Into the fire

So sorry I have not updated in ages, was taking a break. Am back and ready to continue this. I hope you all like it so far.


It was the next day and Iris was standing with Parm and Lance in the stands as Artha and Beau were in another race. Last night, she had remained with Mortis as Artha and Beau transformed into their booster form for the first time and went to save Lance and Parm from the Eye of the Dragon crew that had shown up to look for Artha. From what she was told later on, Kitt Wonn had appeared and helped Lance and Parm by creating a wall of flames with her red thruster gear, telling Lance to call Artha and Iris for help.

Iris was concerned for her brother and Parm, even Kitt, though she did not know her well. She had convinced Artha and Beau to go on without her, saying that she would only slow them down. Artha did not want to, but he was convinced in the end and left Iris with Mortis, the dragon priest. Artha and Beau went to save them in their booster form and fought off the crew, Moordryd, however, tried to shoot a mace ball at Artha, who deflected it with his armor, the ball hit the stable support cables, and half the stable bent down at an angle. Kitt, whose dragon had run off, went sliding over the edge with Parm and Lance. Artha had been horrified and Beau jumped down the tilted side, finding the trio had grabbed hold of a metal cable. Beau grabbed the cable and slowly began to pull the trio back up. Lance began slipping and his grip fell, only for Kitt to grab his wrist. Parm made it to the top and hauled Lance up with him, then reached down to help Kitt up, but she was just out of reach and the cable snapped, sending her falling towards the wastelands!

Artha and Beau leaped over the edge after her, despite Parm and Lance protesting that dragons couldn't fly. Artha and Beau caught up to Kitt and Artha grabbed her around the waist, but they were still falling until Beau's star mark glowed brightly and from his sides grew wing gliders, allowing him to glide through the air. The dragon landed on a building and Kitt was placed down safely. She had inquired as to who or what the armored hero who saved her was. Artha tried to be heroic and introduced himself as the dragon booster, only for his act to fail and he had a coughing fit. Kitt smiled as he and Beau leaped from the roof, Beau's wing gliders reappeared and they glided off, leaving a star-struck Kitt Wonn behind.

Iris had come up from below the stable at the time and spotted Lance and Parm outside. Lance had seen her and run over to hug her, the two siblings embracing tightly as Parm excitedly told her about Artha being the dragon booster and Beau having superpowers. She was impressed by Beau's new power and had said that she knew Artha was the dragon booster since she saw him transform.

That had been last night and now she, Lance, and Parm were overseeing Artha and Beau's race. in the race, two riders and their dragons overtook Beau and Artha, ramming into each other inside a short tunnel, some gear flew off, heading right from Artha, whose blue eyes widened and he activated his blue balance and turning gear, allowing Beau to to run up the side of the tunnel, doing a loop as the gear flew past them without hurting them. Beau came back onto the track with a grunt and Artha deactivated the gear with a smile.

His vid-screen popped up, showing his brother, sister, and best friend. "Wonderful use of your blue balance and turning gear, Artha. And I'm impressed by your Draconium energy conservation." Parm praised his friend. Iris gave her brother a thumbs-up for his good work, and Artha smiled.

"I'm better at this than you think, huh Parm?" Artha said before he looked up and barely avoided getting hit by another flying piece of gear that sailed past him. "Whoa!"

"But not as good as you think." Lance giggled, causing Iris to roll her eyes at her younger brother.

Then Artha was hit hard in the chest by a mace ball, knocking him from his saddle and leaving him clinging to it by his hands. "Artha!" Iris cried with worry. Beau was concerned for his rider, thankfully, Pyrrah, leader of the Dragon Flares crew, and her red magma class dragon Phorrj noticed and came up alongside them. Pyrrah leaned over and hauled Artha up into his saddle. Beau smiled at her, thanking her for her help. "Thanks, Pyrrah." Artha thanked her, she smiled and flashed past him.

Iris exhaled a breath of relief, she reminded herself to go and thank Pyrrah after the race for helping Artha. Even though she wasn't fond of being around others, she had to thank the leader of the Dragon Flares for helping her brother. "You have to be more careful, Artha. That gear could have knocked you off Beau completely had Pyrrah not come when she did."

"I know, Iris. I'll be more careful, promise." Artha vowed he could try to be more careful out on the track. He wished Iris had a dragon so she could race with him.

"You must be careful, Artha. That's the Snake's Tail in front of you." Parm warned him, as the Snake's Tail track, shaped like a snake head, was in front of him and Beau. "Yeah, Snake's Tail. Mag-jumping bashing and crashing, very drac." Lance said with a grin.

"No, not very drac, Lance, Artha must watch his tail in there or it could go wrong," Iris said as Artha and Pyrrah entered the track with their dragons. "Yes, watch your tail in there. I don't want to even think about what will happen to Beau's energy and your gear." Parm warned. Artha nodded and activated his thruster gear as Beau jumped across a gap and landed on the other side safely.

"Stick to our plan. Let the other racers go after each other. This is the time for strategy, planning, thinking, and most importantly, listening to me and Iris." Artha was glad Parm involved Iris since she was able to listen and plan like Parm.

A pink psi-class dragon ran down from another level on the track, alongside Artha and Beau, on its tail was some green gear, and the dragon swung its tail at Artha, who dodged it. Beau snarled at the dragon. "So you wanna play rough? Okay." Artha extended his mag staff and when the dragon swung at him again, Artha smashed the gear with his staff, but doing that caused Beau to lose some energy, and he groaned slightly. Artha then smashed some more gear off the dragon and put his staff away. He saw Parm and Iris both had a hand over their faces, shaking them.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" Parm questioned in disbelief. "Uh, sorry, Parm, did you say something?" Artha said cheekily. "Artha, listen to us and don't act like a dork, you are draining Beau's energy by smashing that gear." Iris scolded him.

"Why is he not listening to me or Iris? Why is no one listening?" Parm ranted, looking at Lance, who was looking through his binocs. "Uh, sorry, where you talking?" Lance asked, taking his binocs away from his eyes and looking at Parm. Iris slapped her face again in disbelief, shaking it with a sigh. Sometimes it annoyed her to no end when her brothers didn't listen to her.

"Brothers." Iris sighed, pulling her hand away. Parm nodded in agreement.

Out on the track, Pyrrah banged a piece of black gear attached to Phorrj's saddle and activated her vid-screen. "Hey, Paynn, this is Pyrrah. What is the deal? Is the black dragon gear you sold me working? It isn't making Phorrj any easier to control."

In his lair, Word Paynn, Moordryd's father, smiled evilly as he listened to Pyyrah's message. "No, but it makes you very easy to control." he pressed a button on his control, activating the gear. Pyrrah cried out as the gear took hold of her mind. "What is happening to me?" her eyes became hypnotized.

"Pyrrah, listen to me. the other racers are after you. You must eliminate then, now! Release your anger!" Word commanded the words echoing as Pyrrah glared at the other racers, seeing them as competition. Pyrrah activated her green ramming gear and began to ram the other racers off the track.

"First, I will control the Dragon Flares. And then all of Down City crews. Then I will use them to bring chaos and fear to Dragon City."

Pyrrah rammed into Artha and Beau, and Beau snarled at her, first she was saving Artha, but now she was trying to destroy him! "Why is Pyrrah trying to scrape my scales? What did I do?" Artha questioned his sister, brother, and friend.

"That is strange, Pyrrah and the Dragon Flares are supposed to be some of the cleanest racers on the track as far as I know," Iris explained.

"Yeah, she's trying to clean up the whole track, starting with me!" Artha said as Pyrrah shot a mace ball at Artha and Beau, smashing the blue balance gear off Beau's tail.

"Hey, Sparkk, what is your sister doing out there? Crashing and smashing around like that? Has she lost her mind?" Iris questioned Sparkk, Pyrrah's younger brother. With Pyrrah going crazy, there was no telling what would happen to Artha and Beau out there. Sparkk eyed his sister worriedly before deciding to try and contact her.

He popped up on her vid-screen. "Pyrrah, can you hear me? Pyrrah, what's wrong?"

Pyrrah just managed to tell him. "I don't know." before the gear took hold once more. She and Phorrj ran up towards Artha and Beau, Pyrrah taking out her fire axe and was magged into the air to attack Artha with a battle cry. Beau growled and sent Artha into the air and as Pyrrah came towards him, he threw out his arm, hitting Pyrrah's wrist and causing her to drop her fire axe, it fell towards Phorrj and sliced the gear off his saddle.

"What?" Word questioned in disbelief. The gear fell and landed on the track near the finish line, still glowing.

Pyrrah was placed back in her saddle as the gear wore off, leaving her very confused. "What in blazes?"

Through his binocs, Lance spotted the gear. "Drac! Whoa, what is that?" he hurried off, knocking the vid-gear from Parm's hands in the process. "Lance, where are you going?" Iris questioned her brother before she rolled her eyes and headed after him.

Out on the track, due to Lance knocking the control from Parm's hands, Artha's screen went down. "Oh, super timing Parm." the teen spoke sarcastically. The screen popped back up. "What happened?"

"A small, technical problem," Parm said with annoyance in his voice. Artha knew who he meant instantly. "Let me guess, about 4f small, calls himself Lance."

Meanwhile, Lance was running towards the gear curiously. Word was seen on his screens. "Who is the tiny insect in my web? Come on, boy. Come and get me." Lance picked it up in his hands and the gear soon took over his mind. now hypnotized, he stared towards the finish line as Artha, Beau, Pyrrah and Phorrj were heading right for him!

Pyrrah saw him instantly, unfortunately, so did Iris, who had followed her brother and saw him in peril. "LANCE!" she screamed, running towards him. Pyrrah acted quickly and had Phorrj ram into Beau, magging into the air as her dragon fell in front of Beau and they tripped over hard, landing on the track as Pyrrah's shoot was expelled. Artha tried to get up but was too sore and flopped back down.

At this time, Iris arrived at Lance and knelt in front of him. "Lance, Lance, are you alright?" she saw his eyes were funny and tapped his cheek as Pyrrah landed beside them. "What's a little sweetie like you doing running out on the track like that?" she asked and noticed her gear in his hands. "Hmm, I think that's mine. What's it doing down here?" she took it from him. Iris had not seen the gear in his hands, too worried about him.

Once the gear was out of his hands, he snapped out of it. Iris sighed and hugged him tightly. "I-Iris?" he questioned, confused as to why she was hugging him so tightly. "Don't you ever do that again, Lance Penn, you hear me! Dad would skin me and Artha if anything were to happen to you" She scolded him harshly for running out onto the track like that.

"Lance Penn, son of Conner Penn. It seems the one with him must be his sister, Iris Penn. Maybe their brother knows how to find the black and gold dragon." Word mused.

As Pyrrah held her gear, it once again took over her mind. "Are you two and your brother trying to burn me, you little thief?" she snarled, advancing towards Lance. Iris rose to her feet and stood in front of him protectively. "Don't talk to him like it, Pyrrah, it was an accident. He didn't steal your gear. It must have fallen onto the track." she spoke firmly, yet inside she was scared.

"Get out of my way, stable brat!" Pyrrah shouted, and before Iris could see it, she was slapped hard across the face by the leader of the Dragon Flares. "Iris!" Lance cried out in worry as his sister held her throbbing cheek, fighting back the tears that wanted to form. "Nobody steals from the Dragon Flares."

Lance peeked out from behind Iris fearfully. "Fine, if you won't move, I shall just take you as well," Pyrrah called Phorrj over and he magged his rider, Iris, and Lance onto his saddle and raced off!

Back at the tents, Parm was lecturing Artha. "You used up Beau's energy, didn't you?" he asked, hands on his hips.

"I didn't lose this time." Artha defended.

"You didn't even finish! I told you not to fight like that. You lost more gear. You race like a reckless hothead! That's it, you're a hothead!" Artha walked past him. "And you never listen to me or Iris."

However, Artha noticed Lance nor Iris were anywhere nearby. "Where are Lance and Iris?" he questioned. Parm huffed. "There, see, you're still not listening."

Artha turned to face his friend. "Parm, where are Lance and Iris?" he asked more seriously before his wrist-com went off and Pyrrah popped up. "Your meddlesome little brother and trouble-making sister have cost me the race, Artha Penn!" she raged, still under the control of the gear.

Parm came over as Artha questioned. "Pyrrah? What are you talking about?"

"And I caught your brother trying to steal my gear and your sister protecting him. If you want them back, come to my under-city fire cave, and trade something for them. You have two hours!" the call ended and Artha felt worry grow in the pit of his stomach. Iris and Lance were held captive by Pyrrah and he needed to save them!


He and Parm headed to Penn Stables with their dragons. "Why are we at Penn Stables?"

"There is someone who I think can help," Artha explained as they headed for Beau's stall and he nudged the bracket aside, opening the secret elevator within as Parm started to ramble on about planning Lance and Iris' rescue when the door shut behind them. "Where are we even going?"

"Down." Beau pushed the button and the elevator went down, startling Parm and making him scream from the speed. once the elevator stopped and the door opened, Parm was amazed by the temple and once again was rambling on about the temple and its markings. As they walked past a statue, it moved and made a hush sound, once again scaring Parm and he fell off his saddle, landing beside Cyrano's head as he peeked out and started rapidly talking about how Mortis was a Dragon Priest before the priest slammed his staff on the ground and Parm shut up.

Artha explained his situation about Lance and Iris being kidnapped by Pyrrah and how she wanted him and Beau to head for her fire cave in just two hours. "And then Pyrrah took Lance and Iris and said that I have two hours to get to this fire cave."

"It is not like the Dragon Flares crew to attack other racers. Did you see any strange devices on Pyrrah's dragon? A black pod of sorts?" Mortis asked and Artha's eyes lit up with a realization that he had seen a device like that on Pyrrah's saddle. "Yeah. I saw one just like it on her saddle."

Mortis could only think of one person who would do this. "Word Paynn."

Artha recognized that name. "Paynn? As in Paynn Incorporated? Moordryd's father?"

"Word is an old enemy of mine who always felt that he and his dragons should rule the world. For years, he has tried to create black Draconium control gears that go beyond helping humans control dragons."

"It helps him control humans!" Artha realized.

"Yes. Controlled the Down-city crews to bring fear and chaos, bringing the planet closer to a dragon-human war." Mortis explained.

"But if Word controls the down-city crews, is he the one responsible for trying to steal Beau and what happened to my father?"

"I am certain of it."

"Well, I'm the Dragon Booster, and I'm the one who is supposed to stop the war. I'm going in!" Artha declared with determination.

"Ah, ah, ah." Parm wagged his finger at Artha. "You're being hotheaded again, just like the race today. We need a plan."

Strangely, Mortis agreed with him. "He is right."

Parm blinked in shock. "Am I?"

"Pyrrah and her crew are not responsible for their actions, Artha, Word Paynn is. You must somehow get close to Pyrrah and get the black gear from her saddle. That will destroy Words' hold on her."

Mortis pulled out a small device and handed it to Artha, it was a map leading to the fire cave beneath the city. "Take this map. The cave lies deep beyond the temple ruins."

I'm coming with you." Parm declared.

"No, Parm, it's too dangerous." Artha shot his friend down and Parm stared at him in disbelief as he mounted Beau's saddle. "And besides, you and Cyrano will never keep up."

'What?"

"I'm sorry, Parm" Artha apologized before the pair raced off, leaving Mortis and an annoyed Parm behind, who huffed.


Beau and Artha arrived at the fire cave and walked inside, cautious as to what they might find there. There was a volcano with molten lava in the middle and Artha's blue eyes found two wrist-coms on the ground. "Lance, Iris!" Beau took off and as they rounded a corner, they came to a halt. Members of the Dragon Flares were lounging around with their dragons and in front of one of the flame geysers, stood Pyrrah, her brother, and their dragons.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea." Artha began to regret his choice, but his brother and sister needed him right now.

"Welcome to the cave of the Dragon Flares, Artha Penn," Pyrrah said, arms wide in welcome. Between her and her brother was Lance, wearing a helmet and sitting in the saddle of a dragon. "Lance, are you okay?"

Lance folded his arms across his chest. "No, and this place smells worse than a dragon stall."

Artha noticed Iris wasn't around. "Where's Iris?" Lance looked over to his left and Artha followed his gaze, finding his sister pinned to the wall with green trapping gear. "Iris!"

The purple-haired teen saw her brother and lifted her head, showing her red cheek from Pyrrah's slap earlier. "Artha, you can." there was relief in her voice. "I'll always come for you and Lance," Artha said with a smile. "Just hang in there, I'll find a way to free you both."

Artha's gaze moved to the black control gear on Pyrrah's saddle. "Nice control gear. A gift from Word Paynn?"

"Very perceptive, young Penn. but enough talk, now that you are here. Where is the black and gold dragon that your father raised?" Pyrrah asked with a grin.

"My father's stable was destroyed, and the dragon is missing."

"Tell me what I want to know or I will keep the two brats here as my newest crew members." Pyrrah threatened to keep both Lance and Iris if Artha didn't tell the truth.

"I'll never join your crew," Iris said defiantly, glaring. "Shut up, stable brat!" Pyrrah snarled.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Artha snapped angrily.

Pyrrah growled at him. "Alright, how about I race you for them, I win, we leave, you win, and I'll tell you what you want to know about my father's dragon." Artha offered.

"How deliciously reckless, so you do know something after all. We shall race through my lava course, you against us, but if you lose, we shall take your dragon as well."

Beau's eyes widened in shock at hearing that. Artha too was shocked by the offer. "Two against one, where's the honor in that? We're Dragon Flares! Ever since the race today, you've been acting weird!" Sparkk was not so sure about the race, as it was not fair and their crew were honorable racers.

"My race, my terms!" Pyrrah snapped. "Finish first through the far gate and you are free, lose the race, and you lose everything. And to make sure there are no tricks, the little brat rides with me." Pyrrah grabbed Lance and put him on her saddle behind her. "My name is Lance."

"Enough! Race on!" their dragons ran off, leaving Artha and Beau behind. "So much for a fair start, time to kick a little butt."

Iris watched the race with worry in her eyes, she hoped Artha and Beau were okay. The pair ran onto the lava bed with rocks popping up, they avoided a few before Artha had Beau crash right through them. "What are you doing, Artha? Beau will drain his energy if you do that," she told herself before Beau came to a stop and the heat and ramming of the rocks had left the dragon extremely exhausted. Iris sighed, leave it to Artha to drain his dragon's energy.

Then she watched as Beau gave a roar of determination that echoed around the whole cave and he charged forward again. She watched in horror as Sparkk blasted a sharp rock hanging on the ceiling with his thruster gear, causing rocks to fall and Artha and Beau tried to dodge them as they ran. Then the rock column completely fell towards the bridge, smashing it and frightening Sparkk's dragon, who threw his rider off and into the lava pit as Beau leaped over the gap. Sparkk had landed on a rock ledge, but the lava was rising fast!

Her eyes widened in shock for the boy and she saw Artha get Beau to come to a halt and they went back to get him, they spotted him on the rock ledge down below, but geysers of fire spouted up around them and she saw Artha look around to make sure he was alone before he transformed into the dragon booster. She too had a quick look around and saw no one was watching them, too busy with their own thing and Pyrrah was too far away to see anything, so her brother's secret was safe for now.

She watched as the duo charged through the flames and Beau conjured up a shield that protected him and Artha from the flames, they landed on the rock ledge above Sparkk and changed back to normal as Sparkk regained consciousness. "Here, grab my hand, we'll pull you up."

Sparkk was shocked Artha had come back for him. "You came back for me? But the race, your brother and sister?" the lave was rising fast and Sparkk reached out for Artha's hand, the teen pulled the boy up behind him in the saddle as the rock was sinking fast, they didn't have a lot of time.

"Okay, Beau, it's now or never!" Beau growled and jumped up as the rock sank into the lava, the dragon jumped from rock to rock till they finally reached the safety of the bridge again. "Thank you." Sparkk expressed his gratitude at being saved as he hopped down from the saddle and joined his dragon, waving as Beau and Artha ran off to finish the race.

They reached the end and were surrounded by two other members of Pyrrah's crew. "Surround him! You've lost, now tell me what you know about your father's dragon?!" she demanded before Sparkk spoke up.

"Let them go, Pyrrah. He saved me, what's happened to you? Why won't you listen to me?" he asked before Pyrrah grabbed him by the collar and held him close to her. "Do not question me!"

Due to Pyrrah holding him close to her, Sparkk was also affected by the gear. "Your dragon belongs to us now." Artha had to get that gear off Phorrj. He leaned close to Beau. "I gotta shut down that black gear. don't suppose you could get me on the back of her dragon?" Beau growled and magged him into the air, stopped the mag and Artha fell towards his dragon, landing on Beau's tail he catapulted him towards Pyrrah, who brandished her fire axe, Artha dodged it and grabbed the gear off her dragon, severing the connection.

With the gear now gone, Pyrrah's eyes returned to normal and she blinked, looking around. "What the?" Artha ran towards a cliff, intending to throw it into the lava when it took him over, Word tried to get him to say where the dragon was, but Artha refused to say, Beau roared, breaking the connection and Artha threw it into the lava!

Lance climbed down from Pyrrah's saddle and Artha walked over to him. "Are you okay, Lance?" Lance just hugged him tightly. "I wanna go home."

The two brothers shared a hug before Artha remembered Iris was still pinned to the wall back at the entrance. Pyrrah apologized for her behavior and thanked him for saving her brother and gave him her red thruster gear as a gift. They headed back to the entrance and Artha walked over to where Iris was, he deactivated the green trapping gear and she fell into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Are you okay, Iris?" he felt her shake her head against his shoulder and knew he had to get her home. He thanked Pyrrah and she apologized for treating Iris so badly before the siblings left the cave with Beau, heading home!


All done, a little longer than normal, but I hope you all enjoy it!