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Once again, I have experimented with posting URL's to post the series of these chapters but to no luck =/, if you want to keep reading just look up the stories in my profile page, it would make me happy if you did! Anyways! Enjoy chapter 6 for meh!

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Chapter 6: The Temple

"You want me to do what?!" James shouted, his eyes wide as saucers as he felt a persistant nudge from behind him pushing him towards a rocky ledge nearly five hundred feet from the ground. Each moment he stood there he felt as if the rocks under his feet would crumble and he would be sent plummeting to his grizzly demise...

"Come on~ you can do it!" Alex giggled, nudging him with her snout.

"I'm not sure that I'm ready for this Alex!!!" he said, his arms trying to keep himself from losing his balance. He was trying his best not to fall over the edge from the unappreciated 'help' from Alex.

"You have wings now hun, use them!" Alex giggle, smiling brightly.

"No! I'm scared!" James cried, trying to back away slowly but was quickly nudged back.

They were atop on of the giant hills that seemed to dot the landscape's physical area, the clouds barely leaving enough space to see the ground far beneath them.

"Dont make me!" James exclaimed, hugging her neck.

"Oh you sound like a hatchling afraid of his first flight... its cute!" Alex said, purring.

"Then...uh...I am! Yes I am a hatchling afraid of his first flight now can we go back now please~?" James asked, trying to pursuade her.

Unfortunately for him, his persuasion failed him once again. Alex gave him a little nudge "It's okay love, I'll fly with you. You wont get hurt while I'm still here."

James looked at her for a long moment before he began to start feeling the blood in his feet again. Ever since he had looked down his legs felt like ribbons.

"Come on love," Alex smiled, "if you love me you will! And...if you dont... you might be sleeping somewhere else than under my wing tonight~"

"Oh now you are just teasing me with...ACK!!!!!!!!" James said, torn between plummeting from a cliff to the seemingly endless fall below him or having to sleep outside of the warmth of his mate.

"But.... Oh you are so testing me!!" James cried, falling to his knees, "Pleasse dont make me~"

Alex smiled, purring.

"I'll do anything!!!!!" James exclaimed.

"Hmmm.... I dont think so, I'm a little worn out from favors from yesterday, you still have to jump," Alex said, grinning, her eyes squinting in enjoyment of the situation.

"Ohhh fine, you win!" James said, slowly steadying himself on the ledge beneath him, gulping in panic as he looked down once again. Gravity seemed to press down on him as he stared at the ground below him.

He glanced back over his shoulder to look at his mate, who gave him a reassuring look once again before getting licked on the face followed by a gentle nudge.

"Its now or never...then again I live for these do or die situations dont I heh..." James thought, closing his eyes as he gently stepped off of the ledge, the wind catching his wings as he swiftly opened them to their full length, feeling weightless as he was guided by the wind, slowly falling at first, then swiftly rising up as he changed his flight pattern.

"You have some nice gliding skills!" Alex called out to him through his mind, "But lets see you flap those wings of yours, then you can really pick up some speed!"

James slowly began to feel around his body for the nerves in his wings once again, slowly beginning to flap them as he glided. As he did, he began to feel an increase in his flight speed, starting to pump and flap them more vigorously, beginning to feel quite sure of himself.

"Dont flap too much! It just wears down your muscles and tires you out! Long, powerful pumps of those wings are enough to get you moving just as fast as us!" Alex cried out, slowly nearing him as she flew. He noted her long majestic strokes of her wings, pushing her forward with amazing speed.

He looked up at her in awe as the sun caught her, her scales glinting like a million dew drops on the blades of grass in the morning, her emerald color completing the look.

As he looked down at himself, he noticed that his scales were much less lustrous, but more armored than that of a female's. He would have rather had it that way either way.

The quality of his scales almost came in handy as he barely missed slamming into a rather tall tree, bringing him back into reality as he shook his head free of the trivial distraction.

The beautiful green landscape below them seemed to flash by as he sped back up to Alex, gently brushing against her side as he flew.

Alex looked down and smiled at him as she flew on, gracefully twirling into a barrel roll before slowing down in front of him.

James barely missed crashing into her, rearing his entire body backward and gently bumping into her as he came to a halt, gently flapping his wings to stay in flight.

"Up for a little race?" Alex said, grinning over her shoulder at him, "To the mountain beyond that forest down over...there..."

"You make me go through the traumatic experience of first flight and now you want me to race a seasoned artist at flight?!?!" James cried.

"Hmmm... if you beat me... I will owe you a favor..." Alex said, grinning.

"Oh you drive a REALLY hard bargain!!!!" James cried, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "You're on!!"

Before he had a chance to get ready, Alex pumped her wings powerfully, creating a wind so powerful that it almost knocked the air out of James.

"Hey! You didnt even count us- Oh forget it," James cried, quickly following.

Alex giggled as she flew through a rather large forest of trees, disspearing into the sea of dark green leaves, leaving James far behind her as she quickly sped through.

Each time James tried to dodge large tree branches, he was quickly smacked in the face by a smaller sapling-like branch, leaving long streaks of bruises of his face which caused his eyes to water slightly as he tried to catch up to her.

He could barely make out her movement in the speeding blur that he was seeing as he sped through the forest. Her tail movement was the only thing he could make out of the sea of green. Her being a deep emerald color made it hard for him to spot her.

At that moment a rather large thorned branch smacked into him, getting lodged underneath one of his scales. As he tried to pull it out, it sent a sharp sting of pain searing through his body as he tried to wiggle it free from his soft skin underneath the scale.

Should he have been paying attention, he would have noticed a rapidly approaching fallen tree...

With a loud thud, the log clotheslined him, hitting his throat with incredible force as his body fell to the ground, skidding slightly across the grass as he landed, tumbling several times.

"Ugh..." James said, finally picking the thorny branch from his body.

By now Alex was far ahead of him and he had no chance of winning.... unless...

In an explosion of leaves and branches, James burst out of the uppermost part of the forest, covered in green chlorophyll and shredded leaves. As he looked down, he saw a large creature moving through the forest beneath him, disturbing the branches enough to where he could see her path as she quickly sped through them.

James grinned, powerfully pumping his wings several times before breaking into a dive, his wings closely hugged to his body, shooting through the air like an arrow towards its target.

When Alex finally emerged from the forest, James bumped into her again as he broke his dive, grinning estatically.

"Hey you cheater!" Alex cried, a grin sweeping over her face. "See? You already have the hang of it!"

"Hah... That favor is going to be mine if you dont do something fast!" James shouted as he began to speed past her towards the top of the targeted mountain.

A wide smile spread over her face as she saw the excitement he was having in his first flight. It made her feel warm inside of her heart, she was enjoying the sight of her mate in such a joyous mood.

"Oh... I will..." She said grinning as she began to catch up to him, speeding a little bit past him as they approached the mountain.

James was struggling to keep up to her, his tiny wings not much of a match for hers as they pumped and flapped with all of his might, trying to keep up with her slow, powerful, yet easy strokes of hers.

Alex looked down at him and grinned as they sped towards the peak, only a few more meters away.

Suddenly Alex reared back and broke her flight pattern, letting her wings catch the wind as they reached out to their full lengths, slowing her down tremendously.

James shot past her like a speeding arrow, crashing into the mountainside.

"Wohoo!!!!!!" he cried, but was muffled by a small avalanche of snow, "Brrr!"

Alex giggled and looked at him, "Seems you have won that favor I was talking about~"

James blushed and looked deeply into her eyes as she landed softly next to him, her hot breath melting away the snow like an oven.

"I think I'll save it for another time heh... I'm too tired anyways..." James said, leaning against a giant boulder that sat against the behemoth-like mountain.

Alex groaned, seemingly dissapointed but then shrugged, "Yours to spend at any... I mean... Any... time" she grinned.

James blushed then rubbed the top of her head affectionately, "I still havent thought of a plan to rally the other dragons... it seems just so distant from now."

"There was a way before the clans fell apart... to come together in council. Each of the clans gave an eternal oath to always give an ear to the call of the council's summons, but none of them ever respected the others enough to call upon a council after the defeat at the hands of Nightmare..." Alex said.

"Was there a requirement for the meeting to be adjourned?" James asked.

"The summoner had to possess great courage and strength through a difficult trial, which most of the dragons were unable to do except for the red dragons themselves, superior in strength and stamina to the others, but lacked...other... qualities that the other dragons possessed...And on another note... two clans had to agree to summon a council," Alex replied, sitting beside him.

"What qualities could the red dragons not possess if they were superior to the others?" James asked, thinking deeply.

"They were too proud. They let their pride blind them from the wisdom of the water clan, and of the strategies of the wind clan. Such pride was another one of the key factors in the downfall of the dragon clans in that fateful battle..." Alex said, looking down.

"And you said if two clans were to come to an agreement, that they would be able to call in a council, no matter what?" James asked.

"I wouldnt say 'no matter what', because the dragons still do not trust each other, and would more than likely just fight against each other if they were to come, but if we were able to prove to them that this situation is a dire one, they would all be forced to pay attention to the cause of summons..." Alex said.

"If you are of the earthen clan... I must be from the water clean... And we agree, dont we?" James asked, smiling.

"Yes... but it is not as simple as that.... or is it?" Alex asked, confused, "Still! I Wouldnt let you go through that trial by yourself! Not alone!"

"Then I wont go alone," he said, kissing her softly.

"I am the only member of the earthen clan that I have seen since we were attacked... and I haven't heard much from the water clan either... we may be the few remaining of our clans... which could actually turn the tables into our favor.." Alex said.

"I would believe so, because that would eliminate two of the clans' hatred towards each other, and possibly cause them to listen to reason a bit more willingly," James said. "Either way... where were the councils held?"

Alex smiled, "The location of their meetings was not too far from where we are now, I would say that it is about a day's worth traveling if we want to arrive in good health and not exhausted to the point of our bones cracking."

"If we call this meeting... these dragons will come... and as for proof of the situation, I volunteer myself to give a speech about my years as a dragon slayer..." James said.

"They would kill you!" Alex protested.

"Not if I showed them what I have within me now... I will attempt to call upon Aegis himself... to see that they understood our purpose... I do not know how... but he told me once, 'your heart is your greatest weapon'," So I will use it... and hope for the best.

"I am going to be keeping a keen eye on those other dragons, if they come anywhere near you..." Alex said, beginning to growl.

"Thank you love," James said, smiling.

"I am only allowing you to do this because I love you... and that I trust your decisions," she said, nuzzling him.

"Thank you, I love you too Alex," James said, kissing her cheek again.

"Just... be careful..." Alex said softly.

"Hah! Careful is my middle name! Actually its Xavier but you get the point!" James said, beaming.

Alex smiled, nibbling on his tail softly, "The council hasnt been called in a very long time... so I would picture the setting of our destination as more of a ruined temple. In its time, the Temple of Elements was one of the most powerfully defended dragon bastions in the world, unable to be destroyed by any of the enemies of dragons. But you shouldnt expect much of it now, it is probably overgrown with plants and indigineous creatures..."

"Either way... this council will be called. We will show them that this threat is a problem that we can only vanquish if we work together. Seperated we are but a single power by ourselves, but combined we are a force to be reckoned with," she said, wrapping her tail around James.

"I can only hope Aegis will be able to aid me in this matter," James said, cuddling up next to her.

"Aegis wont be the only one helping you, I will be there as well...." Alex said, nuzzling him. "I'll always be there."