"Leaf," I whispered over to him, unsure if anyone was listening to us or not.
"Yeah?" he whispered back.
"I have a basic plan on how to escape at midnight," I told him, hushed.
He gave a curt nod of understanding and when I was about to continue, I saw a new dragon. Her armor was white with a tint of blue, was adorned with silvery linings that were shiny in the sunlight and had crescent shaped edges of the armor that were intricate and had an odd sense of beauty to it. Above it all was the dragon herself. Her steely eyes gazed around the area before resting on Leaf and me.
Then the dragon that had interrogated us before bowed to the new one. She had a visibly displeased look across her face.
They then spoke in that same, unknown language that I still couldn't understand.
After a few minutes of conversing, the dragon that interrogated us furiously stomped away in a fit of anger.
Then, the glistening dragon that I assumed was of higher ranking than our interrogator, began to approach us.
She ordered something of the surrounding armored dragons that I thought were soldiers and one of them brought that strange necklace again.
She donned it and asked, "I am the commander in charge of this force, would you tell me where you come from?"
Leaf and I kept silent, doubtful that anything good would come of speaking to them, learning from our last encounter.
She gave a questioning look to the human and then back to me.
"I do wonder, why was a human with you? Did you perhaps plan on eating them?" she inquired.
Appalled, I asked, "Why would I EVER eat a human? Who wants to eat something that talks back to them?"
She gave a look of surprise before asking a soldier, "Where's the intelligence report we received in preparation of this?"
He bounded off, presumably to retrieve what the commander was asking her for.
Three moons, I wasn't supposed to speak, and I blew it. She doesn't seem that mean though.
"This changes everything," she muttered to herself before realizing she was still wearing the necklace.
"Right; anyways, who are you and where are you from?" she asked firmly.
I then asked slowly, "What will you do after you tell us?"
Leaf gave me a look of "What do you think you're doing?!"
"We aren't barbarians if that's what you're asking. We would never attempt torture to extract information from you unless you have already harmed us," she explained to me.
But the other dragon that interrogated us was about to... Wait, she doesn't know that the other dragon that tried to harm us to get information from us?
"But the other dragon in that obsidian armor was about to slice my snout off," I explained to her carefully, cautious of how she might react to my words.
She turned to look at the other dragon in obsidian armor and they sprinted to her, casting a hateful glare at me, before beginning to do what sounded like explaining to the commander.
"And how can I trust you after what you did at Frost Valley?" she snarled at the obsidian dragon who stood her ground and returned a look of hate to her.
The commander then turned to a random soldier nearby and asked, "What did you see Captain Fen do to the captives before I arrived?"
He was surprised at the sudden confrontation before looking for a cue from Fen, which she gave an odd gesture I didn't recognize.
The commander noticed the movement as well and growled, "The truth, and only the truth".
He murmured something that I couldn't understand due to the language barrier.
She whipped around to face Captain Fen, furious at her.
"You know the protocol just as well as I do, and we will not fall into barbaric practices!" she shouted at her, and Captain Fen shouted back something that enraged the commander.
Then Captain Fen launched at the commander, causing the two dragons to begin battling and other soldiers joining in, the humans and dragons taking respective sides of each dragon, fighting amongst themselves.
Suddenly, I saw an incoming breath of that ice and instinctively jumped back. It hit the point where the chains connected to the stake in the ground, locking us in place. The ice grew around it and began reaching up the chain, nearly touching my ankle before stopping.
The soldiers were able to break this easily, so it must have weakened the chain considerably. Maybe we can escape this way!
I quickly smashed the ice, and the chains went slack, allowing us to flee.
"Sorry, Leaf, but we don't have time," I told him quickly before grasping him into my talons again and running off, through the fray since the chains were made to where even if I was free my wings were still bound to the piece of metal around my neck.
A few soldiers noticed us fleeing but were swept up again into the chaos of the battle and Leaf and I escaped unscathed other than a few sore scales of where the shackles were.
We reached the outskirts where I didn't see any soldiers in that armor, but my wings were still bound.
I set down Leaf and he was hurt but he understood the urgency of the situation.
I scrabbled at my neck cuffed, trying to remove it.
Where's the lock on this thing?!
"Here, let me remove it. I can see the locking mechanism on the back end of it," he told me while looking at the back of my neck.
"No, I can get it off myself, I just need to stretch my arm some more," I retorted, distracted by the shackle on my neck.
"Serenity, you can't get it off!" he exclaimed in concern. "It's in a place where your arms can't reach, so you need help from someone else to get it off!"
"No, I don't!" I snarled at him, angered at my inability to take it off on my own. "I just need to-"
Click.
The shackle around my neck slackened, and the chains connecting it to my wing's bindings were all that held it in place.
"See, I can do it on my own!" I told him proudly.
But then he mentioned, "I unlocked it."
I checked again, and of course; my arms couldn't reach the very back end of it.
"I could've gotten it off myself," I told him angrily, my tail lashing back and forth.
Suddenly, I felt a crushing weight on top of me and looked over to see one of those armored dragons on top of me, pinning me down.
They growled at me as I tried to free myself from their talons.
"Get off!" I yelled at the dragon that responded with a snarl.
I then used all my might and shoved him off, grabbed Leaf, and took flight.
I placed Leaf near my horns, so he had something to hold onto as I flew on, pushing myself forward with my wings as quickly as I could.
I looked behind me to see to my horror, several of those white dragons were following me. They were gaining fast due to their large wings, and I had only maybe ten seconds before they caught up to me.
Ideas! I need ideas before they catch up!
Then a roar sounded, and the dragons following me stopped and hovered in midair.
No time to stop and find out what's happening now; I have to escape while I can!
I continued to fly on, but the nagging curiosity inside of me urged myself to look behind me, and I saw the dragons return to the city as the sun began to set.
Once the city was beyond the horizon, I descended onto the slope of a mountain at a ledge, feeling the arid wind blow past my snout, frills, and wing tips.
My talons touched the rough, patchy ground, feeling the rocks and dirt in between.
Leaf hopped off and steadied himself against my forearm, his legs like water.
"You're alright?" I asked, concerned.
"Yup, just have to get used to everything that's happened so far," he explained.
Mom and dad were right, the world is dangerous, and I should've been more careful. If only I had listened to them then I wouldn't have been caught and I wouldn't have to be so scared about getting hurt, or worse, dying! Argh, why couldn't I have just listened?
Because of those stupid NightWings, saying I'm a half breed and lazy. Or at least some of the other dragonets say that; I haven't heard other big dragons say anything mean to me. They're probably just not telling me in the face because they pity me or something.
I don't want to go back and listen to all of them complain about me being lazy and not hard working! Well guess what? I can do all of that WITHOUT YOU.
But... maybe I should check up on mom and dad just in case, because, you know, stuff.
Yeah, I'll go back to the kingdom to make sure they're okay since dad looked sad in that dream.
"Well, I'm going to the RainWing Kingdom," I made up my mind before asking, "You want me to take you back to the city we first met at?"
He looked back in the direction of the NightWing Kingdom before admitting, "Yeah, I don't want to end up being imprisoned again."
"Then I'll take you there before heading to my kingdom," I told him, offering an arm to help him up.
Once he was situated between my horns once again, I took off in the direction of the city where I had met him nearby.
The city came into view, its tall structures that were maybe double my height and higher, with people bustling around it.
It's walls keeping other humans and creatures that couldn't fly out, but horrible at defending against dragons.
But then there was the tall central tower that I assumed must have been used as a defense against dragons.
I let him off in the same clearing that we had come from yesterday, watching him as he disappeared into the forest, heading towards the city.
He turned around one more time, waving goodbye with myself doing the same with my arm before he continued on.
I sat there, unsure if I was really ready to head back to my home and whether or not I should go see Leaf one more time.
After a few minutes of indecisiveness, I took flight and headed home.
My adventures outside of the kingdom were exciting to say the least. Sure, dangerous, but they were so exciting and different from my boorish life here. But... it's better to be safe than risk my life for what?
I shouldn't be selfish and leave because I feel so cooped up. It caused mom and dad to worry so much about me.
The least I could do is do what they want.
Then a terrifying sight came to behold me.
I saw those same, wicked white dragons a few dozen kilometers away diving into the canopy of the rainforest.
No! I have to warn mom and dad that those dragons are bad news!
I rushed myself forward and into the canopy, swinging between the trees with my smaller and more flexible body. I continued to tree glide faster than I could fly until I came to the palace pavilion.
Those horrendous white dragons were there as well, milling around the place, doing something.
With a rush, I dove into the undergrowth of the rainforest at the same time one of the dragons swiveled their heads to see what the sudden sound was.
You don't see me... You don't see me...
He peered into the rainforest and gazed over my hidden spot before passing on and walking away.
Last time I encountered them, they had humans helping them.
I'll have to keep a careful eye for any humans.
Once I made sure there weren't any humans or other dragons around me, I began to sneak towards the village to find someone and ask what had happened.
Why are those dragons here? Did they come here after I escaped? No, there's no way they could have gotten here before me, since I would have seen them.
Sure, they could arc around through the ocean but that would still take too long, and I would still make it here before them.
That must mean this is a secondary force of those dragons.
But what is their goal here? What do they want?
After a few minutes of sneaking around by turning my scales invisible, I found Durian getting a drink from a fresh water stream. His
"Hey!" I called out to him in a hushed voice, cautious in case others were listening.
"Huh?" he questioned, looking around him for the source of the voice.
It's too exposed to go out there. Those other dragons might notice me and try to recapture me. It would be best to stay camouflaged.
"Durian, remember me? Serenity?" I asked him, jogging his memory.
"Aren't you Queen Glory's daughter, the one that doesn't do anything?" he asked in return.
I bristled at this but kept my calm, "Yes, it's me. Can you tell me what happened here? Where's the queen and king?"
He began to shift uneasily at that and looked a tad sad, but explained, "Those weird dragons came and captured the king, and the queen never came back from the expedition."
Mom and dad were taken by those dragons...
I then silently left him, retreating into the rainforest.
Mom, and dad...
They're gone?
No, they're not! Durian is probably just lying or doesn't know what he's talking about! I'll go check the pavilion myself. They're probably in there somewhere, fending off those dragons or something!
But that nagging doubt kept bothering me in my mind.
I began to tree glide to the pavilion until it came into view. Those dragons were still there, but less were present than before.
I carefully landed on the side of a large platform that led into the throne room. I was still camouflaged.
I cautiously navigated through the white dragons until I entered the throne room, to see no one there except those same white dragons, three this time, inspecting the place.
Where are mom and dad?
I began to feel disheartened and hopeless.
I rushed into the Queen's chambers to find it empty as well!
No no no, this can't be happening.
I was gone for two days! TWO DAYS!
They have to be here, somewhere!
Then one of those white dragons entered the chamber, searching for something.
I froze and kept still, watching their cautious step into the room.
Did I make too much noise?
I have to get out of here somehow!
I inspected the room to find a window peering out into the rainforest to my left.
Slowly, I began to tentatively inch my way towards it as the white dragon took another step into the room.
Then I stepped on a particularly creaky part of the floor that made a loud creak that the other dragon definitely heard.
Why is it so creaky?!
He whipped around to where I was and lunged at me, despite my scales still being camouflaged.
I scrabbled my way through the window and made my escape.
With my heart pumping through my ears, I continued to glide and weave through the countless trees until I felt I was far enough from there to be safe.
I rose through the canopy and headed in the direction of the last place I knew.
Why weren't mom and dad there? Instead, those stupid white dragons were there!
Durian said that they were captured or something, but mom and dad would never let themselves be captured!
And where was Firefly? What happened to her? Durian didn't say anything about her.
Was she also captured? But why do I care, she was just an annoying, older sister.
These thoughts continued to race through me, building a fury against those strange dragons.
Where did they even come from? What are they doing here? Why are they even here? If they weren't here, then mom and dad wouldn't have disappeared!
Stupid weird dragons just appearing out of nowhere! If they weren't here, then... then... mom and dad wouldn't have been captured.
At least... at least they weren't killed, but instead captured.
I landed in a dense area, feeling a bit more comforted by the imposing wall of trees that surrounded me.
I sat down, staring at the ground for long moments. Thinking about everything.
I just had to run away, to go fill my selfish desires of being free instead of being with my parents. Then I could see mom and dad one more time. And helped fight off those stupid dragons instead of running away and leaving them alone.
I continued to berate myself, feeling angry at those foreign dragons and myself.
Then I heard something a few meters away from me.
I looked up to find Leaf there.
"How are you here? I'm kilometers away from your city I thought," then I realized I had come to the same clearing that Leaf and I had been at.
"Oh, I must've not been focused while I was flying," I murmured to myself.
He was sitting against a tree, his face buried in his knees, a gloomy stature to him as a whole.
"What's wrong? What happened?" I asked him, worried as to why he was here.
Why is he back here? Why would he... No... Did those dragons also capture his city like they did with my kingdom?
"They were there," he muttered.
It was them.
"They were also at my home. They had taken my mom and dad," I explained to him, sadness coating my voice.
I had to force myself not to cry at the thought of it now that I had fully accepted reality.
"Half of the city was ransacked and ravaged. My mother and little sister were caught in the storm of it all. Then they began to load us onto these ships, claiming they would save us from the Great Monsters or something," he explained to me solemnly.
"What about your dad?" I asked him tentatively, not wanting to pry too deeply or come off as invasive.
He was silent for a few moments before murmuring, "He... he hasn't been with us since I was a boy."
He's never had a dad like I had. Having one parent must be harder than having two. I should be grateful I had one. But... now he and mom are gone because of those dragons.
"I came back here because it was the only safe space I knew of, away from those people and dragons," he admitted.
Those creatures and humans took so much from us, but for what?
Why, why have they done this?
Once again, rage began swelling up within me and I asked Leaf vigorously, "Then why don't we get our parents, dragons, and people back?!"
He jumped at my sudden enthusiasm and turned to face me, standing, "What do you think we can do? We're just a human and dragon! What could we do against so many dragons and humans?"
"I just want to see my mother and little sister again... I should have... I should've been there with them," he sobbed, collapsing to the ground.
I gave him a comforting nudge, to try to cheer him up.
"I... I feel the same pain you feel. My mom and dad were taken, and I don't know if they're dead or alive," I admitted before telling him after a brief pause, "But we have to continue on."
"Why?" he asked depressed.
"We've lost a lot to these invaders. And we need to keep going not only to avenge our loved ones but also those that are still here!" I exclaimed earnestly.
"Wha-?" he began before I cut him off, "They've taken everything from us already, and there are still others that are suffering at their torment! We will avenge our gone, but we need to help our dragons and humans alike!"
At this, he rose, "You're right," wiping his eyes and nose before adding, "They have taken our beloved, but we can still help those that need it!"
"That's right! We're gonna fight back!" I told him excitedly.
After our motivational talk, we took a few moments to collect ourselves before putting our intellect together.
"So how exactly are we going to do this?" he asked, wanting to know my ideas.
"I mean, I'm a RainWing NightWing hybrid, so I was lucky enough to possess qualities of both tribes," I explained to him.
"And what are those qualities?" he asked, skeptical of what they were.
"I can breathe fire, shoot venom, change my scales, and flexibility!" I exclaimed proudly.
"Right..." he said doubtfully.
"You don't believe me?" I asked him sarcastically.
Then I changed my black scales invisible and shot some venom on the ground, a few meters away from us.
"Oh, I didn't actually think you could," he admitted before questioning, "Why hadn't you told me before?"
"I didn't exactly trust you at the time," I told him carefully.
"Why didn't you use these skills before?!" he asked once more, upset.
"I um-," I stammered before finishing, "I haven't actually used my fire or venom to hurt anyone."
"Oh," he muttered in realization.
At this, he apologized, "I get it; I couldn't harm anyone either since I've never done it before, and I wouldn't trust a stranger at first as well."
We sat there for a few agonizing seconds in silence.
"Why did you want to go to the NightWing Kingdom?" I asked suddenly.
"Errrr..." he began, unwilling to speak.
"I want to know," I told him sternly, my interest now piqued.
"I had read stories of lost items of great power there," he explained, "But those are just stories in the books."
"By books, you mean those small, rectangular pieces of paper and leather?" I asked him, wanting to confirm if I knew what he was talking about.
He gave a little chuckle at that and confirmed, "Yeah, those are books."
"Well, it's my abilities and those mythical items that may be able to help us get our precious ones back," I told him.
"You have never hurt anyone before though with your abilities. And I'm not trying to be rude, but you probably won't use it against others," he explained before adding, "And the stories of those powerful items may be entirely fake."
As much as I would love to deny it, I can't. He's right. I have never used my fire or venom against anyone before, so how can I possibly use it against someone now? And those ancient, mystical items may not even exist.
"Do you know anyone that can help?" I asked him, attempting to find a solution to our dilemma.
"No, not really. I never really left the city until yesterday," he admitted before asking, "You?"
"Nope; I never got out that much either," I shrugged.
"Hmph. A dragon and a human that has little knowledge of the real world and knows barely anyone that can help, this will be difficult," he pondered.
Wait, he's been cooped up in that city most of his life?
"Say, if you don't know that much about the world either, then how do you know how to speak dragon?" I inquired, suspicious of him now.
"Ah, um, it was in a book I read," he admitted shyly.
"A book? Someone has our language in one of your books?" I asked, curious how much these humans knew now.
"I found it in an old book in a rundown library," he explained.
Interesting; these humans know a lot about us, yet we know so little about them.
"Did it tell you anything else, like a magical army we can go to or an animus that we can recruit to our group?" I asked jokingly.
"Well, no," he admitted before adding, "But it did mention those powerful items in the Old NightWing Kingdom."
"Hmmm, so it had the dragon language recorded and mentions that place, then it might be real after all," I concluded before asking him, "Do you still have the book?"
He shuffled through his bag again and pulled out a leather-bound book.
"Yup, I still got it," he told me.
"So, you wanna go back to the NightWing Kingdom, grab some magical items and kick some evil butt?" I asked him jokingly.
"Sure thing!" he agreed, clambering up over my neck and in between my horns with my assistance.
"Don't grab my frills unless absolutely necessary, say if you were about to fall off, okay?" I checked with him, which he responded with, "I won't," before whispering, "Unless I have too..." which I responded loudly, "Don't you dare! It hurts like crazy when they're pulled!"
With new motivation and a will to get our revenge and precious ones back, I lifted into the sky and began towards the Old NightWing Kingdom once again.
Halfway through the journey, exhaustion hit me.
Argh, why do my wings feel so heavy suddenly! I have to save my dad and mom as soon as possible.
But I did fly from the Old NightWing kingdom to the rainforest in a day and then back, which would have been really exhausting for my body.
I should rest. I've never flown such long distances on a daily basis before.
Sleepiness coated my mind, and my eyelids began to droop.
"I need to rest for a while. Been flying way longer than I'm used to," I told Leaf which he responded, "Fine by me; I'll stay up to keep guard and study this book some more."
I descended into a cluster of trees where I thought it was secluded and dense enough that we wouldn't be found or seen easily.
I prepared a spot on the ground and laid down.
"Leaf, go over to that tree with the fungus," I ordered him, pointing to a tree opposite of me.
"What, why?" he asked, confused.
"Because I will not allow you encroaching onto my personal sleeping space, that's what!" I flared.
Satisfied, I laid down my eyes and checked on Leaf one more time to see he was studying that book he had before finally closing my eyes and letting myself drift off into the endless expansive of thoughts and emotions.
A quill scribbled down upon some parchment, a being with an undecipherable shape was writing. I couldn't make out what they looked like. It was as if my eyes were rejecting them, and I couldn't see their true form except the quill and parchment.
Then they stopped.
Suddenly, a voice appeared in my head. But it wasn't a voice, there was no sound. I just... understood them.
Like words I could read but also hear at the same time combined but without any details.
"You aren't supposed to be here..."
Then a candle flickered in front of me and my eyes flitted open. Revealing the colored sky.
"How long was I asleep?" I asked Leaf groggily.
He yawned and replied, "Around three hours."
Not bad. Could have been worse like last time.
But what was that dream about?
"We should get going before I fall asleep too. I think I can handle another three hours before I fall over," he admitted.
After a few satisfying stretches, I helped him up in between my horns before taking off through the trees and into the sky.
The dream long since forgotten already.
I observed the colored clouds. The red and yellow color streams across them, an array of setting colors. The sun shone brightly over the ocean, casting a brilliance across it all.
"So, did you find anything in that book?" I asked him while gliding.
"Sort of," he began, pausing and then adding, "It mentioned that there were numerous items but didn't go into too much detail. Other than that, there was a cube, a glove, a ring, and some bracelets. The other writing had been scribbled out by someone."
It's as if someone didn't want others to know about the knowledge of this book.
"Anything else?" I questioned.
"Well, it did mention something about a library and a secret entrance but further pages with details have been torn out or don't exist," he explained to me while he flipped through the pages.
A lot of detail still, that leans towards its credibility. But it still could be just one big hoax. But frankly, I don't think we have that many options since I don't know any combat or stealth, nor anyone that could help other than Leaf. So maybe this is our best bet.
After passing along the coast of the desert, feeling the dry air against my body. The sun nearly disappearing over the horizon.
We reached the edge of the Old NightWing Kingdom, and I began to fly lower to avoid any detection from my previous captors.
"Is it at the city?" I asked Leaf.
"Unfortunately, yes. It is at the same city we were caught at," he told me.
Great, we'll have to sneak in. I used to be up for it, but I don't have the urge to be captured again.
I shifted my scales, so I was invisible, and Leaf yelped in surprise in fear.
"Why did you change your scales like that without telling me!" he exclaimed, upset and embarrassed at his sudden surprise.
"I thought that we needed to scout for an area to land at first and since I can turn invisible, we can hover here while we search for a place," I explained to him while laughing a little.
"Er, fine," he relaxed.
"Anything look like a library to you?" I asked him.
He responded with, "Erm, no, let me look in the book again."
Despite the setting sun and increasingly dimming light, he was still able to read it.
After a few minutes of him flipping and reading through the pages, he concluded, "I believe it's hidden, underground or something like that."
I scoured the ruins once more until my eyes fell upon a hole in the ground.
"Should we go check out that strange hole over there?" I asked him, making my arm visible and pointing towards the hole.
"Why not, it could be what we're looking for," he told me, and I turned my arm invisible once more before heading to the hole.
I landed at the edge and kept invisible, letting Leaf down.
"Wow," I began, astonished, before finishing, "I wonder what's down there."
"Shh, we don't want to alert them," he hushed me when suddenly one of them appeared from behind one of the ruins walls, sniffed the air, and looked around the area.
I quickly covered Leaf with my wing, filtering out his appearance and changing certain scales to make it look like there was nothing there.
They spent a few minutes exploring around the eroded area, with Leaf and I watching carefully for any sudden movements. After a while, they left, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Perhaps we can fly down, but I'd carry you in my talons," I mentioned to him.
"That would be our only option. Since I don't see any path leading down there.," he agreed before adding quickly, "Don't squeeze my please."
I picked him up and flew down into the hole, my eyes adjusting quickly to the dimly lit area.
Many shelves intended to hold scrolls lined the walls, most empty. Rubble lined the floor and sections of the wall had caved inwards.
Scrolls littered the floor, tattered and ripped.
I set him down on a bare piece of floor that was relatively smooth and intact while changing my scales to my natural colors.
Is changing scales always this exhausting? It feels like flying but my mind feels sluggish now. Erg...
Light filtered from the hole above, casting rays of light across the limited floor that is underneath the hole.
"This place is massive!" Leaf exclaimed, gaping at the huge underground space.
"Is this the place?" I asked him, which caused him to open his book again to search through the pages once more.
After a few minutes of flipping through the pages, he stated, "Not sure... but the only descriptive words were 'library' and 'expansive'," before looking up and around the place.
"Yeah, this place definitely fits the description," I told him, still in awe of the size of the place.
And I thought Jade Academy was big. But this... this is just on a whole other level!
But it looks like it extended further, but... it's caved in and now there's a pile of rocks at the end over there.
"Hello!" I called out, listening to my echoes bounce around.
"Shush it! We don't want to be found again!" Leaf pointed out quickly at the same time I heard dragons above us.
Instinctively, I turned myself invisible despite how exhausting it could be for me, and Leaf hid in the shadows.
Two white heads popped over the ledge, speaking in the foreign language.
They continued to converse before losing interest and disappearing.
After a few minutes to make sure they were gone, I changed back once again.
"Let's begin searching for these probably fake but powerful items," I told him, walking towards the nearest shelf of scrolls.
Some bracelets, rings, boxes, and a glove?
Nothing but scrolls here.
I sifted through some of the piles of scrolls, checking to see if there was anything underneath them.
After maybe twenty minutes of searching, I glanced over to Leaf and he was still searching through rubble, piles of scrolls and so on.
Argh, there's nothing here.
"I think we need to head deeper inside. Because it might be in some secluded room or chamber of some kind," I told him, mentioning the possibility of it being elsewhere.
"Yeah, I couldn't find anything here," he told me from the other side of the library.
I checked the furthest areas of the library, and it too was filled with rubble but there was a hall leading off from the main section on the left side, at the end of the hall before the collapsed section.
I led the way further into the library, with Leaf following close behind.
"It's getting rather dark; I can't see all that well," Leaf mentioned, placing a hand on my arm to not get lost.
It looks fine by me.
But I think it's because of my NightWing side. I believe it said somewhere in the book mom gave me that NightWings were to have night vision since they typically were active at night. But I've never stayed up past sundown so I wouldn't have known until now.
I looked around and spotted a torch resting on the floor.
I picked it up and used my fire to light it up before handing it to Leaf.
He strained under its bulkiness and mentioned, "Couldn't you have gotten me a human-sized torch? This is pretty big ya know."
"I'm sure you can handle it. Don't tell me that you're too weak now to carry that thing," I smirked.
He grunted but didn't say anything in response.
We continued onwards, with the orange glow from the torch illuminating an area around us allowing Leaf to not trip on any loose debris or cracks.
We reached the intersection where it looked like there may have been a statue or some structure of sorts but had long since eroded away. Huge pieces of stone resting along the floor.
To the right were a pair of doors that had caved in rocks piling through it.
To the left were another pair of doors that were intact but closed.
We approached the door, exploring for a way to open it.
"There has to be something behind here," I told Leaf, trying to find a way to open it.
I tried pushing it open, but that didn't work. I tried pulling but there were no handles.
"Ideas?" I asked Leaf, puzzled at the immovable doors.
"No, I don't know how to open a door that doesn't push inwards but also doesn't have handles to be pulled outwards," he explained, still studying the doors.
"What's this?" I muttered to myself, looking at a square box on the side of the door.
It had four levers that were all in the up position.
"I think it's a combination lock for this door, but at human height," I told Leaf while he came to inspect it as well after setting down his massive torch in a safe place.
I began to flip the switches in random succession, when Leaf scolded, "What are you doing?"
"Uh, I'm trying to solve the lock," I told him blatantly.
"There could be a trap or something if you get the wrong combination or worse!" he worried in a hurriedly manner.
I flicked another switch just to spite him and something within the door clicked.
"Well would you look at that, guess I solved it after all!" I told him haughtily.
He grumbled while we focused on the door.
I carefully pushed it inwards and surprisingly, it moved with ease.
I opened it fully and headed inside.
The room was still rather intact and not collapsed but bits and parts of the ceiling, walls, and floor were deteriorating.
There were eight pedestals with some missing objects that used to be on them but three others that had the items on them.
"I didn't actually believe they existed," I awed in bewilderment.
"It might still be fake. Sure, it's floating magically on top of some pedestal but that doesn't mean the item itself holds power," Leaf explained doubtfully.
I went to one of the pedestals with a floating, black ring.
I inspected the pedestal but any engraving either didn't exist or were scratched off based on the scratches I found on it.
I then slowly began to move my talon toward that object, enraptured by its aura.
The moment my talons crossed the threshold of the edges of the pedestal, an immediate burning sensation unlike anything I have ever felt before surrounded my claws.
I yelped in pain and retracted my claws, stumbling backwards from the sudden pain.
"You okay?" Leaf asked hurriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him abashed, gathering myself and taking a second shot at the pedestal.
I checked my claws to make sure nothing was seriously hurt and there were only a few burn marks.
Leaf piped in, "Maybe you need a glove?"
"Do you see a glove anywhere?" I asked, annoyed.
"Well-," he stammered, "No, but-," when I interjected, "See, we'll just have to make do."
I searched around the room and located column of stone that looked light enough that I could carry.
I heaved it up and carefully navigated it around other pedestals until I reached the one with the obsidian ring.
I shoved the stone column through the pedestal, and it pushed the ring out, but also burning up into dust in the process. But not before it made contact with the ring, pushing it out.
It flew out and bounced on the floor, coming to a rest a meter away from the pedestal.
I picked it up and showed it to Leaf, "See, that wasn't so hard!"
While Leaf examined it, I looked around to see if there was anything else, but all the pedestals were empty other than a strange cube I found discarded against a wall. It had a strange silvery glow to it.
I grabbed it and showed it to Leaf, asking, "Do you know what this is?"
He sifted through his book once again, setting the torch to the side so he had light in the dark room.
"It's a cube with pocket dimension abilities, apparently," he explained skeptically.
"Pocket dimension capabilities?" I echoed in disbelief.
"Hey, it's what the book says," he defended.
I examined the cube as well, taking in its silvery glow and circular shape of silver.
I touched one of the circles of silver and it rippled like a liquid.
"What in the three moons?" I asked in curiosity, enamored by this new object.
Tentatively, I stuck more of my claws into the strange liquid of the cube.
The sensation was cold, but not frigid. It was smooth but viscous like my claws were moving through honey.
I pulled my claws out to find them clean of any liquid; dry. The liquid rippled as my claws were removed from its surface.
"I don't think cubes are supposed to have spatial anomalies like this, right?" I asked Leaf, still enamored by the cub's properties.
He was looking at the cube as well, where my claws had entered and exited.
"Yeah, any liquid would come pouring out, but this just stays there," he pointed out the obvious.
Suddenly, we heard a crashing outside of the room, in the expansive area of the library.
That can't be good...
I handed Leaf the cube and he stored the ring and cube into his bag before he put out the torch and I guided him as we crept out of the room, cautiously checking to make sure there were no humans or dragons waiting to ambush us.
We peered around one of the edges of the columns of the corners of the hallway leading to the room and the library itself.
Three of those white dragons were inspecting the place, with two humans accompanying them.
They were talking amongst themselves; loudly too.
"They are pretty loud, aren't they?" I asked Leaf in a whisper, which he responded with, "Uh huh."
"I don't think they know we're here or are looking for someone. They're too relaxed and open right now," I told him.
"I wonder what they're here for," he murmured.
I analyzed the situation and concluded that it would be impossible to escape without being caught.
Their wings would outpace ours, and their breath is no doubt deadly. Plus, humans are clever, so they might come up with something to capture us if the dragons don't. Not to mention, I wouldn't want Leaf to get hurt.
The quintet of dragons and humans continued to explore down the library, apparently having fun doing so, having little thought of their maybe being others down here.
One of the dragons stopped, scared and unwilling to go further. But the others urged them on, and a human and dragon laughed at them, before they embarrassedly caught up.
Poor dragon must've been scared of the dark.
Alarmed at the thought, I berated my self.
NO TIME TO GET SENTIMENTAL ABOUT INVADING DRAGONS AND HUMANS THAT HAVE HARMED YOUR FAMILY AND MORE!
I need to think of a way we can get out of here, bypassing these dragons and humans since they are still coming this way!
Leaf and I backed away from the edge, finding a place to hide. Listening to the clack of talons on stone and the soft footsteps of the humans approaching, getting louder and louder.
Suddenly, a deep, ominous laugh filled the space. Causing a chill to pass down my spine and the quintet of humans and dragons stopped, taking on a more guarded look, forming a tight knit group for protection.
It came from my left, on the collapsed portion of the library.
I followed a dark mass move from shadow to shadow, flew up into the area, with black lines in their wake. I think I caught the resemblance of wings but couldn't be sure.
They flew across the chamber, dropping things across the quintet that exploded into dark clouds of smoke!
At the sudden surprise attack, the quintet scrambled to a retreat, with the humans getting rides from the dragons and rushing out through the hole in the ceiling as quickly as possible.
Then the figure dropped right in front of us, causing me to leap back and yelp in surprise.
"Who are you?!" I asked frantically before threatening with little effect, "Don't come any closer!"
I realized they were a person with wings.
"Wha-?" I began, dumbfounded.
"How are you a human with wings? Are you a secret animus?" I asked suspiciously, collecting myself quickly.
They cleared their throat and explained, "I am not an animus and I need the two Relics you have."
"Relics? What do you mean..." I started when it suddenly dawned on me.
"No, we need those!" I told him speedily, before asking Leaf, "Right? We need those!"
"Yeah, we need these items to stop those weird dragons that are invading our land!" Leaf exclaimed to the figure.
They crossed their arms, before stating sternly, "I bought you some time to escape, but you need to hand me those Relics."
"Why should you have these things? What are you going to use them for?" I growled.
With their face still covered by their dark wrappings, they snapped, "You do not know how to use them, do you?"
"Well, uh, no, but we can figure it out!" I retorted, realizing my lack of knowledge of them.
He then lit up a torch that he had taken from an attachment to the wall next to us, lighting it.
"My human eyes don't work well in the dark," he told us, before asking once again, "The Relics, now."
I guarded Leaf, unsure what to do and a strange fear of the figure before me.
Then he noticed the book Leaf had.
"Where did the human get that book?" he inquired.
"I'm not telling you!" I told him, unwilling to answer anything he wanted.
He turned to face the hole where we had entered the library before, as if he was listening to something before focusing back onto us, as if he was reading us like a book.
"Fine, you can keep it for now, but we'll meet again in an hour," he told me, whisking off and nimbly jumping from debris piles and flying out of the whole, lifting into the sky.
"That was strangely imposing. He didn't feel any fear to dragons, but rather I felt fearful of him?" I muttered to Leaf.
"Yeah, that was the strangest person I ever met, they weren't afraid of anything," he agreed.
"He did say he gave us some time to escape, so let's hurry now!" I told Leaf, helping him up before flying out of the hole in the ceiling as well.
At the surface, it was complete chaos. Those same dragons and humans that were chased out of the library before had come back with backup.
Humans and dragons were gathering but for some reason were still unorganized.
That's when I noticed the figure from before slithering around like a shadow, causing chaos among the dragons and humans gathering, leading to confusion.
I took the initiative and fled, flying towards the forest.
Then Leaf shouted, "Dive downwards!"
I had dived downwards and felt something cold pass by my tail, to then only see a ray of that frosty breath miss me.
But, due to my poor reaction time, I couldn't recover from my dive and crashed into the ground and flipped over, my head spinning.
I woozily got up and searched for Leaf, to find him curled up by some of that frost breath.
I picked him up and bounded off into the surrounding forestry, my mind working sluggishly.
After a while, the roars and sounds of fighting faded into the distance until I no longer heard them.
I let down Leaf, propping him up against a tree.
"Hey, Leaf, you alright-," I began when I noticed his hand.
It was enveloped in that same crystal ice that was slowly growing on his wrist.
"Oh no," I whispered, checking his face, which had a pained expression.
"Leaf, can you hear me?" I asked, concerned.
He didn't respond except when the ice grew an inch suddenly and he shrieked in pain before quivering, "So... so c-cold... cold..."
I panicked, "Um, don't worry Leaf! I'll get some firewood and warm you up with that!"
I made one final check before heading off to find dry fuel for a fire.
Argh, Leaf was touched by one of those crystal breath things and I don't know how to fix that! Much less, how to make a fire like humans do! I've only seen other humans make those campfire things, but I never actually made one before.
I remember that they would collect some sticks and then light it with something.
I quickly gathered twigs, scouring the surrounding forest floor for what looked like dry sticks.
Suddenly, I heard a twig snap behind me.
I whipped around defensively to see who it was and to my horror, it was a group of humans.
But this time, they were adorned in strange looking armor and had long sticks with pointy sticks on their head. They had a humanoid shape, but I couldn't see any hair, eyes, face, or any skin for that matter. It was all covered in this strange dark blue and grey armor.
I growled, unsure if I would be able to outrun them if any of those other dragons were nearby.
"What do you want?" I growled, fearing what they might do next.
There are just so many of them! What can I do?!
I need to get back to Leaf, but what if they had already found him? What if they follow me to him?
Should I use venom and fire?
No, I can't do that. Hearing the stories of what venom and fire can do to a dragon. I just can't do that to another dragon, or human for that matter.
But I might have no choice against these foreign humans and dragons.
It was a group of seven, slowly approaching me. One of them had their long sticks pointed at me and another tried to motion them to put it down.
I backed away slowly, hesitant of what to do next.
Then they spoke in a different language from Dragon, probably human language or something.
"What do you want? Why can't you just leave us alone?" I flared at them, watching them carefully.
They spoke again, in a soft voice as if trying to lure me.
"Stop approaching me! Else I'll use my fire and venom on you!" I bluffed. I actually couldn't use my venom or fire against another.
They continued to get closer, step by step.
In a last-ditch effort, I bared my teeth and flared my wings, trying to look intimidating.
Two of them with the long sticks pointed their sticks at me in response, defensively.
"Back away! If you don't harm me, I won't hurt you!" I told them while looking for a way out of this.
Then the one in the lead shouted something at the two with their sticks pointed at me. And while they were distracted, I turned my tail and ran, weaving in between the trees until I came back to find Leaf, his condition worsening.
With my heartbeat slowing down, I focused back on Leaf and inspected his condition.
The ice keeps growing. I can only hope that a fire can neutralize it.
"Leaf, listen to me, I need you to stay conscious so you can tell me if it feels better or hurts!" I rushed, panic continuing to fill me as I arranged the tinder for lighting.
I carefully breathed a small stream of fire at the pile of twigs I had set at what I thought was a safe distance from Leaf but also close enough to provide warmth to melt the ice.
It slowly grew and I made sure I had control over it and that it wouldn't spread uncontrollably.
I watched the ice intensely and it showed no signs of stopping, albeit a bit slower.
"Argh, come on!" I shouted furiously, angry at my inability to do anything.
The ice had nearly reached his elbows and his skin turned a deathly greyish blue.
I paced around, trying to figure out a way to help him.
Come on! Think! What can stop a magically growing ice breath that will probably kill him sooner or later?!
Maybe one of those 'Relic' thingies that the figure had mentioned earlier?
I grabbed his bag and began to rummage through it, taking out the cube and obsidian ring. It's greenish tint reflecting in the light against its black material color.
I carefully placed the dragon-sized ring on his right arm that was unaffected by the ice's growth. It magically resized itself to fit his finger, but it didn't stop the growth.
"Come on, doesn't one of these works?" I flared angrily, enraged at nothing working so far.
I stuck my arm into the cube and rummaged around in the magical space of a pocket dimension. Come on, I need something to help Leaf!
Then I felt something brush against my claws in the viscous substance and grabbed it, pulling it out.
What I had grabbed was a wrapped-up cloth.
"What is this?" I yelled at the object, hoping that I would get a response from it.
"This won't help anything!" I muttered angrily.
I threw it back at the cube, sliding back through the liquid and inside the cube.
I stowed the cube back into his bag and refocused on Leaf.
"Leaf, can you hear me?" I whispered to him, panic continuing to grow.
His eyes were clenched shut; pain written across his face.
Then a new voice spoke, "Hey, are you alright?"
I whipped around to see those same stupid humans from before with their strange armor and long, pointy sticks had followed me.
I cast a quick glance at Leaf before looking back at them, "Stay back, or else I'll hurt you!"
"We come in peace," the leading human enunciated in a feminine voice, although it sounded odd.
"As if!" I retorted, before adding, "If you come any closer, I- I-."
They continued to take cautious steps towards me and the one in the lead asked, "Will you please come with us?"
Then one of them caught a glimpse of Leaf behind me and said something in that same, indecipherable language to the one in the lead.
"Don't touch him!" I snarled, distrustful of the newcomers.
I can't let Leaf get hurt, but they're already this close and would probably catch me before I could even escape with him.
I glimpsed above me to scan my environment to find a dense top of the trees in between me and the sky.
I could break through that, but what would happen to Leaf? His body is weak and not as strong as mine. The branches would rip him to shreds.
"We can help him," the same person from before mentioned slowly, cautious of me.
Can I really trust them? No... but... but I might not have a choice.
Why is so much out of my CONTROL?!
Abruptly, Leaf screamed in agony, the ice growing further in a quick movement to his elbow, his skin turning darker.
I faltered before turning my attention to the other humans again.
"How would you help him?" I asked suspiciously.
In response, she explained carefully, "We have special equipment that can patch up nearly any injury."
That sounds fictional... but... I thought that about the Relics too, and they turned out to exist.
I need to help Leaf, and nothing I knew of or the Relics themselves resulted in stopping the weird ice growth.
"Fine," I growled, "But I need to watch everything you do."
They conversed amongst themselves before I let them by, and they checked on Leaf.
One of them chipped off several pieces of the ice into odd looking, cylindrical tubes before closing them off while another one in the same purple armor poked small, reflective sticks into his arms.
One of them checked his vitals, breathing, checking his eyes, his neck, and so on.
"What exactly are you doing?" I asked the one checking his eyes.
Distracted by whatever she was doing, "I'm checking to make sure his eyes respond to light, indicating his brain is still functioning."
"What and what?" I asked, confused and slightly suspicious.
Then the one I was talking to said to their companion before returning their attention to me, "If their eyes react to light shone into them, it is a sign that their brain is still alive."
That's... new.
I never heard of anyone testing that out before with such a method. It's too different.
The ice's growth came to a stop after they dropped some liquid and applied a bag of something.
"What are you doing?" I asked curiously and to make sure Leaf was okay.
The lead person that had talked to me before explained, "We've stopped this anomalous ice growth with our supplies and are treating his hypothermia on the parts of his body affected."
That's good, but they said stopped, not removed.
"We aren't able to remove the ice due to its anomalous nature and we'll need to conduct tests on it to completely cure him," she mentioned.
"What, so you weren't able to help him?" I lashed out at the person, which they apologized, "We tried, but his condition is too much for our current equipment. If we could get him back to base, we can cure it fully!"
They lied about being able to help him! But they did manage to stop the growth. So maybe they are telling the truth and whatever the 'base' is can really fix him completely.
I glanced at the ice on his arm, surveying its severity.
I can't delay. If these people are truly capable of helping them, then I need to take it, for Leaf.
We can always get our revenge later if we're injured.
After a few minutes of deliberation, I decided, "Fine, take him back to this, 'base', as you call it so that he can be saved."
"Thank you," she replied in thanks, ordering the others to help carry Leaf in the direction she was going.
"Hey, wait, I'm coming too!" I told her quickly, following.
"You can't. Protocol doesn't allow foreign lifeforms that are inhuman to come back with us from the planet unless Command instructs us to do so," she explained, trying to keep me calm from my recent outbursts.
"I don't care about whatever 'protocol' you're referring to! I'm coming with Leaf no matter what!" I roared in protest.
The others shifted uneasily, and the leader relented," Fine, but I have to contact Command first."
I followed close behind, keeping an eye on Leaf.
We arrived at a clearing with nothing there other than two humans adorned in similar armor camping in the shadows of the clearing.
They began standing around when suddenly a weird object appeared out of thin air!
Does this thing have RainWing scales?
It had two protruding platforms with a box-like body. It had a pointed end, facing away from us. In its protruding platforms of dark metal, its cylinders that were embedded into the platforms and two smaller protruding platforms above the rest of the body at the tail end. With triangular flaps.
The leader and one of the other figures with their pointy sticks entered the thing, disappearing inside. The other two stayed outside, tending to Leaf while another two walked around outside.
"What is this?" I asked one of the remaining figures near Leaf.
"This is our dropship. Which is how we arrived at this continent," they explained in a masculine voice from behind that armored mask, sounding uneasy.
"Dropship?" I asked, not knowing what the word meant.
"It's a mode of transportation that we used to visit this place," they explained, shifting uncomfortable.
Strange, I wonder how it operates.
No time for indulgences in unneeded things! I have to focus on getting Leaf better.
Then a figure landed right next to me, surprising me and causing me to jump.
"Yeep! Where did you come from?" I asked the newcomer in surprise.
What a minute... This is the same person that I had met at the library!
"How did you find me?" I asked, bewildered by them while recollecting myself before I felt a strange sense of awe and an inkling of fear from their aura.
"I followed you from the sky," he told me.
How was he able to keep track of me through all the leaves blocking his vision from up there?
"You speak this dragon's language?" the person I had talked to before inquired, sounding confident.
"I speak multiple languages," he answered in dragon.
"Are you human?" the armored humanoid asked.
"Yes, I'm just a bit different," he told the masked one before quickly surveying the dropship.
Then his wings disappeared, appearing fully human now.
Curious, I asked, "What exactly are you?"
"That is not something I am willing to answer at the moment until I can speak with the admiral," he informed me, triggering a gasp from the armored one.
"Who are you exactly to know of our admiral from this foreign place. Is this a UEF planet?" they asked, their hands firmly gripping their pointed stick.
"I will speak with either the commander or admiral of important information since it is highly confidential," they explained to the armored person that had the two sticks.
Then the lead one that I had talked to earlier came back out, informing us, "The commander has authorized the transporting of the human and dragon," before noticing the newcomer and asking, "Who are you?"
"I need to speak with the Commander," he told her.
"You are not authorized, only the injured human and dragon have been authorized," she told him, crossing her arms.
"Designation 12K, exploratory mission: Stardew," he told her which left them silent.
She tapped something on the glass surface on her arm, focused.
"Come aboard, all of you," she told us, motioning for us to come in as she retreated inside.
I boarded the dropship to find something I had never seen before. It was dark and was completely made of metal. The most metal I had seen used was on this thing called a shield and spear.
There was a wall in front of me with one of those human-sized doors that led further in.
"You all wait here," she ordered us, before entering the door and beyond.
I focused on the strange feel of the inside. It was cold and dead. The metal pressing against my claws and the corners made me feel weird.
The figure sat down on one of the protruding platforms on the sides, while the other two humans in their strange armor helped Leaf in a laying position on the ground.
Then the floor ramp that we had stepped on began to move, closing and cutting me off from the outside world. Then the craft began to rumble to life.
I sat myself down next to the figure, wanting to ask a few questions.
"Who are you?" I asked him again.
"No one," he put simply.
"No, I mean like who are you really, like your name," I explained to him, curious.
"Hmmm," he began, deep in thought before stating, "You can call me Talon."
Talon... you're weird, but in a good way I think.
I anxiously looked back at the floor that finished closing, doubting whether I made the right decision coming here into this cold, metallic tomb.
