Wings of Fire: The LightningWing

Chapter 5 - The Quest

Shock bounded to his feet thrust his wings forward, shooting a gust of wind at Mist. She staggered back, but eventually leapt into the wind with the rest of the dragonets. Shock veered ahead, pulling close to Queen Droplet's palace. Eventually the large tower of clouds came into view, surging with yellow and black on the outer edge. A bolt of lightning was connected to the highest tower, symbolizing power. Shock could hear the constant wings flaps behind him as he dove to the palace door. The door to the palace was stone, and the Queen's guards and herself were the only ones who could actually open it. Shock wondered why stone didn't drop through the clouds, after all, it was a very heavy material. Shock dropped back into the crowd of dragonets, walking beside Wind, who was whirling his wings in a circular manner. The brawny guard shoved the door open to let them all in. Mist and Star ran through first, and then Rain followed happily at their tails. Wind, Thunder, and Shock all trotted in at the same time, laughing as the female dragonets bounded around the ball room.  Rain galloped over to Shock and tugged his ear with her teeth, dragging him to a corner of the castle. She shook and pulled him into the cloud walls. "Shock!" His daze was cracked and he directed his attention to Rain. "What?" Rain plowed her head into his side. He blinked a few times before realizing the damage done to the palace. "It wasn't there before." She said. Black sprouted over every edge of the clouds making the gleaming tower darken. It was fading into darkness. Shock threw out his wings and ruffled them over Rain's head before pulling them back in. "What . . . how . . . WHAT?" His muffled voice shouted. The four dragonets he had came with scooted to the corner they were standing in. Mist drug her short wings to the sides, worriedly glancing at Shock. Star glanced at the black wall, cringing her neck into her side. Thunder studied the wall carefully, then sprouting with a solution. "Obviously it is because of the lost gem still missing." Rain eyed Thunder carefully before shouting "Well DUH!" A few dragons close by directed their attention to Rain, who teethed a smile. They became uninterested and went back to their visiting. Wind twirled his wings and let them drop back on the clouds. This was the time. This was when he had to choose. It was Wind or Thunder. Suddenly, the dragonets spun around to hear the stone door slam and pale purple scales appear in the distance. The dragon started shouting remarks at the guards, who looked completely fine to Shock. The dragon in the distance was Ray. The dragonets had turned back to continue talking. Shock looked down. "It's time." The dragonets worriedly glanced at him. This time that it was was time to leave to embark his quest. The Lightning Kingdom was falling in ruins. This time also meant he had to take Mist and choose between Wind and Thunder . . . or neither. He whipped his tail at Mist and she snapped into action, dragging him to the palace door. They were closed. The doors were closed and only the guards could open them. Fear surged through Shock. He had to make it. He had to. Then, the stupidest, but only idea he could ever think up popped into his mind. And this, only he could do. Not Mist. Shock flared his wings and jumped into the air. Mist, confused, followed after him. "Mist." He said, letting his wings droop a bit. She let her pupils grow and noticed his unspoken message. "Okay, but . . ." She slid her talon down into her pouch and pulled out a marble. She murmured a few words into the marble and pressed it into Shock's palm. "This will show you the way to anything, even the lost gem of Storm." Shock smiled a toothy smile and wrapped his wings around Mist. "See you, old friend." Shock flew higher and dropped his wings close to his body, spiraling toward the cloud walls. He opened his wings right when he hit the clouds, them opening into a broken layer of air. The clouds immediately closed back up, blocking Shock from getting back in the palace. Shock flew quickly to the arena where Ray trained him and found the hole that had brought him into Pyrrhia. He beat his wings at the clouds, making it open into a huge gaping pit. This was it, the time of his life where he forgot all about training and worrying and went on to see what he's always wanted to, Pyrrhia. Before the ball, Shock didn't remember slipping on a whitish pouch, but when he noticed he did, he slid the marble into it and felt the slab of stone. He pulled out the slab and used his claw to scratch out letters. "About to leave, see you Mist." He put the slab away and lifted his wings to fly into Pyrrhia. He dipped his foot into the uncommon, slower air of the land below him. He'd never actually been on land! His wings faltered a bit as he flew into the Pyrrhian air. Lighter, more polluted air brushed his face in such a furious manner. He could see all the kingdoms again, all of the beautiful sights before him, though he had to stay out of admiring dragon eyes. His heart lifted as he lowered deeper into the cold air. It smelled like smoke and fire and death. Dragons refused to kill where Shock came from. Maybe for the first time in his life, Shock could see why Mist was called Mist, and what she really was. Above him, the clouds intertwined with each other, closing up what Shock had flew through. Was it because he, the one of legend and folklore, had passed through? The cold dark air of the night wrapped around his wings, leaving an unfamiliar heat on his wing flaps. His eyes skirted the ground. He had to be getting closer to land. As he saw that he was nearing the ground, a muscular orange dragon pummeled him, pushing him into the trees below him. Shock threw his tail and wings to face the dragon, but it was too strong. The dragon's claws sliced his back as he roared in agony, and hit his head on a free branch knocking him out, without a memory of what happened.