Follow the Lightening pt. 2
Thunder was sniffing the ground. He growled and kept his eyes fixed on the cave entrance. Tom watched anxiously.
"Why would Thunder leave me and come all the way out here just to pick a fight?" He asked.
"Maybe he keeps secrets too," said Alex, glaring. D'Angelo was examining the burn marks all over the area. Edelweiss was examining footprints in on the ground with Jun. Being closer to the older rider, Jun noticed for the first time a thin, crescent shaped scar in the middle of Edel's chest. It was faded red and placed right over her heart, as though it was from an old stab wound. Jun couldn't really tell how mig the scar was, as most of it was obscured by Edel's tank top. Jun was about to ask her about it, when D'Angelo spoke up.
"There are way to many burn marks to have come from just Thunder," he said. "There must have been other dragons fighting as well."
"Thunder's family," Tom realized. "That lightening we were following must have been a battle between Thunder's family and another dragon."
"It must have been a pretty powerful dragon to take on Thunder, and drive off his family," said D'Angelo.
"I have a hunch as to what kind of dragon it is," Edelweiss said. "But I don't know for sure." She was examining the sets of larger footprints. The other riders and dragons looked down at the footprints.
"There are two different sets of footprints here," said Jun, pointing them out. "These ones look like Thunder's and go off in that direction. These ones are larger and go off into there." She pointed towards the cave. Thunder snarled, and started towards the entrance.
"Thunder where you going?" Tom asked. Thunder didn't stop and kept going. Jun put a hand on Tom's shoulder.
"Like I said, you go we go," she said. With that they all headed into the cave after Thunder.
They went down a dark tunnel, with a faint light coming from the other end. They soon came out into a maze made of silvery crystal. Edelweiss got back on Black Widow. They followed Thunder down a corridor until the Night Light paused. Tom stopped next to him. D'Angelo kept walking and collided with a solid, yet invisible, wall.
"Whoa what did I hit?" He asked, dazed. Jun ran her hand along the invisible wall.
"These walls are almost invisible," she said. All the riders spread out and found more invisible walls. Thunder sniffed around looking for a break. Soon they found one, and Thunder led them down another corridor to a fork, he paused and looked in one direction with a determined look on his face.
"Looks like Thunder wants to go that way," Tom said, turning to his friends. "I understand if you don't want to continue. But whatever Thunder's after I need to be there for him. But you should all go back." No one moved.
"Do I really need to say it again?" Jun said, shaking her head.
"No rider left behind," D'Angelo said as the others followed Thunder. "Look, I may be mad about all the secrets, but I don't leave a friend in need." Tom smiled and they all started after Thunder. They walked in silence for a few minuets. Alex pulled out her tablet.
"I'm going to map this place, in case we need to make a hasty exit," she said.
"Oh, you don't need to worry," D'Angelo boasted. "You're looking at a Corn Maze expert."
"It's not the maze we should worry about," Jun said darkly. "It's what's at its center." They all stared at her. She got annoyed. "Dose no one read the classics!? You know, like the Minotaur; half man half bull. The creature Theseus chose to battle to save his fellow Athenians?"
"We're not in Greece," Edelweiss pointed out. "And no Minotaur's going to be hanging around a cave full of dragons." Jun looked at her.
"You know the story?" She asked.
"A bit," Edelweiss said. "My friend Apollo used to be obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology. He knows a lot of stories." Just then Thunder roared and took off running again. They ran after him. The closer they got, the more nervous the other dragons were getting. Thunder finally slowed down, still growling. They all stopped. They looked around for a few seconds. Then Tom spotted a long dark tail, lined with spikes like swords. The others soon saw it too. They followed the tail to a large dark grey dragon with purple spots. This dragon looked bigger than the Fault Ripper. It had a long snout, and spikes around its head. It was curled up, sound asleep.
"Oh no, this is bad," Edelweiss said. They all looked at her. "That's a Skrill."
"You've seen one of these before?" Jun asked.
"I have," Edelweiss confirmed. "They're very powerful and very aggressive. My mother's the only one that's managed to befriend one."
"Anything else we need to know about it?" D'Angelo asked.
"Um, it shoots lightening to," Edelweiss said. "A lot of it."
"I already have our escape route," said Alex. The riders turned to go, but Thunder was still growling at the Skrill. Tom turned around.
"Thunder, come on," he whispered. He ran to his dragon and got between him and the Skrill. "What are you doing?" Thunder roared, and went around Tom. He roared loudly. Tom got in front of him again. "This is no time to go all alpha. I get it; this dragon blasted you and your family. But this dragon is too big to have a rivalry with." He was so focused on Thunder that he didn't see the Skrill wake up. Everyone else saw this and were pointing at it. Thunder used his front paw to push Tom out of the way. The Skrill towered over them, flaring his wings. He was enormous, and his wings crackled with lightening. Finally Tom turned to see what everyone was pointing at. When he made eye contact with the Skrill, the big dragon roared and shot lightening in all directions. Thunder flared his wings, crackling with lightening as well. The Skrill glared down at him, lightening shooting everywhere.
"Well I guess we're committed now," said Tom. He got on Thunder's back. They took of and charged at the Skrill. The other riders quickly got on their dragons and charged as well. They came at the Skrill from all sides blasting the Skrill. However the bigger dragons wasn't phased. Feathers used her sonic blast to bring him down. He was stunned, but not harmed. He looked up to see Thunder and Tom circling him. He shot a lightening bolt at them. It missed them, but it got close enough to graze Tom. He felt the lightening surge through him, and through Thunder as well. Luckily the blast had only grazed them, so the electricity did little damage. The dragons flew into another part of the Silver Maze, the Skrill not far behind them. Thunder landed and hit the ground hard. They got to their feet as the Skrill came at them like a raging storm. Thunder roared back at him. The Skrill snapped his jaws at the Night Light, but Tom pushed him out of the way.
"No," he cried. "This is one fight we have to run from." Thunder didn't look like he agreed, but turned away. Tom got on his back and they followed the others. The Skrill still followed them. Thunder ran so fast he blazed passed the other riders and dragons. Tom couldn't control him, and had to hold on for his life. "Where are you going?!" Tom shouted. Thunder ignored him. Tom was just getting in his way now, and at too high a risk. Thunder had lost his family, he was not going to loose his rider too. He knew what he had to do, and Tom wouldn't like it.
The other riders had lost sight of Tom and Thunder, and of the Skrill. They ran so fast that Alex dropped her tablet, and it smashed on the ground.
"Okay, lets all stop," Jun suggested. They stopped at the next fork and looked around. "We've lost Tom."
"And the Skrill too," Edelweiss pointed out. "Luckily they aren't as fast on the ground, and certainly not in this maze." They could hear the Skrill roaring in the distance.
"Does it have any weaknesses?" D'Angelo asked.
"Yes, but unfortunately their weakness is water," said Edelweiss. "And there's no water here."
"Can't you talk to him like you did with the Razorwhip?" Alex asked.
"Maybe, if we can stun him long enough," Edelweiss said. "You saw Tom try to reason with Thunder, and he wouldn't back down. If I tried talking to the Skrill right now, it would make no difference." Suddenly several shards of silver broke off the wall and fell between them, splitting Edelweiss and Jun from Alex and D'Angelo.
"Alex!" Jun called. "D'Angelo!" Edelweiss sat back in her saddle.
"It's no use," she said. "We can find another way around to them, and we can look for Tom and Thunder too." She and Jun turned their dragons down the corridor. Jun spotted the strange scar on Edel's chest.
"Is that a battle scar?" Jun asked. Edelweiss looked at what she was pointing at.
"Oh, that I got in a bad fall I had when I was younger," Edelweiss said. "I'll give you the details later." They continued down the corridor, looking for the others.
Thunder was still through the Silver Maze. When he decided he was a safe distance away from the Skrill, he slammed on the brakes so abruptly that Tom was flung off the saddle. When he got to his feet, Thunder pushed him away, crooning and grunting with a hard look in his eye.
"What? Are you telling me to stay?" Tom asked anxiously. "Thunder no." But Thunder was set in his decision. He growled and glared at Tom as if to say 'this isn't up for debate.' He then turned to leave. But was suddenly blocked by blocks of silver crystal falling in front of him. Thunder looked worried now.
Jun and Edelweiss rode their dragons through their part of the Silver Maze. Jun kept calling for her friends, and Edelweiss kept her eye out for the Skrill.
"Do you hear them?" Jun asked. Edelweiss spoke to Black Widow for a moment.
"Yes, but this place is so echoey it's hard to pinpoint where it's coming from," Edelweiss translated. They came to another fork, when the Skrill suddenly appeared in front of them. They all froze. The Skrill looked around with shifty eyes. He soon spotted them, but didn't attack. He used the long talon on the edge of his wing to tap another invisible wall. He growled to himself for a moment. Then he turned and stocked off. Jun released a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"What did he say?" She asked.
"He saw us, but since we're not the ones he's looking for he doesn't want to waste time fighting us," Edelweiss explained. "Man he's beautiful though." Jun stared at her horrified. "Come on, we should find the others." Wu and Wei started walking after the Skrill, and Black Widow followed them.
"Wait no," Jun protested, trying to steer her dragon in a different direction. "This way, away from the scary monster."
"Jun, Wu and Wei know what their doing, let them take the lead," Edelweiss said. "Just because you're the rider, doesn't make you the boss." Jun took a deep breath and relaxed a bit. She let her dragon lead the way through the Silver Maze. A few minuets later they came across Alex, D'Angelo, and their dragons. They looked terrified.
"You just missed it," D'Angelo said. "That thing was just here." Black Widow looked at Wu and Wei.
"Pretty smart following the Skrill right to your friends," she said.
"Yeah, he seems to know his way around here," Wu said. "So we figured we'd follow him and he'd unknowingly led us here." They turned their attention back to the group.
"We need to find Tom," Jun said. D'Angelo and Alex got on their dragons and they all set off again.
Tom and Thunder managed to move some of the silver crystals out of their way. Once they were in clear Thunder glanced around, his ears perked up.
"You hear something pal?" Tom asked him. But then Thunder slumped, looking hopeless. Tom patted his shoulder, and they started walking. "I get it, you want revenge. That Skrill chased away your family right?" Thunder purred in confirmation. "Where ever your family went, we're going to find them and I'm going to help you?" Thunder smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He paused and arched his neck over Tom's head. The boy hugged him. "We just need to trust each other." Thunder purred again. They separated after a moment. "And I need to start trusting my friends more." Tom added. "Speaking of which, lets go find them." He got on Thunder's saddle. The dragon sighed and started walking again. After a few feet Thunder heard crashing up ahead, he stopped. The Skrill was no where in sight, but Thunder figured he wasn't far. He took a deep breath, and bucked Tom off his back.
"What are you doing?" Tom asked. Thunder shoved him back again, growling. Then he took off in the direction of the Skrill. Tom ran after him, calling him. Thunder soon saw the Skrill coming at him out of the cracks in the walls. Thunder turned around and blasted several sliver crystals that fell and blocked Tom. With that taken care of, Thunder then attacked the Skrill. With lightening shooting everywhere the two dragons wrestled in the air, all teeth and talons. They crashed through several walls, not even noticing it.
Tom managed to climb over the blockage and saw his dragon in battle with the Skrill. All the lightening from the fight was being absorbed into the silver walls. Tom felt helpless. But then his friends landed their dragons in front of him.
"We have to help Thunder," Tom said. He pointed to where Thunder was now being chased by the Skrill. Tom got on Wu and Wei with Jun and they took off after them. They saw the Skrill blast Thunder out of the air. Chunks of silver fell on top of him.
"Thunder!" Tom called. The Night Light looked up at him. "Boom, boom good bye!" Thunder smiled and took off again. He used his next blast to cloak himself, just before the Skrill could snap him up in his jaws. The Skrill roared in frustration. Thunder reappeared near the group. Tom jumped onto his back. They all flew at the Skrill, who landed and blasted them. But the lightening all got absorbed into the silver, instead of hitting them.
"The silver is absorbing the lightening," said Tom. The dragons scattered before the Skrill could hit them again. Wu and Wei provided them with a steam cover, and they all escaped with the Skrill roaring in outrage.
The riders all regrouped in a different part of the maze. They landed and took a moment to catch their breath.
"With all this collapse rock I don't know how we'll ever get out of here," said D'Angelo.
"The only way out is through him," said Tom.
"Through the giant, evil lightening dragon?" Jun repeated.
"He's not evil," Edelweiss protested. "He's just wild. Your dragons were wild and aggressive too before you became friends." The riders all exchanged a glance with their dragons. Tom patted Thunder's neck.
"That Skrill hit us with a massive lightening bolt, but we barely felt it," Tom told the group. "The silver in the walls absorbed it." He spotted a shard of silver sticking up out of the ground, it almost resembled a sword. "So lets absorb a lot more of it." He ran over to the silver shard and hacked it free with his pickax. Once it was free he brought it back over to them.
"Surging electricity is not something you play around with," said D'Angelo. "I could cook you."
"If I don't try we're all cooked," said Tom. Then he took a deep breath. "Look I know I screwed up. I should have told you about the symbol on my helmet."
"See, was that so hard Tom?" said Alex.
"If we get out of this," Tom went on. "I promise no more lone wolf, no more going rogue, and no more secrets." He smiled at his friends and they smiled back. "I just need you to trust me."
"Tom, we're family," Jun said gently. Tom smiled wider at the word.
"Yeah we are family, aren't we," he said. He got on his dragon. "Let's take this dragon down and get our family home." All the riders got on their dragons and rode back towards the Skrill.
Tom and Thunder soon found the Skrill. They flew at him, Tom wielding his new weapon. The others watched from a distance. Thunder and the Skrill fired at each other again. Tom was so close to the fight now that he could feel the static in the air. The whole area lit up like a plasma ball. Tom dipped his sword into the giant ball of lightening. The lightening from the Skrill surged through the sword, and through Tom. He put his hand on Thunder's head, powering him up.
"Let, him, have it," Tom grunted. Thunder used the stolen power and blasted the Skrill with a much stronger lightening bolt. It hit the Skrill full in the face, kicking up a huge cloud of silver dust. There was a massive crashing sound. The other riders landed. When the dust cleared they saw the Skrill had busted a hole in the wall. He looked badly winded. He roared sadly.
"They did it!" Alex exclaimed.
"Yeah, but…" Jun paused. They watched Tom and Thunder landed in front of the Skrill, and collapsed. Jun and Alex ran to Tom as he sat up, clutching his right hand. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, Tom could feel the burn. His whole hand was bright red and hut like he'd left his hand on a hot stove.
"You okay?" Jun asked him. Edelweiss dismounted and reached into her medical bag. She pulled out a tube of aloe vera, and handed it to Tom.
"Thanks," Tom said.
"You can keep that one," Edelweiss said. "You'll be feeling that burn for a while." She then made her way over to the Skrill, while D'Angelo looked Thunder over for injuries. The Skrill looked up as Edelweiss approached him.
"What do you want?" He moaned.
"Are you hurt?" Edelweiss asked softly. The Skrill looked surprised.
"You can talk to me?" He asked. Edelweiss nodded.
"Are you hurt?" She asked again.
"I don't feel anything," the Skrill said. "I've had worse. Can those other humans speak dragon?"
"No, just me," said Edelweiss. "What's your name?" The Skrill didn't answer right away. He hoisted himself back onto his feet. Edelweiss could feel the others watching her.
"Power," the Skrill finally said. "My name's Power." Edelweiss cautiously patted his snout. Power didn't seem to mind. Black Widow came up next to them. By now Tom and Thunder had regained their strength.
"Now I just need to help Thunder find his family," Tom said.
"No, we need to help Thunder find them," D'Angelo corrected. "And find the answer to your big question." Tom grinned at him. At that moment Power moved away from the hole he'd created, and vibrant red light came through it. They all went over and looked through the hole. They saw a lake of lava, with stone arches high above.
"Wow, an even more dangerous place," Alex said. Tom saw something stuck in the rock. He pulled it out and they all examined it. It turned out to be an arrowhead, with the same symbol on it as on Tom's helmet.
"Looks like we're not the first people to find this place," Tom said. "And whoever was here, they might have some answers."
"If they're still alive," said Edelweiss.