Chapter 1
“We cannot be playing god with our powers. Nature and magic have rules that must be followed, we can’t take control of them and do as we please. It will disrupt the balance of nature and could result in catastrophic consequences. Look at the Beastskippers! They played with nature and look what happened to their planet! Look at the Gnomes! Their experiments led to the quarantine of their whole planet and we lost valuable assets because of their recklessness. We cannot play with nature or abuse our powers and that is FINAL, Shadowbeak. Do you understand?”
The ancient birdman grumbled as he recalled the lecture he received from the High Sorcerer. Shadowbeak looked towards his workbench before he stepped over to it. He picked up his research notes to look them over. Who was the High Sorcerer to tell him he couldn’t create a whole new creature? The Gnomes were foolish to use nature to transform nature. But magic? Magic could be altered, controlled, contained if need be.
Shadowbeak grabbed the gems he had collected, ones he had personally graded as nearly perfect, something the trees of their home rarely managed to grow. But Shadowbeak raised the trees himself, tended to the gems. They were perfect enough for his plan.
Shadow magic surrounded his hands and he cast the magic onto the gems. He watched the power in them spring to life, power that radiated off the nine gems. Fire, Electricity, Ice, Earth, Shadow, Poison, Water, Nature, and Radiance.
“If they will not give me permission to do these experiments...” Shadowbeak picked up the diamond he enchanted and gazed at it.
“I’ll do it myself.”
~oOo~
Present Day
The desert winds whipped around four large shapes as they flew through the clear, hot skies.
Trevor narrowed his eyes as they flew and looked around at the ground.
“Are we even in the right area?” Brenda asked on Trevor’s right. “How are we supposed to find this hidden location without even knowing where we are?”
Trevor looked back at his sister. “Kathey entrusted us with this mission, our first solo. We can figure this out. We just have to look for anything suspicious,” Trevor replied. “Let’s review again. Aya?” Trevor looked to his left where Aya flew.
“Yup. Kathey told us nine very powerful gems had been detected by her sources and they could potentially be the answer to the existence of dragons. She said they’re somewhere in the deserts, specifically the Sahara. Since very few people ever stay in the barren desert, it was the best option. But there’s no lack of dragons so we have to be careful,” Aya recalled.
“Thanks,” Trevor said and looked back over at Brenda. “We check the barren areas that people wouldn’t usually be found. Knowing magical artifacts, there’s probably something keeping the area protected from just about anyone from getting to the gems. And no doubt a bunch of traps and puzzles the closer we get to them.”
“We got this, dudes!” David boasted.
“David, c’mon. Enough with the dude,” Trevor snorted and smirked at their little brother. “It’s not a good habit to have.”
“Why? It’s not hurting anything,” David asked.
“It’s not respectful to anyone outside of friends,” Trevor told him. The wind whipped around them suddenly and threw Trevor’s balance off. “Crap!” Trevor’s wings struggled to regain their rhythm and he looked around. “You all feel that?”
“Yeah, what was with that wind?” Brenda asked. She looked around as well. “Oh... maybe that’s linked to it?” Brenda pointed to a sandstorm that was within sight. Trevor looked to where she pointed.
“That’ll do it,” Trevor mused. He slowed and hovered in the air, watching the storm. “Wait... don’t storms usually move?” Watching the cloud of sand, it wasn’t moving at all. It stayed where it was, as if- “It’s protecting something, that might be it. Let’s take a look.”
Trevor led them to the ground and they landed a few yards away from the edge of the storm. Trevor sniffed the air and tilted his head in different ways to try and see through the storm.
“Can you see anything, Trev?” Brenda asked. Trevor flinched as sand whipped at his face and he brought his wing up to shield himself.
“No. We’re gonna have to brave it,” Trevor said and grit his teeth.
“We’re not made for deserts,” Aya huffed and Trevor snorted.
“Yeah, I know we aren’t. But Kathey sent us on this mission so we have to do it,” Trevor responded. Trevor dug his claws into the sand and started into the storm. Brenda, Aya, and David exchanged looks before they followed Trevor into the swirling sands.
Their scales were tough, but the winds were strong. The sand whipped in their faces and the winds pulled at their wings in an attempt to drag them along with it.
“Unofficial graduation from being students at the Academy and this is what we gotta deal with on the first day?” Brenda questioned.
“And pass up an opportunity to prove we’re able to do this?” Trevor asked. Brenda growled low in her throat.
“You sure you’re not just trying to show off to Vatuna?” Brenda pressed.
“You know, if you want anything to happen between you and Ractor, maybe you have to show off a little bit as well,” Trevor bit back. Brenda groaned.
“Fine! Fine, you’ve made your point,” Brenda huffed. “But how is one mission supposed to impress him?”
“It won’t, that’s why you gotta take advantage of anything Kathey throws at us,” Trevor clarified. Brenda grunted and dug her claws into the sand as the winds picked up and pushed harder against them.
“Shit! Is it getting stronger?” Brenda asked. Trevor stopped in his tracks and his body lowered a bit to try and fight against the winds.
“It is,” Trevor confirmed. David yelped as he was sweeped off his feet and fell into the sand. Trevor growled and dug his claws into the sand.
“We can’t brute force it!” Brenda yelled over the wings.
“Alright listen up! We gotta freeze it out! David, wet the sand under us! Brenda, freeze the wet sand. Aya, summon as much snow as you can. This is gonna test us big time so put in your all!” Trevor commanded.
David managed to get to his feet and blasted his siblings’ legs with water, wetting the sand under them. Brenda breathed ice and froze the wet sand, which gave them traction to grip with their claws and stay planted. Aya summoned a blizzard to counter the sand alongside breathing snow into the storm. Trevor dug his claws in and breathed icy water in front of them.
“Move! Keep going!” Trevor yelled.
With the grip under their claws, they were able to muscle their way through the sand while Aya’s snow started to counter the strength of the winds.
The four dragons pushed through a wall of sand. Trevor stumbled at the sudden stillness of the air and caught himself from falling. They had reached the eye of the storm.
Before them sat ruins built out of orange stone, long forgotten with runes engraved on the stone. Perched atop one of the ruins sat a blue and gold dragon with glowing eyes.
“What is that?” Aya questioned. Trevor approached the dragon.
“It’s an Anubis Dragon... Holy crap... They’re so rare, a lot of dragons believe them to be extinct,” Brenda breathed.
“Can it even hear us?” Trevor questioned. He tilted his head as he watched the dragon.
The Anubis Dragon whipped its head in Trevor’s direction and Trevor jumped back.
“Impressive. You got past my storm. Your trials await in the caverns,” the Anubis Dragon said.
“Uh... Thanks?” Trevor said and looked down to see an entrance into the ruins. “Let’s go,” he encouraged and approached the entrance.
The hole was far too small for dragons to enter. Trevor exhaled heavily and his body began to glow. His form shifted into that of a blonde haired, light eyed, young man. “Too small?” Brenda asked as her own form changed to her human form.
“Yeah, good thing we put our gear on,” Trevor mused. He adjusted his chestplate before he ducked into the hole within the ruins.
Aya and David shifted to their human forms as well and they and Brenda followed Trevor into the ruins.
“Ugh! I can’t see anything!” David complained as the darkness swallowed the four.
“Use your eyes, dummy,” Aya remarked.
“I am!”
“Your dragon eyes.”“Oh ye-”
Torches ignited along the walls, showing them the corridor that stretched before them. Trevor narrowed his eyes and grabbed one of the torches off the wall. “Stay alert, gang.”
The siblings continued forwards until they came to a chamber. It was almost completely empty save for the small piles of sand that fell through cracks in the low ceiling and an ancient stone tablet was carved into the wall next to another hallway.
Trevor approached the tablet and ran his hand across it. “This looks like Draconic words,” Trevor mused. He looked back at his siblings. “Aya?”
Aya nodded and pulled out a small book from a pouch on her hip. She opened it and approached the tablet. Trevor held the torch so she could read the words and her book.
“Let’s see... Beware... yeah that’s definitely beware, okay,” Aya muttered to herself. “Beware the... edges? No... eagles? Oh this is really ancient,” Aya realized.
“I thought Draconic alone was an ancient language dating back to before they even came to Earth?” Trevor asked.
“That’s what Glacclaw told us in class,” Aya said. “This is even older than that.”
“Well can you at least try to translate it? Maybe we can get something out of it, even if it’s not completely accurate,” Brenda suggested.
“I can try,” Aya replied and started deciphering it again. Trevor walked around the rest of the chamber, observing the walls.
“There’s a lot of scratching here,” Trevor noticed. Brenda came up next to him and he held the torch close to the wall. Brenda brushed her hands along the marks.
“They’re too small to be a dragon. Not that a dragon can even fit in here,” Brenda said. Trevor hummed and curled his fingers to imitate claws and he dragged them slowly along the wall. “Hey, do these remind you of Severik’s claws? He’s scratched up stuff before, these look kinda similar.”
Trevor stared at the claw marks for a moment. They did look similar to the Tenkkoa’s claws, but they were somehow... different.
“I got something,” Aya spoke up. Trevor and Brenda turned towards Aya before they walked over. “Not sure if it makes any sense, but it says ‘Beware the eagles who feast this pan. Egg and death await she who sleep.’”
Trevor raised an eyebrow and David made a face. “That doesn’t make any sense,” David said.
“Well, we got beware and death in there so I’m gonna guess we gotta be careful. No telling what these caverns have in store for us,” Trevor mused. He held the torch towards the other hallway that led deeper into the caverns. “Ready?” He asked.
“Ready,” Brenda confirmed.
“Yup,” Aya agreed.
“Let’s do this, dudes!” David cheered.
“Enough with the dude!” Trevor snapped and the other three laughed before they headed into the hallway.
Trevor led the way through at a slow pace, watching his step. He noted the lack of any sort of life within the caverns so far. Not an insect or even a snake or lizard. The opening was enough that creatures could’ve snuck in to get away from the heat.
“There’s no life in here,” Trevor spoke up.
“Maybe something in here is keeping them away?” Brenda suggested.
The group stepped into the next chamber where the statue of a sphinx sat. There didn’t appear to be any other hallways. What they did notice, however-
Trevor coughed and grabbed at his throat. “Shi- cough cough. Do you guys feel that? It’s like it’s hard to breathe.” He strained.
“Yeah... it’s like the air is thick with something,” Brenda coughed.
Behind them, a stone wall slammed down, blocking their way out. Trevor whipped around to look at the now blocked hallway. He rushed over and felt the wall. “Shit-”
Stone shifted behind them and they watched as the statue’s eyes began to glow and it moved to push itself up from its laying position to sitting.
Brenda groaned and held her arms up. “Oh great, now we’re gonna be part of a Greek tragedy. Thanks desert ruins! Thanks!”
