THE DRAKEN CHRONICLES

Book II: The Long Journey

Part One: Wanderers

"So, what do we do now?" Terra asked.

"Well, we might as well go see if someone can help us," Ragnarok replied. "We should probably walk, so we don't miss anyone by flying over them."

They set off in a random direction. On the way, they met a few small furry animals, and, coincidentally enough, lunch. After their meal, they continued on.

The trip was rather uneventful, until Ragnarok motioned for them to stop. In the sudden silence, they could hear footsteps crunching toward them. A person walked into view, and suddenly stopped as he saw them. He was wearing a blue shirt and light brown pants, had light-colored skin, and was quite a bit shorter than Pike. In fact, he came up to about the drakens' heads. He smiled and walked up to Ragnarok. "Well hello there," he said, and scratched the draken's head. Ragnarok put on a goofy grin and flapped his wings. The human looked around. "And I see you have friends," he noted, and walked over to Amber, who followed Ragnarok's example by acting like a normal animal. The he petted her too, then turned to Keera and Terra. "Well, aren't you a curious sight. Hello to you both."

"Hi!" the twins replied, and the human just about fell over backwards. Sabre shook his head with an exasperated grin, while Amber just smiled and Ragnarok tried hard not to laugh.

"W-w-what? You can talk?" the boy exclaimed, backing up a bit.

"Yes, we can," Sabre replied, and Ragnarok burst out laughing at the human's expression.

Amber stepped up, her calm demeanor helping to soothe the startled person. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, we won't eat you. We're drakens. My name is Amber. This is Ragnarok, he's Sabre, and those two are Keera and Terra." She motioned to each in turn with one of her wings or her tail, and they all waved when introduced.

The human looked at them all again, still looking rather perplexed. "Um... nice to meet you all, I guess. My name is Liam," he replied. "Where did you come from?"

Ragnarok replied, "Hard to say. I think we came from here, but not from now."

Liam looked at him funny. "That doesn't quite make sense," he remarked.

"Yes, but trust me, the explanation will make even less sense," Sabre replied.

"It's a long story," Terra said, and Keera nodded.

Liam shrugged, having realized that this whole thing was going to be very weird. "So, what are you doing here, then?" he asked.

"Actually, we were looking for someone to help us," Ragnarok said. "Where exactly are we?"

"You're in the middle of the Great Forest," Liam answered.

Amber looked confused. "Great Forest?" she asked. "What happened to the Great Plains?"

"Um, there aren't any plains near here. It's just forest up until the cliffs, and it's mountains beyond that."

The drakens shared a look. Ragnarok turned back to Liam. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Me? I was just walking around, looking for something to do," Liam replied. "So you guys are lost? Maybe my parents could help you."

"Parents? Oh, you're a child?" Amber said.

"Uh, yeah. What, you didn't know?" Liam asked.

"We just figured you were short..." Ragnarok said.

Liam laughed. "No, I'm just a kid," he said. "Now come on, my home's not too far."

"Well then, let's get going!" Sabre remarked.

* * *

"Okay, you guys stay here until I call for you," Liam instructed, then called, "Mom! Dad! I'm home!"

Liam had led them to a small clearing in the canopy of the trees. In the middle of the clearing was a small wooden house, and next to it was a bit of ground with lots of plants growing in it. All in all, it looked pretty friendly.

"Liam? Where've you been?" a female voice replied from around the house, and Liam's mother came into view. She was much taller than Liam, with long brown hair, and long a long blue shirt that went down to her feet.

"I was walking around in the forest, and I found some new friends. They need our help!" Liam answered, and waved for the drakens to come over, which they did.

"Curious looking animals," Liam's mother replied, "but they're just animals. They don't need our help."

"They aren't just animals, they can talk!" Liam argued.

"Um, your son is right," Ragnarok interjected. "We aren't just animals."

The woman stopped in surprise, staring at the draken, then shook her head at her son. "Leave it to you to find the only talking animals in the county," she sighed, putting her hand to her forehead. "Stay here, your father's probably going to want to hear this." She turned and hurried back into the house.

"That went well," Sabre remarked dryly, and everyone laughed.

Liam's mother quickly came back with his father. The drakens were introduced and they quickly explain their plight. "So, you came here from the future through a weird portal, only the weird portal doesn't exist here yet?" the father, Marcus, asked.

"That about sums it up," remarked Amber. They were laying down inside the house, except for the humans, who were sitting in chairs.

"And you need us to help you find a way back."

"Right," the twins replied in unison.

Marcus surveyed the group, then looked at the twins. "You're all odd enough creatures, but of the strangest things I've seen, you two take the prize."

"Thanks!" the twins replied earnestly, with big grins.

"Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to help you. However, I think I know where you can go to find someone who can," Marcus said.

"Really? That would be very helpful!" Amber said.

"Yeah, it probably would," the human replied. "You know where the cliffs are?"

The drakens shook their heads. "We would if this were still the Great Plains," Sabre added.

"Well, you'd have to climb up them, and then...." He trailed off, seeing as the directions would be pretty pointless even if they did manage to find the cliffs.

Liam tugged on his father's sleeve. "Hey, I know the way. Let me go with them!" he said.

"Let you go with them?" his father repeated. "I don't know... it's really dangerous out there."

"Dangerous?" the drakens echoed.

Marcus nodded. "Recently, beasts about as odd as you have been showing up in the Forest, and they're very ferocious. There've always been dangerous creatures around, but these are a new order altogether."

Amber looked at him funny. "You mean they just showed up out of nowhere? They weren't there before?"

"Yes. They started appearing a few weeks ago." Marcus surveyed the group again. "You guys might be able to hold your own, but I'm worried about Liam."

"Don't worry," Ragnarok replied. "I like Liam, and I won't let anything happen to him."

"Well, that settles it," Liam stated. He walked over to the group of drakens and added, "With bodyguards like these, how could anything hurt me?"

Marcus sighed. "All right. I won't be able to talk you out of it, so go. Just be careful." Liam cheered and ran outside to get a few things ready. Marcus turned to the drakens. "And you five make sure he comes back in one piece."

"Yes sir!" "We will!" the twins replied, and rushed out to follow Liam. Ragnarok laughed and followed them.

"These beasts, do you know much about them?" Sabre asked.

"I'm only certain of a few things. Once they attack you, they won't stop until either they or you fall, and they'll chase you until they catch you. They look like big wolves, so they shouldn't be too hard to spot. The only other advice I can offer is 'be careful.'"

"We will," Amber replied, and the two drakens walked out to join the rest of their group.

* * *

Liam got together a few things that he'd need, and then they set off toward the cliff that would eventually border the Great Plains.

"This is an interesting forest," Keera said. "Yeah, way different from the Plains," her sister added as some fuzzy grey thing scampered past them.

"You keep talking about these 'Great Plains.' Where are they?" Liam asked.

"Um, actually, they're right here. Hence our confusion," Ragnarok answered.

"Oh, so they're in your time?" Liam asked, and the drakens nodded. "It would be kinda neat to go there."

"Yeah, it's really-" Sabre was cut off by a sudden roar off to their left, and the drakens whirled to face it.

The thing resembled them, in the fact that it had a head, four legs, and a tail in the same basic arrangement, but that's where the similarities ended. It was taller than they were, and was covered in fur that was grey in some places and black in others. It had pointy ears on its head and a big snarl on its muzzle, and was also growling at them. An altogether unfriendly looking creature. Ragnarok and Sabre moved forward to block it while the others moved to protect Liam.

"It's one of the beasts!" Liam yelled. "Be careful!"

"Oh, so that's what a wolf looks like," Ragnarok muttered, matching the beast glare for glare. He suddenly reared up and spread his wings, trying to look as big and intimidating as possible. Sabre copied the movement.

The beast looked at the group, then turned around and sped off with a final snarl. Ragnarok dropped back to all fours, looking surprised. "Wow. I didn't actually expect that to work," he said.

"At least we didn't have to fight it," Amber said. "Somebody might've gotten hurt."

"Yeah," Liam agreed. "Let's get out of here before it decides to come back."

* * *

Later, they had slowed down for Liam's sake, as the boy didn't have the stamina that the drakens did. Suddenly, they heard a familiar snarl. They looked behind them, noticing that the wolf beast had come back, and had brought three friends. "I don't think we'll be able to scare them off this time," Sabre remarked.

Ragnarok nodded agreement. "Looks like we're in for a fight," he said.

"Liam, can you climb up a tree?" Amber suggested. "We're even in number, so none of us will be able to protect you very well." Liam nodded and hauled himself up into the lower boughs of a nearby tree. The drakens squared off against the beasts.

"Wait for my signal, then everyone attack at once," Ragnarok muttered. "Ready? Attack!" he yelled and lunged at the beast closest to him. The other drakens also leapt at their targets, and the fight was on.

Ragnarok caught the wolf-beast by surprise and knocked it over with his tackle, so he jumped on it and sank four sets of claws into its gut. It yelped and broke free, then spun around to face Ragnarok again.

Sabre was faring about as well. He had managed to dart around his target, scoring minor claw hits, then managed to get a bite on the back of its neck, effectively keeping it from biting him. He also dug in his claws, but the beast wasn't able to get out of the hold, and soon fell.

The twins worked in surprisingly smooth unison. Despite being two people, they moved as one, dodging attacks, and countering at the same time. Two bites at once are much worse than one, and their beast dropped as quickly as Sabre's.

Amber was in a bit more trouble. Being the smallest member of the group, she had somehow managed to get squared off against the biggest beast. She used her tail to whip in on the side of its head, stunning it temporarily, then clawed at its face. The beast roared and lunged at her, but Ragnarok's opponent, which the draken had just dropped from about canopy height, brought it up short. Amber locked her jaws around the pinned creature's throat and bit hard, and the beast stopped trying to get up.

Amber let go. "Ptoo! Those things even taste terrible!" she remarked, and kicked the beast away from her. A laugh passed between the drakens, relieving the tension of the moment.

Liam dropped out of his tree and landed neatly on his feet. "You guys were amazing!" he exclaimed. "It takes at least two strong humans to fight off one of those things, and you just took out four of them like they were nothing!"

"Well, it wasn't easy," Ragnarok remarked.

"Fortunately, we're faster than they are," Terra added.

"Yeah. We'd better get moving before even more of them show up," Liam said, shaking his head in exasperation.

* * *

They hustled for a while more, then came to a small lake and decided to take a break. "Fish!" the twins exclaimed with joy and dove in. Unlike most drakens, they were among the few who preferred fish to red meat. The rest of them laughed and took a drink.

"This forest is beautiful," Amber remarked. "Too bad those beasts are here to spoil it."

"Yeah," Liam agreed. He put his hands on his knees and bent over to look into the lake. "Wow, that looks pretty deep." Unbeknownst to Liam, Ragnarok had snuck up behind him, and the draken used his tail to tip the more precarious human into the water. Liam hit the water with a yell, then swan to the surface. "Hey, why'd you do that?" Liam yelled at Ragnarok.

"It was funny!" the draken replied.

The twins surfaced near them. "Liam?" Keera asked. "So you decided to come swimming too?" Terra added. Liam splashed water at them. The twins laughed and fanned their wings across the water, propelling much larger amounts of water back at the boy.

"All right, I give!" he spluttered, laughing. Just then, however, Ragnarok leapt in, curled into a tight ball, and splashed all three of them with a lot more water. Sabre and Amber dove in too, and soon all six were splashing and playing in the water, and generally having a good time.

Eventually, they all climbed out and laid on the bank together. "Great, now my clothes are soaked. Hey!" Liam protested as Sabre shook himself off next to the boy, soaking him even further. The group had another good laugh, and lay there relaxing a bit.

Amber laughed. "A bit of silly fun like that can brighten any day, don't you think?" she asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, but we've still got a ways to go. We'd better get going," Sabre replied. A bunch of good-natured groans accompanied this, and they all got up and were soon off again.

* * *

Another lunch break later, they were still trekking through the forest. "We should be pretty close to the cliffs now," Liam informed them.

"That's good," Keera replied.

Ragnarok peered off into the distance and said, "Hey, is that-" but was interrupted by another roar.

Sabre groaned. "Gah, not again. Come on, let's go... get...." He stopped as he looked in the direction the roar had come from.

A few beasts were standing right in front of them, but the main problem was the two dozen more still running toward them. "Oh no," Keera muttered, "We can't take this many!" Terra remarked.

"Liam, climb onto my back, quick!" Ragnarok ordered. Liam did as instructed, and Ragnarok said, "Now, run! This way!" The drakens bolted away from the horde of beasts that started running after them.

"I hope you've got a plan," Sabre remarked.

"Back there, I spotted something: a shaft of light. And, in a forest like this, you know what that must mean...." He trailed off with a grin.

"A hole in the canopy!" Amber exclaimed.

Ragnarok nodded. "Hold on tight, Liam!" he said.

They dashed through the path, dodging foliage until they reached the shaft Ragnarok had glimpsed. They leapt into the air and flew up through the hole, leaving the hordes behind them. They flew all the way to the cliffs, which, fortunately, weren't too far away. The drakens all landed easily, except for Ragnarok, who dropped a little less gracefully to the ground, panting.

"Don't tell me you're tired after only that," Amber teased.

Ragnarok staggered to his feet, wings drooping to the stone. "Hey... next time... you try ... flying... that far... with... all that... extra weight..." he panted, and the rest of the group laughed.

"Well, we're at the top of the cliffs," Liam announced. "Our destination shouldn't be too far off."

"Let's hurry then," Keera responded.

"H-hey... don't I get... a chance to... catch my breath?" Ragnarok asked.

Sabre grinned. "...Okay, time's up. Let's go." Ragnarok rolled his eyes, and they all started walking again.

"So, where are we headed?" Amber asked.

"The nearest city to here," Liam replied. "There ought to be someone there who can help you guys."

The drakens turned to Ragnarok, who was the group expert on cities. Well, he was the only one who had actually been in a city, so he knew the most about them. "Well, there should be. Cities are places with lots of humans are, so there are people that do all sorts of things. Therefore, at least one person should know about this kind of things," Ragnarok said. The rest of the drakens looked satisfied with the explanation.

As they walked, they kept a wary eye around, but they didn't see any more of the wolf-beasts. "I guess those things can't make it up the cliff," Sabre figured. Off to one side, the twins were having a conversation with each other. "What's up, you two?"

The twins turned to Sabre. "We were thinking about those beasts," Keera stated. "They're not natural to the area, right Liam?" Terra asked.

"Yeah, they just showed up one day and started attacking us," he replied.

"Well, if they aren't natural, then they must have come from somewhere else," Keera had continued. "We were wondering about where that was when you asked us where they were coming from," Terra finished.

Liam looked at the twins, and then laughed. "...Conversations are weird enough, but I want to be there the next time you two have an argument!"

Ragnarok grinned. "You should. It's pretty funny to watch," he said.

The twins looked at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" they huffed in unison, only succeeding in making Ragnarok and Liam burst out laughing. Each twin glared at one of them, then they walked past to the front of the group, between Amber and Sabre. Sabre suddenly stopped walking, just staring off into the distance. "Sabre?" "Something wrong?" the twins asked.

"Something just occurred to me," he replied. "If those beasts aren't natural, like you said, something must have brought them here. Maybe someone did it on purpose."

"But why would someone want to have anything to do with them?" Amber asked. "The only thing they'd be good for is killing."

"Maybe someone in the city can help us with that problem too," Liam offered. "It isn't that far now. Let's hurry.

* * *

Liam had been right when he said the city wasn't far. Within an hour, they got their first glimpse of it. At least the outside of it anyway, since it had big wood and metal walls around it. Liam led them toward a metal gate in the wall, but stopped out of earshot of it. "Once we go in here, it'll be best for you guys to act like you're my pets," he said. "It'll cut down on the trouble."

"Pets?" four drakens echoed.

"A pet is an animal that a human has taken as a part of his family. Not too bright, but they're very loyal to their owners and follow them around a lot," Ragnarok quickly explained.

"Right," Liam agreed. "Any questions, or shall we go in?" Upon hearing no objections, Liam headed up to the gate and called, "Hello up there!"

"Eh? What're ye fer?" a disembodied voice called back. A man leaned over the edge of the wall. "Oh, just a rugger. What're those with ye?"

Liam grinned. "They're just my pets, a few drakens. Don't worry, they won't attack anyone!"

"Eh? Those weird things from around the mountains? ...All right, but if they break anything, yer payin' fer it!" the man called back, then disappeared from sight. The gate slowly moved up, and the six of them walked in. "Welcome to Halipont!" the man announced, causing Ragnarok to pause for a second. He shook his head and hurried to catch back up with the others.

"So we've made it to the city," Liam muttered, "now we just need to find out who can help you...." Ragnarok nudged him and pointed to someone leaning up against a nearby building. Liam shrugged. "Well, good enough place to start," he whispered, and walked over to the person. "Uh, sir?" he said.

The man looked up. "Eh? Whaddaya want, kid?"

"Um, I've got a problem with something really complicated. Who would you suggest I go to see?" Liam replied.

The man looked him over and grinned. "Well kid, ya came to the right guy." He stuck out his hand and said, "The name's Karas."

Liam shook Karas's hand. "I'm Liam," he replied.

Karas let go and looked at the drakens. "Nice beasts ya got with ya," he remarked. "Follow me. I'll take ya to the guy you need ta see."

He led them down a few mains streets and up one smaller side street, and stopped in front of a door that had a little cup painted on it. Karas grinned, opened the door, yelled, "'Ey! Doc Emmellius! Got a few visitors for ya!" and motioned them in.

They walked into a medium sized room with wood floors and some coats hung on one of the walls. Presently, someone walked in. "Oh, hello. Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Liam. I was told you were the one I should go to with a really complicated problem," Liam answered, then grinned. "Dr. Emmellius? That's a funny last name," he remarked.

The man chuckled. "I take it Karas was the one who showed you here. That's not my last name, it's my first name. He just calls me that to annoy me." He winked and held out his hand. "Dr. Emmellius Pike, at your service. Call me Pike," he said, and the drakens all practically fell over.

Pike looked concerned. "Are your animals all right? They look a little shaky..." he said.

"Actually," Liam said, "they're the ones with the problem, not me."

Pike looked oddly at him, and was about to say something when Ragnarok piped in. "You may want to find somewhere to sit before we go on," he suggested.

Pike froze in mid-gesture, then slowly turned toward the drakens. "Oh good, we can talk now?" Terra asked. "I guess so," Keera replied.

"Um, excuse me, but are you actually speaking?" Pike asked incredulously.

"Yes, we are," Sabre replied with a grin.

"Incredible! How did this happen?" Pike enthusiastically responded.

"Well, to answer that, we need to explain something closer to the end of the story first," Amber explained.

"Talking animals. Absolutely fascinating," Pike mused to himself, then motioned for her to continue.

"See, we're not from you're time. We're from the future," she said.

"And in the future, all animals can talk?" Liam interrupted.

"Um, not really," Ragnarok replied. "It started with a man named Dr. Frederick Pike...." They explained the whole story to Emmellius, with a few interruptions from the curious scientist. "...and so we decided to come here, to see if someone could help," the draken finished.

"An interesting conundrum," Pike remarked. "Your 'ring' is gone, so you can't go back home. However, a colleague of mine once told me that strange rifts can open up from time to time, and objects that haven't been seen before have fallen through them. It sounds like these might be the same rifts you jumped through, and the ring was a means of controlling them."

Ragnarok's head perked up. "And this 'call-eeg' can help us?"

"Yes, he should be able to assist you. Last I heard, he was currently working in Vanguard Castle, off to the east," Pike answered.

"Well then, let's go find this guy!" Sabre said.

"Be warned, though. The castle is fairly far away, and it's not an easy trek," Pike warned.

"We've faced tough journeys before," Ragnarok replied.

"Well, if you're sure, then I wish you the best of luck," Pike said.

"Um, excuse me, but could we ask you for a favor?" Terra asked. "Could you make sure that Liam gets home safe? He won't be able to fight his way home through those beasts."

"Yes, I'll have a few people escort him home. Will that be all right, Liam?"

"Yeah, it should. Make sure they're strong, though," Liam responded.

"But the beasts themselves are a big question," Pike continued. "As you had figured, something must have caused their sudden appearance, which is most worrisome." He went to a table and wrote something down.

Amber spoke up. "Well, wherever they came from, you need to be careful, Liam. Don't get hurt."

Pike gave the paper he had written on to Liam. "Give this to Karas. If I know him, he should be back where you first found him. He'll help you get back home," he said.

"Okay!" Liam replied. "Bye drakens!" With that, he hurried out the door.

"So all we have to do is go to that castle and ask for someone who knows about rifts?" Sabre asked.

Pike finished writing something else and put it in a big paper rectangle. "Give this to the gate guards at the castle, and they'll take you to him." He handed it to Sabre, who put it down.

"And I'm supposed to carry it in my mouth all the way there?" he asked.

Pike smiled and said, "No, of course not. You can carry it in this." He picked up a pouch made of some kind of animal hide from a shelf and slipped it around Sabre's neck. "Don't worry about returning it. You'll probably need it more than I will."

Sabre looked at it, then scratched his neck with a paw. "Gah! Itches!" he remarked, and Pike chuckled.

"Well, you should begin your journey now," Pike announced. The drakens nodded and left. "Good luck, and stay safe!" he called after them.

* * *

They set off again, heading east this time. The land they were walking across was pretty bare. It didn't have many trees or other plants, and had a lot of rocks.

"Is it just me, or do we spend most of our time walking around?" Ragnarok noticed.

"Well, I can't stop to scratch this thing while we're flying," Sabre remarked. "Gah! How do humans stand to wear clothes?"

"Yeah, and they don't seem to serve too much of a purpose, either," Amber agreed. "They're too thin to protect them from sharp rocks or anything."

"But some of it makes sense, like this thing," Sabre admitted. "Even though it still itches."

"So, we're just going to walk until we reach the castle?" Keera asked. "That'll take a while."

Suddenly, Ragnarok's head perked up. "What's that?"

"What's what?" the twins responded in unison.

"Listen!" he replied. And the drakens all felt silent, straining their hearing. All they could hear was a low rushing noise. They weren't able to distinguish the anything about it, but they knew it was there.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Amber remarked.

"Let's get in the air," Sabre said. He leapt up and flapped his wings, and the others followed suit.

"So what are we doing up here?" Terra asked.

"Sky view. Maybe we can see it from above," Sabre replied.

"Well, I'm not seeing much of... wait! Over there!" Ragnarok called, pointing with his tail.

A huge cloud of dust and debris was moving toward them, and going very fast too. "What the...?" the twins remarked.

"It's too big! We won't be able to get out of the way in time!" Ragnarok yelled, and then the cloud hit them

The cloud was being propelled by strong winds, which had a predictable effect on the airborne drakens. They were blown around, buffeted, hit by things, and in general had a really rough ride. Eventually, they were blown out the side, and they hit the ground hard as the cloud blew on.

"Oof," Ragnarok muttered as he got up and brushed some branches off himself. "That hurt. Is everyone okay?"

"I think I'm okay," Amber muttered, picking herself up.

"If I wasn't already black, I would be now," Sabre muttered. "I've probably got bruises all over, but I didn't lose the pouch."

Ragnarok looked to the twins as they stood up. "I'm okay." "Me-agh!" Keera's foreleg buckled under her as she put weight on it, but Terra managed to compensate in time. "What happened? Is it broken?" Terra asked her sister. Keera winced with pain. "A flying branch hit my leg. I...don't think it's broken, but it hurts really bad," she said. Terra smiled reassuring and said, "Don't worry. We can manage!"

"So, everybody's mostly in one piece," Ragnarok summed up. "Now, where did we wind up?" The area there were in was slightly grassier, but it was still pretty rocky. There was a series of mountains off a ways, and a small forest near the base of them.

"We should probably head to that forest," Amber remarked, then turned to the twins. "Can you two fly?"

"Probably," Terra replied. "But landing wouldn't be fun," Keera said, motioning with her hurt leg, then wincing at the sudden pain.

"Right, then I guess we're just walking," Ragnarok said. They started toward the forest, Amber and Sabre in the lead, while Ragnarok hung back with the twins, who were limping along slower than the others. "If you guys need a rest, just tell us."

They smiled warmly back at him. "Thanks, Uncle Ragnarok."

The trip was thankfully uneventful, and it was dark by the time they reached the forest. "Well, we're here," Sabre announced. "Now what?"

"I vote we go to sleep," Keera said with a yawn.

"Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea," Amber agreed.

* * *

He'd gone out to get some food, but it'd taken him a little longer than he had thought it would. Actually, a lot longer. It was dark out when he finally got back to the forest. He walked in a little ways, past the special tree, but then he heard something, so he stopped, then dashed over to hide behind some bushes to see what it was.

"Well, we're here," one of the somethings he had heard said. "Now what?" Oh, they were just a few more drakens. He didn't think he'd seen these ones before, but it was dark out, and it was kinda hard to see clearly through the bush, so maybe they were someone he knew.

"I vote we go to sleep," a female voice said, yawning. Hmm... didn't sound like anyone he knew....

"Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea," another female said. He pushed his head a little further forward to try to get a better view, but he accidentally rustled the bush as he did so. "Wait, what was that?"

Well, they'd find him eventually, and they didn't look like they'd try to hurt him, so he popped his head above the bush.

* * *

A bush off to one side suddenly rustled. "Wait, what was that?" Amber asked. They all turned to the bush, and a head popped up. A draken head, no less! It was white as the moon, and had one long spike that curved down for a crest, and had a horn on its nose, so the head's owner was a male.

"Hey, another draken!" Ragnarok said, and walked over to him. "Hey there, boy!"

"Hello," the draken responded, and Ragnarok just about fell over backwards. "Whoa, what's wrong?"

"Um, you... you can talk?" Ragnarok asked, thoroughly surprised.

"Of course I can! I'm not just a chick, you know!" the white draken responded, and walked out of the bush. He seemed to be about normal size.

The twins limped forward and Keera whispered to Ragnarok, "But this is the past, isn't it? And Pike hasn't...."

The white draken noticed the limp, as well as the two walking toward him. He walked up to them. "Two heads, huh? And here I was thinking I was an odd one," he joked, giving a flick of his tail. Once looking at it, they noticed something strange: he had a fin on his tail! Not like a fish's fin, this was all one solid piece at the end of his tail and a bit farther out, about a half-inch thick at the widest part. It flared out where it started, and tapered to a point, like a raindrop. "Well, let's get a look at that leg," he said, and ducked down a bit to see Keera's leg better. He moved it with one of his paws, and Keera winced. "Yeah, you've messed it up a bit. That's an impressive bruise," he said, then ran over to a tree and tore off a vine. He grabbed one end about a foot from the tear and walked back. "Hey you, Red," he said, "hold this end for me." Ragnarok complied, holding the vine over the twins' back, in front of the wings.

"Um, what are you doing?" the twins asked.

The draken used a paw to wind the vine around their chest, pinning the leg to their body. "Your leg will get better, but you'll need to stay off of it. This'll make that easier. Tell me if this is too tight." He looped his end around Ragnarok's and pulled. The twins didn't say anything, so he looped it around and pulled again, then dropped his end. "There, that oughta do it. You should be able to relax you leg and still have it off the ground," he said.

Keera tested it, then smiled and said, "Thank you!" "So, who are you?" her sister asked.

"Me? My name's Dash. Nice to meet you," he replied.

The group introduced themselves, then Ragnarok asked, "So, how can you talk?"

Dash looked like he didn't quite understand the question, but replied, "I learned when I was a chick, just like everyone else."

"Everyone else?" Amber repeated. "You mean there are more drakens around here?"

"Yeah, of course! ...Then again, I've never seen you guys before. Where are you from?" Dash asked.

"Um... let's just leave it at, 'It's a long story,'" Sabre replied.

Dash shrugged with his wings, and dropped the point. "Okay then. Well, since you aren't from around here, you'll need somewhere to stay. I can take you there," he offered.

"What, other than just sleeping in the forest?" Ragnarok said, grinning.

Keera yawned loudly. "So long as it isn't far," the weary draken replied. "I just want to lay down."

"Yeah, so let's make this quick, Dash," Amber agreed.

"Okay then, quick it is. C'mon, this way!" he said and hustled off into the underbrush, toward the mountains.

Dash led them to an overgrown cliff wall. "Oh great," Keera muttered, "we get to fly up?" The white draken simply smiled and used his finned tail to move aside a bunch of vines that cleverly covered a hole. "Even better, tight, cramped spaces," Terra corrected. Dash just laughed and led them in.

The tunnels were a bit tight, but they could still move easily. However, they were also very long. "It's pitch black in here," Ragnarok remarked.

"That's to ward off unwanted guests. Just grab the tail of the draken in front of you and follow them," Dash instructed. "I know this place like the back of my wing. Hold on a minute, you're in for a surprise." He led them around a descending curve, and suddenly, there was light! "Cool, huh?" Dash said, then walked over to the wall and poked a glowing patch on the wall. "It's the moss. Don't know why, but it glows in the dark, which makes it a lot easier to see down here."

"Well, at least we aren't going to run into any more walls," Sabre remarked. "Okay Dash, lead on."

* * *

"How much longer will this take?" Terra asked. "Keera's about ready to fall over, and I won't be able to get very far without her." She yawned.

"We're almost there," Dash replied. He motioned them forward. "One more bend, actually."

They passed the bend and saw the mouth of the cave, the promise of open air inspiring them to move a bit quicker. Dash emerged first. "Ah, home sweet home!" he said, then stepped aside for the rest of the group.

They had come out into a verdant valley inside a ring of mountains. There were lots of huts, and one or two patches of light moving around, which was probably someone holding some moss. One of the globes started moving toward them. As it got closer, they could see that a light blue draken was carrying a lantern in her mouth. The lantern was open-walled, and had a small colony of moss growing on it. She set down the lantern and said, "Dash, you're finally back!"

Dash grinned. "Yeah, my trip took a little longer than expected," he replied. "I also ran into this group. They aren't from around here, and don't have anywhere to stay."

The blue draken surveyed the group, and her eye stopped on the twins, particularly Keera. "Oh, yes. This one is about to fall asleep right here. Come with me, you can stay with us!" she said, and led them to one of the huts.

Inside, there were a few cushy mats of the grass floor. The twins spotted them and quickly laid down on one. Keera fell asleep almost immediately, and Terra didn't look like she'd be too far behind her sister.

"So where are we?" Amber asked with a yawn.

"Hush, hush. There'll be time for questions in the morning. For now, just try and get some sleep," the blue draken said. She dropped a cloth over the lamp, and the room was soon full of the sounds of sleeping drakens.

* * *

Part Two: Heroes

Ragnarok slowly woke up, but his eyes didn't seem to want to stay open just yet. He heard a few voices talking. "Well, they're an odd bunch, especially the green ones," a male voice said.

"Hey, we're all stuck with the circumstances we're born with. Look at me, for instance." This voice sounded like Dash.

The other voice laughed, and Ragnarok heard footsteps leading out of the hut.

Ragnarok's eyes unstuck themselves and fluttered open. His sides still hurt some from a bit of debris in the cloud, and he groaned a bit as he stood up. "Ungh. Good morning," he muttered.

"Ah, you're finally up!" Dash said, and walked over to him. "Amber and Sabre got up a little while ago and left to go walk around for a bit. The twins are still here."

Ragnarok looked curiously at them. Terra was upright and, seeing Ragnarok, poked her sister, who muttered something and remained asleep. Terra grinned and said, "Looks like I'm stuck here for a bit. You don't have to wait here for us, Uncle Ragnarok. Get Dash to give you a tour or something."

"That sounds like a good idea," Ragnarok responded, then turned to Dash. "What do you think?"

"A tour? Sure! C'mon!" he replied, and bounded out of the hut. Ragnarok followed him.

"Bye Uncle Ragnarok!" Terra called.

Ragnarok looked around the bustling town. There were drakens everywhere! It was almost like being back on the Plains again, except for the mountains on all sides. Now that it was light out, he had a chance to examine the huts. Many were made of carefully pieced-together branches and logs, but a few, including the one they just came out of, were made out of stone.

"So, we begin the tour at my house," Dash announced with a grin. "It is, oddly enough, where I live."

"Hey, why is yours stone, while most of them are wooden?" Ragnarok interrupted.

"Ah, good question," Dash replied. "All of them used to be made of wood, but we've figured out ways to make even better ones using stone. It's a pretty slow process, though, and we're still working on it. We're hoping that we can eventually make them all out of stone." Ragnarok nodded, and Dash led him away from the house, into the main area of the village.

They walked over to a large group of trees. They were really big, and some had a lot of red things in them. "Hey, what are those blue things up there?" Ragnarok asked. "Some kind of flower?"

Dash goggled at him. "You've never seen a turra fruit before?" He shook his head, flew up, grabbed one, and tossed it to Ragnarok, who caught it. "It's a fruit. Try it, they're really good!"

Ragnarok crunched it up, then swallowed it. "Wow! Those are good. So juicy and sweet... turra fruit, huh?" he said. Maybe he'd get Pike to bring a few to the Plains, once they got back.

"Yeah," Dash agreed. "We don't really have too much here, just what we need to survive and a few things to make it nicer. It's a pleasant way to live."

"It sounds really nice," Ragnarok responded. "I think it'd be really neat to stay here with you guys, but we need to get back to where we came from."

"Well, maybe we can help you. Where are you from?" Dash asked.

"Um, we're actually from the future, but we jumped into a funny portal, which transported us back here, where the portal doesn't really exist yet. So we're stuck here unless we can manage to find another one. A human we met said there was someone studying that sort of thing at a castle near here," Ragnarok said.

Dash goggled at him. "Wow, you actually came from the future? That's... wow," he said with a grin. "Well... I'd point you in the right direction, but I'm not good with human things. I don't think I've actually even seen a human. However, one of my friends is a little more acquainted with human stuff. He's talked about finding a castle before." He led Ragnarok back to his house.

Keera was awake by now, and the twins were outside talking to the blue draken from last night. They noticed Ragnarok and Dash coming back, and the blue one said, "Hello again! I don't think we were properly introduced last night. I'm Skye, Dash's mother."

"I'm Ragnarok. Nice to meet you, Skye," he replied. "Dash's mom, huh?"

"Yep!" Dash interjected. "Anyway, Mom, do you know where Karn went?"

"Not really, but I think I might have seen him by the caves earlier," Skye replied.

Dash nodded, then turned to Ragnarok. "You round up your friends, and I'll go get Karn. Meet me back here," he instructed, then ran off.

Ragnarok shook his head and laughed, then turned to Skye. "He's pretty excitable, isn't he?" he remarked.

She laughed. "He just likes helping. I suppose he might get a little bored around here, and you guys are something new, so he's more than happy to help you out," she explained. "Anyway, you probably ought to go find your friends now."

Ragnarok looked around and asked, "Um, do you know where they are?"

Skye smiled. "Actually, they're inside waiting for you," she said.

Ragnarok looked inside and saw Amber and Sabre lying down, talking to each other. "Well, that was easy," he remarked. "Now we just need to wait for Dash." He walked into the hut. "Hi Amber! Hi Sabre! Where were you guys this morning?"

Amber looked up at him. "Hi Ragnarok! You and the girls were still asleep, so Sabre and I decided to go take a look around. Have you tried one of those 'turra fruit'?" she inquired.

"Yeah, they taste really good," he replied, smiling at the memory. Then he was serious again, and said, "Listen, Dash says he knows someone who can help us get to the castle. He should be coming back soon."

"Good!" Sabre remarked, and stretched. "This place is really nice, but I'd prefer to be back on the Plains," he said.

The twins walked in. "Whatcha talking about?" Keera asked.

"Dash is getting someone who can help us get home," Amber summed up.

"Ah. That's good," Terra remarked, then they lay down too. It was a little less graceful than usual, since they only had three legs to work with. "Oof," they muttered.

Shortly, a white head peeked around the doorway. "Hmm. Looks like you won," Dash remarked. "Come on out."

"Gah," Keera said. "Just as we lay down, too." Ragnarok laughed and helped them up. "This was a lot easier with all four legs," Terra added. Thus accomplished, they all walked out to meet up with Dash and Karn.

Once outside, they saw Dash standing with a grey draken who was a bit stockier than most, and sported another single-spike crest. "Guys, this is my friend, Karn. Karn, these are the guys trying to get to that castle," Dash introduced.

Karn turned to the group. "You guys are lucky you came here first," he stated. "It's pretty easy to get to that castle from here. Leave through the caves and go to the 'compass tree'. It's easy to notice, one side has a scar on it. Head directly away from that side to get out of the forest. Once you get out, just head toward where the sun rises. Keep going that way, and you'll get to the castle in a day or two." He nodded at the group, then walked off to go do whatever it was that he did.

"Okay, now we can go to the castle!" Ragnarok cheered.

Amber turned to their newest friend. "Thanks Dash," she said, and nuzzled him in a friendly manner. "We wouldn't have been able to do it without you."

Dash nodded. "You're welcome. I hope you guys get back to your own time safely," he said, and the group left for the tunnel.

"Bye Dash!" the twins called as they departed.

"Bye guys!" Dash called back.

* * *

They managed to make it through the cave without any further injuries, and managed to find the big tree with a big scar on it. Heading away from it, they soon left the forest, and emerged back onto the rocky expanses they had started on. They pointed their tails toward the setting sun and started walking.

A little while into their overland trek, Ragnarok signaled for a stop. "I know I say this a lot, but do you hear that?" he asked.

They listened, then Amber spoke up. "Sounds like someone panting, from behind up." Then they heard something that solved the question.

"Hey guys... wait up!" They turned around, and saw Dash running toward them. He caught up the them, panting. "Geez... you guys... move fast."

Sabre grinned at him and asked, "Couldn't you have just flown?"

Dash paused. "Now why didn't I think of that?" he said sheepishly, and they all laughed.

"So what are you doing here?" Amber asked.

"I decided that I wanted to come with you guys!" he replied. "Go on a few adventures, see the future, that sort of stuff!"

"Well, you've got to admire his attitude," Ragnarok quipped.

"Are you sure? If you come with us, it won't be easy to get back home," Amber warned.

"Hmm. Well, I can at least come with you to the castle," Dash allowed. "It'll be more exciting than just staying here."

"C'mon, let him come!" Keera said. "It'll be more fun!" her sister chimed in.

Sabre grinned. "Fine, you can come with us."

"Yay!" the twins cheered.

Dash grinned and said, "Thanks, guys. Okay, then let's get-" but was interrupted by a sudden roar.

Ragnarok's head snapped around. "What? Now they're here too?" he said, then turned to face the group of beasts. There were only four of them, fortunately enough.

Dash's eyes widened. "What are those things?" he asked.

"They're those beasts we told you about," Sabre muttered to him. He turned to the twins. "There's only four of them, and you guys aren't in any condition to fight, so just try to stay away from them," he instructed.

"Right," they replied in unison, and limped back a few steps.

"Attack!" Ragnarok yelled, and they leapt at the beasts.

Ragnarok, Sabre, and Amber used the same tactics they did in their last battle, darting in to attack and then dodging out of harm's way. Dash, on the other hand, was a little less conventional. He used his superior mobility to its maximum advantage, faking to one side and then attack the other, or just jumping over the beast and attacking it from behind. The beast began to catch on, though, so he decided to end the fight. He flew into the air, then went into a steep dive, aimed at the beast. At the last second, he went into a forward roll and whipped his tail around, smashing his opponent on the head. He spread his wings again and, using the impact to help, managed to land safely. He looked around, and saw that the others had dispatched their opponents as well. Keera and Terra ran over. "Wow!" Terra said. "Way to go, Dash!" Keera added.

"Well, that was pretty fancy." Sabre remarked.

"Yeah, I suppose," Dash replied. "But hey, it worked."

Amber looked at the bodies. "What I want to know is where they came from," she said.

"Yeah," Ragnarok agreed. "When we came here, there weren't any of these things up here, only in the forest where Liam was from."

"It's the first time I've seen them," Dash interjected.

"And I don't think they could climb up that cliff," Ragnarok added, "so they must have come from somewhere up here."

"This also suggests the idea that someone's making these things somehow," Sabre said.

Amber shook her head. "Yeah, but we don't need to worry about that. We just need to get to that castle," she said.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be helping?" Keera asked.

"We don't need to. We never heard about it in our time, so it must have sorted itself out," Amber reasoned. "We just need to worry about getting back home."

"...I guess," Terra allowed. "All this time travel stuff is starting to get confusing," Keera added.

"Yeah," Ragnarok agreed. "So let's just get moving. The sun won't be up too much longer."

"But what if more of those things come?" the twins asked.

"We'll take turns watching," Dash said. "One or two of us stay up while the rest sleep, and they switch off later in the night." The rest of the group turned to him, surprised. "What? I learned things for this sort of a situation when I was just a chick. Everyone did."

"We didn't," Sabre remarked.

"Dash's idea sounds good, but we might as well get as much ground covered as we can before nightfall," Ragnarok remarked.

* * *

Night came and went. No beasts attacked them, although the twins and Sabre had heard a group growling around in the distance.

"How's your leg doing, Keera?" Amber asked.

"It's actually doing a lot better," Keera replied.

"Really?" Dash remarked. "Here, let me check it." He poked at her leg with a claw, then moved it around a little. "Any of that hurt?" He asked.

"Nope!" Keera proclaimed.

Dash shrugged and said, "Okay, then it should be fine." He bit the vine and it fell off, freeing Keera's leg.

She shook it out and placed it back on the ground. "It feels good to have both feet back on the ground again," she remarked. "And it takes some of the weight off mine!" her sister added. They both laughed, obviously in higher spirits.

"Y'know, since your leg is better, we can all fly now!" Dash said. "That would definitely make our trip quicker."

"So nobody have too much for breakfast, since we'll actually need to get off the ground for once," Ragnarok quipped, and everyone laughed.

They took to the air, and sped along much faster than they would have if they had been walking. They bypassed several groups of beasts that were wandering around.

"Wow, there sure are a lot of those things around now!" Dash remarked as they flew over one group.

"We're probably getting closer to where they're coming from," Amber replied.

"If we hurry, we can probably get to the castle before noon," Sabre said. "Less talking, more flapping."

"Hey, is that...?" Ragnarok asked, peering into the distance. "Something big and grey, but it isn't shaped like a mountain."

"That must be the castle!" Keera said. "Bet you guys we can get there first!" terra challenged, and the twins sped off.

"Oh yeah?" Ragnarok and Dash replied, and flew faster to catch up. Amber giggled and sped up too. Sabre grinned and joined in the chase.

* * *

"So this is what a castle looks like," Ragnarok remarked as the group hovered near the castle. It was like a really big house, but it was made with lots and lots of big rocks, and had a really big rock wall around it. Oddly enough, there were a few groups of beasts prowling around it, which was why the drakens were still airborne.

"Why are there so many beasts around here?" Amber asked.

"Yeah," Dash agreed. "There never used to be any."

"Well, at least we don't have to fight them all," Terra said. "Yeah, we can just fly over them!" her sister added.

"Okay then, over the wall!" Ragnarok said with a grin. The flew over and landed inside the wall.

Amber looked around, then said, "Something doesn't feel right here...."

"Yeah," Sabre agreed. "Shouldn't there be lots of humans around here? 'Gayt gards,' or something?"

Ragnarok sniffed around. "There aren't very many human scents around here, either," he added.

Keera's head perked up. "Ssh! Someone's coming!" she said.

The drakens hurried behind a big statue that happened to be nearby. "If it's one of the humans, I can finally give them Pike's letter," Sabre remarked quietly.

Ragnarok peeked around the statue. Whoever was walking toward them walked on two legs, but it was in a dark shadow, which contrasted heavily with the noontime sunlight, so he couldn't see it clearly. It came closer, moving out of the shadow as it did so. He noticed its large jaws, coarse fur, and angry expression. It was one of the beasts... but it was shaped like a human! Ragnarok quickly pulled back behind the statue. Fortunately, the beast seemed preoccupied with something else, and it didn't notice them and walked away.

"What was it?" the twins asked.

"It was one of the beasts, but it walked on two legs, like a human!" Ragnarok replied.

"The beasts are in here?" Amber exclaimed. "But Pike said this was a human place!"

"And how was that one walking on two legs?" Dash added. "Don't they walk like us?"

"Something is definitely wrong here," Sabre stated. "Maybe should find out what's going on here."

"Yeah, but we should split up into two groups, since it won't be easy to sneak past anything with all of us in one big group," Ragnarok pointed out. "Dash and Sabre, you go that way with the twins. Amber and I will go the other way," he said.

"Okay!" everyone quietly chorused, and they split into their groups and went their designated ways.

* * *

Ragnarok and Amber padded silently down a long, doorless corridor. Suddenly, they heard another beast approaching from around a corner. "Quick, hide!" he hissed.

"Where?" Amber responded. "This place is empty!"

"Okay," he muttered, "Think fast...."

The beast turned the corner, and stopped as it came below them. It looked around, then sniffed at the air. The human walking next to it grumbled and cuffed the beast on the arm. "Come on! We don't have all day to sit around waiting for you to sniff stuff." The beast growled lowly, but stalked along on its way again, the human following behind.

Up above, Ragnarok and Amber stopped holding their breath. "Whew. That was a close one," Amber remarked. She released her grip on the ceiling, flipped over, and landed on her feet.

"Yeah. We're lucky these things don't pay too much attention," Ragnarok agreed, and dropped down too. They started walking again.

"And that the humans are so impatient," Amber added. "Why are they working with these beasts? And why don't the beasts attack them?"

Ragnarok turned his head to look at her. "I don't know, although- oof!" he exclaimed as he walked into a wall. "Owie. Next time, warn me about those, okay?"

"Hold on a second," Amber said. "Look closer at where you hit." Ragnarok looked at it, then noticed that a square of rocks was a bit further back than all of the rocks around it. Amber swung her tail and hit the square, but instead of just thudding, the square made a hollow noise and slid back a bit. "Did you know walls could do that?" she asked.

"No, I didn't," he responded. "They usually just stand there." He looked around. "Why don't we push it some more and see what happens?" he suggested. They put their heads down, hooked their claws between the stones, and pushed at the wall. The square slid back even more, then fell over with a loud thump, revealing a small passageway. "Quick, get in! We can put the wall back before anyone comes to see what happened!" They hurried into the passage, then tipped the square back up and pushed it back into the wall.

"Hope nobody notices that," Amber remarked. "So, where are we now?" The passageway was very dark. It was wide enough for the two drakens to walk side-by-side, but the ceiling was so low that a human would have to crawl. Fortunately, drakens walk a lot lower than humans do, so they could still stand up.

"I'm not sure. Let's keep going and see what's at the other end of this room." They walked along the long, dark corridor. Eventually, they saw some light coming up through several long, rectangular holes in the floor. There was a sudden crash, and Ragnarok peered through one of the holes. "Hey, I think someone's down there," he observed. Suddenly, they heard a creaking noise.

* * *

Sabre, Dash, and the twins walked quietly through the castle. "I wonder how the others are doing," Dash remarked.

"Hopefully better than we have," Sabre replied, "The only thing we've found so far was a door we couldn't open."

"And a lot of long rooms," Keera added.

Dash stopped and sniffed the air. "Hey, do you smell that?" he asked. "Smells kinda like...."

"Food!" the twins exclaimed in unison and bolted off.

"Well, it has been a while since we've eaten," Sabre remarked to Dash. They both grinned, and then raced off after the twins.

When they caught up, the twins were sniffing around a door. Or, more specifically, Keera was sniffing around a door while Terra kept watch. "Hi guys!" Terra called. "Yeah, this is the right door," Keera said, then pushed at the door with her nose. It swung open. "Neat, it's open!"

Dash stuck his head around the door. "I don't see anyone," he remarked. He pushed the door the rest of the way open and walked in. There were lots of tables, and they were covered with all sorts of food! Fruits, meat, plants, everything! All their mouths watered at the sight, and the smell was even better! "Wow, that's a lot of food."

"Yeah," the twins agreed. They reared up, grabbed the edge of a table, and took a bite out of two different dishes. "It's good too!" Keera said, while Terra simply took another bite. Dash and Sabre grinned at each other, then dug in too.

"Who would've thought that cooked meat could taste so good?" Sabre remarked around a mouthful of food.

"Yeah," Terra agreed as her sister chowed on some colorful fruits. "We tried some of Pike's stuff once or twice, but fresh meat tasted better."

"Don't think I've seen these before," Dash remarked. The others walked over to where he was and looked curiously at what was on the table. There were several flat, circular dishes, some of which had a hard brown top on them, and others were filled with softer, colorful things. Dash took a bite out of one of the hard ones. "Mmm! They're full of really good tasting stuff!" he said. "Sorta like fruit, but different too."

Sabre licked the soft filling out of another dish. "Yum!" he said. Suddenly, he looked at the door. "Quiet!" he whispered.

Terra looked up and started to say, "What-" when Keera reached up and grabbed her sister's muzzle shut. "Shh!" she hissed.

They heard a voice at the door. "Those infernal mongrels.... That's the third time they've tried to get- eh? I didn't leave this open...."

"Hide! Quick!" Dash hissed. They ducked behind one of the short walls near the edges of the room.

They heard footsteps move into the room, and their owner apparently noticed the food. "Augh! The feast! It's ruined! What happened in here?" he cried. Dash motioned to the others, and they crept toward the door. When they were almost there, however, the speaker apparently spotted them "What, animals? They must have eaten the food! Get back here! Guards!" he yelled.

The drakens bolted out the door, but the man's shout had alerted one of the patrolling beasts, which gave chase. Sabre noticed this and darted around a corner. The others passed safely, but when the beast lumbered after them, Sabre pushed over one of the big metal statues that were in the hall, and it fell on the beast, pinning it to the ground. Sabre slashed its throat with his claws, and it stopped struggling. "C'mon guys, lets go be somewhere other than here," he suggested. The others nodded, and they started moving.

They hadn't gotten very far, however, when they heard a creaking noise from the ceiling. Keera looked like she was about to say something, but a part of the ceiling opened up, and two big, heavy things fell on the group.

"Oof," a familiar red form remarked as he untangled himself from his friends.

"Uncle Ragnarok! Amber!" the twins exclaimed. "What are you guys doing here?" Keera asked. "Yeah, aren't you guys supposed to be somewhere else?" her sister asked.

"That's what we thought too," Amber replied, "but the floor must not have agreed."

Ragnarok surveyed the group. "I think we might as well stay together now," he said. "Something weird is definitely going on here, and it's getting dangerous with all those beasts walking around."

"And there are some people here," Sabre added. "We went and ate one's 'feast.' It tasted pretty good, actually."

"Neat," Amber replied. "What's a feast?" Sabre shrugged.

Dash stared at them. "You don't know what a feast is?" he asked incredulously.

Keera cocked her head and said, "Um, no." "Should we?" Terra asked.

Dash shook his head. "Well, it's a fairly well known word... never mind. A feast is a really big meal, made for a whole lot of people," he explained.

"Lots of people?" Ragnarok repeated. "That means more people will be coming here!"

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" Dash remarked.

"...Not sure," Ragnarok admitted.

"Well, we've really got two choices left," Amber said. "We can stay here and try to figure out what's going on, or we can leave without a stir and try to find another way to get home."

"I say we stay here," Sabre said. "This is still our best chance to get home."

"Yeah," Dash agreed. "Beasts or no beasts, we'll get through this!"

The twins grinned, and were about to agree, when their heads suddenly whipped to the side. "Incoming!" they hissed.

Ragnarok looked around for cover, then recalled what had just happened. "Quick, up here!" he said, then jumped up and scrambled into the hole in the ceiling. The others quickly followed, and Dash, being the last one up, closed the part that had swung open.

They watched as someone walked past, muttering to himself. It was another human! "...lost several groups of beasts, so I'll have to replace them. And on top of that, something snuck in and ate the feast for my soon-to-be allies! What else will go wrong today? Ah well, it's not like those things are hard to replace...." The human's voice trailed off as he walked out of earshot.

The drakens stared at each other. "Did you hear him? He's the one making the beasts!" Ragnarok exclaimed.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? We've gotta go stop him!" Dash replied, and walked over to where the floor had opened earlier. "Now, how did you - WAA!" he yelled as the floor suddenly opened underneath him and he fell to the ground below.

Amber hopped down. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Owie," he replied, then stood up and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just got the wind knocked out of me for a second," he elaborated, and winked.

The rest of the group dropped down. "C'mon," Sabre urged, "no time to waste!" They raced off after the human. He was well out of sight by now, but his scent was still fresh, and the drakens could follow it easily.

It lead down a few long rooms, and ended up at a closed door. "Gah. These humans and their doors," Ragnarok complained. "They never think of other species when they make them."

"That's probably because they don't know there are any other species to worry about," Amber replied.

"You're probably right," Ragnarok agreed. "Unfortunately, that doesn't help us any."

Dash grinned. "Watch this," he said, and backed away from the door. The others looked on curiously, then jumped out of the way as he ran full speed at the door. He slammed into it, and plowed through as the door cracked and swung open. He staggered a little and said, "See, that's how you do it! Now get whoever's making the room spin to cut it out."

"Maybe using your head wasn't the best idea," Keera remarked.

Dash shook his head vigorously, then said. "It's okay. I think I can walk straight now. Let's go."

"Are you sure?" Terra asked.

"Not entirely, but we need to go catch that human," he replied. They caught the scent again, and followed it to another door. "One of you can get this one," Dash remarked. Amber smiled and pushed the door with her tail. It swung open. "And how is that fair?" Dash remarked. The group grinned and walked through.

The room was very large. It had a really fancy chair at the back, and had lots of fancy metal t-shapes making x-shapes on the walls. It also had a human standing near the chair, looking away from them. "Yes? Who is it?" they head the human call. It sounded like the human from before. They walked in a bit further, and he turned around. "Hmm? Drakens? I hadn't expected to see any of you here. Now these would make good soldiers...."

"We have no intention of making anything for you!" Ragnarok said. "Are you the one who's been making those beasts?"

"Ah, such spirit! You could be even better than soldiers...." The man smiled, speaking in a tone of amused detachment. "Yes, I am the one making the beasts. And why are you here?"

"Well, we're here for another reason, but that doesn't matter now. Why are you making those beasts?" Amber asked.

"I need an army so I can take over. Humans don't always follow orders, so I decided to make my own soldiers from these!" he said, motioning to a big box made out of metal pipes. Inside were a bunch of animals that looked like the four-legged beasts, but were a lot smaller and looked much friendlier.

"What?" the twins exclaimed. "How could you turn those cute animals-" "-into those monsters out there?" the asked.

"Since you'll be taken care of soon enough, I see no problem in telling you," the human answered. "I was once from a time very far in the future. I was part of a scientific project that was intended for the improvement of various animal species, well after your own species was given minds of your own. While the small-minded fools speculated about making creatures talk, I devised a method of taking a creature and making it into a fighting machine... bigger, stronger, and vicious! As time went on, I was even able to modify your precious 'Awakening' techniques to implant true fighting knowledge into my test subjects!" The man laughed to himself, a laugh the drakens didn't like, and then continued. "Of course, when they discovered what I was doing, they called for the authorities, who destroyed all of my work. I barely managed to escape with the latest prototype. Luck was on my side, however, as I stumbled onto a strange portal that brought me back here! The castle has made a fine base to conduct my tests from, first in the forest and then up here." The man laughed again, the drakens shifting uneasily. "Of course, one man cannot rule the world alone. Fortunately, there are many such individuals in this world, who would help me with my plans. I had been preparing a feast to celebrate our coming rule, though it seems to have been ruined by some animals."

"Oh. That would have been us. Sorry," Dash apologized.

"No matter. I will change you all, and make you my best soldiers!" the human replied, and hit a button on the chair. A fancy-looking grey box that had a fancy red cone at one end slid up out of the floor, and he grabbed it. "Let's see... I'll begin with the white one."

He aimed the box at Dash. "No!" Ragnarok yelled and rushed at the human. He hit a button. What looked like a bolt of lightning shot over Ragnarok, and he heard Dash cry out, just an instant before Ragnarok slammed into the box.

It swiveled around, to point at the human who fired it. "No-" he said, but was caught in the beam, and the protest turned into a scream.

"Dash!" the twins, Amber, and Sabre all called out. Ragnarok looked back at the white form laying crumpled on the ground that had been their newest friend, and felt white-hot rage boil up inside him, rage at the so-called human who had done this to his friend, who had turned so many innocent animals into monsters. He turned back to face the culprit.

The beam had stopped, and in the man's place stood another monster. The man's arms, legs, and chest had all grown thicker and torn his clothing. There wasn't any intelligence left in its eyes, and the man-beast let out a roar similar to that of the wolf-beasts.

Pure fury glinted in the drakens' eyes. With a cry of rage, they attacked. Ragnarok, the closest, clawed at the man-beast, but it simply beat his legs away and knocked him off to one side. The twins charged it, but it picked them up and threw them at Ragnarok. Amber and Sabre jumped it, but met with similar results.

"It's too fast, and too strong," Sabre said.

"We've got to keep trying!" Ragnarok replied.

The beast advanced, growling, obviously with every intention to kill them all. "Dash," Terra whispered. "Sorry we couldn't help you," Keera finished, tears in their eyes.

The beast roared and lunged, but stopped up short as something metal stuck through its chest, covered in blood. It vanished, and there was a sudden silver flash, and the beast's head was suddenly laying on the ground. The rest of its body crumpled to the floor. Behind it was... Dash! He was standing on two legs, but he was leaning heavily on one of the t-shapes from the wall. "Hey... guys. Don't... count me out... just yet," he said, and smiled weakly, then collapsed on the floor.

"Dash!" the group cried out and rushed to his side.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...