Chapter 3:
Five years ago – Molak
"Auntie, I'm going out now! See ya in a few hours," shouted a 14-year-old Marko as he walked out of his house. "Just make sure you're back by dark," shouted a feminine voice. Closing the door behind him, Marko pulled his hood up and walked to the centre of Molak, where he had agreed to meet Rachel and Fradokos.
As he walked, Marko looked around at the village, and saw several smaller children chasing after a small pack of Terrible Terrors, giggling as they did so. One of the Terrors, one with dark-green scales and small red horns on its head, jumped onto one of the nearby houses, and climbed up until it was safely on the roof. Chuckling softly, Marko said, "Get down here, you." Marko heard the Terror chuckle slightly, before he flapped up wings and landed on Marko's shoulder.
"Long time, no see, Mystery," croaked the Terror as he nuzzled Marko's face. "It has been a while, hasn't it, Sparks?" replied Marko, stroking the top of Sparks' head, to which he purred quietly. Marko then said, "Listen, Sparks, I've got to meet some friends in the centre. I'll see you some other time, OK Sparks?" Sparks nodded and flapped his wings, and chased after the rest of his pack. Chuckling, Marko continued towards the centre of the village.
After a few more minutes more walk, Marko saw two figures standing next to the towns' central well: it was Fradokos, who was wearing his signature blood-red bandana, and Rachel, who was wearing her signature black fingerless gloves. "Hey, Marko!" shouted Fradokos, and Rachel turned around to greet their friend. "How you doing, my friends?" asked Marko, walking up to them and knuckle-bumped Fradokos. "So, you both ready to go exploring?" asked Marko, looking to how they were reacting. "Hey, we've got nothing better to do today, so what the hell?" said Fradokos, causing the three friends to chuckle. After another minute, Marko said, "Come on then: the Dragon's are waiting."
Once he had said that, all three of them brought their first finger and thumb up to their lips and whistled loudly. After a few seconds, they stopped and waited for their Dragons to arrive. Then, there were three large white blurs racing towards them, and just before they crashed into the three members of the Tribe, they stopped. "You guys ready?" asked Marko in Dragonese, and Ice, White Light and Cloud all nodded their heads. "All right, then. Let's get going!" And with that, the three Dragons and their riders were nothing more than little dots in the sky.
After a few hours flight, the teens decided to take a break on an island that had come into view just a few minutes beforehand. Once they had landed, they dismounted their Dragons and went in search for something to eat. While they were doing that, this left the three White Furies to talk to themselves. "So, Ice," said White Light, sitting uncomfortably closer to her than Ice would've wanted, "have you found a mate yet?" Sighing in annoyance, Ice replied, "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: you're...not...my...TYPE!" Cloud chuckled lightly at this display: this was the fifth time this week that White Light had tried to ask Ice to be his mate, without actual asking her to be his mate. And judging by Ice's annoyed expression, she was starting to crack.
"Oh, come on!" said White Light, getting up and walking in front of Ice, "What's not to like about me?" Snorting in annoyance, Ice said, "OK, let me think: you're arrogant," she took a step closer to White Light, as he took a step back, "you only think of number one," Ice took another step closer, as White Light took another step back. "And, frankly, I wouldn't be your mate even if you begged!" Ice snarled at White Light, taking a final step which knocked the White Fury over. By this point, Cloud was on her back, laughing hard: she found is very amusing when her friends argued like this.
"I'll take that as a no, then?" asked White Light, causing Ice to let out a warning growl, shutting him up instantly. Just then, Rachel appeared from a gap in the tree line, gesturing for the three Dragons to follow her. Getting up, White Light, Ice and Cloud followed Rachel beyond the tree line. Once they had passed the trees, they came across a partly covered cave entrance with Fradokos in front of him, his arms crossed in patients. "Mystery is already in there, Ice," said Fradokos, "he said he's gonna need you in there for something." Curious, Ice looked into the cave, and she saw a dim orange light coming from within it. Nodding, she entered the cave.
Once she was inside the cave, she spotted Marko at the far end, looking at something with interest. Getting closer, she saw that he was holding a thick branch with a roaring fire coming out of it in his right hand and was running his left hand down something that was on the cave wall. "Interesting," she heard him mutter, bringing his left hand back to his chin in thought. Hearing something behind him, Marko turned around to find Ice behind him, so he asked, "Ice, perhaps you could tell me what this symbol is? I've seen it on the entrance to the Elder's Cave, but I've never found out what it is." Turning to face the thing Marko was looking at: it was, unknown to them, the same symbol that Marko and Rachel were to come into contact with four years later. However, the paints that were used on the symbol were a little brighter than they would be in four years time.
Looking back at Marko, Ice smiled sweetly, and said, "Oh, Marko: so old, yet so much to learn. The symbol you have taken an interest in," as she gestured to the symbol, "is both a warning and a sign: a warning to any intruders that wish to take over, and a sign to any member of the tribe, Dragon or human, that they are near home."
