Chapter 43: A Dual Edged Shield


The Domed City

Afternoon

The city was buzzing with activity, dragons chatting with one another as they passed between the many shops lining the street. Not a single one seemed even the slightest bit concerned about the zombie plague just beyond their city's borders, nor the fact that the barrier protecting them from it also kept them imprisoned. Luna envied their tranquility, though she'd never have willingly given up her freedom for it, as they supposedly had.

As the group made their way through the busy streets, Luna felt her mouth begin to water, the buttery scent of freshly baked pastries wafting into her nostrils. She turned to her left, seeing a bakery not far down the street, bright pink and blue awnings draped over a colorful display of cakes and breads, spread out on low wooden tables before the passing pedestrians.

"I wonder if they have any pretzels?" Hidden remarked, gazing curiously at the bakery. He turned to Luna, grinning. "Wanna go find out?"

"I'm...not hungry…." Luna replied, trying to avert her eyes from the delectable baked goods as the group drew closer.

"Sure." Hidden said sarcastically. "Come on, I can see the drool on your snout."

Luna quickly wiped a foretalon across her snout, giving Hidden an irritated look. "Well, it's not like we have any money anyway. I highly doubt this place uses Alliance currency."

"Why not ask our new friend back there?" Hidden suggested, nodding back to the pale blue SeaWing trailing behind the group. Krill had been busy talking with the other Ricky, eagerly describing his new life as a glass blower since entering the city. He quickly looked up from the small communication device, noticing that the SandWing and SilkWing had fallen back beside him.

"Oh, uh...hold on a second Ricky." he said, covering the device's microphone as he turned to address the two. Luna was surprised at how quickly he'd adjusted to using the communicator, as simple of a device as it was.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, a hint of warriness in his voice.

"Nothing really…." Hidden began, scratching his frills, "Just wondering what kind of money you use here."

Krill donned a knowing grin, glancing over at the bakery just ahead. "You want some treats from Lilly's bakery, don't you?" he asked, "Don't worry, I can hardly pass her place by without buying something myself! Come on, I'll get some for everyone!"

"H-Hold on. You really don't have to…." Luna began, as the SeaWing set off for the bakery.

"It's fine, really! I just got a bunch of customers through my shop yesterday, so I've got some money to spare!" Krill explained, pulling a few gold coins with what looked like Darkstalker's face on them out of a small sack tied around his right foreleg, stepping into the bakery and waving to a large, round MudWing behind the back counter.

"Do we really have time for sweets?" Lin asked, she and Ricky turning back to join the others outside the bakery.

Hidden shrugged, as Krill stepped out with a large leather bag held in one of his foretalons. "Hey, we can't think straight on an empty stomach, right?" the SandWing said, Krill passing him a blueberry muffin from the sack.

The SeaWing passed out a muffin to each of the others, pausing when he turned to the Reggie-tron. He looked at the muffin in his talon, then at the sack, a single muffin left inside, and then back at the metal dragon standing before him.

"Just toss the bag in here." Maple offered, opening up the Reggie-tron's chest hatch. A few nearby pedestrians gasped in surprise, giving the Reggie-tron confused and curious glances as Krill tossed in the sack containing the final muffin. None seemed too keen on bothering the group, though, keeping their distance as they watched from afar.

"Come on, the plaza's just up ahead." Hidden said, his mouth full of blueberry muffin. The group turned to continue down the street, Maple quickly closing up the Reggie-tron's hatch. The imposing sight of the city's central tower loomed before them as they stepped into the central square.

Luna felt a chill run down her spine as she spotted another IceWing guard lurking at one of the street corners, their cold blue eyes glaring relentlessly at her, as if the dragon were ready to pounce the instant she stepped out of line. How can anyone live here with these guys always watching? she thought, as she turned her attention back to the formidable structure before them.

"Hey, uh, Krill? You still there?" the other Ricky asked over the comm, the SeaWing quickly turning back to the small device.

"Oh, yeah! I'm still here! Sorry about that!" Krill began, somewhat flustered. "Anyway, I've probably told you enough about me, what have you been up to out there?"

As Krill and the other Ricky continued fondly catching up with one another, Luna stepped over to Hidden, nudging his side with one of her wings.

"Hey, do you really have a plan?" she asked skeptically.

Hidden shrugged. "Kind of? Not really a plan, more so a hunch, really." he replied, his mouth full of the last of his muffin. Luna gave him a dissatisfied look, the SandWing grinning sheepishly. "Well uh, you see how the tower just barely pokes through the shield up there?"
Luna turned back to the tower, and sure enough, its peak did extend just beyond the shield's upper limit, the twisting tendrils of rock swirling up into the open sky. A wide balcony wrapped around the tower just below the shield's limit, likely leading to an entrance into the top of the tower.

"So, the tower?" Luna asked, Hidden nodding in affirmation. "Doesn't that seem a bit obvious?"

"Do you have any better ideas?" Hidden replied, "Because I can guarantee you that there's no way we're getting into the bowels of that fortress before ol' Darky comes back."

Luna couldn't help but chuckle at Hidden's mocking referral to the tyrannical NightWing that held them prisoner. Still, she had her doubts about the SandWing's plan. Darkstalker could be back at any moment, and they couldn't risk running into a dead end.

"Still, it's not like we can just fly up there, right? We'll probably still have to go through that fortress either way." she concluded.

"Oh no, you can totally fly up there!" Krill suddenly interjected, stepping in between the two. "There's a public viewing platform up there that anyone can use, I go up there all the time!"

There was a short pause, the group considering the implications of what Krill had just said, Maple finally breaking the silence.

"In that case, there's no way he'd hide anything up there, if it's so open like that!" she began.

"No, no...it actually makes sense." Luna replied, massaging her forehead as she thought. "Darkstalkers like hiding things in plain sight, trust me."

"And thus the simplest, most obvious location is the one to pursue first!" Hidden finished in a mock intellectual tone, "Occam's razor wins again!"

"Who's Occam?" Lin asked, but the SandWing was already making his way towards the tower, turning his head back to the group impatiently.

The EarthWing sighed, staring up at the tower's twisting peak. "I hope you're right about this." she stated, turning to Hidden and Luna. The EarthWing spread her brown, leathery wings, the others quickly following suit, and with a gust of wind and a thrum of thrusters, the group took to the sky.

Luna watched the city drop away beneath her as they ascended, the dragons milling about the streets quickly becoming mere specs of color amidst the sea of stone dwellings. They soon reached the balcony wrapping around the tower just beneath the shield, a large stone platform wide enough to allow two dragons to comfortably walk around it side by side.

The group landed together on the balcony, Luna taking a moment to peer over the edge at the city below. She'd never gotten a good look at the place before, her mind having been halfway turned to mush by the Othermind prior to them entering it. It was surprisingly small, the sparkling buildings tightly clustered in a ring around the city center.

"Hold on...wasn't it just a couple weeks ago that we went through that Darkstalker's timeline?" Hidden asked, staring down at the city as well. "How'd this place get so developed in such a short time?"

"It's a magic city, how do you think?" Luna bluntly replied. Hidden nodded, stepping away from the sheer edge.

"The King got us set up with jobs of our choice in no time!" Krill explained, staring out at the city below as well. "His magic created unlimited sources of food and materials, so nobody would go hungry and everybody would have a home, and he even gave all of the IceWings jobs as...as guards…." There was a bit of doubt in Krill's voice towards the end of his explanation, though he quickly picked back up his cheerful demeanor.

Luna had to admit that it felt wrong to hear someone praising Darkstalker so much, and had the NightWing not looked so proud when boasting about how he hadn't brainwashed the townsfolk, she would have had no doubt that Krill was under the influence of his magic.

"Speaking of which…." Lin began, turning to the right and taking a few steps around the balcony. The others followed close behind, peering around the edge of the tower to see two IceWing guards standing at attention, a heavy metal door set into the stone tower between them. One of the guards cast a glance their way, the group quickly pulling away.

"Alright, so there's a couple of guards. Shouldn't be much of a problem…." Luna stated quietly, though she was already doubting her words. While the guards were only armed with spears and adorned with light silver armor, their frost breath still posed a decent threat, and beyond them, who knew what other traps lay in the tower?

"You're not really thinking about going in there, are you?" Krill warily asked, eyeing the guards around the tower.

"It's not like we have much of a choice, if we want to get out of here…." Lin muttered, sizing up the guards from afar. The EarthWing's muscles tensed, ready to strike.

"Hold on Lin." Luna suggested, stepping up next to the EarthWing. "We need to be careful. For all we know, those spears could be enchanted, or...wait, where's Hidden?"

The SilkWing briefly looked around for the SandWing, who had disappeared since they'd peered out at the guards. She suddenly noticed the faint sound of claws scraping against stone above her, and looked up to see him slowly climbing along the side of the tower towards the guards, the semi-transparent barrier a claw's width above him.

He can't be serious, right? Luna thought, watching Hidden slowly make his way across the side of the tower. One of his talons nearly slipped off, his claws just barely holding onto the subtle contours in the swirling rock. He's going to get caught if he keeps this up.

She sighed, stepping over towards the guards. "I guess we're doing this…." she muttered, motioning for Lin to follow. The EarthWing had spotted Hidden as well, and nodded in agreement, carefully diverting her attention from the SandWing so as to not give him away.

"Hey...uh...guys! How's it going!" Luna began, waving a talon at the two guards. The IceWings turned to her, their unrelenting icy glares causing her to take a brief step back. "Say, my friend and I were just wondering, what's his highness got behind that door there?"

"Nobody but the honorable Darkstalker may enter." one of the guards boomed gruffly, the two holding out their spears to block the doorway. Luna almost burst into laughter at the mention of the "honorable Darkstalker", but was careful to hold it back.

"Aw, come on!" she pressed, taking a step towards the guards, who quickly pointed their spears directly at her. Luna quickly took a step back, one of her rear talons halfway over the edge of the balcony, her foretalons raised defensively.

Hidden was almost above the IceWings now, turning to grin at Luna and Lin. One of his rear talons slipped, his claws desperately scraping against the side of the tower, and catching the attention of the guards. Panic immediately swept through Luna, and just before the guards were able to spot Hidden, she spun around, pointing out at the horizon and shouting "Wait...oh moons! Darkstalker's back!"

The guards took the bait, pulling their focus from Hidden and staring out at the horizon in search of the titanic NightWing; even Ricky, Krill, and Maple seemed to fall for it. Thankfully, Hidden wasn't so easily fooled, and in an instant, he let go of the tower and dropped down onto one of the guards, latching onto their back and trapping their neck in a choke hold.

The other guard was quick to act, thrusting his spear at the attacking SandWing, but Hidden was quicker, throwing his body weight around to bring himself and the first guard to the ground, quickly swiping his tail beneath the other guard's legs. The other guard dropped his spear over the side of the balcony, and was nearly ready to fall off himself, when Lin grabbed him by the shoulder, throwing him against the tower and decking him across the side of his bluish white face, dark blue blood dripping out of his nose.

"You've gotten pretty good." Lin said, turning to Hidden, the guard within his grasp falling unconscious and dropping her spear to the side.

"Only 'cause I had a monster of a teacher." Hidden remarked, before quickly holding up his foretalons as Lin shot him a glare.

The EarthWing began wiping some of the IceWing blood on her talon off on the stone balcony, as the other three quickly rushed over to join them, Ricky staring down at the unconscious guards sympathetically.

"D-Did you really have to do that?" he asked, stepping over to the guard Hidden had taken down and tenderly propping them up against the side of the tower.

"I doubt they would have nicely agreed to step aside." he stated, glancing down at the unconscious guards. "And, speaking of which. Didn't 'his royal highness' say he hadn't enchanted anybody? 'Cause there's no way all the IceWings just willingly agreed to be his loyal servants."

"He said he hadn't enchanted any of the townsfolk. And something tells me he doesn't include the IceWings in that category." Luna grunted, pressing her shoulder against the large metal door leading into the tower. The doorway slid open seamlessly, gliding across the smooth stone floor of the tower's interior. "Now come on, Darkstalker could be back any minute."

Hidden stepped into the tower first, with Lin and Luna right behind him, and Ricky and Maple taking up the rear. Just as Luna was about to close up the doorway, she noticed the pale blue figure of Krill standing anxiously on the other side of it.

"The King...Darkstalker…. He really enchanted them, didn't he?" the SeaWing muttered, a betrayed look on his face. "I mean, we all kinda knew, but none of us really wanted to admit it."

"Yeah, well...are you coming in here or what?" Luna asked, nervously watching the skies beyond for any sight of the NightWing king. She really didn't want her bluff to come true.

Krill took a hesitant step back, turning to the communication device in his talon. He quietly nodded his head, stepping into the tower, as Luna slammed the door shut.

"I guess this means I'll be coming with you." Krill said, turning to the group with a half-hearted grin. "It's too bad everyone else can't come too. But if it means I can see Ricky again…."

"Well…." Hidden began, attracting the attention of the whole group. The SandWing shook his head, seemingly tossing aside whatever idea had crossed his mind. "Nah, never mind. We've got a tower to climb, right?"

The SandWing turned to a spiral staircase built into the side of the wall, hopping over to it and quickly making his way up the steps, the others following close behind. Light from glowing, sun-like orbs hovering at the center of the shaft reflected off of numerous gemstones embedded in the walls, casting bright points of colorful light across the stone steps as the group ascended.

"Almost there!" Hidden shouted excitedly, as an open doorway appeared at the top of the steps. The SandWing picked up his pace, racing up the stairway two steps at a time, only to run face first into a solid stone wall.

"Ow! Ah...what the…! Ow…!" Hidden groaned, rubbing his snout as he took a step away from the wall, a small trickle of blood dripping out of one of his nostrils. "Where'd this wall come from?!"

The SandWing stared at the wall for a moment, tapping it with the back of one of his claws, before taking a few steps back. The moment he was a few paces away, the wall quickly receded, the stone disintegrating into a fine power that seeped back into the rest of the tower. A step forward, and the wall grew back.

"Well that's, irritating…." Hidden remarked, wiping the blood off of his snout.

"Step aside." Maple said confidently, pushing past Hidden in the Reggie-tron and stepping up to the magically formed wall. The metal dragon reared up onto its hind legs, balling one of its talons into a fist as it readied to deliver a crushing blow.

"Hold on Maple, I don't think that's…." Hidden began, but he was too late.

The Reggie-tron snapped forward, its metal fist crashing into the wall with a resounding bang that echoed through the tower. Dust exploded out of the impact site, and in its wake was a hole the size of a dragon's head, piercing straight through the barrier. Small particles of dust began to gather back around the newly formed gap, quickly repairing the damage that had been done.

Maple let out a frustrated groan, and didn't waste a second in tearing into the wall, pounding it relentlessly with the Reggie-tron's metal fists. Dust was sent flying all throughout the chamber, quickly clouding the group's vision. When it finally began to clear, all that was left of the magic barrier was a pile of dust and rubble.

"Ahaha! That wall was nothing compared to the might of the Reggie-tron! Bet Darkstalker didn't expect a metal dragon to come crashing through!" Maple shouted gleefully, stepping through the now demolished barricade. The rest of the group watched in silence, residual dust hanging in the air around them and clinging to their scales.

"Er...well...I guess that's one way to do it…." Hidden finally said, waving dust out of his face as he and the others followed the Reggie-tron through the doorway. Luna briefly looked down at the demolished remains of the wall beneath her, noticing a few glittering shards of a ruby buried in the rubble.

Guess this must have been what held the enchantment. she thought, picking up a few of the shards and examining them. Remember not to get on Maple's bad side.

She tossed the shards aside, stepping further into the chamber beyond with the others. The twisting spirals of stone forming the tower gradually grew slimmer as they reached for the sky, forming a beautiful swirling terrace that reminded Luna of pictures she'd seen of the SeaWing's summer palace. Numerous glowing orbs floated about, an even greater number of gemstones encrusted into the walls and floor of the terrace.

At the center of the terrace was a circular raised planter, a lush oak tree growing inside of it. A bright blanket of light swirled up around the tree like a vibrant fountain, spreading out through the walls of the tower to drape over the city below.

"Whoa...is that…?" Krill asked, slowly moving towards the tree, his eyes practically glowing with wonder. He was only a few steps away from it, when its branches suddenly began to shift, twisting away from the top of the trunk as a gaping hole opened up in its center. The SeaWing took a frightened step back, as a dozen or so dark shadows surged out of the center of the tree, flying out into the world beyond. Luna only got a brief glimpse of the shadows before they disappeared over the tower's walls, but it was enough to confirm their true form.

Undead dragons, infected with the Othermind, their glazed white eyes filled with the same savage bloodlust she'd seen back in the ruined village. Luna almost felt sick at the sight of them, glancing back at her bandaged hind leg.

"B-But...those are…." Krill began, as the tree's branches slowly shifted back into their neutral position.

Hidden nodded, stepping toward the tree and pressing a talon against the barrier surrounding it. "So does this mean that Darkstalker caused this zombie plague?"

"No, he...he couldn't have…." Krill muttered, staring at the floor solemnly. "The Othermind's been around for a year or so now, at least. And Darkstalker only arrived a week and a half ago."

"Ah, that's it!" Hidden suddenly said, clapping his foretalons together, slightly startling the dejected SeaWing. "The zombies would likely peter out over time, eventually making the barrier useless. Darkstalker seemed pretty proud of not having to enchant most of the dragons in the city, and he probably doesn't want to have to resort to it to prevent any attempted insurrections. So he didn't create the problem, but he also doesn't want it to go away."

"So why doesn't he just get rid of the zombies entirely, and control the whole planet?" Luna asked, "He's got the power to do it."

"Easier to control someone who's always in sight, right?" Hidden replied, Krill's demeanor growing even more crestfallen at the statement.

Krill suddenly punched the ground with one of his talons, his finned tail swishing back and forth angrily. "We...we have to save everyone…." he mumbled, his voice rising as he turned to the group. "I...we can't leave everyone here, not like this!" The SeaWing's gaze was no longer one of downtrodden regret, having hardened into a determined glare.

Lin sighed, stepping forward to address the SeaWing. "And how exactly are we supposed to move an entire city's worth of dragons?" she asked skeptically, though with a slight hint of understanding softness in her voice. "For now, we need to worry about getting out of here ourselves, and then perhaps we can find help in another world."

"Yeah...about that…." Hidden began, leaning against the side of the force field surrounding the tree. "From the looks of it, this tree's the thing making the shield, and we can't touch it from in here."

"Likely because by the time someone found out about it, they'd already be trapped inside." Luna reasoned, already guessing what Hidden had in mind.

"So it's a good thing we have someone on the outside who can help!" Hidden finished with an excited grin, turning to Krill. The SeaWing immediately perked up, realizing who Hidden was referring to, and quickly tossed the communicator to the SandWing.

"Hey, Ricky? You there?" Hidden asked the device. There was a brief pause, the other Ricky eventually responding.

"Yeah, still here. What's up?"

"We're uh, we're gonna need you to fly the shuttle up here and give us a claw. You think you could do that?"

A moment of silence followed the SandWing's request, the soft static of the communicator filling the otherwise deathly silent terrace.

"You want me to fly this thing, up there?" the other Ricky finally asked, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Just remember what I showed you earlier!" their Ricky butted in, stepping up next to his brother. Hidden passed him the communicator, the SkyWing stepping away to pace around the tree. "I'll guide you the whole way, just, be careful not to touch the barrier...okay?"

Luna didn't bother to listen to the rest of the SkyWings' conversation, stepping over to the edge of the terrace as the group took a moment to relax. She held a talon up to one of the twisting spirals of rock that formed the tower, peering out through the narrow slit formed by the gradually narrowing tendrils.

The vast mountains and hills of the talon peninsula spread out before her, the ruins of the old Night Kingdom likely a way's further south based on the terrain. Luna wondered why Darkstalker hadn't decided to retrofit the ruins into his city, instead choosing to construct a brand new one, though considering how many other timelines housed similar ruins, she highly doubted that he hadn't done so elsewhere.

"Alright, now just be sure to ease up on the steering wheel a little…." Ricky explained, Luna turning away from the vista to rejoin the group. She thought she could hear the sound of the shuttle in the distance, and soon enough, she could see it's silvery hull gleaming in the sunlight high above.

"Alright, now slowly disengage the thrusters…." Ricky continued, the group tensely staring up at the shuttle above them.

The shuttle's bottom thrusters suddenly cut out, the vessel rapidly plummeting straight towards the barrier. Luna felt her heart drop into her stomach as she watched the shuttle drop right towards them, posed to crash right into the terrace where they stood.

"Re-engage the thrusters! Re-engage!" Ricky shouted frantically, waving a foreleg wildly at the shuttle as if to signal it. Moments before the silver vessel could crash through the barrier, it's bottom thrusters reignited, bright blue plasma firing out of six holes on the bottom of its hull to slow its descent.

The shuttle eventually came to a stop, a mere claw's width above the barrier, eventually rising up a bit to float comfortably above the tower. The entire group let out a collective sigh of relief, Ricky panting heavily as he stared up at the shuttle with a grin.

"Now just flick the autopilot lever, and you should be alright!" the SkyWing finished, one of his foretalons held against the back of his head, the communicator in the other. The rear ramp of the shuttle soon lowered, the eyepatched SkyWing stepping out onto the overhanging platform.

"What now!" the other Ricky shouted down to the group, foretalons cupped around his red snout.

"Grab the dubstep canon!" Hidden shouted back, the SkyWing quickly disappearing into the shuttle for a moment, before reappearing with the heavy device in his talons.

"Alright, now try and shoot part of the tree down here!" Hidden continued, "Just some of the branches though! And be careful!"

"Hidden, are you sure about this?" Luna asked, stepping up to the SandWing. She briefly glanced back to see Lin standing behind her with a similar look of skepticism on her face.

"If you have any better ideas, then by all means share them!" Hidden replied, "Besides, we're just testing it out on a few of the…."

His reply was abruptly cut off by the booming sound of EDM as the dubstep cannon unleashed a barrage of rainbow-colored plasma upon the tree, instantly eradicating it's entire canopy of leaves. By the time the other Ricky had managed to switch it off, all that remained of the tree was a charred stump.

The group stared at the burnt remains of the enchanted tree in complete silence, watching as the semi-transparent barrier quickly disseminated, disappearing through the tower's walls. Hidden seemed about ready to make a statement, but a low rumble echoing from the tree's remains cut him off.

"E-Everyone...GET BACK!" Luna shouted, just as a tidal wave of undead dragons exploded out of the stump, surging into the sky and out into the world beyond. The other Ricky leapt back into the shuttle in fright, quickly veering it away from the ceaseless stream of infected dragons.

"SWEET MOONS! There's no end to them!" Hidden shouted, stepping away from the surge.

One of the undead dragons latched onto the end of one of the tower's stone tendrils. It leapt down, making a run for Krill, the SeaWing petrified with fear at the site of the malfunctioning enchantment, only to be swiftly crushed beneath Lin's talons.

"Let's go!" the EarthWing firmly shouted, hoisting the SeaWing up onto her back and darting down the corridor from whence they came. The others were quick to follow, Luna taking one last look at the fountain of corpses before stepping through the remains of Darkstalker's magic wall.

The group sped down the spiral staircase, Hidden and Luna nearly stumbling over each other as they fled. Ricky quickly pulled the metal doorway open for them, the group darting out onto the balcony, the SkyWing slamming the door shut once they were through.

"A...Are we safe…?" Luna gasped, a quick glance at the horizon making her regret even asking.

The sky was clouded with dozens of silhouettes of undead dragons, flying out to all corners of the world. Dozens more surged fourth over the foothills of the Night Kingdom, ready to swarm the now defenseless city.

The prison was no more, its prisoners a fresh meal from the undead horde that blanketed the planet.


AN:

I really didn't expect this chapter to be so long, and the next one could wind up being even longer! As long as this chapter is, it does still feel a bit rushed to me, but by this point, everything seems rushed about this story. I might decide to wait an extra week to release the final chapter of this episode, depending upon how long it actually turns out to be, and how much time I have to write. It might actually help to have a bit extra time to polish up my writing too, maybe even run it by my English teacher.

What will happen to the dragons of Darkstalker's city now that the barrier had been destroyed? Will the gang escape before the tyrannical NightWing return? Stay tuned!