Don't worry, this whole book won't just be a search for Pronghorn and Tamarin. It's an important part, but it gets real soon.

Also, comments and especially constructive criticism are appreciated. Thank you for reading this far.

The site had been abandoned. A charred campfire was all that was left. And that was exactly why Copper and his (or their, as they kept saying) group was not staying there. The Scorpion Den was their best bet.

They flown to the Sand Kingdom.

/

"It is so cold!Guys, how do you even survive here for more than a day night cycle? Too many extremes for my liking." Turtle said, panting as they set up for the night. They were surrounded by sand dunes, some rocky section of the Sky Kingdom barely visible in the distance from where they came.

"Probably by being Sandwings, Seawing." Copper replied. Turtle stopped the panting and scowled at him. "You could just call me Turtle, you know."

Copper smiled at him and returned to sharpening his knife on a little rock he had found. He snickered."I'm not going to bother remembering your name unless you prove you can be useful without your little tricks. Only reason I knew who you were in the first place."

Turtle sighed. "Come on man, my magic was a lot cooler than 'tricks.'" He said sullenly.

"You carry that thing around a lot." Barracuda noted, nodding at Copper's knife. "Reminds me of my old spear..." Barracuda breathed dreamily, resting her head on her hands as she lay down in the sand. She seemed much more suited to the tough environment than her companion.

Copper stared down at his knife, half wistful, half resentful, then came up with a question to lighten his mood, at least a little. "So I think I remember you saying that you decided to come along, is that right Seawing?"

Turtle was scraping sand off his sides when he grunted in agreement.

"And why is that?"

Turtle stopped what he was doing and looked over at him like it was obvious. "Because Tamarin and Pronghorn are my friends." He said with a frown.

"Who? Uh... oh yeah, them. The dragons we are trying to save. Bad with names. Sorry." He added. "Huh. Understandable reason. I haven't heard a peep about you in... at least three years. Ever since Darkstalker, really. What have you and your friends been up to at school?" He asked as patronizingly as he could.

"Studing. Way too many new students. A lot of Darkstalker, which was terrible, because my fellow dragons were staring at me, since I had to give 'personal accounts' of my invisible escapades." He said. Apparently he had taken the question seriously, which Copper kinda liked.

"I also helped stop a plant. But I'm sure you knew that." Turtle finally gave up picking at the sand and lay down with an annoyed expression.

"Hmm... I actually do remember that. Alright, sleep time. We'll stop at an oasis town tomorrow and get some supplies. I didn't really expect having so many people with me."

"The Enclave can pay for any expenses." Woodpecker chimed in, eyes peacefully closed, laying on his side on top of the tallest sand dune nearby.

Cougar nudged Copper at that very, very interesting information. "But only for the essentials." Woodpecker added.

They both grumbled, but eventually were able to settle down. When Copperhead opened his eyes again, it was time to go.

/

They entered a brick building labeled SHOP. Just shop. What did they sell? Who knows!

Oh, whatever. Part of the fun.

Inside, there was a lot of dried nuts and such, a couple of cacti in clay pots, and a few other plants growing here and there. It was pretty drab, but it didn't have to be anything special.

An eye stared down at them through a hole in the roof, a trapdoor opened, and an older looking Sandwing landed right next to Barracuda.

"Hello friends. Hear the news?" He pulled out a scroll. Barracuda went to grab it before he tapped a price tag. Apparently overcome by a need to see it, she started searching through a small pouch. Copper was confused by this Sandwings sudden entrance. "Wait, who are you? Why did you just drop through the roof? What?" He blurted the questions in quick succession.

The Sandwing noticed him, took the gold from Barracuda and handed her the scroll, then walked over. "I'm the owner of dis shop of course! Are you buying?" Copper shook his head. "They are though." Copper looked at the rest of the dragons who were getting provisions.

"Grr. Second person today who dinnt buy a SINGLE thing."

"Who else didn't buy?" Copper asked.

"A Sandwing feller. Had a half circle scar under his left eye, dragon skull tats, black cape, black hood, da whole shebang."

Copper's jaw dropped. "Yeah. I thought he was rude too. Not the nicest bud."

Copperhead shook his head. "No, what did you say? What did he look like, have?"

"Black dragon skull tattoos, black cape, whole lotta black." The elderly Sandwing chuckled.

"Black dragon sku-" Turtle started, turning around, but Copper cut him off. "No, no, no, no. His FACE. You said something about a SCAR. What WAS IT?" Copper demanded, pulling back his lips to snarl. The Shopkeeper seemed to stiffen. "You just calm down now, huh? I said he had a crescent scar under his left eye and a little nick on his jaw. Well, I didn't saythat but-"

"I don't care. What color were his eyes?"

"You shou-"

An explosion rocked the building around them, sending small items toppling off the shelves. They were all stunned a moment, and Woodpecker was the first to rush out the shabby wooden door.

A cart had exploded, billowing flames sended giant clouds of smoke into the air. There were dragons yelling and screaming in pain. Copper forced himself to look away from a horrifying, charred body missing a head. "What happened!?" Barracuda asked, she, Turtle, Cougar, and the other Sandwing rushing out after them.

"We have to help them!" Copper said. He boosted himself of the ground with his wings and dashed through the air until he landed next to the smoldering cart. He coughed as smoke sourrounded him. The smell of blood was still there, even in the black fumes. He could barely see, and as his eyes started to tear up he finally found someone. He tried the Sandwing to their feet, but they seemed to be in too much pain. They barely sputtered out the word broken.

He tried to think of a way to get them out of here quickly when he felt someone touch his shoulder. He turned to see Cougar coughing and pointing at something in the dark fog, an outline of something. The smoke had just started to dissipate a small bit when the wind kicked up, and Cougar tried to drag the injured Sandwing away. Copper realized what the shape was. A perfect, smokey rectangle.

Colors appeared within it, and they seemed to solidify. It was hard to make out, but it was obviously a dragon with multiple dark spots. "Vulture!?" Turtle yelled next to him as he appeared from the smoke. The fire crackled behind the clearing image. It was Vulture. Copper has seen him when he was a dragonet. He had heard of what he had done. This seemed like him. But how was he doing that?

"Turtle. I've heard of you. From the stories." Vultures crackly voice seemed to come from all around them. He leaned back against a wall that was barely visible behind him, through the fog like view. He smiled, though it was hard to make out. "You like my new toy? The Obsidian Mirror. Some fool left it buried in the sands. Easier than sneaking into Thorn's treasure vault."

Copper quickly looked behind him. There were quite a few dragons that were barely getting up, but a lot were still down.

"I know what you're trying to do. I have ears everywhere.I could kill these dragons now I wanted. It would just be better for me if I didn't. You do realize that, yes?" Vulture asked. Copper was trying to study the wall behind Vulture for anyclue as to where he may be at all. Cobblestone. Cracked. Looks moderately new. No moss or anything of that sort.

"I'll make you a deal. I'm not unreasonable. I'm a businessman,making deals is my job." He said, looking like he was scheming something under his façade of peacefulness.

"You give up now, no harm comes to my prisoners. I find out you don't heed my warning, they receive torture. If I'm feeling particularly angry with you, death."

Vulture raised his head, the skulls clearly showing on his exposed neck, apparently surveying the bodies of the dragons he had killed. "This was just a little exercise to prove my point."

Copper heard the flapping of wings to his right, and saw a large band of Skywings flying down. "What happened here?" Copper pointed to Vultures smoking image. "He happened." The other Skywings quickly went to the injured. "We're healers. We were on the way to another town for a trade, but we can take care of this." The sky dragon tried to keep a calm demeanor, but Copper could see he was disgusted by what had happened. Copper was angry too. Very angry.

"That's convenient." Turtle said.

These were innocent dragons. At least he only killed bad dragons!

Usually,whispered a voice in his brain.

He killed it with a violent shake of his head, and turned back to Vulture. "How could you do this? And smile about it?" Vulture only laughed in response. "You are going to pay for this!" Copper growled deeply after he spit that out.

Vulture narrowed his eyes. "I really thought you might've understood. Sad..."

A movement from Turtle drew Copper's attention. He seemed to have quickly looked up from the ground after thinking of something. "Copper. Maybe a little too convenient." He said, with a look of terror on his face.

Vulture smiled once again. "Mayhaps."

There was a moment of realization.

Then, a second round of bombs went off under their feet, the ground collapsing inward. Flames burst out in booms around him, a building fell, dust and smoke filled the empty space around him, screams rang out, cactus needles blazed through the air, a burning skywing was tossed above him, and pain and a sickening crack rocked through Copper's head as he fell onto a jagged rock.

Then he felt nothing.