Swordfish inhaled and immediately began coughing from inhaling dust. He heard Vine and Blizzard doing the same. "Where are we?" Asked Rattlesnake, a sense of awe in her voice. "I have no idea." Vulture replied, looking around with wonder. When Swordfish stopped coughing, he looked around too, and was amazed as well.
They were in the middle of a large street, and were surrounded by large buildings. The doors and windows looked too small for dragons. There were designs on the bricks and various materials that made up the buildings. The street was made of cobblestone, and there were various things that looked like wagons, except they had seats up top that were too small for dragons, and only had two wheels. They had wooden pieces that stretched out front, like something should be carrying the wagon. Vulture, went and opened the intricate wooden door of one of the wagons to see that inside, there were more cloth seats, once again, too small for dragons.
Swordfish turned around when he heard a noise. He looked to see the rift he and the others came through beginning to disappear and close, the sight of the Old Night Kingdom disappearing.
On the sides of the street, were metal poles that had bits of glass up top. They were evenly spaced apart on either side of the street. There were also trees every once in a while, almost like they were put there for decoration.
"Three moons…" Vine whispered, looking at the enormous city with wide eyes. Down the street, the street continued, and the buildings continued as well. It was a city like one back home, but it looked more advanced.
The only thing that made the sight of the city not as amazing as it could have been, was the fact that the entire city appeared to be destroyed. Roofs had collapsed. Enormous holes were in the street, tearing up the stone bricks that made them. Some of the wagons had been crushed, their wood splintering out the side. Some buildings had been leveled entirely, their beautiful architecture, destroyed.
The other thing that was very unsettling about the city was the fact that it was completely abandoned, except for a few scavenger skeletons at the dragonet's feet. Swordfish noticed that their bones were burned and blackened in areas. One of the skeletons was missing its head, like it had been ripped off completely. "Three moons." Vulture whispered, and pointed to the other end of the street. There lay the head, half of it completely crushed.
Various other debris littered the street. Building pieces, cloth, wood, various metal items. Blizzard picked up what looked like a pot. Except it was perfect size for a dragon, not scavenger sized like everything else. "Where are we…?" Vine asked. Rattlesnake suddenly took to the sky. Swordfish followed her.
Swordfish was blown away by the sheer size of the city. It had steeples and towers pointing high into the afternoon sky. The streets kept going, like a massive spider web. The destruction continued throughout the city. Swordfish noted that the tops of some of the buildings had what looked like flat areas to land on. Swordfish turned and saw what looked like… "It's the mountain range!" Swordfish yelled, and pointed to the mountains in the distance. It was the exact same mountains, they just looked a little different. It was definitely the same mountains that lined the old Night Kingdom. Swordfish turned around and looked for the coastlines in the distance, but it wasn't there. The land continued. Swordfish kept in the sky, confused. Vulture suddenly flew up higher than Swordfish.
When he came back down, Vulture had a look of bewilderment on his face. The three dragonets landed back down with Vine and Blizzard. "It's the same... but different. It's like Pyrrhia, but it extends west. The desert is still over there, but it changes to a different forest where the coast should be. And… there are more cities. There are more places like this." Vulture said, a look of awe on his face. It was like this was a dream of his.
"Where are we?" Rattlesnake muttered. "It's like… everything was normal… until Cedar killed Ostrich. Ever since then, it's been insanity." "You want insanity?" Blizzard asked, and she pointed at a sign on one of the buildings. It was on a metal plaque above the fancy wooden doors, which had burned. "King Burkhardt Bank." Swordfish read aloud. It was in the language the dragons spoke. "Three moons…" Rattlesnake said under her breath. "Are we all thinking the same thing?" Vulture asked, and Blizzard looked at Vulture with wide eyes, like she was scared again.
"This city… is… was meant for scavengers." Vulture said, and Vine turned around and looked back at the buildings surrounding the dragonets. "…Wow…" She whispered. "Then… why were there areas to land on the buildings? They were definitely big enough for dragons." Swordfish said. "And that pot I found!" Blizzard added on. "There's no way that could be used by a scavenger."
"That's what's bothering me!" Vulture cried. "It makes it make even less sense!" Vine suddenly began walking into King Burkhardt Bank. "Hey! Where are you going?" Rattlesnake asked. "To go see if he's right. We won't know unless we check!" Vine ran up to the bank entrance. Swordfish sighed and followed her. It was just like the time they were running away from Adnachiel. The others followed Swordfish.
When they reached the doors, Swordfish was able to see just what had happened. It looked like the four doors on either side had been burned and crushed to pieces. The dragonets were able to get through the scavenger sized entrances, but a full grown dragon would not be able to do it.
Inside was large enough for the dragonets to be in, but it was a nightmarish scene. There were large windows inside the building, but most of them were completely shattered. There were desks lined in rows on either side of the dragonets, making two rows on either side, but the scavengers who had sat in the chairs were now dead all over the place. Their corpses with enormous burns on their bodies, and wounds that looked like dragon claws. There were wooden pillars, holding up the roof, and there were sets of scavengers tied to them, their bodies just as mutilated as the others. The bodies reeked from decay and rotting. They had been dead for a while now.
These scavengers wore coverings much more advanced than the scavengers Swordfish knew. Some of them looked fancier than others, with strange, stick-like objects slung over their shoulders, and strange hats. Swordfish picked one of the hats up and saw a metallic emblem on the front of it, a star inside a circle. It probably would've looked nicer, had it not had a spatter of blood on the hat.
Vulture was looking at one of the desks, and he suddenly grabbed a strange, metal device from the top. Behind the desk there was another dead scavenger, his head completely ripped off. Vulture looked at the device, which had what looked like an array of small metal buttons on its front. There was a piece of small, scavenger-sized paper sticking out of it. Vulture squinted a bit and read it aloud.
"Hello General Baumgarten. This is an update from the King Burkhardt Bank in Lochberg. We have received the payment the military sent us for the resistance, and it has been secured in our vaults. Yet we fear that Black Star informants know it is here, and they want it for themselves. Lochberg has already been hit so hard by our enemies, Holzkirche is the last stable borough. Should Black Star strike here, in the center of Holzkirche, it could topple all that's left of Lochberg. Worse, if the Cam…" Vulture stopped, and put down the paper. "It ends there." He said grimly, and looked back at the headless scavenger.
"By all the sand under the sun." Rattlesnake whispered. "They are intelligent." "I found more papers!" Vine suddenly said, and held one up from another desk. "Uh… I can't read though." She said with what seemed like embarrassed. Blizzard grabbed it from her and looked at it. "Uh… I can't read this either. It's with the letters, but it's not words I know."
Swordfish then turned and looked back at the fancier scavengers. He looked at the emblems again. Black Star. He thought to himself. Swordfish picked up the stick that the fancy scavenger had at his side. It was mostly wooden, yet it had long metallic shafts on either end, and a sharp, pointy metal piece on the end, like a spear. One end of the apparent weapon was larger and cut differently from the wood. It had a strange metal piece attached to it. Swordfish fiddled with the mechanism and suddenly, an ear-piercing BANG! came echoing out of it. One of the desks that Swordfish had the other end pointed at, suddenly had a large hole through the side of it.
Swordfish dropped the weapon, shocked. It was one of those weapons Sloth had used, but a little different. This was long and would be impractical for fighting a dragon. The weapon Sloth had was smaller and wrapped around his forearm, and did more damage to closer targets. Sloth's weapon seemed almost like it was meant for fighting a dragon.
There was silence as the dragonets stared at the weapon. "Incredible." Vulture said, shaking his head in amazement. "By the looks of it, these scavengers were so much further advanced than us." "What happened to them?" Rattlesnake asked. "That's just it!" Vulture said, frustrated. "I can't figure it out!" Blizzard and Vine remained looking through the desks and the papers in a language they didn't know. Swordfish kept looking at the weapon, thinking back to Sloth.
"Our race and theirs. They lived together." Swordfish suddenly said out loud. "Blizzard is right, that pot outside is too big for a scavenger. Those landing areas on top of the buildings really are for dragons. Dragons and scavengers lived in this society together." Swordfish thought back to the weapons Sloth had. The one that could kill. The one that could blind. The smoke bomb. The way he could easily climb up a dragon and avoid capture. "And… I think they fought each other sometimes."
Rattlesnake looked around at the room again. "Three moons… He must be right. Look at the burns on these scavengers. Look at how mangled some of them are, especially the fancy ones." Rattlesnake stared at the uniformed scavenger. "Like they were some sort of priority target."
"Why? What would drive dragons to do something like this?" Vine said, disgusted. She was looking at the headless banker. "They could have just killed them and be done with it. It's like they went out of their way to make sure the bodies were gross!" "That's how you send a message." Vulture said grimly. "Swordfish, you must be right. They must be at war. They were showing disrespect even after death. They were trying to create fear. If you make an example to others to what happens when they don't obey you, it can be pretty terrifying. Things like that are an excellent way for a queen to show what happens to those who don't follow commands. Make an example of your own subjects to show them that you have complete control over their lives."
Vulture stopped when he realized everyone was looking at him with concern. "Hey, I grew up under Scarlet! The arena was like a monument to this sort of thing!" Vulture paused. "It was even worse when some Skywings would make that grotesque event something of grand celebration. I know for a fact that Scorch's mother would entertain during those. There was even a rumor that went around that she 'entertained' for some of the full-grown males after those evil things." Swordfish frowned, remembering Scorch talk about her mother. "What does that mean?" Vine whispered to Swordfish. Swordfish shook his head at her. "Uh… not now. Maybe later I can explain."
The dragonets decided to leave the disgusting, rotting corpses behind and go further into the bank. The further they went, the more uncomfortable Swordfish felt. The hallways became narrower and harder for the dragons to navigate. But eventually, they came to an enormous hole in the wall that lead to the outside. Inside the room was black and charred. Outside the hole, the grass and dirt had been dug up, and a nearby tree looked burned. Swordfish was looking outside when he felt something crunch under his steps. He looked down with disgust to see he had easily crunched through the blackened ribs of a scavenger so burned, he looked like a skeleton with skin. He was naked, like either his little coverings were burned away or taken off.
"Hey, look at this!" Blizzard said, and she was pointing to another dead scavenger. But this one was different. He wasn't burned. He still had coverings on. He looked fancy, like some of the others back in the main room, but his coverings were different. He had a hat that covered both sides of his head, and his coverings had his entire body covered, like a coat. He had a shocked look on his face, and a hole right through his head between his eyes. "He was shot by one of those sticks." Swordfish deduced. "The hole is similar size." Swordfish remembered how Sloth shot the Rainwing. The holes were still different. Vulture turned around to face the burned room. "What do you suppose happened here?" Vulture asked, looking at the hole in the wall.
Suddenly, a strange clopping noise got the dragonets' attention. Swordfish looked out of the hole and saw one of those wagons going down the street outside with speed. But attached to its front were two brown horses, galloping, pulling the wagon. The doors were closed. On top of the wagon sat two scavengers, one with a whip. The wagon was towing a large, flat piece of wood with wheels on it. It had chains attached to its sides, and made a loud CLANK CLANK CLANK! Swordfish watched with amazement as two more wagons followed them. The second of the three looked bigger and fancier than the others.
"So there are scavengers still living here!" Vulture whispered, excited. Swordfish just stared. Each wagon had two scavengers on top. One with the whip, and the other. On each wagon, the other scavenger was carrying one of the weapons Sloth used.
"We need to go." Swordfish said urgently. "I agree." Blizzard said quickly. "They… uh… look like bad news." Swordfish turned to face Rattlesnake and Vine, but Vine wasn't there. "WHERE'S VINE?!" Rattlesnake suddenly asked loudly. Swordfish turned to see Vine flying towards the wagons. "No!" Swordfish yelled.
"Hello!" Vine said to the scavengers. "We know you can speak our lang… AHH!" Vine shrieked as one of the scavengers stood up and fired the weapon at her. It should have hit, but it appeared that Vine was too far away to get hit by those ones. "DRAAAAAAGOOOON!" The lead scavenger with the whip yelled. "RAINWING! PREPARE CAPTURE!" yelled another voice. The scavengers with whips suddenly snapped at the horses. "Whoa! Whoa!" They commanded, and the horses pulled to a stop, lightly skidding on the cobblestone street. The weapon-holding scavengers on each wagon suddenly pulled something new out of their waists. They were similar to the weapons, but had what looked like metal hooks on the ends. The scavengers shot them at the roofs of the buildings around them, including the bank that Swordfish and the others were currently hiding in. What followed the hooks flying through the air was long, black wire. The hooks latched onto the roofs of the buildings. They formed a triangle around Vine.
"What do we do!?" Rattlesnake asked frantically. The dragonets turned to Vulture, who had so far proven to be the smartest here. That's right. Swordfish thought. I notice things. He can figure out what happened. "I… I have no idea! My father told me all the strategies and ways to use mechanisms to win a battle, but I have no idea how to combat an intelligent, advanced scavenger!" Vulture said with panic ripping through his voice.
The scavengers who fired the hooks at the buildings suddenly climbed up the sides of the buildings, using the wires as guides, and with incredible speed, until they were on the roofs. "I'm sorry! I don't mean any harm to you!" Vine cried. The scavengers paused, before one of the roof scavengers spoke. He had a small bit of greying hair under his mouth and wore a hat with a wide brim. "Would ya believe they're using young like this? Do they think we'll forgive them if they act innocent?" He asked, and a few of the others laughed. "Look, you ain't getting away from this, and if ya really meant no harm, where's your armband? How stupid do ya think we are?" The scavenger had an accent unfamiliar to Swordfish. Now mostly all of the scavengers laughed.
"W… what?" Vine asked, appalled. And then one of the scavengers on the roofs fired a strange contraption at Vine. Vine shrieked again and tried to turn invisible, but the pellet-thing that the scavenger had fired suddenly began to unfold and unravel, until it formed netting made out of wiring. It fell right on top of Vine, and Swordfish watched as it tangled Vine up and weighed her down. She fell down to the ground, her wings not letting her get up again. "Make sure she can't use her venom!" One of the scavengers cried. More of the scavengers from the wagons ran out and hastily put a scary-looking metal muzzle on her mouth.
The scavengers cheered, victorious. "How much do ya think she'll fetch us from Black Star?" One of them asked. "Oh, probably quite a bit. Rainwings are hard to catch and you know that they'd love to get their hands on one." Another said, this time a female. She had one of the sticks Swordfish recognized from the main room. "Yeah! Black Star'll pay good for this!" Said another scavenger. Suddenly, one of the wagons opened, and a scavenger in fancier coverings walked out. He was short and fat. He wore a long black coat. "We're not selling her to Black Star when the Old Monarchy will most definitely pay more." The scavengers fell silent. "B-but boss! Black Star would love to study a Rainwing, and the fact that she's a dragonet makes her weaker and less able to resist!" The female said. The fancier scavenger paused. "Are you forgetting who the boss is, Angela?" He asked. He had a new strange accent Swordfish couldn't place.
"Oh, that's right, it's me!" The boss said. "I arranged this gang after the Collapse, and have kept you outcasts safe, and if you don't listen to the boss…" The boss suddenly pulled another weapon out of his coat. He shot it at a tree with a loud BANG. The trunk of the tree splintered with the impact of the projectile. "It'll be you on the wrong side of this gun."
Gun. Those things are called guns. Swordfish thought to himself. And there's different kinds. "We need to get out of here." Blizzard suddenly whispered. "We need to save Vine." Rattlesnake whispered back to her. "We can't let her get sold to something called Old Monarchy, whatever that is." "We need to save her." Vulture agreed. "Now. We can't let them take her away." He pointed and Swordfish saw the scavengers loading the captured Vine onto one of the flat wood pieces being towed by the wagons.
"If we want to get her out of there now, we're going to need a distraction." Vulture said. "One of us needs to get their attention so the others can free Vine." "I can do that." Blizzard said quickly. "I bet I could hold off some scavengers long enough for that." Rattlesnake nodded at Blizzard. "Are you sure? They have guns. We don't." "Let's see, I have wings, teeth, claws, frostbreath, tail spikes, horns, and skill." Blizzard said with a small smirk. Swordfish remembered how easily Sloth was able to kill the Rainwing Darkist with the short-range gun. "Be careful. It seems they know how to kill dragons." Swordfish warned her. Blizzard nodded, and then she looked to the scavengers again, an odd look on her face.
Blizzard remained a mystery to Swordfish. Her unfitting facial expressions and reactions. Her secret fighting skill. Her possible animus power. Swordfish studied her out of the corner of his eye as she looked at the scavengers, most likely plotting her course of action. Her crystal-blue eyes glittering in the sun. He liked her much better when she wasn't pretending to be a snob. Sure, she lost some of her elegance with her true self, but out of all the dragons Swordfish had met, she seemed like one of the most real ones he knew, along with Rattlesnake and Darkseer. They seemed true to themselves.
Suddenly, Blizzard leaped out from the hiding place in the bank. She launched out of the hole in the wall and flew into the sky, her Icewing scales reflecting the sunlight and making her vibrantly bright. "THERE'S ANOTHA' ONE, BOSS!" One of the scavengers shouted. "ICEWING! KILL 'R CAPTURE?" The boss turned around to look at the scavenger who asked that. "CAPTURE IT YOU HALF-WIT! Is it SO hard to remember what we do? Capture dragons, sell them to other people who want them!" That word sent chills down Swordfish's spine. "People." Where had he heard that before?
"What do you know about the King? Of all people, you should have the least knowledge about his plans." is what Cassriel had said to Abyss when the old world was collapsing. Swordfish logged that into his brain for thinking about later.
The scavengers suddenly took off in the direction of Blizzard, who flew up higher in the sky. More scavengers used the hooks and wires to ascend to the rooftops, climbing up the sides of buildings with ease, which made Swordfish worry that these scavengers were trained like Sloth was to kill a dragon.
The scavengers took off to chase after Blizzard, but not all of them did. Some stayed behind. Vulture had also prepared for this. "If some stay behind, like I suspect the boss will, try to suppress them, but if it comes to it, just kill them. They are just scavengers, and we're dragons." Rattlesnake gave Vulture a disapproving look behind his back.
Swordfish took a deep breath, calming his nerves and trying to imagine the faint blood stain on his leg from Savanna's ankle wasn't there. They're just scavengers. They're just scavengers… Or are they "people?" Swordfish took off and began flying toward the wagon with Vine on its back, Vulture and Rattlesnake right behind him. One of the scavengers suddenly climbed on top of the wagon, and spotted the three dragons flying toward him. He had skin darker than most scavengers here. "Kwame! Take the rifle!" Yelled a voice from inside the wagon, and one more scavenger jumped out of the wagon, holding one of the long guns. It was Angela. She handed it up to the one called Kwame. Rifle. Swordfish thought, seeing Kwame take hold of the long gun and point it up.
"SCATTER!" Rattlesnake yelled, and Swordfish and Vulture flew in different directions, splitting up so that Kwame couldn't shoot them as easily. Kwame still took aim with the rifle, following Rattlesnake. But he wasn't aiming for her body. He was aiming to the left of her torso. Her wing. "RATTLESNAKE! YOUR WINGS!" Swordfish yelled. Kwame suddenly jerked the rifle towards Swordfish and fired. Swordfish rolled in the sky to the right as the small black pellet whizzed past him. Vine began flailing around in her metallic net, making as much noise as she could.
Suddenly, Vulture flew straight into Kwame from the side, making the horses on the wagon neigh and kick violently. The dark-skinned scavenger went flying off the side of the wagon and skidded onto the street, making a cracking noise when he landed. He didn't move. "Kwame!" Cried Angela, but Swordfish paid no attention to her. He was looking to the roof above Vulture. There, was the scavenger who had spoken to Vine. "VULTURE! ABOVE YOU!" Swordfish called, but it was too late. The scavenger tipped his hat downward, and fired one of the strange contraptions again. The metal net extended over Vulture as it pinned him down to the ground next to Kwame. "Kiboten Dragon Snares! Works every time!" The scavenger with the hat crowed, victorious.
Suddenly, a loud bang sounded from the direction of Blizzard. Swordfish glanced in that direction to see that Blizzard was now holding one of the guns and had managed to fire it. It was small in her hands, but she held it carefully.
Swordfish glanced back down when he heard a familiar clicking noise. The boss was holding one of the disorienting weapons Sloth had. "FLASHBANG!" The boss said, and fired it. Swordfish turned away just in time, but Rattlesnake wasn't so lucky. Swordfish watched her body begin to fly blindly around, and she began stabbing the air around her with her venomous tail, a tactic Swordfish had seen the Sandwing in the arena fight that lightning dragon with. When the flash cleared up, Swordfish turned to face the battle again. Swordfish looked down to see Angela had grabbed Kwame's rifle and was pointing it at Rattlesnake. "YOUR WINGS!" Swordfish yelled, but it was too late. She fired the gun and Swordfish saw the projectile pierce through Rattlesnake's right wing membrane. Rattlesnake began to fall downward and the boss began to yell. "Now Ezra!"
The scavenger on the roof with the hat was fiddling with his Dragon Snare, affixing something onto it. "Hol' on. Gotta actually load it!" Ezra pointed the snare downward toward Rattlesnake, who was almost on the ground by now, still wildly stabbing with her tail. "No! Please we don't mean any harm to you!" She pleaded, now looking straight at the boss. "Yeah sure. No armband means you're not Old Monarchy dragons. It means you're a Camaelist, and we humans are your sworn enemies." Humans. Swordfish thought to himself. They call themselves humans.
Ezra pointed the snare at Rattlesnake, and Swordfish acted without thinking. He flew right at Ezra and swiped at him with his claws. Ezra fell back and tumbled down to the ledge of the building. He fell off, but was able to hold on with one of his little scavenger paws. Then, using the other one, Ezra pulled himself back up onto the roof, a scratch on his face. "Damn Seawings." He growled. His arm went to his waist, where one of the short-range guns were. "You're the ones responsible for my family's death!" "EZRA, DON'T LET YOUR STUPID VENDETTA GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR JOB!" Angela called up to him. "Right." Ezra said. And then he fired the snare at Swordfish.
Swordfish didn't even know what hit him. His wings were suddenly completely tangled up in weighted wires that hindered his movement completely. He was only able to thrash around. Swordfish fell off the roof, unable to fly. He landed on the cobblestone with a crack and Swordfish's world went black, turning into a dreamless unconsciousness.
Swordfish awoke to the sounds of yelling. When he awoke, he was locked down to one of the flat pieces of wood that was being towed by the wagons. The wood made squeaky, clanking noises as it went over the dirt streets. He looked around to see he was locked down with Rattlesnake. Vulture and Vine were being towed by the wagon in front, and Blizzard had been captured as well. They were no longer in the city known as Lochberg. They were in a small country town. Green hills and dense forests could be seen in the distance, illuminated by the sunset. But the town streets were lined with scavengers. No… people. Swordfish thought to himself. The people were yelling at the dragonets. "Filthy Camaelists!" One yelled. "You kill man, woman, and child. Yet you feel no remorse because they're not dragons!" "I hope they kill you like you did my son!" Another yelled. Someone threw a stone at Vine on the wagon in front.
Swordfish tried to speak to Rattlesnake, but he had a muzzle on as well. "You're awake." Said a familiar voice to Swordfish. Swordfish looked up to see Kwame sitting next to the driver, with his left arm wrapped in a white cloth. "You'll be traded off to Old Monarchy tomorrow for being a Camaelist." Swordfish could only look up at Kwame. "Don't try to make conversation Kwame." Said the voice of Ezra from inside the wagon. "That's not a dragon, it's a monster." Kwame stopped, and turned back around.
Swordfish could only sit and listen to the humans yell at him and his friends. What happened here? Where are we? What are all these terms? Camaelist? Old Monarchy? Black Star? Swordfish sat and tried to drown out the hate of the humans by focusing on some birds flying in V formation.
As they rode on, stopping occasionally so the horses could rest, Swordfish could only sit and try to figure it out. So it's like Pyrrhia, but the west coast continues. Like Pyrrhia is bigger. Swordfish watched trees as they rode through the woods. Wherever we are, it seems that scavengers are the dominant life form, yet dragons do exist. And it's more technologically advanced than we are. Swordfish suddenly got an idea, a crazy one, but it was an explanation.
That rift Savanna's necklace opened didn't lead to another world, it lead to the past. This is the world before The Scorching.
It didn't make sense, but Swordfish wouldn't be surprised if there was a whole list of things he didn't know could happen. Of course, this would also mean that the truth would have been actively covered up by other dragons, either now or in the past. Swordfish watched the night continue as the wagons pulled them through the forest. Swordfish remained awake and wondering and worrying until he fell into a restless sleep.
When Swordfish awoke again, it was daybreak. They were on the outskirts of another city. "Welcome to Hemsbury!" said the voice of the boss. "We're in Old Monarchy territory now!" As they went further and further into the city, more people came out on the streets to yell at the dragonets. But this time, to Swordfish's surprise, dragons came out as well. There were some of every tribe, but there were some from tribes Swordfish didn't even recognize. Strange purple and black dragons with sleek horns and thin snouts that almost looked like Nightwings. Light-green and yellow dragons with curved horns and long spines on their back that were similar to Rainwings. And there were large, bulky black and brown dragons with thick, curled horns and lacked back spikes at all, their wings looking less for speed and more for combat. Swordfish noted both Vulture and Blizzard looking at the new tribe dragons with worry, confusion and amazement.
Eventually, the wagons pulled up to a building within the city with people in uniforms stationed outside. The building was made out of bricks and had a small archway over the door, which read TO PROTECT, SERVE, AND FIGHT. This must be an Old Monarchy military building. Swordfish thought to himself. Swordfish recognized the uniforms as the same uniform the dead human in the bank with the gun wound was wearing. Swordfish watched the wooden doors open and a small group of people walked out to meet the boss, who had two of his gang members behind him.
"Mr. Raneri, have we not told you to take your business elsewhere?" Said one of the humans from the Old Monarchy. "Hear me out, I've got a whole FIVE Camaelist dragonets captured, and they're stupid." The boss, apparently named Mr. Raneri said. "I'll sell them to you right now for 5,000 parabs."
Swordfish watched the doorway as another human walked out, wrapped in a blanket. "I've got a Rainwing, a Skywing, a Seawing, a Sandwing, and an Icewing. All found without armbands." Raneri said. "So you value one Camaelist dragonet at 1,000 parabs?" Said the Old Monarchy human. "You're a greedy man Raneri." "Well then, General Baumgarten. These five are dragonets and capable of rehabilitation. And if you're not interested, I think we all know that Black Star would love to get their hands on a Rainwing…" Baumgarten suddenly got an intense look in his eyes. "We'll take them." He suddenly said with urgency. "5,000 parabs? Done."
Raneri began walking into the building with General Baumgarten as Ezra begun unhooking Swordfish from the wood. Swordfish didn't care. He had made eye contact with Sloth, who was now staring at him from under the archway, wrapped in a blanket.
