Dragon Quest: Part Four

by Dragonsfang

The Golden Dragon let out a bellow and shot twin fireballs from her nostrils; Airianth did the same, only she shot iceballs from her mouth at Razorwing. The demon merely laughed and stepped out of the way.

"You Dragons are so predictable. Always shooting fire and ice at your enemies. This is why your kind died out, and mine still flourishes from different attacks!" the demon said. With a wave of his hand, Razorwing threw Airianth back to where Pernith lay stunned.

"Airianth!" the Golden Dragon cried. "I'll destroy you, demon!" Two streams of fire spewed from her nostrils and seared the spot where Razorwing had just been. He was now hovering in the air above the Dragon with a sneer on its lips.

Suddenly the demon began shielding itself from sharp rocks and pebbles that were hurling themselves at him. Looking for its source, Razorwing saw Pernith flinging his talons; the rocks lifted from the ground and flew toward the demon at the Tatsu's will.

"We NeoPets have different attacks too, demon! We have the Battledome, and Spell Faeries that grant us these abilities!" Pernith roared. "Take a look at this one." A jet of water poured from his mouth and smashed into Razorwing's face; he bellowed as he tumbled to the ground.

"You are done for, NeoPet!" Razorwing snarled. Pernith was flung backward, but the Tatsu's wings were powerful enough to stop him and propel him forward.

"How about a little darkness to your tastes?" Pernith bellowed. The bright area suddenly turned to night as Pernith's Nighttime ability took effect.

"You can't see me now! Stupid move, NeoPet!" Razorwing cried from the darkness.

"I can see in the dark," Pernith said. The area lighted to the Tatsu's eyes from his Night Vision ability. "But let's see if you can see this!" The pebbles began flying again, smashing into the demon's body and tearing the webbing between his wings.

"I will destroy you!" Razorwing screamed. The demon lunged forward, but was thrown back when the Golden Dragon whacked him with her tail.

"Not today, demon. We Dragons have a few tricks of our own," she said. She raised her huge tail, opened the blades, and brought it down upon Razorwing's body. The demon screamed as he disappeared in a fiery spectacle that blazed brightly in the darkness.

"Airianth!" the Golden Dragon cried, her eyes whirling yellow, orange, and red in the darkness.

"I'm all right!" Airianth yelled. She landed next to her mother and rubbed her head against the Golden Dragon's soft hide.

Pernith walked up next to them, panting hard from the sudden excursion of using his abilities. He closed his eyes, and the Nighttime lifted from the area, once more letting in the sun upon the two shining dragons.

Queen Draceana! Princess Airianth! Are you all right? The two griffins swooped low and backwinged into a landing next to the pair.

"We're fine, thanks to Pernith over there," Draceana said, motioning toward the silver Tatsu with her tail.

He created that darkness? But how? both of them asked incredulously.

"Spell Faeries give us NeoPets special abilities when they are freed. Nirelka always bought one when she could afford it," Pernith said. His wings drooped, and his silver hide tinged black in sadness.

"She must love you very much, then, to have spent all that money just for her pet," Draceana murmured.

"What were you going to ask us, Pernith of the Nirelka household?"

Nirelka leaned heavily on her porch rail, staring blankly at the ground. Pernith had disappeared, most likely off to find the Dragon she had spoken of. She never meant for the Tatsu to take her seriously, as she did not know if there was a Last Dragon, and if so, where it did live.

"Where are you, Pern? Why did you leave me?" she whispered to the cloudy sky. Lightning tore across the heavens, illuminating the backyard in an eerie whitish-blue light. As Nirelka looked into the trees, she saw points of whirling light that almost startled her back into the house. They were moving closer toward her; forms were beginning to take shape around them.

"Nirelka!" Pernith leaped from the trees and launched his silver body into the air. "I brought you something!"

"Pernith! Where have you been?" Nirelka cried. The Tatsu backwinged into a landing in front of the girl, and then grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the trees. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw what her silver Tatsu had brought her.

"Oh, my God," she breathed. The Golden Dragon towered over her, opalescent eyes whirling in blues and greens. Next to her stood a much smaller Bronze Dragon, whose eyes wheeled in the reds and pinks of excitement.

"Where did you find them?" Nirelka asked.

"I went to the Plane of Ultimate Good like you said. I found them there," Pernith said.

"And he saved us from becoming the meal of a demon," Airianth said.

"Those abilities that you gave him from the Spell Faeries saved us all. We owe him our lives, and you," Draceana added. "It was you who raised him well so that he could get those abilities to defeat the demon."

"Pernith…you did this all for me?" Nirelka asked, turning to the silver Tatsu.

"I didn't want you to think that dragons were just in the books you read. I wanted to show you that they were living, breathing creatures that are only a wingbeat away. Now you see that they are," Pernith answered.

"You are a human of the Old Ways, still believing in creatures that other humans believe that are long gone. In the Plane of Ultimate Good, those creatures still exist, living in the worlds that they lived in hundreds of years ago. You are welcomed to come to the Plane anytime you wish," Draceana said.

"Thank you, Golden Dragon," Nirelka answered.

"We better get back to the Plane before the Griffin Pair have a fit that we are not back yet. They can be so touchy sometimes," Airianth said, ruffling her wings in disdain at the worrisome griffins.

"Please visit us anytime you wish, Pernith and Nirelka. It would be such a nice break from talking to the land-serpents," Draceana said.

She opened her golden wings and launched herself into the air, Airianth close behind. As the pair ascended into the night sky, a giant bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, silhouetting the Dragons as they soared back toward the Plane of Ultimate Good, the only place where their kind was still believed in.

The End