Heart of Glass
Thunder was sitting in the middle of town one afternoon. The riders were in the Kullersen dome discussing Buzzsaw. Thunder had agreed to watch the other dragons, but they had wandered off to explore the town. Things were pretty quiet. But then suddenly all of Thunder's friends ran passed him, being chased by a security guard. Every dragon had a bag of snacks in their teeth, and the man was trying to catch them. Thunder instantly ran after them and tried to get them to drop the food, but they wouldn't listen to him. Lucky the riders came out of their meeting at that point. They eventually spotted the chaos and ran to their respective dragons. Thunder watched with envy as the riders got their dragons to settle down and drop all the snacks. Tom looked at his dragon.
"What happened?" He asked. "I though you were going to watch theses guys." Thunder slumped, looking so defeated. Tom stroked his neck. "You got to assert yourself pal." Thunder looked at him. Then he faced the other dragons. He glared at them, squared his shoulders, and puffed out his chest.
"All right everyone," he said boldly. "Back to the Lair." However, none of the dragons moved.
"Uh, who made you the boss?" Feathers said, rolling her eyes. The dragons went back to their riders. Thunder slumped again and gave Tom a very frustrated look. Tom patted his shoulder.
"Keep trying," he said. At that moment Alex's tablet beeped. She pulled it out and looked at it.
"Looks like Buzzsaw's come out of hiding," she said. "Sensors are going off in the Nature Realm."
"Great," said Tom. "Time to get the book back." They all got on their dragons and took off.
They landed at the silver cabin where Edelweiss was sitting alone on her patio swing. She glanced up when the dragons landed.
"Buzzsaw's in the Nature Realm," said Tom. "This could be out chance to get the book back."
"Ah, my dragons just went hunting," Edelweiss said.
"You can ride with me," said Jun. Edelweiss smiled appreciatively. She picked up her medical bag and slung it onto her back using the backpack straps. Then she picked up her staff. Wei lowered his head to her level. She patted his head gratefully then got onto his saddle. The dragons took off and headed towards the Nature Realm. Edelweiss spotted the defeated look on Thunder's face.
"What's up with you Thunder?" She asked. The Night Light sighed, but didn't answer right away.
"This guy thinks he's a big scary alpha," Wu explained. "We were having a bit of fun in the humans' food storage, we weren't going to hurt anyone. But Thunder threw a fit over it." Thunder scowled and huffed angrily.
"Ah, it's okay Thunder," Edelweiss said soothingly. "You're still young. Toothless was a full grown titan wing when he became king."
"Thunder's no king," scoffed Webmaster. "He may be a descendant of the Great Alpha, but he's not the only one."
"That's true," said Edelweiss.
"And he hasn't really done anything befitting a king," said Wu.
"Yeah, that's true too," said Edelweiss. "He may not be a king, but he is still a friend." Thunder smiled at her.
They soon reached the Nature Realm. Tom steered them all to the area where the sensors had gone off. They soon landed all the riders, except Edelweiss, dismounted. They looked around, but there was no sign of Buzzsaw. Plowhorn sniffed the grass. She growled nervously.
"You got something Plow?" D'Angelo asked.
"Does anyone else hear that?" Edelweiss asked. Everyone went silent and listened. They could hear a faint drilling sound. Tom led the way over to the source. It wasn't Buzzsaw, it was Dr. Sledkin. She was standing at the base of a short cliff, next to a small drill. Linda stood on the other side of the drill.
"Dr. Sledkin!?" Jun said, shocked.
"Oh great," Edelweiss said under her breath. "More parasites." Sledkin and Linda looked up as the riders and dragons approached them.
"What are you doing?" Tom asked.
"Did you really think I'd leave here without what rightfully belongs to me," Sledkin said, as she stopped the drill.
"Nothing down here belongs to you," said Jun defensively.
"I discovered the properties of dragoncite," said Sledkin. She pulled out a small chunk of dragoncite.
"My mom discovered it," said Tom angrily.
"In conjunction with me," said Sledkin. "But she decided to play zookeeper with that disgusting mutant. But I won't let dragoncite's value go to waste."
"You're coming with us," said Tom. The riders all moved in.
"I'm not going anywhere," Sledkin hissed. "I have an insurance policy that will make sure nothing interferes with my work." She then pulled out a stick of dynamite. The riders backed up at once and the dragons growled defensively. Sledkin tossed the dynamite to the ground. The dragons quickly pulled their riders into the shelter of their wings just as the dynamite went of with a ground shaking blast. A thick cloud of dust filled the air. The riders all heard ringing in their ears. They slowly emerged as the dust settled.
"Everyone okay?" Tom asked, fanning away dust.
"I think so," Jun answered. Edelweiss got to her feet and climbed over the rubble, coughing up dust.
"Really loves dynamite that one," she said. She went to where Sledkin and Linda had been standing. Except they were no where in sight. A large hole had been blasted into the cliff. The riders and dragons all came over to admire it.
"This wasn't here before," said Tom.
"The blast must have opened it up," said D'Angelo. The riders got on their dragons, Edelweiss got onto Wu and Wei with Jun. They then entered the tunnel. It came out into a vast space. The ground was made of black sand. A large, twisted, purple spire rose above. Large, smooth boulders were scattered around in the spire's shadow. Dark clouds filled the sky.
"Dark Realm," said Edelweiss.
"My map's all confused," said Alex, looking at her tablet. "We're totally off the grid."
"I'll say," Tom breathed out.
"There's something familiar about this place," said Jun.
"I just want to find Sledkin and Linda before they get too far away," said Tom. They flew closer to this spire. When the dragons landed again the riders dismounted. Edelweiss perched on one of the large smooth boulders, she pulled out her staff. Jun examined the boulder she was perched on.
"These things are all over the place," she said. "What are they made of, a different type of dragoncite?"
"Or some other type of crystal," said D'Angelo. Edelweiss tapped it with her staff. It lit up briefly and made a high pitched ringing sound.
"I think it's glass," she said. "Crystal doesn't sing." Just then there came panicked shouts. Everyone turned to see Sledkin and Linda running towards them, looking terrified. They ran and cowered behind Tom and Jun.
"It's coming this way!" Sledkin shrieked.
"What is?" Jun asked. Suddenly a flightless dragon the size of a tank came barreling up to them. It was muddy brown with a long goblinish snout filled with large fangs. It had large pointy ears, small yellow eyes, and a thick mane down the back of his neck. He glared menacingly at the riders and their dragons.
"Is that a dragon?" Tom asked. Before anyone could answer the big dragon shot yellow and purple flames at them. The dragons dodged out of the way and the humans were knocked of their feet. Edelweiss was still on top of a glass boulder.
"Can't you shift?" Thunder asked her.
"Not with Sledkin watching," said Edelweiss. "Besides I want to see if I do any better in this form." The big dragon turned on Thunder and his friends.
"Guys we need to stay together," Thunder shouted. But no sooner had he said that, then all the dragons scattered. Thunder was completely abandoned. The big dragon snapped his jaws at the Night Light. Thunder took off and stayed out of the big dragon's range. Edelweiss watched the dragon carefully, seeing how it moved and tracked he pray. He would let out a loud roar and the sound would it the glass boulders, causing them to resonate the sound and the dragon used that to track his pray. Thunder hovered next to Edelweiss.
"He's so fast and so powerful." He said.
"He seems to use echolocation," said Edelweiss. "So he must have great hearing."
"Yeah looks like it," said Thunder. "So what do we do?"
"Fortunately I was friends with a few Night Furies," said Edelweiss. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her dragon whistle. But then suddenly the big dragon blasted Feathers and she went down in the distance.
"Feathers!" Thunder exclaimed. The big dragon was now chasing the humans towards the twisted spire. Edelweiss quickly jumped onto Thunder's back and they headed after them. The big dragon chased the humans into a cave at the base of the spire, they were now cornered. Edelweiss blew her whistle and the big dragon whirled around in irritation. The Night Light flew in circles over the big dragon's head, Edelweiss blew the whistle again. The big dragon snapped his jaws at them, but missed. Then Edelweiss saw the dragon's throat light up.
"Thunder watch out!" She exclaimed just seconds before the big dragon blasted them. The flames hit Thunder's left wing and he crashed onto the sand. Edelweiss hit the ground next to him. Thunder looked up in time to see the big dragon blast the cave where the humans were hiding, sealing them in with a wall of glass.
"Edel did you see that?" He asked.
"Yeah," Edelweiss said. "That guy has breath hot enough to turn sand into glass. I remember Toothless told me about a dragon he encountered that had similar abilities. He called it a Sandbuster. This one must be a distant relative, Glass Caster." Suddenly she heard Thunder moan in pain. She turned to see him laying on his side. She rushed over to him.
"My wing," Thunder hissed. Edelweiss looked at his left wing, it was badly burned. She pulled off her pack. "Where's the Glass Caster?" Edelweiss glanced around and saw the Glass Caster wandering off.
"He's gone for now," she said. "Let me see that wing." Thunder held is burned wing out, wincing. "Second degree burn, not a problem." She pulled out a tub of aloe cream. She opened it up and began applying it to Thunder's wing. He roared in pain when she touched it. "I'm sorry I know it hurts." She smeared the cream over the burn as gently and as quickly as she could. When she finished she put the cream away again.
"Thank you," Thunder said breathlessly.
"Can you walk?" Edelweiss asked. Thunder rolled so is feet were under him, and pulled himself up.
"We should find the others," he said. "I saw Feathers get hit too."
"Right behind you," Edelweiss said, pulling on her pack. She picked up her staff, and they headed off through the glass boulders. They moved quietly, ducking out of sight whenever the Glass Caster passed them.
"I hope Tom and the other humans are okay," Thunder said sadly.
"The Glass Caster sealed them in that cave," Edelweiss said. "I think he's more interested in hunting us at the moment." Suddenly Thunder saw something move ahead, he tensed up and growled, Edelweiss went into a fighting stance clutching her staff. But then Plowhorn came around the corner and they all relaxed.
"Plowhorn, good to see you're okay," Thunder said.
"Hey Thunder, Edel," said Plowhorn. "Yeah glad to see you're okay too."
"Did you see any of the others?" Thunder asked.
"No, not since we were scattered," said Plowhorn. Just then the glass boulders lit up and hummed. Edelweiss and the two dragons tensed up.
"The Glass Caster," Edelweiss said. "He must be heading this way."
"We've got to get out of here," Plowhorn said. She took off, but Thunder clamped his teeth around her tail and pulled her back.
"No, please don't leave Plowhorn," he said. The Gembreaker landed again. "If we band together, we'll have a better chance of saving ourselves and our riders. You think you can track the others?"
"Oh certainly," said Plowhorn. She sniffed the area. "I've got them." She lowered her head to Edelweiss and she climbed onto the Gembreaker's back. She sat cross legged with her staff across her lap. They set off following Plowhorn's nose.
"So Glass Caster," Thunder said casually. "You just come up with that on the spot?"
"Yes," said Edelweiss. "I don't really get a lot of opportunities to name a new dragon species."
"So when we to find the others," said Plowhorn changing the subject. "Do you have a plan to get passed that Glass Caster and save our riders?"
"Honestly, no I don't," Thunder sighed. "I just want to see if the others are okay first. Then hopefully we can come up with a plan as a team."
"See, now you're starting to think like a real leader," said Edelweiss, smiling. "Brave, strong, smart, but also humble. Puts the life of his friends ahead of anything else, including winning a fight, that's a leader I'd follow in a heartbeat."
"Me too," said Plowhorn. Suddenly they heard someone calling them. They looked up to see Wu and Wei standing in front of a smaller cave.
"Hey, we've got Feathers," said Wei. "But she won't come out." They then tried to pull Feathers out by her tail, but she resisted.
"Okay, that's enough," Thunder said boldly. Wu and Wei backed off and Thunder looked into the cave. Feathers cowered inside, whimpering in pain. "Feathers, are you okay?" Feathers glanced up, pure terror in her eyes.
"Thunder," she said, relieved. "My wing hurts." She licked a burn on her wing, crying softly when it hurt.
"I know," Thunder said gently. "My wing hurts too." He showed her the burn on his wing. Feathers stared at him. "But you can't stay in here. Our riders need us. Come on out, Edelweiss can help your wing." Feathers cautiously crawled out of the cave, Thunder backed up to give her space. She leaned into him and he put his good wing around her.
"I'm glad you're here," she said.
"Yeah me too," said Thunder. "Edel." Edelweiss got down from Plowhorn and took off her pack. Feathers went over to her, as she pulled out the aloe cream. She put the cream on the Featherhide's wounded wing.
"Thank you," Feathers said, nuzzling Edelweiss.
"You're welcome," Edelweiss said. Just then there came a commotion from far off in the distance.
"Webs!" Thunder exclaimed. "Edelweiss will you go help our riders out of that cave, we'll save Webs and meet you guys over there."
"Yes sir," Edelweiss said. She pulled her pack back on, picked up her staff, and ran off towards the spire. The dragons ran in the direction of the Glass Caster.
Edelweiss reached the spire and ran to the closed in cave. She could hear the riders arguing inside. Edelweiss spotted a rope laying just outside the cave. She picked it up and tied one end of it to a near by boulder. She then climbed up the glass wall, perching on the top. She saw the riders, Sledkin, and Linda below.
"Well what are you waiting for you mutant savage, get us out of here!" Sledkin ordered. Edelweiss growled, curling her lip. Then she wordlessly tossed the rope down to them. Then she climbed higher up the spire. In the distance she could see the Glass Caster, closing in on Thunder. Edelweiss quickly pulled out her dragon whistle and blew it. The Glass Caster looked up in alert. He then left the other dragons alone, and came barreling towards the spire. Edelweiss jumped back down to the ground as the riders finished climbing out of the cave.
"Where are the dragons?" Tom asked.
"They're fine," Edelweiss assured him. "They're on their way." She then climbed up a near by boulder and could now see the dragons flying towards them, in perfect formation. They landed flawlessly in a protective circle around their riders. The Glass Caster came barreling towards them, growling. Tom pulled out his lightening sword.
"Strike the glass, confuse it," he said to Thunder. The Night Light nodded, then turned to his friends.
"Will you guys help me?" He asked.
"We're with you Night Light," said Plowhorn. The dragons all disbursed and blasted the glass boulders, making them hum. Edelweiss used her dragon whistle as well. This confused the Glass Caster, causing him to get overwhelmed. Then Tom threw the lightening sword. It stabbed dark sand at the Class Caster's feet. Thunder then blasted it with lightening. The Class Caster suddenly found himself trapped in a twisted glass cage. The dragons all roared in triumph, and the riders cheered. Edelweiss came down from her perch.
"Now that was cool," she said. Thunder looked around at all his friends.
"Thank you everyone," he said.
"We should be thanking you Night Light," said Wei. "We scattered, but you brought us back together." The dragons all murmured in agreement. Thunder smiled shyly. They then turned back to their riders.
"Now that we got one problem behind glass," said Tom. "We have to get another one out." They all headed back to the cave in the spire. But when they got there, they found a big hole cut out of the glass wall.
"That wasn't there before," said Edelweiss.
"How?" Tom asked, dumbstruck.
"Dragoncite," said Alex. "It's harder then a diamond remember." Tom then remembered the chuck of dragoncite Sledkin had been holding earlier.
"Which means it can cut through class," he said, his heart sinking. The riders got back on their dragons. Wu lowered his head to Edelweiss and she climbed into his saddle, after another grateful pat on the neck. Jun glanced back at the Class Caster, thinking.
"Does he look like a troll to you?" She asked. Edelweiss followed her gaze, as the dragons took off.
"No not really," she said. "I always thought trolls were small, colorful, social creatures that sang pretty songs." Jun stared at here like she was crazy.
"Where did you get that idea?" She asked.
"I don't know," Edelweiss said. "I think I might have seen a picture of them somewhere. I'd say that guy looks more like a goblin." The dragons soon left the Dark Realm and flew over the Nature Realm.
"Hey Edelweiss," said Feathers.
"Yes Feathers," Edelweiss answered.
"When we defeat Buzzsaw, and the Realms are safe again, will you stay?" Feather asked. All the dragons waited to hear the answer.
"Oh, lets not worry about that just yet," Edelweiss said. "That's a long way away, we'll cross that bridge when we get there." The dragons let it go for now. They headed for home.