The Eternal Fire (13+)

Chapter 10

Inferno and the Elements tailed Spark as she dashed through crowds of sand-colored dragons. Inferno saw Aqua gazing at some painted dogs and he grabbed her talon. "Aqua, come on!" he hissed. The blue dragon reluctantly followed.

Inferno hid behind some stacked boxes and caught the pleasant scent of tangerines. Shaking his head, he pushed the thought of taking some out of his mind.
"Inferno!" Spark hissed, ducking under a table. She pressed her talon to her jaws.

Inferno held his breath as two guards marched past them. Phew! he thought. He came out of hiding and he and Aqua flapped their wings to catch up with the rest of their friends.

Spark avoided the firefly lanterns as she shot past a stand selling dates. "Okay..." she let out. "We're almost in the clear."
Blade moved out of a pale red dragon's way. "This place is busy," he noted.

Inferno came up to Spark's side. "Where are we going?" he asked. Taking a water bottle from his satchel, he took off the top and drank some.

Spark narrowed her eyes. "I need to avoid the guards. I'm trying to find somewhere to hide until they leave." Inferno nodded, understanding. He noticed that a female dragon was carrying a Gila monster in her talon.

Now that he thought about it, he rarely saw Gila monsters. The aggressive lizards were native to the desert and animals from other kingdoms rarely crossed the borders.
"I'll go to the stadium. We'll be safe there." Inferno watched the yellow dragon launch herself into the sky, bag of treasure and daughter in talon.

He glanced at Aqua and Blade, yellow eyes shining in the dark.
"Stadium?" Aqua questioned.
"I think it's where the Ruby Kingdom dragons fight," the red dragon replied. They followed Spark through a set of wooden doors and Tempest picked up a sword.

"Put that down!" Aqua hissed, slapping Tempest with her tail.
Spark put Ray down. "We should be safe here." She picked up a stick off the sandy ground and closed her eyes. Electricity flowed over her scales and zapped the wood, setting it ablaze. Aqua shielded her face from the fire with her wing.

"You got yourself into this mess," Tempest snapped. "Don't bring us into it."
Inferno saw his green-scaled friend examine a scroll on the wall and stomped over. "What are you looking at?"
Blade pointed to the scroll. "Is this a list of dragons?"

"Those are the dragons signed up for tournaments," Spark explained. "The royal family hosts sword fighting competitions. The winner gets a lot of emeralds."
Upon hearing this, Inferno whipped his head around. "What!?" he roared.

"Let me get this straight... You could have just signed up and won the competitions, but instead, you stole!?" The red dragon felt his blood start to boil under his scales. Inferno took a deep breath and shot fire out of his mouth. Spark let out a sharp gasp and tackled Ray out of the way of the flames.

"Inferno!" Blade yelled. Aqua spit water out of her mouth, the two elements clashing. The water soon quenched the fire and Inferno snarled.
"You tried to hurt my hatchling!" Spark yelled.
"You stole!"
"Enough!" Blade extended his talon and green vines sprang from the sandy floor and covered their mouths.

"Will you two stop acting like three-year-old hatchlings!?" Aqua yelled, her bright blue tail lashing.
"Halt!" someone ordered. Inferno whipped his head around to see five dragons wearing armor. One of them held shackles in their talons while the others pointed swords at the Elements. "Spark, you stole from King Badger and Queen Cactus! Come quietly or we will use violence."

Inferno heard the gold dragon growl at the guards. Tempest was the first to strike. She unfolded her purple wings and flapped them, sending a strong gust of wind in the guards' directions. "Go! Go!" she roared. She shot forward with Spark, Blade, and Aqua at her heels.

Inferno snapped to attention and bolted after them. He dashed through the town, weaving between dragons. The moonlight cast a white tint on his red scales, and he was about to unfold his wings and fly off, but someone grabbed his tail.

One of the guards hit Inferno into a wall, and he felt his brain slam against his skull. The force rattled his body from his wings to his tail. Inferno collapsed to the sandy ground, then everything went dark.