Silver Streak
"ARTHA!!" I screamed. "When is this dumb egg going to hatch?!!" That had to have been the millionth time I had asked him that question. And, like all the other times, the only sounds I heard were Beau(the dragon of legend) gently roaring and Artha(the dragon booster and my dad) brushing him.
Groaning, my eyes were once again focused on the white silver-streaked dragon egg. What else was I supposed to do? Kitt Wonn(the best street racer in dragon city and my mom) was out street racing, and Artha was too focused on Beau to worry about me. Being so focused on Beau, I started to wonder if I had gotten away with riding him at 3:00 in the morning!
Against my will, my thoughts drifted over to how on earth I had gotten here.
It had all happened so fast. Swirls of silver, gold, white, blue, and red all around me. A sort of portal opening up in front of me. A girl with shoulder-length blonde-brown hair calling my name, surrounded by this group of other friends. I didn't want to leave, but in the blink of an eye, I was whisked out of that island paradise and plopped here. Artha and Kitt took me in, I became their daughter, and I learned the ins and outs of Dragon City.
My thoughts were stopped dead in their tracks by the sight of the egg moving. I looked . . . and saw that it was about to hatch! Finally, it was time! The egg jumped, jerked, cracked, and finally broke. I was awed. The baby dragon was absolutely gorgeous! Mostly white, her eyes, back, and most of her tail was aqua. Her name came to me as I noticed the numerous traces of silver shining brightly above her eyes and all over her body.
The dragon strained, seeming to be trying to do something. I wondered if everything was all right or if I should notify Mortis(I know that Mortis is really Conner Penn, but I just like to call him Mortis) via VIDD communication. Conflict arose as I watched her struggle, wondering what was up.
Now I knew why she was struggling; she was trying to reveal a pair of wings! Like her, they were beautiful, reassembling giant bat wings. The main parts were aqua, the veins were white, and there were silver streaks clashing with the aqua in the best way. It seemed ironic that I had not noticed them earlier . . .
No time for admiration I reminded myself. I needed to take her to Mortis so that he could do something with her. Gingerly picking her up, I quietly headed for the door. I stealthily opened it . . . and I was staring at Artha and Kitt, who really did not seem to want to talk about the dragon. Really not good. They must have figured out that I rode Beau this morning without telling them! But how could they have found out?
Artha looked at me, then pointed to Beau who, to my horror, sported an aqua saddle. More to the point, the aqua saddle that I had used to ride him that morning!
I quickly used one of my many talents, which was racking up excuses. I blurted, "Mortis wanted me to bring this dragon to him. I have to go!" Then, before either of them could stop me, I mounted Beau(Artha had since gotten Beau accustomed to me riding him), hoped he would not mag me off, and left my parents the one exhausted dragon who could never keep up with me!
My VIDD communication(sort of like an advanced version of a picture phone) buzzed to life. It was Mortis, wanting to know if the egg had hatched. I told him that it had and that I was on my way there with the new dragon.
"Great, the sooner she gets here, the better," Mortis said. "And speaking of dragons, why are you riding Beau without Artha's permission?" Scales! He found out, too! "Um, no reason," I said, and quickly pressed the 'Cancel' button on the VIDD.
When I finally got to Mortis, he eyed the newly hatched dragon that I was holding. Growing uncomfortable, I asked, "What? Is there something wrong with her?"
Absentmindedly, I glanced at Beau, who was running off, having discarded the saddle. Huh, I thought, must be running to Artha so that they can chase down Moordryd(the leader of the Dragon Eyes) again. I was so lost in thought that I almost missed his reply.
"Yes . . . and no," he said. "Yes because only pure gold draconium dragons or pure silver draconium dragons can have a set of wings, and no because my prediction was right." "And what prediction was that?" I asked.
"That this is a rare pure silver draconium dragon," he explained. "And, like Beau, she will need to choose her rider, who will then become the second dragon booster; the Silver Dragon Booster."
Just then, Mortis's VIDD screen whirred to life. Artha, most likely on another goose chase with Moordryd Paynn, had tuned in for advice, though something was different about this case. 1. He wasn't in his Dragon Booster form; he ALWAYS transforms when pursuing Moordryd, (wouldn't it look kind of silly if the Dragon Booster didn't pursue Moordryd?) 2. His face was as pale as the white on the new dragon(which always indicated that something was definitely not right), and 3. He was holding a new black draconium whip of some sort(do I really have to explain this one?!? When Artha starts holding black draconium whips from the Dragon Eyes, something's up.).
"Artha, are you okay?" I yelled. "You look like you've just seen the Muhorta!"(the Muhorta is like a vampire dragon; it can drain any draconium from anything)
"Wait!" Mortis said, alarmed. "What is that, Artha?"
"He shot this at me in the middle of my transformation. I think it's some sort of draconium-drainer, because, even though Beau isn't doing anything, his draconium levels are slowly draining!"
All of a sudden, I knew that he was right. Because this 'draconium-drainer' was the exact same thing that Moordryd shot at me in my dream! Basically, what went on in my dream was: I was the Dragon Booster, and I was racing against basically everybody for some reason. Somehow, I finished second, and Moordryd shot this whip at me. I obviously tried to fight it, but it turned my gold armor to black. Why I knew that the two were the same, I had no idea, though.
"Artha, can you still transform?" I asked, curious as to what this thing could do to someone. His reply made me feel like I had just seen the Muhorta.
"I've tried numerous times, but all it's done is drain both my and Beau's energy!"
I looked at Artha, then at Mortis. Both seemed truly alarmed and scared, more than I have ever seen them.
"I'll have to figure this out," Mortis told him. "In the meantime, get here as soon as possible."
I immediately hopped onto the computer chair, used the techniques Artha had showed me, and in no time I had accessed the Dragon Eyes' gear files and found out what that thing could do to someone, though it has different effects on the Dragon Booster. Effects that are much worse.
"This highly-advanced black draconium gear is very rare, and therefor what it can do cannot be explained," I read, "however, on the normal person, this gear can temporarily drain both human and dragon draconium. On the Dragon of Legend(Beau), however, its effect is much worse. If shot during the Dragon Booster's(Artha's) transformation, it can slowly drain all draconium from both the dragon and rider, eventually killing both the dragon and the human. Only when the Silver Booster performs an extremely powerful gear-countering move at both the dragon and human will the gear cease to work. Until then, it will continue to drain draconium." So that means, until the Silver Booster performs an extremely powerful move on Artha, the gear will continue to drain his energy. And if the Silver Booster is too late . . . I didn't finish the thought. It was simple, if the Silver Booster didn't perform the move soon enough, the gear would kill Artha and Beau.
After much thought, Kitt, Mortis, and I decided to use other draconium gear that can speed up a dragon's life cycle. Kitt and Mortis got into an argument about whether they should take the risk of not training her properly, or if they should start training her now and then use the gear.
I was ordered to stand back as Parm(our gear-inspector and Artha's best friend, though half the stuff he says no one can understand) started to tweak the gear. It took longer than I thought, but finally, it was time. Mortis took the gear, pointed it at the baby dragon, and shined the gear over her. Immediately she started to grow into the most beautiful dragon I had ever seen!
Standing almost twice as tall as me, her main color was white, accented with aqua. Her highlighted eyes were blue-er than any eyes I had seen in my life, very nicely shaped eyelashes and aqua highlights magnified them extremely well. Silver streaks in the shape of ocean waves shone brightly all over her body, and her shapely tail slightly flared at the tip. She looked like a pleasant cross between Beau and Hyve(Wulph's dragon).
"You know," Kitt said, "we'll have to begin training her right away, starting with giving her a name that she'll remember and one that really fits her."
I thought it was so hilarious the way Kitt and Mortis kept staring at her, thinking of a name, when it was so obvious. "Hey, I've got a perfect name for her! In fact, I've already named her."
"And what name is so perfect for her?" Kitt asked, using the ever-annoying-Artha-sarcasm that she had been picking up.
I beamed. "Silver-Streak."
We began her training right away; getting her used to running against other dragons, seeing how fast she could run, when she could run at what speed, how she should clear obstacles, stuff like that.
In a few more days, we were ready to train her for a race against other new dragons. It was a simple race with few obstacles and a very easy track layout. During one of these training sessions, Mortis noticed that when I brought in 'Silver-Streak', she had changed her colors. Now all of the white was gold, all the aqua was regular blue, and the silver had dimmed down to white. She, like Beau, could change her colors!
He also found out that her gold draconium levels were nearly as high as Beau's; her silver draconium levels higher than Beau's. Her other colors were red, blue, and regular white. After some research was done on her, it was revealed that her bones themselves were twisted with silver, gold, and blue draconium. There was only a slight problem with our plan.
Silver-Streak had yet to choose her rider; the Silver Booster! And how could we race her riderless?!?
Artha and Kitt, upon finding that out, organized tryouts that were opened to everyone, from Sun City(the highest level of Dragon City) to Old City(the lowest level of Dragon City), since this was a really urgent matter.
During the first tryout, I watched rider after rider get magged off. After watching for an hour, I had lost count of how many riders had failed, but it was at least 20-something. After another hour, Artha ended the tryouts early, perhaps to end Silver-Streak's increased annoyance to riders. And that gave me an idea.
So, at 12:00 at night, I carefully and quietly snuck outside, got my aqua saddle, and headed for Silver-Streak's stable. Thinking twice, I put the saddle back. Besides, I was a little old to be using a saddle, and it was time for me to try to ride bareback. I got more and more nervous as I approached her, knowing that no one had ever gotten this close to her without being growled at. I was a little too noisy opening her stall door, and she quickly jerked her beautiful head up to look at me. I braced for a mag blast or growl, but all she did was blink at me, then motion with her head for me to come closer. Confused and only using half my reasoning skills, I proceeded to walk toward her, until my arm was brushing her front leg. This seemed to alarm her, and she sharply jerked up her head. Not good. I knew that it was over now, as I watched her teeth reveal themselves, ready to bite. As they quickly neared me, I braced, ready to run . . .
. . .until she found out that it was just me, and a shameful look flashed on her face. She lowered her head guiltily at me, then seemed to laugh at herself for being so silly. Nearly trembling, I cautiously touched her. Again, she looked at me, then looked away. Feeling like I was holding the world on my shoulders, I adjusted my position until we were looking at each other, the straight-on, bold kind of way. I nervously fidgeted with my hair, as if waiting for her to do something. And when she did move, I watched intently. As I stared a hole through her, she approached me sideways . . .
. . .crouched down to my height, and motioned with her head for me to get on her back! Trembling, I thought about how Kitt mounted Wyldfyr, then tried to mimic her. It worked, but I was still not comfortable on her back. After sitting there for what seemed like hours, she turned her head, looked at me, and seemed to flash me a look of approval. Almost as if she had instructed it, Silver-Streak and I were enveloped in a flash of silver. That's when it finally dawned on me. I was the Silver Booster!
Instinctively, I knew what she was going to do, and tightened my grip on her. She followed my lead, and soon we were quickly running through the streets of Dragon City. I still couldn't believe that I was the Silver Booster! We ran for about two hours to Old City, where the Dragon Priests were waiting for me. They motioned with their staffs, and a silver light appeared in the ceiling. Descending onto me was a silver star medallion, a silver armband, and street-racing armor. Thinking that was it, I began to leave, but Tannis the Wise(a dragon priest and the same person who trained the original Dragon Booster) stopped me. Had I thought wrong? It turned out that all he wanted to do was tell me what I had to do to become the Silver Booster! Nervous and excited, I just HAD to try it.
I hoisted the star medallion sky ward, yelled "Streak of silver!" and in one swift motion, turned and placed it in my armband. At once, I was lifted up in a swirl of silver draconium, just like Artha. Then, it was as if I was unconscious, because I lost all awareness. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on Silver-Streak in the coolest armor I had ever seen! It was mainly aqua, with little traces of white here and there. I had silver gloves and a white and silver jakk-stik, reflective staff, or whatever Artha called the handy thing he used in battle. Like Artha, a shade covered my eyes, but mine was bright instead of dark. But what I liked the most was the fact that there was a silver lightning bolt on each side of my armor, and a white one on each of my gloves!
Tannis motioned with his staff for me to leave. Eager to try some moves, I ran out. As I ran around, I noticed that it was 12:00 when I had snuck out, but now it was 3:30, which meant that Kitt would be checking on Wyldfyr in 30 minutes! I racked my thoughts, trying to remember how Artha did that 'speed-up' move(as seen in The Choosing Part 2). I monotonously repeated "Streak of silver" until it was as if Silver-Streak and I were no longer rider and dragon, but were one. Not that I was seeing the world through her eyes, but I would say it was more like a trance. I could no more have guessed how long this lasted than I could have numbered the stars in the sky.
I broke out of the trance to the sound of Silver-Streak roaring. I glanced around and saw a draconian-print sign right in front of me! Faster than I could blink, Silver-Streak had magged on brown stopper gear, and I had activated it! We stopped short, right in front of the sign . . .
And right in front of an academy scout. Instead of scolding me for almost running her over, she looked at me with approval! Taking it as a sign of encouragement, I decided to apologize.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! See, I've hardly ever ridden a dragon, much less used gear or ran as fast as I was, so I wasn't really . . . " she stopped me there.
"You have extremely quick responses, young rider, and those can be a vital addition to the academy. I will be watching you during the next street race." With that said, she walked off.
I couldn't believe it. An academy scout had actually given me a compliment!! My moment of amazement was short-lived, however. I had to get back to Penn stables in 10 minutes! As I ran off, my thoughts wandered over to Word Paynn(Moordryd's father and CEO of Paynn Incorporated), and I stupidly wondered what he was up too now. With that, I smacked my head. Only magna draconis knows what he's up to!
As I rounded the corner to turn into Penn stables, who should I run into but Moordryd! (Really, he should get a life!)
After glaring at him, he sarcastically said, "Well, well, look what we have here. Another stable brat!" With that, Decepshun started to growl at me.
I firmly held my ground, looked at him, and with biting sarcasm, asked, "What do you want, Paynn? I don't see your big-mouth assistant, so are you just here to see how good our dragons look?" I grinned at him smugly; that insult had been well placed!
He glared at me, then said, "You'll pay for that, Penn brat!" He then activated numerous types of trapping gear and aimed all of them at me! But I hardly panicked; instead, I activated my jakk-stik and used it to easily deflect each trap, even turn one against him!
He started to walk threateningly toward me, preparing to use an ancient mag attack(as seen in When Opposites Attract), but ran off. Using about a nanosecond, I knew that this was not over. Moordryd Paynn never gives up that easily. I looked around and spotted turquoise blinding gear next to Silver-Streak! Out of impulse, I tried to aim my draconium energy at it to try to blow it up(magna draconis only knows what I was thinking then!). That didn't exactly work, and all it did was blind me for the next two minutes.
Then I heard something that chilled me to the bone. Kitt was coming to check on Wyldfyr! I quickly ran Silver-Streak to her stable, asked her to change her colors, then started to run out . . . until I noticed that I was still in Silver-Booster form! I took out the medallion, but I didn't know where to put it! I looked around and decided to stuff it in my pants. But then where would I hide? I saw Kitt coming, so, I ducked into Silver-Streak's stable, hoping that she wouldn't notice. Scales! I forgot to move the aqua saddle!! The saddle was now resting on the left side of the bottom shelf, not the left side of the TOP shelf, where it was before I had run off and become the Silver Booster!
All of a sudden, I remembered the tiny getaway doors in each dragon's stable, and the keypads that were placed there to make sure no one else could sneak in(or, in this case, sneak out)! Quietly, I looked to see if I would fit . . . I would, but not with the medallion in my pocket! Frantic, I held onto it, then waited for Kitt to fully enter. As soon as she started to come near me, I punched in the code, slipped out through the getaway door, snuck into my room(since I'm never awake at this hour) via the open window, closed the window, and pretended to be asleep. I couldn't have been in there for more than two seconds before I heard Artha's footsteps coming closer. That makes sense, I thought, if you're a parent and there's a commotion in your daughter's location, you'd run to see what was up, as well! I quickly steadied my breathing, closed my eyes, and pretended to be sleeping. That plan didn't work, because when I closed my eyes, I was instantly asleep and I didn't have to fake it!
My eyes flew open as I glanced at my alarm clock. It was . . . 8:45 a.m.?!? Oh yeah, I had become the Silver Booster last night . . . that's when I remembered. The medallion! I held onto it when I snuck back in and . . . where is it? Where's my Silver Booster medallion?!? I frantically looked around, under my bed, everywhere, but I couldn't find it! This, no doubt, is going to be a problem. I must have dropped it in Silver-Streak's stable! I threw on some clothes . . . then thought of the perfect plan. Most girls my age(13) had already gotten into street racing. I'll tell Artha and Kitt that I want to race, and then I'll . . . oh, wait. I couldn't ride Silver-Streak, because then I would reveal my secret! No matter. Wyldfyr could adapt to me. I hope. So, I put on my street racing gear and slipped out, running full speed toward Silver-Streak. . . .
. . .and right into Artha. He eyed me, then started to ask me something that he didn't finish. All of a sudden, he was struck from behind and had been hit with some sort of mag drainer(as seen in When Opposites Attract)! Moordryd!
"Get back here Moordryd!" I yelled as I ran after him, falling farther behind. He had just rounded the corner and left when I retrieved the medallion.
I quickly transformed, then proceeded to chase him, blinding gear and jakk-stik at the ready. We were almost running side-by-side when I activated the blinding gear on him. Then I hauled out my jakk-stik and quickly began to beat the scales out of him for messing with us! After beating him for a minute and a half, I ran off, knowing that the effect would wear off in 30 seconds(as it did when he did it to me). I just caught a glimpse of him coming out of it, then I nearly laughed out loud as he realized how beat-up he was! I almost laughed again as I realized that he was the only person that I could go red-draconium(a.k.a. nuts, in the angry way) on and not get into trouble!
As I rounded the corner to go into Penn Stables, I realized that what I had just done was NOT the smartest thing to do. Artha would start asking me questions about this 'new rider' running off on a dragon the reassembled Silver-Streak, and Kitt would be wondering why I was wearing street racing armor. I quickly made a plan, ran into Silver-Streak's stable, and took out the medallion. She changed her colors, and I was back in my armor. I had just stashed the gear out of sight and was talking to Silver(my nickname for her was Silver) when Artha and Kitt walked in.
It was Kitt who spoke first. "Katie, did you see that new rider? Why was she riding Silver-Streak and why are you wearing street racing armor?"
I quickly racked up another excuse and pretended to look clueless. "What are you talking about?!? That wasn't Silver; that was some other dragon that looked a lot like her. And I have lived to long without street racing, so I was hoping you'd let me train for a race!"
Artha and Kitt's mouths gaped in disbelief. "Okay," I began, trying to make this simple for them, "I've always been sitting on the sidelines while you(I pointed to Kitt) run around and become the best street racer in Dragon City, AND I sit on the sidelines while YOU(I pointed to Artha) run off and become the Dragon Booster. Isn't it time I make a name for myself?!!"
Kitt seemed to understand and looked at me with approval. She looked over at Artha and commented, "Keep an eye on your big, fat, head, okay stable boy? I've got work to do." I smiled with amusement as I watched Beau grunt and slap Artha playfully with his tail, earning himself an eye-roll.
For the next four hours, Kitt taught me the basics of street racing, like how to ride without a saddle(I already knew how to, but no one could have guessed that), how to mag gear on, how to control a dragon, and so on. Needless to say, the next four hours were extremely tiring. And to top it off, the thought of learning how to do that gear-countering move always distracted me, along with the consistent nagging of the medallion stashed in my room.
"Uh, Katie, do you have a scale loose?" Kitt suddenly asked, apparently looking for an answer to a question, but all I gave her was a dumbstruck expression.
She threw her hands up in frustration. "In the name of the magna draconis, are you going deaf!?!"
I stupidly blinked. "Uh . . . no?"
She rolled her eyes at me. "I've been telling you all the upcoming races, and you act like you've got a scale loose! What's up?"
She caught me!! I thought, horrified. I absolutely could NOT tell her my little secret. "I was . . . just wondering . . . how do you do those mag-jumps and mag-pushes? I've wanted to learn those more than anything!" It was partly true, partly lie, because I could already do them.
Kitt rolled her eyes. "If you wanted to learn one thing, why couldn't you just say so? Anyway, Wyldfyr is too tired to do any of those moves, and so am I. Besides, I want to see how Parm's doing on the new gear." New gear??!!?
"What, didn't I tell you? Parm's making some gear that can detect silver draconium. In other words, we'll be able to find the Silver Booster." WHAT?!!!?!
That night, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about being the Silver Booster and about the new gear. Most of all, I thought about how I could make this right. I knew that soon, if I didn't reveal my secret, the gear would kill Artha and Beau, but I didn't know how they would react if I told them. And I have the pressure of trying to remember how in the name of gold draconium I had gotten here, and who that girl was. She seemed so familiar, it was scary. I tossed and turned, sleeping fitfully that night.
I would up rising at 7:00, extremely early and unable to bear it any longer. I got up, put on my street racing armor, and stuffed the medallion in my pocket. I was running outside when I heard Parm scream "IT WORKS!!!!"
Say it a bit louder Parm, the people in Old City couldn't quite hear you. No kidding. He was talking about the new gear! And soon, Artha, Kitt and Parm would know my secret! I had to show them right now!
I ran outside with fully five different emotions flickering on my face. I turned to release Silver . . .
. . .and there stood Artha, Kitt, and Parm, all looking at the gear's reading.
"The silver draconium levels Katie's giving off are off the scale!" Parm explained. There was some small talk that I couldn't make out, but when I walked toward them with Silver, they all looked at me with questioning expressions. I quickly decided that I would started this little talk.
"First of all," I started, "Kitt, remember that one day that you saw my aqua saddle in the wrong place?"
"Yeah," she replied, "what about it? What . . . did you move it?"
I nodded. But before I could say a thing, an alarm sounded, requesting the Dragon Booster. Before anyone could say 'release the dragon', I was in Silver Booster form and at the crime scene.
In less than five minutes, I was back at Penn Stables, not changing back on purpose.
"Okay," Artha began, "I don't know if you'll know what I'm talking about, but every time you're around, we can't find Katie. It seems like either you're around, or she's around. What do you know about that?"
"Why don't you ask Katie herself?" I replied. I stared intensely at Artha, then removed the medallion.
I looked at Artha and Kitt. Artha was staring at me dumbfounded and Kitt kept blinking, as if she thought she was seeing things.
"Yes, I'm the Silver Dragon Booster," I confirmed. "And I think this explains why the saddle was misplaced last night. Since no one could ride Silver, I snuck out at 12:00 to see if I could, but I got more than I could handle. Then, I rode to Old City, where I acquired my medallion, armband, and street racing armor. That's why I slept late today, and it's also the reason why I wanted to street-race so badly."
Needless to say, I stunned everyone with that move. Kitt realized at once why I wanted to do mag-attacks, and wasted no time in getting Wyldfyr out to teach me. Hey, we HAD to hurry; Artha's draconium energy was draining fast! I requested that Parm make gear that could monitor Artha's draconium energy, so he got to work on it. Meanwhile, Artha was watching T.V., as everyone in Dragon City was talking about the Silver Booster, a.k.a. me!
By 2:00(yes, we worked on mag-attacks for 8 hours) I could almost do a mag-push without Silver, and I had become halfway decent with my jakk-stik. Also, Parm had finished the new gear, and had figured out that we had about 96 hours(a.k.a. 4 days) until the move reached full power. After that, we would have about 24 hours until the power levels reached fatal. In other words, we had 5 days left. There was just one problem: aside from Moordryd(like he's ever going to join our side!), Artha was the only one who could do advanced mag-attacks!
Just when I had been wondering where he was, Lance(Artha's younger brother) appeared, mumbling something I couldn't make out. I rolled my eyes; it looks like he ate one too many Draconee-Yum bars! I observed him try to exit a stable, and run into a wall. He tried again, and the same thing happened! I also heard him mumble something that sounded like "Who put that wall there?" By that time, Silver was laughing a little, so I decided to point Lance in the right direction.
"Lance," I began, "I know those Draconee-Yum bars can make you a little crazy, but I advise you to leave the stable through a DOOR. Look, THAT(I pointed to the wall) is a wall. THAT(I pointed to the door) is a door."
Lance merely blinked stupidly at me, then ran into the wall again. "Why do I bother?" I asked Silver, who rolled around laughing. Meanwhile, Parm was punching buttons into his gear-monitoring device, apparently trying to find something that we probably wouldn't be able to understand anyway!
"Come on Silver, we should practice our mag-attacks," I mumbled, almost to myself. Silver-Streak and I ran off, away from the weird type of craziness. Once we were outside, we stopped, and then I tried to do a move that I had been practicing all day.
First(of course, I was in Silver-Booster form), I closed my eyes, just on the edge of falling into a trance, then unconsciously ran my index finger over the spot where Silver's wings were. She obeyed, directing some of her gold draconium to me, which mixed with my silver draconium. Silver knew her role well, so I obeyed, trying to direct the mixture of gold and silver to my hands. I could feel it working, but I didn't really know why or how. When the mixture reached my clenched fists, I knew instinctively that Silver's mixture had collected in her wings. Simultaneously, we both counted to three, then I opened my fists, Silver following with her wings. Only one thing went through our minds; Let it work. Make the shield(the shield I'm talking about surrounds Drakkus in The Return of Drakkus, Parts 1 and 2.) After remaining that way for a minute, it finally worked, and I could feel the shield's strong energy around me! I remained still, then willed the shield to remain this way. Silver and I ever-so-slowly opened our eyes . . . and it worked! The shield was still there, even when our eyes were fully open! My fists remained open along with her wings, and we cautiously moved a tiny step . . . and the shield held! This was repeated five times, and still the shield continued to hold! We gradually moved more quickly, first walking, then nearly running . . . then actually running!
Seeing Artha nearby, I called out to show him what we did . . . and, though I did feel a slight decrease in power, the shield still remained strong! Artha turned, saw us, then signaled for us to stop. This I understood; obviously he didn't want me to use up Silver's energy. I signaled to Silver, and the shield vanished. Then, I started to work on other moves; mag-jumps, teamwork skills, stuff like that.
After just finishing a round of practicing with my jakk-stik, I looked around and saw that it was just starting to get dark. Had it really been nearly three hours since I had started to practice? Time really does fly!
"Okay Silver, power down," I instructed as I removed the medallion. She still groaned, as she was not yet accustomed to the sudden decrease in power, but this time not so much. Neither was I, as I suddenly felt dizzy for a moment.
"Nice practice round Katie," Kitt commented, just finishing a round herself. "I think you might be ready to use gear and enter a race."
"Yeah, about that . . . see, when I was in Silver-Booster form that night, an academy scout said she'd be watching me during the next street race," I explained, causing both Kitt and Artha to groan. Nearby, Beau chuckled and, in reply, Silver seemed to think that she was better than Beau, thereby starting a dragon fight.
Kitt, Artha, and I all stared at the two dragons of legend fighting over who had the best rider. Wyldfyr rolled her eyes, and I blankly asked, "Now what?"
Three days came and went, with me becoming more familiar with mag-attacks and jakk-stik moves. By 12:00, I could do a mag-push and use it every day, and Silver had almost reached Magma-class(Wyldfyr's dragon class). By 1:00, she did reach Magma-class, but I had forgotten; my street race was in two hours!!
Frantically, Silver got used to gear, I practiced battle moves with my jakk-stik in case Moordryd would be racing, and Silver and I practiced together after that. By 2:00, Silver had gotten accustomed to red thruster gear(for speed), white rappel gear, white aerial gear, green ramming gear, and blue turning gear. Meanwhile, I could conjure up a small shield whenever I needed to defend myself, since it could withstand jakk-stik attacks, and I had become quick with the gear-activation panel.
Finally, it was time for my first street race!! As I predicted, Moordryd was there, along with Pyrrah(the leader of the Dragon Flares), Wulph(the leader of the Army of the Dragon), Khatah(the leader of the Inner Order), and Kitt. This race was simple; whoever crossed the finish line first wins! I waited in anticipation for the gates to be removed . . . and in a fraction of a second, they were removed, and all six dragons burst out running!
Though I was expecting it, Silver bolted so fast that I was distracted for a moment. When I finally made sure that I didn't have a scale loose, I was fourth, right behind Pyrrah. Perfect, I thought, we're in the right place at the right time to do the right move. Okay, get a good grip on her, don't think about it . . . NOW!!
"Aerial Routine Three! Thrusters, white aerial gear . . . NOW!!" I half said, half whispered to Silver, requesting a daring move, but doing it nonetheless. I activated the red thrusters and white aerial gear at the same time, and that was our cue. Silver revealed her wings(the aerial gear is for balance and for better control), flew off, and did a front flip in the air! Immediately, I got my jakk-stik and waited. Wulph and Pyrrah attempted to shoot us down many times, but I knew how to counter their type of mag energy. We came out of our flip past Pyrrah and ready to battle Khatah for third. I deactivated the thrusters and we swooped downward, causing the crowd to go crazy. Ready, I maneuvered Silver into position, hoisted my jakk-stik above me, then jumped to one side of Shock-Ra(Khatah's dragon), and secured my foothold on him. Silver still had white gear on, and she was crossing to the other side. "NOW!" I shouted. Simultaneously, we knocked off both thrusters(to prevent them from running after us), then Silver ran over to my side. I used my jakk-stik to gain momentum as I pushed off Shock-Ra, did a front flip, and landed nicely on Silver's back! I was getting ready to battle Moordryd for first when Khatah caught up to us! Then, I noticed the blue speed gear Shock-Ra was using! Oh, scales! They knew what we were doing! Out of anger, Khatah swung his jakk-stik toward me . . . and a rider vs. rider battle began! Because of anger, Khatah focused more on offense, so I scrambled to defend. Though Khatah was experienced, he didn't know how to do one of my moves. I whispered, "Mag-defend," to Silver, notifying her, then I proceeded with my move. Channeling my mag-energy to my jak-stik, I pushed into Khatah, knocking him away from us so hard, he slammed into Shock-Ra's speed gear and broke it into a dozen pieces!
My VIDD screen buzzed to life. It was Parm, notifying me(in a very complicated way, of course) that Silver's energy was depleting faster than who knows what!
"I know," I told him, "and you should know by now that I have a plan for everything." Then, I nodded at the white aerial gear, it being 'my plan'. Parm caught on, and stopped talking to me. I knew what he was thinking, and I was going to do it, but I was also going to try something else. Something . . . that I really shouldn't be doing at my level, but I was going to try it nonetheless.
I activated the white gear, then, as soon as we were in the air, I whispered my plan to Silver. She seemed shocked, but, always eager to try something new, she agreed to help me. We were soaring about three feet behind Moordryd when we started to set up my plan. I deactivated the gear, and Silver continued to fly via her wings instead of the gear. I signaled to her, and we swooped downward.
Immediately, I started to do the unexpected part of my plan. Welcoming the familiar mag energy, I willed it to my arms rather than my feet(usually in this situation I would do a mag-jump off Silver, onto Decepshun, and knock some gear off her). We were halfway to the ground when I felt my energy finally do what I wanted it to do. As we landed on the ground, I shot my arms out at Moordryd, my palms pointing toward the red thrusters that he was using. And I did it! My silver draconium energy shot out in the form a lasso, which I whipped toward the thrusters. My aim was right on, and as the energy tightened around the gear, it was absorbed . . . making the gear flicker silver and black, then fall useless off Decepshun! Quickly, I got out my jakk-stik, conjured a mag shield around it, then threw it at the green ramming gear on Decepshun. While my jakk-stik flew through the air, Silver activated her ramming gear and slammed into Moordryd at the very moment that my jakk-stik knocked off his ramming gear! Moordryd almost fell as I snaked under Decepshun, grabbed my jakk-stik, and got magged back by Silver.
Silver and I were first, the finish line right ahead of us, when I saw Moordryd haul out yet another black energy-drainer. Instinctively, Silver knew what to do, we made our shield . . . and it resisted the whip! Silver and I canceled out the shield as we raced across the finish line in first place!
"That was totally drac!" Lance screamed. We were back at Silver's stable, and I had collected the prize money earlier.
"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" I said, getting little too proud of myself.
"Ooooh . . . better make room in that helmet of yours, Katie," Kitt sarcastically commented. "I think you're ego is starting to get as big as a wraith dragon! And what was that move you did at the end? The one where you deactivated the thrusters?" I gave her kind of weird look in reply. "You don't mean . . ."
". . . yes, that was the simplest version of a gear-countering move!" I finished.
"And you're not about to do it again!" someone shouted from behind me. I looked . . . and there stood, not Moordryd, but the Shadow Booster! Oh, scales.
I blinked at him, then cynically shot back, "Me taking orders from you? What a joke." He hauled out his jakk-stik, I picked mine up, and a battle between riders began! I met his blow with a sideways block, then returned it with remarkable quickness in the form of a strike to the head. He committed, so I reversed the strike, catching him completely off-guard. We were both caught in the battle of our lives, our strength tested to the max! I used my hand-eye coordination to my advantage, delivering lightning-quick strikes and offensive blows. The Shadow Booster, on the other hand, kept on the defensive side, only occasionally returning my strikes.
"Wow, look at this," I said to him after one of my strikes found its mark, "you're getting beaten by a girl." That time, I pushed a little too far, and a little too hard.
Tossing his jakk-stik aside, he aimed an extremely powerful energy-draining move at me, which I countered by making another shield. However, his reserves of energy were greater than mine, and as his move began to penetrate the shield, I tried to make a comeback. But even the Muhorta looking right at me couldn't pull strength from my long-spent legs. At that moment, I knew that this had to be the end of both Dragon Boosters.
A second later, a weak blast of gold draconium knocked the Shadow Booster away from me! I turned, and there stood Artha(in Dragon Booster form) and Beau; weak, but still willing to defend me!
Then, I heard a dragon behind me and grinned. That graceful, effortless gait could only belong to Silver-Streak!
"Hey Silver! Coming to join the party, huh?" I yelled.
Silver grinned, then said something in dragon. Being the Silver Booster meant that I could understand her. "You call this a party?" she had asked. "What, you're not having any fun?" I said, and we both grinned. Delivering a final mag-blast, I evacuated the battle.
As I ran off, Artha resumed the battle for me. I was tempted to yell out to him, but I couldn't give away his identity to whoever the Shadow Booster was.
"Katie, what's going on?!?" Kitt yelled, running toward the battle. I showed her, but then I absolutely couldn't go any further. Collapsing onto Silver, I had to regain my strength before I went out there again. Five minutes later, I transformed, then ran toward the battle.
"What are you doing!??!" Kitt yelled after me. "You can't go out there, a stray mag blast would fry you!!"
"I don't care!" I yelled back. "I have to help Artha!" I ran full speed to where about a dozen black and gold mag-blasts were flying around, each looking for an opposing target. Suddenly, all action ceased for some unknown reason. Growing more nervous, I ran over to Artha . . .
. . . and I stopped dead in my tracks. Both Artha and Beau were laying about five feet from the Shadow Booster. Artha was laying motionless, his gold armor flickering black, and Beau was roaring in pain, his once brilliant scales dull and almost barren of color. The Shadow Booster was towering over both of them, apparently quite satisfied with himself. I quickly concluded that they must have fallen prey to the same mag attack from before. Then, I remembered Parm's warning . . . and this was definitely not good. If I didn't do something quick, like a gear-countering move, I don't know what would happen! Something along the lines of Artha and Beau either turning into wraiths or being killed by the move, that's for sure! I didn't know if I was going to do it right, but I decided that this was when I would make a name for myself. I hovered a few yards away from the battle scene, then slowly turned to Silver.
"Save some mag energy to make a shield, then, give me enough energy to save them, Silver-Streak," I asked of her, using her full name.
My VIDD screen flickered to life. It was Parm, trying to stop me! "Katie, did that fight scrape your scales clean(cause you to go crazy)?!? No one can hold that much mag energy . . . you just can't!"
"Well, I don't care; there's only one way to find out! Silver-Streak, NOW!!"
Silver hesitated, then obeyed. I welcomed the power increase, but as Silver gave me more, I moved my hand, signaling for her to stop. As the power blast receded, I reflected back on what Tannis once said to Artha. If you and Beau can truly fight as one, you can prevail (Quoted from Eye Of The Dragon).
As I regained control over my mag energy, I checked my watch, which Parm had programmed to show how much time was left before the move reached fatal. Time was running out! I only had one minute left! Running underneath the track, I got to an isolated area when I stopped.
"Streak of silver!" I yelled, as I placed my medallion in its armband. After the transformation, Silver and I ran toward the battle.
"Let's go, Silver-Streak!" I yelled, and we ran over to Artha.
Thirty seconds remained as we reached the battle sight. Silver and I had already figured out what we were going to do. She was taking care of the Shadow Booster, and I was saving Artha and Beau.
"Hey, you!" I yelled, calling to the Shadow Booster, "yeah, you with the freaky dragon! Why don't you save some fun for us?!!"
We were running at full speed when I did a back-flip off Silver, landing near Artha and Beau. Silver, meanwhile, continued running toward the Shadow Booster, having activated green ramming gear!
I looked at Artha and Beau. Both were laying motionless, most traces of gold draconium gone, but there was still a few seconds left. This was it.
I triggered my mag energy, then directed it to my hands. Or at least, I tried to, as I wasn't used to the dramatic increase in power. But once I did get it all to my hands, I stopped for a moment, grasping a wisp of memory. Then, feeling as if the whole world was hanging by a thread, I shot out my arms and narrowed my eyes. Immediately, my gloved hands started to glow with aqua and silver draconium energy. For a moment, all action stopped for some reason, and I wondered if I would be able to do it. Then a blast of silver draconium energy shot out of my hands, starting narrow but widening as it got closer to Artha and Beau. I struggled to keep the move going as a bright gold light surrounded Artha and Beau . . . and, incredibly, I knew it was working! I added all my energy to it, and the gold and silver lights grew ever brighter. My hands were shaking and I was trying to see through all the chaos when I saw Beau starting to move, followed by Artha. However, my mag energy was decreasing rapidly! I pushed even harder, throwing all my strength and all my energy into the move. When I saw Artha mount Beau, each having recovered all their gold draconium energy, I knew I had done it.
Exhausted, I turned to Silver and saw what she had done. Apparently, the Shadow Booster wouldn't be bothering us for quite some time, since she had beat the scales out of him! I walked(well, more like dragged my exhausted self) over to get a better look. Brown battle gear, bashing gear, green ramming gear, and numerous black energy-draining whips were scattered every which way, and the Shadow Booster and his dragon were laying in an unconscious heap at Silver's feet. Apparently, Silver had just taken care of this mess, as she let out a triumphant roar. I grinned at her, taking in the victory, then removed my medallion, since there was no longer danger.
I couldn't have rested for more than five minutes when I noticed that Silver still had on level 5(level 4 would be considered 'somewhat valuable')brown bashing gear. Right after that, I noticed the Shadow Booster start to move. Silver simply bashed him a good one again, and he collapsed again. A few seconds after that, I saw all 12 Down City crews approach me, led by Phistus(leader of the Grip of the Dragon). Ready to defend me, Artha and Beau positioned themselves behind me, followed by Kitt riding Wyldfyr, Parm, and Lance.
Pyrrah was the first to speak up. "We have all heard about your recent successes, both on and off the track, Katie."
"And I have had the pleasure of having you race against me," Khatah stated, "and, though you do race on the edge of dirty, you race clean, and your dragon and rider teamwork is incredible." As they talked to me, I started to get nervous. Where was this conversation going?
"If we had not seen you race," Wulph continued, "we would not have come here. But now it looks like we have more than one reason to stick around."
"The heat has definitely increased with you around," Pyrrah added, "so it is our honor to tell you that you could very well become an Elite Class(the highest rider class in all of Dragon City) racer."
"And I," a voice said, "am going to have the pleasure of turning you into just that." Realizing that the crews had formed a circle around someone, I looked . . .
. . . and coming out of the circle was an academy scout! "Even though you have only raced once, I have seen more than enough to back up these next five words. Welcome to the academy, Katie!"
I glanced at Artha, grinned at him, and then whispered, "Since when does your daughter get into the academy before you do, stable boy?"
He ignored me and stepped forward. "Since the Shadow Booster has to be one of us, how about we see just who he is?" The Down City crews murmured among themselves, debating as to whether this would just lead to more trouble.
"The Dragon Booster is right," Phistus concluded, "the Shadow Booster has caused enough trouble, both on and off the track, for us not to know who he is."
"Why can't Katie reveal who he is? After all, she's the one who beat the scales out of him," Lance said, looking at Artha.
He stared at me for a few seconds before saying "Go ahead. Just make sure you're ready to beat him again."
I looked down at the unconscious heap near me, wondering how I was going to reveal his identity. Finally, I got my jakk-stik, then, noticing a Dragon Eye medallion on his arm, I took it out.
Nobody could believe who the Shadow Booster was, especially not me. But after making sure that my eyes were not playing tricks on me, I had to believe it. It was Moordryd!
"MOORDRYD?!?! Well, I guess that explains the Dragon Eye symbol," I concluded, since he was the leader of the Dragon Eyes.
"Well, now that we know whom to blame," Khatah said, "what are we going to do now?" As if taking out the medallion was the solution, Moordryd suddenly started to regain consciousness.
"I know what I'm doing," I stated, "getting out of here!" With that said, I grabbed the Dragon Eye medallion, mounted Silver, activated our spare thrusters, and ran off, leaving Artha and everyone else covered in smoke.
I was halfway to Old City when I started to finally think straight. So, Moordryd was the Shadow Booster because . . . he was the leader of the Dragon Eyes? This medallion somehow came from the original Dragon Booster's rival? Or was it simply chance that he found the medallion? Oh, for dragons' sake, what now?!?
Silver broke my train of thought by signaling to me that Mortis was nearby. Of course! I thought, I'll just ask Mortis! Who knows, he might even know where the medallion came from!
I handed the Dragon Eye medallion to him, explained how I had found it, then waited for his reply. When it did come, it was NOT what I had been hoping for.
"You're not ready to face the truth yet. However, do you remember when you and Elise used to hang out together when you were young?"
I didn't remember everything, but I did remember a girl about my age, who went on these crazy adventures with another group of friends. The last I heard, they had been transported into this place from a video game, but I couldn't remember the place's name.
"Her friends did get transported to a place from a video game, and that's exactly where you need to go; they need your help. But you can't go looking like that," he said. Then, waving his mag-staff over me, my armor was suddenly whisked off, replaced by a gold tank-top with the Penn Racing crew symbol on it, only instead of gold, it was silver. I had on blue jeans, blue sandals, and purple nail polish. When I looked in the mirror, I found that I was also no longer human. I was a black and gold hedgehog!
"Now go," Mortis told me, "your friends need you." He then created a sort of portal to, apparently, an island of some sort. I hesitated, as I didn't want to leave Silver, but she seemed to agree. My dragon motioned with her head for me to go, so I understood that she would be right behind me.
I took a few steps, then stopped in front of the portal. I knew that my friends needed me, but I just didn't want to leave Silver-Streak. But Silver walked up behind me, placed her head on my back, and suddenly pushed me inside!
TO BE CONTINUED . . .