Chapter 8

Almost everyone was woken up by Dalinda and Scylla squealing when getting chased by Wyvern.

"What's going on?" Ryoko groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"Nothing much, just the dragons playing," I told him while brushing myself off. He laid back down and started snoring again.

"RYOKO, GET UP RIGHT NOW!" Tatsuya yelled so loud it could have been heard from miles away. Ryoko stood up faster than I could blink and started helping Tatsuya pack up. Kaida was still asleep, and surprisingly, she hadn't woken up from the noise.

I tapped her a bit to wake her up; she moved to her side and mumbled to herself but didn't wake up. I nudged her a bit, but she still did the same.

I was getting a little irritated, but I wasn't angry. I just shook her a bit. You can guess she didn't wake up. Then an idea struck me.

"Tatsuya, do we have some water?" I asked Tatsuya as I stood up.

"Yeah we do, what do you want to do with it?" She replied.

"To wake Kaida up," I cheered. I got a smile from Tatsuya.

"Sure," she says with a smirk on her face. She handed me a pouch of water. I grabbed Dalinda and put her right next to Kaida. I stood over Kaida with a pouch of water. I poured a bit of water on her forehead. She quickly woke up.

I stepped back when she saw Dalinda. She started dancing or more like panicking, I wasn't sure. But I was laughing hard with Tatsuya and Ryoko.

After a while, we all calmed down and started packing up to start the day. We were all packed up and ready to go. We walked through the forest for a long time.

"Don't you think we have been wondering for a while now? Hey, Ayla, you think that Zaya would have given us a map." Ryoko questioned.

"She did. I haven't checked it." I responded. I took off the backpack and set it down on the ground. I looked through the bag, but I couldn't find the map. All I could find was the book that Zaya owned.

"I can't find the map anymore. Could the book have a map in it?" I insisted as I lifted it out of the bag.

"That Zaya's? Right?" Tatsuya asked.

"Yeah... it is," I replied. I zipped up the bag and stood up.

"It looks a little different." Kaida pointed out.

'This is a different book. Why does it keep changing?'

'It's shown its true self; it's no longer in danger.'

'You finally back!'

'I never knew, my existence was much anticipated.'

'Don't get too cocky. I still haven't found parts to your physical existence yet.'

'You mean "we", Right?'

'I am the only one with a physical form out of the two of us.'

'"Don't get cocky," she said.'

'Shut up,'

"AYLA! You okay?" Kaida yelled. Waving her hand in front of my face.

"Yea, just talking to Talila. Should I look through it?" I asked. Looking at the book, there were no words on the front or the back, not even on the spine of the book.

"Yeah, we need a map so we can find the closest waterfall," Ryoko foolishly chuckled.

"Why would we need to find a waterfall?" Kaida asked.

"So I can take a bath of course, duh," He snapped, picking at his nails.

"I mean he has a point. We haven't taken a bath or a shower since. Plus he kind of smells a bit." Tatsuya says, pinching her nose. Ryoko looks annoyed by the comment.

"Sure," I snickered, rolling my eyes. They got into a friendly or rather childish, argument. While Tatsuya scolds the two. I flipped through the pages of the book, and none of them had what we were looking for.

I stopped on a page filled with strange markings and a picture of an island. It was obvious that this was a map of the island.

"Wait, I found a map but it has weird writing. Can any of you figure it out?" I asked, holding out the book. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at the page. They all shook their heads, no.

"This is forbidden writing. No one knows how to write or read it except for the elders, like Zaya, but they're not allowed to teach it.

"This is the part where someone old and ancient could help us?" I say, looking down at Talila.

"First off I am not that old. I was alive not too long ago." Talila remarked sassily.

"I am not sorry, what!?" Tatsuya shouted. Ryoko almost jumped on another branch.

'We'll talk about this later.'

'Talk about what?'

'Why are you like this?'

"Let's just read what it says. "Those who seek power with wisdom and humility will be able to gain true power," Talila explained.

"There's a picture," Kaida pointed out.

"It looks familiar," Ryoko states. Ryoko grabs Qaeda's arm.

"Look at her wrist! It's the same symbol." Ryoko shouted as he held her wrist up for all of us to see.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, but what is the 'answer' exactly, and what do I have to do with it?" Kaida says, snatching her hand back.

"There's a riddle under it "I run forever, but do not move at all. I have no lungs nor throat but a roaring call?" You're on your own, kids." Talila swiftly read.

"Unbelievable." Tatsuya scoffed.

"How are we supposed to find the answer?" Kaida sighed.

"Shush, I am trying to think of the answer," Ryoko says, sitting on the ground.

"Don't shush me!" Kaida shot back.

"Whatever," Ryoko mumbled. We all sat back thinking, I knew I wasn't mentally prepared for this.

In all this, Wyvern and the dragon, siblings were playing tag. But they stopped when they heard the riddle. Wyvern was tugging on my pajama pants. Yes, I am still wearing pajamas.

He pulled me over to the others who were also pulled down to sit. He gestured for me to sit, and I did as told. He ran over to my bag and pulled out a water pouch. He lined the dragon siblings side to side and poured water on them. The twins tried to make an impersonation of water? They kept playing charades that had something to do with water.

"I HAVE THE ANSWER!" Ryoko jumped up and ran over to me. "Open the book," he asked, trying not to jump around. I open the book back to the page.

"Is the answer Waterfall?" Ryoko answered. I looked down at the book, and the picture and words had disappeared. A golden path appeared in front of us.

"Should we follow it?" Kaida asked while Dalinda was sniffing the path.

"I think so," I replied. We all followed that path. I kept looking at the book.

That was how I almost kissed the ground. By almost, I mean Ryoko caught me in time.

Kaida stepped off to the side to pick some pichuberries that were ripe. But Dalinda, Scylla, and Wyvern ate most of the pichuberries. Kaida scolded them, but she couldn't stay mad at them.

What seemed to be an endless path, ended with a large bush covering the road. Wyvern and Scylla had torn down the large bush with a little help from the rest of us.

Before long we were standing in front of the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen.

"Wooo whoooo," Ryoko yelled as he ran towards the waterfall. Both Wyvern, Scylla, and Dalinda followed him around the waterfall. Kaida and Tatsuya were just astonished.

I looked back at the book and it was glowing. There's another mark on the page; it was a teal crystal. Talila started glowing.

"WAHHH! WHY IT'S MY WRIST GLOWING?!" Kaida screamed, running out of the bushes and dropping all the berries.

"What's going on?" I nervously breathed as I was being dragged by Talila. I was pulled back by Tatsuya who noticed me struggling. Kaida was being held back by Ryoko when he noticed the situation, as did the rest of the dragons.

'...it was shattered long ago.'

Zaya's words played in my head.

'Could this glowing phenomenon be missing a part?'

'Yes, it is to tell them to let go.'

'Alright,'

"Everybody let go," I told them.

"Are you sure?" Kaida grunted.

"Yes." I was reassured. They released me and Kaida.

We were both dragged again by whatever was going on. It got closer and closer to the waterfall. I was dragged into the little lake that was formed by the waterfall.

"Kaida! A little bit of help?!" I yelled as I tried to pull back from the lake. Talila had successfully pulled me into the lake. I closed my eyes as she was going to pull me into the waterfall.

Thankfully, Kaida parted the water aside in time. Talila stopped in front of a weirdly shaped rock. The rock cracked open.

There it was, the teal crystal. I glanced at Talila, which was empty. It had a gap in the center unlike before when it was a whole. Kaida's wrist stopped glowing. Talila stopped glowing. The Kaida ran back to Tatsuya and Ryoko.

I felt adrenaline coursing through my veins. It was incredible! The unfamiliar sensation, a combination of adrenaline that made my blood quicken and electricity that made my skin tingle.

Talila and the teal crystal merged.

"What's going on?!" Ryoko shouted.

"I don't know! The crystal just merged with Talila!" I yelled back.

"Look! Talila changed colors!" Tatsuya shouted back, pointing to Talila. A bright flash erupted, blinding me. When the light cleared up seconds later, I found myself on the ground with not a scratch in sight.

"What. Just. Happened?" I muttered in shock. The group ran over to my side.

"Hey, are you alright?" Kaida asked.

"I think I'm okay, My head just hurts. " I replied.

"Talila. Mind explaining what in the world just happened.

"We merged with the teal crystal, and now you have powers of a water elemental. You might get a little tired. But you're fine overall." Talila announced.

"What do you mean by "we"?" Kaida questioned.

"Ayla and I are connected," Talila answered bluntly.

"I don't even want to ask." Tatsuya sighed. The book flipped open to reveal a page of teal crystal.

'I know for sure I have never seen that page before.'

'Remember the book changes.'

"When has this book ever been normal?" Ryoko sighed.

"I don't think it ever was. But there's some writing under the picture, Talila?" I answered.

"It says here that the water crystal is the element of emotion and wisdom, particularly the wisdom of age," Talila explains.

"So, I have powers of wisdom and emotions?" I asked.

"Pretty much, But it's way more complicated than that," Talila replied.

"Wisdom, emotions, yada, yada. I know I am taking a bath and you all should too," Ryoko says. He's now only in his underwear and has jumped into the little lake. We all laughed and joined in, including the dragons.