What Next?

Chapter 6 They Don't Exist

My stomach was warm and the braid in my hair was falling out. The water rushed passed my face as Stormcloud dolphined her way through the water. I couldn't check if the others were behind me, but I knew Zeus was still there. His claws were digging hard into my skin and his tail was wrapped to tightly I was sure that he was cutting off blood flow.

Even if I tried to open my eyes all I would see was darkness so I kept them shut. Just as my lungs began to collapse and my heart could beat no more, Stormcloud crawled herself onto land. All my strength was gone after that and I fell off the dragon's slippery back onto my stomach.

I stayed there for a few minutes trying to catch my breath in the thick air of the cave. I dont know how deep we were but even if I had'nt been underwater for about two minutes, I wouldn't be able to catch my breath.

Once I could breath normally, I heard the sound of the others gasping. Stormcloud was in front of me in an instant try to get me on my feet. She slid her entire muzzle under me and shoved me up. Having zero to no strength I fell back on her; she was happy to be my armrest, her purring told me that.

"Is everyone alright?" I called out.

"Nope." Buffnut sighed.

"Well we all nearly died, but what's new there?" Comet said.

"I'm going to assume everyone is alive and keep walking." I said and patted Stormcloud. She let out a high pitched roar and began walking. I was getting anxious. My stomach was getting hotter, but in front of me all I could see was darkness and the feint outline of my dragon.

No one objected to my idea so I went on following her. Nothing happened for awhile. We were all just shrouded in darkness and in silence. That is until we heard a shrill sound. Harsh and gurgling, I've never heard anything like it!

"Salmonfoot...?" I heard Comet ask cautiously.

"I have no idea what that was. I've never heard a dragon like it before!" He answered.

My stomach sank and I think my heart exploded. A dragon that Salmonfoot didn't know was a problem. Granted I had the scale of a mysterious dragon in my stomach at the moment and it was the only thing leasing me right now, but the fact remains the same.

We trudged on, more cautiously then before. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Before long I saw a light down the long tunnel.

"I knew I was going to die in here," I sighed almost to myself.

"Hang on, I see it too," Scruffnut said.

"It's beautiful!" Buffnut said in wonder.

"It's fire," Bottonlout examined.

I saw the fire begin to grow and become brighter in size. "It's moving, hit the deck!"

There was a loud thud as we all let our bodies hit the floor. A ball of fire flew over our heads, but it wasn't for a second, it lit up the walls of the cave. The flames danced on the rocks that made up our surroundings and I saw that we were in more of an opening with a small tunnel on the far side that was guarded by a dragon I've never seen before.

It was like a Monstrous Nightmare, but skim with shiny green scales and a forked tongue it flicked out.

"What is that thing?" Comet asked.

I was almost too amazed by the red and yellow flames to notice that the strange dragon was making his way towards us. It made a coughing noise and I finally looked at it in the eyes. They were in slits and it bared its yellow razor teeth.

Teeth grazed my back as I leapt out of the was of its jaws. Pain ran through my spine and into my head. I felt the blood drip down my back, but I ignored it as I watched the dragon thing attack my friends, moving like a snake and lizard as it climbed on walls and slithered across the rock.

He whipped his tail at Scythe who tried to attack him from behind with a short sword. It send him flying into the wall with an oof! Glisten hissed with hatred and flew into the air. Lightening flashed through her body until there was nothing left but the white sparks. A bolt of lighting struck its back making it roar in agony.

I looked at it looking for a weak spot as Stormcloud bounded towards me. She wrapped her tail around my body and shielded me with her wings in a fighting stance. I looked around and saw that the dragons were protecting their riders. Glisten kept Scythe's unconscious body between her legs, Vomit and Fart locked the twins inbetween their necks with the head crossed over eachother. Spike wrapped his spiked tail around Bottonlout as a barrier and stood by his side, the same as Salmonfoot's dragon. Tigerlilly, on the other hand, covered the front of Comet's body with one wing and turned her scales to gray to match the rock.

I began to panic. This thing was so fast that I couldn't get a good look at it. Suddenly its tail slid under my boots making me fall on my back. It jarred my head and rattled my brain before Stormcloud helped me up with her tail. It was Spike who shot first. The dragon got too close to Bottonlout and he fired a warning shot in its snout. It reared up and cried.

Stormcloud pushed her muzzle under me and slid me onto the saddle on her back. She wanted to fight this thing that was about ten times the size her of. This thing was about the size of a Fire Worm Queen on her hind legs.

"Salmonfoot, anything?" Comet asked.

"I've never seen anything like it. Probably Strike class with a body like that, can't tell if it has any fire power, but may very well be venomous," he said as he dodged a tail whip from it.

"Yo, check over there!" Scruffnut said and pointed to the hole in the back wall. There was a lump coming up from the ground. It wasn't a rock or anything, but a book.

Stormcloud read my mind and flew at top speed toward the book. I practically fell off of the saddle trying to get to the book faster.

I flipped through a few pages and skimmed over the words. I couldn't believe what I was more or less reading.

"What is it?" Comet asked after he rolled away from the jaws of the dragon.

"This book is written in Olden Berkian," I answered. I read on when something caught my attention. "Oh my gods."

"What?" Salmonfoot asked obviously afraid of the answer.

"This thing shouldn't exist!"