Parker slowed his speeder bike down to a halt, stopping it altogether, and turning off the engine. There was the stone arch with its smooth, orangish-brown surface and the cave with its massive rock entrance, also in the shape of an arch. He dismounted and approached the cave, unaware of a dark presence growing inside the cave.

He checked this way and that to make sure he wasn't being followed. There was no one around, but him. Taking a breath, Parker stepped into the cave, surprised to see metal ramps and metallic buildings, complete with an elevator inside this cave. Torches lit the tunnel and further into the cave.

If his mother was down here, then where would she be? He looked at all the different colored dragonoids, each shapeshifting into a creature of their choosing. They stared at him, whispering to each other. At last, he approached the chieftain, his brother Turen, who had a young dragon-like face and now sported red eyes, and his and Turen's mother Cinthia Dooley, who was a much older dragonoid with red scaly skin and yellow eyes that were now almost faded.

Parker rushed to her side, checking on her to make sure she was fine. She wasn't. Her breath was heavy and she coughed badly. She gazed at him with warm affection, like any mother would when they were reunited with their son.

"My son!" Cinthia said, smiling. "You're here. You're alive."

"Mum, I'm right here!" Parker said, choking back on tears. "It's going to be okay."

"No, it won't!" The dragonoid chieftain said in a husky voice. Parker looked back at the older red dragonoid, decked in a necklace of animal teeth. Parker watched him sinisterly as the chieftain smiled. "It's best to leave her be. She's dying!"

"No," Parker said, misunderstanding. "No, she's can't die!" He looked at Turen in fright. "Brother, do something! Please?"

But Turen stood still. Parker couldn't believe this. His brother wasn't going to help him, help them save their mother! This was embarrassing! Parker returned his gaze to his and Turen's mother. She placed her scaly hand upon his cheek, smiling at him. She was at peace now. Parker could see that.

"Mama, please don't leave!" Parker cried, softly.

"I love you," Cinthia said weakly, drawing her last breath. The light left her eyes and her head fell limp in his arms.

"Mum?" Parker cried, the tears dripping down his face. "Mama, come back! No!" He wept, unsure what to do.

"You should keep your tears hidden," the chieftain said, standing up. "Or better yet, don't cry! Where's the sense in that? Tears show weakness, and you must brave adversity."

"Listen to him, brother!" Turen said to Parker, encouraging him. "We have this one chance to rule everything! We can do whatever we want. You know this! Is revenge enough to slake your thirst, because revenge led me to this. It led me to my future, to be with the evil dragonoids. It's what we both want."

Parker glowered over what the chieftain and Turen said. They were expecting him to enact revenge over everything he lost. But at what price? He looked at his mother's body, still limp in his arms. Everything he went through, all the bad things, flooded back to him: whipped by the boys in Oz, whipped again by the elves of Alqualondë, nearly being killed by the short dragonoids Penelope and Draco, nearly attacking that poor nymph, being scratched several times by that cream-colored, Oriental cat Jine, and now this! His home was destroyed, his family nearly killed, and now his mother was dead – Turen and the chieftain allowed this to happen – it was too much to bear!

And yet, he couldn't contain his anger much longer. He glared at the other dragonoids, determined to kill them all! He gently set his mother's dead body on the rocky, smooth floor, before he stood up. A blue flame ignited on the palm of his hand. He whipped around, throwing the fireball at the chieftain's wooden throne, watching it explode into a million tiny pieces.

He wasn't finished yet. He raised his other hand up, forcing the chieftain to be lifted up off the cave's floor. The chieftain clasped his throat, gasping for air. Parker stared at the chieftain, enraged. All he needed to do was snap his neck—

Whoosh!

Parker released the chieftain, watching Turen use his powers to throw the older dragonoid chieftain like a toothpick, forcing him to land on the edge of a platform. Parker snapped out of his reverie, his red eyes coming into focus. He was still angry over everything that happened. He didn't care so much what happened to him, but the evil dragonoids had to pay. He slowly approached Turen, who observed the chieftain's body. Parker's yellow eyes returned, allowing him to see his mistakes.

"Is he – dead?" Parker asked, tensely.

Turen nodded.

"I killed him," Parker said, solemnly.

"It's not your fault. The fault is mine!" Turen said, standing up. "Our father admitted the truth."

"Your foster father did?" Parker asked, feeling his old self return. "I still did wrong today." He sighed. "I don't think I can stop being bad. Is that wrong?"

"Of course, it is, but I've made mistakes too, brother," Turen said, walking over to their mother's body. "You will take our mother's body back to our family; at least, what's left of them. I will stay here, become the next chieftain. These dragonoids need a new leader and with the ban lifted, I fit into that role perfectly."

"You?" Parker asked, curious. "What name would you give yourself?"

"You can call me Mordru," Turen nodded. "I think the name fits the situation, don't you think?"

Parker sighed. He knew this was right. "Good luck." He extended his hand to him. "May you become a good leader for this clan."

Turen took his hand, clasping his arm, and hugging him. It was in that moment Parker knew that things had changed, but at least he was on good terms with his brother. Turen released him, but he wasn't finished.

"Now go. It won't be long before someone suspects something." Turen said, but not before adding, "You should know, that at this point, with evil festering in your heart, dark forces will attempt to take you away from here. It will become easier for them to dive you into the darkness. What you do now is up to you. Just be careful on how you use your powers."

"You gave me this power. Why?" Parker asked him, concerned.

"Because I saw a part of myself in you. That innocence doesn't last long, now does it?" Turen asked, curious.

Parker shook his head.

"I thought not," Turen admitted with a sigh. "We all have our part to play. Let me do mine."

"Good luck, Mordru," Parker said, carrying their mother's body outside, but not before some of the dragonoids wrapped his mother's body into a blanket, securing her to his speeder bike. He looked at Mordru one last time, waving to him, before starting the bike's engine. In seconds, he was gone, heading back to the grasslands and to his and Mordru's ruined home, where Eliza and Maxin awaited him.

*.*.*

References:

Alqualondë is an elven port city in J.R.R. Tolkien's book, The Silmarillion. The Land of Oz is from L. Frank Baum's book, The Wizard of Oz.