A collective sigh of relief seemed to pass through the group.
"Made it!" Barchan exclaimed, shaking his wings and sending a fine spray of sand into the air.
"Finally!" Peyote cheered, already bouncing on his feet. "This place looks even better up close!" He immediately turned to Vireo, his eyes wide with excitement, and tugged on his wing. "Vireo! Let's go! We have to find the Cloth Monkeys! They could be anywhere!"
Vireo grinned, feeling a similar surge of eagerness. The island air was humid and alive with unfamiliar sounds – the chattering of unseen creatures, the rustling of leaves, the distant cry of an exotic bird. "Yeah, I'm ready to-"
"Hold on, everyone," Apex's voice cut through their excitement. He stretched his large golden wings, casting a momentary shadow over them. "We're here, and there'll be plenty of time to explore. But first things first: we stick together. No one wanders off alone, especially not yet. We need to get the lay of the land and make sure it's safe." He looked pointedly at Peyote. "The monkeys will still be here in an hour, Peyote. Patience."
Peyote deflated a little but nodded. "Okay, okay. Together. Got it."
"Good," Apex said, then gestured with his snout towards the dense tree line. "Alright, let's move inland a bit, find a good spot to rest and observe. Boulder, you take the rear. Scoria, Caliche, you're with me on point. Peyote, Barchan, Vireo, stay in the middle. Keep your eyes open."
The group moved off the beach, their claws sinking into the damp earth at the edge of the jungle. The transition was immediate; the bright sunlight of the beach gave way to a dappled, green-tinged light filtering through the canopy. Huge, unfamiliar trees with broad leaves and tangled vines towered above them. The air was heavy with the scent of blossoms and decaying leaves, a rich, fertile aroma.
Peyote, despite Apex's instruction, couldn't help but peer eagerly into every thicket. "Do you think a Scaled Monkey lives in there?" he'd whisper to Vireo, pointing at a particularly dense clump of ferns.
Barchan, meanwhile, seemed more interested in the strange, colorful fungi growing on the sides of fallen logs, sniffing them cautiously.
They followed a barely-there animal trail, winding deeper into the jungle. The sounds of the ocean faded behind them, replaced by the sounds of the island's interior. Every so often, Apex would call a halt, and they would all listen intently, their senses on high alert. Vireo felt a thrill course through him.
"I think we should fly around above the canopy so we can see more," Boulder suggested.
Apex and Scoria made conflicted expressions, while Peyote made a joyful one, and said, "Yes! I like that ide-"
"Hold on," Scoria interrupted, whacking Boulder with her tail. "We don't exactly know when the hunters from the mainland will arrive here."
"But come on!" Peyote whined. "Just a quick flight? They're probably not here yet."
Apex exchanged a look with Scoria. Scoria's tail twitched, a sign of her unease. "Boulder has a point about getting a better view," Apex conceded, "but Scoria's right too. We don't want to advertise our presence if those mainland hunters are on their way."
Peyote bounced on his claws. "But just a really quick one! We can see so much more from up there! Maybe even spot the monkeys from above!"
Apex sighed, a puff of warm air ruffling the leaves nearby. He looked at Scoria again, who gave a minute, reluctant shrug. "Alright," Apex said, his voice firm. "A very quick flight. Just above the canopy, one to get a better look, and then we're straight back down. No high-flying, no fancy maneuvers, and absolutely no straying. Understand?"
"Yes!" Peyote chirped, already flexing his wings.
"We stick together, tight formation," Scoria added, her gaze sharp. "And if we see anything that looks like another dragon or a hunter's craft, we dive back into the trees immediately. No questions."
"Understood," Vireo said, a fresh surge of excitement bubbling up. Flying above this lush, alien canopy would be incredible.
With another series of powerful wingbeats, the group launched themselves upwards, pushing through the upper layers of leaves and branches. They burst out into the bright sunlight, the jungle canopy spreading out beneath them like a giant, green carpet.
The view was astounding. From this height, they could see the full curve of the beach they'd landed on, the turquoise water lapping at the white sand, and the dense, seemingly endless expanse of the jungle stretching inland towards the mist-covered peak on the other side of the island. Brightly colored birds, some strikingly large, were startled by their sudden appearance and darted away.
"Wow!" Barchan breathed, momentarily forgetting his usual grumbling.
Even Boulder let out a soft rumble of appreciation. "It's pretty unique," he said.
"Keep it tight!" Apex reminded them, already beginning a slow, wide circle. "Eyes open!"
Vireo let the sight sink in. He could see streams winding like silver threads through the green, and patches of exceptionally tall trees that looked like dark green towers. He scanned eagerly, hoping for a glimpse of a colorful Cloth Monkey or a flash of a Scaled Monkey, but the canopy was dense.
"See anything, Peyote?" Vireo called over the wind.
"Not yet!" Peyote yelled back, his head swiveling so fast it was a blur. "But I'm looking! This is amazing!"
Their circuit was swift, just as Apex had promised. Almost before Vireo felt ready, Apex was already signaling the descent. "Alright, that's enough. Back down, same area we left."
Reluctantly, they dipped back beneath the canopy, the bright sunlight dimming once more as they settled back onto the jungle floor, the sounds of the forest closing in around them again.
"Well, that was short," Peyote grumbled as his claws touched the leaf litter. "But the view was worth it!"
"It gave us a better sense of the island's layout," Apex said, nodding. "That central peak is definitely our main landmark. And the jungle is even denser than it looked from the beach."
Scoria sniffed the air. "And full of… new smells. Let's keep moving, but slowly. I don't like not knowing what's around every corner."
The jungle floor was colors of greens and browns, with splashes of vibrancy from flowers unlike anything Vireo had ever seen. Some were as big as his head, with petals like iridescent velvet, while others were tiny, jewel-like blossoms clustered on thick vines.
Barchan, despite his earlier complaints, was the first to point out a peculiar plant. It had wide, waxy leaves that shimmered with rainbow hues, and in the center, a large, bowl-like structure. "Hey, look at this thing," he said, prodding it cautiously with a claw. Suddenly, the top of the pitcher snapped shut with surprising speed. Barchan yelped and snatched his claw back. "Whoa! It tried to eat me!"
Apex chuckled. "Carnivorous plant, most likely. Good thing your claw is tougher than an insect." He looked closer at the plant. "We have a few similar species to that native to Ventifact I'm pretty sure."
Inching closer to a strange looking and enormous fungus, Peyote whispered, "Wow! It's like they have their own little stars inside them!" The fungus was growing in the deep shade of a fallen log. It pulsed with a soft, blue light.
A little further on, Vireo spotted movement in the branches above. He froze, signaling the others. A creature that looked like quite a large cat, with shimmering, emerald-green eyes and an agile, prehensile tail of a monkey, as well as delicate, feathery crests running along its spine. It stared down at them and let out a soft, chittering sound before leaping to another branch and cowering back into the leaves, startled by the six dragons.
"What was that?" Vireo breathed, awestruck.
"Never seen anything like it," Boulder said, his eyes wide.
As they pressed on, Caliche suddenly held up a claw, halting them. "Listen."
In the sudden quiet, a low, clicking sound could be heard, coming from a dense thicket just ahead. It was rhythmic and unsettling. Scoria lowered her head, sniffing the air, her expression serious. "Something's in there," she whispered. "And I doubt it's friendly."