Dragons of the Undead
The dragons were lounging around their sleep cave, waiting for their riders to get out of school. Some were dozing off, and some were grooming themselves. Then Edelweiss and Black Widow came into the cave and landed.
"Morning guys," Edelweiss said dismounting. "Your riders still in school?"
"Yeah, but they should be here soon," said Thunder. "I wonder what adventures lay in store for us today."
"I hope we get to meet a new dragon," said Feathers. "I always look forward to that."
"Me too," said Thunder. He stretched out his wings to avoid cramps. But then he heard their riders approaching. They all got excited. The riders soon came into the cave and greeted their respective dragons. Feathers noticed that Alex seemed way more anxious than normal. She nudged the girl's shoulder and gave her a worried look.
"Hi Edelweiss," Jun said.
"Hello, how was school?" Edelweiss asked.
"We were assigned to come up with a speech on a topic of our choice and give it in front of the whole base," Jun said. "We decided to practice giving them down here."
"What for?" Edelweiss asked.
"Public speaking is tough to do," Tom explained. "It's one of the biggest phobias in the world."
"So you have this assignment to get over that phobia," said Edelweiss. Tom nodded. "Hmmm. I guess that could be useful. I know of some dragons back home who get nervous before they sing in front of anybody, especially a potential mate."
"Did you ever have to give a speech?" Alex asked her.
"I can't stand listening to speeches, let alone giving one," said Edelweiss. She and Black Widow sat on the tall tower of rocks that led outside and made themselves comfortable. The riders sat with their dragons at the base of the tower and each took a turn giving their speeches. Tom gave his on an aviator he admired, Jun gave hers on a photo she had the she was convinced was of the Chupacabra but of course no one took it seriously, D'Angelo did his on dental hygiene for animals. That left Alex to hers. She was cowering next to Feathers. She wished Feathers could be next to her, so she wouldn't be alone in front of all those people. But that would put Feathers, and all the dragons, at risk. However, Alex did have a plan. She powered up her tablet and used it to produce a hologram of herself that gave a recorded speech. Everyone was impressed, except D'Angelo.
"This is totally against the rules," he said. "And a cheat. The whole point is you have to be brave Alex." Alex curled into a ball, making the hologram flicker off.
"Ok, I guess I'll just take an F then," she said sadly.
"Why is it human schools force kids to be good at things they have no interest in?" Edelweiss wanted to know. Before anyone could answer though, Alex's tablet beeped an alert.
"It's one of the sensors we placed in the Dragon World," Alex said. "Something's coming this way. We should go check it out." The minuet she said that Tom jumped onto Thunder and took off. The others looked annoyed. But they all got on their dragons and followed.
"Why does he keep rushing off the first sign of something happening?" Jun asked frustrated.
"He probably doesn't want to waste time arguing," Edelweiss said.
They soon reached the Dragon World and caught up with Tom and Thunder. They hovered over the large crystals.
"Tom you can't keep blazing off on your own like that," Jun said sternly.
"It could have been something bad," said D'Angelo. At that moment a small white Bubblehorn dragon with iridescent green wing membranes came flying up to Edelweiss. It chittered at her, sounding urgent.
"Okay, lead the way Splendor," Edelweiss said. "Splendor said he wants to show us something."
"How come you get a Bubblehorn?" Jun asked.
"I helped him when he had a sprained wing," Edelweiss said. "And he became my friend, he always comes by my cave for a snack. He really likes berries."
"I think Glitter would be a better name for him," Jun said.
"His name's Splendor, I didn't name him," Edelweiss said. "That's what his family calls him."
"Um guys, something bad," said Alex. She pointed to a pile of bones scattered on the ground, Splendor was circling frantically over them. The dragons landed and the riders dismounted. The Bubblehorn landed on Edelweiss's shoulder, and she gave him a strawberry.
"Wow, old bones," Tom said. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He'd seen plenty of dinosaur fossils.
"Awesome," said D'Angelo. He crouched down to examine the bones.
"There's nothing awesome about bones," Alex said, clutching Feathers.
"If I'm going to be Dr. D I need to understand the dragon skeletal anatomy," said D'Angelo.
"I can loan you some books," Edelweiss said.
"Hey thanks," said D'Angelo. Just then Alex's tablet started beeping again. Alex looked at it, Tom looked over her shoulder.
"Every sensor is going off," said Alex. "They're all around us."
"What is?" Jun asked. They all glanced around. The dragons growled and Splendor hid in Edelweiss's saddlebags. Then another dragon came around the corner, snarling.
It sort of looks like Feathers, but it was ghostly pale. It's eyes were grey and its wings looked worn. It stalked towards the group, gnashing its teeth.
"Zombie dragon," said Jun darkly.
"There's no such thing as zombies," Edelweiss said, mounting Black Widow. "He's probably just sick." Just then the dragon cloaked himself. That made the riders more nervous. Feathers came up beside Alex.
"No, stay with me Feathers," Alex said. They suddenly heard more dragons prowling towards them. They all decloaked, all snarling.
"Run!" D'Angelo yelled. They all scattered. More pale dragons materialized increasing. The riders' dragons blasted them but it did very little. Tom got on Thunder who tried to take off but a pale dragon grabbed Thunder's tail and threw him to the ground. Edelweiss and Black Widow were the only ones who managed to take off and circled. Black Widow blasted any pale dragon that got too close to a rider, Splendor was too terrified to use exploding bubbles. D'Angelo suddenly had one pounce on him and pin him to the ground. He struggled, and tried to push the dragon off. But it sank its teeth into his arm. D'Angelo roared in pain. Plowhorn shoved the pale dragon off him and he got to his feet, clutching his arm. It hurt so badly, he hoped the dragon wasn't poisonous.
Alex was also running, suddenly she heard Feathers crying out for help. She spun round to see her dragon being dragged backwards, a look of pure terror on her face.
"Feathers! Come back!" Alex cried. But the pale dragons materialized and continued to drag Feathers away screaming. All Alex could do was watch as her best friend was dragged out of sight.
Once all the pale dragon were gone; the riders calmed themselves down. Alex collapsed onto a large crystal and buried her face in her hands.
"She's gone," she whimpered. "I can't believe she's gone." Jun knelt next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. D'Angelo and Plowhorn.
"Looks like the coast is clear," D'Angelo said.
"How do you know, they turn invisible," Jun said.
"She's right," Tom said, who was pacing. "Those dragons looked like Feathers and they cloaked like her."
"Except these were white and seemed undead," said Jun. Alex gasped. "Oh no, I'm sure Feathers is fine."
"They're not undead," said D'Angelo. "They're just really creepy looking Feathers-like dragons."
"Actually in Chinese mythology white dragons are an omen of death," said Jun. Alex burst into tears.
"Jun!" Edelweiss snapped. She was covering Splendor's ears.
"Oh, I'm sorry I get carried away sometimes," Jun said.
"But what if she's right," D'Angelo said.
"She's not right," Tom said.
"I'm just being a nerd," Jun said. "Fortunately no one was bitten." For some reason this made D'Angelo nervous.
"Why's that?" He asked.
"Well if the undead bite you, you become one," Jun explained. D'Angelo said nothing.
"It doesn't matter," Alex said. "What matters is that those horrible creatures have Feathers and we have to get her back."
"Didn't you put trackers on all our saddles?" Tom said. Alex pulled her tablet out again.
"I got her," she said, sounding hopeful.
"Then lets go find her," said Tom. "And whatever those creatures are…."
"Zombies," Jun said.
"We just have to be really quiet," Tom continued, ignoring her. So the riders mounted their dragons, Alex got on Thunder behind Tom and they headed off. Alex kept her eyes glued to her tablet.
Elsewhere Feathers had been put into a large cage made of crystal. It sat near the top of a tall tower in the middle of what looked like a large amphitheater. The pale dragons were everywhere. It didn't look liked they'd grabbed any of the others, so that was good at least. Feathers watched through the bars of her cage for any sign of her friends. Suddenly she heard movement behind her. She turned to see that she wasn't alone in the cage. There were two younger Featherhides, one pink and one green.
"Oh hello young ones," Feathers asked. "I didn't realize you were in here."
"We just woke up from a nap," said the green dragonet, who had a boys voice. "I'm Chameleon, this is my sister Gloria."
"What's your name?" Gloria asked.
"I'm Feathers, how'd you guys end up in here?" Feathers asked.
"Our mother put us in here," said Chameleon. "Just before the adults started molting, so we wouldn't get hurt."
"Right, molting," Feathers said. She was familiar with Featherhides molting. She wasn't quite old enough to molt herself, but she was getting closer. She knew her kind got really aggressive and defensive when they molted, since they were at their most vulnerable. "Where's your mother now?"
"She's out there," said Gloria. "Making sure we all stay safe." Feathers smiled. She looked out again. She was starting to grow bored, the molting process was a lengthy one.
Meanwhile the riders and their dragons were following Alex's tracking device. Tablet beeped louder as they got closer.
"Feathers is down there," Alex said, pointing. They all landed and dismounted. They walked a ways on foot. Splendor was rode on Edelweiss's shoulder. Alex now saw on her tablet that they were right on top of Feathers' location. Excited she ran a head, but only found her saddle laying abandoned. Alex fell to her knees in disappointment.
"It must have fallen off when they dragged her away," said Tom solemnly. Alex started crying again.
"I should have saved her," she sobbed. "But I got too scared and ran. It's all my fault."
"It's not your fault," said D'Angelo. "If you hadn't run they would have grabbed you too."
"At least then we'd be together," said Alex, clutching her tablet. "But now she's gone, and I'm alone."
"You're not alone," said Jun gently.
"You've got us," said Tom, putting an arm around Alex. "And we won't leave your side." Just then they heard a dragon roaring, which put them on alert again.
"That sounded like Feathers," Alex said.
"Plowhorn, track that sound," said D'Angelo. The Gembreaker sniffed the air, and roared in confirmation. They followed her.
They soon came onto a large amphitheater that ringed around a large crystal tower, that had huge spikes out of the top. The pale dragons were all gathered there, they were swaying back and forth, clocking and unloading themselves.
"Whoa," Tom said.
"Do zombie dragons have a hive mind?" D'Angelo said.
"I don't know about zombies in general," said Jun. "But these guys seem to be psychically linked with the same drive to find food."
"They don't look hungry," said Edelweiss. "And they're not zombies. Looks like they're waiting for something."
"What kind of animals have a psychically linked hive mind?" Tom wondered aloud.
"Can we focus on Feathers please?" Alex asked. She looked at her tablet again. "I'm running a thermal scan, it should be able to pick out Feathers if she's in there." She scanned the area. All the pale dragons were bright blue on her screen. "The dragons down there are all registering as cold."
"Zombie theory is looking more and more…."
"Jun!" Tom snapped.
"Sorry," Jun said again. Alex lifted the tablet to the tower. It showed a bright red heat signature near the top.
"I see Feathers, they're holding her prisoner," she said.
"How are we going to get her out?" Jun asked. Tom looked at the pale dragons.
"Look at their wings, they're all torn up," he said. "We should be able to just fly across."
"Um I should warn you," Edelweiss said. "That with a nest full of dragons like that, there will be someone in charge. So don't let your guard down." The riders got back on their dragons and took off. Edelweiss and her dragons remained behind, to provide emergency backup. They flew over the amphitheater. At once the pale dragons spotted them and roared in outrage. They sent blasts of sound at them, which the dragons dodged. It proved to be very tricky. The dragons had to fly pretty erratically, almost dislodging their riders. Thunder flew closer to the tower. Feather saw them approaching and roared in fear.
"Feathers!" Alex cried. Thunder circled the tower and was about to land when a much bigger dragon materialized on a ledge right right in front of Feathers' cage. This big dragon was just as pale as the others and just as angry. She roared at the intruders, flaring her wings. Though her followers couldn't fly, she still could. She took off and chased Thunder away from the tower, and from Feathers. The queen dragon chased away all the other dragons, and they scattered to avoid her snapping jaws. Then she sent out a more powerful sound blast that hit them like a tornado. They sailed away from the crystal tower, and kept going for quite a while before crashing hard onto the ground back where they'd started.
Tom moved his arms and legs, and found nothing broken. He then crawled over to Thunder. He was just as winded as Tom was.
"You okay pal?" He asked. Thunder crooned softly to assure him. He moved his limbs and wings. Nothing was broken but he'd fallen hard enough to bruise himself. Edelweiss and Black Widow flew down to them.
"You guys okay?" Edelweiss asked.
"I'm fine," said Jun. "Not sure about Wu and Wei." The two headed dragon had crashed into a large stalagmite, with each head on each side. They looked winded too. Edelweiss helped them to their feet.
"Was that the dragon in charge you warned about?" Tom asked.
"Yes," Edelweiss said. "Every hive has a queen."
"Why was so much bigger than the others?" Jun asked.
"She was a titan wing," Edelweiss explained. "It's the final stage of dragon maturity, but not always easy to achieve though. Dragons at the titan stage are at their most powerful." Just then they heard D'Angelo moaning from behind Plowhorn. They all walked around the Gembreaker and found D'Angelo sitting on the ground, leaning against her side, and he was clutching his arm.
"D'Angelo you've been bitten!" Jun exclaimed, pointing to the huge bite mark on D'Angelo's forearm.
"I'm one of them," D'Angelo said. "The undead." Edelweiss pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You're not a zombie," Tom said firmly. "You just let Jun's story get to you."
"It's true," said Jun. "I got caught up in the stories. Besides the zombie saliva would have turned you way before now." D'Angelo looked more horrified. He clutched his head.
"I have been feeling it," he said, then ran around screaming. Edelweiss got back onto Black Widow and kept watch for the pale dragons, Splendor now perched on Black Widow's head.
"You think zombies exist?" Black Widow asked.
"No, but there are zombie like states," Edelweiss said. "With enough powerful drugs, a human could be reduced to something like a zombie." They looked back at the group to find Tom now tying D'Angelo to Plowhorn's horn.
"This is ridiculous," Tom protested. "You're not a zombie."
"It's the only way to keep you safe from me," D'Angelo insisted. Suddenly they heard growls in the distance, and coming closer.
"The hoard," Tom said darkly. "We need to get out of here." Thunder tried to fly but his wings were so sore they wouldn't support him. "The dragons can't fly so we'll have to go on foot."
"What about Feathers?" Alex said, worried. "We can't just leave her.'
"Alex there's nothing we can do right now," Tom said, felling sorry for her. "We'll have to come back for her." Alex looked like she was about to cry again. But then she scowled.
"No we're not leaving Feathers," she said boldly. She then turned to the others. "D and Plowhorn use these crystals to make a barrier, Jun you Wu and Wei fortify it with a freeze blast, Tom and Thunder help them. I'm going back and getting Feathers our of there."
"I'll go with you," said Tom.
"No," Alex ordered him. "You stay here and help the others. Some things you have to face alone."
"Oh, it's the 'I'm the hero so I have to face the bad guy alone cliche'." Edelweiss said under her breath. Alex turned and ran back towards the tower. The others got to work. Edelweiss and her dragons circled overhead, providing air support.
A few moments later the pale dragons came prowling towards the large pile of crystals the riders had managed to build. Edelweiss watched from her saddle. Wu was using his frost breath to make the crystal pile stronger. Thunder blasted the advance ping dragons with his lightening. Black Widow blasted a few that were trying to sneak up on them. Splendor stayed close to them.
Alex ran through the crystal pillars. More pale dragons were prowling around her. She kept out of sight. She jumped from one pillar to another. Then while hiding she spotted a flat, sun shaped chunk of yellow crystal that had a small handle on one side; it was just perfect for a shield. Alex picked it up and ran with it. Ducking behind it every time a dragon turned to look at her. She managed to make it to the tower.
Feathers lay on the floor of her cage. The queen was prowling around outside. Chameleon and Gloria were busy grooming themselves. They weren't scared one bit, just bored. The queen suddenly cloaked herself. A moment later Alex came climbing up to the ledge around the cage, carrying her shield. Feathers squawked happily and ran to the bars. Alex ran to her and stroked her neck.
"I'm going to get you out of here Feathers," Alex promised. Feathers turned to the two dragonets who were coming to see what the commotion was about.
"Who's that Feathers?" Gloria asked.
"This is my friend Alex," Feathers explained. "Don't worry, she's nice." She turned back to her rider.
"I'm going to get you all out," said Alex. She began using her shield to hack at the bars. But then the queen rematerialized, growling at Alex. She turned and dodged at as the queen snapped her jaws at her. Alex ran and the queen gave chase. Feathers could only watch helplessly. Alex hid inside a hole in a pile of crystals. The queen walked passed not seeing her. She stopped and sniffed around. Alex pulled out her tablet again and activated her hologram. It caught the queen's attention and she was distracted long enough for Alex to dart back over to the cage and broke the bars. Feathers ran out, followed by the two dragonets. Alex threw her arms around her neck. Feathers hugged her back with her wing. But then the queen spotted them again. She roared and charged at them. Alex mounted her dragon and they took off, the dragonets following. The queen tore after them. They all headed back to the rest of the group.
They saw the other riders surrounded by the pale dragons. Wu had created a ring of solid ice around them. However they had run out of shots and couldn't fire. Even Black Widow had run out. The queen saw them too and flew over to them. She used her powerful sound blast to shatter the ice ring. This left the riders and dragons completely exposed. The hoard advanced, all growling. Alex steered Feathers over to them and hovered there.
"Oh no you don't!" Alex roared. Feathers then blasted the closest pale dragons. But once the sound blast ended the pale dragons weren't so pale anymore. They shook off the dead grey skin, leaving only brightly colored scales behind. "Wait, they're colorful underneath." The Featherhides smiled gratefully up at Feathers, and she smiled back.
"Oh of course, they're not zombies," said D'Angelo. "They're just molting, shedding old skin. It can make some animals feel vulnerable so they act aggressively." The unshedded dragons were still advancing. Feathers blasted them too and all their dead skin fell away. They seemed much happier now. That only left the queen to deal with. Feathers saw her perched on a large crystal, growling. Feathers blasted her too. But because the queen was so much bigger, Feathers' blasts weren't strong enough to remove all her dead skin. So she turned to her fellows.
"Will you all help me?" She asked them. For an answer, all the Featherhides started blasting the queen. The combined forces the queen's dead skin eventually peeled off. The queen was now a bright yellow with red wings. She shook herself and admired her fresh scales and wings. She beamed and looked at her followers. She squawked gratefully at Feathers, before taking off to lead her flock back to their nest. Feathers landed and Alex dismounted. At that moment Chameleon and Gloria landed near them.
"Are you coming with us Feathers?" Chameleon asked. "We'd love for you to join us."
"Oh, thank you young ones," Feathers said. "But I'm perfectly happy here, with my friends."
"Ok" asked Gloria. "I hope we see you again."
"Oh yes," said Feathers. "I'll come visit you guys sometime. We are family after all." The two dragonets beamed and then took off after their flock. Feathers turned back to Alex and nuzzled her. Alex stroked her snout.
"Looks like she chose you over going with the other Featherhides," Tom said.
"She needs me as much as I need her," said Alex. "She doesn't care that I'm not brave enough to speak in front of people, I'm brave enough for her when it counts." They all smiled.
"Okay, can someone untie me?" D'Angelo asked, squirming. Edelweiss pulled Black Widow alongside Plowhorn and used her dagger to cut the ropes, then handed Alex back her saddle.