Chapter 13

Vala froze. Did he just say what I think he just said? Vala thought.

"Um, Vala, you good?" Thunder asked. "Did… did I do something wrong?"

"Were you… are you serious by what you just said?" Vala asked.

"You mean about finding the lost artifact?" Thunder asked. "No, I'm serious about it. I mean that's at least what my father said my mission was about. But he didn't give me any explanation about what it looked like or how I was going to find it. Just sent me off, saying that I would do the tribe a great deed if I could find it."

"Ok, um, I'm sorry but you're serious about this?" Vala asked.

"Yes," Thunder said. "Why? Is something wrong with what I just said?"

"What is going on over here?" Abrax asked, walking over with Nova. "Vala, what is Thunder talking about?"

Oh so now you want to get in his business as well I see, Vala thought. First break up with me, then next invade other dragon's secrets.

"He was just talking about if there was another way to get out of here without having to go through the hole up in the middle of the lake," Vala said.

"Oh, are you sure that is what he said?" Abrax asked, skeptically.

"Yes!" Vala said. "Why do you care regardless? You ungrateful ex-boyfriend."

"Hey, don't you talk to him like that!" Nova said.

"Oh yeah, why shouldn't I?" Vala asked. "Just wait until he uses you and breaks up with you as well!"

"Oh someone's jealous," Nova said. "Come on, just admit that I am better for him! You weren't good enough!"

"SHUT UP!" Vala said and jumped onto Nova, smacking her to the ground. She had Nova pinned to the ground and just wanted to slice her mouth off of her face but Thunder pulled her off of Nova.

"Woah, let's all calm down!" Thunder said, holding Vala back as Abrax held Nova back. "We have to work together."

"I'm not working with her!" Nova and Vala said at the same time.

"Come on," Thunder said. "Don't you all want to get out of here?"

"You kidding, she took everything away from me!" Vala said. "Everything was fine until she came along!"

"No, everything was already building up!" Nova said. "You just lit the match!"

"I did not!" Vala said. "You did!"

"Ok, let's all get some space from each other," Thunder said, pulling Vala away from Nova.

"Yeah, come on Nova, let's get you two away from each other," Abrax said.

Thunder led Vala away to the lake and allowed Vala to jump into the lake and scream out all of her anger. Her face was red with rage and she wanted nothing more than to rip that dragon's face off.

"I HATE HER!" Vala screamed. "I had everything perfect until she showed up!"

"Hey, it's fine," Thunder said. "You just have to take a breather, it can be tough going through a breakup."

"How would you know?" Vala asked. "You've never been through one!"

Thunder sighed. "Vala… I… have been through… a lot."

"What do you mean?" Vala asked, still fuming.

"I mean… that before I had my eyes set on this one girl, I tried to get a girlfriend with the girls from my tribe."

"And what happened?" Vala asked, cooling off a little, wondering what Thunder was saying.

"I got… rejected by every single girl from my tribe," Thunder said. "Sure you've been through a tough breakup but I've been through enough to last ten lifetimes."

"Jeez, I never knew that," Vala said. "That sounds awful."

"It was," Thunder said. "It's not something that I like to share with other dragons. In fact my dad doesn't even know either."

"But you're all better now right?" Vala asked.

Thunder looked at Vala and then broke down into tears.

"Thunder, Thunder, what's wrong?" Vala asked.

"I… I… I hate violence," Thunder said. "After what I did."

"What… What did you do?" Vala asked, concerned.

"I was in so much misery and heartbreak that I… I…"

"You what?" Vala asked.

"I tried to take my own life," Thunder said and showed a mark around the bottom of his neck. Vala jumped back, not expecting anything like that to come from Thunder's mouth.

"You… really tried… to do… that?" Vala asked.

"Yes," Thunder said. "If my dad didn't find me right then and there, then I would have bled out and my life would've been over. I thought that my life was pointless, to be honest I still do."

"No, you're not pointless!" Vala said. "You said it yourself! You're doing an important mission for your tribe. That makes you very important!"

"Are you sure?" Thunder asked."Because all I've been doing here is going in circles. And now I broke a major rule of telling my mission when I wasn't supposed to. Honestly, is it even still worth it to continue? Should I just let one of those snakes bite me so that it can take away all the pain I'm experiencing?"

"No!" Vala said. "Your life is so much more important than that!"

"Is it?" Thunder asked and started crying.

"It is!" Vala said. Oh come on Thunder, listen to me, Vala thought. "I've got your back wherever you go!"

"Thanks, but don't feel pity for me," Thunder said.

"It's not pity!" Vala said.

"That's what they all say," Thunder said and covered himself with his wings.

"Thunder," Vala said, touching him and getting a little shock throughout her body, but pushed through. "I know you can hear me so listen up. You are the best dragon that I've ever met, especially with the circumstances that you have gone through. You are the most resilient dragon to pull yourself up after all those losses. I'm having trouble pulling myself up after one loss, you've done it hundreds of times. So think positively about what will happen when you bring back home a win from your mission."

"Do… you really mean it?" Thunder asked, wiping tears from his face.

"Yes," Vala said. "And there must have been some girl dragons, not a part of your tribe, that were nice to you, right?"

"Well there was this one girl dragon," Thunder said. "I helped her out with something she was going through and she was very grateful and we became best of friends. You know it was from her where I learned how to do medicine and how I knew what to do to fix your twisted claw."

"Oh… that's amazing," Vala said.

"Yeah, I would rather be a medic and help other dragons out but my dad wants me and my brother to be soldiers."

"You have a brother?" Vala asked.

"Yes," Thunder said and breathed heavily. "I kind of don't like thinking about him. He is the epitome of perfection. He gets everything he wants and yet I have to scrap for what I get. And who gets the credit at the end of the day? Him, all because he is the favorite child. By the way, I'M OLDER THAN HIM BY THREE YEARS! Yet, he gets everything."

"That's… rough," Vala said. "I'm an only child, so I don't know how that feels."

"You're lucky," Thunder said. "It's better to not be related to siblings, they get all the attention. They get away with everything, I'm always the one who gets the punishment. I'M SO SICK OF IT!" Thunder started to break down and cry. Vala went over and tried to comfort him by putting her wing over him.

"Hey, it's okay," Vala said. "Don't think about him, think about your mission. Once you complete your mission, then you will show everyone that you are a dragon to be paid attention to."

Thunder stopped crying and looked at her. "Are… are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," Vala said. "I promise."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you," Thunder said and gave Vala a hug, which Vala didn't expect but didn't try to break out of. She just allowed Thunder to disperse all of his negative emotions and bring in the positive ones.

"You're welcome," Vala said. "It's what friends do."

"Oh, I see, you already found yourself a new boyfriend," Abrax said from behind Vala. "Ready to break his heart as well?"

Vala released Thunder from the hug and turned around and faced Abrax.

"Oh, like how you broke my heart?" Vala asked. "I did everything for you and you threw it all away in one night!"

"I was thinking for the best of us!" Abrax said. "Our relationship would have never worked out with that mindset of yours. You need to mature, Vala."

"Mature?" Vala asked. "You aren't older than me. In fact, I'm older than you. If there's anyone who needs to mature it's you. Have you ever thought about what you did to me when you broke up with me? How has it been affecting me?"

Abrax didn't answer, which puts Vala's point across in her mind.

"Exactly," Vala said. "I am emotionally suffering right now while you are hanging out with that dragon who wants nothing more than to make you rip me out of your life. I've given so much to you, what has she given? No, please tell me Abrax, what has she given to you that I haven't?"

"Respect," Abrax said. "Being level headed and a drive to be compassionate to other dragons, regardless of who they are. You are lacking those components and it makes you like a ticking time bomb. You are still nice and sweet but at any moment, you could explode and I don't want injuries or deaths to be on my name, all because you can't control yourself!"

"I… CAN… CONTROL… MYSELF!" Vala screamed, shaking the cavern around them. A cracking noise came through the air and Vala looked up in time to see rocks falling from the ceiling and landing all around them.

"Cave-in!" Thunder shouted. "Quick! Get to cover!"

Vala was too stunned to move. Did I just do this? Do I just… lose control?

"Vala move!" Abrax shouted and pushed Vala away in time before a stalactite slammed right into the ground, which would have pierced right through her. Vala was shaken, not understanding anything that was going on around her. She looked up and saw Abrax covering her with his body.

"Hu… Huh?" Vala asked. "Wha… What happened?"

"Vala!" Abrax shouted, snapping her out of her daze. "Come on, we have to move!"

"Over here!" Thunder shouted in front of them. "This tunnel can lead us out!"

"Wait, where's Nova?" Abrax asked.

"I'm here!" Nova shouted from behind Thunder. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

Abrax and Vala ran towards the tunnel, avoiding rocks along the way. They kept running but then Vala looked up and saw a massive pile of rocks start to fall down that would block the tunnel.

"Abrax! Dive now!" Vala shouted and she and Abrax dived into the tunnel in the nick of time before the rocks completely covered the entrance, leaving them in pitch darkness. Vala couldn't even see a thing, her night vision wasn't working.

"Hello?" Vala shouted. "Anyone there?"

"Ah, silly, silly dragon, you really think anyone can save you?" came a voice in the darkness.

"Huh?" Vala asked and then a bright light emerged in front of her and Queen Helen appeared.

"Why hello there," Queen Helen said. "It's nice to see you again."

Vala freaked out and tried to back up but she felt her back slam into a wall and she looked around and saw blood pouring out from all the walls.

"Wha… What's happening?" Vala said, freaked out.

"Ahh, I'm so glad that I got this gift from the pouch that you left in your cell," Queen Helen said, holding Vala's pouch.

"Wha…" Vala said and reached down for her pouch but realized it wasn't around her neck.

"Ah, but there is something more," Queen Helen said. "This isn't your pouch," and Queen Helen pointed to the name Tsunami on the front of the pouch.

"What?" Vala said. "How… how did I… grab her pouch?" Vala then thought back to when she ran away from the Drilling village. She was in a state of rage and wasn't thinking straight but now she pictured it clearly. She went to grab her pouch but grabbed Tsunami's instead without noticing and flew off.

I've had her pouch this whole time? Vala thought. But why does Queen Helen care?

"Why do you care what pouch I have?" Vala asked.

"Oh simple, it's what's in the pouch that intrigues me," Queen Helen said and then brought out a blue sapphire from the pouch that Vala immediately recognized. Tsunami had told them all about the dreamvisitor… and Vala had just handed it over to Queen Helen.

"Oh I see from your face that you recognized what you just did," Queen Helen said. Vala tried to attack her but instead her claws fazed right through Queen Helen.

"Aw, how cute," Queen Helen said. "But you can't hurt me here. But I guess I can't hurt you either. Regardless, thanks for the present."

"You'll regret this!" Vala said.

"Oh no she won't," came a new voice and Queen Ash appeared beside Queen Helen.

"You!" Vala said and shot her spikes at Queen Ash but they fazed right through her as well and all she got was the laugh's from Queen Helen and Queen Ash. Queen Ash then started to raise her hand and Vala felt her throat start to tighten and she was struggling to breath.

"Wha… what?" Vala gasped. "Ho… How?"

Queen Ash smiled. "With magic, anything is possible," and she tightened the invisible grip that was around Vala's throat. Vala felt herself start to get light headed and she wasn't able to breath. She fell down to the floor gasping for air while both the queens stood over her, laughing like the psychotic dragons they were. Vala felt her eyes start to close and she was about to lose consciousness but at that moment, Dredge appeared as well with some sort of small dragon behind him. Queen Ash noticed him and quickly released Vala, allowing her to breath and gasp for air.

"What is going on here?" Dredge asked.

"I'm just taking care of a few things," Queen Ash said. "Anyway, I see you got what I wanted," and Queen Ash was looking at the dragonet hiding behind Dredge.

"Yes, but first what is going on here?" Dredge asked. "Why were you choking her? I need her!"

"Oh this again," Queen Helen said. "You know I am sick and tired of you saying that we can't kill them because you need them to find the lost artifact for you. How did you even lose it in the first place?"

"He was an idiot," Queen Ash said.

"No I wasn't!" Dredge said. "I just… didn't know that a spell could do something like that."

"Exactly," Queen Ash said. "You were an idiot."

"Well I need them!" Dredge said. "They are going to help me find the artifact for you!'

For Queen Ash? Vala thought while still taking big gulps of air on the ground. What is he talking about?

Queen Ash then turned around and looked at Vala before looking back at Dredge. "Nice saying that out loud, dummy!" Queen Ash said. "Let's take this conversation into our minds so that she can't hear it."

If anyone else was in her position, then there would be nothing else to do but wait, but Vala was special. She waited and then read their minds and heard the conversation continuing in there.

You don't need them, Dredge! I have an idea on how to find the lost artifact and it doesn't involve them. They are just a hazard to have around!

No they aren't, Ash! I've gotten valuable information on how to find the lost artifact. They just have to solve the riddle that they are doing right now!

They could just be tricking you, Dredge. If they get a hold of that artifact then they could use it to defeat us. I'm not taking that chance!

But they wouldn't! They couldn't!

What are you saying Dredge, of course they would! They are the villains! Don't you see what I'm trying to accomplish here? I'm trying to discover something that is bigger than anything that has ever happened throughout my life!

How could this be bigger. Ash?

You don't get it do you, Dredge. Everything that has happened before was to try to find the right candidate. I started it all! The storm to happen so that the War at Pyrrhia could start! The earthquake to awaken Darkstalker! How I got the waves to sweep that Pantalan dragon to Pyrrhia! Every event was my doing to find the perfect candidate. And now… I've finally found them. The perfect dragon, all thanks to you.

No! Queen Ash, you can't!

Oh but I will, Dredge. Anything to achieve this goal that I've been waiting for seven thousand years! You have just been a pawn in this. Nothing will stop me from having this happen.

Vala then saw Queen Ash start to approach her with her claws drawn. Vala looked behind her and saw Dredge with a concerned look on his face.

Oh no you don't, Vala heard from Dredge's mind and Vala saw a portal open behind her. Vala then saw the shock on Queen Ash's face.

"Oh no you don't!" Queen Ash said and started charging at Dredge.

Go, find the artifact, Dredge said to Vala in her mind before using his magic to push her through the portal and that was the last she saw of Dredge, before the portal closed and left her in complete darkness.