Chapter 11

Oh no, Flint thought. The area that they sent Vala to was booby trapped.

"A Deathwing? HERE?" Tarantula yelled.

"Come see for yourself!" Hopper said and started leading them over there.

"Hang on!" Hunter said. "We were about to tell you!"

"Tell us what?" Lapiz said as they went to the trap and Flint saw Vala trapped in the webs from the trap.

"We know her!" Flint yelled. "She's our friend."

Tarantula, Hopper, and Lapiz looked at Flint and Hunter like they were crazy.

"You're not serious are you?" Lapiz said.

"Nope, that dragon is our friend. Her name is Vala," Hunter said.

"Yes, that's my name!" Vala yelled. "Now can you please release me from here!"

"Hang on," Tarantula said. He then turned to Flint and Hunter. "Do you two even know what problem you got yourselves into by having a Deathwing with you?"

"I AM NOT A DEATHWING!" Vala yelled, still tied up in the webs.

"Quiet!" Lapiz screamed at her.

"Now," Tarantula said. "You two do realize how dangerous their tribe is? They literally take our dragonets and eat them alive."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Vala yelled.

"IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP I WILL COME OVER THERE AND RIP YOUR SNOUT OFF!" Tarantula yelled.

"I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!" Vala shot back.

"Listen Tarantula," Flint said. "When we were down in the deeper cave systems, we ran into their tribe, which are called Spikewings by the way, not Deathwings."

"Whatever," Lapiz said.

Flint shot her an annoyed look. "They captured us and I would have died in the arena and everyone else would have been executed but Vala here rescued us from her tribe. So would you be as kind as to, oh I don't know, CUT HER DOWN FROM THE TRAP RIGHT NOW! SHE ISN'T A THREAT!"

Tarantula looked back to Vala and then to Flint and Hunter. He then looked over to Lapiz who nodded her head.

"Fine," Tarantula said. "You know, your bunch is a whole lot of trouble to keep track of."

"Whatever," Flint said and watched Tarantula and Lapiz cut Vala down from the web. Vala dropped from the trap and ran over to Flint and Hunter.

"Thank a lot," Vala said to the other dragons there.

"It's your fault for falling into the trap," Hopper said. "You know the traps should be very visible for dragons to see and not step into."

"Well Vala here can't see well up here," Flint said. "Her tribe is used to low or no light where they live so up here is affecting her night vision that her eyes have adjusted to."

"Sure," Tarantula said. "Now what is it that you bunch want? And what happened to the other two dragons with you?"

As they walked back to the hideout, Flint explained how Hunter found a riddle for them to solve, how they were captured by the Spikewings, how Queen Helen put Flint into her arena games to die, how Vala broke them out by having lava fall from the ceiling, and how they followed Vala while she was leading them away from her tribe.

"We then got up to this massive pit that neither me nor Tulsi could cross because our wings were sprained or hurt. So Hunter and Vala carried me over and Prancer was carrying Tulsi over by himself."

"Could he do it by himself?" Hopper asked.

"He was having trouble," Hunter said. "I was about to jump in to help but Queen Helen approached from the tunnel we entered from and hit Prancer with her spikes which made him fall asleep and both started to drop into the lava at the bottom of the pit."

"Wait, they fell into the lava?" Lapiz said.

"They were about to," Flint said. "But before they were able to, both of them disappeared in front of our eyes."

"Wait, what do you mean by disappeared?" Tarantula asked.

"I mean that they were falling one moment, then vanished the next," Flint said. "They never hit the lava, they just disappeared out of thin air."

Tarantula then had a concerned look on his face as he went to discuss with Lapiz and Hopper. When they came back, they all looked very scared.

"What's going on?" Hunter asked.

"That exact same thing happened with Ocho," Hopper said.

"Wait, what?" Flint said.

"Well, Ocho was telling us what our next move would be when she had initially sent you four out with getting the two queens together but then in the middle of her sentence, she disappeared in front of us, the same way you are telling that Prancer and Tulsi disappeared."

"That can't be a coincidence," Hunter said. "First the armies appeared out of nowhere when the two queens went to attack Prancer, then Prancer and Tulsi disappeared before they hit the lava, and now Ocho has disappeared as well. Something is going on."

"Yeah," Flint said, "but what?"

"Oh, I could help you with that," a voice said throughout the group and then before Flint could realize what was going on, everyone around her froze up.

"What?" Flint said, confused. "WHO'S OUT THERE?"

Flint then watched as a Webwing appeared in front of her from a swirling circle that he stepped through.

"What the…" Flint said, perplexed at what she was seeing.

"Oh that?" the Webwing said. "It was just a portal to teleport over here, I've been meaning to talk to you Flint for a long time."

"Who are you?" Flint asked.

"Me," the Webwing said. "I'm someone of very importance to you, I have what you want," and then a cage with Prancer and Tulsi appeared in front of her, also frozen as well.

"Prancer! Tulsi!" Flint said before turning to the Webwing in front of her. "Oh, I'm going to kill you!" she yelled before lunging for him.

"Oh, so predictable," the Webwing said before holding out his claw and freezing Flint in place.

"What… is… this?" Flint struggled to say.

"It's just to keep you still so that I can talk to you without you trying to attack me."

"Who… are… you?" Flint choked out.

"Me? I'm Dredge."

"WHA…T!" Flint tried to scream.

"Oh, here let me help you, that looks rather uncomfortable," Dredge said and unfroze Flint but put her into a cage.

"If I ever get out of here I will kill you!" Flint yelled.

"Doubt it," Dredge said. "Look how well it worked for you before."

"What do you want?" Flint asked. "And how are you alive? You lived over two hundred years ago!"

"I have my ways," Dredge said. "Now let's get on to why I am here, I need your help."

"YOUR CRAZY IF YOU THINK ME OR ANYONE HERE WILL HELP YOU!"

"Are you sure?" Dredge said. "Because Prancer is already helping me."

"WHAT?!" Flint screamed.

"How else do you think he magically found out where to go to find that riddle?" Dredge said. "And who do you think teleported them out from certain death? It would have been very unfortunate for my 4th great-grandson to die there."

"Wait, he's your 4th great-grandson?" Flint asked.

"Yes, and Ocho is my daughter," Dredge said.

"This is all too much for me," Flint said.

"Don't worry," Dredge said. "I'm sure Prancer can help you. You want him for yourself don't you?"

Flint got startled by this. "How did you know that?"

Dredge laughed. "I've been watching Prancer and your group this whole time. I saw how you acted with Tulsi. You know I could help you have him for yourself," he said, waving his claw above Tulsi.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Flint yelled.

"Ok, calm down," Dredge said. "I was just messing with you." He then flew in front of Flint's cage. "Now let's get down to business."

"What do you even want from me?" Flint said.

"Well, you are very special, Flint," Dredge said. "Now tell me, doesn't your group want to end the war between your tribes and bring peace back to Petonix."

"Yes?" Flint said, wondering where this was heading.

"I can help you with that, but I need something in return first. I already told this to Prancer but I need your group to find the lost artifact for me."

"Weren't you one of the four original dragons to find it?" Flint asked. "Why can't you just go to it yourself?"

"Because something happened a while ago that caused the lost artifact to move for no reason. I tried to understand why and the best I could figure out is that some sort of spell was responsible for its disappearance."

"Wait, what do you mean spell?" Flint asked.

"It's not important," Dredge said. "What is important is you helping me out in retrieving it again before anyone else finds it."

"Now why would I help you with that?" Flint asked.

"Don't you want to end the war between your tribes?" Dredge said.

"Yes, but how am I supposed to know what you are going to do with this artifact that is said to hold immense power? Do you just expect me to hand it over to someone I don't know?"

"No," Dredge said. "But it would be safer with me than anyone else. If you had it, you would be hunted down and killed for it. Anyone else would start a fight with the dragon who has it to get its power. I am the only one who would make sure that nothing bad will happen when I have it. Don't you see, all it does is cause wars between dragons. Let me have it and I will assure you that it will stop."

"I still don't trust you," Flint said.

"No bother, I expected this much coming from you." Flint then saw Dredge turn around and clap his claws together. All of a sudden, the whole cave went dark and the walls were stained with blood. Flint saw Dredge appear in front of her and his eyes were filled with darkness.

"What on earth?" Flint said, scared and breathing heavily.

"Now we can do this two ways," Dredge spoke in a dark, scary tone. "You do what I ask and everyone is fine. Or you refuse to help me and I will have to force your hand. What will it be?"

"You won't get anything out of me!" Flint yelled.

"Fine, option two then," Dredge said. He clapped his claws again and Flint was standing beside a pit filled with lava at the bottom. Dredge was in front of her and holding Hunter in his claws over the edge.

"Now tell me Flint," Dredge said. "Didn't this dragon just confess that he cares about you and that you are the only dragon worth living for?"

"You better not!" Flint warned.

"Oh, I won't drop him," Dredge said. "As long as you do what I want. Time is ticking."

Flint looked to Dredge, to Hunter in his claws, and then back to Dredge.

I don't want to help him but that can't come at the cost of Hunter's life. I really like him and I don't know how I could live with myself knowing I would be the cause of his death. But I don't know what Dredge is going to do with the artifact once we find it and give it to him.

"Five, four, three, two, one…"

"Ok, fine!" Flint said. "I'll help you but leave my friends out of your sick torture!"

Dredge laughed and Flint then appeared back in the cave with everyone around her still frozen. "I am glad that we can have the same mutual benefits out of this," Dredge said. "But just to be sure, I am going to have to do one more thing." Dredge then picked up Vala and Hunter and put them in the same cage with Prancer and Tulsi.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Flint yelled.

"It is just a safety net," Dredge said. "Now I won't hurt them but they will stay frozen and with me until you do what I ask of you."
"What do you want?" Flint asked.

"You see, not everything you have been told by your tribe is true," Dredge said. "They have a book that talks about the lost artifact and it may have ideas on how to find it. Obviously the problem is that it is in the Cavewing territory and I have no idea where it is." He then leaned down to be right in front of Flint. "But you can figure that out for me and get me the book."

"How?" Flint said.

"Well, isn't it true that you are a part of the most prestigious warrior family in the tribe? Your status as that could help you get to areas that you would initially not be able to get to."

"Well I was a part of that family," Flint said. "From the news that I just heard, I was kicked out and am trying to be erased from their bloodline."

"Hmmm," Dredge thought. "I wouldn't trust everything you hear but just to be safe, do you know any other dragonet in your family that you could pretend to be?"

"From what I heard, my parents adopted a new daughter to replace me but I don't know her name."

"Well, find out her name," Dredge said. "And use that name to get you to the book. After you bring the book to me, I will return your friends to you."

"Wait, can I at least take one friend to help me out?" Flint asked.

"I don't see how any could help you," Dredge said. "You are the only Cavewing out of the group."

That's true, Flint thought. But one could blend in the shadows very well.

"Yes, but Vala being a Spikewing can blend into the shadows very well. She could sneak into places that I may not be able to get to. Think about it, you would be able to get the book twice as fast if I had her help."

"Hmm," Dredge thought. "Fine, but you are to not tell her of me or I will kill this Webwing you love."

"Ok, now unfreeze Vala and we will be on our way," Flint said.

"One second," Dredge said. He clapped his claws one more time and they teleported away from everyone else.

"You are near the Cavewing territory here," Dredge said. "Go in there, get the book and return it to me, and I will give your friends back. I will be watching you." Dredge then disappeared and unfroze Vala for her.

"Ugh, what happened," Vala said. "Flint, do you know what went on?"

"I'll tell you," Flint said. "But right now we have a mission to do."

"What's that?" Vala asked.

"We have to go back to my tribe."