Well, here's the next chapter. Thanks once again for reading, and enjoy!

Chapter 7: The Downfall of Dragon City, Part II

As Moordryd weaved around screaming people and dragons, he saw Kitt. She was looking helplessly at him as her eyes dilated and turned yellow. He pushed down a pang of regret and quickly raced past. But as Decepshun carried him past, he shot out his hand. With a powerful push he knocked Kitt from the saddle, wondering how much help it would be now.

--------------

Kitt opened her eyes to see the chaos around her. She groaned and flexed her fingers, which widened her eyes in surprise. The wraith effect hadn't lingered with her. She could move! Her moment of joy suddenly ended as she abruptly rolled to the side to avoid Wyldfyr's crushing foot. She looked on in horror as one of her best friends bared his teeth at her. Dripping saliva, he loomed over her softy hissing through his teeth. Kitt, still on the ground, backed up hurriedly.

She shot a quick glance in the direction of Moordryd, her surprising hero. He was situated on his dragon near the end of the tents. Why hadn't Decepshun changed like every other dragon around her? Moordryd remained a few seconds longer, than apparently relieved that she was no longer a wraith, he left. Dimly Kitt noticed Decepshun had on no gear like Wyldfyr did, the gear that took away her friend. She was sure she had seen some on Decepshun before, though.

Wyldfyr tossed his head and let out a terrifying roar which sent spears of fear through Kitt's heart and snapped her head back to look at him. What had happened to him? He glared down at her with wraith eyes, watching her every move. He snapped his jaws, but did not charge. Kitt found herself backed up against the Army of the Dragon crew tent. Quickly, she pulled herself underneath the tarp and inside.

She stood shakily and looked at the dark shape on the other side of the fabric. Wyldfyr moved with the deadly movements of a wraith and pushed his nose against the heavy material. Kitt scooted to the opposite side as Wyldfyr started to push his head underneath the tarp. He blew through his nose, causing a thin layer of dirt and dust to rise up into the air. Kitt turned and fled through the entrance which was thankfully on the opposite side her dragon was near. She ducked and kept close to the tents and slowly made her way to the next one, which she escaped into.

She glanced back through the opening, holding the flaps close. She beheld the horrific sight. Everywhere, every dragon, was now black and purple. Yellow eyes stared out vacantly at the world around. They screamed at each other, roared at the sky and pawed at the ground.

Humans riding the wraiths acted the same. Screeching in unnatural voices, they challenged their surroundings. Kitt tried to swallow past a lump in her throat. That could've, would've, been her. If not for her enemy, Moordryd Paynn. He had saved her life, for what reasons Kitt couldn't possibly fathom. He had help start this, she was sure. But as Lance said, Moordryd wasn't all bad. She hoped he was right, and that that little act of aid signified something greater within him.

"Like what you see?" Came a gruff voice from behind. Kitt wheeled around, startled. She hadn't noticed the others in the tent. Spynn looked at her from across the tent, her face and posture screaming her fear and anxiety. Marianis stood hunched in the far corner, crossed arms beneath her grim face. Neither of them had spoken. It was….

"Reepyr?" Kitt said, more than startled. He looked up at her with a dead expression on his face. "When did you get here?" Kitt stopped herself as she thought of something dreadful. "Where's Propheci?" Reepyr only tightened his mouth in grim resignation of her deepest fears.

---------------

Moordryd stormed into Word's citadel, clutching the precious box in a tight grip. He flung open the doors and marched up to his father. Word turned and acknowledged his son's presence.

"Took your time getting here, didn't you?" He said, a smile flickering on his face. Moordryd didn't see how anyone could crack a smile on a day like today. "You look angry." Word said as a matter of fact.

Moordryd grimaced and threw the heavy box on Word's desk. It landed with a loud metallic clang, dwarfed in volume by Moordryd's voice. "What did you do?"

Word stood as a formidable obstacle against Moordryd's anger and the hope of Dragon City. "What do you mean? The wraiths?" He questioned. It sickened Moordryd to see the smile still on his father's face. "Aren't they magnificent?" Word turned back to his screens, where he was watching Dragon City's destruction.

Moodryd looked on in shock. It had grown worse since he had left Mid City. Every single dragon he could see had been turned into a wraith and were running at high speeds. Moordryd suddenly realized that there were also people running every which way. The dragons never slowed down their rampage. He had to look away from the gruesome sight. He was suddenly glad his father had no sound along with the images.

Word looked on at the images in delight. "Watch, my son." He said once he noticed Moordryd looking away. "Watch my conquest."

"Conquest? Your wraiths are out of control, people are…dying…."

"That is the price of war, Moordryd. And my wraiths are not out of control, as you will see." Moordryd didn't want to see anymore. His father moved to his control panel, and very soon, the wraiths stopped their individual stampedes.

Moordryd looked again at the screens, then quickly looked away. Even though the dragons have stopped, the carnage remained. "Why did you let them do that if you could stop them?"

"The people must know my power."

"So you're killing innocent people to get your point across?"

"I do believe you're starting to sound like the Dragon Booster."

At his father's mocking words, Moordryd sneered. "No. I think I sound like any sane human with a conscience."

"How insulting," Word said, hands thrown up in distress. Sarcasm dripped from his voice. Moordryd's anger flared as he saw the smile still present on his father's face. "As you can see, the city is in my grasp."

"How is this happening?" Moordryd said, wanting to understand the nightmare he found himself in.

Word appeared delighted at having a chance to explain his plan. "The gear my company has produced for the past number of years have mind control gear within each. Red thruster gear, green ramming gear, blue tentacle gear, they all have it. This gear is different from the gear on my wraith dragons. It controls by signal." Word smiled in self achievement. "Though the signal is not strong, it has full control of the dragon. The signal, as soon as I activate it, changes the dragon. The dragon is left helpless, in my complete control. It affects only the one dragon because that dragon is the only one close enough for the signal to affect."

"What if someone takes the gear off the dragon?" Word frowned slightly at his son's question.

"Well, then the signal can't affect the dragon anymore."

"Then it turns back to normal."

"Do not get ideas, my son. The dragons won't mag off the gear once it has control of them. They will fight to keep it on. And of course, you know how hard it is to remove gear when the dragon tries to keep it on."

"But what about the people? Does the signal affect them too?"

"Yes. My human wraiths." Word held up a finger to silence his son. "I know what you're thinking. Yes, the human is only affected because the signal reaches them. Take them off the dragon and they return to normal." He smiled once again. "They are under the dragon's control, who are under my control. They will fight to stay on the dragon." He swept his arm out at the screens. "There are too many wraiths for the unaffected humans to stop."

"Aren't there unaffected dragons? Not all the dragons had gear on, and not all the gear was made by you. Some were made by the competition."

"I have prepared for that. My initial wraiths have control gear on them. They will run around Dragon City magging the gear onto the free dragons. None will escape."

Word put out a clawed hand and gripped the box, pulling it close to him on the table. Moordryd watched silently. "What exactly are you going to do with that?"

"Many things. I will discover their secrets, the undiscovered potential this draconium holds. The Shadow Track's secret will be mine." Word smiled gleefully, staring past Moordryd into the future.

Moordryd ignored him and looked at the screens. So many were suffering without anyone to help. The reality of what was happening was finally beginning to sink in. He gasped as he recognized one. Swayy. She hadn't magged off the gear in time. She was a wraith. And Dorsull, Phistus…. They were all there. They had been expecting to race, but had instead found a different mandate set out for them. He balled his hands into fists. He had to free Swayy. He wouldn't let her stay a wraith.

Moordryd abruptly realized there was no Dragon Booster to help him or anyone else. He had locked him in the Shadow Track. He was responsible for destroying humanity's hope of freedom. He glared defiantly at his father. "I won't let you do this." He said through gritted teeth. He turned and marched away, knowing full well his father was smiling smugly at his back.

----------------

Reepyr shook his head at Kitt's question. They, that is, Kitt, Marianis, Spynn and Reepyr were crouched down in the tent. Shadows of dragons and humans were seen passing by on the thick tarp, but luckily none had ventured a peek inside. The commotion from before had died down considerably as the wraith dragons had ceased to attack. Now they silently and relentlessly stalked the streets.

Quick glances at the outside gave them only brief glimpses of the new world they found themselves thrust into. The old wraith dragons, as Kitt thought of them, were sprinting around, magging wraith gear onto the dragons that had escaped unscathed. But that was long past. Now the only dragons she could see in the streets were wraiths.

Kitt turned her thoughts away from the outside and pressed Reepyr again. She was sitting cross-legged beside him, Marianis on her other side. "But there must be some Prophets who are willing to help us."

Reepyr once again shook his head. "I'm sorry, but Propheci has once again…."

"Propheci has once again persuaded the dragons to start a war, we know. According to you, he's been doing that a lot." Spynn shot out, sitting against a crate, elbows on her knees, head resting in her hands. She lifted her head. "Kitt said the other orange dragons locked that Propheci up." Marianis half-heartedly nodded in agreement, not looking up from the gear she was fiddling with. Gear she had found lying on the ground in the Dragon Flare Crew tent they found themselves hiding in.

"They did, last we saw." Kitt sighed. "What happened when we left?" She asked, turning to Reepyr.

"When the Dragon Booster and you all left, we payed no attention to Propheci. The rest of the orange dragons realized their mistakes and were ready to come help the Dragon Booster at a moment's notice." He smiled as Kitt widened her eyes in surprise. "Yes, I'm sure they would have done that. They were so changed." Reepyr stared off at nothing, reminiscing.

"Then what happened? Why are they back here? What are they doing here?" Spynn shot out. Marianis raised her eyes slightly from the gear she was fiddling with, and threw a disapproving look at Spynn's interruption.

Reepyr sighed. "For days, Propheci wouldn't let up. He kept growling and talking to the other dragons. I'm sure it was about letting him out and about how dragons should ultimately rule the planet. Thankfully, most did not listen."

"But one did." Kitt said blankly.

"One always does." Marianis mumbled into the gear.

"One did." Reepyr confirmed the obvious. "We let him take guard at one point, not knowing his true intentions. He let Propheci out, and Propheci wasted no time in getting a human rider. Through him, he spoke to us. He spoke of the strangest things." Reepyr paused, and Marianis set aside the gear, thoroughly intrigued. Spynn and she listened intently and Kitt waited for Reepyr to continue.

Reepyr shook his head. "He…we do not know how he knew. He told us that humans would destroy the dragons here in Dragon City. He said the Prophets should immediately come here to stop this. When asked how he knew, he simply said he was told. But he was locked up. No one from the outside spoke with him. We questioned him further and learned that a pair of fiery eyes spoke to him through the darkness." Silence blanketed the tent.

"Fiery eyes spoke to him through the darkness? Oh, please." Spynn said wearily. Kitt glared at her. "Sounds like a crazy dragon. It's a shame none of the others realize it."

"They didn't. But Propheci spoke with such earnest, we agreed to release him and have him show us. We didn't believe anything was going to happen, we thought he had gone mad. So with a secure escort, we came to Dragon City. At first, nothing happened, and the other orange dragons were ready to head back, then…then…."

"Word Paynn." Kitt muttered darkly and stared at the ground. Flashes of Wyldfyr ran through her mind.

"What?" Marianis' question caused Kitt to look up at the others.

"You mean Word Paynn had something to do with this?" Spynn growled. "I knew he was bad news, but this?"

"Word Paynn had everything to do with this. He has control of all the wraith dragons." Kitt explained.

"He has control of the wraith dragons?" Marianis echoed in surprise. Though they all knew Paynn wanted to start a Dragon Human war, for some reason the thought never occurred to them that he made the wraiths.

"Makes sense." Spynn muttered, slightly annoyed she hadn't connected the dots herself.

"I mean, we all know the Dragon Eyes steal dragons on a regular basis…."

"We should've known." Marianis sighed. "That jerk! Dorsull…." Her voice trailed off as she remembered watching Dorsull succumb to the wraith gear, just as he was about to race.

The small tent grew silent as everyone remembered watching their friends being destroyed of their will right before their eyes. Reepyr looked from one to another.

"The dragons," he continued, "then listened to Propheci. He told them how humans would deceive us like they've done before. They listened to him."

"What's Propheci doing now?" Kitt asked.

"He and the other Prophets took control of their riders once again. I've no doubt they're trying to convince all the remaining free dragons to join them." Hope seemed to slide out of the tent until none remained. The silence was broken only by the guttural noises from outside.

"What can we do?" Marianis asked after an eternity.

"What can we do? What is there to do?" Spynn spat. "As soon as we leave this tent, we're going to be picked up by the wraith dragons or one of those bumbling orange Prophets. Dragon City belongs to the dragons now."

Marianis glared in Spynn's direction. "There has to be something we can do. I mean, how are we going to get out of here? We cannot stay here. Sooner or later we'll be found."

Spynn sighed, agitated. "I don't know. We'll wait till the coast is clear."

"But what about our friends? Are you just going to let them be controlled by…by Paynn?" Marianis said, her voice rising in tone. "How can you just sit here and do nothing?"

"Hey! I didn't say I would do nothing!"

"Then choose your words more carefully next time. Because it sure sounded like you were only concerned for yourself." The usually friendly Dragon Fish leader heatedly glared at her. Spynn opened her mouth, but no words came out. Even Kitt was surprised at Marianis' outburst. But then again, all their tempers were rising. Marianis' shoulders slumped, and she continued in her usual tone, "Dorsull…he…I have to save him." She looked pleadingly at the others. "I just know I can't do it alone."

Her near plea for help echoed in the tent. Spynn looked ashamed. Kitt opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Reepyr. "Which is why I wanted to find you, Kitt, or any other Penn Racing Crew members." He spoke earnestly. Kitt knew why.

"You wanted to find the Dragon Booster." She said flatly, for it was not a question. Reepyr nodded as Marianis and Spynn looked hopeful.

"Where is he? Why hasn't he done something?" Marianis asked quickly. Her eyes shone with new hope.

"I…know where he is." Kitt said slowly. All the others breathed a sigh of relief, especially Reepyr. "But…he needs our help first."

----------------

Parm and Lance looked at the mound of impassable rubble. Parm looked down at his calculations. "No…we…if we can…" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Connor looked perplexed from the green VIDD-screen in front of Parm. They were currently discussing the means of Artha's escape. "I don't think that will work." Parm said, dismissing yet another plan. Connor sighed.

Lance shifted in Fracshun's saddle, causing the little dragon to look up at his rider. They were both getting fidgety. The wastelands howled with bone chilling gusts of wind. Lance looked back at Parm. "Parm." He said softly.

"Wait! We could…no, the pull of the leverage…" Parm trailed off once more, frowning slightly at his results. Lance sighed and gazed about dejectedly. He wondered if Kitt had been able to catch Moordryd. He tapped his fingers on Fracshun's head. Frachsun chattered at Lance, who smiled mischievously in return. He was about to playfully bother his dragon further, when he heard Parm speak. "What?" Lance questioned.

Parm sighed. "I said, could you go over there and see if you could…" Lance, listening expectedly, looked up sharply as Parm stopped in mid sentence. Parm was gazing down at Cyrano in horror.

"Parm? Something strange has just happened…mag off your gear! PARM, MAG…" Connor's hurried voice was immediately cut off as Parm's VIDD-screen malfunctioned.

Cyrano's eyes grew large as he was infected. Lance looked at the source of the threat. The red thruster gear Cyrano had was…acting strangely. Lance was confused. Parm threw his arms back suddenly, and the alteration that was turning the humble green dragon into a savage black brute seeped into him.