Chapter 18: Twelve to Dradevows

(Intro)


The Penn siblings were doing their chores at Penn Stables since there was no racing event until a few days, thus, allowing the Dragons to have a break and relax. After a while, the Penns finished their chores. "Well, now that we've finished our chores, what can we do now?" Holly asked. "We don't know, Holly." Gwen said. As Artha started thinking, he looked over to his chair and saw his story book sitting in it. He walked up to it, picked it up and opened it. "We could find the Dradevows." He said, reading the book. His 11 siblings looked at him in confusion. "Artha, the Dradevows is just a story, a fairytale. It's not even real." Derek said. "I have a feeling that the Dradevows might be real. It is a magical realm. So, I believe that there might be a hidden pathway that'll lead us to the Dradevows." Artha explained. "I agree. I've always wondered if the Dradevows was real or not. I remembered our late grandfather told us that he'd actually been there before. Way before we were even born." Erika said. "Yes, but he never told us how he got there." Fallon said. "We should go ask Mortis. Maybe she knows something about the Dradevows." Kyden said. "Hmm, good thought, Kyden. Okay, let's go find Mortis." Artha said. And so, the Penn siblings headed down for the hidden underground temple with their Dragons following behind.

As the Penns and their Dragons arrived at the temple, they looked around for any sign of Mortis. "Mortis!" Artha called. But no answer. "Where is she?" Benny asked. "I have no idea." Derek said. "She might be out somewhere for a while, but I'm not so sure." Charlie said. "Artha, what do we do now if Mortis isn't here?" Isla asked. "Wait. I remember something. Isla, Jessica, Kyden and I discovered some kind of gateway back when the Dragon Eyes framed Phistus." Lance said. "Well then, we have a good idea where to start. Lance, Isla, Kyden, Jessica, take us to this gateway you found." Artha said.


The Penn Quadruplets led their older siblings and the Dragons to the gateway. As they arrived, the older Penns see the gateway for the first time. Artha and Beau walked up to it and had a closer look at it. "This gateway is completely sealed. And judging from how old it is, it hasn't been opened for a very long time." Artha said. "So, how are we gonna open it?" Beau asked. Artha started to think about that. But as he started to think, Lance walked up to him to ask him something, but he tripped over a rock, causing him to drop his story book, which had a turquoise gemstone on its cover. It slid across the ground until it stopped. Artha ran over to Lance as he saw this. "Are you okay, Lance?" He asked. "I'm fine. I just tripped over a rock." Lance said. Artha walked over to Lance's story book and was about to pick it up. But then, he spotted something next to it. He saw that it was some kind of carving picture that was covered in dirt. He dusted it off and revealed a stone picture of a turquoise gemstone. He then saw that Lance's story book was a perfect match to the stone picture. "Hey, Artha, what'd you find?" Lance asked as he walked up. "Take a look, Lance. Your story book cover is a direct match to this stone I found." Artha said, showing Lance the stone. Lance was in awe at that. "How is that possible?" He asked. Artha walked over to another stone and dusted it off some more, revealing a citrine gemstone right below Lance's. "Hey, Kyden. Come over here." Kyden walked over to him. "Do you have your story book with you?" He asked. "It's right here." Kyden said, getting out his story book and handing it to Artha. He then discovered that Kyden's story book and the stone both matched perfectly, just like Lance's. "Erika, can you use your wind powers to blow the dirt off the ground?" He asked, thinking that there might be more stones under the dirt. "You got it, big bro." Erika said. She motioned her arms and blew a big blast of wind, blowing all the dirt off the ground, and revealed 10 more stones. Each with their own gemstones.

"Good work, Erika. Now, everyone, quick. See if you can find a match between your story books and these stones." Artha said. The Penn siblings brought out their story books and found the matching stones. They were shocked to see that their story books' covers really did match with the stones. "Artha, what does this mean?" Jessica asked. "Hmm. I seem to recall that from the story that these 12 stones are the key to the Dradevows. And how to activate them is by…stepping and dancing on them." Artha said. He stepped up to Erika's stone and danced on it over to Gwen's stone, then to Holly's stone. But nothing happened. "Hmm, maybe in a different order…" Just then, he figured it out. "Oldest to youngest! That must be it." He said. "You probably need to step and dance on your stone first since you're the oldest." Beau said. Artha nodded as he walked over to his garnet stone. When he stepped on it, it suddenly started to glow and made a beautiful humming sound. Everyone was surprised to see that. Artha smiled as he stepped on Benny's amethyst stone, which does the same thing as his stone. He then started to step and dance on each of the stones one by one, each with their own similar hum as they activated. Charlie's aquamarine, Derek's diamond, Erika's emerald, Fallon's pearl, Gwen's ruby, Holly's peridot, Isla's sapphire, Jessica's tourmaline, and Kyden's citrine. Artha finally reached Lance's turquoise stone. But as he stepped on it, it didn't glow or make a beautiful hum sound like the rest. Artha was surprised by this. "Why didn't my stone work?" Lance asked, feeling annoyed. But then, Artha realized. "Oh, I forgot! In the story, the 12th stone has to be twirled on 3 times to be activated." He said. He stepped on the turquoise again, but this time, he twirled 3 times. This time, it glowed brightly and let out a gentle hum.

Just then, all 12 stones started glowing brightly and the entire cavern started shaking. The Dragons hurried over to their respective riders to protect them. "What's happening?!" Isla asked in a scared and panicked tone. "Look over there!" Benny exclaimed as he pointed over to the sealed gateway. It was slowly starting to open up! The 12 Penns and their Dragons watch as the gateway opened for the very first time. Once it fully opened, the shaking stopped. Artha and Beau slowly walked up to the open gateway and looked down a very long tunnel. Artha turned to his siblings and their Dragons, who were all looking at him. "Heh, who's coming with us?" He asked with a chuckle as Beau magged him and placed him on his back as he walked into the tunnel. The 11 Penns looked at each other before getting on their respective Dragons and followed them. As Lance and Fracshun followed last into the tunnel, the 12 stones stopped glowing and the gateway began to close and re-seal itself.


Within the tunnel, it was nothing but total darkness. "It's a little too dark in here, and I could use some light right about now." Gwen said. "I got you covered, Gwen." Artha said. He made a golden energy orb and hovered it over his hand, lighting up the tunnel. "Where does this tunnel even lead?" Benny asked. "We're about to find out. I see a light up ahead." Artha said, seeing a light down the tunnel. "Maybe that light leads to a way out." Fallon said. The Dragons walked towards the light. As they exited the tunnel, the Penns and Dragons were greeted by a beautiful landscape. They gasped in awe upon seeing the new world before them. "Where are we?" Holly asked, looking around at the new surroundings. "It's just like the story. It's all true." Erika said. "I can't believe it… We're really here. We are in the Dradevows!" Artha said with a big smile, realizing that the Dradevows was real all along. The 12 Penns and their Dragons looked around, feeling so amazed that they were actually there; the mythical and magical land of the Dradevows. "C'mon, guys. Let's go and explore." Artha said as he and Beau went ahead. The 11 Penns looked at each other before following after them. The 12 Penns and their Dragons looked around at their new surroundings, seeing the many beauties of the Dradevows. "Someone pinch me. I must be dreaming." Jessica said. Holly did just that and pinched her sister's right arm. "Ouch! I'm awake alright!" Jessica said jokingly. Unknown to the 12 Penns and their Dragons, they were being spied on by people in shiny armor.

Later, the 12 Penns and their Dragons stopped by a big crystal clear lake. As they got off their Dragons, Derek walked up to the edge of the lake and sees his reflection on the lake's surface. "The lake's so clear, you can see your own reflection just like mirrors would." He said. Benny, Erika, Holly and Lance joined Derek and saw their reflections on the lake's surface. "What do you think? Is it okay to drink?" Holly asked. Benny brought out a canteen and filled it with water from the lake. Once it was full, he took a drink to test it. "Mmm! It's quite delicious and fresh." He said. "I want some." Lance said. Benny handed him the canteen and he took a drink. "Mmm! This lake water is really good! And so yummy! I never drank water so sweet before!" He said, savoring the taste before handing the canteen back to Benny. "Well, what're we gonna do now?" Isla asked. But before anyone could say anything, Artha saw something coming and heading right towards Gwen. "Look out!" He yelled, pushing his younger sister out of the way just as an arrow struck the tree where Gwen stood. "Where did that arrow come from?!" Erika asked in shock. Just then, right on cue, men in shiny armor jumped out of the undergrowth, weapons ready. Getting hostile, Beau and his Dragon friends surrounded their riders to protect them as they all growled. "Who are they?" Lance asked, feeling scared. "They're some kind of knights. Get ready to go Booster if they attack." Artha said. Just then, a different knight came forward. Artha had reason to believe that he was the leader of the knights. "Restrain those Dragons!" The leader commanded. With that command, the knights drew magical circles in the air as energy-like ropes shot out from them and immediately tie up Beau and his Dragon friends, restraining them. "Hey! What're you guys doing to our Dragons?!" Charlie exclaimed as he ran towards Dyonne. "Charlie, no!" Artha called out as he tried to stop his brother. But then, one of the knights tackled Charlie down and restrained him with a magic spell. Before anyone could react to help Charlie, the knights restrained the 11 Penns with their magic spells. "We're captured!" Fallon cried as she struggled against her bonds, but couldn't break free.

The lead knight walked up to the Penns. "Who are you?" Artha asked. The lead knight said nothing. Artha could tell that this guy was giving him a cold glare. "Knights, take these prisoners to the kingdom for interrogation." The lead knight ordered. The knights did as ordered and escorted the Penns to their kingdom. "What're we gonna do?" Holly asked with worry. "We're gonna let them take us to their kingdom and see what happens." Artha said. Just then, one of the knights, supposedly the lieutenant, walked up beside the Penns. "We are the Knights of Sharia Kingdom. Our duty is to keep a lookout for any unknown beings who don't belong in the Dradevows, immediately capture them and bring them to our kingdom for interrogation, so we can know their reason for why they've come." He explained. Artha and his 11 siblings looked at each other, having no idea they were dealing with these Knights of Sharia.

Meanwhile, back in the Mortal Realm, Connor was looking around the stables for his children and their Dragons. But he couldn't find them anywhere. "Strange. I wonder where those kids and those Dragons have gotten to." He said. Just then, Kitt, Parmon, Moordryd and Cain arrived with their Dragons. Kitt got off Wyldfyr and walked over to Connor. "Hi, Mr. Penn." She greeted, until she noticed that Artha, his siblings and their Dragons weren't anywhere in sight. "Where's Artha, the others, along with their Dragons?" She asked. "I don't know. I've been looking for them all day and I can't find them anywhere." Connor said. "Maybe they went off somewhere." Parmon said as he, Moordryd and Cain walked up. "But I told them to do their chores. When they were finished, they should've asked me permission before going off somewhere." Connor said. "Maybe they forgot to ask for your permission." Cain said. "They'd never forget that." Connor said. "Hmm. I wonder where they went." Moordryd said. But what they didn't know was that the 12 Penn siblings and their Dragons had just discovered the ancient magical realm and became prisoners.

Meanwhile, back in the Dradevows, the 12 Penns and their Dragons were still being escorted by the Sharia Knights, taking them to their kingdom. "Artha, how are we gonna get out of this?" Derek asked. "We can't do anything right now. And judging how these knights used magic on us to restrain us, all we're gonna do is wait until we arrive at the kingdom." Artha said. As he said that, they reached the castle. (AN: Picture Bloom's kingdom from Winx Club. Coming soon to the HXC series) The 12 Penns and their Dragons were in awe to see the kingdom before them. "I've never seen such a beautiful kingdom before." Fallon said. Soon, the Knights of Sharia escorted their prisoners towards the castle as they passed through the town. The 12 Penns had time to look around the town as they see several kinds of people in different species; they had pointy ears, wings attached on their backs and other potential characteristics. And with these people were company with several different kinds of animals that the Penns and Dragons had never seen before in their lives. "OMG. These people in the town are just like in our stories." Gwen whispered to her siblings, who nodded in agreement. The townsfolk and their animals watched them as they muttered to themselves when the Sharia Knights walked by while escorting their prisoners. "Those townsfolk and animals act like they've never seen people like us before." Lance muttered. "That's because we're practically outsiders and don't belong here in the Dradevows." Kyden whispered. "Quiet, you 2. We're almost at the castle." Artha whispered.

The Sharia Knights led the 12 Penns and their Dragons to the castle. "Take the Dragons to the stables." The lead knight ordered. The knights led the Dragons away from their riders towards the stables. "Where are you taking us?" Benny asked. "We're taking you to the throne room. Our King, Queen, Prince and Princess await our arrival there." The lieutenant said. The 12 Penn siblings looked at each other in confusion. After a while of walking, they arrived at the throne room. As they entered, Artha and his 11 siblings saw the royals sitting on their royal thrones. Benny's eyes landed on the Princess. She wore a beautiful hot pink and baby blue dress and a gold tiara on her head. Benny blushed bit as he found her beautiful. Gwen's eyes landed on the prince. He wore a fine royal blue and scarlet prince suit with a silver crown on his head. Gwen felt her cheeks heat up as she found him handsome and cute. The lead knight and lieutenant stepped forward and knelt before their rulers. The King, in purple and gold attire, stood up from his throne. "Who are these children?" He asked as the lead knight and lieutenant stood up. "We found them roaming one of our areas. We suspect that they're not from the Dradevows." The lead knight said. The King became quite interested in the Penns. "How did they find their way to the Dradevows?" The Queen, in a violet and white queen's dress, asked.

Just then, Artha bravely stepped forth. "We found an ancient entrance just near the ancient temple underneath our home in Dragon City." He explained. The royals were shocked to hear that, even the lead knight and lieutenant were shocked. "That's impossible! All of the secret entrances to the Dradevows were destroyed a long time ago to prevent dark forces from attempting to spread its darkness here!" The Princess exclaimed as she stood up from her throne. "How is your secret entrance still active and not destroyed?" The Prince asked as he stood up from his throne. "It's been hidden in our temple for centuries." Fallon said. The royals grew more curious about the Penns. "What are your names?" The Queen asked. "I'm Artha." Artha said. "I'm Benny." Benny said. "I'm Charlie." Charlie said. "I'm Derek." Derek said. "I'm Erika." Erika said. "I'm Fallon." Fallon said. "I'm Gwen." Gwen said. "I'm Holly." Holly said. "I'm Isla." Isla said. "I'm Jessica." Jessica said. "I'm Kyden." Kyden said. "And I'm Lance." Lance said. "Our last name…is Penn." Artha said. The royal family gasped in shock.


"I…remember a man with a certain name known as Penn. My ancestor was a great friend and ally to him. Arthur Penn." The King said. The 12 Penns were shocked to hear that. "Arthur Penn was our ancestor, and the original Dragon Booster." Artha said. "Release them at once!" The King ordered. The lead knight and lieutenant obeyed his orders as they used their magic to free the 12 Penns from their restraints. "Ugh! Finally! The restrain was really starting to numb my arms." Charlie said, moving his arms a bit. As the Penns moved around from their restraints, Artha saw the royals walk up to him. "My apologies for my knights' hostility. Ever since the dark forces tried to come here to take over, everyone in the Dradevows had to destroy all of the secret entrances to prevent the dark force to spread its darkness. We since became precautious as we kept a lookout for any outsiders who didn't belong in the Dradevows." The King explained. Artha understood their concern. "Please, allow me to introduce our family. I am Shabula, Queen of Sharia Kingdom. This here is my beloved husband, Suassizzo, the King of Sharia Kingdom. And our children, Princess Oshwia and Prince Aishudoo." The Queen, Shabula, introduced. "It's an honor to meet you, your majesties." Artha greeted as he and his 11 siblings bowed in respect. Suddenly, there was a loud growl in the room. "Where on earth did that growl come from?" Shabula asked in surprise. Upon hearing it again, everyone looked at Lance. The growl was coming from his stomach. "Hehe. Sorry. I'm starving." Lance said out of embarrassment. Suassizzo chuckled. "Not to worry. Please, follow us to the royal dining room. There's plenty of food being prepared for the royal feast." He said.

As the Penns followed the royal family, they arrived at the royal dining room. As they entered, the Penns were stunned to see that the dining room table was very long and had all sorts of different food to eat. "Wow! That is one big banquet of food!" Holly said in amazement. The Penns and the royal family took their seats and prepared to eat. "Please, help yourselves with the most delicious food of Sharia and the entire Dradevows as a warm welcoming." Shabula said. The Penn Quadruplets cheered as they started eating the food. They savored the tastes, finding the food delicious. The Penn Octuplets started eating too. "Oh, wow! That is so good!" Charlie said after he took a first slurp of curry. As they ate, Artha turned to the royal family. "Um, your highnesses? Might I ask where our Dragons are?" He asked. "Oh, they're at the royal stables with the royal pets." Aishudoo said as he ate a turkey leg. "We'll take you to see them once we finish eating our meals." Shabula said. "I'm sure we'd like that." Artha said as he continued eating. About 25 minutes later, the Penns finished eating their meals and felt full. "Wow. I feel so full." Lance said, rubbing his stomach. "Thank you so much for the meals, your majesties." Gwen said. "You are more than welcome." Suassizzo said. "Now, as promised, we shall take you to your Dragons at the royal stables." Shabula said.

Later, the royal family led the Penn siblings to the royal stables. They arrived at the back of the castle and revealed to have a huge, beautiful courtyard and garden full of several kinds of plants and flowers. Artha and his siblings are amazed to see this. "Oh wow… what a beautiful courtyard. Addition with the garden too." Fallon said. "Yeah. And by the looks of it, so expensive too." Derek said. "I'm glad you like it. And I think you'll find the royal stables to be a marvelous sight too." Oshwia said. The royal family led the 12 Penns to the royal stables. When they reached there, they see several kinds of animals living in the stables. Horses, unicorns, Pegasus, and more. Among the animals, Beau and his Dragon friends were being fed and cared for by the caretakers of the royal stables. Just then, Beau saw Artha and his siblings come in. "Artha!" He called. Artha walked up to his Dragon and patted his head, happy to see him. "Are you and the others okay, Beau?" He asked. "Yes, we're all fine. These caretakers took care of us after those knights brought us here." Beau said. The 11 Penns, happy to see their Dragons too, ran over to them, giving them hugs and pats. The royal family watched the heartwarming reunion, seeing how much the 12 Penns deeply care about their Dragons.

Later, the 12 Penns and their Dragons followed the royal family through their royal garden. The royal family were taking them somewhere. "Where are you taking us?" Jessica asked out of curiosity. "We're heading to the pavilion." Aishudoo said. As they arrived at their destination, a beautiful pavilion made entirely out of gold. There were several trees and colorful flowers surrounding the gold pavilion, along with 4 gold fountains. Artha and his 11 siblings were in awe to see it, along with their Dragons. Just then, Artha noticed 12 stones on the center of the pavilion. They were identical to the ones in the temple. "Hey, look at that. Those stones are just like the ones back at the temple." He said. "Whoa, really? I didn't know there was another one here." Derek said in surprise. "You see, this pavilion is a memorial to the original Dragon Booster." Suassizzo explained as everyone walked back down the stairs. "Like you and your siblings, Artha, he had a great passion for dancing." He showed the Penns a golden statue of Arthur and his true love dancing together on the pavilion's memorial altar. The 12 Penns and their Dragons were in awe to see that. "Your majesties, would it be okay if we dance here in the pavilion?" Fallon asked. "But of course, my dear. Arthur would be happy to see you all dance here." Shabula said.

The 12 Penns were happy to hear that. "But wait. We're missing music. We can't dance without music." Gwen said. "Not to worry. We have a small music band that can help with that." Oshwia said. She clapped her hands. Just then, something came out of the colorful flowers and flew over, revealing themselves to be sparkling fairies wearing colorful dresses with butterfly wings on their backs. The 12 Penns and their Dragons were stunned to see these tiny beings. "Penns, meet the Musical Fairies. They've been living in the pavilion for a very long time." Oshwia introduced. "Fairies, will you kindly play some music for our special guests?" She asked. The Musical Fairies obeyed as they fly away to position themselves. They then used their magic to summon several musical notes and started playing beautiful melodies in the air. The 12 Penns and their Dragons listened to the music, finding it very beautiful. "Come on, guys. Let's dance." Artha said. The Penns were dressed in their dancing shoes that they got from their late grandparents on Thanksgiving. Artha was the first to start dancing before his siblings followed and started dancing with him. The royal family and the Dragons looked on from the sidelines as they watched the 12 Penns dance with grace and elegance. "Those Penn children dance just as elegant as Arthur used to." Suassizzo said with a smile.

Hours passed as sunset arrived. The 12 Penns continued dancing on the gold pavilion until the music ends. As they finished their dance, Artha looked at his dancing shoes and noticed they were completely worn off. "Oh, wow. My shoes worn off." He said. "Mine too." Holly said, looking at her worn dancing shoes. "I guess that's enough dancing for the day." Erika said. The royal family walked up to the 12 Penns with the Dragons following. "That was an amazing, truly wonderful dance." Shabula said. "Thank you, your majesty." Artha said. "I believe we should be getting back home. Dad's probably looking for us by now. Especially since we forgot to ask permission." Benny said. "Yeah. We should return home now." Artha said.

Later, the 12 Penns and their Dragons stood outside the castle's entrance gate as they said goodbye to the royal family. "Thank you for giving me, my siblings and our Dragons a wonderful day." Artha said. "You are more than welcome. Know that you are more than welcome to come back anytime you want." Suassizzo said. He and Artha shook hands, thus, forming their alliance. With that, the Penns and their Dragons headed off to where they came from. As they reached the gateway, they passed through and returned to the temple. Artha looked around the temple for a moment. "Mortis still isn't here." He said. The 12 Penns and their Dragons went back up to Penn Stables. Upon arrival, they bumped into Connor, Kitt and the others. "Where have you all been? You've been gone for passed hours." Connor asked. "We…went off somewhere. Sorry we forgot to ask your permission, Dad." Artha said, making up an excuse. "How did your dancing shoes get so worn off?" Kitt asked, noticing the 12 Penns' dancing shoes were worn off. "You guys must've been dancing for hours." Moordryd said. "Dad, can we get our dancing shoes fixed up?" Erika asked. "I have an old friend who owns a shoe shop. He can fix up your dancing shoes." Connor said.

An hour later, the Penns were all in their shared bedroom, getting ready to sleep after they had their dinner. Their Dragons were all in their respective stables, asleep after a long day. The 10 Penns had already fallen asleep while Artha and Lance were still awake. "We had a great, magical day after discovering the Dradevows. I hope we can visit again soon and explore some more." Lance said. "Yeah. Me too. Now get some sleep, Lance. Tomorrow is gonna be busy." Artha said. Lance nodded in understanding as he laid down in his bed and fell asleep. Artha went over to his bed and lay down. "Regarding what you told us about the Dradevows, Grandpa. I hope they can help for the upcoming danger and stopping Word from restarting the Human-Dragon War." He said before falling asleep.

WOW! Wasn't that amazing? Artha and his siblings have uncovered the secret entrance to the Dradevows. As they looked around, they were taken prisoner by the Knights of Sharia and brought before the royal family. Realizing they were descendants of their old friend, Arthur Penn, the royal family recognized them as allies. After a brief tour and a dance in a gold pavilion, the 12 Penns returned to their home. But will they see the Dradevows again? Will the royal family join their fight against Word Payne, the Shadow Booster and the Gloomix Clan? Leave a review if you'd like.