Finally, he was getting to go home. After five years of training with the Dragon Riders, helping with raids, rebuilding, and keeping the peace, he was going home to see the celebrations of Ellesmera once more. Wind whipped past his face as he sat back on the saddle that Dwerva wore, crafted by his own hand. His legs were strapped to the saddle, so that his dragon was free to fly as she saw fit. And fly she did, darting in and out of the clouds above them, scales glistening with the water from the inside of the clouds. 

Aranel couldn't even be mad at her for getting them both soaked. Not when the heat from the summer sun would dry them off, or the wind would whip off the moisture from their eyes. 

[i]Alright back there, little one?[/i] Dwerva asked him, through their shared mental link, and he scowled playfully at her, reaching up to pat one of the spikes on her back. "Seems to me that I need to be asking those questions, what with you flying so slow." He challenged, and she laughed, in that sort of broken growling he had become accustomed to. 

And then, she shot off, over the sea, the sun reflecting their presence for the world to see. Land passed under them as they flew over Alagaësia, Dwerva making their presence known by the common way. Roaring.
They had left their ship at the halfway point between the two continents of Alagaësia and where the Riders had come to call home, deciding to cross the sea by flight and hopefully find themselves home earlier.

Finally seing the treeline in the distance seemed to fuel the exhilaration that trickled between their shared mental link. Whooping, he allowed his consciousness to slip into Dwerva's, so that he could see better with her eyes. That was Ellesmera, no doubt. The trees were tall and ancient, and he could feel their singing from here. "Faster, Dwerva!" He called as he slipped back into his own body, leaning down and against her back to reduce their drag. Shooting over the trees, with his head down, he hardly noticed the change in the air, nor how the scenery suddenly changed, until the daylight vanished from the corners of his eyes. Dwerva stopped, shocked, and flapped her wings in the air, confused, and Aranel's reaction was no better. "...Where is Ellesmera?" He asked, frowning, as he looked around. 'It was just daytime. The work of a shade?'He asked himself, and Dwerva shook her head slowly. [i]'No, young one. I cannot sense a shade here, and there are only a few other people nearby.'[/i] Aranel growled slightly, and expanded his senses, his eyes falling shut. "Dwerva, let us land. We'll go on foot from here, and find these people. And some answers." He said, as he finally was able to pull up the signatures from their energies, picking them out amongst the trees and other living organisms. They seemed..strange. Different, somehow.