A/N: Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, but here it finally is! Don't hold your breath for the next chapter though, it won't be coming too quickly.
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Booster.
The Black Omen
Artha sighed and nudged Delilah in the back, looking warily at the door of the shop. "We should go now."
Delilah sighed and turned to look at him from where she had been leaning her elbows on the counter, waiting for supplies. "You said that ten minutes ago, and nothing's happened."
"I just don't want to get caught. We've been here too long."
Delilah looked him over, as if to judge whether his nervousness was cowardice, or whether he had a point. "You're right," she relented, getting edgy herself the longer they stayed. "After we get the food here, we should be okay until we reach the next town."
Artha breathed a sigh of relief and glanced past Delilah to see if the shop keeper had come back yet. Delilah grinned at him.
"How can you be so calm?" Artha asked rather pointedly.
"Relax. The wraiths haven't caught us yet."
"But they're walking by the store more and more. They've seen us in here."
"You're such a worry-newt, you know that?"
"I just…can't get caught," Artha whispered back, the statement having more truth than Delilah would ever know.
Delilah, Covert and he were in a small town quite close to Dragon City. Too close for Artha's tastes, but Delilah had insisted that they needed to stop for supplies before going any further, which was true. The ride to this town took nearly the rest of the day, and both Artha and Delilah were wondering whether they would make it before dark. Because, as Delilah explained, once you were found wandering the streets at dark, wraiths were surely to ask for your papers. Which Artha didn't have, and which Delilah couldn't risk either. She had left the inn where she worked at in quite a hurry, and her boss was surely to be looking for her…
"Watch Covert!" Delilah hissed at him in a friendly sort of way, which Artha wasn't sure was possible up to now. The clerk came and dropped quite a bit of food and supplies on the desk, no doubt wondering why so much was needed. Which was another reason why they had to leave the town quickly. They were raising suspicion.
While Delilah tried to haggle the price without wasting too mush of their precious time, Artha looked for Covert. Delilah hadn't wanted to keep him with Beau, hiding in the ruins. She didn't quite trust Beau.
Artha didn't understand it; Beau was the nicest dragon he knew. But apparently Delilah had been brought up with the philosophy that dragons were killers and could only be restrained with wraith gear, which was what they deserved. All in all, it was beyond Artha's comprehension as to how anyone could believe such nonsense. He personally planned to have her mind fully changed before they reached the Gold Empire.
Artha quickly glanced down the aisles, looking for a young boy with grey hair. Wiping his sweaty hands against his pants, he did suppose he was overly nervous. No one knew they were looking for the Gold Empire, and they still had a few hours before nightfall. A few hours where they could still leave the town without being suspicious to the point of utmost scrutiny.
However, even though the likelihood of them being caught seemed rather low, Artha was worried, and nothing would help. He was in a strange world with new rules, his only real friend was Beau, he had no idea what state the world was in, or if his friends were alive or dead, or whether things would be like they used to. They were all fifteen years older.
Artha looked down an aisle and grinned when he saw Covert's small head closely inspecting a cage full of newts, which were staring at the strange little boy and continuously shooting their tongues out at him which got stuck to the edge of the cage. A few other kids, around the same age as Covert, were watching and either laughing or giggling.
As Artha approached Covert, the boy looked up, the huge grin sliding from his face. "C'mon, we're leaving soon," Artha said, and Covert obediently headed to the counter, not once making a noise of any sort. Artha took one last look at the newts, then followed.
----------
A glance back with amazing timing allowed Artha to see the last of the warm lights of the town twinkle before the hills obstructed his view. Even full of wraiths, Artha was beginning to find that he would have actually liked to stay in town, as opposed to the opposite. He looked ahead, to where Delilah assured him they would not meet another town for a long, long time. Behind him was the fading light, and before him, darkness, where there was nothing he could trust. He was leaping before he looked.
He heard Delilah, sitting on Beau's back, talking to Covert about random things. Covert listened silently, and Artha was beginning to wonder whether he was a mute.
Beau looked up at Artha, and realizing where his attention was, yawned to bring it back to himself.
Artha looked down at Beau, grinning. Full night had fallen earlier than Artha had expected, and he too, was tired. "Er, Delilah, do you think it's time we…"
"No."
"What? You don't even know what I was going to-"
"Say? You want to curl up under a rock and go to sleep. But we can't, so no."
Artha sighed irritably and looked back at her, where she cast him a superior grin. "Why not? I'm tired."
"It's not that late. We need to put as much distance as we can between us and the town. Wraiths patrol closely to the towns."
Artha grimaced, then turned to the front and had the biggest urge to cross his arms and pout. He stifled a yawn and glared ahead into the darkness, where the only sound was of Beau walking, and presently, little Covert's snoring as he sat in front of Delilah, leaned against her and slept.
Artha scratched the back of his neck as the minutes passed, deep in thought. He needed to know what was going on, how they could even start looking for the Gold Empire, and make up a story about himself that would be believable. A few times Artha had almost turned and asked Delilah, but both times he stopped. He needed a good story to fool her. He only wished he knew for certain whether he could trust her or not.
----------
Delilah, after scanning the surrounding layers of rocks, boulders, forgotten ruins, dirt, dust and more rocks, looked at Artha's back curiously. "Artha."
He jumped at the sudden loud voice in the otherwise dead silence. Turning around, he peered at her face in the dark gloom. "What?"
"Well, I figured, since we're going to be traveling together for a while, that we might try to get to know each other a bit more."
"Oh…right. Good."
"Tell me," Delilah said quickly before Artha could ask a question first, "tell me about your life before coming here. I'm interested to know about the free dragons up there in the mountains. Are there many?"
Artha wet his lips, looking apprehensive. "Well…I lived in a small village. Really small, uh, up in the mountains."
"Uh-huh."
"And, well, my father he likes dragons…which was where I first got interested in dragons and the idea of a free empire. Well, we…didn't get news of the…rest of the world very often. Because our town was very secluded…and stuff. So my dad was able to have a few…free dragons without worrying about wraiths or anyone else finding out."
"Really," Delilah mused. "So your dad…"
"Um," Artha paused, and for a moment, Delilah wondered whether she had touched on a sore subject for him. Noticing her look, Artha said quickly, "He's…gone. Something happened and he disappeared. I mean, he…some people found out about the, er, free dragons we had and came and burnt down the stables. My dad disappeared, and I think he…I think he went to the Gold Empire. Actually, he left me a note saying he did. So that's one reason why I really want to find it. To find my dad and, well, Beau here is the only dragon that made it out of the stables…alive."
Delilah sat straight up, almost causing Covert to wake. "Wow. I…so you're trying to find your dad? That's…that's really…nice. That you would venture down here and risk your life to find him."
"Well," Artha said, shrugging, highly relieved Delilah apparently believed him. "He'd do the same for me." He grinned at her with such a hopeful look in his eyes that Delilah looked away, her own eyes strangely saddened.
"What," Artha asked hesitantly, "What about you?"
Delilah looked back at him. "Oh, it's nothing special. I lived with my parents in Dragon City, well, not in the city itself. Close by the inn. Lived there my whole life. My parents were…um, they were fond believers in the whole Paynn Empire. I don't know where I really got the idea to reject that idea, but I just knew, I guess, that it was wrong. I've only seen a dragon without wraith gear only once, besides Beau here. It was…I don't know, not as stupid as everyone else said dragons were." Delilah shrugged. "I began to realize it was wrong to tamper with their minds, even though everyone else said they deserved it. I wasn't going to do anything about it, but then you came, and I just…followed."
Artha flashed a warm smile at her, evidently pleased with himself that he had come at the right place at the right time. Delilah found it utterly impossible not to smile back. Artha looked down at Covert. "What about him? You said he was your…"
"Nephew. My older brother died, and so did his wife. So Covert was left with us."
"Is he…is he a mute?"
"Yes. His whole life."
"Oh," Artha said, not quite sure of what else to say to that. He turned back to the front, and for the moment, the conversation died down. Delilah relaxed as much as she could on Beau's back without relaxing too much to the point of falling off, but Artha and Beau remained tense.
Artha, encouraged by their talk so far, prepared himself to ask what was really thriving on his mind ever since he had left the Shadow Track, and by some burst of genius, (or was it luck?) he had managed to create a story that he thought would help him ask those questions.
He turned around again, and Delilah looked up at him, swaying side to side on Beau's broad back. "Delilah," Artha said. "I've grown up in the mountains, pretty cut off from the rest of the world." At Delilah's nodding, Artha continued. "Really, really cut off. I don't know…I mean, I'm not sure what exactly happened, since the war started. I've-I've only gotten little facts and I think they might be wrong…so…"
Delilah chuckled and stared up at the dark sky. "You want me to give you a little history lesson?" Artha nodded almost sheepishly. "Sure. I mean, you'll have to know what really happened."
"I don't even know what's happening now. Tell me everything."
Artha turned fully around in the saddle so he was facing Delilah. Beau eagerly listened. And Delilah began.
"Well, The Paynn Empire…"
"No, no, no. From the very beginning. You know…when the Dragon Booster disappeared."
"From then? Okay. Well," Delilah said, "The Dragon Booster disappeared about when I was born, and on that same day the Paynn Empire was created."
"What?" Artha said. "On the same day? When the Dragon Booster was trapped in the Shadow Track?"
Delilah nodded. "It was, you have to admit, a great plan by Word Paynn…you know who he is?"
"Yes. What plan?" Artha asked quickly, leaning forward in growing excitement and horror.
Delilah grinned at him. "Really smart plan. He got rid of the only person who could have had a decent chance of stopping him, or so they say." At a look from Artha which said, tell-me-everything-and-don't-leave-a-thing-out-no-matter-how-unimportant-you-may-think-it-is, she continued on again in a straight voice, now growing serious.
"I think it was his son that lured the Dragon Booster into the Shadow Track to trap him there. He destroyed the entrance so even if the Dragon Booster defeated his fears, he could never get out." Delilah's tone of voice when she mentioned the Dragon Booster defeating his fears made it clear that she thought nothing of the kind would happen.
"So after having put wraith gear in all his gear, he made nearly all dragons and humans into his wraiths. That's how his empire rose, and after this, there came the Years of War. The first battle of the Years of War was begun by Propheci, when the memory of what Word Paynn had done to their kind was still fresh in their minds."
"But…from what you've said, Word made both dragons and humans wraiths," Artha said.
"Yes, but he didn't keep the humans wraiths for long. When he had proper control of everything, he let them go. Nowadays all human wraiths are criminals. Becoming wraiths is a punishment…which is what we might become if we're caught." Delilah gave a light laugh, the mere mention of becoming a wraith obviously something that scared her. Artha didn't blame her. That was one experience he'd rather not go through again.
"Keep going," he said. "Be very, very precise."
Delilah sighed as her hollow laughter died away against the pressing silence around them. "Let's see, anyway, Propheci launched a full scale war against the city. But they lost. Not that it really mattered. After that many more dragons joined their cause. After that… the Prophets didn't attack or fight openly for a while. While the rest of the world was content in open battles against each other, they secretly attacked and gained even more dragons under their control. During this time, while all the empires were at each others throats-"
"What?" Artha interrupted. "Why? Word Paynn is the one they should all be fighting against. Not each other." He left unsaid what was really bothering him. They were all fighting each other? Who was trying to rescue him during all that time?
Delilah mused for a while, trying to remember all the facts. "Well, they did. The Dragon Priests followed the refugees from Dragon City-"
"Were there a lot?"
"Quite a few, now shut up. In Wind City, they had a conference when all the other refugees from the other cities were able to get there, if they were able to. You see, Word Paynn had millions of wraiths. They had…considerably less. Many didn't want to go fight on a full-scale battle. They would be slaughtered."
"Didn't they want to try and help the Dragon booster?"
"Yes. But, you see, the Shadow Track was guarded extremely well."
Artha fell silent and overcome. How could he have expected them to help? With millions of wraiths under his control, how could anyone even get close to freeing him? Suddenly, Artha's heart turned to ice. What if Lance, Kitt and Parm tried to free him during that time? What if they had died?
"Delilah," he said in a chocked voice.
She looked at him questionably. "What?"
"Did…do…when did they try to free the Dragon Booster? Was…were they killed…those who tried to help, I mean."
"Oh, they did try. They…let's see, they scouted the area first, realized it was too dangerous, and didn't try until it was in their favour. I mean, who would blindly rush in to free one person? It's not like the whole war rested on his shoulders."
"What?"
"The Dragon Booster, he's just a kid in a suit. What could he do? If you ask me, I'm glad they forgot about it and went on. One person won't change anything."
"What…the Dragon Booster can…what do you mean they forgot?"
"They gave up trying, which was pretty smart of them. If the Dragon Booster was so powerful, he could get out himself. They had more important things to do, like stay alive."
"But the Dragon Booster is supposed to save the world. They didn't really give up on him, right? Wasn't there a huge battle in front of the Shadow Track?" Artha asked, recalling the vivid memory of the desolate battle plain he had seen. Then, with a shock, he wondered what kind of an omen that could have been. If the first thing he saw was a wind swept battle field, what did the future hold? Artha felt a little sick.
"Yeah, there was a battle fought to free him. But you know, they failed," Delilah said. "Listen, according to them at that time, the Dragon Booster would likely overcome his fears." She rolled her eyes slightly to indicate she didn't think the same way. "If he did, he would have died in a week or so from hunger and thirst. There's no way he could have gotten out. The Dragon Booster is dead. It's a known fact. If he hasn't defeated his fears yet, it's unlikely he'll ever defeat them. And if he does, he'll be dead a week later."
"No," Artha whispered.
"Yes, the Dragon Booster is dead."
"No…I mean. They all gave up after that battle…the Dragon Priests too? Even them?" Artha swallowed past the lump in his throat with considerable effort. Even his father? Brother?
"Yes. He's dead." Delilah looked at him, scrutinizing him. "You weren't…really hoping he'd make it out somehow?"
"Yes, he has to! Who's going to stop Word Paynn?" Artha said loudly, gritting his teeth. "Who's going to fight the Shadow Booster? Who's going to unite dragons and humans?"
Delilah shrugged. "The Gold Empire, I guess. Not the Dragon Booster."
Artha slumped back in the saddle and felt beaten. They had all left him? Did the prophesy mean nothing all of a sudden? Then, suddenly, Artha felt selfish. He was glad they left him and didn't try to rescue him again. If it was truly dangerous to try…he was glad they didn't. As long as his dad and brother were alive. As long as they were okay, Artha felt he could continue on, even in this new world.
Delilah looked at Artha, then took a deep breath. "Shall I…continue?" At his slow nod, she said, "Okay then, after…where were we?"
"They had a meeting and decided they shouldn't try to free the Dragon Booster," Artha said grumpily.
"Right. The leaders of the different cities, after realizing what they were up against, they each had different ideas of what they should do. Some wanted to unite and fight, others wanted to look after themselves, others wanted to ally themselves with Word Paynn, others wanted to do different things…so it all fell apart. Then their own cities fell apart too. So the world was at war."
"For how long?" Arth asked bitterly. "How long did everyone…fight?"
Delilah smoothed Covert's hair. "For…for about a while. The Years of War only stopped when the empires were either destroyed or merged into others. After all this fighting, there was only the Paynn Empire, the Purple Empire, the Gold Empire (if you can call them one), the Orange Empire, the Green Empire (the Brown Empire was large but joined with them) and the Black Empire. All the others were too small to be called empires, and so went into hiding. After this, there wasn't a battle for a while. All the empires went about building themselves up and strengthening themselves. By this time, the Paynn Empire was huge. Nearing the end of the Years of War, they had come up with new technology, new gear. Nothing could stop them."
Artha huffed at the 'new gear' part. He should've expected no less from Word.
"The only Empires that would dare oppose him fully were the Orange and Black. The Black Empire was…relatively young. During the Years of War, they didn't involve themselves in the fighting. They grew. Now after the Years of War, during a time of rest, the Black Empire called themselves a haven for those who had been uprooted by all the fighting. Paynn Empire tried to attack them, but the Black Empire never failed to defend. The Shadow Booster leads this empire."
"The Black Empire managed to convince the people and dragons to join them, who would otherwise have joined the Gold Empire. They said they upheld the view that dragons were as good as humans. The Gold Empire didn't believed them, but unfortunately, many people did. After a while, the Shadow Booster became more aggressive. Very violent and the ideas of equality that they used to gain supporters weren't as strong as they used to be. I supposed they just used it just to gain supporters. And that's how it's been for the last while. We're in the Years of Rest. But now it's beginning to look like the Years of War will start again."
"Oh," Artha said blankly. So was that the state the world was in? Artha stared at the ground as it passed by him. How many people had died? It was beginning to seem as if he'd never see anyone again. Not Kitt, Parm or Lance, but not Khatah, Marianis, Pyrrah, Phistus or anyone else either.
"So," Artha said softly, then with more determination in his voice, "How are we exactly supposed to find the Gold Empire?" The world was in an upheaval. They needed the Dragon Booster, and they needed him now.
Delilah answered him straightly. "Not really sure. But I know they're somewhere to the East. We'll have to get outside of the Paynn Empire boundaries. Then we'll be able to find people less afraid to talk about them. We also won't have those wraiths to worry about."
Artha noticed her twiddling her thumbs anxiously. He frowned. "What else would we worry about instead of the wraiths?"
"Oh, just the Prophets…stray wraith scouts…hydrags…," Delilah shrugged. "Things like that. But we'll be a lot safer than here."
"You won't be saying that if a Prophet chooses you for its new rider."
"They'll have a tough time doing that."
"They will," Artha said as he turned around and faced the front. "I'll make sure they do."
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Edd stamped out the fire and raised his club menacingly while Kyd dropped his pack and ran behind some rocks. "You idiot! What're you think you were doing?"
"N-nothing!" Kyd stammered angrily from behind a boulder. "Just lighting a fire. I'm cold and it's dark!"
Edd sighed and threw his club (a broken piece of gear) against the ground. "Sure," he said in a voice dripping of sarcasm. "Let's light a fire so they'll know exactly where we are! Scale it, Kyd! We're following them SECRETLY! If you need a dictionary…"
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'll just freeze to death then," Kyd said in a pouting tone.
Edd sighed and turned from him. "I go following them closer, and you go and make yourself a fire. We're not staying here anyway," he added as an afterthought.
"But-but it's night. Aren't they sleeping?" Kyd demanded. He had looked forward to when their quarry would stop for the night. He crept from behind the boulder, sensing Edd's angry mood to shift from being directed at him to being directed at their prey.
"No," Edd sneered as he hoisted his pack onto one of the two wraiths they had brought. "They're still walking. Looks like they plan on walking for most of the night."
Kyd muttered a heart-felt "scales," and picked up his pack from the ground, stuffing things inside that he had taken out, expecting to have rested. Edd placed his helmet on his head and mounted the bipedal wraith, who, other than bending under the weight, made no other movement.
Edd looked at the grumbling Kyd, and when they were both ready, they set out again. Kyd glanced around at the dark landscape, having given up a while ago trying to see the tracks. The night, which had been a foreboding place for their quarry, was a safe, familiar blanket of concealment for Edd and Kyd. Edd liked the night and how he was able to sneak upon unsuspecting insurgents and bring them in for questioning under its dark shield.
Edd put his attention into looking through a pair of binocs, giving him a clear vision of the dragon tracks.
He found it slightly odd that people going to the Gold Empire were using a wraith as transport…unless they had taken the wraith gear off…
Edd chuckled, causing a just snoozing Kyd to jerk awake. "What? What is it?" he asked blearily.
"Nothing, nothing." Edd smiled again. A dragon without wraith gear? That was funny. Everyone knew dragons would eat a person alive given the chance. Edd furrowed his brows, then brought up his VIDDscreen, to where a small, pointy chinned man jumped quickly to full attention.
"Check all wraith databases, Alan," Edd said harshly as Kyd looked over at him, then shifted in attempts to snooze on his silently prowling wraith.
"On another job, are we?" Alan rubbed his pointy chin and yawned, the deep circles under his eyes a testament of his loyalty to his job. He looked at Edd carefully with watery eyes. "Catch anyone that last time?"
Edd grimaced. "Yes-"
"I heard he got away." The point was stated in such a way that Edd got the feeling that Alan had heard it from quite a few people.
"We let him get away. We're following him."
"Leading you somewhere important?"
"That's for me to know. Now have all wraiths checked in?"
Alan harrumphed slightly at Edd's tone of voice, having expected to be informed, like usual. "Yes. None are missing this time, surprisingly. You know, I think that new tracking measure is-"
"None? None at all?"
"No." Alan peered at Edd. "Why? Can I help you with anything?"
Edd sneered at him. "Get back to your clicking, computer boy."
Alan sighed. "Amazing, Edd. That hurt me, right here it did." Alan thumped his chest indifferently, and without another look at Edd - he had mounds of work to do - he terminated the link. Edd groaned and pondered his new dilemma as the green glow faded from his VIDDscreen.
After a few moments of deliberation, he concluded that must mean that the rebels traveling to the Gold Empire were still using a wraith, just not one from this particular area. Perhaps from another city. Edd mulled things over. He'd have to call someone else to see if wraiths were missing from the other cities, and even then, usually trackers went broken, missing and such, so that one wraith was almost always missing.
"Nah, too much a of a hassle," Edd murmured. What was really important wasn't where their wraith had come from; it was staying on their trail and hoping they found the Gold Empire. At any rate, the wraith they had would make their progress quicker, which could be both good and bad for Edd and Kyd.
Edd cracked his neck, then looked through his binocs again and focused on guiding his wraith through the still night.
To his side, Kyd actually snored.
----------
The early morning down in the bottom of the canyon only differed from the night with a grey atmosphere instead of black, and a slightly lighter and more open feel about the land. Artha, Delilah, Covert and Beau had been traveling for one week, riding on Beau while he ran, and then walking beside him to give him a bit of a rest. No prompting was needed for either Artha or Beau; they both wanted to get out of the Paynn Empire as soon as they could.
Delilah said they had traveled in extremely good time, which brightened Artha up. The long ride, though it had given Artha something to do, was becoming long and tiresome, giving him many opportunities to think about what lay ahead and to worry about what he would find.
So it was a very happy day when the great walls of the canyon first rose into view. Artha had never before been so glad to see a massive, almost endless rise of vertical brown stone and dirt. However, his view of it change when they finally reached the bottom, four days after it had first come into view.
Artha looked up in amazement and with a twinge of dread. Before him rising up for miles and miles was the canyon wall. The end disappeared high above him, so Artha had to be content with viewing the steep canyon walls they would have to climb up. For twenty miles. Needless to say, the prospect was not very inviting.
"Like the view?"
Artha looked at Delilah, who was standing beside him as they both looked at their intended path. "Do you? It looks like suicide."
Their intended path was more of a slight break in between littered rocks and thick, dark green moss winding almost vertical up the cliff. "Yep," Artha said. "That's suicide."
Delilah looked at him. "I'm sure the path gets bigger the higher up we go."
Artha watched her cast one last apprehensive look at the 'path' and then turn and walk back to where Covert was playing in the sand and Beau was lying nearby. Artha crossed his arms and looked up again. He sure hoped it got easier the further up they went. He bit his lower lip, then turned and followed Delilah. This was taking far longer than he had expected.
"When do you think we might be out of the Paynn Empire?" Artha asked as they walked back to Beau and Covert.
Delilah stared at the ground before her feet. "Well…it'll take a while to climb the cliff. Once we're out of the canyon we shouldn't have too hard of a time traveling. Though we might have to be extra wary of wraith patrols. But I don't think we'll have too much of a problem. Hard to say how long exactly, but…not extremely long, I don't think."
Artha groaned. Her answer was annoyingly unhelpful and vague. "We need to find the Gold Empire soon."
"Don't worry," Delilah said reassuringly. "We'll find it."
"I don't see how we'll find it soon if we first have to find someone who might know where it is. If we did happen to find someone who knows where it is, why would they risk it telling a couple of strangers?" Artha said the last rather viciously. He kicked at a rock in his path, pretending it to be Word's head.
Delilah watched the rock roll away in silence, and in silence they walked until she spoke up again. "Artha, it makes no sense for the Gold Empire to remain completely hidden. If we're looking for it, we'll find it. Otherwise, how can they grow if they remain hidden to those who would join?"
"I can't see why they can't just tell everyone where they are," Artha huffed.
"They're too small. They'll be crushed in an instant by Word, or the Prophets or the Black Empire."
Artha frowned at the ground before muttering, "I guess. But doesn't the Gold Empire have any alliances? You've mentioned the Green Empire is pretty large. Don't they have their help?"
"They probably do. But green is a stubborn colour and brown doesn't help them any. Perhaps they're all just waiting."
"For what?"
"For the battles to start up again. It's only a matter of time, and I guess it'd make sense to stay in concealment until then. You know, get as powerful as possible without losing anybody in minor skirmishes until the important battles begin."
Artha felt as though war was over his head as Delilah spoke. They had the brains and theories of teenagers, while the rest of the world dealt with complex battle strategies thought up by the experts themselves. He sighed, feeling as though the world were a big ocean, in which he was drowning. He had always been on top of things before. He had always been the one people came to for help, whom people trusted and whom was always informed of everything. Now he knew nothing.
All he needed to do was find his dad. Then everything would be alright. He was sure of it.
----------
The door opened soundlessly in Word's citadel, and Skin entered confidently, walking straight towards the dais, her face set in a grimace of displeasure. The wraiths guarding the door looked blankly at her and watched her approach to Word, who had his back turned. However, Skin's presence had not gone unnoticed by him.
He turned in his chair, Skin's appearance more important than what had held his attention before. Behind him, the screens still showed the instructions and formulas he had been working tirelessly on. He fought the urge to rub his eyes. Of course, he didn't need to spend so much time on his new gears, whether or not the mere idea of their upcoming usefulness was terribly exciting. He did, after all, have an eternity to work on them.
"Skin," he said smoothly as she approached.
When she eyed him warily to judge the mood he was in, Word frowned at her. "What is it?"
Skin stared at him with her one eye for a moment longer before responding, the black patch over her other with harsh lines and ragged edges giving her other eye more viciousness then it otherwise would have. Word just loved that patch. It was amazing what some prisoners would tell her after she had given them one look. "I've just seen the latest footage from a wraith scout in the Old City, sector nine."
"Sector nine?" Word said softly, surprised. It was well known, to him anyway, that the Shadow Track lay in what he called sector nine of the Old City. A wasteland of battle, he rarely bothered to keep regular wraith scouts patrolling the area anymore. He gave her an amused smile. "Why does this footage requite my attention? Or are you simply trying to make small talk?"
"If I were to engage you in small talk," Skin said levelly, "Trust me, it would not be about this." A hint of venom slipped from her voice, causing her to close her lips tightly in anxious worry that she had made Word angry. Word's eye twitched, knowing full well what she meant. Skin's eye narrowed, affected by Word's own hard stare.
For a moment, they stared at each other; Word almost ineffectively showing his dominance and Skin revealing as much defiance as she dared. Then Skin abruptly broke the unblinking stare, deciding that her news required Word to be in the best possible mood. She continued in her brisk manner, yet not without a look that said we'll-talk-about-this-later. "The footage is…it requires your attention." From her pocket, she produced a small disc and stepped forward to hand it to Word.
Word took it while ignoring her slight glare and turned it over in his hands in mild curiosity before placing it into his VIDDscreen. When it loaded, which took about the span of one second, he saw sector nine from the wraith's point of view. It was walking through the battle field, empty and barren.
Word sat back in his chair and watched while Skin watched him, awaiting his reaction with the hint of a smile on her lips. Word, after watching the wraith walk through the Old City, began to grow irritated. What was the point? He looked back at Skin and found her watching him intently.
"It's at the Shadow Track."
The at-ease mood Word had been in was quickly destroyed and sent into oblivion, and he wouldn't likely find it again for a while. Those two words sent off alarms bells in his head and caused him to grip the sides of his chair. "The Shadow Track?"
Staring at the screen, Word didn't see Skin nod sullenly behind him. Boring his eyes into the screen for one more second, Word abruptly laughed and sat back. Skin rose her eyebrows in surprise.
"Sir?"
Word sighed and let his laughter trail off. "The Shadow Track? Why would something there need my attention?"
"Well," Skin stuttered for a moment, completely unprepared for his sudden dismissal of the dire and ominous threat, if it proved to be true. "The…the Dragon Booster is imprisoned there, and-"
"-and he's not likely to break free. Ever. Really, Skin, does it seem possible to you?"
"Sir, was it not you who told me that underestimating your enemies paves the way for your own downfall?" Skin questioned.
Word looked at her. "True…but he can't." Word silently turned back to the screen while Skin sighed, both knowing the last part Word had said was more to convince himself that he couldn't come back. At any rate, Skin thought it was just stupid to hope it wouldn't happen when there was the chance it could.
Realizing the wraith was about to come into view of the Shadow Track, Word mumbled to himself. "He can't come back…even the Dragon of Legend cannot break through that cliff. They're both too inexperienced." He'd done the math, read all the ancient texts, and found that the Dragon Booster couldn't break free, not with the little he knew.
Word faced the screen as the wraith's camera finally showed the Shadow Track. And he gasped.
For the next hour, the citadel was filled with the defiant and stubborn protests of Word and the equally defiant, but more calculated rebuttals of Skin. Various people - ordered in specifically - observed and studied the video, then left to study the Shadow Track. As the day progressed and the reports filed in, Word began to realize that it was quite possible that the Dragon Booster had finally escaped.
The rocks strewn about the battle field were thrown in an outward circle from the track, and all the experts agreed on one thing: they were from within the track. An explosion had sent them hurling outside and caused the entire cliff to collapse. As if Word's reaction after hearing this wouldn't have already turn the blood cold and stop the heart in fear, after a video of one of the wraiths that had actually filmed the Dragon Booster and followed him for some ways before he got to the town…well, everyone who wanted to live left in a hurry.
Word found himself a new hobby; tracking down the live Dragon Booster. It was painstakingly clear that the hero would have gone to the closest town, and when night fell, Edd and Kyd's names came up, along with the description of the people they were chasing.
Around midnight, Skin left Dragon City on a red draconium wraith and raced east, following the footsteps and directions given to her by Edd and Kyd, who were ordered to keep tracking their prey, and that the mission had gone up to top priority.
-----------
That night they risked a fire.
Artha spread his hands to feel the heat and sighed loudly. "So warm. And the food. So warm."
Delilah grinned and took another bite of her dragon fish. Beside her, also sitting cross-legged on the ground, was Covert. He had already finished his food and was contenting himself with making a house from twigs, stones and dirt. Artha leaned back against the snoozing Beau's warm side.
For weeks and weeks they had traveled, and now was one of the rare times in which both Artha and Delilah felt safe enough and far away enough from any towns to light a fire.
Artha looked up at the tree-tops and sat for a while watching the uncountable stars, a sight he was quickly growing accustomed to. Their trip had seemed so much more alive and worthwhile after they had gotten out of the canyon. Beau loved the grass and the trees and the vibrancy of the world. It was so much different from the area surrounding Dragon City. Even though they hadn't any further news of the Gold Empire, Artha felt safe and incredibly optimistic.
Delilah yawned, causing Artha to look from the heavens and at her.
"So," she mused. "Shall I take first watch, or you?"
"I think it's your turn."
Delilah tapped a finger against her lower lip. "My turn was last night."
"Yes, but last night we stopped at an inn. You skipped your turn." Artha grinned and leaned forward, ready for the inevitable argument.
Delilah laughed and stood. "Fine, fine. I'll take first watch."
"What? Just like that?" Artha blinked, thoroughly shocked.
Delilah shrugged. "Come on. We've traveled all day," she said, stressing the last words. "I've got no energy for arguing. I'll just let you think you're getting your way for now."
Artha felt too tired to utter a retort, so he let it slide and moved around until he was in a better position. Beside him, Beau made a low noise that unmistakably told him to stop moving before he unexpectedly found his mouth full of dirt. Artha wisely obliged, yet shifted once more to let Covert sleep beside him.
----------
Edd dropped to his stomach and wriggled and crawled the rest of the way to the top of the incline. Kyd followed, muttering quietly.
Edd would have grumbled along with Kyd; after all, crawling on your stomach in the middle of the night on a slightly muddy hill was far from fun. But he was in such a good mood. He could put up with being dirty.
Ferns and clumps of tall grass shielded his view, but he knew that down below, almost beneath the small cliff, was their prey. They had been following them for weeks and now was the only time in which they were about to get a good look at them, besides the time at Dragon City. Peeking through the grass ahead was the faint glow of the dying fire. Edd grinned and pushed his way to the top slowly and quietly, so that neither Kyd nor he were heard.
Besides the fact that they were about to get a good look at their quarry, Skin was due to catch up with them before morning. Not that Edd was looking forward to her company, but she would be a big help, and her presence would give both Edd and Kyd a bigger sense of duty. The Chief Investigator and Espionage Expert for the Paynn Empire only dealt in important issues. Edd couldn't have felt any prouder.
Finally, nearly three meters ahead of Kyd, who was still lagging behind, Edd was able to brush aside the last of the grass and peer down. The first thing he saw was the campfire, slowly dying out. Then he saw the large shape of their quadruped wraith. And right against it slept the boy and the child.
"What?" Edd hissed and glared downwards. That wraith…it couldn't be…Edd could barely believe his eyes.
The light of the fire clearly showed the red and blue markings, and Edd looked again to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Blue and red? Why wasn't the wraith black and purple? He couldn't believe it. A free dragon.
And it wasn't attacking them. Edd snorted. A free dragon? He shook his head. Boy, did he have news to tell Skin when she arrived.
Kyd scuttled up next to him, quieter than Edd had been, which surprised Edd to no end. He waited for the inevitable as Kyd glanced down.
"Magna Draconis, Edd. That dragon…it's not a wraith."
"Nope," Edd huffed.
"Wh…why isn't it attacking them?" Kyd asked, forever believing the guise that dragons were vicious beasts.
Edd sighed and hesitated before whispering. "Perhaps it's been…I don't know, Kyd."
"Wow," Kyd said again with amazement. "That dragon is pretty colorful."
Edd rolled his eyes, then growled and pulled Kyd down to the ground with him as they hid behind the grass.
"Wha-"
"Shush! She's back!"
----------
Artha felt a kick in his stomach and his eyes flew open. He sat bolt upright and looked around before he noticed Delilah to his side, snickering quietly.
She held up her hands as he glared at her. "I'm…sorry," she laughed. "You were just so…"
"Next time," Artha growled as he stood up, "No kicking. Poking me will do."
"Alright. Up pokey, your turn for lookout."
Artha brushed himself off and realized he might have just given himself a new nickname. He sighed.
"Didn't see anything, did you?" Artha asked as he stepped away from Beau.
"Nope. But I saw a huge draco-slug."
"So I'll be able to look forward to another completely boring few hours, huh?"
"Basically. Be glad there's nothing out there."
"I am."
Delilah looked down at Covert, then tentatively sat down beside him, all the while eyeing Beau cautiously. Artha laughed softly.
"Like I said before, he won't eat you."
Delilah shot him a glare that soon softened. "I…I'm still not entirely used to him yet."
"Well I'm sure you'll have fun when we reach the Gold Empire. They must have lots of free dragons," Artha said eagerly.
"Yes, well, the ones that are still alive."
Delilah's somber and serious tone wiped the smile from Artha's face. Delilah looked down at her lap, feeling guilty for stamping out the good mood with the reality of the world. Artha looked at the barely glowing embers of the fire.
"Delilah?"
"Hmm?"
"How long again until we're out of the Paynn Empire?"
"Another week," she answered promptly. "If it doesn't rain again, that is."
"Even if it does, we'll walk through the rain this time. We're almost out."
Delilah gave him a look. "Just because we're almost out of the empire doesn't mean we can be careless. Do you want to get a cold?"
"Course not. But…like you said. The world is still in a time of rest, and we need to use this time to…to find them and prepare for when the war starts up again."
Delilah nodded. "I hope it doesn't start too soon, but…I have a feeling it will. The entire world has been on the brink of war for a while."
And the return of the Dragon Booster will be the thing that sets them off, Artha thought glumly.
Then Delilah shrugged it off. "We only have to start worrying when the Black Empire comes down from the north. They're the empire that's going to start the war, when they're ready."
"And when were not," Artha huffed and turned to the forest. "Well, I hope you sleep better than I did."
"What? You looked pretty sound asleep before." Delilah gave him a grin before settling herself down to sleep. Artha sighed and could almost have sworn he heard her call him pokey as he walked away.
He sighed contentedly as he walked beneath the branches of the trees. He decided to walk around the camp a few times before climbing up high on the small cliff from where he could see everything. Looking up at he cliff, he was struck by the sudden feeling that something else was up there already, watching them.
Perhaps he would go there first.
He altered his course and took no more than five steps before a harsh snort sounded right before his face.
"What?" Artha jumped and fell back, fearing a hydrag.
But what crept from beneath the shadows of the trees was no hydrag. A sleek, black face looked at him, and green eyes looked him up and down. A rough voice came from above the dragon.
"What's that? A human?"
Artha yelped and scrambled through the bushes and quickly ran to the clearing where Beau was rising to his feet, growling at the forest. Delilah stood, looking about herself in shock.
"Artha, what?" she began before he cut her off.
"There's someone on a dragon there."
"Who?"
"I don't know! Beau!"
Beau nodded his head at Artha and magged him onto the saddle, which he had quickly magged on first. Delilah grabbed Artha's leg.
"What did they look like?"
"It was a black dragon," Artha said quickly as he scanned the forest for the dragon and rider, who appeared not to have followed him.
"A black dragon?" Delilah echoed, stunned.
Suddenly, from all around them, growls rose and voices shouted. They were surrounded.
Dark shapes began to materialize from behind the trees, riders upon dragons. Artha quickly noticed that they weren't wraiths.
Covert cowered by Beau's hind foot while Delilah gaped openmouthed at their foes and at the glinting symbol imprinted on their helmets, visible by the starlight only. A black, forsaken dragon eye.
The Black Empire had finally come. They lowered their lances.
----------
Edd and Kyd absolutely froze as the ring of Dragon Eyes encircled their prey. Edd seethed in his mind, then tugged at Kyd's sleeve. They had to get out of there, now. Kyd quickly followed, wide-eyed and shocked. The Black Empire.
After thinking that they had made enough noise to wake the peacefully slumbering dead, Edd and Kyd reached their wraiths, whom they had left a ways away. Edd and Kyd were dirty and scratched, but above all, terrified.
Edd vaulted onto his dragon and slammed on his helmet. Kyd sped by him on his own wraith, eager to be as far away from the dreaded Dragon Eyes as he could. Neither of them wanted to be captured by them. Perhaps they would face their leader, their blood thirsty, brutal leader. Edd would take Word Paynn over him any day.
"Halt!" hissed a voice from behind them. Edd stopped, recognizing the voice, while Kyd ran on.
"I said halt!" Skin said, louder this time. Edd heard the trapping gear go off, soon followed by the sound of Kyd slamming against a tree.
"Skin?" Edd said as he turned his wraith around. Skin move her own wraith closer to them, her face completely livid.
"Fools! Running will alert them to where we are!"
"So you know who's there?" Kyd stammered.
"Of course I do, idiot!" she snapped. Edd cringed.
After finding his voice, he questioned innocently. "Now what-"
"This changes everything," Skin murmured. "Of all the times for them to be here. And they captured him!"
"Who, the boy?"
"Yes," Skin replied darkly, then abruptly turned her wraith around.
"Are you…are you going to follow them?" Edd asked. "They're not going to be leading us to the Gold Empire anymore. We'll get caught!"
"We?" Skin turned to look at him, and Edd found himself avoiding her intensely marked patch. She sniffed. "This boy has become of great importance to the Paynn Empire."
"Is it because of his dragon?" Kyd asked, struggling against the trapping gear. Skin shot him a death glare.
"What do you know of his dragon?"
"Just that…that it's not a wraith…" Kyd stammered, worse than before. Skin's face showed no surprise at the news. She turned to Edd.
"Here is where you will show your loyalty now," she said with all the authority she commanded, which was quite a bit. "This boy and his dragon must be killed. We cannot hope the Black Empire will do that. We must see his dead body for ourselves. And seeing as you two are the only available rebel catchers around here, you will have to do."
"I'll come," Edd said quickly. "I'll come and kill him myself."
Skin gave him a malicious smile. "Let's just hope he dies." Then she looked at Kyd.
Kyd looked from her, to where Edd was sitting high and important on his wraith. He finally nodded his head, not wanting to be left out, or to lose his friend.
"Your actions will be rewarded, or punished," Skin said, saying the last as an afterthought. "We will follow them. We will not stop following them until they are dead." She said the last with such finality that Edd began to grow even more apprehensive than he already was.
Skin whirled her wraith around and walked off slowly. Edd came over to Kyd and snapped the trapping gear with his mag staff. He then followed Skin slowly.
Finally, he had a chance to prove himself, that he was much more than a rebel catcher.
Kyd herded up his wraith and forced himself to walk it, instead of running up to travel beside Edd. He always knew Edd wanted to do more for the Paynn Empire, and shouldn't have been so surprised that Edd had volunteered so quickly. Kyd shuddered.
The Black Empire was here. The war was about to begin again.