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"Bear Alone," Auron thought to her

"Dragons can’t eat bears"

"Not dragons our size You should see this thing If we cliet away, it would just push it down"

"It doesn’t knoe’re little, though Do we sons?"

"How should I know?"

"We’re going to find out, brother" Auron heard a faint sound from the other side of the tree, like a spill of rain

The bear’s head turned at the sound, wizened eyes looking directly at their tree

"That’s done it--he knohere we are," Auron thought "What a time to panic"

"I didn’t panic"

Auron’s sharp eyes saw the bear’s nostrils twitch It stood up on its hind legs and sniffed It caround, turned, and ran Auron watched it head for thick ti neck around the tree and watched it go "We sainst his sister’s "Do you think I’ll have ?"

Wistala still searched the tree line for signs of the bear "How’s that?"

"Will I ever be as great a dragon as Father?"

She blinked as she thought "You’re sonelle want me? My skin doesn’t shine, I’ift in a way--"

"Don’t reonelle Who would mate witha red-winged bird into flight from the branch above

"You’re normal"

"Drakka don’t have it any easier Harder, in some ways Mother told us there are only a few es over territory Stupid fights"

Auron didn’t re, but she had spent ray--?"

His sister leaned against hionelles go hts, you know--"

"Your wrath shouldn’t win," Auron supplied

"Exactly And you’re quick You swing your neck and your tail so fast sometimes It’s quite impressive Even to a sister who knows all your faults You’ll have a mate and a clutch to be proud of one day, I’m sure, and raise a sii of clutch chao war," Wistala said "First we’ve got to live until our wings ee That’s years off, and we still have to find Father"

A mountain is the least pleasant place to be in a thunderstoran Fro up fro army from one of Father’s mind-pictures

Auron didn’t knowto it, and there was a ru apart far away Soet underground But he had his look at the landscape Details to the ere hazy, but far to the south, Auron could see a white-watered river, and more mountains, blue luet off this ridge," he said Another wooded valley stood below thereed, but they did not make it back into the trees before a battle between Air and Water broke out above their heads Air pushed up froer, and Water tried to stop her by hurling sheets of rain They pitted Lighting and Thunder against each other, lighting the valley with flashes

The two hatchlings couldn’t get under anything, but they did wedge themselves between a pair of boulders to keep out of the worst of the wind They pulled down their water-lids over their eyes, which blurred their vision

"It sounds like the end of the world," Wistala said, shivering against hi refreshed," he said, tucking her head against his flank