Fireheart

Chapter 4: Powerplay

In an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, the Dark Dragon watched his new apprentice sparring with the shades. The young dragon's skills and strength had been improving daily, and the Dark Dragon seemed pleased with the progress. One of the shades jumped Jake from behind. The young red threw it off, destroying it with a swipe of his claw, but for every shade he destroyed, another appeared to take its place. Though Jake was fighting hard and winning for the most part, the other dragon could tell that the boy was exhausted.

By now, the shades had formed a ring, with Jake in the center. They parted as the black dragon approached him.

"You have done well." he said. The younger dragon looked up at him, panting heavily, he sides heaving.

"Is that... all you got..." he gasped, "Don't have anything challenging for me?"

The Dark Dragon smiled at this. "So, my shades aren't enough for you?" He chuckled at the thought. "Perhaps you would prefer to fight me instead?"

Jake's eyes seemed to burn with eagerness. "Bring it."

The older dragon laughed at this. "You're still as amusing as ever. Now... Defend yourself!"

He lunged at Jake! Jake dodged him and attacked, but the Dark Dragon parried his blows!

They kept circling each other, slashing and dodging, until finally, the larger dragon's claw struck Jake as he tried to dodge an attack. The blow caught the young dragon in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor where he lay breathless...

"Good." growled the Dark Dragon softly. "Well done. But now you should rest and recover your strength."

Jake was too out of breath to speak, but he glared defiantly up at the older dragon.

The evil dragon met his gaze. "Do not forget the task I set you." he said, "It will require all of your strength and skill to complete. Now, sleep..."

In spite of himself, Jake felt his eyelids grow heavy, in another few moments, he was fast asleep...

Chang came up to them, looking down at the sleeping dragon, at the black star that was still burned into his golden chest.

She turned to the Dark Dragon. "Master, are you sure this was a good idea? Was it wise to give him so much power?"

The Dark Dragon turned to face her, looking straight into her eyes. "You question my judgement?"

"I- No my lord! Of course not!"

"Do not lie to me, Chang. You know I can always tell..."

She lowered her gaze. "Forgive me, Master, it's just that... You offer the boy so much, what if he turns against you?"

"Ah... have no fear of that, my loyal servant. Do you see that star shaped burn I left on him?"

She nodded, still looking puzzled.

"That spell allowed me to possess Jake Long for short amounts of time while I was trapped in that dimension, but it also serves another purpose. Now that I have returned to mortal realm, the mark binds him to me."

Chang still looked confused. The Dark Dragon explained, "As long as he bears that mark, his strength is added to mine. The stronger he becomes, the more power I gain."

He chuckled darkly at the look on Chang's face. "So you see, no matter how powerful the boy becomes, I will always have greater power. And soon, with Jake at my side, I shall have enough power to make me, ha ha ha ha ha ha, Invincible... Ha ha ha ha ha..."...

Meanwhile...

Rose slowly opened her eyes, to see the elf and her unicorn friend looking down at her.

"Good to see you're finally awake." said the elf, smiling at her.

Rose gave a weak smile, "Yeah, good to be back." She looked at the elf. "It's Luna, isn't it?"

"That's right." said Luna, "Glad to see you remember me, Rose."

Rose tried to get up, but a pain in her shoulder made her fall back. "Yeah..." said Luna, seeing the look on her face. "You hurt your shoulder pretty badly. I'm not sure what you did to it, but you won't be flying for at least a week, maybe two."

"But I have to get out of here." said Rose, "I have to find Lao Shi and tell him what happened."

"But who is Lao Shi?!" asked Luna, "And what did happen to you?"

So Rose told her everything, from her first encounters with Jake, to what happened at homecoming, and everything that had happened after that...

"Wow... So then? It's all true?!" Asked Luna when Rose had finished.

"What?" asked Rose.

"All the rumors we've been hearing. They're all over the place. Rumors about you and the American Dragon, that you two found out each other's secret identities, that you fell in love with each other, that you secretly betrayed the Huntsclan to help the dragons defeat them, right under the Huntsmaster's nose! And then there's that story about the Huntsmaster finding out what you did and that he blackmailed you into betraying the American Dragon, and then you turn around and betrayed the Huntsmaster and destroyed the Huntsclan with the Aztec Crystal Skulls! And then, of course, let's not forget the more recent stories about the American Dragon making his wish with the skulls and you losing your memories and disappearing because of it. Then there's all those stories going around about the Dark Dragon coming back, and you having dragon powers and trapping him in another dimension or something like that."

"Wow." said Rose, "I had no idea so many people knew about all that... How did they all find out?"

"Who knows how any of these things get started." answered Luna.

Rose looked at the young elf sitting in front of her. "Looks like we saved each others lives. I guess that makes us even. How did you find me anyway?"

"Lightning found you, and his mother, Moonbeam, brought you here." said Luna, pointing to the unicorn mare and her foal. The proud white stallion came up beside them. Rose recognized him as Starchaser.

"You know, Lightning looks just like Starchaser." said Rose.

"Don't be surprised." said Luna, "Lightning is Starchaser's son."

Rose thought for a minute, then asked, "How do you know them so well?"

"Well..." said Luna, "I guess I'm what you'd call, a horse whisperer, except it's with unicorns, along with other creatures that most people can't understand,. You know, griffins, phoenixes, pegasi, those sort of creatures..." she paused for a moment, then continued, "My parents are researchers, they've been studying the unicorn herd that lives here, along with trying to find more uses for unicorn horn."

"You mean they actually-"

"Huh? Oh! No, nothing like that. Unicorns shed their horns, then we just have to find them."

"So, what are doing out here by yourself?" asked Rose.

"Well, we camp out here every year to check on the herd. But my mom caught the flu this year, and my dad stayed to look after her, so, I came by myself."

Starchaser's neigh caught their attention. "What did he say?" asked Rose.

"He says you should get out of bed." said Luna. "And he's right. You should be strong enough to travel now, and if we're going to find Lao Shi, we'd better get a move on."

She helped Rose to her feet, and they both exited the cave. Lightning came up to them and started dancing around Rose, trying to get her to play. Rose couldn't help be laugh at the young foal as he bucked and reared, coming toward her then racing away again. Rose turned back to Luna. "But, how will we get there in time? I can't fly, and it'll take too long to walk."

The young elf smiled, "Ever ride a unicorn before?"

"Uh... no..." said Rose, "why?"

Her smile broadened as Starchaser come up to them, and Luna climbed on to his back. She held out a hand to Rose.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Rose.

"Don't worry." said Luna, "It's just like riding a bike. If you fall off, just get right back on."

"Ok..." Rose took the elf's hand, and got up behind her.

"Nice and easy Starchaser." said Luna. The unicorn nodded, then set off at a slow trot through the forest...