Sledkin Stakeout
The riders and their dragons were moving heavy boxes of supplies. Even with the dragons helping, it took them a long time to get all the boxes stacked in a neat pile. Eugene put his latest box on the pile.
"Why's it taking you so long Webs," he said to his dragon. "You've eight legs, you should be done in half the time."
"That's not how math works," said Alex.
"Then math is wrong," Eugene shot back.
"Come on guys, we're almost done," said Tom as he put another box on the pile.
"Fine," Eugene grumbled. "But why are we even doing this?"
"My dad need the extra help," said D'Angelo.
"Okay, but what do we get out of it?" Eugene asked. "Is your dad going to cut us some cash at least?"
"Sometimes Eugene, you help out just to be a good person," said D'Angelo. Eugene just stared at him.
"You're wasting your breath D," said Jun. "Eugene only cares about Eugene." Then just as Thunder placed the last box on the pile, the riders heard Director Wong arguing with Dr. Sledkin.
"You've done more than enough dragoncite research," Director Wong was saying sternly. "Putting animals at risk in the process I might add."
"This is groundbreaking work Mai, you know I'm right," Sledkin hissed. "I won't stand for this."
"Well, you're going to have to," said Director Wong, putting her hands on her hips. "Because until further notice, I'm placing you on suspension. Which means no more mining dragoncite." Dr. Sledkin looked like she was about to explode with rage. She turned and stomped off. A few minuets later Edelweiss and Black Widow landed on the helipad in front of Director Wong wit a whoosh of wings.
"Olivia said you wanted to see me Director Wong?" Edelweiss asked.
"Ah yes, Ms. Dragonborn," said Director Wong. "Olivia's been telling us a lot about you, and your experience with dragons. I was wanting to offer you an opportunity to work with us scientists." Edelweiss looked surprised.
"I'm not a scientist though," she said.
"Well a scientist is someone who learns and has a lot of knowledge about a specific topic like plants or rocks," said Director Wong. Edelweiss considered.
"I guess that makes sense," she said. "Even with the vast knowledge I do have of dragons, I'm still learning new things about them."
"If we're going to learn all we can about the world down there, we'll need someone who knows how to handle dragons and can communicate them," said Director Wong. "You know more about them than any of us, even Jun and her friends. So what do you say, would you like to be our official Dragonologist?"
"Dragonologist!?" Edelweiss repeated, surprised. "Wow, that's a pretty fancy term." She looked down at Black Widow, who looked over her wing at her rider. "I'll consider it."
"Excellent," said Director Wong, clapping her hands together. "Well, I've got to get back, let me know when you decide." She turned and walked off. Edelweiss turned Black Widow around and went over to where Tom and the riders where they were still waiting.
"Were you guys listening to all that?" Edelweiss asked.
"Yeah, and we heard Ms. Wong put Dr. Sledkin on suspension," said Tom enthusiastically.
"Hmm, big changes happening over here," said Edelweiss.
"Can we get out of here now that we've got these boxes moved?" Eugene asked impatiently. The riders all got on their dragons, and headed towards the Realms.
They were soon flying through the Nature Realm, all in good spirits. Tom smiled down at the world below them.
"Man things have be so nice and calm now that Sledkin's force to stop mining dragoncite," he said. At the same time Jun was talking with Edelweiss about her recent job offer.
"I thought for sure my mom would ask me or one of us to help them study dragons," Jun said.
"Well, you are still helping," said Edelweiss. "If I do agree to be the ICARIS Dragonologist, you all can be my assistants. Since you guys come down here everyday and hang around dragons as much as I do." Suddenly they all heard a commotion below. They looked to see two Gronckles, one red one yellow, fighting over a rock. The riders all landed their dragons and dismounted. Tom approached the Gronckles.
"Ok, lets all just calm down," he said. But the Gronckles just growled at him. Tom backed up.
"Are you sure about this Tom?" D'Angelo asked.
"I feel bad for the smaller one," Tom said, pointing at the yellow Gronckle. "Looks like the other guy might have stolen his rock." Just then Alex and Feathers swooped in and snatched the rock out of the red Gronckle's grasp, but found it was too heavy to lift. The Gronckles snatched the rock back, and continued fighting over it. The red Gronckle managed to pull it away from the yellow one, who growled and blasted the rock free. Then Plowhorn flew in and divided the rock in two with her horn. Each Gronckle ate their half of the rock and seemed content. Plowhorn landed back with the others, looking pleased with herself.
"That's what I like about you Plowhorn," Edelweiss said. "You're tough but fair." Plowhorn smiled at her.
"Now that that's taken care of, can we do something more fun?" Eugene asked. But then Plowhorn sniffed around on alert.
"Guys, Plow's got something," said D'Angelo. The Gembreaker turned and flew off. Everyone followed her.
Plowhorn led them all to a different part of the Realm. She landed in front of a cliff that had a big hole blasted into it. The riders all dismounted and went to get a closer look.
"What could have done this?" Jun wondered aloud. "Was it a dragon?"
"That dragon would have to have one heck of a blast," said Alex.
"Unless it was a burrowing dragon," said Edelweiss. Just then they all spotted something scuttling passed the dark opening.
"Did you see that?" D'Angelo said. "That was defiantly a tail." He headed in the direction he'd seen the tail go. The others followed cautiously. They rounded a pile of boulders to see a large black and yellow dragon, that had thick limbs and no wings. The dragon spotted the riders, and growled defensively.
"What kind of dragon is that?" Tom asked.
"Cavern Crasher, burrowing dragon," said Edelweiss. "I remember my mother told me about her encounter with one of these, but I've never met one myself." She calmly approached the dragon, talking to it in dragontongue. She gently stroked the Cavern Crasher's beak.
"What's it saying?" Alex asked.
"Her name's Gila," said Edelweiss. "And her leg hurts." D'Angelo went to examine a fresh wound in the dragon's hind leg. Gila watched him warily.
"Looks like she got some pretty bad burns," D'Angelo said.
"But that doesn't make any sense if she caused the explosion," said Jun. Edelweiss spoke to Gila again, who answered.
"She says she didn't see what caused the explosion," Edelweiss translated. "She says it happened so suddenly, and next thing she knew there was a big hole in the cliff and a bad pain on her leg." D'Angelo opened his first aid kit and pulled out his tub of ointment. He put some on Gila's wounds, while Edelweiss fed the dragon some hard boiled eggs she'd found in her saddlebags. Gila relaxed and felt much better as the pain in her leg went away.
"That should help sooth any pain she's feeling," said D'Angelo as he put the ointment away. Gila gave him a grateful look, then she turned and walked off.
"But if she didn't cause the explosion then what did?" Tom asked. They all went to inspect the hole. Thunder sniffed the air and growled as though he smelled something he didn't like. Tom sniffed the air as well.
"Smells like a fire cracker," he said.
"Dynamite," said Edelweiss.
"Over there," Tom said. He went over to a spot in the cave wall that had a few scraps of dragoncite. "Looks like a large amount of dragoncite had been removed recently. And I think we all know who would have done it." The riders jumped back on their dragons and headed back to Rekketown.
When they got back to town; they found Olivia and Director Wong. The riders told them what they'd found. They all headed over to Dr. Sledkin's dome and knocked on the door. Sledkin opened it to find everyone glaring at her.
"Olivia and friends," she said in a surgery voice. "What can I do for you?"
"Using explosives to mine dragoncite!" Director Wong snapped. "That was very irresponsible and insubordinate. You were warned about this."
"Me?" Sledkin said innocently. "But I haven't left my dome." Just then an ICARIS van pulled up and parked in front of the dome. "Ah, here's Linda with the supplies I ordered." Linda got out of the van and opened up the back.
"She's lying," said Tom.
"Am I?" Said Sledkin. "There are several security cameras around. Check them if you like, they'll prove I've been in my dome the whole time." Linda walked into the dome carrying a red carpet and a plant, then came out with a bucket of rocks and dirt. Sledkin continued, now angry. "I'm a world renowned scientist and I won't stand for this harassment." She slammed the door before Linda got get back in. She turned and headed back to her van. Director Wong and Olivia turned to go as well.
"Wait you're leaving?" Tom asked, worried.
"There's not much we can do now," said Director Wong. "She said she was in her dome."
"But that explosion had to have been her," Tom protested.
"And you might be right boyo," said Olivia. "But all we can do is keep an eye on her." Tom slumped in defeat as the two adults walked off. The riders and the dragons headed back towards the Lair.
They soon reached the silver cabin. Apollo was sunning himself on the roof. He looked down as the riders approached.
"Hey Apollo," Edelweiss said. The red dragon crooned in response.
"How come he doesn't come into the Realms with you anymore?" Tom asked.
"He wants to guard our supply of dragoncite," Edelweiss explained. "Sledkin knows we have some." They headed down into the Lair. The dragons laid down to relax. Tom paced while Alex used her tablet to hack into the ICARIS security cameras. After a few minuets Tom checked on her progress.
"Are you getting anything?" He asked. Alex ignored him and flicked through the camera feeds, muttering to herself.
"Here we go Sledkin's dome," she said finally. They all gathered to watch the feed. It showed Linda dropping off a bag of groceries at the door, then walking off. A moment later Sledkin opened the door and dragged the groceries inside, then shut the door.
"There's Sledkin, at home, where she said she was," said Jun. Tom ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
"There has to be something else," he said. "Maybe she tampered with it."
"Nope, I checked," said Alex. "No sign of tampering, it's not Sledkin." Tom looked even more frustrated.
"It's got to be," he insisted. "If the cameras can't catch her, then we'll have to catch her."
Some time later; Tom, Jun, and Edelweiss were hiding behind some bushes that had a perfect view of Sledkin's dome. Tom and Jun were watching it, while Edelweiss was laying under the pine tree next to them with her eyes closed. So far nothing happened.
"You know what this reminds me of?" Jun said to Tom. "Agent Jun to Agent Tom, come in Agent Tom, secret meeting at the tree house for snacks."
"Secret Agents," Tom said beaming. "I haven't thought about that game in forever."
"Yeah, we had fun back then," Jun said, smiling at him. Tom got all flustered and looked around for something to say.
"Hey Edelweiss, what sort of games did young dragons play when you were a kid?" He asked.
"Mmmm, well there is one game I remember," Edelweiss said, without opening her eyes. "It was called Catch the Crab. One of us would pick up a live crab and everyone else chased him, or her, and would try and wrestle the crab from them. Then that individual would be it. We would play it at a local tide pools, where the terrain was rough and slippery, so it presented more of a challenge. It got pretty brutal at times, but still fun." She opened her eyes and looked towards the dome. "Nothing moving in there?"
"Nope," said Jun glumly. "Hopefully the others have more luck tailing Linda."
"Maybe Sledking knows we're watching her," Edelweiss said. "She knows you're suspicious of her."
"It's starting to look that way," said Tom, looking through his binoculars.
Several hours passed without any movement from Sledkin's dome. The other riders soon rejoined them with bored expression.
"Anything suspicious on your guys' end?" D'Angelo asked.
"Well if you count Sledkin blasting show tunes as suspicious," said Jun. "But other then that no."
"Not for us either," said Alex. Tom looked back towards the dome. Just then Linda's van pulled up in front of it.
"Look, this must be it," he said, looking through his binoculars again. "This must be where their whole plan comes together." Everyone watched as Linda got out of the van with her arms full of potted plants. She placed them at Sledkin's door, then got back in her van and drove off.
"Why is Linda so willing to do whatever Sledkin tells her to do?" Edelweiss asked. "Even after Director Wong has already disciplined Sledkin for her actions." Suddenly Alex's tablet beeped an alert. She pulled it out and looked at it.
"The sensors are going off in the Nature Realm," she said. The riders jumped to their feet and ran back to the Lair, where their dragons were waiting.
They flew back to the Nature Realm as fast as they could. Apollo stayed behind to keep guarding the silver cabin. Alex led them to where the sensor had gone off. They landed and found a freshly blasted hole in a different cliff. Edelweiss wrinkled her nose.
"Smells like fresh dynamite," she said.
"How could Sledkin have set off another explosion?" Tom exclaimed.
"We were watching her all day," said Jun. "She hasn't left her dome."
"Unless it's not Sledkin," said Alex.
"Of course it is," Tom insisted.
"We have to look at all the evidence in front of us," said Alex. "And right now, it's not pointing to Sledkin."
"But who else would be in the Realms, setting off flashy explosions with no regards for dragons' safety?" D'Angelo wondered aloud. Tom sighed.
"Looks like we have to pay you know who a visit," he said. The riders turned their dragons around, and headed for the Ice Realm.
They flew to Buzzsaw's camp. He and his two henchmen were gathered around the campfire. Thunder roared to announce their approach. Buzzsaw and his henchmen got to their feet as the dragons landed. Edelweiss and Black Widow circled overhead.
"You here to pick a fight?" Buzzsaw growled. "Because we're ready." He blew his whistle and Old Jack came up behind him, along with the two henchmen who were now astride two Gronckles. Thunder tensed up and readied a lightening blast.
"Whoa, we just want to talk," Tom said. He dismounted. "Ease up pal." Thunder swallowed his blast and relaxed, but still glared. Tom and Buzzsaw marched right up to each other, looking each other in the eye.
"What do you want shrimp?" Buzzsaw demanded.
"Some one's been setting off explosions in the Nature Realms and taking a bunch of dragoncite," Tom said. "Was it you."
"I don't need any stupid rocks," Buzzsaw said gruffly. "And even if I did, I wouldn't need to explain anything to you. I'm the dragon king, and everything down here is mine." Just then Alex's tablet beeped again. She looked at it, then cleared her throat to get Tom's attention.
"Tom, looks like we got another explosion," she said. Tom looked surprised.
"Well would you look at that, looks like it wasn't us," said Buzzsaw.
"Let's go check it out," said Tom, jumping back onto Thunder.
"Oh come on, I though we were going to fight this looser," said Eugene.
"We'll deal with him later," said Tom. "Right now we've got more important things to worry about." The riders took off and headed back to the Nature Realm.
They found another hole blasted into another cliff. The hole was still smoking from the explosion. The dragons landed and the riders dismounted.
"Whoever made this explosion can't be too far," said Tom. Just then Black Widow growled, gnashing her black teeth, and Edelweiss pulled out her Deathgripper crossbow.
"Someone's in there alright," Edelweiss said. "We can hear them." The riders headed into the tunnel, keeping their eyes and ears open. They came to large area. On the opposite end from the tunnel was a chunk of dragoncite, wired to a stick of dynamite that was sizzling.
"This whole place is ready to blow!" D'Angelo exclaimed. Tom got a closer look at the dynamite. Suddenly they heard voices approaching. They turned to see Sledkin and Linda, Sledkin holding a black detonator in her hand. They paused when they saw the riders.
"Sledkin, I knew it," Tom said glaring. "We caught you red handed."
"Just wait until the rest of Rekke Corp hears about this," Jun threatened. "You're so fired. You'll never harm dragons again."
"Who cares about those stupid mongrels," Sledkin hissed. "When this area is filled with what will soon be the rarest and most sought after mineral on Earth."
"You can take that up with Rekke," Tom said firmly. "You're coming with us."
"No, you listen here," Sledkin snapped. "There's a deposite of dragoncite the size of basketball in there, and I'm not leaving here without it. Now get out of my way." She held up the detonator. The riders and dragons took up a fighting stance, and Edelweiss raised her crossbow.
"Oooh, stand off," said Linda.
"Look I'm a very busy woman," said Sledkin, curling her lip. "So leave me alone, or else." She held her finger of the red button. Tom made a lunge for the detonator, but Sledkin held onto it with both hands. They played tug of war, making everyone nervous. Then the detonator slipped from their hands and fell to the ground, landing right on the button. Everyone had but a minuet to gasp in horror, before the dynamite exploded. The blast rattled the whole cave. Black Widow grasped the back of Edelweiss's collar and tossed her out of harm's way. Then she and the other dragons sheltered the riders, just as the ceiling came down on them. After several minuets things settled down. Edelweiss, who had hit the ground hard, started to come around. She slowly sat up in a daze, her ears were ringing from the explosion. She heard Sledkin and Linda run out of the cave. She decided to focus more on the trapped dragons and riders. She looked around to see a large pile of rocks right where her friends had been. She jumped to her feet and ran over to it.
"Tom, Thunder, anyone!" She called. She put her ear against the rocks hoping to hear an answer. A moment later she heard the faint growl of a dragon, though she couldn't tell which one. She knew she couldn't dig them out herself without causing further problems. Luckily she knew someone who could. She turned and ran out of the cave as fast as she could.
Inside the pile of rocks; the riders turned on the lights on their phones. They looked around to find themselves completely trapped. Eugene tried calling for help.
"What are you waiting for, call for help," he said.
"It's no good Eugene," said Tom. "That wall is too thick, and we're alone down here." Then he noticed that Black Widow was among them, with an empty saddle. "Black Widow, where's Edelweiss?" The other riders turned to the dragon in question. Black Widow crooned and growled, gesturing with her head towards the outside of the cave in.
"She didn't get trapped in here," Jun said, sounding hopeful. "She could probably dig us out. Is she still out there?" Black Widow's ears twitched for a moment, then she shook her head.
"Why would she just abandon us down here?" Eugene roared.
"Edelweiss wouldn't do that," Tom said. "She probably went to go find some help." Black Widow nodded in confirmation.
"Maybe we should try and dig ourselves out," said Jun. "It might take Edelweiss a long time to find someone."
"Thunder, you think you could blast the rocks?" Tom asked. Thunder readied a lightening blast.
"No don't," D'Angelo warned. "That might cause another cave in, or roast us alive." Thunder swallowed the blast and sat on his haunches. "We'll just have to try and move the rocks."
The riders put their phones on the ground and tried to dig themselves out. But the rocks were too tightly stacked. To make matters worse, they were starting to run out of oxygen. They soon gave up on digging when it started to get too hard to breathe. They all sat down next to their dragons.
"It's useless," Jun panted. "There's no way out, and with no oxygen."
"Yeah, even I'm too tired," Eugene panted. "I'm way stronger then all of you." He leaned against Webs. The riders all huddled close to their dragons.
"If this is the end," said Tom. "I'm glad I'm here with all off you." Thunder licked his face and hugged him. Suddenly D'Angelo sat up in alert.
"Did you guys see that?" He asked. "I saw that dragon we helped earlier." They all followed his gaze, but nothing was there.
"I think the lack of oxygen is messing with your head," said Alex. Tom leaned back against Thunder.
"I'm sorry I led us down here," he said. "This was all my fault."
"It's not your fault Tom," said Jun. "You were just trying to save dragons, that's what we do." Just then they heard loud crashing sounds coming from the other side of the cave in then several rocks were blasted away. They all looked to see Edelweiss ride through on the Cavern Crasher. They both looked concerned. All the riders were both shocked and relieved.
"Edel! I knew you didn't abandon us," said Jun, jumping to her feet.
"I'm so sorry I kept you waiting," Edelweiss said. "I knew I couldn't dig you guys out myself, so I went to find Gila. Cavern Crashers are excellent diggers, and when I told her you were trapped she was willing to help. Are you guys okay?"
"We're fine," said Tom. "Just a bit out of breath. Did you see Sledkin?"
"No, I was more worried about you," said Edelweiss. "But now that you're out, we can go get her." She turned the Cavern Crasher around and led the way out of the cave. Once they were in the open, Edelweiss dismounted. Everyone gave Gila a grateful pat. Then they all got on their dragons and headed for the surface.
They soon found their elders and told them everything that had happened. The adults were horrified. They all went over to Sledkin's dome and banged on the door. Sledkin answered it looking a bit timid.
"You have gone too far this time Wilma," Olivia scolded.
"I don't know what these children told you," said Sledkin. "But as I've said before, I haven't left my dome."
"Except for you setting off that explosion that ceiled us in," said Jun.
"That was messed up, even for you," said Alex.
"Check the security footage," Sledkin insisted. "I've been here the whole time."
"The only thing I can't figure out is how you got down there unseen," Tom said.
"You can't figure it out because it didn't happen," said Sledkin. "This is getting tiresome. I'm a world renown geologist." But Tom wasn't paying attention to her anymore. He was looking around the dome. He spotted an old garden lattice covered in dirt, and a red rug on the floor that was also dirty. He went over to investigate.
"Why would bring a dirty garden lattice inside?" He asked, interrupting Sledkin's rant. "And there's dirt on your new rug." The others looked around, then back at Sledkin suspiciously.
"What can I say?" Sledkin stammered. "Rugs get dirty, and you know how much I like plant life and other green things."
"And that pile of rocks," Tom said, pointing to a planter full of dark rocks. Alex went over to it.
"We saw Linda dumping a planter full of rocks in what woods," she said. "But now it's back." At that moment Linda entered the room and walked right onto the red rug. She seemed to sink into the floor.
"Linda get out of there," Sledkin said, pulling her minion out of the hole. Edelweiss went over and pulled the rug away. Beneath it was a deep hole dug into the ground. Everyone was surprised.
"That is not up to code," said Chief Baker.
"That's why we never saw Sledkin leave her dome," said Tom. "She dug a tunnel down and out of it."
"Sneaky," Edelweiss said.
"You're so busted Sledkin," Tom boasted. They turned to find that Sledkin and Linda had bolted. Everyone ran outside to see Linda's van speeding away. Chief Baker ran after it. Tom was about to go after them too, but his mother stopped him.
"No, you're not going after them," she said firmly.
"What if she tells the world about dragons?" Tom asked, worried. He looked over at the dragons who were lounging nearby.
"Wilma will keep the secret," Olivia assured him. "She'll want all the credit for discovering dragoncite." Then she sighed. "I blame myself. I shared my findings with her. I told her about the dragoncite's oxidizing properties and its potential value."
"Wait if it's an oxygen source then removing it will make the Realms uninhabitable for dragons," said D'Angelo.
"You're right," said Olivia. "The dragoncite oxidizes the Realms, no wonder there's such an abundance of life down there." Director Wong then turned to Edelweiss.
"Seems we owe a debt of gratitude for helping these guys down there," she said, gesturing to the riders.
"Oh, I can't take all the credit," Edelweiss said humbly. "I went and found the Cavern Crasher, and she dug them out. So it was a team effort."
"Have you considered my offer?" Director Wong asked. Edelweiss didn't answer right away.
"You'd be a great asset," said Olivia. Edelweiss looked over at Black Widow, who nodded in encouragement.
"All right," she said. "Looks like you've got yourselves a Dragonologist, and her five apprentices." She smiled at the riders. Director Wong held her hand out.
"Welcome to ICARIS Ms. Dragonborn," she said.
"Thank you Director Wong," Edelweiss said, grasping the hand and shaking it.
"You can call me Mai now," said Director Wong.
"Fine, Mai," said Edelweiss. She let got and went over to her dragon, and mounted up. They took off and headed back to the silver cabin.