What Next?

Chapter 9 Finally! Answers!

We were off of that small island in the blink of an eye. Zeus has made himself comfortable inbetween my legs on the thin saddle and the Flightmare was practically blindly following Stormcloud.

I knew we were getting close to dragon island since ours were beginning to get a bit skittish. Even though the Red Death has been killed, many dragons find it uncomfortable to return to the island.

"Hey, Freya, " Comet caught my attention as he flew next to me. "Where are these ruins?"

"I don't know. The book said they were underneath Dragon Island," I answered.

"Like an underwater cave or like dig?" Bottonlout asked flying above us. He was laying on his stomach and leaned half over the edge. I honestly wished he would just fall into the ocean below for a laugh, but I shouldn't be thinking of that right now.

"Again, I don't know," I responded.

"Then what do you know?" Comet asked.

"I know that you idiots poisoned me!" I nearly shouted.

"Gothi was the one who told us to do it!" Scythe said coming up beside Comet.

  I groaned and threw my face onto the back of Stormcloud's neck. Even she made a low gurgle in her throat. Underneath me, Zeus squirmed underneath trapped by my weight. When I looked down, so was he and I realized that he was looking at an island beneath us.

"Hey guys, we're here," I said.

  All at once out dragons dive bombed onto the shore of the scorched Dragon Island. I've heard this place has once looked like ash and described as a grey desert, but now there were traces of life with small bushed and a few grass patches already growing.  I looked around as everyone came into a huddle and trying to figure out what to do next.

"Did you read anything else in that book?" Comet asked.

I shook my head. "After I read that you bozos cursed me, I got a little angry."

"A little?" Buffnut asked rhetorically, "you hit me in my head!"

"I'm sure it was the highlight of her night, but we still don't know where to find ancient ruins!" Bottonlout reminded us all. This is when we all turned to look at Salmonfoot who began to blush and I think sweat.

"Why are you all looking at me?" He stuttered.

"You're the one that seems to know most about history and dragons and all that," Comet said.

"Well yeah, but it's unheard of for humans to live here. As far as we know this was home to dragons for thousands of years!" He said sitting down in deep thought. We all followed his actions and sat in a circle with our legs crossed, leaning into him. This is his thinking position. "Of course unless someone came on those dragons. But that's also never been recorded."

"Yeah, neither have wyverns," Scythe scoffed.

"Which is why I'm thinking that both Drake riders and Wyvern riders came over here because it's said beyond these water there are those who kill dragons. Beserkers are what we call them now. So those people like Freya's  grandmother came here to freely ride dragons and this is were they first came!" Salmonfoot stood up and a revelation.

"It makes sense," I said, "this island is at the edge of our territory."

"And the only reason we killed dragons was because of that misunderstanding." Comet said.

"Which is why we kind of became hated by neighboring villages, but passed that, if we did settle here then we have a habit of choosing remote places for our shrines." Salmonfoot continued.

"Do what's the most remote place on the island?" Scythe asked.

"Well, what's the most dangerous? We seem to like those places." Comet added.

"How about under the volcano?" Scruffnut suggested. We all looked at her with a kind of surprises look. "You know, where the Red Death slept."

We all looked at each other. "I mean, it's worth a shot." Scythe shrugged and stood up.

"Good session everyone! Same time next week?" Buffnut shot up and looked around waiting for someone to laugh at his joke.

"Good one, man." Bottonlout eventually said and patted his back.

 
    At the base of the volcano I swore everyone of us looked up and gulped at it's immense size. We've all heard the story of the Battle of Red Death. Dad told it with a disturbing about of detail. I didn't need to know what his burning flesh smelled like, I told him on time and he turned it into a joke. Occasionally he would make pig feet and say, "Ahh, smells like the mixture of ash and a rotting dragon carcas, huh?"

I still don't eat pigs feet.

"So what are we waiting for?" Comet asked and strode towards the base of the fiery mountain.

Bottonlout followed soon after. "You don't even know where the entrance is!"

"Isn't there a giant hole on one of these sides?" Salmonfoot asked.

"Then let's find it," Scythe began to walk to one side of the volcano and I exchanged glances with Stormcloud.

I flung my leg over her saddle and she was airborne in a second. Zeus popped his green brown head out of the saddle bag and groaned adorably. He scurried up my back and rested on my shoulder, curling his tail around my arm for support. I heard Scythe say as we flew over the group, "Right, forgot about that," as Glisten smacked him in the head with a lightning covered tail.

  I laughed to myself and kept my eyes on the mountain side as Stormcloud curved her direction. I squeezed her sides with my legs just to keep from falling off to the side, but soon we found what we were looking for. A gaping hole in the side of the mostly dormant volcano that grandpa made when he attacked the island the last time.

  We landing right at the mouth of the cave and stood there, my feet glued to the ground. I felt like I couldn't move and I guess Stormcloud felt the same. She stood by my side with her back arched and even Zeus's tail tightened around my arm. Suddenly I felt hand on my free shoulder. "You okay?" Comet asked in a quiet voice with a sweet smile.

  I looked away and nodded. He just smiled and turned back. My eyes followed his gaze to the dragon who were very obviously on edge. Every inch of Glisten was sparking with lighting, and poor Scythe's hair was standing on edge. I say poor even though it takes every part of me to keep from laughing aloud. Tigerlily was so spooked her colors were mixing. Half of her was gray to match the rock and the other side was changing between orange and deep red, and Spike's needles were shaking violently.

They seemed so odd. These dragons were a whole new generation. They have never experienced the tyranny of the Red Death though they act as they have. I took a deep breath that I didn't let out for more than a few seconds and stepped forward. My footstep in the cave echoed and the repeated sound made my spine chill. I leaned down and whispered to Stormcloud, "see anything?"

She shook her head and let out a high pitched roar. A moment later she walked forward cautiously. I guess it was safe. We both walked into the darkness, my hand clutching a piece of the frill around her head.