Chapter: First mission - Part III

The Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Opened late in the regime of Napoleon III, it was built according to plans by Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, who created all the major parks demanded by the Emperor. A public park situated in northeastern Paris, in the 19th arrondissement. Now, in the present date, it was one of the largest park in Paris, occupying 24.7 hectares. But more importantly, it was place where Team of Light have finally found the dragon statue they were looking for.

"We found the statue." Jett looked up at stone dragon in front of them, "So where's the crypt with a dragon egg?"

"Entrance must be nearby." Katrina stated, "Look for anything unusual."

"Unusual unusual or magic unusual?" Luz asked.

"Both."

"I'm just hoping this isn't one of the secret passage that only opens when the dawn sun of winter solstice hits it." Jett began to pass his hands over the pedestal, pressing his hands against every stone. None of them would budge.

After a good ten minutes of this, he was ready to give up when Luz let out a triumphant cry.

"This stone has a symbol covered with dust!" the human girl exclaimed, "Then it must be something important."

Katrina stared at the symbol for a moment. "Hmmm. Weird."

Luz glanced at her, "What's weird?"

"That rune pretty much means 'press here'."

"Wait-" Luz said, confused. "Press here? It can't be that easy. Or can?"

"I tell you what, let's find out!" Jett replied and he slammed his hand against the marked stone, pushing it into the statue belly.

The effect was instantaneous. The ground opened up and swallowed them whole. The trio fell deeper and deeper into the darkness below, their cries echoing around them. Luz squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for this fall to come to an end.

And it did. They crashed at the bottom of the pit and for a few seconds there was nothing but unadulterated darkness.

"I think I broke something." Jett said from under both girls.

"Your common sense?" Katrina asked with a strain in her voice.

"My fingers." Jett looked on horribly contorted four fingers on his right hand before use his other hand to pop this dislocated fingers back in, "Never mind."

Luz looked up and saw the hole from which they fell. It was so high up that it was nothing more than a pinprick of light shining in the distance.

And after a two seconds it just disappear.

Then, all of a sudden, the room sprang to life. Torches lined the walls, illuminating the chamber they had fallen into.

There was a scuffling sound as the team got on their feet. Jett gazed around the chamber, looking more pleased than concerned. "Looks like we found the crypt."

As more torches lit up, eventually they were able to make out that it was an Antechamber of sorts. Many paths crossed through this room, they also noticed that the floor underneath their feet was cobbled like that of an ancient road.

"Wow. Look at this place. This place is huge!" Luz said, as she began to snap a couple of photos of the place.

"What are you doing?" Katrina asked her.

"Taking photos." Luz stepped over the spiders until she reached the end of the chamber, "This bas-reliefs are beautiful."

They definitely are. Incredible bas-reliefs depicting dragons and fantastic happenings, things that reminded of the time when human world had magic.

"We have a lot of choices here." Jett counted all the tunnels, each one was identified by inscription in unknown language. "Any idea where we should go first, or choose 'eeny, meeny, miny, moe' method?"

Katrina held the seeing stone up to her eye. Her periwinkle eyes darted back and forth as she watched an magic aura that only she could see. "There's a relatively hight level of distributed magic in this place, but there is fresh track of immense magical power." She pointed on tunnel the second from the left.

They walked into the tunnel. It bored down into the rock in front of them, straight as a ruler. "This tunnel is a masterpiece," said Katrina. "The sides are amazingly smooth. I wonder how long it took to carve?"

"Maybe they did it with magic." Luz was busy admiring the paintings on the walls.

"I want to know why they didn't make it taller," said Jett. The tallest one of teenagers had to hunch a bit over as they walked to keep from hitting his head on the low ceiling.

"Is it just me, or is it getting warmer?" said Luz after a while.

"It is," said Katrina, "And a little lighter. I think we're coming to the end of the tunnel."

Luz lowered her phone and peered at the faint rectangle of light ahead of them. She was the first to step out of the tunnel, closely followed by the others.

Extremely spacious chamber was simple. Many runes decorated the walls, huge pile of rocks was lying here, and in the center was a pedestal, from which shone a soft light. As they got close enough to touch it, they realized that the object they were searching for was apparently suspended above the pedestal, barely within grasping distance.

The dragon egg was shaped like a large american football ball with blue and green spiny protrusions extending from it.

The trio stared at it for a few seconds, before both Luz and Jett said at the same time: "How much do you bet it's booby-trapped?"

"Jinx!" They did it again.

And again. "Double Jinx!"

While Luz and Jett were busy playing jinx game, Katrina pensively raised up her hand and began to swipe it around the vicinity of the egg, trying to inspect if anything was reacting to her hand. She quickly ran her hand between the egg and the pedestal, and didn't detect anything present that was holding the drago egg up.

She leveled her staff; soft magic aura surrounded its palisman and dragon egg. Without a doubt, this egg was authentic.

Katrina examined the egg, looking at it from different angles. The pedestal continued to give off a soft light. "This is it."

"Yeah, I think so too." Jett approached, "Come to daddy." he said as reaching for egg.

"Don't touch!" Katrina said as she used her staff to smack Jett right on the hand, "You just said that it's booby-trapped."

"That's why I and Jett're going to quickly switch it." Luz had a rock on her hands the size of dragon egg.

"This sounds like something out of a action-adventure film." Katrina looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "And that stuff never works in the films."

Jett snorted softly, "Ah, come on what's the worst that can happen?"

That should have been a sign not to do this, since those tend to be famous last words. But Jett grabbed the egg with his both hands and got ready to take it.

"Now!"

Then Jett and Luz quickly switched the dragon egg for a big rock. They both smiled. Nothing happened.

Until a single, massive red eye opened right in front of them.

All of them showing various degrees of fear. What appeared to them to be a large pile of stones turned out to be a massive dragon with a glowing crystal-like sharp thing in chest. And it looked like massive creature was going to tear them to shreds.

"I suggest an immediate plan of action." Katrina whispered, stepping backward.

"Like what?" Luz asked fearfully.

"It's quite simple really. RUN!"

Quicker than the dragon could blink, Luz, Jett, and Katrina sprinted down the tunnel, an enraged dragon threw itself to stop them but was too big and can't fit to tunnel.

*ROAAARRR*

The dragon roar hit them with a physical force. It spouted fire up the tunnel. Katrina drawed a spell circle. The shield she conjured appeared just in time to save them from being roasted by the flames.

The fire shoved teens farther up the tunnel. They just kept runnin' until went back to the Antechamber.

"This isn't quite as I imagined my first meeting with a dragon." Luz gasped as she rested her hands on her knees and panted, "There was a lot more fire."

"This creature isn't dragon." Katrina told them, looking at the tunnel they just exited.

"I may not have been at Beast Keeping track in school but it looks to me like dragon." Jett check if the dragon egg isn't damaged from the last crazy run.

"It's a golem. Dragon Riders must have left it here to guard the egg."

"What do we do now?" Luz intervened.

"We got what we came here for. Then we can all go home and have party." Jett smiled and turned to walk away when the dragon egg that was in his hand shone red making Jett's smile turn into a frown. "What..." was all he said before the egg disappear.

"I don't understand, what just happened?" Luz asked as she glanced at the spot in the air where the egg used to be.

The gears seemed to turn in Katrina's head. "Shur'tugal spell. It's the source of the phenomena that keeps egg from getting too far away from the pillar."

Luz walked over and stopped near still warm tunnel, her hands on the edge of the entrance as her face peeked up just enough to see the charred stone walls. "So we have to go back and do it again."

It's not really a question.

"Fight against the dragon." Jett said with barely contained excitement. "And I thought today would bear no cool distractions."

"Golem." Katrina corrected him.

"That thing could breathe fire, so it makes no difference." Jett defended himself.

Katrina stared at Jett in exasperation for a bit before continuing. "Creature like golem can be easily dealt. We just need to remove their heart core."

"Wait, are you talking about this bright glowing red shard in its chest?" Luz remembered the glow of the crystal that golem had in its body.

"Yes. I can get it out of the golem, but first we have to pin it down."

"As easy as seeing a dirawong in the snow." Jett summoned his staff, twirling it in preparation to cast a spell. "Let's get this egg back!"

Katrina resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her cousin's excitement. "Hold your unicorns, Birdbrain." she said, finger raised to draw a spell circle. "Safety first"

As the redhead began to chant soft, very small fire runes appeared around her spell circle. After a few more seconds, she stretched her hands toward Jett and Luz, and poked the teen witch and human girl's foreheads with her finger. A blue aura quickly formed over both of them.

When they sent Katrina a questioning look, she told them, "The flame shield. A direct blow is still rather dangerous, but we won't get a fourth-degree burning."

"Sweet." Jett replied, "I call diverting attention, you guys take the other stuff." he smirk before running off in the tunnel.

"One part brave, three parts fool." Katrina sighed before she and Luz going after him.

Clearly the golem didn't expect a teens will go back to its chamber, because it was laying in the same position that they first saw a stone creature.

This time, however, the dragon-like golem don't sit around and wait for somebody touches the egg. Sending a sprut of fire toward teen. Jett immediately swung his staff, used the rocks to create a barrier against the first volley of fire attacks.

The golem stop attack to to take a new breath. At the moment Jett starts to run and summons ice knife to throw that at golem's eye. Maybe it only look like a dragon, but eyes are the most sensitive on the entire body in the case of most magic creatures.

And stone golem was no exception. A roaring sound is heard followed by rumbles that caused dust falls from the ceiling like rain. Jett watched the golem pacing the cave.

"Look's like somebody is on fire." He said, feeling the brush of heat as narrowly dodged the ball of fire.

The golem turned head to Jett pointing snout threatening at him as he jumped onto a large rock. Creature roared and opened its mouth up to breathed fire but lavender blue magical aura wrapped around golem's snout. Jett seized the opportunity to hit stone golem in the other eye with lightning.

Blinded dragon-like stone golem couldn't see Luz running between its legs.

"Luz do it!" Katrina shouted, still holding golem's mouth in her magic grip.

Luz clapped two plant glyphs together and summoned vines to tangled golem's legs. But surprisingly, she felt something new during this spell. That feeling was quite specific, almost imperceptible - like slightest breeze on the skin, but at the same time acts as a strong stimulant energy. Luz didn't even need a second to think. She just let this new thing happen, it floats all the way down her mind to the glyphs. Making more vines grew out of glyphs to completely tie up the golem, and more. Vines basically covers all the surfaces: floor and wall, in a few seconds.

The golem fell to the ground with a loud bump.

Katrina teleported through cave, just right golem's core. Her gem turned luminous as she put his hand on the creature. The glow went up to her shoulder and lower part of face. They looked a lot like shaman markings.

Then a dragon-like golem poofed into a cloud of smoke and its still glowing core falls to the ground. It look a little bit like bismuth. Katrina's glowing marks disappeared as she rouched down, so can easy summoned a spell circle, which creates a magic bubble around golem's heart core.

For a brief moment, everything stopped and went quiet again. The trio looked at each other with smile before bumped a triple fist bump.

Then Jett whistled, looking around. "Pretty impressive, Luz."

"My skills just blossoming." Luz smiled as a lot of tiny flowers bloom on the vines.

"You want to do the honors?" Katrina asked her, nodding to the dragon egg. The bubble floats right by her like holding by invisible hand.

"Yes!" Luz excitedly grabbed the egg. To her surprise it's kind of grainy, but yet it feels real nice in the hand.

"Wait," she started, pointing her finger towards pedestal, it continued to give off a light. "What do we do with this shur'tugal spell?"

"There must be some trick to separating the egg from the pillar." Katrina said as she leaned in toward pedestal, "A somewhere to twist it or press right part, or..."

"Or we can just take the whole thing with us." Jett cut in as he made a spell circle in the air with a finger and axe formed out of nothing in his palm. It appeared normal for the most part, except for the blade. It was glowing slightly, and the marks on the edges were red.

Then Jett swung it once. It managed to cut through more than half of the pedestal. He swung the axe one more time and the pedestal fell down.

"Done. Let's go home." He walked away with the pedestal over his shoulder.

Both of girls turned to each other, then back to him, then just followed the boy. Luz could've sworn Katrina whispered "Like Mother, like son."


Inside a large room, a wooden door began to revolve rapidly, the opened to a bit woodland scene that all Council of Five don't recognized.

"One. Two. And three." Aisha counting while Team of Light in a file line, stepped through the portal.

"Mission accomplished!" Luz declared happy and then spotted Khonvoum's slip Sidon a few gold coins.

"Told ya so," the vampire-like man stated as he pocketed the cash.

"You've done well, Team of Light." Aisha praised, "The dragon will be able to have the life among their kinds."

"But I can see that the dragon egg isn't the only thing Team of Light brought with them." Dion stated, his eyes scanning the bubble in Katrina's hands.

"That egg was being guarded by the golem." Katrina gave Dion the bubble with golem's core, "And protected by a shur'tugal spell."

"Well, it's not a problem for us." Aisha drew another spell circle, levitating
stone pedestal out Jett's hands. "We only have to-"

*CRAAAACCCKK*

A loud scratching sound was beginning to fill the room and everybody turned their attention to Luz and dragon egg in her hands.

A large crack had appeared on top of the egg and it was spreading. It rocked back and forth, cracks appearing all over its surface, and then, a little head poked its head out of a hole, experimentally. Suddenly, one clawed foot poked out then another as the baby dragon hatched its way into the world.

The little dragon continued to struggle out of the egg. Eventually, it had full escaped, and Luz gaped in shock at the sight of the small dragon in her arms. This hatchling had sleek blue-green scales, that were so close together it looked like it didn't have scales at all. Its little eyes were small and pink in color and it had small black horns on its head, back and tail.

It yawned widely, tiny pearly white fangs glistening in the light, and it shook of the membrane that covered it, the remnants of its time in the egg. Once the membrane was off, it unfurled its small wings. Luz gasped in surprise, and the baby dragon head darted in her face direction. Their eyes locked.

Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Baby dragon!

Its head darted out, and gently bumped into Luz's cheeck, blew tiny puffs of smoke out of their nostrils. It keep nuzzling and begin purring.

"Congratulations Luz" Jett stated as he pat his hand on Luz's shoulder, "You've just become a mother."


Less than an hour later, in the human world, a large group of people was busy searches through the mystery crypt that not so long ago - have a last earth dragon egg.

The Faction agents was however not disappointed when come here. They found vines, magic plants, still full of strong mystic energy.

And one agent was particularly pleased to see that. A man in his mid 70's, with dark brown eyes and trim white beard. He was tall but very thin, his weak structure in his thin shoulders bringing that suggestion, as a long lab coat hid his body from view, making him seem like a column with no indication of anything that lay beneath, other then his wrinkled hands that were long and thin like an insect's legs. He was known in the Faction as Professor. And despite age and look, he struck fear in the hearts of co-workers.

"Das ist großartig." Professor taking small samples of vines while scanning the place, "Ich freue mich schon drauf, hier fertigzuwerden mit..."

"You're like a little kid on Christmas, my old friend."

He spun to track the deep, menacing voice. His boss known as the Lazarus, come inside, holding his hands behind his back.

"Mein Herr," Profesor said, trying his best to keep his tone as professional as possible, despite his more than crazy happy thoughts the vines in cave. In part because the Lazarus was his immediate superior, and because his boss/friend've been in a pretty bad mood lately. "You were absolutely right about this place."

"Well, it's good to hear, but I kind of knew that.

"I've already planned how use vines in my next e-"

"No." the Lazarus sternly interrupted,

The look on Profesor's face was something of surprise before he went back to the neutral a bit cynical expression he always wore. "Sir, with all due respect I could achieve a lot with a-"

"Perhaps you might." Lazarus' eyes scanned the vines before landing on Professor with a piercing stare, "But I've already decided what do I do with them."

"May I ask what you plan to do with this amazing plant, Mein Herr?"

"This." the Lazarus take the right white gloves off, revealing horribly burned and scarred hand. He just calmly grabbed a nearest vine with that cold look on his face.

For a moment nothing happened.

*FWOOOOOOOOOM*

The flash of light from his palm started to suck the life out of plant. All vines lost the colour, cracked, and was very brittle. Flowers languished and died.

'Scheiße.' Profesor swore in mind. He just lost a very good test subject.

But. The Lazarus, grinned.. no grin was not the right word to describe the shape on his face. It was devious and evil. He looked up to no good.

"Mein Freund, why are you smiling?" Profesor raised a brow, not quite understanding. Each of them lost a potentially a really valuable thing.

"Well, I just proved my theory." the Lazarus explained, causing Professor's eyes to widen in curiosity.

"Theory? I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Don't worry, my friend." Lazarus whisper-laughed, just barely audible to the other man. "All will be revealed in time. You can take the vines to your lab now, by the way."

It didn't seem to quite register in Professor, "But, what's the use of dead plant?"

"Professor, Professor, Professor." Lazarus begin, sliding his finger on the dead vines, "When are you going to realize that death is just another stage."

And right on cue, the large black spikes grew out of vines and started to very slowly crumble the walls and floor.

"Which offers a lot more power than a life."

The Lazarus said the last word as he walked off from the man, leaving pretty shocked and delighted Professor alone.


Author Notes:Hope you like the chapter.

Now I've got a question for you all. What should I call the dragon who hatched from an egg? Female won a coin toss backstage... so dragon is the girl. But I can't pick a good name. So, I'm certainly open to suggestions.

Please leave me a review if you would :)

P.s Next chapter will be focused on the Golden Guard, Nyx and the Lazarus.