Free Guardian Dragons by Catherine L Vickers Page A

and then they could
strike.

Chapter 13 Meeting of
Friends
    P rince Gadon surfaced
from the rippling waves and exposed the top half of his body to the warm heat of the sun,
showing the world a glistening deep blue-green human form. His
smooth head is without hair, his ears covered with fine gills and
his large eyes oval and black with a transparent skin covering them
protectively. Two small oval slits pulsed open and shut in the
centre of his face, allowing him to breathe air. Pale pink lips
hide a blue tongue and teeth that are similar to those of humans. A
transparent grey skin attaches the inside of his elbow to his
waist. Along the tops of his arms short fins run down resembling a
straggly line of thin hairs.
    Huphin hands have five webbed
digits. The chest is similar to human male or female appropriately,
but underneath the breasts lays a line of tiny gills. Their legs
are also similar to humans and wear the same short fins as their
arms. The five toes are webbed.
    Looking out at the stillness of the
sea he observed dolphins jumping up and down and in and out of the
biggest waves they could find.
    Probably showing off as they always do, Leon thought.
    Yes, I agree, a voice
invaded his private thoughts. Dolphins are terribly vain , the huphin Prince Mindtalked.
    ‘Aaah, I’m honoured that you’ve agreed to meet with me
Gadon, but ask that you be patient a moment longer? I’m waiting at
the top of the cliff for my friend to arrive. We’ll meet you in the
Red Rock Bay, as agreed. I have to admit it isn’t really anything
urgent but rather a favour for a very good friend of mine, Leon ended, not too confident that
Gadon would agree once he was fully aware of his reasons for
calling him here.
    Good to be seeing you again Leon, Gadon replied, glad that his human friend was asking
for his help in his time of need. I shall be pleased to meet any friend of yours. See you
soon.
    He dived down below his companions
the dolphins and watched them follow him in his descent. He had
come alone on this visit to the surface, so was thankful of their
company to pass away the time whilst awaiting the Shankhall whistle
from his human friend, which would indicate their arrival at the
meeting place.
    On top of the steep cliff, Leon
lifted his youthful face and peered through the tall pine trees
with piercing blue eyes. His eyebrows furrowed into a v-shape as he
squinted in an attempt to try to make the image of Heather appear.
He had been sitting patiently for far too long under the willow
tree at the top of the cliff path. This was their regular meeting
place where the huge dangling green arms of the tree arch out and
droop down, hiding them within the green den so no-one ever knows
they are there.
    Looking at the winding path that stretches down to the
beach, he still felt uneasy at this contrived proposal. They
usually took it in turns to think up some mischievous deed to
perform. Last time it had been his idea and they had put rotting
fish under some of the noble’s beds. A bit of a childish prank, he chuckled, but it did
result in some fun when it turned out that Lord Promple was
allergic to fish and he sneezed so much that his hairpiece came
flying off. No one had ever seen his bald head that had just a few
white hairs protruding up like fluff. Everyone knew he wore a
hairpiece but one does not dare ask of a noble
why.
    In the dry heat he was glad of the
shade of the tree but was becoming increasingly restless and
feeling a little annoyed that she was always late. He was never
sure if she did this on purpose or if her constant stream of
excuses were genuine.
    Standing up he shook his muscled
legs to rid himself of the stinging cramp in his thigh. As he stood
there, he could just make out a dark shape darting around through
the pine trees in the woods. Running around in a never-ending
circle was a large longhaired white dog, chasing everything that
moved. Barking at squirrels and even attempting to climb the giant
trees that they