It took a few days to reach the edge of the Jungleswamp, but eventually Razortail announced that they were close by.

“I can smell something new,” he explained. “A different foliage than what we have here. Also, it’s getting slightly less humid.”

He was right about the humid part. All of Lotus’s life, she’d been in the Jungleswamp. She hadn’t quite realized how muggy it was in there until she’d felt the fresh breezes of the PhantomDragon Kingdom. She just wished that she could see beyond the trees.

“Wait,” Razortail hissed. He lowered his voice. “I hear something coming. Quick, climb a tree!” He herded Lotus and Holly up the nearest trunk and into the branches.

“Coo?” Lily poked her head out of her pouch and gazed at the ground. “Rawr, coo.”

“Shh.” Lotus gently put one talon against Lily’s tiny snout.

Lily licked it.

Then, her ears pricked. She heard noise coming from below, and listened carefully.

“…ugh, can’t believe…walk through this for how long? It never ends…helmet says the temperature is halfway to the boiling point.” The voice sounded female.

“Are you worried that a giant, hairy spider is going to crawl up your back? Look at the size of their pincers, I bet that thing could eat your brain in one bite—especially considering how small it is—”

“Shut up, toad sniffer.” It sounded like the second voice was teasing the first. Lotus heard laughter as if from other dragons, but she couldn’t pinpoint how many there were.

“Listen to that frog!” another voice exclaimed. It sounded male. There was silence for a moment as they all listened to the croak of the frog.

Suddenly, Lotus heard an odd sound—like a mix between a frog and something else. Then she realized that the dragons were making fun of the frog. Soon, a choir of fake frogs was croaking.

“Oh, ooh! I have one!” another voice said. They started imitating a monkey with shrieks and gibbers. The others laughed, and then one of them started being a frog again.

“How about this one?” The exaggerated sound of a cicada reached Lotus’s ears, and she almost gave herself away by laughing. Who were these dragons? The Jungleswamp was intimidating, with its carnivorous plants and creepy sounds. But the dragons below her, whoever they were, made it sound ridiculous and funny.

“Listen to that flying lizard, I bet I can do that!” Now the woooomp wooooomp weeee-eeer of the weird lizards came from below.

“Dun DUNNNNN dun dun dun dun DUNNNNNNN LALALALA looooooo doo doo de diddly dum DORP!” Off key vocalizing joined the chorus of weird sounds.

“IIIIiiiii LoVEEEEE……CANTALOPES! NO idea what they ARRRRE but I LOVE EM!! SOOOOO SpEcTaculAREStiC! OOOOOOOh I llOOOOOooooooVe my CAntaLOOOOOOOoPES!” Another dragon howled. Soon, they had a whole symphony going, complete with a beatboxer and an off-key voice violin.

Lotus couldn’t help herself. She started laughing, giggling and snorting uncontrollably. She should have been more careful, but it was just too funny for her to stand. She rolled over and fell out of the tree, barely catching herself on the trunk using her sharp claws. She laughed on still, her tail dangling to the ground.

“That was hilarious!”

The other group fell silent, but Lotus continued to laugh, her eyes overflowing with tears. She sat up, but everything was so blurry.

“Oh...oh my claws...I am SO sorry...hahaha...oh my claws...” Lotus grinned and shook her head, then rubbed her eyes and looked at the group.

Then she realized: there were humans in this group! Six of them, to be exact.

“Um...” Lotus was at a loss for words. Luckily, Razortail saved her. He glided down from his tree branch and whacked Lotus’s head with his tail.

“What do you think you're doing?” he hissed angrily through his creepy grin.

“It was funny!” Holly protested, hanging from her tail and gracefully dropping to the ground. “I would have laughed if Lotus hadn’t done it first!”

Razortail eyed the odd, human infested group. “We are sorry to burst in on your business,” he said. “We will leave you now.”

“Wait! Those dragons are green!” one of the girls said, pointing one finger at Lotus and Holly. She had dark hair and silver-green eyes. A sword hung on her belt. “Sapphire, do you think—?”

Another girl nodded. She had weird contraptions resting on her nose that covered her eyes. A satchel hung over her shoulder. “It’s them,” she said.

Who? Us? Lotus was confused. “You must have the wrong dragons,” she said.

“No,” the satchel girl said. “You guys are ForestDragons.”

Lotus was thunderstruck. “Wha--”

A beautiful black dragon with galaxy patterns on her wing webbing and underbelly stepped forwards. “You.” She pointed at Razortail. “I’ve seen you...in a vision, I think. You are powerful, and destined for greatness alongside your ForestDragon friend, the one whom you call ‘servant’.”

“Okay,” Holly said. “Here’s the deal: you tell us how you know what we are, and we won’t bother you to the extent of dying.” She raised her tail slightly.

One of the boys laughed. “Sure! Where shall we start?”

A girl with a silver helmet stepped forwards and cleared her throat, spreading her arms wide. “Gather round, gather round! Are you ready for the most deranged, unbelievable tale of your life? Sit down right here, folks!”

Curious, Lotus sat down. Razortail and Holly followed suit. They exchanged looks, wondering what they were about to find out.

One of the girls started the story, introducing herself as Pyrite. Her human friends Jade, Turquoise, Sapphire, and Alex filled in the blanks.

“So, you guys are from the caves,” Lotus said in disbelief. “You got kidnapped, went on a series of misadventures, and ended up being part of a prophecy and in possession of several magical items?”

“Yup,” Alex said.

“And one magical fox!” Alastor added.

“But, in the process, our friends Roewyn and Carrion sacrificed themselves to save us,” one of the dragons, Pathtalon, said sorrowfully. Everyone hung their heads.

“We’ve come here to ask for the ForestDragons’ help,” Shadowstar said gently. “The StealthDragons are growing in power, extending their influence to their allies. We need the Lost Tribes, the Legends.”

Lotus shook her head. “Good luck convincing the ForestDragons,” she said. “They split into three different ‘tribes’ long ago. There’s a kind of feud between the three that they’ll never let go.”

“But the StealthDragons will come after you guys,” Pyrite pleaded. “Please, you have to try.”

“I can’t go back there,” Lotus said. “I faked my death to get out. I don’t want to go back in.”

“You faked your death?” Alex asked, leaning forwards as if interested.

“Don't get ideas,” Turquoise warned. “You’ll have to include me in your plans too.”

“I faked my death so that my dad wouldn’t endanger the tribe, or worry about me,” Lotus explained. She wasn’t quite ready to open up to these strangers, no matter what they had been through.

Was Razortail influencing her with his surly moods? No, that’s not possible. I’m Lotus, the one and only. I don’t change my personality as soon as I see someone that I can understand.

“Wouldn’t that have the opposite effect?” Andy asked. “If I were your father, I’d be pretty worried about my daughter dying.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“But you see why I can’t go back,” Lotus said, choosing to ignore the dark-skinned human.

“The StealthDragons are on their way right now,” Shadowstar warned. “I can sense that something drastic is about to happen. Whatever we decide, it must be in haste.”

“Can you see the future?” Holly gasped. “Like Queen Stargazer? But that’s impossible!”

Shadowstar shrugged. “Not impossible. Just one in an octillion chance. But please, no more wasting time.” Suddenly, she gasped and straightened. “They’re coming! We have to—”

She never got to finish her sentence.

Roars and growls filled the air. A wind swept through the forest, and the trees swayed. Vines started creeping towards them, and plants started growing rapidly to box them in.

Razortail opened and closed his wings, and every plant within a 50 foot radius was cut down with no effort. That made the plants pause before continuing, and it also gave Lotus enough time to realize what they were up against.

“ForestDragons!” she shouted. “Shizernoodle buckets of flying lizard carcasses! They must have joined together!”

“Get her!” a commanding voice trumpeted. “Get the Chief's daughter!”

No no no no no no, Lotus thought frantically, her eyes widening. She took a step back.

“HEY!” Holly roared. She spun her tail around her head, and venom shot out of it. Half of the dragons fell, screaming.

“Holly, we shouldn’t kill them!” Lotus shrieked.

“Don’t worry,” Holly said over the noise of fighting. “I only gave them enough venom to feel like they should die.”

CloudWing shot lightning in all directions, with Aether adding to the shocks, making the energy jump from dragon to dragon. Pyrite drew her sword and was fighting alongside Turquoise, who had her helmet visor down, and Jade, who had his sword drawn also. Alex, Andy, and Alastor were taunting and distracting the opponents, shooting arrows and making noise, throwing rocks and kicking the dragon’s snouts.

But it wasn’t enough.

Five dragons surrounded Lotus. She bared her teeth and shot venom at them, but they avoided it and grabbed her arms and tail. She flapped her wings uselessly against them.

“You’re coming with us,” one of them said. “Our Chief will pay handsomely for leverage against your father.”

Lotus stabbed her horns through the belly of the dragon who was holding her snout. “Who--” she managed to choke out.

Suddenly, the battle sounds faded. Fearing the worst, Lotus poked her neck up, but all of her friends were fine. The ForestDragons were parting to make way for someone.

Silver scales rested on a long neck. Sharp, incredibly long talons came from big claws. Many, many weapons were hung around the silver neck, the long tail, and woven in and out from in between long silver spikes. Blue eyes rested on her.

A StealthDragon?

Pyrite inhaled. “Treasure Snout!”

The StealthDragon looked at her sharply. His expression curdled into pure hatred. “Prisoner,” he acknowledged in a clear voice.

“You know this guy?” Alex asked.

“He’s the leader of the Creed Under the Mountain,” Pyrite explained.

If possible, the StealthDragon’s expression curdled further. “Was,” he corrected. “But we were overturned by a group of savage humans. We were not expecting it, and they took us all by surprise. Two thirds of my army was dead before I realized what was happening and managed to escape.”

“Go Alice!” Alex whooped.

“You won’t be so cocky when I kill all of your friends in front of you,” Treasure Snout snarled. Alex’s grin faded.

“But how did you become Chief of the ForestDragons?” Holly asked.

“Well,” Treasure Snout started loftily, “I received orders from my king and queen to search for the Lost Tribes after my miserable failure. They told me the different locations, and I took the rest of my army with me, aided with some magical enhancements granted by my Mistress.” He sneered. “We tried to invade the LavaDragons, but they were too well defended. I was left with five soldiers after that...excursion.

“I knew, from several spies, that you would be headed to the Jungleswamp next—although you were uncertain of where in the Jungleswamp to look. I used that to my advantage and got there first, aided by the information my Mistress had given me, along with a map. I...convinced the ForestDragons to make me Chief, and then heard that your puny little dream team was on your way. I sent the rest of my soldiers to kill you off, but only managed to get two of you.” He wrinkled his snout. “Oh well. Now I have all of you! How delightful!”

“We’re--not—going—with you,” Lotus managed.

“You’re in no position to defy me,” Treasure Snout sneered. “Yes, I think I’ll force the Chief to give me his throne, and then kill his daughter in front of the entire village. That sounds lovely, doesn’t it?”

“No,” Razortail said.

Treasure snout turned to him. “Ah, my fellow assassin! Surely, as comrade, you understand what I’m doing.”

“You’re no assassin,” Razortail snarled. Somehow, he was no longer grinning. “At least assassins have moral codes. There is no honor in conquering for no reason other than power. Assassins exist to topple the balances.”

Treasure snout smiled, but it looked forced. Lotus realized suddenly that his eyes had changed. They were purple.

“Oh well,” he said carelessly. “You could have been right alongside me! But now you’ll die, just like your so-called ‘friends’.”

Before Lotus could even blink, Treasure Snout flicked something at Razortail—a dart, silent and deadly sharp. But Razortail blocked it just as fast. Treasure Snout’s eyes widened, then narrowed.

“Kill her,” he nodded his head towards Lotus.

“NO!” Razortail flared his wings, flapping them frantically. What was he doing? He held his claws in front of him, cupped slightly. The wind picked up. Were those whispers that Lotus was hearing?

One of the soldiers gripping Lotus—the one that had his talons posed to slit her throat—screamed at fell, writhing on the ground. He clawed at his own throat, choking and gargling.

Razortail raised one claw and made a fist, and the ForestDragon dried up, his blood being sucked out of him by some unseen force. All his insides floated towards Razortail and rotated in his cupped claws, forming a ball of red and black magic.

Lotus winced, but could not tear her eyes away from him.

Treasure snout took a step back. “Not possible,” he whispered, his eyes wide.

“You will suffer the same fate,” Razortail warned in a scary voice, pointing at Treasure Snout.

“Mistress!” Treasure Snout reached to the sky. Purple runes swirled around him until he was holding his own ball of purple magic. “I’ll give you a fight.”

From then on, it was chaos.

Lotus could barely register the fight that took place. It was one of pure magic. Razortail would send a volley of magic knives flying at Treasure Snout, who would turn them into a purple slime monster that reached for Razortail; but then fell to a hoard of giant ravens, who tried to claw at Treasure Snout but turned into a giant, purple, thorned plat with tentacles that whipped and lashed at Razortail, who cut it down with his sharp claws.

“Weakling!” Treasure Snout roared. “You are no match for me!” He extended his talon in a clawing motion. A giant, purple arm mimicked his movements.

Razortail slashed the arm to pieces with red magic claws, and Treasure Snout howled. His own arm burst into pieces. Raozrtail reached out a claw and gathered the blood into his talons.

Using Treasure Snout’s pain to his advantage, Razortail pounced on him and knocked him to the ground, pinning him down with red magic chains of Treasure Snout's own blood.

“You--have—no—training--” Treasure Snout gargled.

“And yet I beat you,” Razortail remarked. “I think I’ll leave you here, along with your soldiers. No one will come for you for a while. The bugs love to crawl in between scales, especially big ones like yours.” He tightened his grip on Treasure Snout’s throat. “But you owe me. A dragon must pay his debts, according to Dragon Law. I will release you, and let you wonder forever about the dragonet who had your life in his talons, and chose to spare your sorry snout.”

He backed away, then moved Treasure Snout’s chains until they wrapped several times around a tree trunk, binding his snout, wings, claw, and tail. The rest of his army were trussed up in the same way, left to rot on the trees.

“I think your arm infection will last long enough for you to realize what you went through,” Razortail commented. He made no move to bind Treasure Snout’s arm wound, which was gushing out blood.

Shadowstar sighed. “Now we must decide.”

Lotus didn’t know what she was talking about, but Razortail didn’t miss a beat.

“Yes,” he said. “I will.”

“No,” Shadowstar said gently. “Razortail, we need you in our group.”

“Wait,” Alex said, making a time out gesture with his hands. “What? Razortail will what?”

“There are fifteen of us,” Lotus said, realizing. “According to your prophecy, one of us needs to stay behind.”

“Rrrghh!” Pyrite said. “Do we have to follow it? What if we don’t care what it says?”

Sapphire shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said. It wasn’t something she like to say often, as Lotus could tell.

“I’ll stay.” Holly stepped forwards. “You guys don’t need me. I’m an orphan. My life doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does!” Razortail snapped. “Holly, I haven’t known you for long. But I do know that you are hardworking, kind, funny, and caring—no matter where you came from, you will always be you—and no one can change that.”

Holly ducked her head,

“Holly should stay here,” Lotus said. “But not because she’s unimportant. Listen, Holly.” Lotus leveled her gaze with the slightly bigger ForestDragon. “The village needs you. You have to warn them about the StealthDragons. Tell them...” She sighed. “Tell them I’m not dead. Give them this.” With a little bit of effort, she pulled one of her green scales out and handed it to Holly. “Do not lose hope. We will be back, and when we do, I will find you and we will be best friends. Lead the tribe, Holly.”

“What if they don’t listen to me?” Holly asked, her eyes full of tears. “They wouldn’t follow a female dragon, especially an orphan.”

Lotus held her gaze. “Sometimes, history needs to be re-written. History repeats itself, Holly. We must learn from it, and make changes to it. We can’t be governed by it, but we can still respect it, and edit it for the next generation. They should follow you if you give them my scale and tell them that I’m still alive.”

“What about a letter?” Sapphire suggested. “Write them a letter on what to do. If they know you well enough, they’ll recognize your handwriting.”

“Good idea!”

Sapphire opened her satchel and brought out a blank scroll and some ink.

Lotus stared at the tiny satchel

“It’s magical,” Sapphire explained. “Anything can fit in there.”

Lotus nodded and wrote the letter.

Dear Father,

This is Lotus writing. Yes, I am alive. The dragon that you found was not me, rather me faking my death.

I have realized, Father, that sometimes dragonets can make rash decisions. I faked my death to be free, but instead I burdened myself with decisions that I could not make alone, decisions that I could not make wisely. I will come back to the village, but first I have a mission. A duty to fulfil. I know you understand about duty.

I also know that your duty was to keep me safe, but I am with a group of friends that can protect me. There is a StarDragon here, a SpineDragon, a WindDragon, a BloodDragon, two CrystalDragons, and even a Cayolavae. They can keep me safe; I promise.

Father, the StealthDragons are conquering. Already, the other ForestDragons have fallen to their control. What it is, we do not know yet, but I have set out to stop it. You must trust Holly, the deliverer of this message, to lead you onwards. She will not be Chief, but I advise that you keep her close. Be on your guard.

I want you to know that I love you.

Your dearest daughter,

Lotus

Lotus rolled the letter and handed it to Holly, brushing away small tears before anyone could see them.

But one still escaped through.