Tom was now face-to-face with his mother, who looked utterly terrified the moment her eyes laid upon Thunder and slowly backed away.

"Mom. Hi!" said Tom as if all this was perfectly normal.

"What is that? What is it?" she yelled, pulling Tom away from Thunder. She then attempted to chase Thunder away. "Get away! Go! Get out of here!"

Thunder merely sat there and smiled, raising his claw playfully.

"No, it's fine, stop," said Tom as he made his way back to Thunder. "Please! Just… just calm down."

"What? Calm down?!" Olivia stared. "Did you see what that is?! It's a…" She stopped as she stared at Thunder, who continued to smile at her. "Wow. It's an actual… That! What is that?"

"Okay! Mom, Mom. This is Thunder," said Tom, gesturing her to Thunder, and then he gestured to Thunder to his mother. "Thunder, this is my mom."

Thunder growled softly, looking pleased to meet.

Sadly, Olivia was anything but pleased. "Thunder is a…"

"A dragon. Yes," Tom finished and began to stroke Thunder. "Thunder is a dragon."

"Wait, you named it?" Olivia stared and then looked at Thunder. "He named you?"

"Of course! He's my best friend," said Tom as if it was obvious. "And I know that sounds weird. I was just as shocked as you are when I first saw him. But come on. This is the find of the century!" Thunder then leaned in towards Olivia. "Maybe of all time. Come on, Mom. He's a real dragon. You have to admit, th-this is cool."

Thunder smiled at Olivia.

"It is," she admitted, slowly reaching out to Thunder, and Tom smiled encouragingly. However, she then pulled back a hand and looked at him furiously. "No. No, Tom. I am not letting you sweet talk your way out of this one."

"But Mom!" Tom argued. "It's a dragon!"

At this point, the other Riders had arrived in the Lair, and they could hear several raised voices. Fortunately, they were below the ledge, so Olivia was unable to see them, but they weren't unable to see her.

"Hold up. Nobody move," Jun whispered as she heard Tom and Olivia argue.

"What? Why?" Eugene asked.

"Something's going on up there," she said.

"Out of my way, dorks," said Eugene, shoving his way to the front. "I'm zonked. I've got to go to bed."

"Hey, Eugene. Hey!" Jun hissed as he climbed up the ledge.

Eugene poked his head over the ledge, and the first thing he saw was Olivia, making him gasp.

"You've got to know that…" said Tom, but stopped when he saw Eugene's head poking over the ledge. "I… No! No, no, I know. You're right. I should have known to stay away from here."

He was actually signalling to Eugene, telling him to hide. Fortunately, he climbed down off the ledge seconds before Olivia turned her head.

She then looked back at Tom, still looking rather angry. "That's right—you should have."

Eugene slid down the ledge and joined the others. "It's Tom's mom."

Oh. Sh!" Jun whispered to the others.

"Is my dad there, too?" D'Angelo asked. "Oh, he's gonna kill me."

"You are going home, and you're going to your room, and you are going to be punished for a very long time," said Olivia, dragging Tom away.

"Mom, come on!" said Tom, getting his hand away from her. "Just promise me that you won't tell anyone about him. I need to keep him safe. Please!"

Thunder growled somewhat pleadingly.

"I… I can't think about that right now!" she said. "I'm just so… Agh! We're going home."

"Can I at least say goodbye?" Tom asked.

"No!" she snapped and dragged him away.

"Mom, wait!" Tom pleaded.

Sadly, his mother ignored him and dragged him away, and Thunder could only watch with a sad expression. The two of them had just been reunited, and now they've been separated again, which hurt him deeply.

"Sh! I think they left," said Jun to the others. Jun climbed up the ledge and saw that Tom and Olivia were nowhere to be seen. "It's safe."

"But for how long?" D'Angelo asked as he and the others climbed up. "She's going to tell our parents."

"And maybe Rakke Corp," said Alex.

"We'll just have to hope Tom can convince her to keep the secret," said James.

They all stood around Thunder, who looked up at the entrance, looking extremely depressed.


It had been a week since Olivia dragged Tom back home. In all that time, Tom hadn't left the dome, and his mother showed no signs of releasing him any time soon. He was, however, able to invite them round, though for how long they had no idea.

"You're sure this is cool?" D'Angelo asked.

Jun knocked on the door. "He wants us to. He has been allowed out of his room for a week."

Olivia opened the door and looked at them rather strictly; the four of them just smiled awkwardly and waved.

"Hello, Dr Kullersen," said D'Angelo.

"He's in his room," she informed them. "Still on restriction."

"For how long?"

"Probably forever."

They then awkwardly entered the dome.

Tom was in his room fiddling with his drone when they entered.

"Hey! Thanks for coming by," said Tom. "My mom is still super upset."

"Yeah, we gathered that," said James.

"Does she suspect that we have dragons, too?" D'Angelo asked.

"Yeah!" Eugene yelled, poking his head through the open window. "Spill it, Kullersen! Did you sell us out or not?"

Jun rolled her eyes and used the remote to close the window.

"Hey!" Eugene protested.

"No, no. She's just disappointed in me," Tom assured them. "She said she'll keep Thunder a secret until she figures out how to handle it."

Alex gave a sigh of relief as she, D'Angelo and James sat on the bed.

"So, I'm doing my best to follow her rules," he said and then grabbed the Dragon Book. "I wanted to show you something. I've been putting my downtime to good use."

"Tom and I found some runes on the Internet," said Jun.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Tom, handing her the book. "No, you actually found them."

"Oh, no, no, no. If it wasn't for you misspelling the word Viking, I never would have stumbled on them."

"Well, that's true."

The two of them laughed while the others just smiled at the two of them.

"Anyway, the runes helped us put together a key to decode the Book of Dragons," said Tom as they looked back at them.

"You and Jun did this?" said D'Angelo.

"Together?" said Alex.

"Yeah," said Tom as he and Jun suddenly felt a little awkward. He then cleared his throat. "And there's so much to go through, but we've made, uh, good progress. Check it out."

Jun opened the book and showed them the pages containing the rock-eating dragons they encountered in the Fire Realm.

"You remember these guys, right?" she said. "According to the translation, they were called Gronckles."

"Gronkles? Not a bad name," said D'Angelo.

"Yeah!" said Tom as he sat down between them. "And this says Gronckle babies feed on puddles alone."

"Tom, I think that says pebbles," said Jun.

"Oh! Yeah. That makes better sense."

"I think you still need to work on your translations," said James.

"Don't worry, I have plenty of time for that," said Tom, turning to look at the others. "And once my mom lets me out again, we're going to have tonnes of new info. There's so much to go…"Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door, and Tom quickly hid the Dragon Book behind his back. Olivia opened the door a split second later and looked at them suspiciously.

"Everyone okay in here?" she asked.

"Fine!" said Tom.

"All good!" said D'Angelo.

"Never better!" said James.

"Great!" said Jun.

"All good, Mrs K!" said Eugene from outside.

Olivia narrowed her eyes and looked at Tom. "Wrap it up, Tom."

She then left the room, and Tom sighed, knowing it was going to be a long time before his mother let him out again. All the others could do for him was to comfort him.

Tom led them outside, where Eugene was waiting.

"Thanks for stopping by," he said. "I'll keep on translating the book. Give me something to do, at least."

"Let me know if you need more help," said Jun.

"Will do," Tom nodded. "You guys sit tight. This'll be over soonish."

"What?" said Eugene, folding his arms. "Don't tell me you still want us to keep that dumb promise."

"Eugene!" Jun glared.

"You said you guys were going to tell him it wasn't fair," he said.

"What?" said Tom, looking at them.

"Yeah," said Jun awkwardly. "I guess we didn't get around to it."

"Look, putting a hold on exploration until I'm allowed out again, with my mom knowing about Thunder and stuff, is only fair."

"Yeah. Only fair to you," Alex muttered quietly.

"We get it, man," said D'Angelo. "We'll stay busy until you get released."

Eugene then marched up to Tom. "Just don't nark on us, Kullersen! I know when you live, okay? Because… you live here."

Tom sighed and made his way back inside.


The other Riders returned to the Lair and tried to keep themselves occupied. D'Angelo had kept himself busy by adding a few things to the Lair, which he was proud to show off.

"Ladies and gentldragons, welcome to the new and improved Dragon Lair," D'Angelo announced. "We've got a tool wall over there, a scratching post for those hard-to-reach itchy places." He then gestured to a stalagmite, where Tom's lightning sword and Jun's shield rested, and then to another stalagmite, which Wu and Wei used to scratch their necks." He then gestured to a stone basin filled with crystals. "And this is a special dragon feeding area to refuel after a long day of saving the Hidden World!"

He then walked up to a set of crystals he had arranged in the form of a desk and placed a number of medical items on it. "And over here, my finest work yet. A first-aid station for…" He stopped when he sawPlowhorns filling her face in the feeding station. "Plow, are you even paying attention?"

Jun laughed. "You had her add feeding area."

Alex and James laughed as well.

"Oh, this is so lame!" Eugene moaned. "Can we please go somewhere and do something? Webmaster's bored."

"Enough, Eugene," said Jun.

"Hey, why do I have to stay here, anyway?" he asked. "I didn't get caught in the Lair."

"Tom took the heat for all of us," D'Angelo pointed out.

Thunder just lay there, clearly still upset that Tom hadn't returned.

"Oh, guys, keep it down," said Jun as she approached him. "You're upsetting Thunder. Sorry, big guy. You missed Tom, don't you?"

Thunder gave a small growl.

"The two of them just got reunited, and they got separated again; I can't imagine how they're feeling right now," said James.

Alex's tablet then beeped. "The sensors are going off in the Ice Realm!"

Eugene sighed and grabbed Alex's tablet. "Ah, none of you wants to say it, so I will. Let's go!"

"Eugene!" said Jun.

"Yeah, that would be cool," D'Angelo agreed. "We promised to wait for Tom."

"What if there's a dragon in trouble?" said Alex, taking her tablet back from Eugene. "We promised a for Tom, but we also promise to protect dragons."

"Yeah! Gonzo's right," Eugene nodded. "Uh, protecting dragons and stuff. Tom would want us to go."

"He obviously wouldn't want us to go," said Jun. "if he did, he wouldn't have asked us to promise not to."

"And I do like the idea of going out there without our best Dragon Rider," James added.

"Yeah, and he's our friend—who trusts us!" said D'Angelo.

Alex's tablet then beeped again. "Guys, this might be something serious."

Everyone then turned to look at Jun; since Tom wasn't with them, she was effectively the leader of the Dragon Riders.

"Okay, fine, we'll go," she said. "But no exploring! We'll just sweep in, check the sensors, then back home."

"And nobody breathes a word about this to Kullersen," D'Angelo added.

"Sweet!" said Eugene excitedly. "The Kullersen ball and chain has been taken off!"

James looked at Jun, not comfortable with this. "I hope that this is the right move."

Jun remained silent, but she began wondering the same thing.


Tom was still in his room translating the Book of Dragons when he found a page of the Sky Torcher.

"Whoa!" he said, taking a few notes. He then grabbed his phone to call Jun but only got a voicemail. "Hey, Jun! Uh, sorry about the voicemail. Just nobody's getting back to me in the group text. Is something wrong? Anyway, I translated another page. Some cool stuff about the Sky Torcher. Call me back, okay?"

When he entered the call, he looked out the window longingly to explore the Hidden World again.


The Dragon Riders were now in the Ice Realm checking on the sensors, though Eugene spent most of the journey excited to be up in the air again.

"All right! Eugene and his Dragon Riders are back, b-b-baby!" he yelled at the top of his voice.

"Stay on task, Eugene," said D'Angelo. "Remember, this is a quick in-and-out mission.

"Also, not your Dragon Riders; Jun is in charge," James reminded him.

"We're coming up on the senses," said Alex.

That's when they saw a base camp on the shore of the frozen lake. Buzzsaw had expanded his operations quite a bit in their absence. He had even built a cabin for himself.

"I guess Buzzsaw has expanded his operation," said D'Angelo.

"Great. Should have guessed," said Jun.

"it looks like a Christmas card, but with dragons held against their will," said Alex.

Jun sighed. "We've gone for a little while, and look what happens."

"Let's do what we do, team," said D'Angelo.

D'Angelo then landed on the ground quickly, followed by the other Riders, and they dashed to help the dragons out.

"Don't worry, guys!" said Jun to the dragons. "We're here to help."

"Guys, this is not what we agreed on," said James.

"We can't just leave them here," Jun argued.

Plowhorn looked immensely uneasy.

"Oh, whoa, what is it, girl?" D'Angelo asked.

"Is Plowhorn okay?" Jun asked.

"Something's got her upset."

Alex went to calm her down. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Look out!" Eugene yelled.

Then, suddenly jumping on top of the cages was a small pack of Flamethrowers.

"Defensive circle!" D'Angelo ordered.

They quickly mounted their dragons, but Eugene tripped, and one of the Flamethrowers pounced on him.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he cried. "I'm too young and pretty to…"

Fortunately for him, something yanked the Flamethrower back before it could sink its teeth into him. It was then that the Dragon Riders noticed that there were ropes around their necks.

"But these things domesticated?" Eugene stared.

"They're all tethered to the ground," Jun noted.

"Oh, look!" said a voice, and they spun around and saw Buzzsaw had arrived. "The Dragon Middle Schoolers. It's been a minute. I see you've met my gang of Fire Splitters."

"Actually, they're called Flamethrowers," D'Angelo corrected.

"Flamethrowers?" Buzzsaw Scott as he approached one of them. "What an idiotic name. They spit fire out of their mouths, hence Fire Splitters. They don't throw flames with their paws."

"They don't have paws; they have claws!" said D'Angelo.

"And we call them Flamethrowers because the way they breathe fire is like an actual flamethrower," James added.

"Enough!" Buzzsaw yelled and then pulled out his dragon whistle and blew it.

The moment he did, his razor wing dragon awoke.

"Oh, great! He carved another whistle," said D'Angelo.

Buzzsaw blew on the whistle again, aggravating his dragon and then turned to the Riders. "One more word, and I'll have old Jack here turn you brats into braughts."

Jack then leaned in towards them, and they slowly backed away.

However, unknown to the Riders, he followed them, saw the entire thing, and instantly knew he had to go and get help.


It was night when Thunder left the Hidden World and instantly flew to ICARUS Station. He then quickly unleashed a surge of electricity, causing a blackout across the town.

Olivia flicked the switch in the dome, but nothing was working. She then heard her phone ring and answered it.

"Hello?" she said, placing the phone against her ear. "Yeah, my power's out, too. It looks like a complete blackout. Don't worry, I'll head over."

She then grabbed her backpack as Tom entered the living room. "I've got a run down to the lab."

When she went outside and closed the door behind her, Tom sat on the couch, having a pretty good idea of what caused the blackout. He then heard something banging against the front door, and the second he opened it, Thunder tackled him to the ground.

"Pal!" Tom laughed. "I was hoping that blackout was you. What are you doing here?" Thunder then grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the front door. "No, I-I can't. I'm still punished."

Thunder wasn't taking no for an answer and continued nudging him towards the front door.

"Pal, please," Tom pleaded. "I'm sorry! You don't understand. If I get caught leaving with you, my mom…" Then, as if on cue, Olivia opened the front door. "…Mom!"

"I forgot my ID card," she said as Tom tried to hide Thunder behind him. She then slowly turned to face him. "Have you seen…? Argh!" The moment she saw Thunder, she fell to the ground and instantly grabbed a broom nearby. "Dragon! Get out! Get out!"

She then attempted to brush Thunder away with the broom.

"No, Mum! Wait!" Tom pleaded as Thunder tried to get away from her. "No, no, no, no! Mom! Put that down! I told you, he's my friend."

"Get… him… out of here now!" she ordered.

"Pal, I'm sorry. But you've got to go," said Tom.

Sadly, Thunder refused to budge and sat down.

"Aw, you have to leave," said Tom, but he still refused to budge. "What? Come on! You've got to…" Tom then attempted to push Thunder outside but refused to move an inch. "He's not usually this stubborn."

Tom continued to try to move Thunder to no avail and looked at his mother. "He won't go. Something must be wrong in the Hidden World." He then looked at Thunder. "Did something happen to the other Riders?"

"Hidden World? Other Riders?" said Olivia. "What other Riders? What else have you not told me, Tom?"

Tom sighed, knowing he had no choice. "Okay. Okay. I didn't tell you everything. The truth is Thunder isn't the only dragon. And I'm not the only kid who has one. All my friends do, too."

Olivia stared at him, shocked and fell onto the couch. "Tom."

"I know, I know," he said. "I know it's a lot, but if Thunder came up here, they must be in trouble down there. And if they are, Thunder and I are the only ones that can help them now. So, I am begging you, pleading with you, to let me go. Let me find them, and let me help them. Please."

"You expect me to just let you go with a dragon to rescue your friends, who also have their own dragons?" she said, still trying to wrap her head around everything.

"I mean, when you put it that way, it sounds like a bad parenting decision," Tom admitted. "But… yeah."

Olivia then looked at Thunder, who was growling at her pleadingly.

"No way," she said, looking back at Tom.

"Mom!"

"I said no. No rescue missions and no dragons in this dome," she said, rising to her feet and looking at Thunder while pointing to the front door. "Thunder, out!"

Thunder, however, refused to leave without Tom.


Meanwhile, in the Ice Realm, Buzzsaw had captured the Dragon Riders and began muzzling their dragons with rope.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Bird Wing," said Buzzsaw.

"That is a Feather… Oh, never mind," D'Angelo muttered.

"You have to let us out of here," Jun demanded.

One of the Flamethrowers then snarled at them.

"Do I? Because my Flame Splitters seem to disagree," Buzzsaw smirked as he leaned against one of them, only for it to snarl at him. "Touchy. Ah, they'll learn to love me, just like old Jack here."

Jack, however, didn't show any sign of love and looked more irritated than anything.

"Yeah, we can see that he loves you so much," James muttered under his breath.

"You don't understand," said D'Angelo. "These dragons don't work alone. Wherever they are, the Sky Torcher isn't far behind."

"Sky Torcher?" Buzzsaw scoffed as he hammered a wooden peg into the ground. "Another dumb name."

"And you will know all about dumb names," said James.

"Look, these guys know what they're talking about," said Eugene. "They, like, understand dragons."

"And we fought the Sky Torcher!" Alex added. "It's the most dangerous thing down here."

"Please! You're talking to the Dragon King," he said, glaring at them. "I am the most dangerous thing here. I frighten them."

He then walked away laughing, dismissing their warnings entirely.


Meanwhile, neither Tom nor Olivia talked to one another and sat there sulking. Thunder tried his best to get the two of them to speak to one another and approached Olivia.

"He can sit and sulk all night," she said. "I'm not changing my mind."

Thunder then approached Tom, who refused to look at his mother.

"Why would I talk to her?" he said. "She'll never trust me, anyway."

"How can I trust someone who lies?" Olivia argued.

"I lied because I was protecting Thunder!" Tom spat.

"From who?" she said and then stared at him. "Me? You don't trust me?"

"You work for a giant corporation science lab!" Tom pointed out. "Who knows what they would do if they found him?"

Thunder looked at Olivia with a pleading look.

"Would you like to protect me?"Tom asked.

"I would," she admitted. "But it's not the same!"

"To me, it is."

Thunder rested his head on her lap; she looked at him apprehensively but then started to/his head.

"And sending Thunder away only proves I was right to hide him in the first place," said Tom, standing up. "I mean, how am I supposed to earn your trust if you don't even give me a chance to earn it?"

Olivia sighed. "Tom, I know your heart is in the right place. It's just… What if you get hurt?"

"And what if you don't let me go?" Tom asked, kneeling towards her. "What, D'Angelo and James and Jun and Alex?" Thunder then growled, pointing out that he was missing someone. "And Eugene? They need me. They need us."

Olivia still looked rather reluctant, but then she cupped Tom's face with her hands and looked into his eyes. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but…"

Tom smiled, and 30 seconds later, he and Thunder flew off towards the Hidden World to rescue the others. Olivia watched as they flew away, hoping she was doing the right thing.


The Flamethrowers were approaching the other Dragon Riders in the cage when, suddenly, a lightning blast ripped through the ground in front of them. They looked up and saw Thunder flying down and unleashing lightning blasts, forcing the Flamethrowers back.

"Thunder!" Jun beamed.

"It's about time!" said Eugene.

"Better late than never!" said D'Angelo.

Then, to their surprise, they saw Tom approaching them.

"Tom?" Jun stared. "How did you…?"

"My mom let me out," he explained.

"How did you convince her to let you out?" James asked.

Tom sighed. "I just told her everything."

"You what?!" Jun stared.

"Th-this is the time to have this conversation," said Tom. "And what are you guys even doing out here?"

"We were responding to a sensor," said Jun.

"Our mission is to help dragons," D'Angelo pointed out.

"And we were really bored," Eugene added.

Tom sighed and then placed his hands over Jun's, looking at her reassuringly. He then undid the latch on the cage and opened it, freeing them.

"Let's go," he said.

Sadly, they didn't get far as Buzzsaw arrived with Jack in tow.

"Why don't you get into the cage with the other kindergartners, fearless leader?" Buzzsaw suggested.

"No way," said Tom.

"I'm afraid you don't know who you're messing with. See, while your team goes on missions behind your back, my dragons do what I say—or else. Watch."

He then pulled out his whistle and blew on it, aggravating Jack, who snapped at Tom inches away from biting his head clean off.

Buzzsaw looked up at Thunder. "Now, you—Lightning Skunk—get down here!"

Thunder reluctantly flew back down to the ground next to Tom.

Buzzsaw laughed. "See? That's called being a leader. Now stop wasting my time and get in the cage."

However, before anyone could do anything else, they heard a massive roar in the distance, and the Dragon Riders recognised it instantly.

"He's here," said D'Angelo.

"Who's here?" Buzzsaw frowned, actually looking concerned.

The Flamethrowers roared loudly, responding to the dragon's call. Then they saw the Sky Torche flying overhead.

"What… What is that thing?" Buzzsaw stared.

"It's the Sky Torcher," said Tom as the massive dragon landed on a stack over the frozen lake.

"You know the giant dragon we warned you about," said James.

"He will kill us, our dragons and everything else in this entire realm," said Tom.

"Yeah, right," said Buzzsaw as he slowly backed away. "I know you. You think all dragons are good!"

"Not this on, and the only way to stop him is if we all work together," said Tom, turning to face everyone. "We may not see eye-to-eye on dragons, but we all want to get out of here alive. So work with us. Together, we can drive off the Sky Torcher. What do you say?"

However, he noticed that Buzzsaw was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh, Tommy…" said Eugene, pointing behind him.

Up in the sky, Tom could see Buzzsaw flying away on Jack, screaming his lungs off.

"What a jerk," said Tom.

"It was quite the motivating speech," said James.

"Uh, Buzzsaw's not wrong," said Eugene. "We should all be running!"

"Tom, last time it took all of us, the Fault Ripper and an army of Crystal Realm dragons to chase this thing off," D'Angelo pointed out.

"But we didn't have this," said Tom, showing in the Dragon Book.

"You're going to read it to death?" said Alex.

Tom then turned to the Sky Torcher. "I think… I think I have a way to beat him."

They soon mounted their dragons and flew towards the Sky Torcher.

"Hold steady. Steady!" Tom ordered.

Sky Torcher then unleashed his flame blasts at them, which they quickly dodged.

"All right, Pal. Now!" said Tom.

Thunder then fired a lightning blast, hitting the stack the Sky Torcher was clinging on.

"That got his attention!" said D'Angelo.

The Sky Torcher then flew directly towards them.

"He's coming!" said D'Angelo as they quickly flew back towards land.

The Sky Torcher then unleashed his flame blasts at them, missing them by inches.

"Look out!" D'Angelo yelled.

"Get to the lake!" Tom ordered.

They quickly flew down towards the frozen lake, and the Sky Torcher followed them.

"Here he comes!" said Eugene, looking as if you want to be anywhere but here. "Let's get this over with."

"Keep it together, Eugene," said Tom.

The Sky Torcher then landed on the frozen lake in front of them.

"Let him have it!" Tom yelled.

Their dragons immediately launch their breath attacks at the Sky Torcher, but all that accomplished was aggravating him. He then started to prepare to unleash his flame blasts directly at them.

"Here it comes!" said D'Angelo.

"Everybody wait," said Tom calmly. "Wait." The Sky Torcher then unleashed his flame blasts at them. "Scatter!"

In the last possible second, they quickly took off, and the flame blasts hit the frozen lake. Mere seconds later, the ice began to crack, and then the Sky Torcher fell through the ice, landing in the icy water.

"It worked!" Jun cheered.

"Uh, maybe not," said Tom.

The Sky Torcher desperately tried to get out of the frozen water, unleashing his flame blasts all over the place in response.

"I thought you said the cold water would squash his blast," said Alex.

"That's what the book said," said Tom. "Evasive manoeuvres!"

They just flew out of the way in time to avoid the Sky Torcher's attack, which hit the ground beneath them. They were soon forced to land on the ground and watched as the Sky Torcher pulled itself out of the lake.

"We are so dead," said Eugene.

The Sky Torcher opened its mouth, preparing to blast them with more fire blasts.

"Look out!" Eugene yelled as they all braced themselves.

However, the Sky Torcher merely blew out some smoke, much to his own surprise. He tried to fire more fire blasts, but he appeared to be unable to.

"It worked!" Tom beamed. "The book was right.

"The ice back temporarily disarmed him," said D'Angelo.

"But if the Sky Torcher hates the cold, why come to the Ice Realm?" Jun frowned.

Tom did find that rather puzzling, but then he noticed the Flamethrowers screeching. When he looked at them, he saw that they weren't launching any attacks, which was rather strange.

"Wait. Why haven't the Flamethrowers tried to blast us?" Tom frowned. He then noticed that it looked as if they were trying to join up with the Sky Torcher. "Huh? They're not trying to get us—they're trying to get to him. What if…" He then suddenly hit him, and he quickly looked at the others. "Help me free them!"

"Free them. Are you nuts?" Alex stared as he jumped off Thunder.

Tom rushed over to the Flamethrowers and began to untidy the ropes around their necks. "The Flamethrowers weren't scoping out territory this time. Buzzsaw low them here and captured them. The Sky Torcher just wanted them back."

"Yeah! He came here to rescue his army," said D'Angelo as he, Jun and James helped Tom free the Flamethrowers.

Jun smiled up at Tom. "Kinda like you, Tom."

Once the flamethrowers were freed, they flew up towards the Sky Torcher.

"They're a team, too. See?" Tom smiled.

The Sky Torcher and the Flamethrowers then flew down a hole the Sky Torcher had made during the battle. The Riders immediately approached the hall and saw a whole new realm below.

This one was far different from the Ice Realm. It was a complete rainforest, and they could feel a warm breeze brushing against their skin as they looked down.

"It's a whole new realm," Jun gasped.

"It looks like a rainforest," said Tom.

"It's hot down there," said Jun.

"Just got a little hot, that monster," said Eugene.

Tom then turned and looked at everyone apologetically. "Guys, I'm sorry I made you promise not to come down here. It was selfish of me."

"Hm. It was," Eugene nodded, putting his arm around his shoulders.

"But we get it," said Alex. "I'm an introvert, and even I get FOMO pretty bad."

"And it's not like you haven't taken a midnight flight or two without us," Jun added.

"I know when I'd be allowed back here, so you should keep protecting the Hidden World," said Tom. "But if you wouldn't mind…"

"Don't worry. We'll hold off exploring this new one until you can come," Jun promised.

"Thank you," said Tom as he stroked Thunder's head.

"Now we better get back home; I'm sure your mum is more than a little frantic," said James, looking at Tom.


Olivia was getting more than a little concerned, but when Tom opened the front door, she was overwhelmed by a surge of relief.

"Ah. There you are!" she said, hugging him. "Is everybody okay?"

Tom nodded, and they both sat down. "Thanks for letting me go, Mom."

"Was it dangerous? Were you hurt?" she asked concerningly.

"No, no," Tom assured her. "They got stuck—helping a dragon. Let's just say it was good I showed up."

Olivia then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good."

"And thanks for trusting me. I understand how you must have felt—to have someone you care about breaking a promise."

"From now on, I'm going to need you to tell me everything," she said.

"Everything?" said Tom awkwardly.

"Everything," she said strictly.

The two of them then hugged one another, but Tom felt immensely guilty. He couldn't tell her about Buzzsaw; he was certain she would never allow him into the Hidden World with an axe-wielding maniac with delusions of grandeur roaming down there.


The next day, two of Buzzsaw's former employees, Ford and Winston, stood over the Ice Realm entrance to pay tribute to their former employer.

"Oh! To our old boss," said Ford. "He was rich and unstable, but working with him was… stable. Oh, I'm going to miss that. And he had great taste in flannel."

Both Ford and Winsor looked at one another, then burst out laughing and walked away. However, they didn't get far as Buzzsaw's hand shot out of the hole, grabbing their legs.

"Hold it right there, roughnecks," said Buzzsaw. "I've got a new job opportunity for you, and it's going to require you to relocate."

He then pulled them into the hole while they screamed.