Chapter Two

Forta

"There you are! Greetings, Veritas! Greetings, Forta!"

Fidelis sent up a roaring column of golden flame to welcome the Amethyst and Diamond dragons to the Os-Mine Hills. Forta almost felt as though there was no need for such a greeting; the Hills were a wonder, the perfect dragon haven, and introduced itself quite nicely.

Both Forta and Veritas lifted their head in response. "Greetings, Fidelis!" Their mingled amethyst and diamond fire blazed against the lush green backdrop. Fidelis half-spread his wings as they landed with a faint thud, muffled by the Hills' greenery.

"So, Dragon Night," said Fidelis, wasting no time with polite words. "Joyeu will be on her way soon enough, although she told me she may not appear early as the fishing is currently excellent." He snorted in amusement, as did Veritas. "Well, that may be so in the eastern seas," murmured Veritas. Fidelis nodded and continued: "Moving on from Joyeu and her fishing, Honora, Fortuna, and Hopian have already arrived. They are currently hunting."

Veritas dipped her head. "Thank you, Fidelis." She tilted her head slightly. "And there have been no . . . how shall I word this . . . conflicts . . . across borders, so far?"

Fidelis grinned, his white teeth glinting. "No. Although Fortuna promises a month's worth of Sand Beasts to whichever dragon can outfly her in a race."

Both Forta and Veritas snorted. "What does she take us for, addle-headed fools with air for brains? We all know Lapis Lazuli dragons are the fastest fliers! Besides, Sand Beasts have dry flesh and their spines always catch between my teeth." The Diamond dragon glanced at Veritas in mild surprise at this comment. "You have eaten Sand Beasts before?" asked Forta.

Veritas chuckled. "Well, in my dreams as we slept. Fortuna kept appearing in mine, forcing me to try a leg or a pincer or so on. Did that occur to you?" She directed her question at Fidelis.

"Yes." Fidelis huffed. "She interrupted my dreams of tearing the Ak-Baba apart!"

Forta shifted her wings slightly. She still felt uncomfortable whenever Veritas or another dragon got talking about their dreams in their unnatural sleep; she had experienced nothing of the like. Being inside an egg was, apparently, very different.

"Oh, also, did you hear? Joyeu laid an egg!"

Veritas choked out violet flame and Forta froze, jaws and eyes wide.

"What?" Veritas finally managed after a bout of coughing, faint amethyst smoke emitting from her mouth and nostrils all the while.

"That was my reaction exactly," mused Fidelis. "But yes, Joyeu says she will bring her dragonling along. She also mentioned that his name is— ah, blast, what was it? Oh yes. Joyaetiox. A mouthful, if you ask me."

Joyaetiox? What kind of name is that? . . . Although, I should be grateful there is finally another dragonling so that dragons may survive . . .

Veritas started choking again. "Joyaetiox? Are you— Are you sure, Fidelis?" she finally managed.

He nodded, his eyes glinting in amusement. "And Joyeu was nearly boasting with pride about it, as well. She says she is the first Ruby dragon to lay an egg without a mate in centuries." Fidelis sighed. "And so she decided to wield so-called creativity upon her son's name. . . . The poor thing."

Then Forta turned suddenly, her hearing picking up large, smooth wingbeats—accompanied by smaller, more rapid wingbeats that sounded slightly unstable.

"Well then! Greetings, Joyeu!" Fidelis roared.

Forta heard a rather distant "Greetings, Fidelis!"

She and Veritas returned the gesture as Joyeu landed. Forta craned her neck, trying to spot . . . what was his name . . . oh yes, Joyaetiox.

"I take it you have all heard," said Joyeu brightly. "Do not be shy, Joyaetiox! Come, say hello!"

From behind Joyeu crept a tiny blood-red dragonling, almost the exact image of his mother. Joyaetiox, however, had no webbing between his back spines and had larger, brighter eyes.

He managed a squeaking "Hello" before diving behind Joyeu's foreleg.

Fidelis and Veritas both laughed. "He will make a fine dragon, Joyeu. However, this reminds me . . ." Veritas wrinkled her snout. "I remembered pondering the question of our—the dragons'—survival in Deltora, remembering our slow-to-come eggs and the ability of laying them without mating. I wondered . . . Would we possibly reach across borders to survive and mate with a dragon from another gem tribe?"

Joyeu folded her wings, considering. "You would have to get it past Honora, you know," she finally said. "And we all know about her beliefs. And her temper."

"She could not have made any of those clearer," agreed Fidelis drily, glancing at the darkening sky. "It is nearing dusk, and we should be going to Del," he said reluctantly. "I will gather the others. Wait here—"

"Joyaetiox and I will go with you," said Joyeu firmly. Fidelis gave her a look but nodded, taking to the air. Joyeu and her dragonling did the same.

When they had left, Veritas turned to Forta.

"You were rather quiet, Forta," she said thoughtfully. "Quite unlike yourself."

"Well, I have never truly spoken with Fidelis and Joyeu," replied the dragonling.

Veritas nodded. "True."

They waited in silence, observing the beautiful scenery of the Os-Mine Hills around them. When Fidelis and Joyeu (Joyaetiox was hiding behind his mother, again) returned at last, the Topaz dragon motioned for Forta and Veritas to join them.

"To Del!" he roared, his golden flame greeting the dusk.

"To Del!"

The fire of seven dragons shone in the sky, bright as the gems of their land.

Jasmine

"The dragons! They have come! The dragons have come!"

The call spread through the huge crowd of Deltorans gathered on the hills for Del's first Dragon Night. Jasmine lifted her eyes to the sky and smiled.

The sight of the dragons dispelled any remaining weariness from a sleepless night.

Forta led the procession. She had grown so much larger—she was only a size smaller than Honora, who followed her. Behind Honora was Fortuna, her starry scales glimmering as she gracefully performed air acrobatics. In doing her tricks, however, Fortuna nearly crashed into Fidelis, who hovered behind her, which drew a laugh from the crowd. After Fidelis was Hopian, his massive form a nighttime rainbow glittering in the sky, and behind him were Joyeu and Veritas.

To Jasmine's delight, all of the dragons seemed well and healthy, their scales bright as the gems they represented.

Slowly, they curved into a circle and hovered there. Silence fell across the square.

What is this?

Forta's fire of diamond lit the night, burning so brightly that stars seemed to disappear.

Then flame of green. Flame of blue. Of gold amber-orange.

One by one, the dragons roared their fire, each like a gem in the Belt of Deltora, into the center of their circle in the sky. The colors blazed together like they had the moment the Shadow Lord had been defeated, a ghost of a Dragon Night burned in every Deltorans' memory.

The flames suddenly stopped, and then as one it began again, the colors even more vibrant as the dragons roared together. The dragon fire shone in the sky, bright as the sun.

Tears burned at the corners of Jasmine's eyes.

She was truly happy in what felt like a very, very long time.

Filli and Kree, sensing Jasmine's feelings, added their own voices to the din above—and below, as the people of Deltora started to cheer.

"I did not expect that," said Lief beside her, his expression mirroring her own. "No," agreed Jasmine, smiling. The display of color and flame was much more than—

Jasmine froze. Suddenly she realized that Lief was holding her hand, his fingers intertwined with hers. Jasmine stared at him, bewildered, and some distant part of her mind wondered how the temperature had soared so quickly.

Lief laughed at her expression.

"What? I did the same while we were fighting the Sister of the South and you did not seem to notice." He pulled Jasmine closer to his side and added, "Besides, Mother keeps telling me it is time for Deltora to have a queen as well."

Jasmine swallowed. Except—I did notice. I just cannot say . . .

She pushed the thought away and made a face at him. Lief laughed lightly and they turned back to the dragons, who were now landing on the hills by the palace.

"That was a year ago," Jasmine mused abruptly. "Defeating the Sister, I mean."

"A year full of work for me," Lief muttered. "I preferred it when Mother ran the kingdom, but the advisers insist."

She said nothing to contradict him. Jasmine did not understand what this was, but she had no intentions of ruining it. . . .

The dragons headed for them, each slow step deliberate and self-conscious; rather like how Jasmine was feeling now. This time Veritas led them, so the original order of the dragons was reversed.

The seven dragons of Deltora surrounded the group of people around Jasmine and Lief, all friends and those they trusted. The people on the hills were silent, awestruck as they stared at the dragons, the saviors of their land.

At last, Honora arched her neck in a bow and said in the dragons' graveling voice, "Greetings, King of Deltora." Apparently she spoke for the others, as they copied her motion silently.

As Jasmine took in the glittering forms of the dragons, shining even in the night, she realized that crouching next to Joyeu was a small dragonling. Almost a mirror image of . . . its mother. Jasmine glanced at Lief, wondering if he had seen the dragonling as well, but he was occupied in silent conversation; his free hand was on the Belt and he felt distant, his eyes locked with Honora's.

Suddenly the dragons hissed and broke out of their formation, their necks rearing into the sky and their wings half-spread. Even the tiny dragonling spared the night sky a terrified glance before it darted behind Joyeu's foreleg.

"What is it?" asked Jasmine, turning to Lief sharply. His expression was dark, but still distant. "The dragons sense a creature coming towards us. . . . A creature of the Shadow Lord."

The breath caught in Jasmine's throat.

"Not the Ak-Baba?"

"No—something much darker."

The dragons fully spread their wings and took to the sky with roars of flame.

Then Jasmine noticed Forta was still earthbound. Her neck was half-arched towards the night heavens, but her wings were folded tightly against her sides. Jasmine tensed. The posture looked unnatural and stiff.

Something is wrong here.

Jasmine squinted in the darkness. . . . Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

Forta's scales seemed . . . grey. They were usually—no, always—glittering diamond white.

What is happening?

Jasmine felt her free hand drift towards her dagger.

Then Forta snapped her wings open, revealing midnight-black membrane. Her wings arced up to frame her sides, making her look unnaturally large.

Jasmine's breath froze.

"The first Dragon Night," Forta suddenly hissed, lashing her tail. All eyes turned away from the other dragons in the sky to the Diamond dragon on the king's hill.

"So you think you have won, then." Forta turned to face Jasmine, who realized with a start that Forta's eyes were no longer the beautiful crystal she knew. They were now blood red and burning with . . . with . . . hate?

The intensity of the burning eyes seemed to root Jasmine to the spot. She could not move, could not think: All that remained was the barren world of hate the crimson drowned her in . . .

Join us, a voice crooned. Join us in our own quest—the quest for the death of the land!

"Jasmine! Jasmine!"

Faintly she realized it was a voice, calling her name. Faintly she realized the voice belonged to Lief.

Then Jasmine was roughly jerked into reality as the red eyes were blocked from her view. She blinked in confusion, but then screams pierced the night and what remained of Jasmine's bewilderment left her.

"Something is wrong with Forta, Jasmine!" Lief shouted to her once he saw she was out of her trance. "I cannot—" His eyes widened and he released her hand, drawing his sword barely in time to deflect a blow from a gray blur.

Jasmine!

She recognized the call immediately. Ever faithful, Kree and Filli had returned to her, Kree clutching Filli in his talons. "What on earth is happening?" Jasmine cried as Kree dropped Filli onto her shoulder before fluttering to a halt on her held-out arm.

"Forta is possessed by some demon!" shouted Barda over the din, appearing next to Lief. Both of them had their swords in their hands and looked grim. Jasmine drew her dagger and took in her surroundings, gritting her teeth in frustration.

What she saw gripped her in ice.

It was not only Forta who appeared possessed. All of the dragons were not in their right mind, attacking the group clustered on the highest hill . . .

The group of the people with the most influence upon the kingdom.

But what struck Jasmine the most was that all of the dragons' beautiful, gem-like scales had dulled into a deep gray. Their eyes were the boiling blood red that mirrored the ones that had held her powerless.

The dragonling! screeched Kree suddenly, nearly deafening Jasmine in one ear. The dragonling! It isn't controlled like the others!

Jasmine flinched and looked up. A scrap of red whirled in the sky as the Ruby dragonling flapped in circles, confused. As she watched, a small burst of red fire bloomed against the black of the sky as it tried to find its mother.

"Lief, the—!"

Jasmine's cry was cut off as the dragons all roared, their flame hideously gray like their scales. Then they swooped at the hill as one and landed before her and she tensed, her dagger held in front of her. She knew Lief and Barda were doing the same at her side.

They're not attacking. Why are they not attacking?

"You have not won," spat one of the dragons. Jasmine felt something collapse within her—she could no longer tell which dragon was which, their brilliant colors obscured by the gray. "You think you have bested the Shadow Lord, but that is not true." All of them turned their eyes on Jasmine, narrowed and burning. But none released the hypnotic power that Forta had first used.

"Beware the Shadow Lord, king," snarled another dragon. It said the word "king" like a curse. "Now, he is stronger than ever."

And then the dragons pounced.

Vaguely, Jasmine remembered something she had once seen in the Forests, so long ago. . . . No, that was wrong. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

A lifetime ago Jasmine had seen a Silence Spider leap onto its prey, deathly silent and swift. The prey—a moth or other of some sort—had struggled briefly before the venom overcame it.

The dragons were the Silence Spider and Jasmine was the helpless insect, entangled in their web of pulsing, shadowy power. But she was not about to go without a fight.

Gray swirled around her like storm clouds whirled into a frenzy. Veins of red flashed like lightning, reminding Jasmine of the storm last night.

. . . Last night. It feels like a lifetime ago, too . . .

Jasmine clenched her teeth and reached for her dagger, growling when her hand grasped at empty air. Fine. She slipped her hand into her boot and screamed internally when her fingers found it gone.

Hopeless! I have nothing to fight with . . .

Despair flooded her eyes and Jasmine covered her face, biting back tears.

No. This is this particular predator's way of poisoning you. Fight it with what you have and not what you do not.

What did she have left? She moaned but raised her head, blinking back her despair. Think, Jasmine . . . What do you have, besides your fists?

. . . A voice.

"Hear me, Shadow Lord," she hissed, glaring at the storm surrounding her. "You will pay for all you have ever done to my land, my family, and my friends. You will regret this!"

And then the gray lifted.

Jasmine felt her hope soar and she turned, bracing herself—

No . . . no! This can't be happening! No!

Gray everywhere. Dark skies. Mountains, jagged teeth biting at the storm clouds. Ash drifting at her feet.

Jasmine closed her eyes.

. . . Not the Shadowlands.

I regret leaving you all at a cliffie.

. . . Okay, not really. :P What? If you're gonna read what I write, better get used to constant cliffies. XD

Firstly, thank you all for the reviews! 8D Two reviews already! I knew this story would turn out promising! So, replies to reviews!

DoomedToBeACrazyFanGirlForever: Here you go, then! XD

PurpleLight: Thank you! :D And yes, it has been quite a while . . . :P I'll try not to take too long to update, as I completely understand the horrible feeling of waiting for someone to write that new chapter that you've been waiting for for months, but I have other stories as well. Sigh. Er, as for fluff, I think you saw my rather fail-y attempt there. I'll do my best, but . . . since I'm only twelve and the only way for me to learn to write fluff is by reading what others write and trying to adapt that into my own writing [style]. Fortunately, that's the exact way I even learned how to write, so I shouldn't have too much of a problem! ;D

Right, onto the next thing: my reasons for not updating this as quickly as I'd hoped. Well, for one, there was that pre-competition class I mentioned in the other chapter. Thankfully, the ten days of classes are over. :D

However (haha, there has to be a "however"), I have been forced away from the computer by various people, including my sister Lime Green Squirrel (who is hopelessly addicted to Animal Jam and always saying "I'm trying to get rid of my useless items and trying to figure out how to hack into Julian2's account!", even if the latter is an excellent reason to be on), my mother (chores and babysitting my other sister "Sage" mostly), and time. Sooo hopefully, those are good enough excuses. XP

As I said, I'll try to update as soon as I can! :) Review!