Dusk was quickly approaching, and candles were being shut off as dragons silently left their homes for the terrifying night ahead. At least, that's what every dragon told Flame, but he wasn't convinced. That night would be his first Halloween, and likely not his last.
Avalanche was always gone for Halloween, and he didn't like the thought of trick-or-treating — going outside to collect a bunch of candy other dragons spent their money on for hours when he could just buy it himself.
But that year was different — or rather, quite similar to how it was when he was growing up. This time, they had Chromis coming along with them, as Avalanche and Shrimp were both out working, desperately trying to gather enough suns to move out of the small house Flame used to call home. Which meant, he and Umber would be the ones tasked with taking Chromis trick-or-treating instead.
The snobby, rich town they lived in rarely celebrated Halloween, one of the prime reasons Flame opted to move there. Except for, of course, the incredibly cheap house in a rich neighborhood — a black sheep in a den of white, clearly standing out in the crowd.
Which was exactly why they weren't in that town. They were going to a poorer yet well-known town, specifically for the haunted houses some dragons would put on. Of course, he had never seen them before, but from what he heard they were scattered all over the place — houses specifically built and modified for that exact occasion.
He looked down at his little brother, the little custom-made pirate hat and button-up vest surely making him the center of attention, causing any sensible dragon to give him as much candy as they could. One dragon skull on the front with a cross of bones that faded behind it, and a vest with golden fabric on the shoulders, along with a white stripe down behind the buttons on either side. His blue, purple, and red scales only added to the costume, solidifying the chances of extra candy.
Flame's costume was nothing fancy. In fact, he didn't have less than an hour to come up with it; Avalanche apparently didn't believe in a thing called "letters".
A little bit of brown paint here and there, and he was finished — it was quite the opposite of a little though, especially after three containers of it.
He — naturally — went as a MudWing. Not a very high-quality costume, but one high enough to where it looked purposeful; comedic, even. Little bits of red shone through the matte brown pain, reflecting in the moons' light in shimmers you could hardly see.
Umber, on the other talon, decided his pale brown scales were more than enough of a costume. Maybe he thought he would look like a cow, and dragons would be wondering why a dragon-sized snack meal was walking around so freely and without fear. Or — the more likely reason — he didn't feel like thinking of one last minute and decided to go without one.
"Can we hurry up already?" Chromis begged in his usual impatient voice. His plastic candy basket made to look like a pumpkin swayed back and forth as he wobbled from talon to talon, trying to contain his excitement.
This will be his first Halloween, Flame thought, remembering how worried Avalanche was of Chromis getting a cold from the temperature. That year, Chromis got a whole lot of candy as compensation, far more than he would've gotten from trick-or-treating.
"Yes, Chromis," Umber started as he walked from one side of the living room to the other. "Just let me grab your bag first and we'll leave." He swiped his bag up from off of the couch, blowing out the few candles they had lit on the way over. The room engulfed them in darkness soon enough, swallowing them whole. "Alright." He gestured towards Flame to open the door.
Flame twisted the handle letting the cool night's breeze fly into their face. Thankfully, that Halloween wasn't cold like most, warm enough for a Sky-Sea hybrid, a SkyWing, and a MudWing, anyway.
Flame took off, beckoning for them to follow. Then Umber, then Chromis, until Flame slowed his pace until he was parallel with the two, careful to match Umber's speed, who was probably also matching Chromis's speed.
They landed down on the imperfect path of the town, quite different from what Flame was used to seeing. None of the dragons sparkled with jewelry, acting like they had places to be and dragons to meet, none of the dragons casted disregarding glances at them because they weren't covered head to talon in gems, and none of the dragons talked with the snobby tone he was so used to hearing, he could hardly remember how normal dragons spoke.
"This is a nice change," Umber noted. "My nose isn't clogged with perfume anymore." Flame could still remember when he first moved there; the perfume they smelled when walking down the inner paths is burned into his memory.
Flame took another, closer look around. There were webs, spiders, ghosts of dragons, witches, and pumpkins set up all around, and at least half of the houses were lit up in the front, candles burning brightly — a signal for all trick-or-treaters in the area to come and steal their candy. His eyes caught on one house specifically, where a group of dragons that didn't look above five were standing.
The house had two sizable pumpkins on either side of the concrete steps with a big laughing face carved into them, each having a different expression. The first one was staring directly at him, laughing maniacally as if it wasn't going to rot away and die in the next week.
The second one was staring off somewhere to the side, as if it had just committed a murder and was laughing about it to the guards, almost like it thought it was a funny game it played when it was just a dragonet.
The group of dragonets held out their baskets, and one by one, the SkyWing dropped a piece of candy in each of their bags, until she got to the final one and they went on their way. He looked down at Chromis, his eyes glaring at all of the houses they would be visiting for the next couple of hours. "Alright, c'mon Chro," Flame said.
"I told you to stop calling me that!" Chromis complained. However, the anger was quickly forgotten about, replaced with dopamine as his gaze landed on the house Flame was looking at.
Flame started walking towards the house, and Chromis followed swiftly behind, his little empty bucket clanging against itself in the light breeze. His little hat held firm on his head and the pirate vest he had on fluttered in the wind. Soon though, that bucket would be filled to the brim and he would have all of the candy he could ask for.
That night, he assumed they would probably wake up to a hyperactive dragonet running throughout the house in the middle of the night, wrappers of candy all over the floor. Maybe if he ate enough, he would be able to last for the flight home instead of having to spend the night.
The dragon holding a big bucket of candy caught their gaze as they drew nearer. She looked maybe forty, towering over the three of them. His talons met cold concrete as they walked up the three little steps that led to her doorway. Chromis quickly pushed in front, holding out his hollow little basket.
"Trick or treat!" the little hybrid said excitedly. Flame imagined he practiced saying it a million times in the mirror for that exact moment. The SkyWing looked down at him, a smile firmly planted from cheek to cheek, showing no signs of disappearing anytime soon.
"Aren't you cute!" the SkyWing commented. Chromis's smile only grew bigger when she said that, and even bigger when she dropped a piece of candy into his bucket. The sound it made when it landed was probably music — or, candy to Chromis's ears.
Chromis started walking away when Flame grabbed onto his vest. "No, Chromis. What do you say?" he reminded. But apparently, it didn't quite click in his head when he turned around with a confused glare.
"Uhm…" he tried. "Goodbye?" That earned a giggle from the SkyWing, an unexpected response, though it probably wasn't her first.
"No, Chromis. You say 'thank you'." He gestured for Chromis to continue, copying what he said.
His face turned shy, almost as if the words were poison and he was willingly taking it. He hesitated before forcing the words out of his maw. "Thank you," he said, flushed, turning away to face anywhere but the SkyWing's laugh.
They walked back down into the streets of the Sky Kingdom as dragons all around gathered at the nearby houses. Porch by porch, minute by minute, they visited houses, each one filling Chromis's basket slightly more. An hour passed quickly, only feeling as if mere minutes had passed; it was hard to believe they had already cleared out the entire block.
Flame looked right, down the street that had more houses than the last. It seemed like every other house had a candle on their porch — more invitations, meaning more candy for Chromis. Also meaning a more hyperactive dragonet at the same time, but he was willing to take that chance.
One house, two houses, three houses, all the way up to six. Some gave out two, and some gave out massive candy bars, massive totes filled to the brim with candy. As the biggest town for Halloween though, that was expected of anyone who was giving it away.
Just as they were walking to another house after finishing one though, Flame's eyes caught on something — something he had been planning to do ever since they got to the town, but quickly forgot about the moment he saw Chromis's joyous smile.
The exterior of the house looked ruined, molded, and old. Some of the planks that decorated the outside were snapped and left on the grass below. The place looked old, as if it had been abandoned a hundred years ago and it had been left alone since. Except, the dragons crawling around the outside gave him quite the opposite feeling.
"Umber," Flame said, grabbing his attention. He pointed to the house. Umber turned and glared at it for a few moments, before looking back at Flame with a disapproving glare.
"Oh no," Umber said, denying his request. "No, no, no, no, no. We're not dragging Chromis into a haunted house, Flame!" he scolded. "He'll be up all-"
"A haunted house?!" Chromis interjected excitedly. His phosphorus scales started glowing slightly, putting his excitement on full display. How could Umber say no to him, especially with his cute pirate costume? "I wanna go! I wanna go!"
"Sorry, Chromis," Flame started. "we can't go because Umber's too scared of decorations," he mocked.
"I'm not-" he tried, hesitating. "Fine, but you're going to be the one to convince Chromis that ghosts aren't real tonight while I get a good night's rest."
"I'm not scared!" Chromis protested. "I'm the bravest dragon here! I'll even go in there alone!" He started marching towards the house. Flame took a glance at Umber, and Umber shot an I-know-this-is-a-bad-idea-but-I'm-doing-it-anyway-because-I-love-you expression back.
Flame beckoned for Umber to follow as he trailed behind the overly excited hybrid who kicked up gravel as he ran.
After just a few moments, they made it to the creaky, old house. The line wasn't too long from what he saw; only a few dragons were in front of them as Chromis took his spot in the line.
As he got closer, inside he could hear dragons' screams. Not screams mixed with joy or excitement, no. They were screams of pure, unfiltered terror. Maybe this isn't such a good idea for Chromis after all, he thought. But there was no turning back then — it had already been implied that he was going to land a spot inside the house.
Umber looked at him, noticing his hesitant face. "Scared?" he asked. "Since when is Flame, of all dragons, scared?"
"Oh, shush MudWing," Flame said. "I'm not scared for me, I'm scared for Chromis. I'm sure all of the dragons in there get scared by their own shadow."
"Mhm, that's what they all say," Umber mocked, unconvinced of his confidence.
Truthfully, he wasn't scared — he was more excited, actually; excited to see what sort of things they have that were probably about as scary as a dragonet wielding a toy sword — about as scary as Chromis wielding a toy sword.
Chromis gazed excitedly at the house before him, no doubt impatient enough to attempt to skip the line. But as Flame stared, a streak of nervousness flashed across his face. It was quick, almost too quick for Flame to catch it, but he did. Someone's scared, he laughed quietly.
The line seemed to pass in just a few minutes, before another, much longer line formed behind them. Two SkyWings were standing beside the open door, draped head to talon in black clothing, their faces obfuscated in the darkness of their hoods.
Flame watched as Chromis walked up with shaky talons, and the dragon on the right took his mostly full basket. "We'll hold this for you," the SkyWing on the right said, in a higher monotone voice. He hardly did as much as looked up as he spoke — or maybe they did, but they never lifted their head enough for Flame to see their eyes past the silk.
Chromis was hesitant, but eventually surrendered the basket. "Fine, but you better not steal it!"
First Chromis walked in, through the darkness that was near impossible for anyone except a SeaWing or NightWing to see beyond. Then Umber, disappearing into the shadows, and finally, Flame. But as he took his first step in, the dragon to his left suddenly found his words. "Have fun," he said in a low grumbly, almost threatening voice followed by a chuckle.
He ignored the comment, scoffing as the darkness engulfed him. He imagined Chromis could see everything in there, while he and Umber both were stuck in darkness, only second to the faint glow Chromis instinctually lit.
"Scared yet?" Flame asked both Chromis and Umber.
"No!" Chromis said defiantly. Though, by the tiny quiver in his voice, he was most definitely getting there — Flame assumed the raised voice was just a coverup that hardly worked. "I'm the bravest hybrid alive! Nothing can scare me!"
As they walked, the hallway seemed to go on forever — or maybe that was just his perception of time going haywire. Eventually, what was once a dark hall only lit dimly by the phosphorus scales of a hybrid turned into a pool of orange light when a candle hardly two feet in front of them suddenly lit up, causing Chromis to lightly jump back in surprise.
As Flame took a closer look at what he thought was the wall, but was instead another dragon — a NightWing specifically, dressed in all black like the others. They had their head down, staring at the floor as they laid. Beneath their talons, there were a few red paw prints that seemed to be made of blood, dried up, and stuck to the wood on the floor.
To his left, there was another hall and Flame couldn't see down, as the NightWing was blocking their path.
Though he couldn't see their face beyond his hood as he looked down, their snout poked out slightly, and Flame swore he could see a smirk on their face, as if he was a serial killer who had just finished going on a rampage. The light chuckles that came from them next only made Flame even more uneasy, bouncing off of the walls and ringing back through his mind.
Somehow, every second he chuckled was scarier than the last, sending a feeling of dread shooting through him from somewhere deep in his chest, spreading through his veins like a poison. He looked behind him, back where the door to safety was where the moonlight shone through the doorway.
His body was screaming at him to run back — begging him to run back. But his mind kept his talons firmly planted against the wood, undaring to move a muscle. He looked down at Chromis and Umber; Chromis was terrified, crouched down as the little lights on his scales dimmed to dark.
Umber, on the other talon, was smiling. How could he be smiling in a situation like that? Granted, all they had heard so far was a soft chuckle from a NightWing, but the dread was telling Flame he should at least have some sort of reaction. Did he want to die or something? Was that his lifelong goal and he was finally achieving it? Die to the talons of a NightWing in a haunted house?
After an eternity that lasted only a few moments, the NightWing finally dared to move. Flame's muscles almost moved for him when the NightWing lifted his head, staring directly at Flame.
His face looked like it had cuts and bruises all over it, and now that he was paying attention, he could clearly see blood dripping down from his forehead; little rose-colored droplets, gliding against his scales before losing their grip.
But the source of the blood only made the deep pit of dread in his chest worse.
As Flame studied his face closer, checking his ears, maw, nose, forehead, he saw nothing that would call for blood. But as he looked at his eyes, he either had incredibly realistic-looking makeup on or the second option that made him want to puke.
His left eye looked as if it had been ripped clean out, leaving a cavity where tissue should've been. He didn't blink, only stared at them threateningly, gazing deep into his soul, no doubt casting some sort of spell. Flame couldn't help but wonder if that dragon would kill them right then and there.
But the words he said next sent a shiver down his spine.
"Run," he said, a whisper.
"Run," he said again, louder that time.
"Run. Run. Run! Run! RUN!" He kept repeating it, over and over. Each word got louder, rattling Flame to the core as if he were a dumbbell being shaken around carelessly by a dragonet.
Chromis was the first to turn around, digging his talons into the wood as he sprinted towards the open door — freedom. Soon enough, Flame copied his movements, craning his neck towards the door and breaking into a full sprint. It felt as if he was racing against the clock of death — running from floating knives that outpaced him slightly.
The NightWing was still screaming the words, and as he looked back, he saw Umber standing there, no movement or desire to get away. Actually, Flame swore he could see him laughing, little giggles echoing through the hall. How he could be laughing in a situation like this, he didn't know.
Once he got halfway down the hall though, the door in front of him slammed shut hard enough that he thought it might break. At the same time, the candle that once lit a portion of the hallway went out, plunging them directly into darkness — or, at least he and Umber.
Almost immediately, he heard Chromis's talons skid to a stop and turn back around and start sprinting faster than Flame thought he possibly could. "Chromis!" he yelled. Of course, he couldn't see the little hybrid, but the little hybrid could see where he was — and where he was going, unlike Flame.
He broke into a sprint down the hall, little whimpers echoing back to him. Most of his feelings of fear for himself almost instantly switched up to fear for his little brother. So much so that he completely forgot about the NightWing at the end of the hall as he slammed into the wall — except, there was no NightWing, only hard wood that hurt his shoulder.
Umber was gone as well, probably chasing after Chromis down the hall. He could hardly hear anything over his pounding heart, each thump obfuscating the sounds of footsteps that should have been reaching his ears.
After a slight tumble against the wall, he stood up faster than he hit the floor and started sprinting again — though more carefully that time; another slam like that would surely guarantee he wouldn't find Chromis anytime soon.
"Chromis!" he heard Umber yell further down the hall. It twisted and turned at seemingly random. Right, right, left, right, left, left, and so on. He could hardly even tell what direction he was facing at that point, as the natural compass he constantly had spinning around in his mind had a magnet shoved underneath.
He tried listening for footsteps, nothing. No Umber calling out for Chromis, no cries as Chromis ran, no sounds of screams as if they had been murdered. Nothing. Dead quiet except for the sounds of his beating heart and talons clacking against the wood.
"Chromis? Umber?" he called out, stopping momentarily, hoping for some sort of response. But none came, creaking floorboards being the only response he got as his weight shifted. So he started jogging again, occasionally calling out their names.
But eventually, after what felt like an eternity of going through a maze that seemingly never ended, the hall opened up into a room. One candle sat in the furthest corner covered by red glass, making it emit an ominous red glow that covered the entire room — the entire room except one corner, big enough for a dragon to fit in.
As the candle flickered, so did the light in the room, disorientating him slightly with every step inside. The light was hardly bright enough to see through, but he managed using the little snippets he got every now and again, relying solely on memory to make sure he didn't run into a wall.
"Hello?" he called out. There didn't seem to be any doors in the room, so instead he grazed his talons against the black wooden wall, hoping — no, praying that there would be some sort of exit.
But then he thought back to Chromis and Umber. Where had they gone? Did they just vanish? Were they even alive, or were they outside somewhere? He didn't want to think of that last part; it only made his heart sink deeper and deeper into his chest in the already-terrifying situation. He wanted to cry at the thought that Umber and his little brother may be dead at that very moment.
Get out first, and I can worry about that later, he thought.
Should I go back? he thought. Maybe there's some sort of exit somewhere, or maybe another room that'll… — kill him instead; he didn't want to mentally finish the sentence. Maybe the room he was in was made for that exact reason. Maybe Umber and Chromis had already been inside the exact room he was in, and their corpses were discarded right before he had gotten there.
After all, he'd been through — a war where he was supposed to replace the dragons that were meant to stop it, an evil animus who tied him to the ground of a cave for days with another animus who surely wanted him dead, a restaurant fire he narrowly made out of alive. All of that to die inside of a haunted house on Halloween. Pathetic, he spat to himself.
As his talons dragged against the wall, looking for some sort of crack that would indicate a doorway, in the darkest corner of the room he heard one shy creak.
He whipped his head around so fast he thought he might give himself whiplash, one crack in his neck being the only sign of any damage. "Who's there?!" he demanded. "Where's Umber and Chromis?!"
No response.
"Show yourself motherfucker!" His talons were shaking hard enough that he thought he might fall where he was standing. Legs trembling, heart racing, tail uncontrollably twisting and turning in fear, claws ready, eyes flicking back and forth from the door to the corner. "Show yourself right now or I'll burn this entire fucking building down!"
He built up fire in the back of his throat, the audible hissing sound being the only noise in the darkness. Whoever was in there with him surely heard it and hopefully scared them enough to come out from their hiding spot.
And his wishes were granted.
From the cold of the darkness, slowly crept out yet another NightWing draped in the same black clothing as before. First, his neck emerged from the blanket of darkness, then his two front legs, then his back legs, and finally, his tail.
The dragon wasn't small by any means — he was probably bigger than Clay and could easily win in a fight against him. Flame backed himself into a corner, desperately feeling the walls for some sort of exit. He said no words; he didn't need to. His gaze was already threatening enough.
But something told him he wouldn't be using his talons alone, because in one of his talons, something sparkled against the dark red light, reflecting a ruby shimmer into his eyes. A shimmer much similar to his scales if they didn't have matte brown paint covering every inch.
He couldn't see it at first, but when he leaned in slightly it became clear what it was.
A sickle.
One round curve looking like a half-moon, a pointy tip that would have no problem cutting through a MudWing's scales, an edge that was sharper than a razor, and a massive dragon who could kill him in one swift blow wielding it. A combination that would — should scare any dragon into submission.
The weapon scraped against the wood, making a horrifying high-pitched sound that rang in his ears. He couldn't help but wonder how many times he'd done that. His movements were silent, optimized, and smooth, and he must've been no stranger to smaller dragons throwing empty threats in his face before wiping them off, unphased.
His heart pounded, and with every few bumps the NightWing got closer. One, two, three, four, one step. Five, six, seven, eight, two steps. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, three steps.
Seconds felt like hours at that moment, and in a sense, he wished they were, but even hours can only last so long before they run out.
He looked forward as the NightWing towered over him. He wanted to beg for his life, beg for mercy, but like his muscles, his words were unwilling to respond to his commands.
He pushed himself as close to the corner as he possibly could, and as the NightWing raised the sickle to pull off the one finishing blow that would surely kill him in one clean slice, he shut his eyes. Maybe he wouldn't notice he died, never feeling the pain or discomfort. Maybe he would open his eyes to see Chromis and Umber waiting for him. Or maybe the NightWing would make him suffer through the whole thing.
He didn't know how he knew, but the blade sliced through the air, and at the same time, the floor below his feet disappeared, sending him falling down some sort of slide.
Cold, fresh air glided along his scales, and he had hardly even realized how hot the inside of the house had gotten.
At first, he thought the slide led to some sort of other death trap. Maybe a pit of spikes, or just a normal pit that would shatter his bones when he landed against concrete. But when his face was buried in familiar green grass, his head cocked up to look at the surrounding area around him.
He was outside, no longer confined to the inside of the house, and Flame immediately assumed he was in the backyard. The cool night air felt good against his face after narrowly surviving death itself. There were a few dragons there, staring at him with a smile. No, they weren't just smiling, they were laughing. One of them at the table closest had a big basket of candy out, probably ready to give Chromis more candy than he could ever ask for.
At the same time, he noticed that a door right next to the hole he had slid through opened. Out came brown, red, blue, and purple scales as they laughed to the point Flame thought they might suffocate. In a way, he hoped they did after that.
"Umber!" Flame scolded, raising himself up to his feet. "What the fuck was that all about?!" he demanded. He didn't bother censoring himself around Chromis that time. Before long, he was right up in front of him and Umber could hardly talk through his wheezes. Chromis fell to the ground beside him laughing, gripping his stomach.
"You-" he tried but was interrupted by another set of laughter. "You should've seen your face!" he managed to get out. "You were so scared! You thought you were going-" Another barrage of laughs interrupted him once again.
"Well, no shit I was scared! What the fuck do you expect when I'm in a room with no way out and a dragon ten times my size is walking toward me with a sickle?!" His anger was rising, one of the few times he would ever get mad at Umber for anything. "How did you even see me?!"
"There-" Umber tried again but was interrupted by more laughter. Flame didn't bother to even humor him and stood there and waited for him to stop. After a good ten seconds, Umber finally stopped laughing enough to get a sentence out. "When I chased Chromis, we ended up in a room with one-way glass. At least, that's what the SkyWing told us."
"What SkyWing?! There were more dragons watching?!"
"Of course there were! How do you think the floor below you dropped right before you got skinned? She was laughing along with us as well! She said that was the best reaction they'd gotten all night!" Another snicker left his maw, no matter how hard he tried to stop himself.
Flame grumbled. "Whatever, it wasn't even that funny anyway," he scoffed, turning away from him. "Chromis, get your candy, and let's go."
The SkyWing at the table ended up filing Chromis's basket to the very top. That night, needless to say, Chromis was very happy with all of his candy, to the point where Flame ended up having to take it away from him until the morning.
He was angry at first but eventually fell asleep — somehow. Even Flame had trouble falling asleep after eating just a few pieces of candy, so how Chromis ate one-fourth of the basket and still managed to go to sleep? He didn't know.
Umber was the one who opted to sleep on the couch that night as Chromis laid in the spot where Umber usually would be in their bed. A few times, Flame almost reflexively pulled Chromis close with his wing as if he was Umber; that would've ended in an awkward stare between the two for sure.
At least Chromis's first Halloween was special, Flame thought to himself as he drifted asleep. It was certainly a memorable one, and Flame guessed that Chromis wouldn't forget the look on his face for a very long time afterward.
Author's notes: My first — finished — short! I wish I could've gotten this out sooner, but I first had to reveal Umber's scales being healed first, but I really only did get it out five days after Halloween, so not too late! The ending of this chapter was certainly a lengthy one to write, as I woke up at 9 AM with 3.8k words, and ended at 2 PM with 5.3k words haha. Needless to say, I did a lot of writing today.
