294 A Collaboration

Flamy swallowed its catch and said, "I just saw a huge whale flying in the sky. It was flying north."

"A whale?" Silly startled from its sleep on Gao Peng's head and looked around in panic. "Where? Where is it?"

"It flew away," said Gao Peng, pinching Silly's head.

"Oh, thank god," it said, sighing in relief.

It then sprawled across Gao Peng's head, rumpling his hair in the process.

Out of the corner of its eye, Flamy saw a pillar of black smoke rising from a hole. Being a fire-type familiar, it was quite drawn to the heat that was being given off by the smoke.

When it breathed in the black smoke, it started coughing uncontrollably and immediately covered its nostrils with its wings.

Suddenly, a bony black hand clasped Flamy's shoulder. Dumby had appeared out of nowhere behind Flamy with a compassionate look on its face.

"It's not healthy to breathe in smoke like that," said Dumby, fierce flames crackling in its eye sockets.