Countdown to Halloween Short Story the Second

This is a short story written by FourFlames for the 2014 Halloween Countdown.
==Chapter the First==
A pair of chains bucked against the ring on the other side of the cell-- once, twice-- and then shattered it with a terse pop. Broken links slithered down the dragon's scales. 
Reuben regarded his claws, now freed-- but not by their own struggling. They were still steepled on the ground.
Bored of pretending that he was the loser in this little game of guard and prisoner, he slunk effortlessly between the bars of his quarters. His posture was one of confident indifference as he did so, to the point that the other SkyWings hardly noticed something amiss at first glance. There was startled shouting as guards realized he was the inmate and followed him out. He turned and glared at them-- more irked than afraid-- and his slitted eyes blinked from normal to red. With a snap of his talons, they were convulsing on the ground with angry dragonbite vipers growing out of their eyes.
His secret was safe as long as there were no witnesses.
And good thing, too-- worrying about capture would have bungled his schedule for a few extra hours. There were more important things to be done, dragonets to meet.
He vanished in a whirlwind of carmine mist.
==Chapter the Second==
Clay squinted dumbly at the piece of stationery. "Are you sure that's what it says?"
"What, you can't read?" Tsunami snatched the letter from him, scrawled in ornate aristocratic cursive, and prepared to read it again.
Starflight shrugged. "He understood the history scrolls under the mountain just fine."
"Not fancy script like this!" protested Clay.
"Well, look here," pointed out Tsunami. "It says: 'By decree of Queen Ruby, the dragonets are courteously invited to a dinner at the home of Admiral Reuben of the SkyWings.' I don't know who that is, but he sounds really important, and we need Queen Ruby to like us. You know, so the SkyWings stay... relatively nice?"
"Hmmmm..." thought Clay. "I don't know, didn't the SkyWings want to kill us?"
"That was during the war. Everyone wants to kill everyone in a war."
"Hmmmm..." Clay said again.
"Anyways," Tsunami argued, waving her talons around bossily, "we're going."
Glory fixed Tsunami with an incredulous glare. "We?" she sneered. "No, Clay has a point here, mouth-for-brains. In case you forgot, the SkyWings chained me to a tree like I was art and made you kill for their own sick amusement." 
"I didn't catch that part," trilled Tsunami in a sing-song voice. "This will be so great! Establishing diplomacy among nobility... feels like my queenly destiny!" 
Sunny glanced back and forth from Tsunami to Glory, then approached the RainWing. "Maybe we should try? They have a new leader now. They might be more peaceful with Queen Ruby in charge."
Starflight nodded. "When I was in the Night Kingdom, I snuck into their library one night just to see what they talked about. There was a scroll that said that the SkyWings were one of the friendliest tribes a long time ago. Queen Scarlet could have just been the one bad egg that made the whole nest rotten."
Glory looked down her snout at them. "Ugh, blah, I'm gonna retch. FINE." She stood up and turned in a circle to scratch up the stone floor defiantly. "I'll go if you can make Tsunami shut up about how great every single tribe's royal bloodline is."
==Chapter the Third==
Polished wooden doors loomed above the dragonets, huge and ominous against the dark stone mansion.
"Are you sure... is this really necessary?" Sunny asked as Tsunami pushed them open with a creak.
"Of course I am! The invitation says 'Cave 49, Diamond Spray Way.'"
Starflight fidgeted in the corner, glad he was blind. "Is it really that scary?" he asked, turning to Fatespeaker nervously. "The scrolls say Admiral Reuben is really rich. His home shouldn't be terrifying."
"It's fine," she assured him. "It's just--" 
She looked around. The trees were all black and twisted. "-- really dark here."
"Maybe he can't afford lawn care," suggested Clay, following Fatespeaker's gaze.
"Rich," Starflight reminded him.
Tsunami rolled her eyes. "So there are a few black trees. We're on a mountain, remember? Trees don't grow on mountains anyways!"
Everyone stared at Starflight, waiting for him to say she was wrong, but he just shrugged.
Tsunami gave them an 'are-you-serious' look. "Oh come on, stop being scared little hatchlings, we're almost eight now!"
A neatly groomed SkyWing with orange eyes and a simpering uppity expression stepped out of the mansion. "Excuse me. Who's loitering on my doorstep, and why can't they find somewhere else to bicker?"
"Oh. Just your guests," Tsunami shrugged. "We almost thought we had the wrong cave."
"Good riddance! Wrong cave, what a--! Well, don't just stand there outside!" huffed the SkyWing, adjusting the rimmed glasses on his snout. "Come in! Come in!"
==Chapter the Fourth==
The room was massive. And overdecorated-- there wasn't a single inch of wall space the excessive curtains didn't cover. In the center of the foyer was a long dining-table with mountains of platters, and a gold chandelier which hung from the ceiling.
"Wow, what a big cave," murmured Tsunami, absorbing it all with her eyes.
"Oh. I inherited this cavern from my grandfather, the illustrious Merlin III. I also inherited his profession as well. Unfortunately, it was rather boring." He gave the walls a dismal look.
"Food!" gasped Clay, rushing over to the trays on the dining table.
"Oh, I'm not sure you want to have that platter," droned the SkyWing boredly, noticing Clay approach a particular plate. "It's not the freshest, and is an acquired taste."
"I'm sure anything you serve is fine," shrugged Clay, reaching his talon to the tray, but Admiral Reuben slapped his arm.
"Young MudWing, you don't want to do that." He was now glaring at the oppositionally defiant MudWing. "I'm quite positive."
"Why would you put out fruit that you don't want us eating?" Glory muttered cynically. "That's awfully lazy to leave lying around."
"Well, that's my course for the evening, and I don't feel like sharing. You know, I've half a mind--"
Clay's brows furrowed. He promptly slid his talon to the lid and flew his claws into the air, tossing the platter onto the slate floor.
A rather large lime-colored RainWing blinked up at them.
==Chapter the Fifth==
Clay jumped backwards as the RainWing fluttered up into the air frantically, looking down at the platter it had just been sitting in. It flew around in circles and then landed, all in a panic, on the chandelier.
"Were you going to eat her?!" Sunny screamed, jumping across the room in terror.
"Of course not," the Admiral said flatly, as he fixed the RainWing with disdain.
"Yes! Yes he was!" the RainWing screamed. Her wings looked a little too wispy, and her body appeared almost transparent.
"What happened to her?"
Admiral Reuben reared up before the scared RainWing had a chance to reply. "Not a word," he hissed, his voice cracking and splitting. "You've done enough."
"What are you talking about?" Starflight asked, trying his best to be polite. "We haven't even eaten yet--"
"Don't speak to your host that way, you barbarian!" Reuben barked, rounding on Starflight. 
Clay looked on in terror as Reuben's arm cracked and began to elongate unnaturally, sailing through the air towards him.
The SkyWing's claws clenched shut on his neck and dragged him up into the air. It had a powerful grip, like an enormous snake.
Eight more talons slithered from Reuben's torso, groping sightlessly at the air as though they had no mind behind them. They were deep red, highlighted by the crazy glow of his scarlet eyes. Clay could have sworn they'd been orange, though.
"Oh, poor, poor little dragonets," he hissed. "All alone, with no Talons of Peace, no armies. I can do whatever I please and no one will swoop out of the sky to stop me." 
Clay turned to look at the RainWing. She was tapping all of the other platters solemnly.
"And now I'm going to eat your souls."
==Chapter the Sixth==
Clay had no idea what was going on. He saw crimson droplets specking the walls, and what appeared to be a floating candelabra-- which didn't really make sense-- and forks and knives flying out of kitchen drawers all by themselves.
"Uhh, Starflight," Clay whimpered, surrounded on all sides by the forks and knives. "I think you forgot to tell me he's an animus." 
The NightWing didn't answer-- he had already darted 'behind' a column in a pathetic attempt to hide. This was completely unsuccessful because Starflight couldn't identify where Admiral Reuben was, so he was standing to the left of the pillar instead of behind it.
"Nobody knew," Reuben rumbled smugly. His partial smirk showcased the sharp, crooked teeth jutting up like needles from his lower jaws. "Except for these specters. One cannot simply ignore the delicious taste of RainWing bodies."
Glory observed the abhorrent trays with disgust, making up her mind that she definitely hated SkyWings.
"Naturally the best way to immortalize someone is to make them a ghost," continued the SkyWing. "And there's nothing more valuable than a soul, really-- that's what makes them taste so rich. But since you've spoken so ill of my meal preparations, I assume you think you'd make a better dish?"
Clay raced for the front door with Sunny flapping behind him, her arms flung around his back. The front doors slammed and locked from the outside. Clay pounded on the doors with his fists.
"Oh, were you going somewhere?" hissed Reuben, hovering over Clay's head. "I don't remember dismissing you from the table. Well you know, I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do this-- singling a dragon out is hardly fair-- but I really must kill you for this untoward behavior. Although if you insist on living, I might let you compete in my Specter Games."
"Specter Games?"
"It's my personal entertainment venue for when the food gets boring. The stakes are higher, you see. If you make it out of the trials alive, there's a 25% chance I'll let you go, or a 100% chance that you'll become a specter and have your soul eaten."
"That... isn't how math works," called Starflight from next to the pillar where he was hiding.
Clay considered the odds, knowing they probably didn't matter. "A chance is better than nothing." He looked to the other dragonets for agreement. "Right?"
"Sure," smiled Reuben wickedly. "Even a 100% chance that they'll all die."
Somehow Clay didn't doubt that statistic, but it was better than being hunted down one by one in this giant mansion of a cave.
==Chapter the Seventh==
Clay found himself thrown into a vortex, landing head-first into a culmination of foul multicolored gases. Reuben himself glided up to a towering black throne with a wicked portal swirling behind it. He let out a vicious phantom-like snarl, and two cauldrons fashioned to resemble sports-stands appeared to his left and right from seemingly nowhere. The rows were filled with sad-looking specters, some reluctantly holding generic fanfare posters that were painted with "GO TEAM!" and "CRUSH THE COMPETITION!".
"Welcome to our hundred-and-seventeenth Specter Games! Today we have some very special competitors," said the SkyWing animus, gesturing to Clay, Fatespeaker, Tsunami, Sunny, Starflight, and Glory, who had been quiet this whole time.
The crowd let out some unexcited applause and sat back down.
Reuben glared at them in disappointment, then continued. "Today's competitors are Clay of the MudWings, Princess Tsunami of the SeaWings, Sunny of the SandWings, Queen Glory of the RainWings, and Starflight and Fatespeaker of the NightWings. They will all be competing to either keep their lives or become a specter and die, depending how generous I feel." 
He looked down a list that he had kept close by to his throne. "And, we also have some contestants who are competing to get their bodies back. Without further ado, I give you Mango of the RainWings, Weaponforger of the NightWings, and Comet of the SkyWings!"
Three terrified specters appeared in the other end of the arena.
"Now, for our first test," smirked Reuben. "The test of courage."
The arena floor transformed into a pit of fire. Beneath them was a trench of molten lava, rapidly rising, like a big igneous maw.
Sunny climbed on top of Clay's fireproof back as he leapt over the platform he had been on just seconds ago. It was already sinking deep into the fire. 
"Clay!" yelled Tsunami, somewhere to his right. She was struggling in the corner-- couldn't lift off fast enough, and the fire was practically pulling her into it.
He dove down and grabbed her webbed claws, trying to fight off the roaring flames.
"Oh, I forgot you've never done the Specter Games before. My bad," laughed Reuben. "Only fools would fall in the fire."
Clay and Sunny were trying to pull her out the best they could. The three dragonets beat their wings furiously, Tsunami's tail thrashing against superheated rock with a white-hot splash, but it wasn't enough to fight an inferno. She screamed in pain, the stench of burning skin filling the air, and fell backwards into the whirlpool. With a sickening gurgle, Tsunami was gone.
"Tsunami!" Clay wailed, plunging his claws into the lava. His eyes clouded over and the taste of salt filled his mouth. 
Fatespeaker and Starflight flapped over a nearby ledge that had just been engulfed in the same wave. With Starflight's talon in hers, Fatespeaker surveyed the fire pit. She watched as Comet, the SkyWing specter, dove straight towards the lava and wheeled up at the last second, looking as though he had skimmed something off the surface with his talons. He looked down at his talons, frowned, and dove back towards the fire, hurtling at breakneck velocity. She gestured wildly to Clay and pointed at what Comet was doing.
Clay stared at the lava. Is... he fishing for something valuable in there?
"Hey, Starflight! Fatespeaker!" Clay wrapped his wings around Sunny to engulf her in his fireproof scales. "You've been in the NightWing volcano, haven't you?!"
"I have," Glory butted in sourly. "Not a fan of it either."
"Well, I think there's something in the fire, and I'm jumping in to get it."
Glory's ruff flared. "That's the dimmest idea I've ever heard!" But Clay had already made up his mind.
"I don't think so, actually! If we dive in together, I can use my wings as a shield, and we can look for the prize."
"No. No way," said Glory, uncurling her tail. "How do we even know the specter over there isn't tricking us?"
"He looks too desperate to do something like that," Sunny replied woefully. She and Fatespeaker blinked amongst themselves, with the latter giving a reluctant nod.
"Starflight, what do you think?"
"It's not the worst idea," said Starflight. "A bit crazy when not all of us are fireproof, but better than trying to avoid the lava forever."
"Clay turned to face Glory, who was still undecided. "We're going to do this. I'll come back for you, okay?"
Glory rolled her eyes at him. "You better, you big dummy, or you'll be hearing from my ghost."
The MudWing sheltered Sunny, Starflight and Fatespeaker closely beneath his wings and dove into the lava pit, gritting his teeth as pain washed over his scales. He opened his eyes wide to look for anything useful. All he saw was red... but wait... there was a gleaming white light. He reached out his talons from beneath and swiped the whiteness.
Coughing hard, Clay surged out of the lava, which lapped at his tail like the ocean. 
He unwrapped his talons in flight and removed a white gem of some sort. His friends emerged from the umbrella of his wings, somewhat scathed but alive. Across the lava field, Comet was flying out of the fire with flames blowing from the edges of his wings, cradling a similar sparkling stone in his talons.
"Congratulations, winners," smirked Reuben, snapping his fingers. The field of lava changed into an arena floor, one that looked kind of like the SkyWing arena. He wrapped up Glory, Weaponforger, and Mango in his tentacles and tossed them into his gaping maw.
Clay watched in horror as their bodies crunched under the animus' teeth. "Why did you do that to Glory? She survived, didn't she?!"
"Fool," yawned Reuben. "You can't go back for teammates. And there are only two Fire Stones in the lava. Those who don't find them don't get to live. I could dock some of you for cheating since all of you found the same stone, but I'm feeling generous." The SkyWing lifted his list back up to his face. "Well.. Comet, since you survived your first round, you get to invite a specter to the field."
Comet searched the crowd shrewdly. Practically every dragon was raising their paws, desperate to earn their body back at the risk of permanent demise. His eyes narrowed. "You," he hissed, pointing to a burly gray SeaWing. She floated sadly down to the arena field.
"Alright then," Reuben declared, slapping his throne. "Time for the test of strength!"
==Chapter the Eighth==
Clay stared the SeaWing in the face. She glowered fiercely at him.
"In one end of the ring, we have Megalodon of the SeaWings, competing to get her body back if she successfully aids Comet in regaining his! Will they make it through the arena? Probably not!" Reuben smirked cruelly down at the SeaWing, whose spirits looked instantly crushed by this comment.
"And in the other end of the arena we have Clay of the MudWings, competing to keep his life! Perhaps he will be the fighter we are looking for today!"
The animus SkyWing sat down on his towering throne. "As you should know already, the rules are simple. Flying is allowed, but if you try to fly away then you get an automatic death. Other than that, anything is game. Oh, and I should mention that if you have a body, you can still die-- the enemy can kill you, and it will hurt. In that case, you lose the Specter Games, and I eat your ghost."
Clay winced. That sounded extremely painful.
"All right. Claws up, fire ready, fight!" 
Clay snapped into action, suddenly alert. Megalodon raced right towards him, her strong body bobbing up and down as she advanced with startling speed. Clay barely had time to duck before her talons skidded off his back and she crashed into the ground behind him. Roaring, he whipped around to try to see where she was. Her hooked claws shredded down his face in reply. He limped over to the side on his bad leg and snapped to put some distance between them, but she was relentless. His tooth only nicked her flaring gills.
Hissing, Megalodon lurched at his face in a decoy bite attack, and then turned around and slapped him with her tail, sending him flying across the arena. He shot a blast of fire at her, scorching her tail at the tip as she attempted to spring out of the way. She spat at him and flashed something in Aquatic, which judging by "ooo"s of the crowd, was inappropriate for dragonets.
Clay stamped in annoyance. This dragon was good, and really deceptive, too. But he wasn't going to die as food for Reuben. He rushed at her and kicked her hard in the ribs with his good leg. She smashed headfirst against the wall. Clay waited for Megalodon to get up, but she only slumped over in concussed pain, unable to stand. "I'm sorry," he hesitated, and then slashed his talons across her neck in a final blow. He had to close his eyes to commit the evil deed.
"Clay is the winner!" howled Reuben, extending his monster-sized tongue. A gray mist floated out of the SeaWing and curled upward into his mouth, screaming-- a deathly noise like rattling bones. Reuben's body shuddered and enlarged a few feet as he absorbed her essence, sending small cracks spidering across the seat of his throne. 
"Ick," he burped ungratefully. "SeaWings are too fishy. Anyways, I think now would be an excellent time for an intermission, don't you? I could use a break from all this action."
Several dragons in the stands nodded agreeably with the animus, and Clay nodded along, hopeful they would have at least a few minutes of peace.
"Well, then! Concessions are on the house!" Reuben turned to his left and lashed out his long tongue again, striking into the crowd at random like a ruthless chameleon. 
The arena erupted into chaos.
== Chapter the Ninth ==
Specters were flying everywhere, dotting the sky with their dim bodies.
Reuben's ridiculous tongue now weighed more than the stadium, and rampaged across the ground leaving destruction in its wake as it lapped at the sky, snatching the dragons like mosquitoes.
"I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT MY MOUTH IS QUITE COMFORTABLE," bellowed the huge SkyWing, who was still growing and growing as he ate other screaming dragons.
Clay looked around for Starflight, Sunny and Fatespeaker, but they were nowhere to be seen. He shuddered and began to cry.
The enormous tongue split into four and snaked across the arena, vacuuming up souls. At the sound of Clay's cries, two of them converged again and snared him around the waist, heaving him into the sky. The other tongues wrapped around two dark dragons and one odd gold one, cinching the dragons tight in their slimy grips.
"Aww," mocked Reuben, constricting his tongue around the Clay with a force strong enough to snap the MudWing's neck. "Looks like you did have a special destiny after all!"
Clay's conscience slowly began to drip away, and he felt black consume him as he was tossed into the air towards Reuben's mouth....
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Content (FourFlames)
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Genre (Short Story)