Chapter 1: A New Day, A New Adventure, And A Powerful Villain Emerges...
It was a bright and sunny morning. Summer had just started, and all the children had gotten out of school one week prior.
Siblings Emmy and Max in particular were enjoying themselves. Their parents have given them the next two days to enjoy themselves as a reward for their good behavior, and they couldn't be happier about it.
They're routine for such days was to play and color, then pay a visit to their dragon friends in Dragonland. There, they'd have some adventures and learn some life lessons, before coming home for the day.
Little did they know that today, they were about to embark on the greatest adventure of their lives.
The kids were in the playroom as usual, with Max playing with his toy cars and Emmy reading her 'book of dragons' at the table.
Just then, the a magic glow came from the secret drawer underneath the window. Emmy was the first to notice.
"Hey Max," she said, hoping to get her little brother's attention.
"Just a minute, Emmy," he said, "My red truck is about to win the race!"
Emmy looked over, and saw Max running his two toy vehicles in a straight line, his blue car in his left hand, and his red truck in his right hand. Emmy put her foot down.
"Sorry Max, but the dragons are calling us," she said, "Look!"
Max finally stopped playing, and looked at the drawer. He finally noticed the shimmering glow coming from the drawer.
"Wow! Let's go!" Max said.
He rushed over with Emmy to open the drawer. Emmy pulled out the dragon-emblem chest, and opened it to reveal their favorite possession: their enchanted dragon scale! They held it together, and spoke the rhyme they said many times before...
"I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons, in a land apart."
With that, the dragon tapestry on the far wall came to life, and the dragon pictures encircled the children, who then disappeared in a flash of light.
Meanwhile, in the enchanted realm of Dragonland, two dragons, one large & blue and the other smaller & pink, were sitting by a tree, looking around for someone to show up.
"I hope Max and Emmy get here soon" said the blue dragon.
"I know, Ord," said the pink dragon, "It's been five minutes, and I don't see a sign of them."
"Wait," said Ord, "I see something, Cassie!"
He pointed in one direction. Sure enough, about twenty-five yards away from the tree, there was a cloud of magic dust swirling around in a vortex. A flash of light later, and Max & Emmy stood in it's place.
"Emmy!"
"Max!"
Cassie and Ord called out to them respectively, and rushed over to greet their human friends. Ord, naturally, beat Cassie to the kids, and embraced them in a crushing hug. Though Max and Emmy were somewhat used to this (especially Max), they soon needed air.
"Uh...Ord," Emmy choked out, "You're...squishing us."
Ord finally noticed their faces turning blue like his scales, and gently let them go. "Oops," he giggled, "Sorry."
Cassie approached Emmy (whom she had a special bond with), and gave her a hug of her own. It was more gentle than Ord's, of course.
"Hi Emmy," she said "I'm so glad you're here. We need your help!"
"Why?" asked Emmy, "What's going on?"
Ord spoke next. "Something bad is happening in Dragonland."
"Yesterday," said Cassie, "an evil spell was cast on the forest of darkness, and it suddenly became all twisted."
"The forest became twisted?" Max asked, "What does that mean?"
"It means that the forest is now *gulp* scarier than before," said Ord, "The trees lost their leaves, the flowers & fruits are gone, and everything is gray colored!
He pinched his nose in disgust, "And the place smells really bad, too!
Emmy and Max were shocked at this, "You mean...someone cast a spell to make the forest rot away?!" asked Emmy, "Who would do such a thing!?"
"We don't know," said Cassie, "but somebody might know who's doing this."
She pulled out a note and handed it to Emmy. It read Please come here soon, and bring Max and Emmy with you. Signed, Quetzal. "Quetzal is calling everyone to the School in the Sky," Cassie continued, "He says he saw something important in the forest before it happened."
"Yeah," said Ord, "so let's go, everybody!"
"WAIT!"
Everyone turned to look at Max when he shouted.
"Aren't we forgetting someone?" he asked slyly.
The gang knew immediately who he was talking about. "Zak & Wheezie!" they all shouted.
"I'll get them," said Ord, rushing over to a nearby knucker-hole. He looked down in it and called out, "ZAK? WHEEZIE?"
The ground shook for a moment, and up from the hole shot out the group's resident two-headed dragon. Zak & Wheezie flew upward for a moment, then downward, and finally landed in front of the group with a loud thud.
"What's up?" they both asked in unison.
"We're going to see Quetzal," said Emmy, "are you ready to come?"
Wheezie seemed excited. The things she was wearing gave it away. She had a knight's helmet on her head, and a wooden sword in her hand.
"You BET we're ready!" she exclaimed, "It's time to find out what monster hurt our forest! An adventure awaits!" she held her sword into the air like Excalibur, "LOOOOVE IT!"
"Take it easy, Wheezie." said Zak, trying to calm his sister down, "This is serious. Besides, we're only going to hear Quetzal's thoughts about..."
"Ahem"
Zak turned his head towards Cassie, as did Wheezie.
"Before you start arguing again," said Cassie, "we need to be at the school very soon."
Zak and Wheezie giggled sheepishly as everyone prepared to take off. Emmy climbed onto Cassie's back while Max did the same with Ord.
"Alright everybody," said Emmy, "Next stop, the School in the Sky!"
With that, the dragons flew into the air with the kids on their backs, and set off towards the school's location.
Elsewhere, inside a cavernous mountain lair just beyond the Forest of Darkness, a tall woman dressed in black watched the children and their dragon friends through a crystal ball.
"Yes. Welcome back, my dears," she spoke in a voice oozing both royalty and malice, "Time for another adventure in your little...playground."
Her red, serpent-like eyes narrowed in disgust. "Ugh. Playground, indeed. Oh BAH!" she spat., standing up and turning to the door.
"CYRUS, COME HERE AT ONCE!" she thundered.
A salamander-like figure dashed into the room, wringing his hands together & grinning like a cat with a canary.
"Yessss, mistress. You called?" he hissed in a snake-like voice.
"Not so fast, egg-eater. Aren't you forgetting something?" she coldly asked.
Cyrus the Slinky Serpent grimaced at this, but bowed obediently as though he was in the presence of a queen.
"That's better."
"What is your command, milady?" asked Cyrus. A smirk grew on the woman's paper-white face.
"It's quite simple, really. After you set me free, I've been keeping an eye on those two children you told me about. Watching how they learn so called life-lessons with their friends. Now that my scheme is ready to be carried out, I drained all magic from the Forest of Darkness to get their attention."
She waved her crooked wand over her crystal ball again, zooming into the image of the children riding their dragons.
"It seems they've now been called by their dragon friends to help solve their...decayed forest problem," she sneered, "But they remain blissfully unaware of the true cause."
"Begging your pardon, madam," the serpent interjected, "but what happens when they find out?"
The woman grinned coldly again, "It will be too late for them. Simple as that," she chuckled.
"Follow those brats to the School in the Sky, and listen for anything that might be useful," she commanded, "You already seen their meddlesome nature firsthand, and I can't have them trying to foil my plans for this realm."
"As you wish...Maligna."
With that, Cyrus practically slithered out the door, ready to carry out his mistress's orders.
Maligna looked into her crystal ball one last time.
"Soon you'll see, little ones. Even in dreamlike Dragonland, the darkness of reality is inevitable..."