The Eternal Fire (13+)

Chapter 9

"Hey!" Inferno beat his wings faster. "Wait up!"
The bright yellow dragon looked behind her. "What do you want?" she snapped. "I'm busy!"
Inferno pulled up in front of her. "I just want to talk."

The female dragon carried a sack of something in her talon. "Look, you seem like a nice dragon. But I'm on a time crunch here."
As she flew past him, Inferno blurted "did you just shoot a lightning bolt!?"

The dragon halted in the air. Slowly, she turned around to look at him. "Yes," she answered.
Inferno's yellow eyes sparkled. "That's great!" he exclaimed. "My name's Inferno, the-"

The new dragon cut him off. "The Element of Fire. I know who you are. You all aren't exactly a secret. My name's Spark."

"Nice to meet you Spark. By any chance, did you... hatch with your element power?" Spark nodded. Aqua, Tempest, and Blade appeared behind Inferno.
"Inferno! You caught her!" Aqua squealed excitedly.

Inferno glanced at her. "Yeah..."
Blade hovered forward. "Who are you?"
"This is Spark," Inferno explained, the moonlight turning his scales pale red. "She's the one who shot the lightning."

Overhead, an owl glided in front of the moon, casting a shadow on the dragons. "Ooh!" Aqua let out. The blue dragon's yellow gaze drifted to the sack in Spark's talons. "What's that?"

Spark held the bag up. "It's, uh... treasure..."
"Treasure?" Inferno tilted his head. He remembered the Ruby Kingdom guards chasing her. Guards chasing her... Bag of treasure... Holy stars!

"You stole from royalty!?"
Spark looked down. She had stolen from royalty. "Yes, I did. But if you let me explain..."
"Stealing is wrong!" Blade hissed, his pink tongue slithering in and out between his teeth.

The Element of Lightning glanced at her cargo. "I know! I know stealing is wrong. But I had to. My hatchling needs to eat!" Inferno's yellow eyes widened.

Spark circled and flew off into the night.
"Get back here!" Tempest shouted racing after her. The rest tailed her. Inferno watched Spark swoop toward a market, the buildings made of clay and wood.

Inferno landed with a huff, a small flame being blown out of his mouth. Lanterns filled with fireflies hung from wires connected to the buildings. Moonlight bathed the bustling dragons in the market, the see-through fabric they wore glittering. The sand beneath his talons felt cool, but he knew the sun would rise again only to warm the sand to an almost unbearable temperature. "We have to find Spark," he hissed.

Tempest pushed past the Ruby Kingdom dragons, her purple tail disappearing into the crowd. "Tempest!" Aqua flung herself forward.
Great stars! Inferno hissed. He and Blade flew after them.

Inferno scanned the streets of the market, though he couldn't properly see. "Blade, can you see anything?"
After a few seconds Blade answered "negative." Inferno frowned.

Inferno caught the smell of antelope and felt his stomach twist as if talons were clutching it. Focus, you dumb hatchling, he hissed to himself. Focus on finding Spark. Inferno pushed the thought of food out of his mind and followed Blade as the forest green dragon tilted his wings, turning the corner of a building. Tempest and Aqua had caught up with Spark, and they stood in front of the yellow dragon.

"... ok fine," Spark groaned, the moonlight turning her scales pale silver. She held a coconut in her talon and two jackrabbits in her teeth, flicking her tail as she nosed her way under some cloth. Inferno landed, wincing when his talons scraped some rock. He followed his friends into the hole.

Spark had led them into a brightly lit room, firefly lanterns hanging on hooks. In the corner were some purple, blue, and red pillows, and Spark walked over. A hatchling raised her pale orange head and reached up for the food in her mother's talons.
"This is my daughter, Ray," Spark said, giving the hatchling a small piece of meat she'd torn off the rabbit she'd bought.

Aqua grinned, her yellow eyes sparkling like sunlight on water. "Cute name!" she giggled.
Inferno gazed at the bubbly dragon, feeling his heart skip a beat. He held his talon to his jaws, clearing his throat as if something was stuck in it. "So Spark, this is why you stole treasure? To feed Ray?"

The bright yellow dragon nodded her head. The Element of Fire sighed, eyeing the bag of treasure beside her. "I understand why you stole, but it's still wrong."
"I know..."
Suddenly, the whole reason why they were here came flooding back as if someone had broken a dam. "Spark, we need your help!" Inferno begged.

Spark and Ray slightly jumped. Inferno's ears drooped. "Sorry," he apologized. "We need your help. We received a scroll from Skywatcher telling us to find other dragons with elemental powers."

"Sky..." Ray squeaked.
"What does Skywatcher want me to do?"
Tempest snarled, baring her teeth. "You need to join us." Spark's eyes widened.

"Leave the desert?" Spark asked.
Inferno flicked his tail impatiently. "Yes. We don't have all night for you to decide. We-"

"Attention Ruby Kingdom dragons!" A roar cut through the air like a sword. "There's a thief loose in our kingdom!"
Inferno saw Blade and Spark sneak to a window and moved some fabric out of the way to see guards in the streets.

"Oh no..." Spark breathed, quietly moving to Ray's nest. She picked her up with one talon and grabbed the bag of treasure with the other. "We have to go. Now!"