Chapter 14

"Our… our creators?" Hunter said in pain.

"Why yes," Queen Ash said and picked Hunter up and threw him closer to the dragons. "They are what made us."

Hunter skidded across the floor until he smacked into the tubes that the two dragons were in. He looked up and saw a blank look on both of their faces.

"Wha… what did… you do to them?" Hunter asked as Queen Ash stepped closer to him.

"I DIDN'T DO THIS TO THEM!" Queen Ash said and pressed her claw down onto Hunter's chest, making his body scream out in pain.

"The… then… wh… what… what… happened?" Hunter asked but couldn't think straight through the pain that he was experiencing.

"I don't know how they got like this," Queen Ash said. "They weren't like this when I found them when I was young."

"You… found them here?" Hunter asked.

"YES, OF COURSE, I DID!" Queen Ash screamed and pressed further down onto Hunter. "NOW SHUT UP AND LISTEN WORM!"

Hunter silently nodded his head, unable to speak through the pain that he was experiencing.

"Good," Queen Ash said. "Then I'll explain truly what my plan is going to be involving these two."

Queen Ash let go of Hunter and walked over to the tube with the Godwing in it.

"You see at the beginning of time, there was no such thing as animus magic," Queen Ash said. "Until the artifact Argus was found."

Queen Ash then walked over to the Deathwing in the other tube.

"Of course that Thunderwing told you all about this so I'll skip to the part that you don't know, which is that there was something more to that artifact than giving us animus magic. And that was that the artifact had these two dragons' souls connected to it."

"Wha… what?" Hunter said and then cowered as Queen Ash lifted her claw in a fit of rage.

"Quiet," Queen Ash said. "Anyway, yes, the animus powers that we got actually came from the powers of these two dragons. I don't know why they put their magic into it but one thing was for certain. It was for a purpose. Once I came down here though after getting my animus powers, they decided to teach me a few things about how to use them. This went on for days and then one day when I went back down to them, they were frozen and their faces had a lifeless expression on them. This was also during the time that I had decided to move the artifact to Petonix for safekeeping."

Queen Ash then walked back to Hunter and picked him up.

"So, my theory is that me taking the artifact did this to them so all I need to do is to bring it back and they will be brought back."

"Then what's with… everything else that you're… making," Hunter said.

"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Queen Ash screamed and smashed Hunter into the wall and Hunter felt the bones in his wings sprain. He then felt something hit him on the top of his head and heard something hit the ground beside him. He looked down and noticed that it was a piece of a horn that dragons have on their heads.

"Aw, I love the new look," Queen Ash said and forced Hunter to the water to see his reflection. He looked at himself and realized that half of his right horn was missing. The pain from it then rushed through him and Queen Ash let go of him as he fell to the floor in agony.

"So now you can see why I was mad when I lost the artifact," Queen Ash said.

"But I thought… you knew where it… always was," Hunter said.

"I did," Queen Ash said. "Before that day when I moved it. Then afterward when I went to retrieve it, it was gone."

"Wait, but… didn't Dredge know… where it was?" Hunter asked.

"That was all a lie, but Dredge doesn't know that," Queen Ash said. "That's why he believes that he does. But it doesn't matter, what truly matters is for that artifact to be found and for me to bring my mentors back."

"Men…tors?" Hunter asked.

"Why yes," Queen Ash said. "Were you not listening? They are the ones who taught me how to use my powers and through them, I learned even more powerful magic than any other dragon with animus magic. In fact, even if dragons still had their animus magic, mine would be too powerful and none of them could do anything to me. That is how my magic wasn't taken away from that Sandwing's spell, because the creators taught me how to protect it."

"You mean… their magic," Hunter said. "They gave it… to you, it isn't yours."

"SHUT UP! IT IS MINE!" Queen Ash said and smashed Hunter into the floor which left a crater in its place. Hunter felt dizzy when Queen Ash smashed him through the ground and he was starting to fall out of consciousness.

"Aw, looks like that is everything the weak royal Hunter has left in him," Queen Ash said, standing over him. "Don't worry when I'm done with you, I'll make sure your girlfriend gets your ash's back."

Hunter saw Queen Ash lift up her claws and he didn't have any strength left to move. He just accepted his death and watched as Queen Ash swung her claws down and then… then… disappeared from in front of him. Hunter was confused and then realized that everything else around him disappeared as well and when he opened his eye again, he wasn't in a cave anymore but in a forest with two dragons staring over him. He noticed that one of them was the Lavawing Phoenix, but Hunter didn't recognize the brown and green scaled dragon to his left. He saw that they were talking to him but he couldn't hear them and then his eyes closed and he fell into a deep sleep.

Hunter didn't know where he was, all he saw was darkness around him. He didn't hear anything, he didn't even know if he was still alive, he couldn't feel if anything was happening to his body. He wandered around in this empty space for a few minutes but no matter which direction he decided to take, it would still feel like he was going nowhere and that he was still where he started. Then, out of nowhere, Hunter saw the tiny indication of light ahead of him. Seeing no better option he started to walk towards the light until it got bigger and bigger and then he stepped through the light and he found himself on a bridge that was in a beautiful garden with waterfalls all around and massive, beautiful plants. Hunter looked around and realized that he was seeing with both of his eyes. He quickly went and looked at his reflection in the water and saw that his face and horn were healed.

"But how?" Hunter asked himself looking around.

"It's quite simple if you know where we are," a voice said and then Hunter saw a Webwing in front of him.

Hunter looked at the Webwing and for some reason, it seemed familiar, like it was someone who he had seen before. He then saw the scar across her wings and realized who it was.

"Frisky?" Hunter said.

Frisky looked down at her claws in amusement and then looked back at Hunter. "Yes, that is who I am," Frisky said.

"But how?" Hunter asked. "You are dead! Wait, does that mean that…"

Frisky laughed. "Oh no, you're not dead… yet."

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked.

"You are just tethering on the edge of life and death," Frisky said. "If you fight you can go back to your friends."

"Well, I want to go back to them!" Hunter said. "They are all that I have left! No one else cares about me!"

"Oh but you're wrong about that," Frisky said. "A lot of dragons care about you more than you realize, all because of one factor about you."

"What?" Hunter said. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh Hunter, it's the thing that you have been trying to hide from all this time," Frisky said. "The thing that makes you… well, you. Your royalty."

Hunter's eyes went wide-eyed. "No! I don't want dragons to like me because of my royalty. That just shows how bad it is," and Hunter started to cry.

Frisky walked up to him and put her claw on his shoulder.

"Hey that isn't what is happening," Frisky said. "They care about you because they see your royalty as a way to make peace. They don't look up to you because they are scared, they look up to you because they believe in you."

Hunter sobbed and wiped the tears from his eyes. "And how would you know that?" Hunter asked.

"Aw sweetie," Frisky said. "It's because I am a niece to the royal family."

"Wait, so you are…"

"An aunt to you?" Frisky said. "Why yes, that is true. And you and your best friend Prancer are cousins."

Hunter couldn't believe what he was hearing and just sat down by the water. Frisky walked up to him and put her wing around him.

"It's okay sweetie," Frisky said. "I can understand if it is a lot to take in. I'm here for you."

"I… I never knew," Hunter said. "Why didn't you tell me before you were killed? Did anyone else know?"

Frisky smiled and threw him into a hug with her wings.

"Oh, they knew," Frisky said. "They just didn't know how you would take it if you knew."

"But… that means my mom sent a kill order on you when Prancer was found out!" Hunter said.

"No, that was when Dredge controlled her," Frisky said. "And before you say anything, it was not truly Dredge who did it, but Queen Ash."

"I know," Hunter said. "It's just hard to forgive him for all that he has done."

"Well you have to find a way," Frisky said. "Not just for him but for anyone else who you meet in life. If you can't bring yourself away from the past, then it is hard to live in the present. I dealt with this when I decided not to tell you who I was before I went, and it is something I truly regret."

Hunter looked down at his reflection in the water. "So, now what?" Hunter asked.

Frisky smiled and got up and walked amongst the plants in the garden.

"Well you should go back to the living world," Frisky said. "You're not dead yet and your friends still need your help."

"Yeah, but how can we fight against Queen Ash?" Hunter asked. "No matter what we do, she just is too powerful and we can never seem to beat her."

"Hmm," Frisky said and walked over to Hunter. "I see what you mean. Sometimes it can seem impossible to go forward like you are glued to the ground. But you have to try and keep your hopes up high that you can succeed."

"But can we?" Hunter asked Frisky.

"I believe you can," Frisky said. "It may not happen the way you think it should happen but know this. Evil will never prevail in the world. No matter what happens, we will be safe."

"How do you know this?" Hunter asked.

Frisky smiled. "I just do. Now go, go and save the world with your friends."

Hunter felt himself start to wake up in the real world.

"Wait, I still have so many questions to ask you!" Hunter said. "And I'm sure Prancer would love to talk to you again!"

Frisky smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "You and Prancer will talk to me again. Now goodbye for now," and Hunter woke up on a bed that was in a dirt hut. Hunter looked around the hut but didn't see anyone. As he got up, he ran into a desk that was to the side of him that he didn't see. He was confused because it should have been easy for him to see it. He then realized that he was seeing less of the room than he should have been. He quickly found a mirror and looked at his reflection and realized that his left eye was closed shut with the massive scar that Queen Ash gave him over it.

Great, she must have made me go blind in that eye, Hunter thought as he also looked at his chipped right horn. I swear I will make her pay for what she did to me.

At that moment, Phoenix walked into the hut and had a happy look on his face, seeing that Hunter was alright.

"Oh, you're fine!" Phoenix said. "I was worried for a bit when you blacked out!"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hunter said, looking at his shut-eye.

"Oh sorry about that," Phoenix said. "My friend tried the best she could but couldn't fix your eye."

"It's fine," Hunter said. "I'll live with it. Say who is your friend?"

"Let me go call her!" Phoenix said and stepped out of the hut. "Okay, Terra you can come in! It's okay, he won't hurt you!"

Hurt her? Hunter thought. Now, why would I do that?

Phoenix then walked back into the hut with that same brown and green scaled dragon that Hunter remembered seeing earlier. She seemed scared when she entered and hid behind Phoenix.

"It's okay," Phoenix said to her. "He won't hurt you."

"Are… you… sure?" the dragon asked.

"Yes," Phoenix said. "Now go introduce yourself. I'll be right here if you need me."

"Ok…Okay," she said and walked towards Hunter.

"Hi, I'm Hunter and I'm from the Webwing tribe," Hunter said.

"I'm… uh… I'm Te… Terra," she said. "And… I'm… I'm… from… the… the… Earthwing… tribe."

"Oh well hi Terra," Hunter said. "Is something bothering you?" as Hunter took a step closer to her, her eyes got wide and she curled up into a tiny ball and was shaking heavily. Hunter backed up, not understanding what was going on, just as Phoenix jumped beside her and started comforting her with his wing.

"It's okay," Phoenix said. "He's a friend, he isn't like your father. You're safe from him."

Her father? Hunter thought and then saw Phoenix walk over to him after he calmed down Terra.

"Sorry about that," Phoenix said. "She's had a bad history with male dragons and gets incredibly frightened when one of them is close by, except me."

"Why's that?" Hunter asked.

"That is private," Phoenix said. "Maybe it is a subject for another day."

"Okay," Hunter said and looked around. "Say, where am I?"

"You're at one of the many Earthwing's villages," Phoenix said. "Or at least the one that Terra lives at."

"Is this who you were going to get when you left?" Hunter asked.

"Yes," Phoenix said.

"But how did I get here?" Hunter said. "Queen Ash was about to kill me and then…"

"That would be… from this," Terra said, holding up an amulet with her claw.

"Huh, what is that?" Hunter asked.

"It is an animus object that Queen Ash had in her bedroom," Phoenix said. "I may have taken it years ago without her knowledge."

"She doesn't know that you took it?" Hunter asked.

"Even if she did, I don't think she cares," Phoenix said. "It can teleport any dragon who you think of but it can only be used a handful of times before you have to wait for it to charge up again."

"Well thank you for your help," Hunter said. "But I need to get back to my continent, my friends need me."

"I see," Phoenix said. "Then take this amulet and think about your continent and where you want to be teleported to on it. The rest will happen by itself."

"Why thank you," Hunter said, taking the amulet from Terra's claws. "This is very nice for you to do to a total stranger."

"You're not a stranger," Phoenix said. "You want the same thing that we want, justice for every dragon. Now go and help your friends out."

"Thanks, but will you two be okay?" Hunter asked.

"We will," Phoenix said. "Don't worry. And if your adventures bring you back here, then you know who to find."

"Thank you," Hunter said.

"Your welcome," Phoenix said and backed away as Hunter thought of his continent and where he wanted to be teleported to. And then, in a flash, he was gone.