A Tale of Blood and Iron

wip fanfiction
WARNING: All characters and themes are owned by DukBoi, DO NOT STEAL
also, mild violence and gore warning
= Prologue =
In a small village in the Skywing kingdom, two dragonets step out of the local school, chatting eagerly. Their names were Robin and Lumaku, and they were best friends.
The sun beat down on the village of Cliffside, and dragons bustled about, doing their daily business. Some carried large barrels of food and water, while others worked on the many buildings surrounding town square.
“Professor Bighorn was in the infirmary today,” Robin says, grinning and trying to hide his laughs.
“Oh no, what happened now?” Lumaku groans. Professor Bighorn was an elderly teacher at their school, and often made mistakes that could end up costing the school many scales at a time.
“He was talking to another dragonet, but he slipped and hit his head against a table,” Robin snickers. “He made such a big deal out of it one kid started to have a mild panic attack!”
They both laugh, glad to be not bored after a long day at school
“Hey, it's my turn here,” Lumaku says as they head towards a 4 way intersection.
“See you tomorrow,” Robin says, waving goodbye to his friend.
As they part ways, robin casually looks up at the sky “what the…”
A streaking red ball of flame comes hurdling across the expanse of blue.
Robin sees little pieces of something he cant tell flying off of it. As the red bolt continues south, a piece of something lands in the forest near him.
Curious, he decides to go investigate. As he steps through the many branches of the groves, he hears other dragons yelling stuff like, “what was that?” and “was that a meteor?”
Regardless, Robin continues. Then he sees a glint of something coppery. He steps into a clearing, and on the ground, lays copper gear. He picks it up and inspects it, turning it around, and on the back, scrawled in neat lettering, said: “Property of the Pioneer”.
Meanwhile, 2000 feet above Pyyhria, a dragon wrestles with the controls of an artificial set of wings, seeming to be on fire. after a while, another peice explodes off of his artificial wings, and they are sent crashing into a rainforest.
the sky grows still.
= Chapter 1: Inferno =
Boulder the Rockwing wakes up. in the middle of a rainforest. great, he thinks. how am i going to get out of this? he looks around, staying calm. looking down, he sees the forest floor, around 7 meters or so down. his arms are tangled in a swath of vines, limiting his movement. he tries to reach over to grab his spare dagger hanging from his belt, but the vines stop him.
wait.
whats that smell? smoke?
he turns to his right, and sees his artificial set of wings. letting out a relieved sigh. only then does he realize the smell was coming from the wings. a valve busted loose in the crash, and it now leaked flammable fuel onto the leaves, setting them ablaze. Boulder starts to panic. he tries to stretch the vines a little bit farther, but to no avail. the fire is closing in on him now. hes running out of time.
suddenly, an idea flashes in his head. he stood still, and let the fire come to him. the second the fire set the vine holding his arm in place, he whirls around, grabs his dagger, and slashes free from the tree. he uses his wings to slow his fall, but still lands hard on the forest floor. now that he can use his arms, he locks down his helmet and uses a face cover to protect from the smoke.
staggering through the haze of the smoke, he hears wingbeats. 5, if hes correct. he ducks behind a tree, and when he looks up, there are 5 dragons, all with very colorful scales. 4 are holding giant water buckets, and the 5th is shouting orders. one of the 4 bucket holders flies over the spot where hes hiding, and dumps the bucket. Boulder is swept into another tree from the wave, coughing and spluttering. when he looks up, the fire seems to be put out. smoke still runs heavy in the air, though.
Boulder keeps hiding under trees so the strange dragons dont see him. above him, the 5th dragon points and shouts at places they need to dump the buckets. after 10 minutes or so, when the fires are all put out, the strange dragons leave and the smoke clears. he walks forward, only to fall down agian as pain rockets through his leg. he looks down, and sees his leg had been torn from the crash. he needs a doctor. fast.
= Chapter 2: Pyyhria =
first, though. where was he?
he can handle his leg for a little while. Rockwings are known to be tough. he starts venturing through the landscape, hoping to find something. but while he was walking, he decided to take a look around, as he hasnt seen this type of forest before. everywhere, huge trees sprang from the ground, with leaves covering the top, and the croaking of frogs and bugs filled the air.
suddenly he stopped. he saw a glint in the distance. ducking behind a rock, he peers over and sees a large cat, ripping into some meat. on its neck, however, was a collar, with a metal nameplate. the cat, hearing the slight rustle that Boulder made, raises his head to look in his direction. Boulder ducks agian. the cat, satisfied with its meal, starts to walk off. it brushes some oddly placed leaves aside, and goes down a hole its covering.
Boulder is now puzzled. how would an animal- a cat no less- build a tunnel? he starts to follow it, limping. Rockwings are able to sense vibrations, so it will be easy keeping track of the cat. following it through a maze of trees, he struggles to keep up. that cat was fast.
a few minutes later, Boulder stops to catch a breath. the cat keeps running, unbeknownst that Boulder was following it. Boulder looks to his right, and resting agianst a tree was a pack. he looks around, making sure no one sees him, and grabs and opens the pack. a couple peices of fruit and various veggies, some bandages and ointment- that will come in handy- and a map. ignoring the other items, boulder takes and inspects the map.
apparently, he was on a continent called Pyyrhia. the southeastern part of it, anyway. as his eyes trail along the map, he sees writing that says "Rainwing Kingdom" farther inland. there were other kingdoms, like something called the "Skywing", "Sandwing", and "Seawing" kingdoms. he looks down from the map and looks at his ruined leg. he could probably patch it up. so, he sits down and takes the bandages. gingerly, he unwraps it and slowly starts to put it along his leg. wincing, but still going, he finishes the roll and tosses it aside. 
as he was repairing his leg, behind him was a snake. a boa constrictor. sensing something was off, Boulder looks up, on edge.the snake lepas out of the bush it was hiding in, and starts to wrap itself around Boulder's neck. he grabs it and tries to pry it off, but the snake keeps squeezing itself around him. Boulder doesnt want to kill it, but he thinks he has to. under his scales, blue energy courses through. his eyes turn blue with electrical crackles, and manages to pull the snake off, slamming it into a tree, skewering it on a rather pointy branch.
Boulder continues to follow the path that the big cat took. after a little bit, he comes across another clearing. leaves like the ones he saw before the cat went into the tunnel system were on the right side, moved, likely from the cat exiting the tunnels. something snaps above him. he whirls around in time to see a log smash into his jaw, sending him flying to the other edge of the clearing, hitting his head against a branch.
the last thing he saw before blacking out was a strange dragon with a sword.
= Chapter 3: The Treehouse =
groggily, Boulder opens his eyes. everything is blurred. he cant move his arms. there wasn't any more pain in his leg. looking down, he saw that the crude bandages he placed had been removed and replaced with stronger, thicker ones. his vision clearing, he looks around the room. three beds lay in the far corner, while a table and map with multiple pin marks and yarn hung on the left wall. in the doorway, he saw three strange dragons. he also heard voices.
"listen, we have to do something with him," a calm female voice said.
"throwing him into the ocean sounds like a good idea," a male voice replies.
"the current is blowing eastward, dummy," another female voice retorts. "the Icewings will pick him up if it hits their coast."
"i do not want to be thrown in the ocean very much," Boulder shouts from the post he was tied to. the dragons in the doorway look towards him, startled.
"huh. so he does speak dragon." a dragon with pitch black scales says. one of the colorful dragons walks towards him an kneels down.
"who are you?" she says with a slight menacing tone to her voice.
"Boulder," he says, not sure what else to say.
"what species are you?"
"Rockwings. i come from Sakhaara." 
"Sakhaara?" 
"approximately..." Boulder ponders for a second. "1200 miles from here." 
the colorful dragon steps back, surpised on how he could manage to fly that long. Boulder noticed she had a staff hanging onto her back. glancing at the others, he saw that the black dragon had a spear and an eyepatch over his right eye, and the other colorful dragon had a sword. then, from outside the door, another dragon pops his head in. he was blue with gills along his neck, and glowing patterns running along his body. he also had a pair of metallic goggles strapped to his forehead.
"hey, Battlescar?" he the blue dragon starts. "i found that-"
"not now, Atoll," the black dragon named Battlescar grumbles. the blue dragon turns to look at Boulder, expecting him to still be knocked out, but Boulder looks back at him, perfectly healthy. Atoll walks over to him, looking at him, this way and that. "peculiar..." Atoll grabs his chin to inspect his throat, but Boulder shakes him off and does a warning growl. Atoll backs away hurreidly. 
a creaking noise draws Battlescar's attention to another room. a dragon grunts as they lift themselves up. 
"hey, Battlescar." a female voice says. "so i went looking for that meteor thing that went over 2 days ago-" 
"hold on, ive been knocked out for 2 DAYS?" Boulder yells. 
"we sorta, kinda, maybe..." the colorful dragon with the sword says, "drugged you with sleeping juice so you wouldn't kill us all," 
Battlescar says. then a sandy colored dragon appears in the doorway, with a puzzled face. her tail had a wicked barb on the end of it. "thats the thing that dropped all this gear?" they says, holding up Boulder's wingpack and gear. 
"ok, firstly, im not a thing, and secondly, yes that is my stuff so please give it back," Boulder says in rapid succession. 
"im going to cut him loose," the colorful dragon with the staff says. "he seems freindly enough," 
"Macaw, dont," Battlescar warns, moving his hand towards his spear. 
"no need," Boulder chuckles. the blue energy radiates form under his scales again, making the surrounding dragons back up. Boulder then rips apart the ropes he was tied down with, making them hit the walls. 
as Boulder gets up, Battlescar whispers to Bast, the Sandwing, "what did we get ourselves into? 
= Chapter 4: Supply Run =
"and then those other dragons started coming in, and the queens are deciding what to do next," Caltha, the dragon with the sword, finishes. she just explained the whole history of Pyyhria to Boulder, tribes, and other events.
"so let me get this straight..." Boulder says. "you can shoot venom out of your fangs?"
"yes, very much like a snake," Caltha replies. "anyways, thats it for our little history lesson." she gets up and leaves the room. Boulder follows close behind. the Treehouse that these dragons lived in was very nice. there was a large center, circular room, with a hatch at the bottom to get in. surrounding it were rooms like bedrooms, a workshop, kitchens, and even a small training arena.
Boulder glances over to Macaw, who was getting ready to do something. "what are you doing?" Boulder asks, walking over.
"getting ready for today's supply run," she replies as she attaches a shoulderpad to her shoulder.
"whats with all the armor?" Boulder asks.
"Liberators." Macaw says with a resentful tone. "they think they run Irondock, because they are so full of themselves,"
"mind if i come?" Boulder says patiently. "i mean, i think it would be good for me to just check around for a bit,"
Macaw sighs. "fine, just keep your helmet on. i dont want to draw any attention to ourselves, especially to you."
in response, Boulder taps a button on the side of his helmet, unlocking his face shield and dust mask. he slides them over his face.
"you dont think that people will notice my scales?" Boulder asks.
"take this," Macaw throws a heavy jacket and large kneepads to him. putting them on, he looks down and does not see any of his grey-white scales. Macaw, having been ready before, walks over to the balcony and jumps off. Boulder follows, and together the set off in the cool morning breeze.
"whats the whole point of this, anyway?" Boulder says, catching up to Macaw.
"supply run," Macaw replies, not turning to look at him. "food, weapons, that kind of stuff." Boulder looks farther into the distance and sees huge mountains and a glimpse of a desert. this continent was very unique. as they approach the southeastern end of the rainwing kingdom, he starts to see large towers and buildings jutting out from the landscape. as they approach it, Macaw swoops down, with Boulder following.
the town of Irondock was a bustling port city, with thousands of dragons visiting every day to trade, sell or buy the many things they sold here. as they enter the city, he is assaulted with vibrant chatter and noises. "two scales! thats it!" "come got your high grade weapons and tools, for all occasions!" "sold!" making sure to keep his head down, he follows Macaw into the city.
Macaw stops as she walks up to a stall, which was called "Voidsplitter's rare mushrooms". Macaw walks up to a bored looking Nightwing, with specks of green and dark green dotting their head.
"20 lightshrooms, please," Macaw says digging through her bag for scales. the Nightwing opens a shelf labeled "lightshrooms" and pulled out 20 glowing mushrooms, each of which had a brilliant blue sheen. as Macaw bargains with them, Boulder glances over to the town square. 7 red dragons, supposedly called Skywings, with heavy armor come into the square. the leader has one red shoulderpad.
the dragons seemed to be authoritive, because dragons hustled out of the way as they walked by. walking up to the mushroom stall, they push another customer and Macaw out of the way.
"give me ten boomshrooms and five speedshrooms," the leader says as he walks up to the stall. the owner fetches his items, and puts their hand out saying, "50 scales,"
the leader scoffs. "50? take 25," 
"what? no!"
"I SAID TAKE 25!" the dragon yells at them, slamming his fists down on the desk. the Nightwing jumps back and nods fearfully. as the trade, Boulder casually says, "you look like you have alot of scales, why dont you just pay them?"
the leader turns around slowly to face Boulder. "because i dont want to, idiot." he mutters.
"so? they worked hard to get those, you know," Boulder says. to his right, Macaw is shaking her head and arms, as if saying, "NO, DONT SAY THAT!"
the leader walks up to him. "its not your problem," he shoves Boulder. "so you better pack up and leave,"
"actually, it is my problem," Boulder says, shoving him back. now he was getting slightly angry. "your out here robbing this poor stall owner, and you say its 'because you dont want to'?"
the red dragon doesnt answer. instead, he punches Boulder in the face. he staggers back, blinded by pain and disbeleif. 
that was it.
= Chapter 5: Brawl =
"Ha!" the leader points and laughs. "the idiot cant even take a pu-" he looks back at Boulder, who is glaring at him. then, spikes come out of his knuckles, each crackling with blue, electric energy. in response, they gang take out their weapons.
"dont just stand there, get him!" the leader yells, pointing his knife at Boulder. a henchman charges at him, fists up. the henchman throws a hook at him, but Boulder catches it, turns his arm around, and smashes his head into the ground. another comes up behind and grabs his neck, trying to choke him, but Boulder retaliates with an elbow to the gut. the dragon staggers back, winded.
Boulder turns around and punches another henchman in the chest. because of his special electric brass knuckles, the gangster falls to the ground, electrocuted. something whacks Boulder across the back of the head with a sharp CRACK sound. he turns around, and a henchman is holding a broken board up in self defense. he has more armor on than the others, so Boulder grabs the broken end, and goes into sword fighting position.
the two dragons circle each other. all Boulder can hear is his heart beating. a crowd has formed around them, some people cheering on the Liberators, while others supported Boulder. the henchman swings his board left. but Boulder blocks it, spinning around and whacking the armored gangster upside the head. he staggers back, and Boulder uses that time to hit him agian, sending him flying into a wall. he didnt get back up. Boulder tail whacks two coming up behind him, and grabs the sixth and smashes his head in.
Boulder turns to the leader. he cowers back, holding his knife up in self defense. "listen, that was an accident!" he says fearfully. "lets talk about this!"
"not so fast!" a voice comes up behind them. he turns around and sees 10 heavily armored guards, each pointing spears at them. Boulder had no quarrel with them, so he raises his hands up in defeat.
= Chapter 6: Invention =
Boulder steps out of the police station, rubbing his wrists where the ropes were tight. Macaw and Battlescar were waiting outside.
"what were you thinking?" Battlescar yells at him. "you could have gotten killed!"
"he was able to survive the log trap without many injuries," Macaw says. "that probably would have given a regular dragon either a broken rib or a broken jaw,"
"listen, i know that was stupid," Boulder says. "but you dont like the guys, right?"
Battlescar glares at him. "that still isnt a reason to fight them about. they are a big gang, and they can do really bad things to people who get in their way," Boulder sighs. Battlescar shakes his head and walks away with Macaw back to the treehouse.
30 minutes later, they arrive at the treehouse. Bast is busy cooking up some food for lunch, while Caltha is sharpening her sword with a rock. unclipping his helmet, he walks over to the lab, not interested in food right now. he finds Atoll working on something, so Boulder goes to check it out.
"what are you doing?" Boulder asks.
"im just repairing what was left in your-what was it called? ah, yes- wingpack," he responds turning to him in his chair. Boulder sighs agian.
"should have probably asked me first, yes?" Boulder says with a frustrated tone.
"yeah, sorry about that," Atoll scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "i was just wondering what this was, and i decided to take a look at it," he gestures at the thing on the table he was trying to fix.
"in that case, ill let you get back to what your doing," Boulder says, closing the door to the lab as he leaves.
Atoll turns back to the desk. what was this? he tusn the top around, showing a chamber with threads on either end. he looks at the available parts, he sighs. this is going to be a puzzle. he picks up a coil with 2 blocks on the end. he screws the blocks in, and the wire suddenly starts glowing. he must have got that right. a block with rivet holes was next, and he applied that to the bottom of the thing, making the rivets jutting out of it connect. 
lastly, there was a switch and some screws. he looks to the back of the thing, and three holes were available. he screws in the first and third, but stops on the second. does the switch go there? he puts the switch up agianst the hole and screws the rivet in. he could now flip it back and forth. all he has to do now is polish it up.
a few hours later, he holds up the finished contraption. it looked like a stick with a long pipe. the end spreaded apart. another switch rested before the wood dipped down, and was gaurded by a thin layer of metal. he decides to take it out and show his freinds.
"Boulder, was this yours?" Atoll asked, stepping out of the lab with the contraption in his hand.
"you actually fixed it?" Boulder exclaims, rushing over, grabbing the invention from Atoll's hands.
"er, yeah," Atoll says. "it was quite simple, really. all you had to do was-" before he finishes, Boulder flips the switch on the side forward. a jet of steam rushes out of the pipes at the back, making a loud hissing noise. after the steam runs out of-well, steam-Boulder flips the switch back and forward agian.
"this is a air gun, designed to knock targets back a far distance away," Boulder explains, aiming down the front sight of the air gun. "it also depressurizes the air around them, making their ears pop and stunning them," he swings it around the room, making Bast yelp when the barrel faces her.
"sorry," Boulder says apologetically. 
= Chapter 7: Stories =
hours later, Boulder is sitting on the balcony, enjoying the sunset. the breeze rustled the trees as he breathes in a sigh of releif. Macaw steps through the door, holding a glass of cactus juice. sitting down next to Boulder, she says, "its nice, isnt it?"
"yeah, its good to have a peaceful sunset without having to worry about falling into the ocean and drowning," he chuckles. Macaw laughs too, but it was only a short one.
"whats your story?" she asks, turning to him. "you know, what life was like, what you did..."
Boulder looks into the distance. "you really want to know?" he says.
"yeah."
he sighs agian, and starts his story. "when i was little, i was drafted into the Pioneers. our island was running out of resources. we were the ones who had to find new places, and it was super dangerous. my freind was drafted too, and as luck put it, we got into the same platoon,"
"we trained our hardest, every day. one day, we got into the higher tier squad, and was sent on our first mission." he sniffles. "we were scoping out an island near our home, and it was me, my freind and 2 other guys. everything seemed fine. i tripped over a rock, and shook the coast, and an avalanche began,"
"i couldnt see anything. dust was everywhere, and all i heard was screaming. my arm got crushed, but i could still walk. i looked over the coastline and... he was gone." Boulder looks down. "i never saw him agian." Macaw looks overwhelmed. all she could say was, "im sorry."
"dont be," Boulder says, looking at her. "i went into this knowing it was dangerous. i knew i probably wasnt going to come home alive. but..." he trails off, tears in his eyes. "it didnt have to be Feldspar..."
"i know that was hard for you," Macaw says, putting her arm on his shoulder. "but your here now. that was all in the past. we can help you, and, heck, maybe you can start a new life here,"
Boulder chuckles. "yeah... maybe your right," after a couple of seconds, he asks, "what about you?"
"im the reason we're all here," Macaw replies. "Battlescar, Bast, Atoll... even my sister, Caltha. weve all got our own stories to tell." 
"Battlescar was accused of murder, and was exiled out of his town. i met him in Irondock, Starved and begging on the streets. we gave him a home. so in a way, hes a freind and family to us."
"Bast used to be a mugger and robber, always using her tail barb as a from of power. i convinced her to give up what she was back then, and now, instead of hurting people, she helps people, like all the rest of us."
"Atoll was an orphan in a rundown orphanage near the seawing kingdom. he was the only survivor when the orphanage burned down. he had resorted to eating grubs and dirt for a form of food, and he was about to give up on his life entirely, until we met him, and gave him the only family hes ever had,"
as they sat in silence as the sun went down, Boulder thinks. what if i could start a life here? would i be accepted? 
= Chapter 8: Visitors =
the wind whistled through the night. it was nearing midnight, and everyone in the treehouse was asleep, except for Boulder. he was awake, thinking about what Macaw told him. he tries to get comfortable in his bed, but the wind is making it hard to sleep. maybe he was just hungry. he picks up the candle on the other side of the room and walks toward the kitchen, stepping softly to not make any noise.
setting the candle down and looking through the shelves, he finds a apple. this will do. 
something thuds above him.
on edge from the sound, he looks out the window, but nothings there. deciding to head back to his room, he grabs the candle and the apple. once hes back, he hears another thud. what was that? he looks out the window agian, but nothing is there. 
he senses something behind him.
a dragon with black armor and faceplate pins him to the wall. he holds a dagger, ready to stab Boulder, but he fends off the attack by holding the arm with the dagger. unfortunately, the assassin has another weapon: his fire. when Boulder sees the light from inside his throat, he kicks his leg out from under him, fire shooting through the ceiling. Boulder stomps on him to hold him off.
something catches his leg, and he is dragged out onto the roof. he catches a glimpse of 2 more black dragons, similar to the dragon that attacked him before. while one of them is reeling him in, the other brings down a sword on him, but he blocks it with his brass knuckles, and kicks the dragon back. well, no more sleeping or anyone tonight. the other dragon has hopped onto the roof too, and they both close in on him.
then a tail barb clangs off of the grappler dragon's armor. the turn around and are promptly smashed in the face with a pan. the sword dragon looks that way, and narrowly dodges a staff to the forehead, courtesy of Macaw. Boulder uses his wings and dropkicks the dagger dragon in the chest, winding him and sending him flying backwards. 
then an axe whistles past his shoulder with a string attached to it. he whirls around and sees a stocky dragon with the other axe in his hand. he pulls his arm back, and the axe is retracted to his hand. dodging a melee strike from the dagger dragon, he realizes he is outnumbered. pulling a pin from his arm, the spikes from his left hand rocket towards the dagger dragon. he manages to dodge one, but 2 others slam into his shoulders, another in the ribs, and the final one smashes through his faceplate, slamming into his head. 
he staggers back, then topples over the edge of the treehouse. Boulder looks over to Macaw, who is busy fending off the grappler, and Bast, who is fighting the sword dragon with only a pan. he turns back to the axe dragon, still looking to the spot where the dagger dragon fell. fast as lightning, Boulder punches him and picks up the daggers. an axe comes down on them, sparks flying through the air.
Boulder sets his leg on the axe dragons chest, ripping away the axe he held. he throws it to the side, knowing that it wouldnt help because his enemy could retract it, but thats what he wanted. when the axe dragon retracted, Boulder kicks it, sending it sideways, and before the axe dragon can react, it crashes through his faceplate. a muffled scream tore through the air as they fall to the ground, dead.
Macaw is on the ground, the grapplers dragon on top of her, with the only thing protecting Macaw from death was her staff. Boulder, seeing this, makes spikes shoot out of the ball on his tail, much like a mace. he runs over and smashes the dragon in the chest with it. they step back, clutching their chest, but the armor protected them from the blow. they make an L symbol with their fingers, but before they could attack, a wooden staff trips them. Macaw finishes the job by caving their head on with her foot.
Bast is on the ground, clutching a wound on her shoulder. a gaping hole lies in front of her.
"what happened?!" Boulder asks, panicking.
"they went through the floor," she says weakly. Boulder drops into the hole, spotting a glimpse of a black tail around the corner. Boulder gives chase. he spots Atolls open door, and peers inside, finding the dragon standing over him with their sword. Boulder grabs his air gun from the table, taps them on the shoulder to make them turn around, and says, "wassup, chrome dome?" before blasting them out of the window and smashing into a tree. the hit the ground, out cold.
that was just when Battlescar was waking up. "what'd i miss?" he yawns.
= Chapter 9: Interrogation =
Chapter 9: Interrogation
later that day, Battlescar drags up the sword dragon's sleeping body. "what are we going to do with them?" Battlescar asks.
"interrogate them," Caltha replies. "put them in the white room," Boulder follows Battlescar, and they got to a room with a metal door on the right and a wooden door ahead. Battlescar uses a key and opens the metal door, chucking the dragon into it, and shutting the door tight. "they should wake up soon," he reassures Boulder.
and the dragon did wake up, a few minutes later. they must have hit that tree hard. they jolt awake, and tries to move their arms, but cant, as they are tied to a chair. Battlescar and Caltha walk in.
"you aint getting anything out of me," the dragon spits at them.
"you better tell us something," Battlescar says, while Caltha brandishes her sword. "or you wont be able to say anything else no more," the dragon stays silent. Caltha walks over to try to take of his helmet, but it doesnt budge.
"better not try to take that off anytime soon," the dragon laughs. "it has a locking mechanism which can only be opened by me, so your going to be here a- OW!" he shouts as Battlescar hits him-hard- with the dull part of his spear. something clicks inside his helmet, and Caltha removes it.
under the helmet was the bloody face of a Nightwing. before he can react, Battlescar ties chains around his mouth. however, he still tries to use his firebreath, and flames shoot out his ears. dazed, his head rolls over. "so, are you going to talk now?" Caltha aks.
"im not telling you anything, sucker," he manages to say through the chains. Caltha slashes her sword down his face, leaving a scar from his right ear to his mouth. Caltha then starts punching him, over and over, until finally he breaks.
"okay, okay!" he whimpers, keeping as far away as he could from them. "ill tell you! just please stop hurting me!"
"after that wierd guy came into Irondock yesterday, and beat up six of our men, the leader got super angry," he says. "he said, i can say exactly, 'they are going to pay for what they did' and left,"
"do you know anything else?" Battlescar says.
"no," the dragon says. "he went to High Quarters, and im not allowed to go there," Battlescar contemplates this, then nods his head to Caltha. she unties everything off of the dragon while Battlescar opens the door and says, "go. now." the dragon ran as fast as his legs could carry him, and up into the sky.
then, Macaw rushes in, panting.
"what are you doing here? i thought you went to Irondock!" Battlescar says.
"Irondock-Liberators-" she coughs out, exhausted from flying.
"what?" Caltha asks, getting closer.
"Irondock is under attack!"
= Chapter 10: Battlezone =
"ok, walk me through what happened,"
"it all happened in a flash..." Macaw stutters. "i was just walking, and i saw hundreds of Liberators come out of the sky. they bombed the important buildings, like the mayors office and the bank... it was chaos,"
"is the mayor okay?" Bast says worreidly. she was a close freind of the mayor's, and she had a right to be scared.
"i think so," Macaw mutters. 
"we gotta check the ruins," Battlescar says. "to check for survivors and scavenge important stuff,"
"are you kidding?" Caltha laughs. "there could be hundreds of Liberators there, maybe more,"
Boulder replies, "we got to take a chance. Dragon's will die if we dont act fast," Caltha thinks about it, and, hesitantly, she nods her head. Battlescar beckons for them to follow him, and they start to pack up. they decided that it was best that Atoll and Bast would stay, as Bast and Atoll weren't exceptional at fighting.
as they were preparing to set off, Boulder looked into the distance and saw smoke and fire. he thinks about what their going to see when they get there.
"alright, lets go!" Battlescar shouts to them. Boulder grabs his air gun, and they fly towards the burning town of Irondock. 
approaching Irondock, Battlescar swoops down. the others follow him. as they land, Battlescar moves his hand up in the halt gesture. he points forward to some Liberators escorting civilians with weapons.
"cmon, move it! we dont got all day!" the shorter gaurd yells at them.
"actually, we have a couple hours left till dinner-" a taller one says, but the shorter one bonks him with a wrench. "i think i know that! i was being sarcastic!"
as they march the civilians toward the heart of the town. ruined buildings were everywhere, shops were destroyed, and, in some places, fire was torching everything it touched. four Liberators break off the escort, and they gaurd the path to the inner town. Battlescar points to Boulder and Caltha, then points right, and the points to himself and Macaw, pointing left.
as they head in their gestured directions, Caltha takes out a pair of rope. as they climb the building near the path, something clatters off of the wall they were climbing. one of the gaurds look up. Boulder pins himself to the wall, and remains out of sight until the gaurd shrugs and resumes his chat with his freind. when they all get to the top of their buildings, Battlescar does a 3, 2, 1 with his hands, and they spring into action. 
Caltha sends the rope down, wrapping around the gaurds neck. she lifts him into the air while he's choking. Boulder bounces off the top of the roped dragon's head, and slams into the other gaurd, pinning him into the ground. he breaks the back of his chestplate, and, with the broken part, smashes it over his head, knocking him out.
Macaw drops down and does a double strike with her staff, hitting a gaurd in the face and tripping the other. as Battlescar lands on top of the downed dragon, Macaw sends both of the legs of the other gaurd to the side, then brings her staff down on top of him.
the roped dragon hits the ground with Caltha on top of him. they continue into the town, hiding from patrols. when they get to the center, they are shocked by the sheer number of Liberators stationed there.
there must have been a few hundred, maybe even a thousand. many were doing drills or hanging out, while others escorted civilians and carried crates full of weapons around. many of the dragons that were leading patrols or managing drills had a single shoulderplate, like the one that Boulder met before.
a dinging sound rang across the square, and all the Liberators turned to a pedestal at the back. a hulking dragon steps onto it. a giant greatswoard is strapped to his back, and he has a helmet that looks like a wolf. his armor was made from two layers of hardened steel. not even fire could melt that quickly.
he cleared his throat and started to speak. "my fellow Liberators, a time of revolution is at hand!" an uproar comes from the crowd, shouting and clapping and stamping their feet.
"this town is ours. if anyone tries to convince you it is not, push them aside! we are Liberators, by the moons! we are strong!" he pumps his fist into the air. more cheering. "but the reason im here today is to address a threat," Macaw looks at Boulder, but he just shrugs.
"there have been three dragons roaming around, causing trouble everywhere they go. they beat up one of our patrols, and are armed and dangerous. if you see these three dragons-" he pins up pictures of Macaw, Battlescar, and Boulder- "contact me. immediately. now, any questions?"
"uhh, sir?" the tall gaurd pipes up. "that last poster doesn't look like a normal dragon,"
"i know," the commander sighs. "we think its a Mudwing with special armor, but we cant know for sure,"
Caltha slumps agianst the wall. "how are we going to be able to get back Irondock with this many Liberators?"
"we cant," Battlescar replies. "were going to need help,"
"and i just know where to find it,"
= Chapter 11: Journey =
"were heading all the way to the Skywing kingdom?" Bast asks when they get back. she was not a fan of long flights.
"if we want to take back Irondock, we need to get help," Battlescar asks. "do you have any better ideas?"
"im curious on what it looks like," Boulder pipes up. hes only ever seen Irondock in the time he's been here.
"we go at dawn, so pack your things," Battlescar says as he walks to the map room. Boulder heads to his room. since his wingpack doubled as a backpack-well, maybe it was just a backpack right now-he could still pack multiple things in it. the treehoiuse dwellers gave him an extra sack, so he could carry a bit more stuff.
he packs his air gun, a lantern and candles, a map and compass, and a book on Pyyhria. as he does this, he hopes that there arent any assassins that will attack them when they get there.
the next day, everyone seems ready. Atoll, being the scientist that he was, tries to bring his whole toolbox, which was so big that it had to be attactched to his back. Caltha facepalms. "your going to be lucky if you can even fit through any doors," she says.
"hey, this isnt even all the tools," Atoll says, huffing from the weight of his pack. "i left the dangerous ones back at the workshop," Battlescar steps out of his room. he was clad with black armor, with chiseled markings on the shoulderpads. "Everyone set?" he asks as he slides the final peice of his armor in. the dragons nod.
"lets go!" he shouts, throwing his fist up in the air. as they leave, Boulder looks back, wondering what will happen to them.
"Calm down, Boulder," Bast says back. "youll be fine. hopefully." Boulder takes off the balcony with his fellow dragons and takes up the rear. before long, the vast, colorful rainforest made way to giant mud bogs and swamps. apparently, this was the Mudwing kingdom. as he looked closer at the dragons, they didnt have the regular head shap of a normal dragon. instead, they had a flat head, and looked very strong.
as they continue, the swamps change into a vast delta, which funnels into the Diamond Spray River. how did he know all this? he studied the map every single day since he got it, and has memorized every key location on this continent. after flying for a while on the river, it gives way to towering mountians on either side, each reaching as far up as the clouds.
Battlescar banks left, as do everyone else behind him. around the mountian lay a bustling town, with buildings seemingly built into the mountian. as they land on the walkway into it, a sign reads: Welcome to Cliffside, enjoy your stay! Boulder thought it was a bit odd that it said, enjoy your stay!, but then he looked at the huge resort taking up the left side of the town. this must be a tourist destination.
and with that in mind, he follows his freinds into the bustling town.
= Chapter 12: Cliffside =
many of the dragons inhabiting the town were skywings, as this was in their territory, but there were many Icewings and Seawings there, likely visiting the resort, which he figured out was called the Cliffhanger. as they go into the market section of Cliffside, Battlescar stops by a stall that apparently, sold clocks and watches. it was called, Chronos' Fine Time Tellers.
"uhh, Battlescar?" Bast whispers to him. "why are you getting a watch?"
"im not getting a watch, or a clock for that matter," he hisses back. he turns to the Sandwing running the stall and says, "i wonder what the Nightwings are doing right now," the Chronos doesnt seem confused by all this. he just says back, "i heard they were dealing with the Seawings,"
"ah, that must be it," Battlescar responds. the Chronos beckons him to follow him, and he goes down the main street. Battlescar's friends follow. the Sandwing walks up to a dragonet leaning agianst a wall and playing with a yoyo, and does several quick hand gestures. the dragonet nods as the shopkeeper walks away.
"who are you guys?" the dragonet asks.
"I'm an old friend of your parents. these are my buddies." Battlescar replies, pointing to each of the dragons behind him.
"alright, then," the dragonet crosses his arms. "when did my parents meet?"
"around the time of the sandwing war,"
"where was their first house?"
"it wasnt a house. it was an apartment in the sky palace,"
the dragonet nods his head agian, this time in approval. "follow me," 
you see, cliffside was separated into cliffs. one side, the one were Boulder and his friends are on right now, housed the mayors office, market, and the Cliffhanger. the other side was a large neighborhood. the dragonet walks over to the landing zone, in between the separation, and takes off, with Battlescar and his friends in tow.
he lands in the lower district and walks down an alley. a little metal door hung on the side. he knocks: thump, thump, thumpety, thump thumpety. a hole opens near the door and a horn comes out.
"password?" it says in a gravelly voice.
"what password?" the dragonet replies.
the door makes a click sound, and the dragonet opens it, showing a rickety elevator with a dim little lantern attached to it. the all step in, and the dragonet says, "you might want to hlod on to something,"
"wait, why?" Atoll says in a panicky voice. the elevator drops down suddenly, and all the dragons scream as their towed down with it. except the dragonet. he has a perfectly calm face. Boulder senses and hears the thumping of bass drums, glasses clinking, and the chatter of many dragons at a time. but the elvator still keeps going, down, down, down...
= Chapter 13: The Hole and The Harbingers =
the elevator finally stops falling, and the dragons hit the ground. hard. the dragonet, seeming like he's done this multiple times before, and uses his wings to stop himself. as the older draogns get up, two metal doors creak open, and Boulder is revealedd to a giant room with many flashing lights. a sign on the top says: welcome to the Hole.
to the left, a stage with a band was playing a funky tune with dragons around it. ahead of him was a bar that sold all types of ciders and ales, and to the right was a ring with two dragons wrestling in it. a Mudwing knocks the opposing Icewing into the ground, jumps on a rope, and slams elbow first into the downed Icewing. the Mudwing gets up with a triumphant roar.
Macaw and Caltha walk up to the stage where the band is playing. Bast walks over to the bar, where a Skywing is busy cooking up something-whatever it was, it smelled good. Atoll decides to relax on a couch. Boulder doesnt know what to do, so he just follows Battlescar. they push past the people surrounding the ring, and walk over to a booth with a couple dragons in it.
"and then i said, 'what are you talking about? look in a mirror!" a Sandwing laughs. the dragons in the booth with him laugh too, and they clink glasses.
"old Dingo, never stops joking, eh?" Battlescar chuckles. Dingo turns to him and smiles.
"hey, long time no see, buddy!" Dingo says as they hug each other. "6 years really passes by, doesn't it?"
"at least im not the one that got thrown behind bars," Battlescar laughs.
"hey, it was only 3 days!" Dingo responds, breaking up. "how have you been?"
"not great, actually," Battlescar scratches his head. "Irondock got raided by Liberators, and some assassins tried to kill us..."
"wait, what?" Dingo tilts his head. "i thought we broke the Liberators up,"
"yeah, but their back with a tough new leader," Boulder remembers the large dragon with the wolf mask and greatsword.
"by the way, who is the fellow behind you?" Dingo glances to Boulder. "is he with you?"
"yeah, hes with me. also, hes the reason why we got ambushed by assassins," Battlescar finishes with a menacing tone.
"by the way, if you want to stay here, we have some guest rooms near the back. your welcome to check in," Dingo waves towards the back of the underground building.
"anyways, the reason why i came here is because we need your help," Battlescar says, putting his hands on the table in a serious manner. "we have to defend Irondock,"
"are you saying that we need the other Harbingers?" Dingo scoffs. "they have their own lives now, and i dont want to drag them back into this business,"
"i know all of them well enough that each and every one of them still has something inside of them that is loyal to the Harbingers," Battlescar says. Dingo rests his head agianst the back of the bench, sighing.
"Dingo, thousands of people are still there, in danger, and we cant do anything to help them if we stay here and drink cactus cider every day," Battlescar continues. Dingo stays silent, thinking.
"ill see if the ones here are willing to help," Dingo replies. "i cant reach the other ones out of Cliffside, though,"
"thats good enough," Battlescar gets up. "thanks." Boulder continues to follow Battlescar as they round up Bast, Atoll, Macaw and Caltha.
"we have some help now," Battlescar says. "do you guys remember Dingo?"
"yeah, you talked about him before," Macaw replies.
"i worked with him in a group called the Harbingers. we were the ones that stopped criminals and gangs when the gaurds couldnt, and we have their help,"
everyone nods and cheers. everyone except Boulder. maybe we can actually do this, he thinks.
= Chapter 14: Mysterious Dragon =
Boulder is lying down on his bed in the guest rooms. thoughts whirl in his head, rattling his brain like a tornado. he gets up and walks to the bathroom, and takes a couple of minutes to stare at himself. he unclips his chin strap, unlocks the side plates, slides the faceplate off, and, for the first time since hes landed, takes his helmet off.
setting his helmet down, he gingerly touches the corroded, burnt side of his face. he got it from a fire back on Sakhaara. he had just joined the Pioneers, and was busy repairing part of the main building. he used his pocket torch to seal up a crack in the stone, but he dropped, it, and it set fire to the wooden floor below.
he was trapped in that fire for two hours. he fought, he kicked, he screamed for help, but nobody could hear him. and even though people cheered when he staggered out of it, it left him scarred for life. people rushed away from him when he walked down the street. they whispered about him behind his back, and thats why he made his helmet.
he sighs and puts his helmet back on. he steps out the door into the hallway connecting the rooms to The Hole, and takes the stairs outside. he opens another door and steps out onto the streets of Cliffside. walking down the main street, only a few dragon's were outside. stalls were closed up, windows had no lights shining through them, and the streets were quiet. it was eerie.
as he walks down the road, he hears a clicking noise, like one from a telegraph. sensing it was coming from an alley to the right, he peeks around the corner. a dragon is busily typing away at a telegraph. when Boulder turns around and continues to walk, something catches his eye on the dragon. the had black armor, like Liberators do. they had the Liberator sigil on the shoulderpad, and a briefcase say next to them.
unfourtunately, they notice him, and the shove the telegraph into a bag and run away. Boulder thinks that the breifcase is important, so he gives chase. the dragon hurdles a wall with the breifcase, panting, but Boulder takes to the skies. the dragon rounds a couple more corners and stops to catch their breath. what they didnt know was that Boulder is right above them.
"heh," the dragon chuckles under their breath. "stupid Mudwing, fat, lazy, slow, doesnt know who he's working for-" he is cut off when Boulder comes down from above, landing on him and pinning the dragon to the ground. Boulder takes up the breifcase, and says "whats this we have here?"
"hey, buddy, we can talk," the pinned dragon says.
"alrighty then, where did you get this?" Boulder asks, still keeping his foot down.
"maybe...not about that?" the masked Liberator replies.
Boulder sighs. "fine, but its the only thing thats stopping me from stomping your head in,"
turns out that the Liberator may be strong physically, but very cowardly on the inside.
"ok, fine, fine!" the Liberator yells. "just don't hurt me, please?"
= Chapter 15: The Breifcase =
after the masked dragon had been turned into the local police, and Boulder had got back to the Hole, it was nearly sunrise. he had missed a whole night's sleep. as he walks into the Hole, Battlescar is waiting for him at the door.
"whats that?" he asks, glancing over to Boulder. "and why does it have the Liberator sigil on it?"
"i chased down an informant," Boulder replied, holding up the case. "likely information, but im not sure," Boulder hands it to Battlescar, who turns it around and inspects it.
"ill hand this in to Atoll," he said. "he might be able to pick the lock," Battlescar then nods and walks away. Boulder, having nothing else to do, walks over to the ring where the dragons were wrestling earlier.
Dingo is at the side cheering on a nimble Icewing. they dodge past the opposing Skywing's guard. before they can turn around, the Icewing throws themself into a rope, and uses its momentum to kick the Skywing square in the jaw. they stumble back, covering their face, but then the Icewing does a strong haymaker to their gut, dropping them and deciding the fight.
when the Icewing steps out of the ring, Dingo walks up to them and says, "Skylark! im glad you can make it!"
"well, i was staying at the Cliffhanger for my vacation, but i hear that i was needed agian," Skylark chuckles. "as always,"
Skylark looks over at Boulder, cocking her head. "is he with you? ive never seen a Mudwing with that type of armor before,"
"yeah, he's with me. funny thing is, he-" Dingo says, glancing over at Boulder with his eyes, who is waving his arms sideways and shaking his head.
"...he got it from an auction sale. definitely a Mudwing, hehe," he laughs nervously as he turns back to Skylark. she still has one eyebrow up skeptically, but she returns to normal after a while. he noticed that she had two different coloured eyes: one was blue, while the other was green. 
then there was a thump at the elevator, signifying that someone had arrived. when Dingo and Skylark went over to check out who it was, a large, stocky Mudwing with a warhammer attached to their back jumps out to hug him and says, "DINGO! I HAVENT SEEN YOU IN SO LONG! HOW HAS IT BEEN?" 
while the huge Mudwing is crushing Dingo in a bear hug, another Skywing steps out, rubbing their head where the landed. "calm down, Sorrel. its only been 3 years," 
Sorrel finally lets go of Dingo, who drops to the ground, gasping for air. "sorry, Gale, its just that i havent seen him in so long! man, you've grown, haven't you?" 
"glad-to meet- you too-Sorrel," Dingo manages to wheeze between coughs. 
"wheres Atoll?" Sorrel asks. as she says that, Atoll comes out of the hallway housing the rooms. "alright, i managed to open it,-not a very complex lock-and it seems like-" he isnt able to finish a sentance before he notices Sorrel, Gale and Skylark. Sorrel wants to rush to him, but Gale puts his arm in front of her. it was probably a good idea, as Atoll's bones were made of toothpicks that she could crush easily. 
"who are these guys?" Atoll asks. Macaw and Caltha are busy chatting when they step out of their rooms for the morning,. Macaw looks over and squints at Skylark, then says, "hey, aren't you the one that stopped the bank robbery at the Scorpion Den?" 
"the one and only," Skylark chuckles as she brandishes a dagger strapped to her belt, which had a diamond engraved on the hilt. hearing this, Macaw eye's go wide and sparkly. next to her, Caltha mutters, "oh no..." 
"oh my gosh, i am such a big fan of you!" Macaw exclaims, rushing over. "i actually cant beleive that im meeting you in real life!" 
"hey, we helped too," Gale says behind Skylark, with Sorrel at his side. Macaw looks over and does a thumbs up, with a sheepish smile on her face. Battlescar is standing to the left, and shakes hands with Gale and Sorrel. "wheres Dewdrop and Fortune?" he asks. 
"we dont know where Dewdrop is," Skylark shrugs. "after we killed Zircon, she went back to the Rainwing kingdom, and we havent seen her since," 
Battlescar frowns. "Zircon isnt dead," 
"wait, what?" the other Harbingers say. 
"i stabbed a spear through his heart," Skylark mutters. "he should be dead," 
"yeah, but he's awfully alive to be commanding a gang of over a hundred dragons," Bast says, wiping her hands on a rag. 
"what about Fortune?" Battlescar asks, turning back to Skylark. she sighs and looks down at her feet. 
"he's dead," she says. "he was assassinated by The Tracker," 
Battlescar's face goes pale. Bast walks over and puts her hand on his shoulder, but he doesnt react. he just stares at the ground. 
"Fortune?" he says, his voice cracking. "of all people, Fortune?" 
"i know its hard to beleive, but The Tracker's symbol was left on the wall next to him." Sorrel says mournfully. "we couldnt do anything." 
Battlescar shakes his head, wiping away his tears. "the reason why your here right now," he begins, "is because Zircon is back with a Liberator army. they attacked Irondock, and have an army of hundreds. we have to stop them," 
= Chapter 16: Dewdrop =
as far as Boulder had heard, Dewdrop was an animus. she had trained alongside other animus dragonets, like the famed artist Pili, and had graduated top of her class. as she helped dragons with her magic, and as she lost her soul, people started to notice something. instead of her going crazy all at once, she slowly sank deeper into insanity, and with her last shred of soul in her, exiled herself, and was never seen agian.
as the locals have said, Dewdrop went into the western part of the Rainwing kingdom, where she presumably lived in a hut. fortunately, the Harbingers and the Treehouse Dwellers had formed a plan during the day, and it was ready to be put into action, and considering everything went well, they would have a significant power tilt to them.
Boulder, Gale, Sorrel and a few other dragons would go and try to find Dewdrop, and the rest of the crew was going to try to recruit as many dragons as they could to lead the rebellion to Irondock and challenge the Liberators.
they stepped out into the morning sun, and Sorrel pulled out a map. "i think i know where to go," she says. they take off, and head towards the Rainwing kingdom. they pass over the Cliffhanger, and to Boulder's suprise, had a pool leaning precariously over the edge of the cliff. there was also a rooftop patio with restaraunt stalls and dragons eating at tables.
they continue to fly, all the way through lunchtime. the other dragons, not being Mudwings, were fine with missing out on eating, but Sorrel started to scarf down whole meals during their flight. her being a Mudwing, it was not unexpected.
after flying for a couple of hours, they touch down in a clearing on the edges of the kingdom. as they land, Boulder looks around at the swathes of trees across the forest floor. some seemed that they could stretch up into the clouds. flies whizzed about, sloths and other animals relaxed in the trees, and the dragons started to walk.
Boulder was at the rear with another dragon, a Rainwing named Kaffir. he was on edge and wary, as snakes prowled in the bushes. 
"are you okay, Mudwing?" Kaffir asked, raising an eyebrow at Boulder's odd movements.
"yeah, yeah, im fine..." Boulder mutters. "its just... Rainforest sounds, you know?" Kaffir shrugs and continues to walk.
Sorrel stops, as does everyone else. "i think her hut is up here," she says, pointing to a darker part of the forest. peering through the leaves, they see a rickety hut, with its windows boarded up and vines growing around it. prime real estate, Boulder chuckles to himself.
"alright, whos gonna go first?" Sorrel asks the rest of the dragons. they all mutter, looking at one another.
"ill go," Caltha and Boulder say at the same time. they look at each other, then back to Sorrel, who points at the hut. as silent as they can, Boulder and Caltha walk out of the bushes, approaching the hut. it gave off an eerie feel.
Caltha tries to peer through one of the boarded up windows, but the wood blocked her. Boulder points to the front door, and Caltha nods. Cautiously, Caltha knocks on the door. they wait for a couple of seconds, but nothing happens. they wait some more. Caltha turns to Boulder, who points to the door agian, so she knocks another time.
the door swings open, and black engulfs Boulder's faceplate.
= Chapter 17: Raid =
Boulder drops to the ground, startled. he could hear Caltha yelling, another dragon shouting, and the stomping of talons coming to them. he wipes the black goo off of his faceplate, and dragons are looking at him with shock. he looks at his hand, and the black, slimy stuff was eating into his armor. luckily, he was able to wipe it off in time so that it didnt do much damage.
he then sees Dewdrop for the first time. she has a cloak with the hood pulled down, a crazed look in her eyes, and is struggling against a horde of other dragons. her eyes were bloodshot, and one of her horns was broken off. she shouts and kicks, screaming bloody murder, before someone manages to knock her out.
"by the moons, what is wrong with her?" Boulder scrambles back. one dragon, a Seawing named Deluge was slashed during the event, and was being treated to by medics.
as the dragons reorganize, Boulder steps into Dewdrop's hut. claw marks ran across the walls, and there was a desk with various things in jars. the roof was made out of straw and timber, a bed with an uncomfortable looking sheet, and a few water barrels outside. he uses his senses to search for more things, but something seemed off.
there were about 13 dragons here. however, Boulder sensed more. way more. then he realized what was about to happen.
"RUN! EVERYONE, ITS AN AMBUSH! GET OUT OF HERE!" He roars as he bashes down the door, shouting, but it was too late. then, Liberators began to pour out of the trees. the rebels pulled out their weapons. chaos erupted, scaring birds and wildlife alike.
Boulder gets tackled from behind, but he manages to kick the dragon off. he activates his brass knuckles, and punches a Liberator square in the jaw. rebels fought their best, swords slashing, spears stabbing, and axes swooshing.
Sorrel, to the left, swings her hammer down on a dragon and shouts to Boulder, "where's Dewdrop?"
"i dont know!" he yells back, looking around frantically. the sounds of yelling and screaming catch his ear, and he sees Dewdrop mowing down Liberators with her claws. some try to run away, but only make it a couple of meters before the crazed animus caught up to them.
"take this and use it on Dewdrop!" Sorrel yelled, a threw a needle to Boulder. it was filled with a blood red substance. "keep her safe! we can hold these guys off!"
Boulder nods. he just had to reach the animus now. picking up a water barrel, he charges into battle, dropping it onto a Liberator, water spraying everywhere. he puts a screaming, flailing Dewdrop into a headlock, and starts running. Liberators are on his tail the second he starts, so Boulder throws Dewdrop to the ground, whipping out his air gun, and blasts them all away.
he continues running, with Dewdrop on his shoulder. eventually, when the sounds of battle stopped, he set the animus down, her having grown tired of all that flailing and kicking. Boulder takes out the needle, glancing at it warily, before saying, "sorry about this," and jabs the needle into Dewdrop's neck. she yelps and swings her claws around before staying still.
Boulder gets up and looks around. it was about a little after noon, and the sun was setting that way, so Cliffside must be North.
he picks the sleeping Dewdrop up and starts to walk.
= Chapter 18: The Reductors =
the reason why he wasn't flying is because he was more likely going to be spotted by Liberator patrols. for all he knew, he was probably being pinned up as a wanted poster right now.
starting to feel his stomach rumble, he sets Dewdrop down and starts to forage for food. looking around a tree, he spots a bush with a few berries attached to it. he takes them, and continues foraging.
he hears a groan from behind him, and spins around to see a woken Dewdrop rubbing her head. 
_________ 
in the head command of the Liberators in Irondock, Zircon sits in his throne. he rests his head agianst an arm propped up agianst the armrest, and waits for the messenger to deliver news. 
"how long will this take?" Smoke, Zircon's first bodygaurd, mutters. 
"as long as it needs to be," Zircon replies calmly. Tracker, off to the left, has their arms crossed, not saying anything, as usual. 
the messenger, a Seawing, comes through the door, panting. "sir!" he shouts. "i have information!" 
"alright, give me it," Zircon says, leaning forward. 
"so, that raid you sent to take that animus's hut?" the Seawing says nervously. 
"yes..." 
"the raid was stopped by some Harbingers," 
"WHAT?!" Zircon roars, seemingly rocking the room with his voice. 
"yes, theyre back, sir," the Seawing quivers. 
"is there any other news?" 
"yes sir, that Mudwing was there, too," 
"the one with the funny brass knuckles?" 
"yes sir," the Seawing replied. "he retreated with the animus into the forest, patrols are searching now." 
Zircon leans back and thinks. if the assassins from before couldnt kill them, he had to send in better ones. 
"get the Reductors," Zircon says to the Seawing. 
"yes, sir, right away." 
the Seawing goes down a hallway leading to the special division training rooms. he knocks on a door, and see's five assassins training, each with the same black armor and helmets as the ones before, only this time some of their armor was red mixed with black.
"Zircon wants you guys," the messenger says, playing with his thumbs. the dragons pick up their weapons and leave, pushing the dragon aside. a certian aura of menacing emanated from them, and dragons moved out of the way by the mere sight of them. when they get to Zircon's throne room, he has a crumpled of scroll in his balled fist, and you can see the anger in his eyes.
"you called for us, sir?" the lead dragon asks. they were-aptly named-The Leader. there was also the Executioner, The Brawler, The Archer, and the Invader. Zircon unrolls the scroll, showing the face of Boulder.
"kill him," Zircon growls.
= Chapter 19: Lost =
Boulder approaches Dewdrop slowly, with his air gun pointed at her. meanwhile, Dewdrop rubs her head on where she's been knocked out.
"oi, my head..." she looks to Boulder, but instead of either trying to run or fight, she stays perfectly calm.
"who are you?" she asks, getting up. Boulder thinks about his answer for a second.
"Arrowhead," he replies.
"you seem hostile, why are you pointing that at me?"
"because im not sure you would rip me to shreds the second you saw me,"
"well, im certiantly not ripping you to shreds now, am i?"
"why would i rip you to shreds?"
Boulder lowers his air gun. maybe she was cured, and actually has control over her own head, but maybe this is just a ruse.
"what am i doing here, anyway?" Dewdrop asks, getting up and looking around.
"we rescued you from your hut, before the Liberators came," Boulder replies, beggining to walk away.
"wait, Liberators?" Dewdrop says, running over to Boulder. "Zircon is dead. i saw Skylark stab a spear through his heart,"
"yeah, but he sure isnt dead," Boulder grumbles as he whacks bushes aside. "he's back, and with a whole army of Liberators working for him,"
"in that case, what do we do?"
"try to find a shelter, till night falls," Boulder cuts away some branches, bundling them up together. they work through the afternoon, setting and propping up branches for a small tent. soon after they finish, night falls. they sit across from each other, looking at the fire. rain pattered outside while the crickets and frogs went back to their dens.
"how are the other Harbingers?" Dewdrop asks, warming her hands.
"theyre doing okay, i geuss..." Boulder replies, looking at her. "your freind Fortune, she, uhh..."
"got killed?" Dewdrop asks, staring at Boulder. unsure of what to say, he nods, and Dewdrop sighs.
"i knew she would always go out in a blaze of glory," Dewdrop chuckles lightly. "she wouldve jumped into a fire to save us,"
"was she the leader?" he asks.
"yeah, the best leader there ever was," Dewdrop continues.
"i managed to fish this out of your hut before we left," Boulder takes out a fishing hook, with patterns engraved along the handle.
"hey, thats my fishing hook! thank you," Dewdrop reaches over and takes it, and the patterns snaking along the shaft of the hook illuminated with blue.
"did you make it?" Boulder questions, curious on how she made it glow.
"no, no. my great grandma made it, back when she lived in Irondock. she was a fisher, and one day she thought there was a better way to catch fish, so she made this." Dewdrop swings the enchanted fish hook, feeling it. "where are you from, Arrowhead?"
Boulder hesitates, then thinks. she seems fine now. i geuss i can tell her.
"now is probably a good time to tell you that my name isn't Arrowhead," he says, giving her a sideways glance.
"what?" Dewdrop says, tilting her head skeptically.
"im not even from this continent,"
Dewdrop looks at him, up and down. "so, your a foreigner?" Boulder unlatches the clasps on his helmet, and takes it off, showing the one pale blue eye, his grey scales, and his mangled face. Dewdrop flinches, and Boulder looks down at the ground. she realizes what she did, beginning to say something, but Boulder interrupts her.
"no, its okay. i get it." he puts his helmet back on, and leaves the tent. its raining heavily now, and Boulder's feet squelch in the mud.
then he looked right, and saw the face of death himself.
= Chapter 20: Ambush =
he barely had time to dodge out of the way before claws came down in front of him, but they weren't normal claws. the were elongated, with wicked points and serrated edges. as they prepare for another attack, two stocky dragons follow them, one with a battle axe and the other with brass knuckles. the clawed assassin goes for another strike, but Boulder ducks and slams his leg into his shin. they jump back, signaling for their buddies to move in.
Dewdrop rushes out of the tent, fish hook in hand, and yells, "Boulder! what in the moons is going-" before she could finish her sentence, a dragon with a bow puts their weapon around her neck to try to restrain her. however, she slams her elbow into their gut, and flips them over her shoulder.
meanwhile, Boulder blocks a blow from the battle axe dragon, managing to hit his chest before he jumps back. the clawed dragon swings at him, but Boulder grabs his arms, puts his foot on their chest, and pulls back, hearing a pop as they hit the ground. even though the dragon was down, he wasnt through with them, grabbing his tail and swinging him into a tree.
Dewdrop is busy fighting the archer dragon. turns out, they also have a dagger. Dewdrop dodges and ducks under strikes, before extending her hook and snagging the assassins leg. they trip and gets pulled to her with incredible speed. before they could react, Dewdrop raises her hook above her head, and slams it down on the dragon's helmet.
Boulder ducks under a punch from the brass knuckles dragon. seeing his opportunity, he swings his leg, aiming for his hip, but they dodge out of the way. they grab each other, like bulls locking horns, both seething with rage and battle energy under their faceplates. Boulder then grabs the dragons arms, pulling them down, then uppercuts him, taking his helmet off and hitting the ground,
the battle axe dragon gets into fighting position, but before Boulder could attack, he hears Dewdrop yell, "Boulder! a little help!?"
he turns around to see Dewdrop in a hostage position, with the archer dragon having a dagger at her throat. she had shattered a piece of their faceplate, where a cracked hole now was, and saw a gleaming black eye, staring right at Boulder.
the battle axe dragon slams the pommel of his weapon into Boulder's side, then kicks him down into the dirt. another dragon appears out of the darkness, with a sword in hand. the axe dragon lifts Boulders head up, exposing his neck. the sword dragon raises their sword above their shoulder, ready to strike Boulder's open neck. he closes his eyes, waiting for his demise...
but it never came. the hand on his neck lets go, and he hits the dirt. he looks back and see's the bloody sword of the leader, and the headless body of the axe dragon, still standing.
"OI!" the archer yells from across the clearing. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
"shut up," the leader mutters in a very familiar voice. then they throw a shuriken at the archer, right into their neck, and they finally fall, dead.
"who are you?" Boulder says, getting up and backing away. the dragon chuckles, "Its good to see you again, Boulder,"
they take off their helmet, and Boulder sees the face of his long lost friend, Feldspar.
= Chapter 21: Feldspar =
"FELDSPAR!" Boulder exclaims, rushing over and hugging her. "i-i thought you were dead, everyone thought you were,"
"im okay, Boulder," she says. "ive been undercover, working with the Harbingers as a Reductor, helping the rebels,"
"im so glad," Boulder says, breaking away.
"speaking of the Harbingers and the rebels, they got plans for the Liberator's," she grins. "i sent my report in, and they said that they got a breifcase containing defense plans, and will attack tomorrow,"
"what happened to you?" Boulder asks, his voice cracking. "that avalanche would have killed you..."
"it almost did," Feldspar chuckles, and begins her story.
"when that avalanche came down on top of me, it shattered my arm and knocked me out. once i woke up, i was so far away that i couldnt see Sakhaara anymore, so i started to swim. eventually, i got to here, where this dragon escorted me to Irondock and i got patched up. then i saw, outside of the hospital, Liberators threatening civilians to give them their stuff.
"i walked out, said, 'hey, they didnt do anything wrong,' then the leader laughed at me, saying they can do whatever they want, and calling me a 'pebble dragon,' then he took one of the civilians purses, crushing it in front of me, and i knew i had to do something, so i took out my cutlass and fought. after they retreated because of the gaurds, i started to run, and met with the rebels, who told me they wanted to recruit me, and i accepted.
"after i was breifed and healed at the Hole, i walked into Irondock and turned myself in. the gave me two choices, to either go away into the dungeons, or become one of them, and with my choices, i decided to join them. i got top of my classes, eventually leading me to become an assassin, and become a Reductor."
"of course, i only went along with killing people, mostly crime bosses or rival assassins and people who deserve it, but i tired everything in my power not to hurt innocent people that we targeted."
"i had no intentions of helping them, and i always knew you would come, so i waited for 4 whole years,"
Boulder smiled agian. "i knew you would,"
meanwhile, Dewdrop was off to the side, staring at them. "so, uhh... can anyone tell me what the HECK is going on?"
= Chapter 22: The Seige =
after a lengthy explanation of Rockwings and Boulder's history, Feldspar says, "we better get ready. the sun is rising,"
Boulder left the camp, passing the bodies of the fallen Reductors, and looked out across the lake where the ducks and crickets sung. he thought about what he's been through. he didnt even know these dragons that well-and yet he's done so much for them. the Liberators, the Harbingers, the Treehouse-all for them.
he thinks about his mother and younger sister at home. he wonders what happened to them. are they grieving for him right now, assuming the worst?
he breathes in the morning breeze, the smell of rain lingering. he looks south at Irondock, smoke rising from it like a chimney. the hundreds of innocent dragons who lived there were now forced to work in the Irondock mines, toiling away while Liberators watched over them with unforgiving stares.
now it was time to free them.
Dewdrop comes beside Boulder, tapping him on the shoulder. "are you ready to go?" she asks.
"yeah, im ready," Boulder replies, fastening his helmet.
the three of them set off into the sky as Feldspar says, "the rebel army has already came in from the northwest, so were due to land in the city as the battle starts,"
they continue to fly, passing over Dewdrop's hut and thousands of trees, before entering the vicinity of Irondock. dragons filled the skies as a battle raged through the streets below, the rebels clashing with spears, swords and axes, while the Liberators mainly had clubs, knives, and hatchets.
Feldspar directs them to a tall Building, gaurded by archer Liberators. they come down from the top, the ground shaking, and the battle officially starts for Boulder.
a gaurd swings his sword at him, but he dodges and sends a haymaker right for his gut. he doubles over, and Boulder gets his chance to grab him and swing him into an archer, knocking them off the building. off the the left, Dewdrop boots a archer off, while Feldspar slashes at a Liberator gaurd with her cutlass.
looking down at the bloodied streets, he sees a group of rebels cornered by Liberators, their weapons raised and prepared to strike. he jumps off, using his wings to slow his fall and lands behind the group of gangsters.
"what the heck?" the Liberators turn around, but were too slow as Boulder barges through, sending a flying kick at the first, punches and shocks a second and third, and grabs the fourth's head, slamming it into the wall as cracks appear.
one of the rebels points to him and exclaims, "hes alive! Boulder is alive!" he turns around and sees the Rainwing he was walking with back at Dewdrop's hut, Kaffir.
"Kaffir, what happened?" Boulder shouts over the noises of battle.
"after you left with Dewdrop, most of us got captured, but the rebels came and broke us out!" Kaffir replies, pointing to the village square. "their all over there,"
Boulder thanks him and runs through the streets of the town, plowing through Liberators. when he reaches the square, chaos is erupting left and right.
"i got a pickaxe, and ill PUT IT THROUGH YOUR TEETH!" a shout from Sorrel, the large Mudwing, comes from the left. she must have been captured, because she was swinging a pickaxe and smashing Liberators aside. he shouts over to her, and she looks at him, a releived look on her face. however, it wasnt long before a Liberator General smashes into her, knocking her down a flight of stairs.
the general looked formidable. she had chainmail wrapped around her, and a katana held firmly in her hands. the dragon's helmet looked like a bucket, but with armor plating along the sides, and her eyes blazed with fury. Boulder lights up his brass knuckles, and the two charge at each other, murder in their minds.
= Chapter 23: The General =
The General was fast with her katana. she let loose a flurry of strikes, each missing Boulder by a centimeter. he barely manages to block a strike with his brass knuckles before The General whirls around to try to bring her sword down on top of him, and he wasnt ready for the powerful strike. he trips dodging, and hits the ground.
The General grabs him by his neck and pins him to a wall. she raises her katana and hisses, "your dead meat, Mudwing."
"am i, though?" Boulder spits, sending his leg out and smashing her leg. she drops her katana and shouts with pain, clutching her shin. Boulder rolls to the side, recovering. The General, however, wouldnt give up so easily, and retreived her katana. she lashes out and manages to score a hit on Boulder's faceplate. a shattering sound fills the air, and he staggers back.
"HAW! fight a person you can actually beat, pipsqueak," The General taunts, laughing exaggeratedly. to her suprise, Boulder gets back up, covering the part of his helmet where the sword broken. he lowers his hand, and The General is met by a stare with a cold, blue eye.
he begins to walk towards her, scaring her. she holds up her katana and swings, but Boulder blocks it with his forearm, shattering it. The General looks at him, her eyes filled with fear. suddenly, fear turns to anger, and she drops her sword handle and charges. she sends punch after punch, screaming, "that was made out of REINFORCED GOLD! do you know how long it took to build that?!" and to emphasize, on the last word, she sends her most powerful punch straight for Boulder's face.
apparently, along with her katana, she has steel-lined gauntlets that could break a dragon's nose with a simple punch. unfroutunetly, her punch was slow, and Boulder grabs it.
"wait, what?" The General sputters. "how did you do that?"
Boulder doesnt answer. he just hits her in the belly, then uppercuts her. she falls back, but its too late, as Boulder has already laucnhed a dropkick at her that sends her flying off a pier, connected to a giant hole.
underwater, The General sees her own blood fly in front of her. her nose was bleeding. and she had just fallen into the Execution Hole, which meant...
Boulder watches as The General tries to scramble out of the water, but gets pulled back under. then, a massive shark rises out of the water, its jaws floating under The General as she is sent screaming in the air, then plunges back down. blood clouds fill the water as Boulder winces. that must have hurt.
during the battle with The General, Dewdrop was freeing the prisoners. she hooks and kicks a gaurd standing over a prisoner, making sure they were toiling away at an ore. the prisoner, an elderly seawing, looks befuddled behind him, but then Dewdrop tells him to give her his pickaxe and duck. he does so, and she throws the pickaxe at a gaurd with a club behind him, felling him instantly.
Feldspar was hacking away at prisoner ropes, who, when freed, thanked feldspar and joined the battle. some took the ropes while others used their tools to defeat the Liberators. as the rebel army neared the Liberator Base, the gangster army began to fall back or surrender. most managed to get inside the Liberator Base before it was too late.
Boulder rushes through the army towards the front gates, where Skylark was about to give an order to break the door down. before she could do that, though, Boulder yells, "Skylark!"
Boulder comes up behind her, and she gives a little smile with the corner of her mouth.
"glad you survived, soldier," she says, shaking his hand. "we all thought you died,"
"i dont die that easily," Boulder assures her, then turns to the door.
"ICEWINGS! READY?" Skylark roars, and the breaching dragons get ready.
"FROSTBREATH!" the Icewings coated the door with a sheen of white ice. as they continue, Skylark walks up and signals them to stop. resent in her eyes, she walks back, cracks her knuckles, and shatters the door with a swing of her tail.
the final push until victory.
= Chapter 24: Confrontation =
as the door comes down and the armies attack, Boulder takes an alternate route up the side of the wall. slamming his claws into it, he scales across the horde of dragons below. smashing one of the paned glass windows, he climbs into the former town hall turned gang front, and looks around.
then, a dragon with a mask and chains around his shoulders comes around the corner. a symbol of a T with an X behind it was engraved on the side, and Boulder knew instinctively this was the Tracker. he wields a pair of nunchucks, a pair of spikes on either end. as well as that, he is backed by 4 elite assassins, like the Reductors.
"stop, now." the Tracker growls. he spins his weapons around to rest under his shoulder. "or face me." his buddies crack their necks, punch their fists into their hands, or do a threatening gesture.
"alright, we can talk about this," Boulder says, trying to de-escalate the situation. he firms his grip on the pickaxe he picked up earlier.
The Tracker sighs and before saying, "get him."
the first elite assassin lunges at him. they wield a dagger, slashing wildly at Boulder. he ducks and dodges, but is not managing to find an open spot to hit him.
another assassin swings a bo staff at him, while the other comes up from behind. so he ducks as the bo saff swings overhead, connecting straight into the other dragon's chest. they stagger back winded, but the bo staff dragon doesn't care. he brings his staff on Boulder, and he hits the ground, his ears ringing.
recovering, he kicks his legs out and trips the bo staff dragon. they hit the ground, and Boulder rolls back, sweeping his tail in a wide arc and hitting a dragon with a club and nails to the side. he fires off 2 of his spike rockets at the dagger assassin, but they quickly dodge them, but while they were distracted, Boulder sends his leg and sweeps the dragon off of their feet.
then, a dragon with a spear clocks him in the head with the dull part, while the dagger dragon kicks him in the chest. he hits the wall, putting his hands up in defense, as the barrage of blows get blocked, but chip away at his armor. 
SLASH, red spatters across the floor. Boulder peeks between his arms, and sees a familiar face, using a familiar looking sword. the former Nightwing assassin hit the spear dragon in the side, who drops to the ground, while whirling around to bring his sword upon the club dragon.
"i got you," he says, grinning at Boulder. he doesnt know what to say, so he says, "i thought you ran away,"
"yeah, but i changed my mind about the Liberators," he replied. "they were always super hard on me during training, and taking over a whole innocent town... thats just wrong,"
on the other side of the room, a dragon with a warhammer charged at them. "by the way, my name is Cosmo," the Nightwing adds, dodging out of the way of the attack and slashing his sword across the dragons chest. the club dragon was checking his face as he was getting up, so Boulder signaled to Cosmo, and he rolled over his back to kick the club dragon back down.
"TRAITOR!" the Tracker yells from his post, lunging over with his nunchucks spinning. before Cosmo could react, the spike slashes across his neck, before the Tracker grabs him and throws him out the window.
"NO!" Boulder shouts, running over to look if Cosmo was okay. on the ground, Cosmo was not moving as a pool of blood developed on the ground. meanwhile, the Tracker was laughing, hysterical laughter like one from a crazy dragon.
"you monster," Boulder mutters, but his voice raises while he talks. "why did you even choose this future? why does thousands of dragons have to suffer for your benefit? why do you even work for Zircon?"
"Zircon was never in any plan of mine," the Tracker shouts. "he was a pawn. a toy. a ruse for my plans. sure, he was and still is a crime boss, but for this he worked for me,"
"i was teased and bullied back in school, because i was scrawny and weak. the bigger dragons pushed me around and acted like i was some toy for them, and i hated that feeling with every living cell of my being. so, i trained. i lifted weights and did exercises for days and days, and one day when those dragons tried messing with me agian, i broke their noses,"
"you really did all of this," Boulder waves his arm around, gesturing to the chaos outside- "to prove a point?"
"i had no other way to prove it!" the Tracker retorts. suddenly, he lunges at Boulder, his nunchucks whirling. Boulder dodges and pulls out his air gun, but the weapon is smacked away from him as the nunchucks hit it, knocking it across the tiled floor. he takes is pickaxe and blocks more shots from the torrent of wood and steel coming at him.
his pickaxe broke. the Tracker's weapons came down in the shaft of the pickaxe, snapping it in half. he didnt have time to dodge the next blow as the spikes of the nunchucks streak across his face, shattering more of his faceplate and forming a cut on his shoulder. he fights back the pain as he continues to dodge the metal spikes flying at him.
the Tracker finally stops, catching his breath. he looks at Boulder face, and the realization hits him.
"oh, so your a new species?" the Tracker says. "very interesting. shame im going to kill the only one that made it here," 
"your not going to kill me," Boulder snarls, holding his wounded arm. he lights up his brass knuckles, and as the tracker swings his weapons agian, he catches the chain of the nunchucks, and with a surprised look on the Trackers face, wrenches it out of his hands. he spins them around, then laucnhes at the Tracker, cutting up his armor. 
they continue fighting, but then Boulder spins the nunchucks, and goes under his enemies' gaurd, a long, bloody line appearing on the Tracker's face. his mask is cut off from his face, and he hits the ground, holding his wound. 
"give up," Boulder says, using his arm to pin down the Tracker. the Tracker was actually a Icewing, with a scar running along a closed eye. it wasnt the scar that Boulder gave him, but it had definitely taken out his eye. who knows how he managed to see some of the attacks Boulder made that he shouldn't have seen. 
"you really think this is over?" the Tracker spits. "i run this town. soon enough, my army will come back and take whats theirs. theyll come back! this isnt ove-"
Boulder picks him up and electrocutes him for around 30 seconds, before the Tracker stays still, his body falling to the floor.
= Chapter 25: Sacrifice =
Boulder wastes no time getting to the throne room, where Skylark, Sorrel, Gale, Dewdrop, the Treehouse Dwellers, and around 10 other dragons stood on gaurd.
"BOULDER!" Dewdrop rushes over to him. "what happened to you? are you okay?"
"yes, im fine." Boulder chuckles. Dewdrop then looks at his broken faceplate, then shows a worried look to Boulder. then, he takes off his helmet in confidence, showing everyone his face. his real one.
the results were as expected, with many dragons gasping, while others seemed to wince or cringe at the sight of the mangled side of his head.
"what are you?" Atoll says, getting closer.
"im a Rockwing. i come from Sakhaara," he replies, waving vaugely westward. he then explains what happened to the Tracker, as many of the dragons there were asking what happened to him.
"its good to have you back, Boulder," Battlescar says, putting his hand on Boulder's shoulder.
meanwhile, Zircon had his hands behind his head, looking awfully scared. Boulder pauses and walks over to him, kneeling down.
"are you okay?" Boulder asks.
"please, man. i-i didnt do any-y-thing to help h-him," Zircon stutters fearfully. "when he saw m-me in my club he asked me for a f-favor. i just thought it w-was something for easy cash, but he put a c-crystal to my head...i cant r-remember anything else after that."
"so, we know that the Tracker he's a dangerous dragon of course, but pair that with animus magic, he would have been unstoppable if he had enough," 
wait. what was that smell? Boulder sniffs a bit more. he senses something in the far right wall. he goes over to it, feeling for a hatch or opening.
"what are you doing, Boulder?" Caltha ask from her position managing Zircon. 
"trust me," Boulder replies. he fins a brick, coming out farther from the wall, and he tugs on it. there was a buttin underneath, and he presses it. then, in the middle of the room, something clicks. Macaw turns over the carpet, revealing a trapdoor. Boulder walks over and opens it, and immedietly puts his helmet on.
inside were hundreds of gunpowder barrels, with the fuse already burning.
it was a bomb that could obliterate the whole town square.
"RUN! EVERYONE RUN! ITS A BOMB!" Boulder roars.
chaos erupts. everyone heads for the doors, including the Liberator bodygaurds and Zircon. as Boulder held open the doors for everyone, he peers into the hall for a second, and sees the body of the Tracker, not in its original position. he had dragged himself to a hole in the wall, and managed to light the fuse supposedly sticking out of it before he died.
then, the doors close. Boulder looks in, and inside was Battlescar, nobody else.
"Battlescar!" Boulder screams. "what are you doing?"
"i can stop this," Battlescar replies. "i can weaken the explosion,"
"what? are you crazy?!" Boulder shouts. "you'll die before you can stop it!"
"i know," Battlescar smiles. "we've come this far. we cant lose now."
"Battlescar, please!" Boulder begs, tears forming in his eyes. "we can get everyone out in time!" he rattles the doors to open them, but they are locked from the inside with a plank.
"you can do this. I believe in you, Boulder." Battlescar says. he walks over to the hole, salutes, and with a smile on his face, he says the last words he will say to another dragon.
"im proud,"
Battlescar jumps into the trapdoor.
"NO!" Boulder screams. he bangs on the door, hoping Battlescar would hear him, but it doesnt work.
outside, everyone is running away from the mayor's house. Skylark guides people through the roads, and looks to Bast.
"where are Boulder and Battlescar?" she says panicking. she wanted to get everyone out in time, especially her freinds.
"i think they still may be in there," Bast yells back, helping an elderly Nightwing up from their fall.
meanwhile, Boulder realizes banging on the door is pointless. Battlescar chose his decision. he looks at the paned window, then looks back to the room one more time, then sprints to the window, jumping out of it.
for a split second, time slowed down. the glass shards spun in the air, and the dragons below look up. then the shockwave of the explosives sends him into the air as the heat sears his back.
ka-BOOM
the world falls into darkness.
= Chapter 26: Reunion =
Boulder wakes up groggily. his helmet was off, and his arm was covered with bandages and splints.
"he's awake," a doctor says, coming over to check his bandages. out of the corner of his eye, he sees whats left of the Treehouse Dwellers. Atoll walks over to him, leaning into his feild of view.
"hello," he says. "so, uhh. we have good news and bad news."
"whats the good news?" Boulder groans.
"the good news is that the mayor of Irondock awarded you with the Saviors Medal. its a very high honor to have, and many are in your favor,"
"the bad news is that you have 1st degree burns all over your body, and your right leg is broken. your ribs and arm are fractured too,"
Boulder chuckles, then coughs, clutching his rib. the doctor comes over to try to help, but Boulder waves him away.
"i survived, though," Boulder says. "did... did Battlescar..."
Bast whispers something to Macaw, then sighs. she shakes her head solemnly, and Caltha looks down at her feet.
"see, uhh..." Bast starts. "Battlescar wasnt always a Treehouse Dweller,"
"Battlescar used to be part of a small delinquent gang when he was younger. they did the usual stuff... vandalism, property damage, other things... but then the leader of the group decided that he wanted to join the Liberators. peer pressure made the others want to join too, but Battlescar held back, saying that he just wanted to have fun, not actually hurt people,"
"the leader didnt like that. they made Battlescars life miserable. after a couple of months of this, Battlescar has had enough. he used his dads old spear, who had died earlier that month, and used it to fight back agianst the Liberators. but when they found out, they framed him for an assassination they had done recently, and soon the gaurds were on him."
"he got thrown in jail, because the Liberators made sure to leave multiple peices of evidence behind leading to Battlescar. fortunately, the city gaurd did find out about the Liberators plan, and was quick to pardon Battlescar."
"unfourtunately, his family had found out about it, and was dissapointed with him. they had kicked him out, leaving him on the streets. he had hit rock bottom, and he gave up on everything he loved, because they had given up on him."
Macaw started to speak now. "i had met him begging, and had given him money. back then, i was sympathetic, and had let him stay at my place for a bit, gave him a little bit of food, and sent him on his way."
"then he met Dingo agian, who used to be part of his crew, telling him that he never liked the Liberators, and teamed up with Battlescar to make the treehouse, and soon after started welcoming people who didnt like the Liberators in."
"as a result, the Liberators tried to burn it down. the residents of the Treehouse stopped it in time, but not before damage was done. Dingo's best freind, Bramble, had died. Dingo gave up on the treehouse, and went to live in cliffside, starting The Hole."
"he came back to me and Caltha, saying that he could repay my favor. i was in a tough spot at that time, so i agreed, bringing Caltha along. when we got there..."-Macaw's face goes from neutral to a guilty frown-"...i sort of took it upon myself to manage the treehouse by myself. especially when Atoll and Bast came, i started to realize that i was being a jerk to them."
"back then, i never realized it, but Battlescar was more of a leader than any of us. and i regret everything ive done because i havent told him im sorry."
_________
a couple of months later, Boulder had healed enough that he could go back to Sakhaara with Feldspar. Feldspar herself had multiple injuries, but had healed fairly quickly. when he got back, his family and Pioneer freinds celebrated his return, with Boulder also bringing back the Saviors Medal. before he left, he had also attended Battlescars funeral, and left flowers for him.
now, leaning on the balcony were he first jumped off of for his journey, he thinks about everything. he had made freinds over there, and helped that continent.
back before he went on his journey, he was always wary of meeting new people, and trying new things.
but he did all that, and he was okay.
and maybe he could explore even more of this strange world.
everything would be all right.
= Epilouge =
Macaw strolls through the market in Irondock once more. all around, dragons are busy repairing buildings and shops. lots of dragons wave to her, and she smiles and waves back, which she never normally would do before.
beside her, Caltha smirks. "in a better mood lately, eh?"
"oh, please," Macaw laughs back. "your no different."
"well, they arent waving to me now, right?" Caltha replies. just then, a Icewing with a sword on his back and a rather shiny set of blue eyes walks past, and waves to Caltha, smiling. Macaw looks over to her sister, who is still looking back at that Icewing with a befuddled look on her face. Macaw bursts out laughing, and Caltha sends a playful punch into her shoulder.
as they near the town square, more dragons seem to be present, and as they walk through, dragons point and wave at them. when they step through to the front of the audience, two Irondock Militia officers part to let them through onto a large stage. Skylark, Sorrel, Gale, Dingo, Atoll and Bast are up there, along with other former rebel soldiers.
most of the others already had awards and badges around their necks, and the mayor, who is enthusiastically handing out more to the rebels, looks over to the two Rainwings. both Macaw and Caltha stand at attention, and the mayor walks over to them.
the mayor himself was a Rainwing, a little on the shorter side. he had a pair of ember colored glasses, and smiled at the Rainwings.
"ah, yes, Macaw and Caltha. everyone, lets give a round of applause to them!" the mayor shouts, and the dragons in the audience cheer and whoop as they clap.
"you two did a very important and dngerous thing, fighting in the rebellion." the mayor continues.
"its just your average Tuesday, sir," Caltha replies, and the audience laughs. the mayor even let out a little chuckle.
"alas, this isnt a stand up comedy show!" he exclaims. "now, i award you both with the Saviors Medal, as you had a large impact on the battle," and as the mayor puts the medals around their necks, the crowd whoops agian.
then, something on a nearby rooftop catches Macaw's eye. a quick flash of white.
"are you okay, sister?" Caltha says.
"yes...yes im fine," Macaw sighs. festivities after the ceremony followed, and continued into the night. music blared and the dragons danced, laughing and talking their worries away.
and Irondock was safe once agian.
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
__FORCETOC__
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)