The Eternal Fire (13+)

Chapter 1

Smoke rose from a dragon's nostrils, thick and dark gray. The fire dragon grunted in his sleep, slowly opening his yellow eyes. A yawn forced its way out of his jaws and he lifted himself off the hard cave floor.
"Inferno," a voice greeted. The red male dragon turned to see another dragon with green scales.

"Good morning, Blade," Inferno replied.
Blade's blue eyes popped out against his green scales as he studied his friend. "You don't look good," he said. "Did you have another weird dream?" The red fire dragon walked out of a chamber and into a tunnel system.

The smell of fire caused his stomach to rumble. Inferno flicked his tail in embarrassment and walked forward, grabbing a small spiky red fruit from a nearby basket. Opening his jaws, he blew a flame at the fruit, his claw being submerged as well. Hearing a small sizzling sound, Inferno popped the dragon fruit into his mouth.

Answering the question, Inferno simply nodded. "Yeah."
Blade spread his green wings and the fire dragon turned to him. "Have you seen Aquarius?"
The plant dragon shook his head. "No," he answered.

Inferno snorted, blowing smoke out of his nostrils. His ears were pinned against his head. "Do you ever pay attention to what's going on?"
Blade gave a playful scoff. "Yes," he declared.

Shuffling from nearby alerted the two dragons to a third. Tempest looked at Inferno and Blade, her yellow eyes narrowed. "Be quiet you two," the purple dragon hissed. "There are some of us who are trying to sleep!"
"Then stuff some moss in your ears," Blade laughed.

Tempest rolled her eyes and turned over, curling up in her nest of moss and cotton. Inferno turned and walked into his chamber of molten lava, grabbing a leather satchel from the corner. Putting it around his neck, he made his way to the entrance and spread his wings. "Do you guys want anything from the market?" he asked.

Blade piped up. "Oh! Get me some watermelon!"
"I'll take sheep..." Tempest moaned not looking over. Inferno nodded to himself, going over the stuff in his head. Seconds later he launched himself into the sky, gliding down the mountain.

Feeling the air under his wings Inferno smiled, blowing a puff of gray smoke from his nostrils. He scanned the ground below him seeing fields of green dotted with puffy white sheep. Landing, he folded his red wings to his side and walked into a market. Stands of all kinds were lined up and white dragons lined up looking to trade.

Inferno eyed a stall with birds like bluejays, falcons, and blackbirds in cages.
"Want to own your very own pet? Then step right up! I got all sorts of birds for you to choose from," the merchant announced, her voice filled with enthusiasm. Inferno ignored the female dragon; he was not interested in having a pet.

Passing more stalls, he saw some selling cotton, berries, fish, satchels, and swords.
"Trade for a sword! Made of the metal from the Ruby Kingdom!"
I can't believe we're still trading with rival kingdoms, Inferno thought. However, the stand with berries caught his eye.

"How much for the dragon fruit?" he asked.
The merchant smiled. "Inferno the fire dragon! It's an honor to meet you! The berries don't cost anything for you."
Inferno felt something stir inside him. "Just because I'm an Element does not mean I get privileges. How much for the fruit?"

The merchant shrugged. "Two emeralds."
Inferno reached into the satchel around his neck and pulled out two shiny green gems. The white dragon pushed the pinkish-red cactus-like fruit toward him and took the emeralds in his talons. "Thanks."

After he put the dragon fruit in his satchel, Inferno walked past more fruit stands. "Let's see..." Inferno mumbled to himself. "Watermelon... watermelon..." He spotted red crescent slices on a stand. There we go!

He approached the stand and scanned the pieces of fruit. "How much?" he asked the merchant, holding out his claw.
"One emerald." Trading the gem for the fruit, Inferno put the watermelon in his bag.
"Okay, now to get-"

A blur of light blue suddenly zipped by. Inferno jumped, his wings slightly extended and his talons spread apart.
"Whoo-hoo!"
Inferno groaned, putting his claw to his face. "Aqua...!" He took off after her.

The red dragon flapped his wings harder to gain speed. He wasn't as fast as Tempest, but he was faster than Aquarius. Pulling up in front of the water dragon, he folded his claws across his chest. "Aqua, what are you doing?"

Aquarius' eyes sparkled. "Inferno! I think I may be able to outfly Tempest!"
The red dragon raised an eyebrow. "Outfly Tempest? The fastest dragon in the four kingdoms?" Aquarius turned away sheepishly.

Inferno softly smiled. "I don't think you will be able to outfly her any time soon. She's the Element of Wind for a reason. But you can keep trying."
Aquarius giggled. "Yeah. Anyway, what do you have there?" she inquired, pointing to the leather satchel around his neck.

"Fruit," Inferno answered. "Blade asked for watermelon and Tempest-" A furious roar sliced the air like a sword. Inferno and Aquarius froze for a second before turning their attention to who made that cry. An army of white dragons with armor and swords was flying at full speed toward them...

Inferno felt his blood boil under his scales. His ears were pinned against his head and he could feel the fire build up in his throat. "Shard!"