Everyone rose in the morning to the filtered sunlight penetrating through the Mist. It created a rainbowy halo around the Sun that made it look like something from one of the fairy-tale books Turquoise used to read when she was younger.
They all gathered in a circle to discuss what they were going to do.
“So, we go to the LavaDragons,” Alex asked. “And then what?”
“How about the BloodDragon Kingdom?” Sapphire said. when everyone stared at her, she said, “No, wait, hear me out. The Jungleswamp is full of trees. Big, huge trees that could hide an entire dragon tribe.” She looked at them with emphasis. “And some history books say that there used to be another tribe living with the BloodDragons—the ForestDragons. According to legend, the ForestDragons and BloodDragons lived peacefully together, until the bloodthirsty queen of the BloodDragons started killing them off. They were driven out of their homes, supposedly into the trees. Of course, there are books that say that is just a myth.”
“Better than nothing,” Turquoise said. “But first, we go to the LavaDragons and convince them to fight against the StealthDragons and Zaerux.”
“Wait,” Pyrite said. “There’s something that is bothering me that I need to tell you.”
They all stared at her, and she told them about what she had seen in the StealthDragons’ and CaveDragons’ palaces.
“When I looked into the Royals’ eyes,” Pyrite said, getting a look in her eyes like she wasn’t exactly seeing what was in front of her, “I could not see a spark of life. It looked like they had no soul, like they were—they were—”
“Puppets,” Jade said darkly. “So, you think that they were controlled by something else?”
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Pyrite nodded slightly, picking at the grass blades beneath her. “Another thing I saw,” she added, looking up at all of them, “was the emptiness of their palaces. There was no life, almost no noise. Everything gave off the same feeling that the building in the Creed Under the Mountain did.” Realization dawned on her face “You don’t think—”
“That they’re related?” Shadowstar finished. “It is a likely conclusion.”
“Wait,” Turquoise said, looking at Pyrite, “What’s ‘The Creed Under the Mountain’?”
“It’s what those StealthDragons called themselves,” Pyrite explained. “They’re like a secret assassin organization of StealthDragons, in that mountain hollow.”
“But why would the palaces be empty?” Sapphire pondered, staring into space. “Could the dragons, perhaps, see that the aura around the palaces was adjacent and accumulated with something far greater in the sphere of influence, something entirely foreign? Could they have the same bad feeling we do, but are too afraid to leave, or to speak up, but rather show their uneasiness by avoiding the haunted halls of the palaces?”
“Sapphire,” Jade said carefully, giving her a measured glance, “you mean that there is something else controlling these three areas?”
“Yes,” said Sapphire. “And not three—five. The StarDragon palace. The StealthDragon palace. The CaveDragon palace. The Creed Under the Mountain. And the WindDragon palace.”
“Three of those are on the same side in the war,” Turquoise realized. “But why the StarDragon palace?”
“Because the StarDragons have the most knowledge out of all the tribes,” Shadowstar said. “And the Creed Under the Mountain…something is going for world dominance here.”
“Not something,” Andy corrected. “Someone.”
“Zaerux,” Alex said.
“But who is Zaerux?” Pathtalon said. “It all comes back to them.”
“Whoever they are,” Turquoise said, standing up, “We are going to do everything in our power to stop them.”
Without another word, they all got on their dragons and flew into the Misty sky, intent on protecting the world that they loved from evil, no matter what challenges they would face.