Chapter 10: Here Be Dragons
For quite a considerable amount of time, Seth had been grasping onto Skyfrost's reigns, whilst he had clamped himself against the wyvern's backside with his legs.
With Skyfrost currently within the grasp of Maelstrom's enormous right talon, it was obvious that he, along with Firesquall, would not be going anywhere. The only reason he had not been crushed by Maelstrom, was because she had captured Skyfrost in such a position where Seth wound up in the gap between two of her huge toes.
There was seemingly nothing that Seth, Warren, Skyfrost or Firesquall could do to free themselves from Maelstrom. The two wyverns were being held in a way where they could not aim their mouths at Maelstrom. And even if they could reach her, Maelstrom would still be able to tank their attacks and return the favor a hundred times over.
Seth contemplated wishing that he had brought the Pyruby with him. Alas, as this outing was never intended to to be a mission, he had refrained from bringing the relic. Likewise, Warren had not brought the Sapphazure. Either way, with or without their relics, neither of them stood a chance against Maelstrom. Even if the four of them had a clear shot at Maelstrom, their combined attacks would barely so much as tickle her.
Maelstrom had not said much since their capture, aside from telling the quartet to be quiet, and that she was not interested in anything they had to say.
Seth turned his head and looked down at the world beneath him. They were flying over the countryside somewhere, although he had no idea as to where exactly they were. He had even asked Warren and the wyverns if they knew, but as they were all discombobulated, they admitted that they were unsure of their current position, as well as where they were going.
Suddenly, an idea had hit Seth like a ton of bricks. He was an angel! In all the commotion that had transpired, he and even his allies had failed to remember that he had angelic powers at his disposal.
"Guys!" exclaimed Seth. "Help me power-up!"
"Power up?" groaned Skyfrost, his voice carrying through from the other side of Maelstrom's talon.
"Not so loud..." said Seth in a voice that was barely deep enough to be audible against the wind. "Maelstrom might not know what I'm capable of. If you guys give me your support, maybe I can pull it off."
"Can't you do it yourself?" asked Warren.
"It's hard to focus in this position. I'm under a lot of pressure. It's hard to explain!"
"I don't know if I can focus either!" said Firesquall. "Maelstrom's got me in a very uncomfortable grip!"
"What if it's not enough?" asked Skyfrost. "Or it's too powerful? You might do something unpredictable to Maelstrom, if not us! Like it or not... she's our aunt!"
"So tell your darling aunt to let us go!" snapped Seth.
"She may be our aunt, but she's no darling," said Firesquall.
"You four do realize I can hear what you're saying!" said Maelstrom. "And Seth, I know all about your angelic secret, so there's no need to hide it from me. But that would require speaking, which I implore you to stop. Save all your questions for Dominera."
For the remainder of the flight very little conversation had transpired between anyone. Skyfrost and Firesquall eventually complained about the uncomfortable position that Maelstrom had been holding them in, but the larger wyvern did very little to adequately accommodate them.
If assuming his angel form was seemingly out of the question, Seth could do little else but worry about a number of concerns he had thought up in his head. Who was Dominera? What was she like? And what was she capable of? Either way, Seth was anticipating that Dominera was not a dragon he would be looking forward to meeting.
And then there was the matter of Kendra, Ingrid, Raxtus and Geminus. Sure, they had managed to avoid capture. But the moment that they had been abducted by Maelstrom was the last that Seth and his fellow captives saw of them. They didn't stand a chance against Maelstrom, nor could they ever possibly keep up with her.
Even though Seth and Warren both had their phones on them, it was impossible for them to get any sort of signal at the rate they were flying. They had checked several times just to be sure, but no dice. They had also wondered if Kendra had been able to use the Oculus in an attempt to locate them, until Warren pointed out that as long as Kendra was lacking in her fairy abilities, that she should avoid touching the Oculus at all costs.
After what had to have been several hours, Maelstrom began to descend down beneath the clouds.
"We're almost there," said Maelstrom, as she flew down towards a vast mountain range, surrounded by forests and lakes.
"Are those the Rocky Mountains?" asked Warren, as Maelstrom continued her descent.
"Oh, aren't you clever?" said Maelstrom.
Within a minute, Maelstrom came down towards a large ledge situated upon one of the steep mountainsides. As she neared the mountain, Maelstrom slowed her descent, extending her wings to stay aloft in midair. She then came in for a landing on the ledge, with the rear digits of her talons pressing down against the ground.
At last Maelstrom opened up the front digits of her talons, finally releasing Skyfrost and Firesquall from her grasp. She proceeded to gently push Skyfrost out of the talon he was being held in, then did the same for Firesquall with her other talon.
"If you're smart, you will follow me," said Maelstrom, as Skyfrost and Firesquall both stumbled up onto their talons. "If you try to flee, you will deeply regret it. It's best if we continue from here on the ground."
"What is this place?" asked Seth, as he got down from Skyfrost and looked up at the steep, almost cliff-like mountainside that stood before him.
"This is where I live," replied Maelstrom, looming down at Seth.
"Doesn't look like much..." muttered Warren in a whisper.
Saying nothing, Maelstrom proceeded to walk directly into the face of the cliff, passing through the wall as though she were a ghost.
"No way..." said Firesquall. "She can phase through walls too?"
Maelstrom suddenly stuck her head back out through the wall. "It's a fake wall. Any idiot can pass through it. Now follow me."
Seth, Warren, Skyfrost and Firesquall all walked up in front of the wall. Feeling cautious, Seth reached his hand forward and attempted to touch the rock. However, instead of making contact with anything, his hand continued through the wall, as though it wasn't even there.
"Crazy..." said Seth, as he proceeded to walk directly through the imaginary wall. Once he stepped through to the other side, Seth discovered that he had emerged in a cave, the ceiling of which was dozens of feet high, enough for a wyvern like Maelstrom to stand in. Near the entrance, Seth noticed that the vast tunnel sloped downward. The tunnel wasn't terribly steep; Seth figured one could probably drive up and down it in a car.
"After you," said Maelstrom, now that her four captors had all passed through the phony wall.
Seth and his allies began to walk down the sloped tunnel, which appeared to be kept alit by sun stones that had been embedded at various points in the ceiling and walls.
After they walked for several yards, Maelstrom took just one giant step and caught up with the group.
"You know, it'd be faster if we just flew down," said Skyfrost.
"Don't you dare," said Maelstrom. "Just because I'm too large to fly in here doesn't mean you two can do so."
The group continued down the tunnel, while Maelstrom took a step once every so often to keep up with their pace. Eventually, the tunnel stopped sloping, but still continued forward.
After a little while longer, they arrived at a four-way intersection.
"Make a right here," said Maelstrom.
Although Seth wanted nothing more than to not go right, he obliged anyway, if only so that Maelstrom would not retaliate in some way.
Maelstrom led the group down a few more tunnels, before they at last arrived in a vast chamber. At the far end of the chamber was a dragon, perched atop a huge pile of treasure. The dragon was white, sporting scales that shimmered even brighter than the treasure that was beneath it.
"Dominera, I have returned with my... nephews."
"Very nice," said Dominera, speaking in a deep, yet refined, feminine voice. "But I did not ask for you to bring me any humans."
"But these are no ordinary humans," said Maelstrom, as she and Seth's group all walked forward towards Dominera. "One of them has slight fairy attributes. The other possesses some degree of angelic powers."
"That would explain why neither of them are frozen in terror," said Dominera, as she loomed down towards Seth. Now that she was closer, Seth could see that Dominera's individual scales actually resembled diamonds. Dominera proceeded to study Seth and Warren with a pair of glistening purple eyes.
"What do you think?" asked Maelstrom.
"They're unusual, for humans. But so are sorcerers. And I'm capable of all sorts of magic. I have no real interest in them. It's the juvenile wyverns that really interest me. Wyverns! What are your names?"
"Sk-Sk-Skyfrost..."
"Fire...squall."
"And you two are from the Fablehaven preserve, yes?"
Skyfrost and Firesquall both nodded.
"Hello!" exclaimed Seth. "What is going on here?"
"This one certainly is feisty for a human," said Dominera. "Do you even know who I am?"
"Not quite."
Dominera sighed. "It's a sad day for dragons when not even the Queen of Dragons herself is recognized."
"Hold on," said Warren. "You're the Queen of Dragons?"
"Indeed. I am Dominera Tyrannolthu. But you may refer to me simply as Dominera."
"If you're a queen, where are your subjects?" asked Seth.
"I have more subjects. Would you care to meet them?"
Dominera blinked her eyes and they emitted a brilliant flash of purple light. Suddenly, a number of other dragons, all unfamiliar to Seth, appeared throughout the room.
"Whoa," said Skyfrost, as he and the others looked around at all the dragons who had just appeared. The various dragons all came in a variety of shapes and colors. But one thing was similar between all of them. They were all just as huge as Dominera and Maelstrom were. Seth truly felt terrified. He was too scared to make any sudden movement.
"Dominera, what is it?" asked an orange dragon in a masculine-sounding voice.
"See for yourself," said Dominera, pointing down at Seth, Warren, and the two smaller wyverns.
"It's those wyverns!" blurted a yellow dragon with an unusually long snout and lanky build. She bent down and proceeded to press the tip of her snout towards the group. Seth was too scared to move, as if the dragon were any larger, he could probably climb inside one of her nostrils.
The yellow dragon sniffed Seth and his allies several times, each inhale powerful enough to gradually pull them towards her. "What is with these humans, though?"
"Yeah!" chimed in several more dragons.
"They came with the wyverns," said Maelstrom. "I wasn't all that interested in them one way or another."
Seth could feel his heart pounding violently within his chest, even as the yellow dragon backed her body away from him. "What do you want with us?"
"With you?" asked Dominera. "Absolutely nothing. Barring a few exceptions, humans are all weak and useless. And even the most powerful ones are weaklings compared to myself. Believe me."
"You're not gonna eat us, are you?"
The dragons all laughed, their voices loudly echoing all throughout the room.
"Should we take that as a no?" asked Warren.
"Why would we ever eat humans like you?" asked a green dragon. Upon closer observation, Seth realized that the head that spoke was actually one that shared a body with two other identical heads and necks.
"Humans taste disgusting," said the left head.
"Too small," said the right head. "Wouldn't eat one unless I was desperate."
"Why do you keep switching heads when you speak?" asked Seth, feeling only slighter safer now knowing that the dragons had little intention of eating him.
"What do you think we are?" asked the middle head. "A hydra? We may share the same body, but unlike a hydra, the three of us are separate individuals. My name is Klorgg."
"I'm Iplekk," said the left head.
"And I'm Skremm,"said the right head. "We're all highly intelligent."
"Just one of us is smarter than any other dragon in this room," said Iplekk.
"Or human," said Klorgg.
"Intelligence is what makes us viable," said Skremm. "All dragons in this clan have an attribute that makes them stand out."
"Precisely," said Dominera. "Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk have enhanced intelligence. Times three. I am capable of utilizing advanced magic. Maelstrom has numerous breath weapons. Woxull, the dragon who sniffed you a moment ago, has enhanced senses. We all have special abilities. All of us."
"So, what do you want with us?" asked Firesquall. "All I can do is breathe fire. That's gotta be the most basic dragon ability there is."
"And ice breath isn't all that much rarer either," said Skyfrost.
"You may develop greater powers as you mature," said Dominera. "But what really matters is that you two are here where you belong. With your queen."
Warren raised a hand. "Okay, since there will never be a better opportunity to ask, I'll just say it. Who died and made you queen?"
"Nobody died. It's just been unanimously decided that being the most powerful known dragoness in the world, I've taken it upon myself to assume the role as the Queen of Dragons. Since no other dragoness has ever managed to best me, it's a position that I've held on to for a long time."
"Yeah, two young wyverns like us could never compare to the likes of you," said Firesquall. "Was it really worth the trouble for Maelstrom to travel all the way to Connecticut to abduct us?"
"Absolutely," replied Dominera. "The dragons that you see before you? These are all the known dragons left in existence that haven't been imprisoned inside any of those accursed dragon sanctuaries. Which exist, no thanks to crooked humans like two you!"
Dominera raised her voice and pointed a finger towards Seth and Warren as she spoke.
"No!" exclaimed Skyfrost. "Please don't hurt them!"
"They're our friends!" said Firesquall.
"They wouldn't really eat us, would they?" asked Seth.
Dominera gagged. "Digesting a human would be a greater punishment for myself than it would be for the actual human."
"Navarog ate humans."
The dragons all groaned.
"Navarog was a sick freak," said Iplekk.
"Only reason he would actually eat humans, was because the demon part of him could somehow stomach them," said Klorgg.
"Would it really be wise to kill these two?" asked Woxull. "They're pretty exceptional as far as humans go."
"I'm still not interested in them," said Dominera. "It would matter not if they died."
"NO!" screamed Skyfrost. "Leave them alone!"
"Then what should we do with them?" asked Dominera. She allowed her purple eyes to flash. A metal cage suddenly appeared around Seth and Warren, effectively trapping them.
"What do you want with us?" asked Seth, gripping two of the bars with his hands.
"Let us go!" snapped Warren. "We have done nothing wrong towards you! You have no reason to bully us!"
"Maybe you two individuals haven't. But the human race as a whole? Certainly. I have plenty of problems with your kind. I'll never understand how creatures that are so weak, so small, and so... non-magical, managed to become the dominant species on this planet. If not for a select few, dragons would own this world."
"Tell me this," said Seth. "You dragons are so big and powerful and everything. You've devastated entire civilizations in the past. If the two of us are no match for all of you, what can the rest of humanity do to stop you that we can't?
"Absolutely nothing," replied Dominera. "And that is part of the problem. We could go around, terrorizing humans wherever we go. But what's the point? Almost all humans these days are no longer associated with the magical world. And unless they open their minds and start drinking magical milk, they wouldn't know an orc from a manticore!"
"You see," said Skremm, if we were to go out and ravage... say... Denver, nobody there is going to know that dragons were attacking the town."
"The humans would be terrified, yes," said Iplekk. "But not terrified of us."
"Humans can't see dragons," said Klorgg. "They'd just blame it on something else. Weather. Terrorists. Global warming. The government. But never dragons."
"And how exactly am I supposed to gain any acknowledgement from humans, when humans don't know that we dragons even exist!" shouted Dominera, as her eyes flashed again. Seth then found that he was now in the palm of one of Dominera's outstretched claws, while Warren was in the other. Dominera snarled at the two of them.
"No!" shrieked Skyfrost, as he and Firesquall both shot up to the level where Dominera's claws were holding Seth and Warren.
"Please don't hurt them!" gasped Firesquall. "We'll do anything!"
"Anything?" asked Dominera. She flashed her eyes once more, teleporting Seth and Warren back down to the floor. "Very well. I have a request. I want for the two of you to ally yourselves with me."
"What?" asked Skyfrost.
"You heard me. If you agree to stay with me, I will allow these two humans to leave here freely. Of course, if you don't want to cooperate, I will dispose of them."
"You can't do this!" hissed Firesquall. "We just want to go home."
"This place is your home now," said Dominera. "So what will it be? I can let your friends go. Or they can die."
Skyfrost and Firesquall were both hyperventilating. They stared at Seth and Warren.
"You win," said Skyfrost. "We'll join you."
"Agreed," said Firesquall. "But don't hurt them."
"I'm glad we could come to an agreement," said Dominera, glaring towards the wyverns. "The two humans are free to go. But as for you two, you're both staying here."