A couple scientists and their half a dozen students were standing under what meager protection the popup tents could provide. The desert a few miles outside of Furnace Creek in Death Valley was no place to be in the middle of the day in July, but that's where they were. They were about fifty yards away from a spot that had no explanation and, quite frankly, shouldn't have even been there.
They stared at the monitors of their devices, completely befuddled. The thermal imager displayed a giant lump of heat that was a good ten to fifteen feet at its peak and thirty feet across. The picture was almost completely white with very little variation from the reds, oranges and yellows.
Out in the blazing sunlight, there was a circle of compressed sand that they had sensors circling at various distances out. The nearest sensor was about ten feet away from the edge of the circle, as no one could get any closer. The heat from that mysterious spot was reading well into the hundreds.
"This doesn't make any sense," the oldest man grumbled as sweat dripped down his back and what hair he had was plastered to his head and he turned to a middle aged woman who was standing next to a table fiddling with what looked to be a large, black soccer ball. "There's no reason for these readings whatsoever. Is your gizmo ready, Lynda?"
"Just about," Lynda mumbled as she carefully replaced a small panel on the dark sphere in front of her. "All set, Richard."
"Very well," Richard replied. "Let's see if we can figure out what's out there."
Lynda didn't say anything as she picked up the ball and a remote control. She then left the shelter of the tents and walked across the scorching sand. As soon as she got as close as she could to the heat source, she put the ball down on the ground and turned on the remote control. A moment later, the black ball started to roll across the sand toward the mysterious spot.
"What exactly does that thing do?" one of the students asked.
"It will get a more accurate temperature reading and will collect air and ground samples from the middle of whatever that is," Richard explained.
"Won't it get damaged by the heat?" another budding scientist asked.
"Those black panels are what protect it," Richard continued. "They're made from the same material that's used on the space shuttle."
Before anyone could ask any more questions, the ball made it to the edge of the depression and stopped. The others couldn't see the slight frown on Lynda's face as she tried to make the device move forward. When it refused to budge, she backed it up a bit and sent it toward the compressed sand a bit faster.
Once more, the ball halted and refused to go any farther. Figuring that there must have been something in the way, the lady scientist sent the sphere to another area and tried to get it to go into the indentation of ground. Again, the device would go no farther than the edge.
Before she could instruct the equipment to another spot, the ball suddenly rolled away like it had been pushed.
"What the heck!" Lynda exclaimed.
She ignored the murmurings of her colleague and students as she drove her device around to make sure it was still operational. With a determined frown, she sent the ball back toward her target at a faster speed. Like before, once the equipment got to the boundary, it stopped dead.
The ball suddenly shot across the sand on its own, eliciting a squawk of surprise from its operator.
"Dr. Lynda?" one of the students called out.
"What?" Lynda tersely replied, not the least bit happy that her device wasn't working like it should.
"Do that again," the young man instructed.
Richard and the other students looked over at the young man and found him staring at the screen showing the thermal image of the spot in question.
"What have you got, Devon?" Richard asked as he stepped up behind the young man.
"I think something pushed the ball away," Devon answered. "I want to see if it'll do it again.
"Lynda, move your gizmo back towards the site," Richard called out.
Lynda wasn't happy if the look on her face was anything to go by, but she turned back to the unexplained heat and set her device back in motion. A short time later, it came to a standstill on the verge of depressed ground. It only took a moment for the ball to go shooting past its operator.
The woman let out an inarticulate yell of surprise and anger just before she went running after her machine.
"Did you see that?" Devon questioned, pointing at the monitor. "Part of the heat moved."
"How in the world did it do that?" a female student inquired.
"What if there's something out there other than just heat?" Devon counter asked, looking over his shoulder at her. "Something we can't see."
"Are you suggesting there's something invisible out there?" another young man questioned.
"That's impossible," Richard stated forcefully. "If there was something out there, it would have a shadow and there isn't one."
"One way to find out for sure," Devon stated as he headed out of the shaded area.
The young man picked up a rock off of the ground, walked until it became too hot to continue and threw the stone at the heat source as hard as he could. The rock hit something that no one could see, bounced down a few times before landing on the ground. Devon grabbed another rock and threw it a bit more softly. Again, the stone stopped midflight, but this time it halted its downward descent and stayed a good five feet off of the ground.
"This is impossible!" Richard sputtered as the rest of his students went rushing out of the shelter.
In a matter of seconds, the air was filled with stones thrown toward the strange phenomenon before them. The rocks bounced and rolled, with several of them eventually coming to rest in midair. The young men and women quickly looked around for more missiles to throw, but were stopped dead in their tracks.
Would you please stop that? a voice grumbled. I'm trying to sleep.
"Holy cow! Your dragon's huge!" Mallory exclaimed once the shock of surviving being in the middle of a firestorm wore off.
The mage took a good look at the fiery beast before her. While the creature's body was engulfed in flames like her dragon, the scales were black as pitch and the spikes were much smaller. The Elemental was also at least twice as big as the dragon she remembered and it obviously could fly with its front legs also being wings.
"I'm not sure…" Ruby started with a frown on her face.
What a delightful meal you've collected for me, a decidedly feminine voice said. I think I'll start with a little snack first.
Wraith turned in time to see the open maw of the dragon descending toward him. He barely managed to teleport out of there before the giant jaws snapped shut.
"That isn't my dragon!" Ruby stated in near shock and horror.
How disappointing, the dragon grumbled. Guess I'll just have to get to the main course.
Before Mallory could open her beak, Ruby dropped the protective bubble around them and threw a shield over the pit the kids were in. She barely managed to get it up in time. The dragon's snout bounced off of the wall of magical energy and she let out a roar of anger.
I was going to save you for dessert, the fire Elemental snarled as she turned on the mage. But I guess I'll have to eat you now.
"Mallory, run!" Ruby yelled as she flung a rope of magic at the gargantuan lizard.
Mallory ignored the other duck and brought her launcher up as the magical line wrapped around the dragon's mouth and snapped it shut. The Elemental let out an angry, though muted, roar as she whipped her head around, trying to shake off the band of energy. Before Mallory could get off a shot, Ruby grabbed the right winger by the wrist and dragged her toward the pit. Mallory easily broke the mage's grip, but Ruby didn't slow down.
"If you want to get squished or eaten, be my guest, but I'm protecting those kids," Ruby yelled over her shoulder.
The reminder that there were kids in danger forced the red head to follow the mage, grumbling all of the way.
"How are you planning on getting down there?" Mallory demanded as she easily caught up with Ruby. "I can't see the bottom from here, so it's probably pretty deep."
"Stairs, if you please," Ruby gasped.
"Sorry, I left my shovel in my other suit," Mallory sarcastically shot back.
"Not you," Ruby wheezed.
Mallory noticed that Ruby was slowing down, but the weapon's expert refused to touch the blue beak. She knew that touching the other duck wouldn't hurt her in the logical part of her brain, but instinct and a life time of fear were not going to be overcome in one battle. Besides, she didn't really like Ruby, even if she did save the blue beak's tail feathers a little while ago.
Mallory looked over her shoulder and was very relieved to see her captain quickly catching up to them with the rest of the team not far behind. Raleigh popped out from behind some trees just behind Wildwing. The right winger wasn't sure how putting themselves into a confined environment with a large and obviously hungry dragon was on the rampage, but she sure hoped Ruby was as good at shields as everyone thought she was.
As Wildwing caught up with the hens, Mallory noticed a set of stairs appearing in the ground in front of them that lead down into the pit. The drake didn't ask questions as he scooped Ruby up into his wings and ran as fast as he could toward the steps. Mallory easily kept up and tried not to smirk as could hear Ruby gasping for air.
"Where's the force field that you put over the kids?" Mallory demanded.
"Had to drop it to muzzle the dragon," Ruby panted.
However, all thoughts of an out of shape mage, dragons and force fields left her head when she saw what was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs.
"Who said that?" Devon asked, wildly looking around for the owner of the voice that he heard in his head, not with his ears.
I did, the voice replied.
The stones that had been seemingly floating suddenly shuddered and then rolled to the ground. A second later, filling the space of the compressed sand was a giant, red, flaming, spike covered reptile. The humans stood there and stared as the beast let out a huge yawn, showing off some really impressive teeth.
"What is that?" Lynda whispered.
I'm a dragon of course, the giant lizard responded, though his mouth didn't move as if he was talking.
The people couldn't seem to move as the dragon uncurled itself from the ball it had been in and had a good stretch. The beast didn't even notice as several sensors were knocked over, crushed and melted as he moved about. The humans were too stunned to take heed of the destroyed equipment or even pay attention to the fact that the dragon was careful enough not to hit any of them with his tail.
Well, this is new, the dragon mused as he stretched his forelegs out, revealing that they had changed into a pair of wings.
The mythical reptile sat up on his haunches and unfurled his newly transformed appendages. The membrane that stretched between the ribbings of the wings was thin enough to see shadows through. The dragon gave a couple practice flaps, not caring about the sand that he blew into the human's faces or the fact that he knocked over their popup tents.
He dropped down to all fours again and turned his head on his long, sinewy neck to see what else had changed while he slept. He walked around in circles in both directions, destroying more equipment as he went along. He quickly found that walking with his new wings was going to take some practice as he kept stepping on them.
I wonder what Ruby will think about this, the beast absently wondered.
"Who…" Lynda started but stopped when the dragon turned his attention to her.
Who? The large reptile prompted as he tilted his head to the side to get a better view of the woman.
Lynda swallowed her nervousness and cleared her throat.
"Who's Ruby?" the scientist asked, her voice quaking with her fear.
The mage who raised me, the reptile answered.
Before anything more could be asked, the dragon's head snapped toward the north. He let out a deep growl that shook the ground, the flames engulfing his body grew in size and intensity and he bared his teeth to the sky. The humans finally back peddled away from the giant beast as he let out an angry roar.
NO! the dragon screamed in anger. WE NEED THEM! YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM!
As the humans reeled from the shouting in their heads, the dragon attempted to fly. He leaped into the air, only to come crashing down a second later. A roar of anger and frustration filled the air as the beast started to run.
The monstrous reptile tried to get airborne again, only to find that gravity was still against him. The humans stared after him as he continued to run and jump, trying to get some lift. It took the dragon a good mile to get enough speed up to finally achieve flight, and while he did wobble quite a bit, he was at least airborne. A moment later, he vanished as if he had never been there.
The humans stared at the empty space knowing that other than their destroyed equipment, they had no proof of what they just saw.
"What the heck…" Wildwing started as he stared at the strange scene in front of him.
"Gipsy!" Raleigh yelled as he pushed past the goalie.
"Oh dear," Ruby moaned just before she started to struggle to be put down. "Put me down, please."
Wildwing obliged, gently setting the mage on her feet. The rest of the team joined them as Ruby staggered over to the kids. The Mighty Ducks followed, but not too closely.
"Daddy!" Gipsy cried as tears left streaks down her dirty face.
Raleigh rushed toward his daughter but was brought up short by the glowing bubble that surrounded the kids. The man banged on the shield with no results and it was easy to see he was starting to lose his cool. Gipsy was crying as she beat her little fists at the barrier that kept her from her father.
Ruby easily spotted the source of the shield. Seven of the oldest kids were in a circle, facing outward with the younger kids huddled behind them, holding hands and their eyes glowing white in the emotionless faces. With no knowledge of how to control the magic, they had created a protective bubble over themselves and the younger children. The problem was, they weren't in control of the power, the magic was.
"This isn't good," Ruby muttered as she walked around the kids.
We were coming for them, a gnome sadly stated as he came around the other side of the group. But by the time we were ready, we were too late. We have tried to get them to let go, but they are beyond hearing.
Ruby opened her beak to say something, but only a gasp came out as she grabbed her chest. The dragon let out a deafening roar as the mage dropped to her knees and Wildwing staggered a bit. The Mighty Ducks and Raleigh saw the black dragon lean over the edge of the pit and they didn't waste a moment as they opened fire on the beast.
Do you really think your pitiful weapons can hurt me? The dragan scoffed.
The fiery beast took a deep breath and let out a blast of flame. The yellow beaked ducks and man flinched, sure that they were all about to become crispy critters. However, the flames never reached them and they stared in amazement as the fire spread out over the top of the hole they were in, but never came into it. Wildwing looked down at Ruby and saw her eyes glowing and her hands up in the air with her palms up.
"How long will the shield last?" the goalie asked.
"It's hard to say," Ruby answered as she got to her feet. "It depends on how powerful she is and how determined. I'm surprised that she would go after the kids. She should want to protect them, not eat them."
I've heard of this one, the gnome grumbled. She is called Black Death and she is the reason we have slept for so long.
"What do you mean?" Ruby questioned the earth Elemental. "I thought the magic users on this planet died off naturally."
Died off, yes, the small man replied. Naturally, no. She killed them, slowly and without any being the wiser until it was too late.
"But why?" Ruby inquired. "Without magic users, Elementals go dormant."
She has become so power hungry, she cannot see reason anymore, the Elemental responded. She believes that if she consumes enough magic users, she will no longer be dependent on their existence and we Elementals will be free to roam the world and rule the mortal creatures.
"And that's why Elementals need magic users," Ruby sighed. "It's a matter of keeping the power in balance."
She is sick and beyond hope of help, the gnome sighed sadly. Now that she knows of you and the young ones, she will stop at nothing to destroy all of you.
"Can't you Elementals stop her?" Mallory demanded.
Some have tried, the miniture person told her. They have all died for their efforts and she consumed them and their magic as well. Only another fire Elemental could take her on and she killed any that were a threat to her first.
"What about your dragon?" Wildwing asked Ruby.
"Even if I knew how to find him and call him, he wouldn't stand a chance," the mage responded. "He's too young and nowhere near as powerful as she is. There's also the matter of him having very little battle experience."
"Then what do we do?" Nosedive asked.
"We figure out how to take this beast down," Wildwing stated with conviction.
"There's also the Phoenix," Ruby softly suggested.
"No!" Wildwing forcefully responded, getting right in the face of the red feathered female. "You're not letting her out."
"I don't think that's your decision to make," the mage heatedly retorted.
"We're not that desperate yet," the goalie growled at the hen. "Besides, if you let her go, what's to stop her from killing all of us? You told me that she goes on a rampage every time she's been freed."
Ruby opened her beak to argue, but that's when a smaller, red dragon crashed on top of the big, black one.