Misfits of Vernada

[Ranger of the North]

Chapter Ten

Zappy

xxxxxZappy attempted to lie still, but he was shaking uncontrollably, his breathing raspy and uneven. His head throbbed and he could see nothing: something was covering his eyes.
xxxxxHe heard sclaw-steps advancing toward him and his breathing quickened even more until he thought his heart would leap out of his chest.
xxxxxSomething snuffled noisily at his head and he heard a voice speak: “Oh, look at ‘im, he’s only a hatchling, Target. And a misfit, can’t we let ‘im go? Poor kiddo’s gonna have a heart-attack!”
xxxxxAnother dragon approached and stood nearby. “He looks like...” her voice trailed off.
xxxxx“Alright, release him,” she said after a minute. “He’s no harm to us.”
xxxxxThe instant he could see, Zappy leapt to his feet and backed toward a nearby tree-trunk, frill raised in intense fear, but ready to try defend himself, even if his head was throbbing so much he could barely stand.
xxxxxHe was inside a stand of trees that grew so close together they formed a round hall, and they met overhead so thickly that they made an impenetrable roof that only fire could get through or destroy, and several other dragons were with him. He realized suddenly, that half of the dragons were Stormriders and the others were Sharpshooters!
xxxxxWhat on earth?
xxxxxThe other dragons only looked amused at his ‘threatening’ stance, and a bright blue Sharpshooter patted his head, as if pleased.
xxxxx“Well done, kiddo,” he remarked, “you’ll fit in well.”
xxxxxZappy lowered his tail and collapsed down again, overwhelmed with sickness, weariness, and the sheer lunacy of Stormriders and Sharpshooters being together—well, apart from him and Moon.
xxxxx“Wh—what’s going on?” he croaked, shaking his head in bewilderment.
xxxxxA chuckle ran through the room, and Zappy hid behind his wing, embarrassed.
xxxxx“Flare,” he heard the blue dragon call, “come look at this li’l’un we found.”
xxxxxA moment later, curious, Zappy peeped over his wing to see the most beautiful dragon he had ever laid eyes on pacing toward him. Her scales shimmered golden and bronze as she moved with a peculiar feline grace. And there was an indescribable something more about her. The Sharpshooter looked beautiful but deadly.
xxxxxZappy stared, overcome, he had a strange feeling toward her that he had never experienced before and couldn’t explain. He felt a slight sense of recognition and I strange feeling of home.
xxxxx“Welcome, young one,” she said kindly but solemnly and with a certain gentle dignity as she gazed at him with an unsettling intensity, “this must be stressing for you. But do not fear, we, too have been banished from our homes, and have learned to live with the enemy tribe. That is why you see us together. Strange, I know.” She smiled slightly, and her expression changed as he smiled back, she looked unbelieving but joyful at the same time.
xxxxxShe whipped around to face a nearby, forest-green Stormrider. “Target,” she said, “I need to take him to my husband at once.”
xxxxxThe other dragons in the room cheered, grinning, and Target nodded, with the shade of a smile, “Of course, Flare,” she said. And then, as if remembering something, turned to Zappy, “Sorry for that crack to your noggin, small one: it was more powerful than I expected let alone you.”
xxxxxZappy growled slightly, and, staggering to his feet, followed Flare out of the small doorway where a tree-trunk had been burnt away. He groaned, suddenly, as his head gave an unexpected throb, then looked up, surprised to see that they were still in a tree.
xxxxxFlare turned to him. “This is the corridor to the outside, but I must say, you are in the WildWoods, so take care,” she told him. “Since you have been banished, you must now overcome your hate and fear of Stormriders if you wish to survive—”
xxxxx“I don’t hate Stormriders,” Zappy protested, “I just hate the clonks they give.” He rubbed the lump on the back of his head and immediately regretted it.
xxxxxFlare laughed, and gave him another strange look, “Good. That’s all you need to know for now.
xxxxx“Come.”
xxxxxZappy followed the older dragon down the corridor, between the guards, and out into the tree and dragon filled forest. They walked on, weaving among the trees and up a hill to another ring of close-growing trees. They entered through the thickest tree and walked down the tidy, cleverly-made hall to a small room off the side.
xxxxx“Wait here,” Flare told him. “I just need to speak with my husband, Vertigo.”
xxxxxZappy lay down again to ease the pain in his head and inspected the room: it was quite nice, actually, no decorations, but it looked fancy anyway because it was chiselled out of the tree itself. The wood was strangely smooth, too, ground with some sort of tool to give it a silk-like quality.
xxxxxHe liked the WildWoods, which was a completely unexpected feeling, considering it was the deadliest place in Vernada. Only, maybe it wasn’t, Flare and her companions seemed quite comfortable here.
xxxxxZappy realized that he wanted to tell Flare about Moon—which he felt a little guilty about, considering he hadn’t even told his own mother. She wouldn’t care, or hate him for it, and he had the feeling that everyone knowing that his nest-mate was a Stormrider—and that they were actually friends—would have the complete opposite effect to what it would have in the Sharpshooter village.
xxxxx“Oo, that looks a bit nasty,” a voice said suddenly, and Zappy glanced up to see a golden Sharpshooter inspecting his injured head with a similar expression to Flare’s intense gaze, “who did that?”
xxxxx“Target,” Flare said, her expression resigned.
xxxxxVertigo snorted, “Of course, should’ve guessed it.”
xxxxx“What do you think?” Flare asked, after a minute or two of both the adults scrutinizing Zappy.
xxxxx“I think you’re right, Flare.”
xxxxxA look of joy crept over Flare’s snout, “Finally!” she crowed.
xxxxx“What?” Zappy asked, confused. They were hurting his head.
xxxxx“I know this is weird,” Vertigo began, grinning, “but, you’re our hatchling.”
xxxxxZappy leapt to his sclaws, hardly noticing his head, “What?”

[Woogwoo Wren]

Chapter eleven

Moon

Moon settled onto a tree, scanning the land for Sharpshooters. She could still see the cliffs, but was well into Sharpshooter territory.

She sighed, bored. An eagle soared high over her, and she wondered if Claw had found Zappy. Then it began spiraling down, and she realised that it was Claw.

“What Moon doing? Sharpshooters here. Not safe, not safe,” it cried, landing beside her.

“Huh, ask Obsidian,” Moon muttered.

The eagle frowned.

“Claw not ask angry night dragon. Angry night dragon eat Claw.”

Moon shook her head.

“Did you find Zappy?” she asked.

“Tisk. Bronze dragon hit on head, big green rider of storms. He hurt.”

“What!?” Moon cried, leaping to her feet. “Zappy’s hurt.”

“Ya. Green dragon not mean to. He work for Flare. Flare nice. She help Claw.”

“What?” Moon muttered, unsure of what the eagle was trying to say. She was about to ask, when a loud roar distracted her. A large blue Sharpshooter was flying towards her, hampered by a large scratch on his belly.

“Intruder!” he yelled, and fire spewed out of his mouth. Claw took to the air with a squawk.

Moon leapt away from the flame, but it singed her tail. She hissed in pain, surprised that it burnt her. She remembered something Zappy had said about Sharpshooter fire being different from Stormrider.

The blue dragon leapt at her, his claws out. Moon tried to move, but the disks on his tail dug into her back leg.

As the blood seeped out of her wound, anger filled her. She roared, and leapt at him, ducking under her tail and under his already wounded belly. She clawed at his belly, not hearing his roars. He staggered away, slipping and falling off the tree. Moon, filled with Bloodlust, dove after him.

He struggled to fly, and landed awkwardly on the ground. Moon landed near and growled.

The blue staggered to his feet, the blood pouring out of his belly only inflaming Moon’s Bloodlust.

He swung his tail, but Moon easily dodged, and bit into it under where the disk began. She dug her fangs deep into it, feeling blood fill her mouth. She felt something crack, and the blue roared in pain.

Spitting out his tail, Moon lunged at him, leaping onto his back. He staggered, and fell. Moon dug her claws into his neck, and roared her victory to the sky.

She limped away from the dead dragon, and began licking her wounded leg. Claw flew down and glanced around.

“Moon brave warrior, good fighter,” it muttered.

Now that the thrill of battle was over, she felt sick. She had just killed a dragon. Somewhere, a mother had lost her son, a hatchling its father, a wife her mate. At it was her fault. She whimpered, and nausea filled her.

She turned, and vomited the contents of her stomach onto the ground.

##########

Later that day, as she and Bloodfang returned to the Stormrider’s cave, she still felt sick and shaky. She had never wanted to fight, but now she had killed!

She barely noticed there were more dragons around then usual around until the entered Obsidian’s den.

The great black dragon wasn’t the only dragon in the den. A smaller, but equally terrifying orange dragon lay beside her.

‘Magma,’ Moon thought. ‘The great leader is back from attacking the Sharpshooters.’

She lowered her head to her grandfather.

He nodded to her.

“Has she past?” he asked Bloodfang, his voice quiet and thoughtful.

“Yes. Her Bloodlust inflamed her, and she killed.”

Obsidian nodded, turning her great head so that blood-red eye glared at Moon.

“She will be initiated when the moon is full. Then she will receive her new name, and become a full member of the Stormriders.”

Moon bowed her head, and followed Bloodfang back to their cave. She noticed two golden eyes following her as she left.

She glanced back, and saw Sparkles glaring at her from a lower cave. He mouthed something at her, and Moon didn’t need to hear him to know what he said.

‘You’re dead, Shapshooter,’

[Ranger of the North]

Chapter Twelve

Zappy

xxxxx“How could you be my parents?!” Zappy stuttered. “I’ve got parents!
xxxxx“How...
xxxxx“Who...
xxxxx“What?”
xxxxxVertigo grinned apologetically, flicking his ears sheepishly, “Sorry to spring it on you like that.”
xxxxx“Oh, stuff that! How in Vernada do you think that? What—what makes you say that??!” Zappy lashed his tail agitatedly, but his head throbbed and he slumped forward with a groan, he wanted to throw-up, he was unnerved and unsettled and felt misplaced, he was confused and stunned and tired, but, above all, he wished Moon was with him, she wouldn’t feel like this, she would probably demand answers and call him a friendly name at being so sensitive.
xxxxx“Well,” Vertigo began, but Flare cut him off.
xxxxx“Come into the living room, first,” she told Zappy, “it’s much more comfortable, and it’s time you saw your real home.”
xxxxxZappy gave in, staggered to his sclaws, and tried to totter down the hall, but only half-way there his legs crumpled. Luckily Vertigo was there to catch him, though, Zappy doubted that Goldy would’ve done the same. He began to wonder if Flare and Vertigo were speaking the truth as Vertigo slung him over his back and wings and clacked down to the living-room.
xxxxxZappy didn’t notice the room much, he was intent on knowing why the two older dragons thought he was their hatchling.
xxxxxAfter he deposited Zappy onto a vine-net full of leaves, Vertigo curled up on another while Flare rubbed something into Zappy’s aching head—it eased the pain almost instantly.
xxxxx“After we mated,” Vertigo began, after a bit, “Flare laid an egg and we delivered it to the Egg-Guardians. But, a year or so later we were banished—for reasons we won’t reveal at this point, but we had always had trouble fitting in—and there was no way that we could ever meet our hatchling except for one hope: Sharpshooters usually have similar character traits to their ancestors, and, since we both were more active than normal Sharpshooters, there was a good chance that you would be banished, too. So since you’re bronze (like Flare) and were banished (like us) it only makes sense that you’d be our hatchling.”
xxxxxZappy took a while to process the new information before saying: “That does make sense, but, where do Glitter and Goldy come in, then?”
xxxxx“Glitter was my friend from when we were hatchlings,” Flare told him, settling down beside Vertigo. “and after we delivered your egg to the guardians, I asked her—since there was a good chance that I would be—if she could look after you if we were banished. As you can tell, she agreed.”
xxxxx“But, why them? And how did Waterfall know?”
xxxxx“I suspect that, after we were banished, Glitter told Waterfall that she was adopting you ‘no matter what’,” Flare told Zappy, smiling slightly. “She always was a little outspoken like that. And after he saw you, Waterfall would have agreed because they’re both golden, and gold is the closest colour he had to pick from for a bronze hatchling.”
xxxxx“Why did the Elders give me a chance to fit in, then?” Zappy asked, remembering the protesting dragon during his audience with Waterfall.
xxxxx“Sometimes hatchlings can change, with the right influence.”
xxxxx“Huh, I’m not gonna change if I’ve got a Stormrider nest-mate,” Zappy muttered under his breath.
xxxxxFlare pricked her ears, interested. “What was that? You were with a Stormrider?”
xxxxx“Um, yeah.”
xxxxxVertigo glanced at his mate, “Fancy that,” he remarked softly.
xxxxxZappy cocked his head curiously, “What?”
xxxxxFlare smiled at him and there was wonder in her gaze. “So was I.”
xxxxx“Really?” Zappy was astonished that the Egg-Guardians had mucked up so much in his history. “Who?”
xxxxx“His name was Bloodfang, or, at least, I think they re-gave that name to him. I heard he grew bitter and angry after we were separated.
xxxxx“It’s hard, losing your nest-mate,” she added quietly.
xxxxxZappy nodded: he knew exactly how she felt, then he sat, processing everything he now knew, and he soon came to a conclusion: “So, you really are my parents.”
xxxxxVertigo nodded, grinning. “Definitely.”
xxxxxZappy finally understood the feelings he’d had—wanting to tell Flare about Moon, feeling a sense of home—it was because she was his Mum!
xxxxxFlare gave him a quick hug before re-seating herself and saying: “Now that you know your history, tell us about your life—nest-mate included.”
xxxxxSo he did, he told them about Moon, about the fight with Sparkles, and Twinkly-Star, about the flight to Keen Forest, and Waterfall—“What? Hatchling ‘Z’ and he didn’t even give you a name? Grrr, that dragon’s laziness aggravates me!” Vertigo growled—and about saving Glitter from the Stormriders.
xxxxxVertigo was delighted to hear that he was legally already a member of the Sharpshooter tribe, and Flare’s eyes glowed as he explained their fight with Sparkles.
xxxxx“Stormriders and Sharpshooters working together to take on a common enemy without training, how strange,” she murmured. “Not many dragons would be willing to fight their own tribe for a legal enemy unless they were trained to do so,” she told Zappy. “The only dragons to have been like that before were me and Bloodfang.”
xxxxx“We need to give him a real name,” Vertigo said, looking at his mate as Zappy finished his narration. “He’s our son, and since he has killed someone, he can even be drafted into this tribe.”
xxxxxFlare nodded, “I think he should be called ‘Slash’.”
xxxxx“Done,” Vertigo replied instantly. “It suits him: slashing up three Stormriders and a Sharpshooter. Perfect!”
xxxxx“Slash,” Zappy tasted the name curiously, “I like it. But, what do I call you?”
xxxxxFlare shrugged, “I don’t mind.”
xxxxx“Dad,” Vertigo grinned. “And unlike Goldy, that’s not the first word that came to my mind, I’ve spent many hours wondering what I’d like be called if we ever had a hatchling.” He grinned again.
xxxxxThey all tensed suddenly as loud roaring and growling met their ears from outside.
“We’re under attack!” Vertigo cried, leaping to his talons.
xxxxxFlare snarled angrily, and lashed her tail, “Can’t we get a moments’ peace?”
xxxxx“Sorry, Slash,” Vertigo said as he raced for the door, giving him an affectionate swipe with his wing, “we have to go help deal with this, we’ll be back soon.”
xxxxxVertigo and Flare vanished from the room.
xxxxxZappy struggled to his sclaws—amazed to find that whatever salve Flare had used had eased the pain in his head—and dashed after his parents: he wanted to see what was going on.
xxxxxExiting the den he looked around in surprise: there was plenty of dragons milling around, but there was no enemy, and they looked as puzzled as he felt.
xxxxx“I swear I had her!” a Stormrider was roaring.
xxxxx“Well where is she, then?” a nearby Sharpshooter snapped back.
xxxxx“I don’t know, she slipped out somehow, so she’s obviously a skilled spy. Oh, this’s terrible! I hate myself!”
xxxxx“So do I,” another dragon smirked. Zappy couldn’t tell what type she was, she looked like a full-grown Stormrider, but she was pink like an occasional Sharpshooter, and when she turned, he saw in shock that her tail ended with Sharpshooter’s blades, rather than a Stormrider’s cludet!
xxxxxWhat on earth?
xxxxxHe stepped forward to take a closer look, and suddenly a silver streak dashed from the side of his parents’ den and clung to his neck.
xxxxxHe jerked back in shock, snorting a small plume of fire, before rolling over and slipping out of his attacker’s hold, then, quick as lightning, whipped his tail up and down toward their throat, but stopped at the last minute when he realized who it was.
xxxxx“Birch?” he gasped. “How—what are you doing here?” He stepped back and removed his tail, trembling from what he had nearly done.
xxxxxShe stood, shaking from sobs as the other dragons looked up warily, “Zappy,” she cried, “s-someone’s killed my F-f-father.”
xxxxxHer weeping stopped abruptly and her eyes burned, “I’ve seen you fight, you killed two full-grown Stormriders, you nearly killed me, avenge me, please! Revenge my Dad, I know he wasn’t nice to you, but out of my whole family he was the only one who actually loved me. Please!”
xxxxxZappy considered carefully, he wasn’t too keen on killing and fighting, but Birch’s sorrow touched him to the heart, so on the whole it wasn’t too hard to decide which course of action to take: “I will.”
xxxxxLittle did he know what he was getting himself into.

[Woogwoo Wren]

Chapter thirteen.

Moon

Moon stood on a ledge on the edge of the volcano, the full moon shining on her and Sparkles. They were both being initiated that day. The only other dragon was Flame, the guard, for which Moon was glad, as Sparkles would most likely attacked her if he wasn’t.

The other hatchlings weren’t allowed to watch the initiation, but their turn would come soon enough. Bloodfang intended to set Twinkly-star free and have them hunt her down. Moon hoped that she would manage to survive, but she didn’t know what to do to help.

Obsidian burst out of the lava, pulling Moon from her thoughts. She was huge, and majestic in flight. Her great wings dripped lava, and her red eye glinted like a ruby. Behind her flew Magma, then Bloodfang and Tornado. After them, the rest of the dragons flew, landing around the rim of the volcano on o the islands of floating rocks.

Obsidian and Magma landed in front of the tow hatchlings.

“Moon, Sparkles, you have each killed a Sharpshooter. You are each worthy fighters. You are both ready to become full Stormriders,” Magma said.

“Sparkles, step forward.” The black hatchling did, smirking at Moon. “From now until you return, you have no name. Dive into the lava to become a full member and receive your name. Flame will show you the way.”

The black hatchling bowed his head, and dove into the lava. There was silence; every eye was on the spot where he had vanished.

He was gone for so long, Moon wondered if he was dead. Suddenly, he burst up, his eyes wide. He flew back to where Magma and Obsidian waited, and landed in front of them. He was shaking slightly, but stood strong and looked at his leaders.

“Well done, hatchling .You have faced your fear, and shall be called Fang! You are now a full member of the Stormriders,” Magma said, to the cheers of the other dragons.

The newly named Fang bowed his head, and padded back.

“Moon, step forward.” She did, thoughts rushing through her head.

‘What did Spar- no, Fang, see? What will my name be? I wonder what Zappy’s name is. I wonder if he’s okay?”

“From now until your return you have no name. Dive into the lava. To become a full member of the Stormriders.”

She took a deep breath, and dove under. Flame nodded to her, and she followed him though the lava. He led her through a tong tunnel. Then they surfaced into a large cave, a tunnel leading off it.

“A Stormrider must be able to face their fears. Go hatchling, and meet Nightmare,” Flame said.

The hatchling nodded, and padded through the tunnel. It was pitch black, and she shuddered. She felt the tunnel widen, she was now in a cave.

A presence surrounded her, a terrifying one.

“W-who’s there?” she asked.

“I am Nightmare. Let me show you what you fear!” a voice boomed, causing the hatchling to flinch.

“How-,’ she started to say, but suddenly was no longer in the cave. She glanced around, she was in a battlefield, dragons roaring and fighting. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see blood, not wanting to fall prey to her Bloodlust.

Something whizzed past her head and she blinked her eyes open in time to see a Sharpshooter tail, dripping with blood, sail over her head. She roared, aware of how close she had come to being killed.

‘No!’ part of her mind shouted. ‘This is just an illusion!’ But she leapt into battle, fangs bared and claws out.

She fought for what seemed like hours, blood flying from her claws, the metallic taste in her mouth.

Finally she stopped; there were no more foes. She stood on a pile of dead dragons. She had killed them all.

She glanced around, and saw something that made her heart stop. A bronze Sharpshooter tail lay limp on the pile.

“No,” she whispered, rushed to it. Zappy lay at her feet, dying. “No, Zappy, no!” she cried. The Sharpshooter looked up at her, fear in his eyes. Then they closed, and he was gone.

“She’s a monster!” a voice cried. The purple dragon turned to see Lily, Rock, Cricket and all her other friends staring at her.

“No, please, I-,” she began. But they backed off, fear in their eyes.

They turned, and rushed away, leaving her alone with Zappy’s limp body.

“Its not true, its not true, Nightmare is playing tricks on your mind!” she cried. But it seemed so real. She could smell his blood, feel it between her claws.

“Make it stop!” she shouted, tears dripping from her eyes.

Suddenly, she was back in the dark room, shaking uncontrollably.

“I have shown you what you fear. Leave,” Nightmare boomed.

The hatchling stood, and made her shaky way out the tunnel. Flame nodded to her, and together they made their way back to the surface.

The purple dragon flew to Magma and Obsidian, telling herself over and over that it was just a vision, that Nightmare had been tricking her, that it hadn’t happened.

‘Just because it didn’t happen, that doesn’t mean it won’t. I’m a monster!' she thought.

“Well done hatchling,” Obsidian said and she landed in front of the great black dragon. “You have faced your fear and shall now be called Luna. You are now a full member of the Stormriders.”

Luna bowed her head, and backed off. Congratulations were all round, but she barely paid attention to them.

‘I’m a monster. If I even seen a drop of blood I become a bloodthirsty monster. Who would want to be near me?'

She swam back through the lava, tears welling in her eyes. She noticed Fang; the black dragon glanced at her, and for once there was no anger in his eyes, only fear.

‘I wonder what he saw,’ Luna thought.

[Ranger of the North]

Chapter Fourteen

Zappy/Slash

xxxxxSlash perched in the tree, scanning the shrubbery before him: Vertigo was teaching him to hunt in the open—if you could call a forest ‘open’. The first step was learning to camouflage into his surroundings, they were playing a scarier game of the hatchlings’ version of hide-and-seek: Vertigo was hunting Slash. Good practise for evading enemies.
xxxxxHe glanced over his shoulder: no one there; so he silently dropped down out of the tree and darted into the bushes.
xxxxxHa ha, he chuckled to himself, Dad’ll never find me here!
xxxxxSuddenly, both he and his frill leaped into the air as a scaly sclaw grabbed him from behind. “Woah!” he yelped, beating his wings frantically as he struggled to escape. Then he turned, hearing laughter, and realized it was only his Dad.
xxxxx“You just gave me the heebi-dubba-jeebies!” he complained as he landed, but he grinned slightly as he said it. “How’d you find me?”
xxxxx“How’s a bronze dragon s’posed to camouflage in greenery?” his father pointed out, lashing his tail. “You need to think, Slash. Come on, buddy, use that brain of yours.” He tapped Zappy’s head gently with a claw and grinned.
xxxxxSlash nodded, “Okay, let’s try again.”

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xxxxx“How do you do it?” Zappy asked in exasperation after his fifth failed attempt of either trying to hide from or trying to locate his father. “I’ve had enough; this isn’t gonna help me much if you don’t even show me what to do!”
xxxxx“It’s simple, really,” Vertigo began, as he stretched comfortably along an overhead branch.
xxxxx“Huh, someone’s been taking lessons from Birch.” Zappy muttered as he plunked to his haunches and wrapped his tail around his legs.
xxxxx“You either find a place where the leaves are thick, or—I mean... Oh, I can’t explain it properly. Come with me."
xxxxxVertigo led Zappy a few meters away where a waterfall cascaded over a small cliff into a deep pool that gradually snaked away as a swift-flowing stream.
xxxxx“Now,” he began again, “if I needed to hide, I could either do this...” He jumped into a nearby mud-pool, rolled over a few times, and then lay still, almost invisible.
xxxxx“Or, since that tactic is not so safe if you don’t want to be found by being stepped on, you could do this:” He jumped out of the mud-hole, leaped silently into the pool and dove up behind the falls where the water blocked his image so much that his few visible scales looked like the sun reflecting off of the clear liquid.
xxxxx“You see, Slash,” his voice emanated from behind the waterfall as he continued, “it’s all a matter of using your brain and using your colouring in a smart way. Like if you were being pursued by someone with evil intent and were near a wheat-field, that’s one of the first places they’d look, as well as a pool of mud. But they would probably never even dream of looking inside a waterfall, and if you go through the water to get there, as I did, you would’ve just erased your scent, as well. Get it?”
xxxxxZappy had been listening intently; his head tilted to one side; now he nodded, “Yeah,” he said thoughtfully, “that makes sense.”
xxxxx“Good.” Vertigo leaped out from behind the spray of water, aiming for the nearest bank as he spread his wet wings to steady himself. “Now you try it. But remember: hide in the least likely of places. Now go!”
xxxxxZappy obeyed and dashed into the trees, swinging his head from side to side as he looked for a good hiding place.
xxxxxFinally he decided on a golden-leafed, sun-lit tree, and was about to scramble up the trunk, but then stopped suddenly.
xxxxxIf I climb up here, he thought, then Dad will be able to track my scent... hmmm.
xxxxxA toothy smile spread across his snout, and he leapt up into a tree a few meters away; flapping his bronze wings for balance; then clawed his way up as high as he could before leaping to the next, being as silent as he could and flapping his wings just a tiny bit for momentum. In that way, he soon made it to his original tree, and settled onto a comfortable branch, where the golden leaves concealed his bronze scales reasonably well.
xxxxxAfter several minutes of waiting, a golden shape snuck silently across the forest floor and past the tree. Zappy grinned.
xxxxxHe waited boredly for about half an hour, before slowly nodding off.

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xxxxx“Woah!!”
xxxxxThump.
xxxxxZappy groaned, and dazedly pushed himself to his sclaws—dropping off of his head and rolling upright before-hand—and gazed at his surroundings in bleary bewilderment. “What happened?”
xxxxx“Ah ha!”
xxxxxZappy jumped and whirled around; tail raised; to meet his father’s grinning gaze.
xxxxx“Found you,” Vertigo chortled. “Where were you?”
xxxxxNow Zappy remembered what had happened. “In that tree,” he said, indicating with his tail, “and you took so long that I kind of fell asleep... and... Fell,” he admitted in embarrassment.
xxxxxVertigo looked surprised. “In that tree?” he repeated, cocking his head. “Are you sure? I passed it lots; there was no scent, and I couldn’t spot you.”
xxxxxZappy nodded, recovering his usual cheeriness. “Yup; I climbed a different tree and leaped from one to the other. Simple.”
xxxxx“Huh, someone’s been taking lessons from Birch,” Vertigo repeated his son’s words, a teasing smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
xxxxxZappy ducked his head with a grin. “Yup, sorta.” His grin widened; Birch was becoming a good friend, she would never replace Moon, but he found he wasn’t so lonely around her; when he was associating with the older dragons, he would think of a joke, turn to tell Moon... and she was never there. But with Birch, she would listen; she would laugh.
xxxxxMoon was like his twin sister, and Birch was fast becoming like a younger sister, a close companion, but not as close as the Stormrider.
xxxxxVertigo spoke again, “Let’s head back home. Good job, son. Good job.”
xxxxxZappy nodded, and they bounded into the air.

#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#

xxxxxThe WildWoods lay in a peaceful darkness; the stars hidden by a swaying canopy of leaves and branches; and two Sharpshooters lay on a sort of balcony, fifty meters above the ground. Their son had gone to bed hours ago: it had been a hard day, full of hard work and new, overwhelming experiences.
xxxxx“He got the hang of it incredibly well after I explained it to him,” Vertigo was saying to his mate. “Incredibly well. We thought he was just a misfit, but he’s something more. It’s almost like—it’s like his nest-mate has—”
xxxxxHe fell silent briefly, then both dragons mouthed the dreaded word together, “Bloodlust.”
xxxxxFlare shivered. “If she’s anything like Bloodfang, we’re doomed,” she stated quietly.
xxxxx“And if Moon’s not like Bloodfang we’re doomed.”

[Woogwoo Wren]

Chapter fifteen

Moon/Luna

Luna woke in the night. The sky hole was dark, and she was restless. She lay for half an hour or so, before rolling over and stretching.

She knew she wouldn’t sleep, so she decided to se Twinkly-Star. Bloodfang planned to let the other hatchlings hunt her the next day, and Luna wanted to see her before she was sent out.

So she slowly padded out of her room and through the eating room. She held her breath as she past her parents’ room; she didn’t want to wake them.

Soon she was flying down towards the prison. She landed softly, and glanced around for other dragons.

No one was around, so Luna slipped through the lava.

The small green dragon was curled in the corner, asleep. Luna didn’t want to wake her, but she wanted to warn her what was going to happen.

Suddenly, she glanced up. Seeing Luna, she scowled.

“So you haven’t forgotten me,” she muttered, stretching.

“No, I haven’t,” Luna said. “Look, Bloodfang plans to send you out so the other hatchlings will hunt you down.”

“Great, tell me so I can be ready for my death,” Twinkly-Star muttered.

Luna sighed, she wanted to help the other dragon, but she didn’t know how.

“I want to help, but I don’t know how to stop the lava,” Luna said, sitting beside Twinkly-Star.

“Oh, so useful Moon, so very helpful.”

Luna sighed again, even though it felt good to be called Moon again. She felt as though the name Luna belonged to her new life and Moon belonged to her old, the life she enjoyed more then her new.

“I’ll try okay, I’m not sure what I can do, but I can try,” she said. She slipped back out and leapt up to where the boulder and the lava started.

The lava exited a small hole and flowed across a ledge before falling down over the entrance of the prison. A large boulder stood beside the hole, lava washing around it.

Luna stood in the lava above the ledge. She pushed against the boulder, but knew that she couldn’t move it alone. She sighed, wondering what she would do. She couldn’t leave Twinkly-Star to die, but she couldn’t move the boulder.

“What are you doing?”

Luna spun around, and saw Flamer, the brown dragon who had brought Twinkly-Star in.

“N-nothing,” she said quickly.

Flamer smiled.

“You’re trying to free the Sharpshooter, aren’t you?” She sighed, and sat beside Luna in the lava. “You’re the dragon that is sympathetic to Sharpshooters, right?”

Luna nodded; there was no denying that.

Flamer nodded as well.

“Here, I’ll help you. I heard that Bloodfang plans to get the hatchlings to hunt her down tomorrow. I’m sorry I brought her here now,” she said, leaning against the rock.

The soon managed to block the flow, and Flamer leaned against it.

“I’ll have to move it soon, get her out quickly,” she said. Luna nodded, and began to drop down before she had a thought.

“She couldn’t have come through the normal entrance, she’s not immune to fire. How did she get here?” she asked.

“Get her out and I’ll show you,” Flamer grunted.

Luna nodded, and dove down.

Twinkly-Star was staring out of the cave entrance when Luna dropped down.

“How –,” she began.

“No time come on,” Luna said. Twinkly-Star nodded, and rushed out. As she did, Flamer moved the boulder and the lave fell again. The brown dragon dropped down.

Twinkly-Star growled, her frill up.

“Go away,” she hissed.

“Twinkly-Star, be nice, I wouldn’t have saved you without her,” Luna said. She turned to Flamer. “Now, how do we get out of here?”

Flamer nodded, and led them to a small cave on the far side of the cavern.

“Through here,” she said. “It goes all the way up.”

Twinkly-Star nodded, and turned to Luna.

“Thanks,” she spat, and rushed up the tunnel. Luna watched her go, hoping she would make it safely home.

##############

Luna was woken the next morning by Tornado again. She again poked the young dragon, and said, “Get up, time for training.” She scowled. “Magma wants both you and Fang. He’s going to see who will win the war for him.”

Luna sighed and slipped out of her nest. The last thing she wanted to do was train, and especially not with Magma.

But she slipped out of her nest and began to make her way towards the exit. After a quick meal of the cow that was lying in the eating room, she left the cave and made her way towards hatchling cave.

As she did, she noticed a large orange dragon lying on the ground. She diverted her cause, and landed beside him. Fang was no where to be seen.

“You have come, hatchling,” Magma growled. Luna bowed her head.

“I have sir,” she said. “What are we doing?”

Suddenly, Magma was on top of her. Luna leapt back, just managing to dodge his lunge. She guessed that this is how he wanted to train her, by attacking him. She growled, determined to win.

She waited until he lunged again, and again leapt back. This time his claw managed to scrape her side. She hissed in pain and made herself not look. She didn’t want to go Bloodlust.

She lunged forward, testing Magma’s speed, but she had underestimated him, and he pounded her over the head with his cudlet. Luna flew a few feet in the air, and fell to the ground, dazed.

“Pathetic,” Magma growled. “And Obsidian thinks to win the war through you?” He laughed, a harsh sound. “Get up hatchling,” he growled.

Luna staggered to her feet, dazed and sore. She shook her head to clear it, but that just make her wince. She looked down, trying to block out the pain.

“Now fight!” Magma shouted. A snicker from behind him made Luna glance up. Fang stood behind Magma, a smirk on his face.

“You’re next,” Magma growled, and the smirk vanished. Luna only had time for small smile of satisfaction, before Magma was on her again.

She moved slowly, and again he scraped along her side. This time she felt warm sticky blood seep out from under her scales. She hissed in pain and forced the Bloodlust down.

She noticed a small crowd of dragons gathering, and shook her head, ignoring the pain. She leapt, but was just batted aside by Magma. She landed on the stone ground with a thud.

“Again,” Magma growled, and Luna groaned. She didn’t get up. Suddenly, the orange dragon was over her, and he dragged her up.

Luna struggled to stand, pain over her whole body. Her side was aching, and her head was pounding. She just wanted to stop.

She leapt forward, trying to ignore the pain. Managing to duck under Magma’s claws, she sliced at the scales on his belly. Her claws glanced harmlessly off them.

Anger over came her, and she growled. How could she win if she couldn’t even penetrate Magma’s scales?

Then his claws were on her, and another wound was in her leg. She limped back, blood dripping from her foot.

She could hold her Bloodlust back no longer. Angry at the sight of her own blood, and the fact that she couldn’t hurt Magma, the pain seemed to fade. All she could think of was winning.

She leapt forward, faster then she had before. She was vaguely aware of the crowd whispering around her, then she was on Magma.

She dodged his claws, and sliced at the front of his neck. With a roar, he stood on his hind feet to get some height. Luna leapt into the air, flapping her wings.

Magma was about half her size again, so to get to his head hight she had to fly a few feet off the ground. Bu she didn’t want to get to his head hight, she wanted to get the advantage of hight. He may be larger and stronger, but she was faster.

She flew above him, planning to drop onto his back. But he grabbed her tail in his teeth, and began pulling her down. Scowling, Luna dove.

She landed on his head, and her weight forced him down. He roared, and Luna took the chance to take her tail out of his mouth. Luckily he had just gripped her cudlet, so there wasn’t much damage.

He struggled under her weight, but she didn’t let him up. Pinning his head down with her forepaws, she used her body to pin his down. She dug her claws into his head, and felt the blood seep out.

Suddenly, something bowled into her, knocking her off. She growled, and looked up, seeing Bloodfang glaring at her.

“Enough!” he roared. But Luna roared back, the Bloodlust still upon her. Bloodfang moved so quickly she didn’t see him coming. He pinned her down, and growled in her face. “I said enough!” he shouted.

The Bloodlust drained away, and the pain came back. Luna shook her head and winced.

Bloodfang just nodded, and let her up. She staggered to her feet and looked to where Magma’s head was being slathered with healing herbs. He just looked at her, ambition in his eyes.

“She’ll do,” he growled. “I don’t need the other one anymore.” Bloodfang nodded, and turned to Fang who stood near by.

“You will train with Tornado with the other young ones,” he said, “Shame you didn’t have Bloodlust, you could have done much better then my daughter.” He spat the word out with such contempt that Luna stepped backwards, saddened that her father would hate her so much.

She winched as she put weight on her wounded foot. But she began limping away, heading towards her home, she had never felt so alone.

“Luna, wait.” The purple dragon turned, and saw Flamer hopping after her, one paw filled with herbs. Lily followed, another bundle of herbs in her mouth.

“Here, let my put these on your wounds,” Flamer said. Luna nodded, and allowed Flamer to tend to her wounds.

“That was amazing!” Lily cried. “I wish I could do that.”

Luna smiled, she did have friends. But there was an ach in her heart for her best friend, the friend who was more like a brother then anything else. She missed Zappy so much it hurt.

[Ranger of the North]

Chapter Sixteen

Zappy/Slash

xxxxx“What?” Slash blinked uncomprehendingly as he sat before his parents. “What’s Bloodlust?”
xxxxxFlare and Vertigo had decided that telling Slash about their suspicion was the correct course of action: they didn’t want their son to be killed by a crazed dragon if he ever met Moon again. They needed him to be wary and on his guard.
xxxxx“Bloodlust is an insatiable desire for blood,” Flare told him quietly. “If the dragon sees or smells too much, they lose control and kill mercilessly.”
xxxxx“And... you think Moon has Bloodlust? Why would you say that!” Slash shivered; saddened, frightened, and angry that they could think such a thing.
xxxxx“Because you’re not like other Sharpshooters,” Vertigo explained. “Sharpshooters are more active when they’ve been raised with a Stormrider—and vice versa—and you’re more active than even us other misfits who don’t fit in; you figured out the hiding and defence skills I told you about incredibly fast. The only rational explanation is that your Nest-mate—Moon—has Bloodlust. Nest-Mates’ behaviour rubs off on each-other.”
xxxxxSlash leapt to his sclaws. “What do you mean to say? That Moon wants to kill me? She would never do that! That doesn’t make sense! She wouldn’t!”
xxxxxFlare shook her head. “No. But the Stormrider leaders are very manipulative and dangerous. Moon is just what they need to wipe us and the Sharpshooters out of Vernada. They will use her, and she may be forced to kill you if they know about you.”
xxxxxSlash’s scales paled visibly. “She wouldn’t,” he whispered; but inside he wasn’t so sure anymore.
xxxxxIf she couldn’t control her rage, and the Stormriders tortured her, would she? Would she keep him safe? Would she keep herself safe? Or would she snap and kill him?
xxxxxHe decided he would do whatever he could to keep his sister safe, no matter what. If she had to kill him in order to lose her Bloodlust: so be it.
xxxxxHe sat and squared his shoulders firmly, tucking his wings in better. “What can we do to save her?”
xxxxxVertigo started, and Flare looked surprised.
xxxxx“Well...” Vertigo began reluctantly, “our greatest weapon is you: only you have a chance at stopping her. But if her love for you isn’t enough to halt her, there’s a high chance that you will die.”
xxxxxSlash nodded. “I know. But I have to save her.”

#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#

xxxxxZappy bounded joyfully out into the open air and surveyed the village below—he and his parents had decided that they should stick with teaching him the normal way for now, so Flare was taking him and Birch deeper into the forest for another lesson—only a few dragons were out and about, most were on missions or training their young.
xxxxxTarget lead them well, and although Slash didn’t completely trust her; knowing the clouts she could give; they were now on a more friendly footing.
xxxxxQuick wingbeats made him turn in time to see an eagle land on the branch of a nearby tree.
xxxxxStrange, he thought, is that bird following me?
xxxxxThe eagle cocked its head. “You are Zappy, yes?” he said, and Slash jumped.
xxxxx“Uh, sorta,” he replied, surprised. “How did you know? And how can you speak?”
xxxxxThe bird shook his head, tutting. “Zo many questions. I am Claw. I know Moon—”
xxxxx“What!” Slash yelped, aghast and excited. “You know Moon? How is she! Is she okay? What are the Stormriders doing to her? Is she being forced to kill? Has she found her family? Do the Stormriders’ leaders pick mates for the other dragons? Is Sparkles hers?
xxxxx“Wow, sorry, that sounded really wrong.”
xxxxxClaw nodded. “Ja,” he agreed. “Moon write a letter, but Target clonk you before Claw delivered it. Then I returned, told her, before coming back to you. Claw lost letter.” He looked slightly ashamed, but then he continued, “Moon found parents; Bloodfang and Tornado—”
xxxxx“What? Bloodfang!”
xxxxx“Gar! Stop interrupting Claw!” the eagle squawked. “I not bother talking, and leave if you blabber!”
xxxxxSlash chuckled. “Sorry. All this is just catching me by surprise.”
xxxxxClaw huffed and inspected his talon before finally revealing all he knew, and Slash heard a story of swimming in lava, fireproof scales, being found by her father, finding her mother, nearly killing Sparkles—Zappy laughed at that—meeting Claw, Obsidian, Magma, and Nightmare; being named Luna, and witnessing Sparkles named Fang.
xxxxxSlash in turn relayed all that had happened to him—he figured Claw had a good memory, since he could remember all that Moon had been through.
xxxxx“And ask her,” he grinned at the end, “do I call her Moon or Luna?” He shuffled awkwardly, “And please tell her that I miss her badly; I already knew about Bloodlust, Mum and Dad say I’m enhanced by it. I hope to see her again, one day.”
xxxxxClaw nodded. “At once.” He spread his wings and leapt into the sky, gliding on the thermals before winging away toward the Stormriders’ territory.
xxxxxSlash waited for another five minutes—although it didn’t seem that long, engrossed as he was in all he had learnt—before Birch finally pounced up the hill. “There you are!” the bronze dragon exclaimed to the silver. “Wait here, I’ll grab Mum.” He bounded indoors and soon returned, trailed by the shimmering golden-bronze Sharpshooter.
xxxxx“Hello, Birch,” she greeted the young one. “Come.”
xxxxxSlash and Birch followed her a good way into the deep of the forest, until a pungent, sulphurous smell assaulted their nostrils. Beyond seemed to be a marshy, horrible-smelling clearing; the slight trickle of water and loud bullfrogs were the only sounds to hear, besides chirping birds in the foliage above.
xxxxx“What is this place?” Birch asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
xxxxx“This is Fire-Frog Marsh,” Flare told them, peering out between the trees at the wetlands. “Fire-Frogs are hot, sulphurous smelling frogs—they are what causes the stench—and they are unique. They have curious side-effects, too. Let me show you.”
xxxxxShe turned and ripped four chunks of wood out of a nearby tree-trunk with her teeth, and tossed one to Slash, and one to Birch, tucking the other two under her wing.
xxxxx“Burn them,” she commanded, and Slash obediently did so, drawing the heat up from his chest and bathing the wood in bronze flames.
xxxxxIt took them both around ten minutes to reduce the chunks to ashes, and Slash’s throat was tickling unbearably.
xxxxxHe coughed a raspy plume of smoke. “What now?”
xxxxxFlare smiled. “Eat,” she said. “Hunt at least five Fire-Frogs and eat them.
xxxxx“They taste a lot better than they smell,” she added, looking amused at their dismayed expressions. “Take care not to become ensnared in the marshlands. I will join you, as I haven’t been down here for several days.”
xxxxxThe three dragons advanced out of the trees’ shadows and padded down to the damp soil of the marsh.
xxxxxSlash easily caught the first three amphibians—although he didn’t eat them—but the rest had learnt he was a predator, and nimbly hopped away before he was anywhere near them.
xxxxxZappy growled; frustrated; and lashed his tail, brushing the scales on his leg. He stared at the scratch for a bit before a toothy smile crept across his snout and he decided on how to catch himself a fourth—and maybe a fifth—frog.
xxxxxHe spied a Fire-Frog nearby and began hunting near it, but intentionally ‘not’ seeing it, swinging his head from side to side as he ‘searched’.
xxxxxThe large amphibian just sat, watching; Slash could have sworn that a hint of amusement entered its deep croak as he ‘failed’ to notice it.
xxxxxBut then, as he passed it, he swung his tail around as fast as he could, smooshing the ugly creature between his scales and all over the blades on his tail. Slash growled, annoyed, and, without thinking, began to clean the bloody mess with his tongue. He stopped in surprise, examining the taste before gulping it down and licking every last drop of blue blood out from between his scales.
xxxxxFire-Frogs taste heaps better than they smell! he thought gleefully, and immediately wolfed down his three previous kills. Now that he knew how good they were, the fifth frog was easily caught and devoured as fast as the first four.
xxxxxSlash trotted back to the trees, wishing for more but not wanting to hold Birch and his mother up.
xxxxxHis mum was already waiting, but it was several minutes before Birch appeared, splattered with mud and shaking her head mournfully, tongue lolling out like she had eaten something nasty.
xxxxx“Don’t you like them?” Slash asked in astonishment.
xxxxxFor once, the silver dragon had nothing to say, she simply shook her head, looking slightly sick.
xxxxxFlare was amused. “They’re not my favourite,” she admitted, “but they’re not that bad!”
xxxxxBirch nodded vigorously as she threw herself down and began licking the grass in front of her. “Yes they are,” she croaked. “They’re terrible! Do Sharpshooters need to eat them to survive?”
xxxxxFlare shook her head. “No. But they’re very beneficial to our race. Here,” she handed them the two chunks of wood that she had placed under her wing, “burn them now.”
xxxxxThey did so, and the wood was two piles of charred ashes in three minutes tops.
xxxxx“Wow,” Slash remarked, snuffling his ashes curiously, “what happened there?” Then he sneezed as the ashes flew up his nose.
xxxxxFlare smiled. “Fire-Frogs’ effect on us Sharpshooters, is that they make our fire ten times hotter. One frog seems to provide two minutes of exceptionally hot fire.”
xxxxx“What’s their effect on Stormriders?” Birch asked. She seemed to be feeling better after ridding her body of some of the frogs.
xxxxx“They cause horrific seizures, with the dragon dying in mere minutes.”
xxxxxSlash shuddered, glad that he wasn’t a Stormrider, and wondered which poor dragon had made the discovery.
xxxxxFlare smiled, as if guessing his thoughts. “That’s enough for today, let’s head home.”

#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#

xxxxxDays passed, until Flare nosed into his room with a questioning look on her face. “Slash,” she said, “When’s your hatching-day? You must be nearly four, aren’t you?”
xxxxxSlash nodded, surprised that he hadn’t remembered. “Yeah,” he said, I hatched on Blades 25th.” He sighed, then, remembering how he’d told Moon they still had his hatching-day to spend together after Sparkles—Slash still insisted on calling the black dragon by that name since he had troubled Moon so much; he didn’t deserve to finally be called Fang—had ruined hers.
xxxxxWell, seems we didn’t even have that long, he thought gloomily.
xxxxxFlare looked as if she understood his sigh and left the room.
xxxxxHis hatching-day was relatively cheerful; he had a good meal with his parents, Birch, and MetalClaws—a Stormshooter Slash had made friends with, finding, to his surprise, that Stormriders and Sharpshooters occasionally bred and produced young—although there was an aching feeling inside him, crying for Moon. He had thought being without Moon would get easier, but it only seemed to be getting harder as the days went by. He suspected that he was homesick.

#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#

xxxxxThe days passed quickly, while Slash practised his hunting skills; memorized maps of the land; learnt how to navigate by the stars; where and when certain winds blew, and how to use them to his advantage. His favourite lessons were learning combat and survival skills.
xxxxxNot a day went past without him missing Moon, and Claw never appeared, either, as the weather was growing chill and trees were beginning to lose their leaves—although he hardly noticed as summer turned to autumn, since the fire inside him kept his body warm
xxxxxOne day, Vertigo took him into a secluded part of the forest and turned, saying, “Slash, now that you’ve come so far, I’m going to reveal a closely guarded secret. You mustn’t tell anyone—not even Moon, if you should see her again in friendship.”
xxxxxSlash was heartened by the way his father talked as if he would see her again, but his curiosity and excitement for the secret didn’t allow him to dwell on it too much.
xxxxx“See that old log over there?” Vertigo questioned, and Slash nodded. “Watch.”
xxxxxAnd then, fast as lightning he whipped his tail up in a peculiar position and two blades shot from it, embedding themselves deep into the soft wood.
xxxxxSlash stepped back in surprise and watched in speechless wonder as Vertigo again flicked his tail and two more blades appeared to replace the ones he had lost.
xxxxxHe grinned at his son’s expression. “Cool, eh?”
xxxxxSlash nodded as a grin spread over his snout to match his father’s. “Yeah!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “How do we do it?” He flicked his tail helplessly.
xxxxxVertigo chuckled, and immediately began showing him the correct way to toss his blades and grow more.
xxxxxSlash loved it, he had never known that he had so many defences; it made him wonder what else he might be able to do. He felt big and brave and deadly.
xxxxxI wonder if this is how Moon feels, being a Stormrider and all, he thought as he practised. I wonder if all Stormriders feel this way. He decided he liked the feeling.
xxxxxAfter that, he went out into the forest every day to practise his aiming skills, and Flare or Vertigo joined him occasionally, critiquing his techniques, praising his skill, or giving him tips on how to ensure that the blades went deep enough.

#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#

xxxxxSlash bounded around his home, close on Birch’s tail.
xxxxxAlthough he was now six, he still often played games, and this was one of them. The three of them—MetalClaws included—had decided to play tag.
xxxxxThe ‘In’ dragon—Slash in this case—would chase the rest until he pinned one down for a certain length of time.
xxxxxBirch wasn’t exactly easy to pin down, but she wasn’t much of a challenge, since her Nest-mate was a Sharpshooter who didn’t have Bloodlust; MetalClaws, on the other hand, was a different story altogether.
xxxxxHe was one of the lucky hybrids who had the best of both worlds. With poisonous fangs and blades in his tail he looked like a Sharpshooter—except he was a dusky red—but possessed the liveliness and large wings of a full-blooded Stormrider.
xxxxxRounding the corner, Slash stretched himself for a last desperate lunge and landed smack on top of Birch, wrestling her to the ground and pinning her head down for ten seconds with his jaws.
xxxxx“Got you!” he crowed, releasing her and backing away as he shook his wings out.
xxxxxBirch huffed, shaking the dirt from her scales, before suddenly whipping around and launching herself toward the nearby MetalClaws, who was peering interestedly around the corner of the den.
xxxxxMetalClaws’s eyes widened in terror and he tried to duck out of the way, but to no avail. Birch landed square on his back, flattening him into the ground with a breathless grunt.
xxxxxSlash laughed, and then realized his danger and lifted off into the air before MetalClaws was anywhere near him.
xxxxx“Come back you coward!” the red dragon howled teasingly as he leapt skyward.
xxxxxSlash laughed again, then wheeled around and dove down to the other-side of his home, tensing, and flaring his wings to glide on a thermal as he spotted Flare sprinting out, heading straight for Vertigo, who was toiling slowly up the hill, helping another dragon drag a large beast up to the top.
xxxxxFlare had been edgy lately, unexpectedly sharp and tense. Slash wasn’t sure what to think as they talked agitatedly. But his worries were driven from his mind as an enormous weight crashed onto his back from above.
xxxxxSlash snarled and tried to twist around, swiping at MetalClaws with his talons.
xxxxxThe only rules in tag was that dragons with poison weren’t allowed to bite; everything else was allowed.
xxxxxSlash’s attempts were futile, though, since MetalClaws was older and slightly larger, and he was driven to the ground, snout pressing into the soft soil.
xxxxxMetalClaws chuckled as he released his friend.
xxxxx“Uh oh, someone’s in trouble...” he nudged Slash’s shoulder with his snout as the bronze dragon scrambled to his sclaws, glancing around to see his parents advancing toward them.
xxxxx“What’s up?” Slash asked as they neared. “I didn’t hurt Birch again, did I? I didn’t mean to.”
xxxxx“No, she’s fine,” Vertigo assured him. “It’s just that... well...” he hesitated, unsure of what to say as Slash waited expectantly.
xxxxxFlare sighed, shaking her snout. “Let me,” she said with a small smile. “You may have noticed my bad mood lately,” she began, and Slash nodded. “I was just uncomfortable, but it’s over now, because... well... I’ve just lain another egg.”
xxxxxSlash nearly disconnected his jaw, he was so surprised. “Seriously?”
xxxxxThey both nodded uncertainly, unsure how he would react.
xxxxx“That’s amazing!” Slash was over the moon. “Wait ‘til Moo—wait ‘til it hatches!” he shook thoughts of Moon out of his head: they hurt, now. “I’ll show it how to do everything! Is there a way to tell what gender the hatchling is while it’s still inside the egg?”
xxxxxFlare shook her head as Slash felt Birch’s wing go around him and MetalClaws thumped him on the back.
xxxxx“Congrats, bro!” the red dragon roared, and Slash grinned.
xxxxx“Can we see it?” Birch asked curiously.
xxxxx“Of course!” Vertigo beamed. “Come with us.” He and Flare lead the way to the den’s doorway, and Slash hurried to catch up with them.
xxxxx“Will you deliver it to the Egg-Guardians?” he asked.
xxxxxFlare shook her head. “No. We waited too long for you, and don’t want to go through that agony again.” She grinned.
xxxxxSlash was glad, the idea of having a younger sibling around delighted him, and he didn’t want the Egg-Guardians brain-washing the little hatchling into thinking that Stormriders were the enemy.
xxxxxFlare and Vertigo led the three young dragons into a room near their own, which was in the same hall as Zappy’s and Birch’s—who was now staying with them, since she was all but an orphan—and proudly revealed a little nest much like their son’s which held a single colourless egg.
xxxxxSlash gazed in wonder at the smooth orb. My sibling!
xxxxxThat month was a good one.

[Woogwoo Wren]

Chapter seventeen

Moon/Luna

Life settled into a routine after Luna’s battle with Magma. She was woken early by Tornado, and went down to train with Firefly, a large maroon male dragon, with a temper to match his colour.

After all morning of battling with him, she had and quick lunch, and went to join the other young dragons, as they listened to Blizzard, a small black female, teach them about battle strategy and past fights. Sweetclaw then took them out of the volcano and taught them flying.

Then they had dinner, and after dinner they had spare time. Luna spent most of her’s with Lily and Flamer, tending to the small herb garden that the healer had made. Often, Pebble, Flamer’s mate, was with them.

One day, about a week after the battle, she returned to her room to find a visitor. Claw the eagle was sleeping on her rock table, his head tucked under his wing.

“Claw?” Luna whispered.

The eagle looked up, and cawed softly.

“Luna. You here.” He shook himself.

“Did you get the message to Zappy?” she asked.

“Claw lost message, but remember what happened. Claw tell him.”

“Is he alright?” she asked, worried about her friend.

“With Flare, his mother.”

“Tell me everything!” Luna cried.

So Claw told her everything that Zappy had told him, the Sharpshooters home, the attack, wounding Cobalt, being banished, finding his family, Birch joining him and the fact that Flare and Bloodfang were nest mates.

Luna was quite, resting her head on her paws. The only feeling she had was guilt. Birch, Zappy’s new friend, had joined him because someone had killed her father. And her father was Cobalt, a blue dragon who had been wounded. Luna had killed him to become a member of the Stormriders.

“Slash Zappy ask if you are Moon, or Luna?” Claw said.

Luna sighed; she felt more like Luna then Moon at the moment. Luna was the blood thirsty one, the one that killed, the one that Obsidian and Magma would use to kill all the Sharpshooters. Moon was the kind dragon, the dragon that was friends with Zappy. The dragon whose only worry was that Sparkles would burn her books.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I feel more like Luna. But I wouldn’t have him call me that.” She looked up, an idea come to her. “Ask him if he’s met a dragon called Darkfire, a Stormshooter.”

“If he is now living with the misfits, then he might have meet Darkfire.” She found herself hoping that he hadn’t, Darkfire was her friend.

Claw nodded.

“Anything else Luna tell Zappy?” he asked.

“Yes,” Luna said, and quickly told the eagle what had happened over the last few days. “Fly carefully,” she called as the eagle flew up through the sky hole. “Winter is coming on, don’t get caught in a blizzard.”

The eagle lifted a wing and was gone.

####################

The days went by quickly. Luna only noticed the changing of the seasons when they went flying, the winds were wilder, the heat from the volcano and the cool air tossing her around.

She grew a better fighter, even without the Bloodlust. She could stand her own against Firefly, and sometimes even beat him. She worked hard, though she wasn’t sure why, learning names, places and great battles (all of which Stormriders won).

She grew in size as well; the nest in her room was now too small. Flamer showed her how Stormrider flames could melt rock, enabling her to enlarge her nest.

She watched sadly as the parents of her friends would laugh with them, and on the rare occasion they had a day off, the young dragons would join together, telling their parents what they had learned.

Luna found herself at Flamer and Pebble’s cave, as her parents never had time for her. She knew that Flamer and Pebble had lost their hatchling, and was glad to fill the hole.

On one such day, she woke and lay in her nest for a while. As she calculated the days, she realised that is was Blades 25th, Zappy’s birthday. She remembered what he had said a few months ago, though it seemed like years.

‘There’s still my hatching day.” It seemed so long ago, but it wasn’. She was glad for the rest that day. She spent in with Flamer and Lily, telling them about Zappy. She knew that she could trust them, and they wouldn’t betray her.

########

But a week later, Lily was initiated. She came back from killing a Sharpshooter, not buzzing like most, but withdrawn and moody.

Luna understood how she felt; she too had felt that way. That night, being a full moon, Lily and Rock were initiated. Lily was renamed Firelily, and Rock, Boulder.

###############

About a week after that, a month since the battle with Magma, Tornado came in one morning, telling Luna that Obsidian and Magma wanted to see her. Luna groaned, and stood.

The great leaders were in their den, as was Bloodfang. Firefly, Sweetclaw, Hurricane and a few others Luna didn’t know were there as well. Tornado flew in behind Luna. She realised it was a council.

She stood to one side as her elders began to talk. They discussed battle strategies, and the best time to strike. With a start, Luna realised they were going to attack the Sharpshooters. And soon.

“Attack in spring, they’ll never see it coming,” A large grey dragon said.

“No, as soon as possible,” Firefly said, flexing his claws.

“We shall attack in the last month of winter. They will be weak after three months of poor food, and we shall destroy them all,” Obsidian said, ending the argument.

She began to give them their jobs; Sweetclaw, Bloodfang and Hurricane would train the hatchlings harder. Tornado was to get all the young hatchlings that she could from the hatchling caves.

Luna realized that Cricket would be one of the hatchlings that Tornado would bring back. She was glad that she would be seeing the young dragon again, but she didn’t want him here.

Finally, Obsidian turned to Luna.

“You shall go with your mother next week. And you shall kill all of the young Sharpshooters,” she said. “The egg guardians will not stop you, and if they do, you shall destroy them. Kill all of the Sharpshooters, destroy the eggs and the NoColours.”

“She can’t do that!” Firefly shouted. Luna knew that he had an egg in the caves. “She will kill Stormrider hatchlings.”

“We must have losses,” Obsidian said. She turned to Tornado and Luna. “Empty the caves. All Stormriders bring here, all others kill.” And with that she dismissed the meeting.

Luna followed her mother out of the cave, her disgust filling her. There was no way she would kill all the young dragons. Fluff and Buddy wouldn’t have any colour yet. She couldn’t kill the lively young dragons.

Her mother let her have the day off, and she flew to her safe haven. The place she needed comfort. Flamer’s house. She was beginning to think of Flamer and Pebble as her parents more then Bloodfang and Tornado.

Flamer knew something was wrong as soon as Luna arrived. It didn’t take long for her to tell the older dragon everything.

Flamer shook her head.

“This is wrong. Obsidian has gone to far.” She smiled. “I shall tell the others what she plans to do. They will not like it, they may rebel.” She looked at Luna, who was now almost as large as her.

“But you can’t stay Luna,” she said. “Magma and Obsidian will keep asking you to do things like this, and one day they’ll break you. You will do something you will regret if you stay here.”

Luna thought of Cobalt, lying dead in the forest.

“I already have,” she whispered.

Flamer pulled her into a hug.

“I love you like a daughter Luna, you know that,” she said.

Suddenly she could no longer stand that name. She could no longer stand her life. She would leave, she would find Zappy, and together they would bring peace.

“My name isn’t Luna,” she said. “I’m Moon.” She would never be called Luna again if she could help it.

Flamer nodded.

“I’ll spread a rumour that Fang attacked you, and you tried to run from him in the lava, but since he wounded you, you died. That way I’ll get Fang into trouble as well.” Her eyes twinkled.

Moon smiled, and lifted a wing in farewell. She flew to the hidden exit, not many dragons knew about it so she should be safe.

It was a relief to leave the mountain, a relief not to worry about Fang anymore. She flew faster, wanting to see the sky again.

Bursting into the light, she felt the wind flow over her. She was free!

[Ranger of the North]

Chapter Eighteen

Zappy/Slash

xxxxxSlash crept into the quiet empty room and crawled over to the egg. The night was cold and he was worried; something was wrong.
xxxxxMaybe Moon’s been hurt, he thought musingly, then shivered and hoped not, knowing that she would probably be alright what with Bloodlust to protect her and all.
xxxxxHe shrugged and curled up in the nest, cradling the egg between his front sclaws and laying his snout on it, heating it with the warmth radiating from his body. Flare had told him that Sharpshooter eggs needed to be kept warm to survive, if the temperature around them dropped too much the young-one growing inside would surely die.
xxxxxHis parents hadn’t asked him to look after his un-hatched sibling, but he did anyway, and since Flare and Vertigo weren’t used to caring for babies, he suspected that the hatchling would’ve soon been dead if it weren’t for him.
xxxxxSlash didn’t mind in the least—especially now.
xxxxxThe colourless orb shook slightly and his head shot into the air alertly; he gazed down at the egg in wonder and surprise as it shook again.
xxxxxSlash grinned and shuffled back from the orb slightly, both to watch it better and because he didn’t know how eggs hatched; he didn’t want to be injured if the hatchling tensed or something and sent sharp egg-shards flying everywhere.
xxxxxBut the hard shell simply crumbled and caved in to reveal a small, colourless hatchling lying in a pile of membrane and egg-shell, looking a bit surprised.
xxxxxSlash himself was too shocked to move and froze, watching his new sibling in a delighted silence.
xxxxxThe little Sharpshooter struggled to its feet and began licking the yellowy membrane off of its body, also crunching up excess shell.
xxxxxSlash was entranced. Is that what I did?
xxxxxFinished with cleaning itself, the hatchling glanced around its surroundings, and, seeing its older brother, stumbled clumsily over, tripping over its own limbs.
xxxxxSlash chuckled at the little-one’s antics and sniffed it curiously, jerking his head up with a slight snarl as sharp teeth fastened in his snout. Slash rubbed his nose ruefully.
xxxxx“I guess I deserved that,” he remarked, remembering that the baby wasn’t his, and immediately scooped the tiny dragon up on the top of his snout and pounded out of the room to his parents’.
xxxxx“Mum! Dad!” he roared, and the hatchling jumped. “It’s hatched! The egg’s hatched!” He barged into their room, nearly running the hatchling into their mother. He gently let the dragon slide off of his snout onto the dirt floor, and Flare lay on her tummy, inspecting her baby with wondering eyes.
xxxxx“She’s so tiny,” she breathed.
xxxxx“Oh, Zappy, you’ve got a sister!” Birch—who still called him by that name sometimes—barrelled into the bronze dragon joyfully, nearly knocking him off of his feet; he hadn’t even realized she was there.
xxxxxFlare scooched out the way slightly, so her mate could settle down beside her, watching their offspring with delighted eyes.
xxxxxSlash felt a slight pang. This what should’ve happened when I hatched... But the feeling immediately vanished when he realized that if he had hatched here he never would have known Moon.
xxxxxVertigo grinned at his son. “What’re you calling her?”
xxxxxSlash was astounded. “I get to name her!”
xxxxxThey both nodded. “Well, as long as we agree to your suggestion,” Flare added.
xxxxx“But won’t she name herself? We don’t even know what colour she is, how will I name her?”
xxxxxFlare chuckled. “There are ways of finding out,” she said gravely. “Watch.”
xxxxxStretching her claw out, she gently tickled the small dragon at the base of her tail, making the scales rise up briefly to reveal white skin underneath.
xxxxx“She’s going to stay white,” Flare declared.
xxxxxSlash tried to conceal his horror. “You mean... she’s meant to be an egg-guardian?”
xxxxxVertigo laughed convulsively, shaking the ground. “No, Slash,” he chuckled. “She’ll be a white Sharpshooter. Young Sharpshooters only become egg-guardians if they spend too much time with the NoColour Teachers.”
xxxxx“Oh,” Slash felt foolish, and quickly decided to change the subject; he had already thought of a name for his sister, and he knew his parents would like it.
xxxxx“Hatchling,” he said solemnly, brushing her with his snout, “I name thee Snow-Fang.”
xxxxxA sober silence reigned as they witnessed the naming of a new member to the tribe.
xxxxxSnow-Fang regarded the dragons around her with wide eyes, before her mood changed and she scratched her blades across Slash’s lowered snout.
xxxxxIt kind of ruined the moment, in Slash’s opinion.

#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#

xxxxxA bronze dragon wandered forlornly out into Fire-Frog Marsh; Vertigo was busy and Flare had decided that he was old enough now to venture that far from the village.
xxxxxSlash caught a few frogs and was heading back toward the tree-line when the breeze shifted, carrying a smell past his nose and he tensed; eyes flitting from shadow to shadow. The smell was unmistakably that of a Stormrider.
xxxxx“Moon?” he called questioningly, hope growing inside him, and growled a little as no-one answered. He was nervous. “Who’s there?” he called commandingly. “Show yourself!”
xxxxxSomething brushed his shoulder and he whirled around; poised to fight.
xxxxxBut it was only MetalClaws; the Stormshooter was holding a claw to his snout. “Two Stormriders,” he whispered. “Not from our tribe; be careful.”
xxxxxSlash nodded. “Come on,” he said quietly, “we need to get outta here.”
xxxxxThey moved on warily, and suddenly two huge fully-grown Stormriders leapt out from behind a mound of dirt, bathing Slash and MetalClaws in torrents of blazing hot fire—or at least, they were attempting to, but the two young dragons had ducked and rolled, each on a different side.
xxxxxSlash caught MetalClaws’s eye from the other side of the flames and winked as the adult dragons somehow failed to notice them.
xxxxxMetalClaws grinned, and they immediately crept around their side of the dragons to get behind them.
xxxxxLuckily the Stormriders had hidden themselves in between two mounds of dirt; Slash and MetalClaws had practised attacking someone in these circumstances countless times.
xxxxxSlash crouched just behind the mound and waited until he heard the Stormriders stop ‘attacking’ them; then he heard a great bellow as MetalClaws launched an attack on them from behind, and they whirled around.
xxxxxAs soon as their backs were turned, Slash leaped out of hiding; he made no noise, though, only crashed onto the back of the nearest dragon as MetalClaws tackled the other.
xxxxxThey went down with a muffled thud; Slash on top, trying to tear out the other dragon’s throat with his claws.
xxxxxThe orange dragon growled and swiped at Slash’s snout, and he ducked the blow just too late, wincing as the sharp claws scraped across the tender scratches from Snow-Fang, and scragged the dragons’ chest.
xxxxxShe roared and shook violently; throwing him off, and leapt to her feet as he crashed into the ground, lashing her tail angrily as she advanced toward her enemy.
xxxxx“What’s wrong with you?” she snarled as Slash struggled to his feet and they began circling each-other. “You’re a Sharpshooter, aren’t you? Fight like one!”
xxxxxSlash’s brain whirred rapidly, and he realized she was frustrated; she had probably expected him to stay down, whimpering. He decided to try to scare her and laughed, making it sound bitter. “Not quite.”
xxxxxShe faltered, then snarled and leapt at him, talons outstretched.
xxxxxSlash grinned at her dumb action, before ducking, scuttling forward, and flicking his tail up like a scorpion. Both her momentum and his own carved deep channels along the Stormrider’s length, and she roared in agony, blood frothing out of her mouth.
xxxxxSlash shuddered, and hoped desperately that she would just give up and go away; he knew he could kill her—and would if he had to—but the idea was repulsive; the first two dragons he had killed still haunted him, and this one would, too.
xxxxxBut she refused to give up. “I will not lose to a lousy Sharpshooter!” And charged forward again.
xxxxxThis time she didn’t leap, she ran, flames billowing out from her maw.
xxxxxSlash jumped to the side, but her plan was craftier than the first time, and she swung her tail around, smashing him sideways, through her scorching fire, and into a nearby rock, where he howled in pain and anger as something in his wing cracked.
xxxxx“Slash!” MetalClaws cried, alarm evident in his tone. “Look out!”
xxxxxSlash looked up painfully to see the Stormrider diving toward him, and in his head, the fighter and the joker inside him teamed up; he rolled himself off of the rock and staggered a few feet away, cursing as his limbs resisted his will.
xxxxxThe enemy dragon hit the rock head first with a solid thump and she slumped to the ground, stunned.
xxxxxSlash laughed, then doubled over in pain as his battered body protested. He thought one of his ribs might be broken from her cludet; his wing was definitely broken from smashing into the rock, and was hanging awkwardly at a funny angle; his body was covered in burns, and blood trickled from the scratches on his nose.
xxxxxHe noticed, with satisfaction, that his adversary was in a much worse condition. Blood poured from the scratches inflicted by his tail, and dripped steadily from the scratch marks in her chest. Her horn had snapped, too, crashing into the rock and all.
xxxxxSlash sighed as the dragon finally tottered to her feet. She’s relentless! And decided to attack her full force. He would kill her, he knew, but she was bent on killing him, now; there was nothing else he could do.
xxxxxHe flared his frill and roared a challenge, then, as she turned to face him, bathed her in a raging bronze inferno and she howled.
xxxxxSlash jumped as she burst out of the swirling flames, teeth bared, and he scuttled away. If she bit him he would definitely die. Stormriders’ fangs were highly poisonous.
xxxxxTired of her attacks, he leapt forward, clawed her snout to make her turn aside, and bit down hard on her exposed throat, gagging as her salty blood gushed into his mouth.
xxxxxShe roared one last time and scrabbled frantically at his scales, but she was weak, and steadily lost strength until Slash held nothing but a limp corpse.
xxxxxHe gently lay her lolling head down on the grass and stepped back, shudders convulsing his body again and again as he spat every last drop of blood out.
xxxxx“Slash!” MetalClaws roared suddenly, and Slash whipped his head up to see his friend being pinned down by the grey Stormrider who was about to breath fire on him.
xxxxxFast as lightning, Slash swooped down, snatched a Fire-Frog out of a group of rushes, and shoved it inside the Stormrider’s mouth.
xxxxxThe enemy dragon recoiled and hastily spat as much of the thing out as he could as Slash yanked MetalClaws out from underneath him; they sprinted for the tree-line.
xxxxx“That... was... close...” MetalClaws panted.
xxxxx“I’ll say!” Slash agreed. “What were doing out here?”
xxxxx“Like you, eating some Fire-Frogs.”
xxxxxSlash barked a laugh. “Oh well, all’s well that ends we—”
xxxxxThe world exploded and blackness blotted his sight.

#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#xxxxx#

xxxxxSlash tried to sit, and groaned as his whole body screamed at him. Where am I? The world was black.
xxxxxWhen a voice spoke he froze and listened.
xxxxx“Well, that was easy.”
xxxxx“Yeah,” another voice chuckled. “But not for Violence and Rocky.”
xxxxx“Oh well, they were spendable—and now we’ve got two candidates for the little ones to kill! I only hope Bloodfang’s pleased.”
xxxxx“Meh,” the second voice was laced with sarcasm, “I’m sure he’ll care.
xxxxx“Did you see how they fought? They might kill the hatchlings...”
xxxxxThe first voice barked a laugh. “Don’t be absurd, it’s a Sharpshooter! And the other one’s only a half-breed; they won’t stand a chance against Stormriders!”
xxxxx“The Sharpshooter killed Violence. And they worked together to kill Rocky.”
xxxxxAn uncomfortable silence reigned, and the first dragon sounded rattled when he spoke. “Well, Bloodfang has ways of harming them so they won’t stand a chance against hatchlings. Besides, I’m guessing that young Fang will be more than happy to assist them in killing the bronze one.” He chuckled grimly.
xxxxxSlash was too numb to feel anything. All he registered was that he was a prisoner of the Stormriders with no way of escape.

[Woogwoo Wren]

Chapter nineteen

Moon

Moon flew all day and the next night. She wanted to get as far away from the Stormriders as she could. She finally collapsed in the WildWoods, unable to fly any farther. Closing her eyes, the young dragon slept.

She woke much later, and with a pair of eyes looking down at her. With a start, she jumped back, and tumbled off the tree.

Growling in anger, she flipped around, landing awkwardly on the ground. Feeling all over, Moon could see that she hadn’t broken any bones in the fall.

She looked up, wondering who, or what, had been looking at her. A dragon was winging her way down, a golden sharpshooter.

She landed beside Moon, and looked her up and down.

“Hello,” she said. “Who are you?”

Moon looked her up and down as well. She was a sharpshooter, a few years older then herself. Her golden scales were well kept, and shone in the light that filtered through the trees. A raven landed on her shoulder and eyes Moon up. The young dragon felt uncomfortable under its glare.

“Well, I asked you a question,” the other dragon said. “I’m Freedom.”

“Moon,” she said.

“What are you doing here?” Freedom asked. “Not many dragons come around here. Well, the Misfits do sometimes, but no one else.”

Moon pricked her ears up.

“You know where the Misfits are? Can you take me there?” she asked.

“I guess, but first I’d like to know why you want to go there. I don’t really want you going there to kill everyone, or lead your tribe to them.”

Moon shuddered.

“I have nothing to do with the Stormriders,” she said. “And I want nothing to do with them. I ran away, and I want to join the Misfits. My friend is with them and I want to join him.”

Freedom frowned.

“Hmm. Likely story,” she muttered. “How do I know you’re not lying?”

“Please! I need to join the Misfits! Are you part of them?”

Freedom shook her head.

“No, I’m not part of any tribe. I live free.” The raven on her shoulder cawed. “I might take you to the Misfits, but you won’t be trusted until you prove yourself.”

“Zappy will vouch for me,” she said. “He’s Flare’s son, and my best friend.”

“I dunno who lives with the Misfits, but I can take you.” She stood, and nodded to Moon. “Come on, this way.”

Moon stood to follow her, but a shadow flew ahead. She glanced up and saw a black shape fly over the trees. With a curse, she recognised the dragon. Bloodfang.

“We have to hide,” she whispered. “That dragon up there is looking for me.”

Freedom glanced up and nodded.

“Come on, follow me,” she whispered back. With barely a sound, she rushed off, her wings folded across her back and her head down. Moon followed slower, not as used to running.

Freedom lead her to a large hollow tree, and ushered Moon inside. They lay pressed together waiting for Bloodfang to pass. A shape appeared at the entrance, and Moon saw black scales pass the entrance. Then she heard a voice.

“I know you’re there Luna,” Bloodfang growled. “I can smell you.”

Moon held her breath, willing him to pass by. Suddenly, the top of the tree erupted into thousands of splinters. Moon ducked, and heard Freedom screech. Bloodfang grinned down at them as they rushed out.

“What are you doing here Luna?” he asked. “Obsidian gave you a job. This is not the way to the HatchlingCave.”

“I through Bloodfang,” Moon said. “My name isn’t Luna, its Moon.” She glared at him.

He scowled.

“I always knew that you were weak!” he hissed. “Now look at you, running from your tribe, disobeying orders, spending time with Sharpshooters.” He glared at Freedom as he spoke.

“No Bloodfang, I’m not weak. I’m stronger then you ever will be! It’s not weak to refuse to kill innocent hatchlings! It’s not weak to spend time with other dragon just because they’re different to you! It’s not weak to leave your only home when you are ordered to do things that you cannot!”

She seemed to grow larger as she spoke, moving closer to her father. “It is weak to kill just because someone is different, to murder children just because you are ordered to! To blindly follow orders with no thought of the consequences!” Moon looked the larger dragon in the eyes and saw fear there.

‘He’s just a big bully,’ she realized. ‘He just needs someone to stand up to him, then he’ll back down.’

“I’m stronger then you, Father. I’m stronger because I can think, and not just follow orders.”

They stared into each other’s eyes, Moon’s gold glaring down at Bloodfang’s red. The fear in the black dragon’s eyes slowly drained, being replaced by anger.

“If you will be like that, then you can die!” He leapt, his claws out. Moon had just enough time to see Freedom and her raven duck under the trees before he was upon her.

She leapt to one side, dodging Bloodfang’s blow. Then she ducked under his arm, and cut along his foreleg. He bellowed in pain, but Moon was too busy forcing down her Bloodlust to pay attention.

‘I will not give in! I will not give it! I WILL NOT GIVE IN!’ she thought, forcing back the Bloodlust.

Bloodfang landed a blow on her flank, and she spun, her cudlet connecting with his wing. She winced as felt his bones crumple under her attack.

Roaring in pain, Bloodfang spun. He sliced his claw over her face and straight through her right eye. Moon roared in pain, the sight gone. She blinked blood out of her other eye and lunged, unable to hold back the Bloodlust.

She was aware of Bloodfang fighting, but all she could feel was anger and pain. Finally, she collapsed. Bloodfang lay beside her, his left wing broken, and his flank bloody and bleeding. He looked at her with anger in his eyes.

“Finish it quickly,” he growled.

“No Bloodfang,” Moon growled. “I’m stronger then you. I’m stronger then the Bloodlust. I will not kill you.” She blinked blood out of her good eye, and struggled to her feet. “I am stronger then you.”

Then she turned and staggered off, her head dizzy and no sight in her right eye. She felt Freedom next to her.

“That was amazing!” the golden Sharpshooter cried. “I don’t think the Misfits will have any problems letting you join now!”

Moon nodded, dizzy from blood loss. She staggered, and straightened up. Freedom looked at her in worry.

“Stay here, I’ll be back soon,” she whispered.

Moon collapsed on the ground, unable to move any farther. She lay there for what seemed forever, before a dragon landed beside her. She felt claws around her and a voice in her ear.

“It’s okay Moon, its okay.” She barely recognized the speaker before she blacked out. It was Darkfire.