THE DRAKEN CHRONICLES

Book III: The Bonds Of Destiny

Part One: Escape

They gathered around Dash's body. "He saved us, and now he's..." Keera said, trailing off sadly.

Amber put her head to his chest. "I can hear him breathing! He's still alive!" she exclaimed.

"Um, is that a good thing?" Sabre asked. "I mean, he did get hit with the beast thing. He might not be safe to be around anymore."

"Well, he talked to us, didn't he? None of the beasts did that!" Keera pointed out. Terra cocked her head and said, "Maybe Ragnarok hit the thing away from him quick enough that it only changed his body, and left him being him."

Ragnarok's head perked up. "Oh, speaking of that..." he muttered. He loped over to the machine and smashed his tail into it. Its stand snapped, dropping the machine to the floor and breaking it into pieces. "There. Now nobody else can use it to do anything like this again."

"Good idea, Ragnarok," Amber said, "but another good idea would be to get out of this castle as soon as possible. Without that human to control them, the beasts are going to get loose and start attacking things. We don't want to be here when that happens."

"Yeah," Sabre agreed. "We need to get out of here."

"We can carry Dash," Keera said. "Yeah, put him on our back," her sister added. The other drakens struggled a bit, but managed to lift Dash onto the twins' back. "Oof," Keera muttered, "he's heavy." "Okay," Terra announced. "We're ready."

"Then let's get going before something else happens." Ragnarok remarked. They ran back through the castle as fast as the twins could go. A few beasts bothered them, but Ragnarok, Sabre, and Amber took care of them easily enough. They reached the outer wall quickly.

"Guess we get to use the front door this time," Sabre remarked.

Amber looked at the thick wooden door that was about fifteen feet tall. "I don't see a doorknob, and we won't be able to break this one," she observed.

"Maybe this'll help," Ragnarok suggested. The others looked over. He was standing near a big wooden wheel that was buried halfway in the ground, and a big stick in the ground next to it. A chain was attached from the door to the wheel. He grabbed part of the wheel in his teeth and pulled, but nothing happened.

"Try moving the stick," Terra suggested. Ragnarok shrugged and flicked his tail against the stick. It swung over to one side, and the wheel started spinning really fast. The door fell over and hit the ground with a thud. "Hey, you were right!" Keera said. "Of course I was," Terra replied. "Now let's go!"

They ran through the doorway, but almost ran over a group of several humans. "What the-?" one of them exclaimed.

"You're going to want to stay away from here," Ragnarok said quickly. "The man in charge of this place is dead, and his beasts are running rampant. If you want to fight them all, that's fine with me, but we are getting out of here, and I suggest you do the same." With that, the drakens walked past the stunned humans.

Sabre paused as he walked past, then walked back to the humans. "Um, could we borrow some of your clothes?"

The humans were stunned enough by what had just happened to comply. "Um, okay," one said, his pack slipping of his shoulder and landing in front of the draken.

"Thank you!" Sabre replied, grabbing the straps in his teeth before running off to catch up with his friends. As he rejoined them, he noticed their curious looks, and replied, "Well, humans wear clothes, and Dash is like a human now, so...."

Keera and Terra glanced at their charge. "Yeah, I guess you're right," they remarked.

"Here, let's take him back to the village," Ragnarok suggested. "We ought to tell Skye what happened, and it'll be a good place for Dash to rest for a bit."

"Good idea, Ragnarok," Sabre said.

"It'll take us a while to get there without flying," Amber noted, "so we'd better get moving!"

* * *

The trip to the village had taken a while, and Dash hadn't woken up yet. They managed to make it through the tunnel without hitting too many walls, and finally emerged back into the valley. Fortunately for them, Skye had been standing near the cave at that moment. "Oh, hello again! How is your search going?" she asked warmly. Then the twins walked out of the tunnel. "Hello girls! I see you're... is that Dash? What happened to him?"

The twins looked at Dash. "Put simply-" "-bad things," they said.

Skye moved closer to inspect her son. "What? He's....?"

"He's shaped like a human now," Ragnarok explained, "but he's still a draken."

"...Okay, bring him to our house," Skye instructed. "You can explain it to me there." Keera and Terra brought Dash back to his house, and the rest of the group helped to carefully lay him down on the mats.

"I hope he wakes up soon," Keera murmured.

Ragnarok walked over and nuzzled her reassuringly. "Don't worry. He's going to be fine," he comforted.

* * *

He faded into consciousness, but his eyes didn't quite open yet. He was sprawled out on what felt like his mat, but not in the way that he normally slept. The inside of his head hurt a little, and he was really hungry. He rolled over and tried to stand up, but it felt really weird, like his legs weren't bending the way they were supposed to. He slowly opened his eyes, and saw the patchy stonework that he'd seen each morning for a very long time; he was in his house! With that settled, he looked down to see if something was wrong with his legs, then stared in shock. His legs looked completely different...! What had happened? He slowly sat up, swinging his tail around behind him for support. The light from the doorway seemed really bright, and he swung his wings around to shield his eyes. Well, at least_those_ were still the same. He used the shade to inspect what had happened to his body. His new hands still had the four claws, but the claws were longer, more dexterous. His hind legs now only bent in one place, and his paws were also like a human's, but the rear claw had stayed in the same place. He put his head in his hands. "What... what happened?" he muttered.

Two green heads poked in from around the door. "Dash!" "You're awake!"

"Uh... Keera? Terra? What's going on?" he asked.

The twins were so excited that their explanation jumbled together enough that it was hard to tell which one was saying what. "In the castle-" "-that bad human-" "-tried to turn you-" "-into a beast!" "He started-" "-but Ragnarok hit the machine-" "-back at him!" "The human turned into a beast-" "-and would've hurt us-" "-but you saved us-" "and then fell unconscious!" "We carried you back-" "-all the way from the castle." "You've been asleep since then."

"Turn me into...?" he muttered, then woke up entirely. "What?!" he yelped.

"All true!" the twins replied in unison.

"So, I was almost...." He shuddered.

The twins nodded. "Yeah," Keera said, "that's the way we feel too." "It managed to change your body," Terra said, "but Ragnarok stopped it before it changed you."

Dash shook his head and stared off into the distance for a bit, then came back to reality. "Okay then, let's try this out..." Dash remarked. Using his arms and tail to help, he maneuvered his legs underneath himself and shakily stood up. "There, that wasn't so hard. Fortunately, I have a good sense of balance." It wasn't just that, though; as odd as it sounded, it was almost like his body already knew what it was doing.

The twins looked up at him. "Wow, you're tall," Terra remarked. Indeed, their heads came up to about the top of his stomach.

Dash grinned, then crouched down so he was closer to their eye level. "Yeah, I guess I am," he said.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Keera exclaimed. She and her sister walked over to a bag near the wall, picked it up, and brought it back to him. "On our way out of the castle, we ran into some humans," she explained. "This was Sabre's idea. Humans wear clothes, so since you look a bit like a human now, he figured that we should get some clothes for you."

Dash looked at the bag of clothes, and then shrugged. "Sure, why not? Might as well try them out." He pulled out a long black tube that had a big hole at one end, a small hole at the other, and two smaller tubes coming out next to the small hole. He puzzled over it, then turned to the twins.

They giggled at him. "Don't worry. We asked Pike about his clothes once, so we know how you should put them on," Keera said. "That one's a 'shirt,'" Terra explained. "You put your head and arms through the big hole, and they come out the small ones."

Dash tried this, and managed to get it right on the first try. He did notice a problem, however. "So where do my wings go?" he asked.

"Oops," Terra said. "Humans don't have those...." "I know! Turn around and crouch down again," Keera instructed. Dash did so, and Keera used a claw to cut a long slit in the shirt. She guided Dash's wing through, then Terra did the same with the other one.

Dash looked behind him and flapped his wings. "Ah, that's better," he said. He pulled out the next thing in the bag, a red thing that looked like two red tubes stuck together at their tops.

"Those are 'pants,'" Keera said. "Put your legs through the big hole, and your feet will come out the bottom ones."

"Hold on, this won't go past my tail," Dash remarked.

"Easy to fix," Terra said. She cut a hole in the back of the pants. Dash pulled them on, slipping his finned tail in through the hole. The twins laughed. "Well Dash," Keera said, "how does it feel to be the first draken ever to wear clothes?"

Dash gave a good natured laugh. "Surprisingly comfortable, actually," he replied. He fanned his wings and swung his tail. "Not as restrictive as I'd thought it would be."

"Well, let's go then! Terra said. "Yeah, we'll go show the others that you're awake!" Keera added. The twins walked eagerly out the door, but Dash had to duck a bit to get out.

Oddly enough, there was almost nobody around the village, just a few chicks and some of the oldest drakens. "Well, that's weird," Dash muttered. "Shouldn't more people be here?"

"Yeah..." the twins agreed. "Let's look around."

As they walked, Dash mused over what had happened. His new perspective was a bit odd, but also pretty neat. He reached up and grabbed a few fruits from a tree as they passed it. He tossed two of them to the twins and ate the last one himself. He was really hungry, but a few days without food usually did that to you.

"Oh yeah!" Keera suddenly exclaimed. Dash and Terra looked at her curiously. "I just remembered where Ragnarok, Sabre, and Amber went. They left to go get some food, but we stayed here to watch you. I forgot it in all the excitement," she explained. "They did?" Terra asked. "Yeah, it was while you were taking a nap," her sister said. "I figured we didn't have much choice in the matter."

Dash grinned. "You two sure are something else," he said with a laugh. His stomach growled loudly. "Man, I hope they bring some of the food back with them," he remarked, sitting down.

"Don't worry, we did," Ragnarok said as he, Amber, and Sabre came around a corner. "Just in case you'd woken up while we were gone." He had most of an animal slung over his back, and he walked over to Dash and set the meal down in front of him.

"Thanks!" Dash said whole-heartedly, and dug in. Soon he had eaten his fill. "Ah, that's better," he remarked.

"So where is everyone else?" Terra asked.

"We ran into them on the way back," Amber said. "Someone had come into the village saying that they'd spotted a big group of surviving beasts coming this way, so everyone went to take care of them," Amber said.

"So why are you guys still here?" Dash asked.

"Well, we had to watch over you!" Sabre replied. A roar sounded off to one side, and his head whipped around toward it. "What? Beasts in here?"

"Must've slipped past them," Dash muttered. "C'mon, let's get 'em!" They sprinted over toward the tunnel, and saw a lone beast prowling around. "Just one? Tch. I'll get rid of it." He jumped high into the air, and flew even higher, moving above the beast. He yelled, "Hey, ugly!" and went into a steep dive. As the beast looked up, Dash went into a forward roll and kicked out straight down, pounding the beast. It crumpled beneath the powerful attack, and Dash used the impact to springboard himself back into the air.

"Ooh!" the twins exclaimed.

"Nicely done," Sabre remarked.

"Yeah, pretty neat!" Ragnarok added.

Dash landed perfectly and grinned modestly. "Told you I liked the flashy stuff," he said. Despite the confident façade, though, he felt a little uneasy. He'd felt it again, like his body knew more about what it was doing than he did.

"That beast showing up isn't a good sign. Let's go see what's going on out there!" Amber suggested.

Ragnarok grabbed a moss lantern, and the group practically ran through the tunnel. It took them a little while to get through, but they got to the end and emerged into daylight.

There were beast corpses everywhere, and there were still a lot left. "I didn't think there would be this many!" Ragnarok exclaimed.

Dash spotted a draken body lying on the ground. A light blue body. "Mom!" he yelled, and ran over to her, the others following.

She was lying on the ground in a puddle of blood, with some still flowing from a gash on her side. "Mom!" Dash cried.

Skye groaned weakly, then looked up. "Dash? One of those monsters got me. I'll be fine, but you need to go help stop those things!" she said, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Right," he replied. "Amber, could I ask you to watch over my mom?"

"Sure. I'm smaller than you guys, and I won't be as much help in a brawl like this," she said.

"Thanks. Keep a paw pressed against her wound. It'll help stop the bleeding." With that, they were off.

A tan draken noticed them run up. "Ah, more help! Good!" he said. "There's more of these things than we thought there were!"

Dash grinned confidently. "These beasts don't stand a chance," he said.

The battle was long and difficult, but the drakens finally won in the end. A few more drakens were injured, but as the tan draken later put it, "I'd rather get hurt beating these things than let someone else get hurt losing to them."

As the last beast fell, Dash ran back over to Amber. "How's she doing?" he asked.

Skye was still laying on the ground. "She's still bleeding, and she's not awake anymore!" Amber told him.

"Hey, I think I may know something that might help," Ragnarok said. "I got a really bad cut once, and Pike wrapped a long white cloth around it."

"I think there was something like that in the bag!" Terra exclaimed. "We left it at Dash's house! Let's hurry!" Keera added. Dash lifted his mother onto the twins' back. This time, they did run through the tunnel.

The bag in Dash's house was still open, and Dash riffled through it, finding a long white strip of cloth that was wound up into a disk. "Hold this," he directed, and Ragnarok held one end of the cloth down. Dash wound it tightly around Skye's wound, and stuck it into place with the little pins that came with it. Blood quickly stained the cloth, but it seemed to be going slower. "There, that should help," Dash said, sitting down next to his mother.

"I sure hope so," Sabre muttered. Everyone else nodded.

A cool breeze blew in through the open doorway, and Skye's eyes fluttered open. "Mmm. Wha?" she said muzzily.

"Mom!" Dash cried, picked up his mother, and hugged her tight, wrapping her in both his arms and wings. "You're all right!"

"Yes, but I won't be for long if you keep squeezing me like that!" she spluttered. Dash laughed and put her down.

She coughed, but smiled. "You've gotten strong," she remarked.

"So how are you feeling?" Amber asked.

Skye looked at the blood-stained bandages on her side. "Better than I look, actually," she replied, "and a lot better than it could've been. If it weren't for you guys, I might have died out there."

"We would never let that happen!" Keera said. "Yeah, you're Dash's mom!" Terra added.

Skye laughed. "I like your conviction," she said. "So, after stopping the man from making the beasts and stopping the beasts themselves, what will you guys do now? The castle wasn't helpful at all, so you're out of leads."

They thought about it. "Maybe we could go ask this time's Pike again," Ragnarok suggested.

"Yeah, he might know something else we could do," Terra said.

"That sounds like a good plan!" Skye said, then turned to Dash. "I suppose you're going too?"

"Yeah, I think I will," Dash replied. "I sorta owe them, I guess. After all, if Ragnarok hadn't risked his life for me, I would've been on the other side of that fight out there. It's the least I can do to go help them."

Skye smiled at him and said, "Well then, I won't try to stop you. Try to be careful, all right?"

Dash smiled back. "All right." He crouched down and hugged his mom around the neck. She returned the hug with her wings and nuzzled her son affectionately. "Bye Mom." He picked up his bag, and they all headed out.

* * *

###

Part Two: Rambling

"Whew, finally out of that forest," Ragnarok said.

"Oh come on, it isn't that bad in there," Dash chided. "It's really neat, in fact."

"Yeah, but I still prefer it out in the open air," Ragnarok countered.

Dash looked around with a grin. "You do have a point," he said.

"Well, since we have all this air, let's use it!" Sabre remarked, flapping his wings. The group took off.

The twins rolled in midair. "No matter how many times we do it-" "-flying is still fun!" they said.

"Yeah, but when's lunch? I'm starving!" Ragnarok said.

Amber looked down. "Right about now." She dove and pounced on a big animal. The rest of the animals around it scattered, and the drakens landed next to Amber.

"Nice catch," Ragnarok commented, and the drakens ate their fill. "Well, guess we'd better get...." He trailed off as he heard a familiar noise that seemed to come from everywhere.

"I've heard that before," Sabre remarked, then it hit them all.

"A portal!" everyone but Dash exclaimed.

"Really?" Dash asked. "Then let's go find it!"

Amber flew a short way into the air, scanning the area quickly. "Ah, over there!" she called over to the others, who quickly ran over to it.

"Wonder where this one goes," Sabre remarked, Amber landing beside him.

"Only one way to find out!" Ragnarok said and jumped in. The twins cheered and dove in after him. Sabre and Amber followed, and Dash shrugged and did the same.

* * *

The drakens all landed softly. Dash was surprised at the drop, but still managed to land lightly on his feet. "That was quite a trip," he muttered.

"Yep!" Keera and Terra agreed in unison. "So, anything look familiar to anyone?" Terra asked. They were standing at the edge of a dense forest that surrounded a big mountain, but the trees looked different than usual. They were more colorful, and they had a lot less leaves, but the leaves were a lot bigger.

"Whew, it's hot here," Dash said, fanning himself with his wings.

"Yeah," Ragnarok agreed, and looked around. "Hmm... this looks really different from where we were."

"Well, guess it's time to get going," Amber remarked.

They were just about to leave when someone small poked his head through the plants at the edge of the forest. "You're here!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, hello!" Keera said. "Who are you?" her sister asked.

"No time for questions, we must hurry!" the human said. He walked out of the foliage to them.

Ragnarok cocked his head. "Hold on, are you a child?" he asked.

"Yes, I am, but we need to go!" the human replied.

"Okay, that clears that up. Go where?" he asked. The boy was impatiently tugging at the base of Ragnarok's wing, apparently trying to get him to move.

"Back to the village," the boy explained. He let go of the draken's wing and walked toward the deeper parts of the forest. "Follow me."

The drakens walked toward each other. "'Back to the village'?" Ragnarok commented.

Dash shrugged. "Seems harmless enough to me," he remarked. The rest of the group nodded, then turned back to the child. "Okay, lead on."

* * *

"The elders live here. Wait at this spot until the proper moment," the boy instructed, and walked toward a large hut.

"Something about this seems very familiar," Ragnarok muttered. They were hiding in the undergrowth outside a village of huts. The boy, instead of just going through the village, had led them on a wide path around it to the biggest hut, which was also at the back of the village.

The boy walked up to the door of the hut. "Elders! I have returned!" he called.

Several older-looking humans walked out the door to him. "Yes Toby? What happened?" one asked him.

"I went where I was supposed to, and found a few creatures you might want to see," the boy said, motioning to the drakens, who walked over.

The adults stared at them. "The legends were true!" one muttered. "They have returned!"

Another walked forward and bent over at his waist. "Oh great ones, thank you for returning to us in this dark hour." He straightened back up.

Keera looked around. "Okay, I'm confused. Have we actually been here before?" she asked the other drakens.

Amber looked around. "I... don't think so..." she said.

The human smiled. "Yes, it was said that this would be so," he said. "Wait here, all will be explained." The adult humans, Toby had called them 'elders,' went into the hut. A minute later, they came back out, carrying a big stone tablet with carvings on it and a small wooden box.

One of the elders brought the stone forward. "Inscribed on this tablet is a legend from ages past," she said.

"A legend?" Dash asked.

The elder nodded. "It speaks of our people, long ago. They had been prosperous, but a one day dark force suddenly befell them. It slaughtered the people, burned their crops, and destroyed their shelters. When all seemed at its darkest, however, a shining light appeared. Six gods, in the guise of wondrous creatures, came to our people. Wielding great powers of the elements, they turned back the force of darkness, and finally defeated it. Before departing for the heavens again, they said that one day the dark force would befall our people again, and the gods would again return to free us from his tyranny." The elder turned the stone tablet toward them, and, between the strange carved symbols they couldn't read, there were pictures inscribed into the stone. Four four-legged creatures with wings, one red, one black, one brown, and one green, one two-legged white one, and a four-legged golden one without wings. "You are five of the gods of old"

"Um, wow," Ragnarok remarked, "but are you sure we're the ones you want? I don't think we've ever done anything like that before."

The elder smiled. "The ancient gods also informed our ancestors that you would have no memory of having saved our people before. They left a scroll for the elders to keep watch over and safely deliver when the gods one day returned," she said.

The elders with the box walked forward and opened it for them. Inside was a piece of rolled-up paper. "We have been unable to decipher what is written on it, but you should be able to," one of them said.

"You may come inside the hut to read it," another offered. "We will remain out here so as not to disturb you."

"Um, thanks," Dash said. He picked up the paper and the drakens walked inside, the elders closing the door behind them. He unrolled the paper and put a few small rocks on the corners to keep it from rolling back up.

Amber quickly scanned over the writing. "This looks like it was written by a bunch of people. You can tell by the different styles of writing," she noted. "Hey, that looks like my claw-writing!"

"Hey, mine too!" Ragnarok remarked. "We must've been the ones that wrote this back then."

"Well then, what's it say?" Sabre asked.

The letter started out in Ragnarok's style of claw-writing. "Hi us! If you're reading this, you must be in the village that thinks we're some sort of gods. There's a good reason for that, too. When we are writing this, we've just saved them from a really big, bad thing."

It switched to Sabre's claw-writing. "Unfortunately for you, it'll come back somehow, but it won't be as strong as it was the first time we defeat it. It has people that believe that it is the most important thing there is, and they can do something that'll bring it back. Fortunately, whatever brings it back takes a lot of its strength."

Then the style switched to Keera's. "There will be a lot of fights ahead of you. I'm not going to lie to you: they won't be easy. However, all of you have more in you than you think. Keep trying, and you'll all pull through fine."

It finished up with Amber's style of claw-writing. "Don't underestimate the people you'll have to fight. We'll all be fine if you just remember that. Oh, and remember this too:" and there were two rows of weird symbols written down. "Everyone, be careful and be brave. You're about to change people's lives."

Everyone looked up from the paper, and silence reigned for a minute. "Well, that was pretty deep," Dash said.

The other drakens looked at him curiously. "Deep?" Ragnarok asked. "Um, not really. Look at how thin the paper is."

Dash stared oddly at him for a second, then realized where the confusion lay. "Oh! I'm sorry, I keep forgetting that you guys don't come from where I do. 'Deep' can also be used to mean 'thought provoking,'" he explained.

"Oh, it can?" Sabre said. "Then, yeah, I guess it was deep."

"All this time travel stuff is starting to make my head hurt," Keera said. "You guys picking us up when we were as old as you are is weird enough, but now we're reading a letter that we wrote to ourselves years ago, except for the fact that we haven't written it yet!"

"Yeah," Amber agreed. "But it's pretty obvious what we have to do now."

Ragnarok nodded. "We need to help these people out," he finished.

Dash rolled the paper back up and stuck it in his bag. "Might as well keep it, in case we need it later," he explained. "Anyway, let's go talk to the people out there."

The group walked back out to the patiently waiting elders. "You are finished?" one asked.

"Yes, we are," Ragnarok said. "We're going to help you, and save your village again."

The elders threw up a cheer. "Thank you, great ones," the one who had read them the legend said. "With your help, we will surely come out victorious!"

"I sure hope so," Amber said earnestly.

* * *

One of the elders, Elder Oma, had been chosen to oversee their care and safe keeping in the time before they began their quest. She had quickly found something to fuss over. "Come with me. You are all filthy! Mud, blood, and who knows what else! We cannot have you looking like this!"

The drakens looked themselves over. "Yeah, I suppose we are pretty messy, but we've been really busy lately, and haven't had time for a bath," Ragnarok said. "Just tell us where the nearest river is, and we'll go clean up."

"You expect me to stand by and have the ancient gods bathe in a river, while we can give you so much better?" she said in shock. "Absolutely not! Please follow me." She walked off. The drakens shared a look, then walked after her. She led them to a big, spacious hut. Inside, half the floor was taken up by a really big pool. Inside were a few villagers. "You all may relax, they will take care of your cleaning," Elder Oma said.

Amber looked at all the villagers. "Oh, really, you don't have need to bother with all this just for us...."

"Think nothing of it," one of the villagers replied.

"It is our honor to help you," another chimed in.

"Please, it is no trouble for us at all," Oma said, then turned to Dash. "I apologize, but you must remove your clothing. It will be cleaned and returned to you when you are clean as well."

"All right," Dash said. He was perfectly comfortable with it, of course, seeing as he had gone through most of his life without clothes. He pulled them off and handed them to the villager who walked up for them.

The villagers gave them a preparatory brushing off to shake off the loosest grime and loosen the toughest. Afterwards, one of them turned to the twins. "Honored Ladies, please enter the spring." The twins nodded and walked to the pool, calmly for once, and slipped in with hardly a splash.

"Ohhhh..." they both sighed, laying against the wall on their back, heads above the water.

Sabre looked at them from the edge of the pool. "How is it?" he asked.

"Mmmmm... so warm," Keera murmured, eyes half closed. "I could lay here for hours..." Terra said.

The villagers motioned the rest of them in, and the drakens all joined the twins in the pool. "Whoa..." Dash remarked. "Who knew water could get this warm?"

"Mmm," Amber sighed, "and feel so good...."

The drakens lay there soaking the muck off for a good long while. Eventually, they got out and the villagers wiped off whatever was still left one them. One of them had a bit of a hard time trying to wash off Ragnarok's birthmark, until he realized what she was doing and explained it to her.

The twins looked over their freshly cleaned hide. "Thank you all so much," Keera said to the villagers. "It's so nice to be clean again," Terra added.

"Oh, think nothing of it," one said. "It was our honor to help you all."

Elder Oma walked into the hut and smiled. "So, did you enjoy your visit to our hot springs?" she asked.

Ragnarok grinned. "Definitely," he asserted.

"It's very relaxing," Dash added.

Sabre contemplated for a few seconds. "It's very nice to lay in once in a while, but I think we all prefer a nice lake or river," he said.

"Just a bit more like home," Amber agreed.

"Your hot springs are very nice," Terra said. "But you can have so much more fun in a river!" Keera concluded.

"But still, thanks for taking us here," Dash said. "It was a nice change of pace, and pretty relaxing too."

Oma nodded. "By the way, here are your garments," she added, handing Dash his clothes. He shook himself off and slipped them on, and then she said, "Now that you are all clean, the rest of the elders wish to speak with you. Please follow me."

The drakens followed her out of the bath house and back to the elders' hut. Inside, the elders were gathered together in a circle. Oma sat down in an open space, and the drakens lay down (or, in Dash's case, sat) in the remaining space of the circle. One of the elders spoke up. "Since you all have no memory of the events of the past," he said, "we are here to explain to you all what has happened."

Amber nodded. "Please do," she said. "It'll help us to know what we'll be fighting against."

"A long time ago, when our tribe had been powerful, we had been a successful people. Some of our highest shaman had possessed great powers, and often discovered others with such powers to train as new shaman as well. However, one such student came to discover a different sort of power, a dark power. He tried to propagate his methods, and was expelled from our tribe for it. Filled with rage at the rejection, he threw himself into the study of the dark powers he discovered, and was consumed by them, his mind warped. Years later, he returned to this village, but with an army by his side. He now called himself Terrokath, the Dark One, and his goal was to avenge his banishment by destroying us. All looked lost. One day, though, in what may have been the darkest hour for our ancestors, you all appeared and drove Terrokath's forces back. With help of the magic of the ancient shaman, you were all able to seal the Dark One and his powers away. Unfortunately, that same act stole away the powers of our own shaman as well."

"And without those powers, you can't fight them anymore?" Keera asked.

The man nodded, and continued. "Now Terrokath's followers have used the crystal that he was sealed in to call his body back to this world, and he has resumed his war against us, more enraged than ever. We have no hope but you, to destroy him for good."

"Well, we beat him before, so we must be able to do it again," Ragnarok asserted.

"Um, we haven't exactly beaten him yet," Amber whispered to him.

"Yeah, but at least we know that we'll win," he whispered back.

"Or this could all be one big coincidence," Sabre pointed out quietly.

"That isn't helping," Dash interjected, poking Sabre.

"So, do you have any idea how to get to where this 'Dark One' is?" Terra asked the elders.

"Yes, we have a map to his stronghold," an elder said. "This is the map that was made long ago. Terrokath appears to be using his dark tower again, which is both fortunate and unfortunate. We know of the path to the tower, but it holds a great deal of power for him." He held out a small piece of rolled up paper, and Dash took it. "We all wish we could help more than this, but you are the only ones who can stop him and his dark forces. We are sorely pressed to simply defend this village from his forces."

The drakens nodded. "We understand," Ragnarok said. "We'll do everything we can to save you all."

The humans and drakens walked out of the hut. The elders pointed the drakens in the direction of the first landmark on the map, and the drakens started walking toward it. As they passed the villagers, the villagers stopped what they were doing and cheered the drakens on.

* * *

"Okay, we're looking for a rock that's shaped like a human's head," Dash informed the others, looking at the map. They had left the village a few hours ago, and were trekking through the strange forest toward where the map said there was a rock.

"And what do we do once we find it?" Amber asked.

"Umm... go right-ish until we find another head-shaped rock," he replied. "In fact, all the landmarks are head-shaped rocks."

"They must have left them to mark the trail the last time they came through," Sabre speculated.

"Yeah, proba..." Dash said, trailing off in mid-word, staring blankly into space.

The twins looked at him. "Dash?" "Are you all right?" they asked.

Dash shook his head quickly. "I'm fine, just felt a little funny...." He assured them.

* * *

He noticed them while scrying that pitiful village. They were back! This could hinder his plans.... Peering into the dimensional window created by his magic, he saw them leave the village, and heard their conversation about the markers.

He could sense a familiar power about them, but it seemed... weaker than before? Also... he couldn't quite decipher what it was, but there was something very odd about the white one.... "Heiko," he said. His right-hand warrior Heiko, appeared by his side.

"You called master?" Heiko replied. Already a highly-ranked soldier among the Dark One's followers, the cunning and conniving man had risen to even greater heights by the release of his master. He had been taken on as his master's apprentice, growing skilled in the Dark One's own dark powers.

"I wish you to find and observe these creatures," his master said. "Pay special attention to the white one. I sense something strange about him. Sew discord and hinder them when possible, but avoid engaging them directly; they are powerful warriors."

Heiko looked through the magical window. "As you wish, my master," he said. Terrokath raised a hand. Black energy surrounded Heiko, then the human disappeared, and another shadow appeared in the scene inside the magic window.

* * *

"'Funny'? Dash, are you sure you're all right?" Amber asked him.

"I said I'm fine!" Dash yelled angrily, then reeled back in surprise, a hand over his mouth. "I didn't... I'm sorry...." Why did he do that?

"Dash, what's going on?" Ragnarok asked, touching Dash's leg with a claw.

"I... I," he stammered, then pushed Ragnarok back and backed away a few steps. He suddenly remembered the way it had felt before, when he had fought that beast... it had felt right, it had felt good. Dash's eyes widened, and he gasped as something clicked into place. Something bad._"_No... get back...! It's... something else is in my head, telling me to hurt, to... kill...." He grabbed his head and fell to his knees.

"Dash!" the twins cried and ran to him.

"No!" he yelled again, in a growly voice that didn't sound at all like him, shoving the twins away roughly enough that he knocked them over. "No," he repeated, sounding like himself again. "If you come, I might... hurt you." A small tear ran down his cheek. "My mind... like a beast is trying to take over...."

A small distance away, Heiko couldn't believe his luck! He couldn't have had a better situation if he had planned it himself!

"A beast?!" "Fight it!" "Don't let it take you!" the twins said to him.

"No, don't!" a new voice called. Everyone looked over to a human, dressed in black, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Give in to it... 'Dash'," the human said with a grin that didn't look at all nice.

Dash stared, then grabbed his head and gritted his teeth. "Ungh... stop...." Suddenly, he jumped at the drakens, a half-crazed look on his face, but pulled himself up short. "Get... out... of... me..." he growled.

The human laughed. "Why bother fighting it? Give in! Kill them all, and come to serve my master's cause."

Dash faced the human, a look of rage on his face. He brought his right hand to his side, but couldn't move further than that. Ragnarok watched this, and shivered as he felt a cold breeze blow past him, blowing toward Dash. Oddly enough, Ragnarok saw a white glow following the path of the wind, flowing to Dash's hand and gathering there. "No..." Dash muttered, eyes closed with the effort it was taking to fight.

The human laughed evilly again. "'No'? You cannot resist it! You feel the desire, I know you do. These worthless creatures would be so easy to kill." The man drew something that glinted cruelly from his belt. "Here, I'll even help you."

Dash's head snapped up and his eyes snapped open, a white glow beaming from them. He locked his glare on the human, who stopped laughing. "I won't let you hurt my friends!" he roared.

His hand flashed forward, palm out toward the human. All the energy that had gathered there shot out of his hand at the human. In midair, the energy turned into a huge blade of ice. It hit the stunned human in the chest, blasting him back. A small cloud of ice exploded at the impact, obscuring the view. When the dust cleared, it was obvious that the human was dead; he was pinned to a tree by the huge icicle. Dash fell to one knee and collapsed to the ground, and the twins raced over to him. They carefully rolled him over onto his back. His head lifted up a bit, and he looked wearily at them, both his eyes and expression returned to normal. "Keera... Terra.... I didn't... hurt you... did I?" he asked.

They shook their heads, then hugged him tight with their wings, simultaneously nuzzling him. "No, you didn't." "You would never hurt us."

He weakly raised up one arm and rubbed Terra's neck. "Good..." he said, then smiled and closed his eyes. The twins carefully set him down.

The other three ran over from checking out the human. "Yeah, that guy won't be getting up again," Ragnarok remarked somberly.

"Girls, is he...?" Sabre asked.

The twins shook their heads. "No, he's just sleeping," Terra said. "I think he's probably really tired from fighting the beast so hard, to keep from hurting us," Keera said. "And from stopping that bad human!" Terra added.

"Yeah, how did he do that?" Ragnarok asked, looking over at Dash. "He seemed to pull cold to his hands. I felt it blow past me."

"Why do all these sorts of things keep happening to poor Dash?" Amber wondered.

"And why did this take so long?" Sabre added. "He was changed a few days ago."

"Maybe it's because our minds are more complicated than a wolf's," Ragnarok considered, "so the change needed more time before it tried for his mind."

Keera patted Dash with her wing. "Well, he's saved us again," she said. "Let's wait here for him to wake up." "Yeah," her twin agreed, "he could use the rest."

"Sounds like a plan," Sabre said. "Anyone feel like helping me get some food?"

* * *

Dash looked around. The room he was in was really dark, so dark that it almost seemed like it was absorbing all the light. Off in the distance, he noticed his friends. "Guys!" he yelled, and ran to them, but as he got closer, he felt that something was wrong.

The twins shambled toward him. "Why did you do it?" Keera asked.

"Do what-" he started, but then stopped in shock as he got a good look at his friends. They were all beat up! Keera's foreleg was obviously broken, and her twin had a huge gash on her face. One of Ragnarok's wings was hanging limply on the ground, Amber was limping on two of her legs, Sabre's tail was limp and his horn was snapped, and all of them were covered with bruises and cuts.

"Why, Dash?" Terra said.

"What... what happened to you?" Dash asked, appalled at what he saw.

Ragnarok staggered forward, his wing dragging on the ground, and said, "You did. You listened to that human, gave in to the beast. You attacked us all."

"What? No!" Dash protested. "I would never...."

"But you did," Amber accused.

"NO!" Dash yelled, sitting bolt upright. He was on the ground, in the middle of the forest, his heart pounding.

The twins ran over, "What's wrong?!" the asked in unison.

Dash stared at them. "K-Keera? Terra?" he asked, then flung his arms around their necks, putting his head between theirs, crying into their shoulders. "I-I'm so glad you're all right," he said.

The twins looked stunned for a second, then rubbed their heads against his neck, nuzzling him comfortingly. "It's all right, we're fine," Keera said, "but what about you?"

"I... think I'm okay," he replied. "I just had an awful dream, and I was... afraid it was true." A few more tears fell, but the twins were helping to calm down their overwrought friend.

"There, there," Keera said. "It was just a dream," Terra said, using the words their mother had said to them when they were younger. Keera rubbed Dash's side with a paw. "No matter what happened in the dream," she said, "it wasn't real. You were very brave, and fought your hardest to keep from becoming a beast." "You even stopped the bad human who tried to get you to hurt us!" Terra added.

"I...." He stepped back from them, the events from earlier coming back to him. "Please, get away from me." He took another step backwards. "I'm not safe for you to be around." He turned away from them and sat down heavily, covering his head with his wings.

"Dash?"

"Just... just leave me here. I can't be around you. I'm... I'm a monster. A beast. You can't be safe around me," he said, tears flowing down his cheeks. "Just go. Please...."

The twins walked back over to him and peeked up at him from under his wings, smiling warmly. "Nope!" they both replied. "We know that you would never hurt us," Terra asserted. "Do you remember the first thing you ever did for us?" Keera asked.

Dash looked down at her. "I tied a vine around you," he muttered pessimistically.

Terra smiled again. "You helped Keera's hurt leg get better!" she corrected.

"That doesn't mean much now..." he replied. "I'm... I can't be trusted around you guys. I can't bear the thought of hurting you...."

"First impressions mean a lot," Keera said, "and you'll always be a draken who tries to help whenever he can," "and only hurts those that he has to," "no matter how hard anyone may try to change you." "You're one of the best drakens we know, and that will never change!"

Dash sniffed and looked at them. "Thanks, you two." He smiled a little and hugged them both again. Tear paths were still glistening on his cheeks, but a bit of his normal cheery glow had returned.

The twins backed up and beamed at him. "See, that's better!" Terra said. She reached up with her wing and dried off his cheek. "All this gloom doesn't help anyone," Keera added.

"Yeah, you're right," Dash said. He rubbed the tops of their heads.

The three of them sat together for a few minutes. Watching his face, Keera could see that the dream was still playing over and over again in his head. "Hey, I was wondering..." she started, hoping to draw him out of that cycle.

"Hmm?" Dash replied, looking up at her.

"How did you shoot ice at that guy?" she asked. "It was really neat!"

Dash looked at his hand. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I just sorta...." He closed his eyes and concentrated. A cold breeze blew past the twins to his hand and circled it, glowing. He opened his eyes again and looked at it in wonder. It felt just as natural as standing up had, only this time... this felt natural, it felt right. It was like this was something he'd known his whole life and just now remembered, not something that his body was doing without him.

"Wow..." the twins murmured.

"Yeah," he agreed. He pressed his hand against the ground, and a circle of ice slowly spread across it. "Amazing...." He removed his hand, and the spread stopped. "Let's try this...." He stood up and closed his eyes again. The twins saw more glowing wind flow to his hand, and the glow of the energy around his hand increased drastically. He opened his eyes and looked at the twins.

"Your eyes," Terra said. "They're glowing," Keera finished.

"Really?" he asked. He thrust his arms forward, toward a nearby tree. The gathered energy flashed out and hit the tree. As it hit, there was a bright flash, and when the light returned to normal, the trunk of the tree was covered with a thick layer of sharp edged ice. "How about now?"

"Nope," "-they stopped," the twins replied.

"Hmm," Dash mused, "these powers could be fun." He grinned.

The three heard soft footsteps coming toward them. "Keera! Terra! We're back!" Amber called quietly.

Amber, Sabre, and Ragnarok came into view. "Oh, Dash, you're up!" Ragnarok said. "Do you want us to get some food for you?"

The dream flashed through Dash's head. "N-no, thanks. I'm... not hungry..." he stammered guiltily, then stepped back a short distance and sat down, facing away from them.

Sabre blinked, then looked to the twins. "Is he...?" he asked, his voice full of concern for their newest friend.

The twins shook their heads again. "No, he's back to being Dash," Terra said. "He's just a bit uneasy about what happened, and a really bad dream he had while he was asleep," Keera explained. "He just needs a minute to himself," Terra concluded.

"Oh..." Ragnarok said, looking over at their white friend.

Off to the side, Dash looked at his claws. "I didn't hurt them," he reminded himself. "It was only a dream...." He sighed, then got to his feet and walked over to the group. "Listen, I'm sorry for anything I did earlier," he said.

"For what?" Amber asked. "You didn't do anything to be sorry about."

"I... I sorta know that," Dash replied, "but I still feel kinda guilty." He sat down next to Amber.

Ragnarok sat down next to Dash. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over what happened. You were really brave."

"Yeah," Sabre chimed in, "an we probably would've had a lot of trouble with that human if you hadn't been there."

Dash smiled. "Thanks, you guys. You're all great friends," he said.

* * *

The group sat by one of the head-shaped stones, waiting for Ragnarok and Dash to finish puzzling out the map. "Are you sure it's that way?" Dash said.

"No," Ragnarok replied, "but it's probably the right way."

Dash shrugged. "Okay then, let's get going."

"Really?" Keera said, and the twins stood up. "Finally..." Terra added.

"So, which way are we going?" Amber asked.

"That way," Ragnarok and Dash said, pointing two different directions.

Sabre laughed. "Good thing I didn't bother getting up," he remarked.

"Okay, we've got this figured out," Dash said a minute later.

"Let's get going," Ragnarok added. Once again, the group got up and started walking.

"So, how many more stones until we reach the bad guy's home?" Terra asked.

"Um... three," Dash replied, consulting the map.

Keera looked up at the light filtering through the dense leaves above them. "It'll probably be night when we get to the next one," she predicted.

"Assuming nothing else happens," Sabre remarked.

The drakens walked on, noticing nothing more threatening than your average small furry lunch. Keera's estimate proved right, and they reached the next marker as the sun finished setting.

"Hmm," Terra said. "She was right."

"Well, stumbling around in the dark in a place we've never been before doesn't sound like much fun," Ragnarok said, "so I suggest we stay here for the night."

"Yeah," Amber agreed, and she settled down in a comfortable spot. "Good night." With that, she rested her head on her tail and promptly fell asleep.

"That's a pretty good idea," Terra remarked, and the twins quickly followed Amber's example. The other drakens smiled and soon fell asleep as well.

* * *

Ragnarok woke up suddenly. He looked around. He didn't see anything strange.... The twins were rolling over to sleep on the other one's side, but everyone else seemed to be fully asleep. It was still really dark out, which was also strange, since he didn't usually wake up until after the sun rose. He shook his head, then sighed and sat up. Well, now what? he wondered. He looked at Dash, their newest friend who had been through so much. He's pretty shaken up about yesterday, he thought.

Dash shifted position. "No... I can't..." he muttered. He shifted again, then sat bolt upright. "No!" he half-yelled.

Ragnarok had reflexively bolted to his feet and was scanning for threats before he realized what was going on. "Dash? What is it?"

Dash looked around, then at Ragnarok, his eyes closing. "Oh, n-nothing. Just a... a bad dream," he said. He looked guiltily away from the red draken.

Ragnarok walked over and tucked a comforting wing around his friend. "A bad dream, huh?" he asked.

Dash nodded, subconsciously leaning into Ragnarok's wing a little. "We were in this forest, walking. I... lost control of myself, and... hurt you guys." He looked at the sleeping drakens, then back at Ragnarok. "I really don't want that to happen." He closed his eyes. "I like you guys, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I'd never forgive myself if I was the one that did it. I don't think I could handle having that on my conscience."

"It's all right, Dash," Ragnarok said. What's a conscience? he wondered. "Nothing bad will happen to us. If anything, it's all happened to you. You were strong enough to fight off the beast inside you, and you can beat anything else, too."

Dash sniffed and looked back at his red friend. "Thanks, Ragnarok. I sure hope you're right," he said. "Um... it kinda makes me feel like a little chick to ask, but... could you sleep by me?"

Ragnarok smiled. "Sure."

Dash curled up on the ground and Ragnarok lay down next to him, draping a wing over Dash. "Reminds me of Mom..." Dash murmured, and was soon asleep, with a much more peaceful smile this time.

Ragnarok smiled at his friend. "Good night," he said quietly, then fell asleep too.

* * *

###

Part Three: Destiny

"Bye Mom," Dash said. "I'll see you later...." Then everything faded to darkness. He opened his eyes, and all the black went away. They were still in the ancient forest, and, from the looks of the light coming through all the trees, it was shortly after dawn. He looked around, then rolled over and climbed to his feet. "Good morning, guys," he greeted his already-awake friends with a soft smile.

"Wow, you sure look like you're feeling better," Amber remarked with a nice smile.

Dash considered this. "I suppose I am," he replied. "Well, what are we just standing around for? Let's get moving!"

Ragnarok laughed. "He's got a point. I managed to get the rest of this map figured out, so we know where to go now," he said

The twins walked over. "Okay, let's get going!" Terra agreed. "I'm glad you're feeling better," Keera said to Dash. Dash smiled and rubbed her head. Ragnarok confirmed their course, and they were off again.

Not long into their walk, they a long roaring noise came into hearing. The drakens all stared in shock. "The beasts can't be here, can they?" Sabre asked incredulously.

Dash shook his head. "No, it keeps going. Even the beasts can't roar that long."

"So let's check it out!" the twins said in unison.

The group hustled through the brush, and came to a cliff. "Doesn't sound too far away," Sabre remarked. They followed the cliff, and suddenly came to a big clearing. The clearing was shaped around a big river that had a pool at the cliff. And at the top of the cliff, another river decided to join the first one, but it had to jump down the cliff to do so.

"Wow..." the group uttered as one, the sight of all that water tumbling through the air temporarily too much for words.

"Who knew water could do that?" Ragnarok mused.

Dash looked at him. "It does this all the time," he said. "It's still awesome, though."

The twins looked at him. "All the time?" "It's the first time we've seen this."

"You've never seen a waterfall?" Dash asked. "You guys sure are strange. No apples, waterfalls, feasts... even if you don't have them, you ought to know what they are...." He shook his head incredulously. "Where areyou guys from?

The drakens looked at each other. "We, um, didn't quite tell you the whole story earlier," Amber said. "We might as well tell you now."

Ragnarok spoke up. "We're from the future, and we live in an area known as the Great Plains with lots of other drakens, as well as one human."

"All of you, and just one human? That's a little weird," Dash remarked.

"That's not the weird part," Ragnarok said. "A few years ago, he came to the Plains, and decided to stay to help everyone. Back when he first came, though, every draken was... well, like an animal."

Dash stared at him. "What?!"

Ragnarok nodded. "When the human came, he brought a machine that could make animals intelligent. I was the first one he tried it on. As you can see, it worked. We went and made all the drakens on the Plains intelligent."

"But... but...?" Dash stammered.

"I've only known how to talk for about three years," Ragnarok said. "All of us except the twins have."

"We got a few extra years," Terra said. "We were the first two drakens to be born that were naturally intelligent," Keera announced with a smile.

Dash still looked flummoxed. "How? I mean, how were all the drakens animals? I came before you guys, and I've talked all my life! I don't think a human has even seen our village!"

"Honestly, we don't know either," Sabre said. "All we know is what happened to us."

Dash sat down loosely. "Well, that explains why you didn't know all that stuff," he remarked, "and why you were so shocked when you met me. If this wasn't all happening to me, I might have had a hard time believing it. Drakens all like animals, then becoming intelligent and coming back into the past, a draken that looks like a human, a two headed draken... no matter which way you think about it, we're a pretty improbable group," he remarked, his confusion manifesting into a shaky grin.

"Yep!" the twins agreed.

Dash got a thoughtful look on his face. "So you all used to be just animals?" he asked.

"Um, pretty much, yeah," Sabre replied.

"What was it like?"

"Erm... pretty empty," Ragnarok answered. "My memories before being Awakened are pretty hazy, but it's not a very exciting way to live. You wake up, eat, walk around, and go back to sleep, and you don't... feel while you do it. Just all blank in your head." He didn't look like they were very pleasant memories.

"Weird," Terra said, "and you three used to live like that all the time?"

Amber, Ragnarok, and Sabre nodded. Silence reigned for a minute, except for the waterfall crashing along in the background.

At length, Amber said, "Maybe we ought to get moving again."

"Yeah," Ragnarok agreed. "Let's try to get to the last stone marker before dark."

* * *

Terrokath watched intently as the creatures talked amongst themselves, a scowl forming on his face. From the future? That could explain how they had taken down his best man.... Such an offense would be punished immediately. He glared at a nearby underling and snapped, "Dispatch a squadron to the stone marker near the waterfall. They are to engage the creatures they find there!" The subordinate nodded and hurried out of the room. He turned his attention back to his window. Those creatures would pay for what they had done....

* * *

Keera watched as a few colorful birds flew past the group. "Sure wish we could fly here..." she lamented. "Yeah, all this walking is getting boring," her sister agreed.

"Well, it's probably not that far to the next marker," Dash said.

"Hey, are those humans up there?" Sabre said. "They look like they're coming at us." Indeed, a small group of humans were walking purposefully toward them.

"Hello!" Ragnarok called as they came near. Instead of replying, however, several grabbed metal objects shaped like a "t" that were attached to their belts. "Hey, those look like the thing you used to stop the man-beast, Dash."

"Really?" Dash asked him, then directed the conversation to the humans. "Hey, you might want to put those away. Those could hurt somebody."

As the humans advanced, Sabre muttered, "I think that may be why they have them."

"Fighting humans with those won't be good!" Terra said. "Even the man-beast couldn't stop one!"

Dash blinked as the word "fight" passed through his mind, and flinched at the sudden rush of savage emotion that tried to follow it. He shook his head and gritted his teeth. "Maybe we can get rid of them without fighting," he suggested quietly, then turned his attention to the approaching humans. "If you don't stop where you are, we'll attack!" he called, concentrating on drawing energy to his hands like he had before. He wished the men would listen, but he knew that they wouldn't.

"And we should be worried about you animals?" one of the men called back. They kept advancing.

"They asked for it," Dash muttered. He fired a ball of white energy at the group. It hit one, and a sphere of ice exploded out from him, knocking down the humans and covering some of them completely with ice.

"Good hit, Dash! Now, let's get 'em!" Ragnarok called, rushing their enemies.

Most of the humans had lost their weapons during Dash's attack, and Ragnarok tackled one of the one that hadn't, taking him out rather effectively. Amber, and Sabre took out the rest of the unarmed humans, while the twins squared off against the one that still had a weapon.

Dash, however, hung back for a second. He could feel the urges of the beast welling up inside him again, and he was terrified of losing control to it in the fight. Then he noticed one more armed man sneaking up behind Amber and forced those urges roughly back, bolting into the fight and knocking the man sprawling.

Faced with a blade-wielding opponent, the twins fought with a little more care. The man swung his weapon at them, but they dodged and whipped their tail around to knock the metal object out of his hand. Terra winced sharply, but they both jumped forward and pinned the human to the ground. A few hard bites put an end to the fight.

"Humans aren't particularly good fighters, are they?" Keera said. She noticed the pained look on her twin's face. "Terra? What's - our tail!" she exclaimed. The left side of their tail had a deep gash in it, and blood was pouring out of it. "Owwwww..." Terra replied, her eyes clenched at the pain.

"Girls!" Ragnarok cried, running over. Remembering Dash's words from before, he pressed his paw against the cut. He looked around for help, but the others were still busy stopping the last of the humans that attacked them. "This looks bad... I don't think I can do anything more to help."

The twins looked at each other. Both of them felt something strange, but it was something good. It felt almost like there was something inside of them, nudging from the inside and trying to get out and help. "Can we...?" "Let's try." Their eyes slowly closed.

"What? Keera? Terra?" Ragnarok cried, fearing the worst. A warm breeze blew in, and seemed to circle the twins, with a slight green glow to it. It flowed to their tail, and Ragnarok watched in amazement as the blood flow slowed and the gash under his paw closed itself, not even leaving a scar!

Keera and Terra opened their eyes. "It worked!" they both exclaimed.

Ragnarok stared at their tail in amazement. "I didn't know you two could do that," he remarked.

Terra looked at their tail too. "Honestly, we didn't either," she commented. "We just knew that we had to, or else," Keera added.

Ragnarok nodded, then noticed the others coming over. "I hate having to hurt humans..." Amber muttered.

"Had to what, girls?" Dash asked.

"We used our powers to heal our tail," Terra said.

Sabre nodded, then stared. "You two have powers too?" he exclaimed.

The twins nodded. "Yeah, it looks like we do." "And we figured it out just in time!"

"Powers... neat!" Amber said. "Can you make ice like Dash can?"

The twins looked at each other, then shook their heads. "Hmm... no...." "I think it's...." They concentrated, and a warm wind of green sparkles seemed to circle around the group and concentrate on the twins' wings. Their eyes snapped open, glowing a brilliant green, and they leapt into the air. Their wings swept forward and the energy flew off, blowing into a small, powerful whirlwind that tore a hole in the canopy above them. "Wind!" they exclaimed together.

"Whoa!" Ragnarok exclaimed, suddenly looking up at the sky for the first time in days. "That's incredible, you two!"

"Yeah, it is!" Sabre agreed with a grin. "However, we've got another big issue here: those humans we just fought."

Dash nodded. "From what happened, I think the bad guy we're trying to stop sent those men to keep us from getting to him," he theorized.

"It didn't work too well then," Ragnarok remarked with a grin. "In fact, it actually was better for us, since you two figured out that you have powers."

"Well, I say we get moving, so we can go stop this guy!" Dash said.

"Yeah!" the twins cheered. Amber smiled at their enthusiasm.

"Well, the last marker is right here," Amber said. "It's just a straight walk to his tower."

"Let's make it a run," Sabre suggested.

* * *

"I think we're here," Ragnarok whispered. They were crouched in the dense undergrowth common to everywhere in the forest.

"Yeah, all the humans guarding it sorta gave that away," Dash replied.

The group was at the bottom of a tall, round building made of smooth black stone. There was a large door near where they were hiding, as well as a lot of windows and small floors that stuck out from the building's sides. The building was so tall that the top was above the trees, which made a thick ceiling around it. Lots of humans were walking in circles around the building, and were probably there to keep things from getting in.

"All those humans would make it really hard for another human to get in that door..." Sabre observed.

Ragnarok grinned. "Then it's a good thing that we aren't human," he said, and stretched his wings.

Amber turned to the twins. "Can you two make another hole in the canopy?" she asked.

They nodded confidently, concentrated, and launched another whirlwind, making a hole in the branches and leaves. Pure daylight burst through there for the first time in years. "What the-?" a human cried as the powerful twister blasted toward the guards.

"Go! Go!" Ragnarok said. They leapt up and powered themselves through the hole, back into the sky they hadn't seen for days.

"Mmm, the sun feels so nice," Keera said. "Keera, focus," Terra said. "We're here for a reason."

"Well, those humans won't be able to get us up here," Amber remarked.

"The guy we're looking for is probably on the top floor," Dash said. "C'mon, this way!"

The drakens flew up higher and landed on the bit of floor that was sticking out near the very top of the building. The floor was fairly small, but there was a big window that opened into a room. Ragnarok pushed it open, and a voice said, "Ah, you're here. I didn't believe you would use the ground entrance, and I'm glad to see I was right. Guards!"

Several humans rushed out of the dark room at them. Dash moved forward to meet them, a snarl building on his muzzle, before abruptly flinching back. Sabre flashed past in front of the pausing draken, knocking one man sprawling onto the treetops below. As another charged at Ragnarok, the red draken grabbed the man's arm in his teeth, rolled over onto his back, and kicked with all four of his legs, boosting the man over the edge. The twins sent a strong gust across the floor, sending the rest tumbling off. Ragnarok peered over the edge. "Lucky those guys have all those trees to break their fall," he remarked. With no further obstructions, the group walked inside a building.

Inside was rather a lavishly furnished room, everything in it dark. A chair that could well count as a throne was the main centerpiece of the room. Next to the chair was a round black thing with a picture of the forest below in it, and an extremely fancy table. Floating slightly above the surface of the table was a shiny, clear black rock, and a shadowy human was standing in front of the chair. "I commend you on having made it this far," the human, which the drakens realized must be Terrokath, said. "I wouldn't have expected anyone to do it, until I saw that you meddlers had somehow come back to challenge me again." He smiled evilly. "Well, I regret to inform you that you won't be around much longer." The rock above the table started glowing, and the man hurled a ball that looked like it was made of pure shadow at them.

The drakens scattered, barely dodging the attack. The ball hit the wall and splashed out, almost hitting Ragnarok. "Yow!" he said as some of the shadow landed right next to him.

The twins drew in power and unleashed their newly acquired whirlwind ability. The Dark One lifted a hand, and a black wall sprang up to block the twister, then dissipated it. "Is that the best you can do?" he taunted. "No one, not even you, will stand between me and my revenge!" The rock glowed again, and the wall blasted outward, knocking all the drakens into a heap on the balcony.

The drakens disentangled themselves. "Okay... at which point... did we stop winning?" Ragnarok panted.

"Probably when he started fighting," Sabre replied.

Dash picked himself up. "Hey, have you noticed that weird rock?" he mentioned. "It starts glowing each time he attacks. I bet it's got something to do with where this guy gets his powers!"

"Well, let's get back in there and beat this guy!" Keera said. The group ran back in, a whitish glow following Dash.

"Hmph, as resilient as ever, I see," Terrokath commented. "Fortunately, I have found a new power that will get you out of my way, permanently." He pointed a finger at Ragnarok, and a beam of shadow lanced out, striking Ragnarok in the chest. The draken's eyes widened, and he felt the blood pumping through his head. He... couldn't move! It was all he could do to keep standing, staring helplessly as the evil man before him grinned. A dark ball appeared behind Ragnarok, and as he watched, it widened until it was almost as big as one of the doors in the room. The Dark One readied another ball of shadows. "Goodbye, pest."

"Ragnarok! NO!" Dash yelled. He lunged forward, knocking Ragnarok out of the way and launching an long spear of ice at the same time that the human fired the shadowy ball. It hit Dash in the chest, blasting him back through the magical rift. Dash's last attack lanced forward and struck the stone, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"No! The crystal!" Terrokath exclaimed.

"Dash!" the drakens cried as one. They rushed for their friend, but as the crystal shattered, the magical rift disappeared.

Ragnarok stared at where Dash had vanished. Dash was... gone. After everything that had happened, Dash had sacrificed himself, while Ragnarok had just stood there. He growled, then turned to the Dark One, fire in his eyes. Small glowing red dots appeared in the air and began swirling in front of him. The rest of the drakens edged behind him.

"You." That word alone was filled with more malice than the draken had felt in his entire life. "Your type can never leave well enough alone, can they? He was living a peaceful life, until a creep like you almost turned him into a monster."

The motes were beginning to pile up on each other.

"He fought hard, and managed to keep from becoming a killing machine, all to protect us. He was one of the best people there ever was, and you go and kill him just like that!"

The tiny balls of energy coalesced into a shimmering disk of fire.

"You are the lowest of the low, and I'm going to make sure that you never hurt anyone ever again!"

As he shouted this, the disc blasted forward in a burst of flame as big as the draken himself. It crashed into the dark one, and exploded into a contained inferno, completely engulfing him. The human screamed once, then fell silent as the flames died down. All that was left behind was a burnt out husk of ashes. "Jerk," Ragnarok muttered, then collapsed.

"Ragnarok!" The group ran back over, freed from the spell of his powerful spectacle.

"I'm... all right," he said. "Just... kinda tired out... after all that." He managed to stand back up, but his legs were pretty shaky. "Uh... could someone... lend a paw?"

"Sure," Amber said. She helped him stay up, and he leaned heavily on her.

"Thanks," he muttered, panting heavily, his eyes drooping. "Stopped that guy... but it took... a lot out of me." He pointed his nose at a door. "Girls, Sabre... could you... go through there... first. Clear any... enemies out. I'm in... no shape... to fight... right now."

"Right!" the green and black drakens acknowledged they hurried into the next room, while Ragnarok walked after them on weak legs, Amber helping support him.

"That was great Ragnarok," Amber said as they walked over. "You stopped that man so easily."

"Yeah, but we... lost Dash," Ragnarok replied. "Poor guy. Everything bad... seemed to happen... to him."

"Well, he... died protecting his friends," Amber said. "I don't think he would've minded going out like that."

They made it into the next room, which was a lot brighter than the last one. The twins looked at the red draken. "Are you okay, Uncle Ragnarok?" they asked.

"I'll be fine," he said. "I'm just a... little worn out. What... about you?"

"...That man killed Dash..." Keera said, tears in her eyes. "After all he's been through, it's all over for him."

Sabre lowered his head. "He was a great friend," he said.

Silence reigned for a few minutes. "I... suppose we ought to go tell the human village that we defeated the bad guy," Amber said.

"Sure, just lemme get... a little rest first..." Ragnarok said with a yawn, and trailed off to sleep.

* * *

In a dark alley, a bright flash of light made a stray cat scurry for cover. A white form was flung out of the light and hit a wall, falling to the ground. A few wisps of smoke rose off him. "Ow... that hurt..." he muttered.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...