,”
Shady growled as Stripe accidentally upset the basket of pods that he was
stripping for the third time.  He jumped up and chased a laughing Stripe around
the camp.  Ramaeka bound to his feet, for once eager to assist Shady.  He
tripped Stripe as he ran past and sat on him.  Stripe looked up at him with a
wounded expression.
    “Traitor,” he
said pouting.  Ramaeka just smirked at him.  Shady joined him and grabbed
Stripe’s legs.
    “Grab his arms,”
he told Ramaeka.  “I think he needs to cool down a bit.”
    Stripe
squealed and struggled as his two shorter friends carried him over to the ice
cold lake.  He landed with a huge splash and immediately came up spluttering. 
He glared at the two of them, laughing hysterically, and swam for shore.
    “You’re so in
for it now,” he announced as he bound up the shore.  “That water is absolutely
freezing.”
    He grabbed
Shady and dragged him down into the water before turning back to Ramaeka.  Who,
being a brave and intelligent dragon immediately let out an embarrassing squeak
and turned to run.  He had barely gotten five paces away when Stripe caught him
and chucked him over his shoulder.  He struggled helplessly as his friend
turned and loped back to the water carrying him with ease, and plunged them
both into the freezing water.
    Instantly
mirth turned to a clutching fear.  Ramaeka struggled wildly as images of wild
churning water and bruising rocks flashed through his mind.  The scars on his
side burnt as the icy water pulled him down.  Strong hands grabbed his arms and
pulled him up to the surface and close to the shore.  He breathed a sigh of
relief as his feet hit solid earth and he half crawled up onto shore, coughing
out water.
    “You ok?”
Stripe asked pushing his black fringe back from his