Legends of the Banished Tribes

**(I Am Making A Comic For This... Idk How Long THAT Will Last Though...)**

Flint walked through the stone corridors, his talons clicking against the cold stone. The queen had called him for something important, and he didn't know if it was good or bad. He finally arrived at the throne room, walking in nervously as he looked at the other dragons in the room. Most of them were guards, wearing iron armor forged by the CragWing blacksmith. On an obsidian throne was Queen Ravine, Prince Cliff and Princess Amber sitting next to her on smaller thrones made of quartz. The animus touched amber necklace was around her neck, which was why she had wings, which were folded at her side. The queen seemed bored, looking at the various rings and bracelets on her talons and arm. She turned to Flint and smiled as he stopped and bowed a few feet away from the throne.

"I suppose you're wondering why I called you here," she started. She sat up straight, watching Flint with cold, black eyes. Flint watched her nervously as he rose up from bowing. "I have heard rumors of diamond in the Obsidian mines, and I'm assembling a team to go investigate... and I want you to go with them," the queen said. '*The obsidian mines!?'* Flint thought. They were the most dangerous mines, filled with lava and unstable ground. "Why me!? Those caves are dangerous, and most dragons that go in there never come out!" Flint argued. He didn't want to go, but Queen Ravine had other ideas.

"Your the fastest CragWing in the entire kingdom, you'll be fine. Plus your not going alone, so if something bad happens, you should be ok," she answered. Flint opened his mouth to speak but the queen interrupted him. "You're going and thats final!" There was clicking as a brown EarthWing entered the room, escorted by a guard. "Go prepare, and meet back here at sundown," she said, shooing Flint away. Flint left the room, thoughts filling his head. *'Am I going to die in the mine? Will I witness someone else's death? Is there a way out of this?'* Flint slowly walked back to his cave, wishing there was a way out.

He slowly crept through the halls, sundown was here. He entered the throne room, and saw two other CragWings talking to each other, and recognized them. One was a muscular, scarred up male with a gruff voice and gray scales. His ridge was torn with red colored dots, with red stains that looked like blood. His name was Chasm. The other one was a smaller female, with sharp teeth and brownish scales. She had orange dots on her ridge, and she wasn't as scarred up as Chasm. Her name was Axinite.

They turned to him as he entered, whispering to each other as he drew closer. "What are you doing here?" Axinite said coldly. "I've been assigned to go look for diamonds in the obsidian mine with you..." he said, avoiding their gaze. "HA! You!? You wouldn't last a minute in a fight with a sheep! Why did the queen pick you instead of someone with real combat skills!?" Chasm said.

"Because the queen didn't pick him, I did," a voice behind them said, and they all turned to see who it was. Princess Amber was walking in, her gorgeous scales catching their eyes. Flint immediately bowed, and the others did as well. Amber walked up to Flint and smiled. "Get up, there's no need for you to bow," she said, helping him up. Flint smiled at her as they held each others talons. "You always tell me that, but I think it's necessary," he replied, hearing a groan behind him from Axinite. "Why did you pick me, of all dragons, to go into the obsidian mine?" Amber let go of his talons, and flicked her tail. Axinite and Chasm rose, still scowling at them.

Amber walked over to her throne and sat down. "Because, this expedition is important, and we needed the best dragons on the job," she answered, sitting regally on her throne. If you wanted the best dragons on the job, you wouldn't have chosen him," Chasm said, before snapping his mouth shut as Amber glared at him. "Flint is special, and he is going. That's final!" Amber replied. Flint sighed. *'What does she see in me that I don't...'* he thought.

They all gathered supplies and went to the entrance of the mines. Flint packed some ropes, food, and some bandages in a satchel. They all went in the mines, Chasm leading the way with Flint in the back. They traveled through the long, winding caves, the stone cool to the touch. Suddenly the caves got warmer and warmer, the air getting thicker and hazy. They entered a large cavern, a river of lava blocking their way. On the other side of the river was a tunnel leading somewhere else, most likely where the diamonds were.

Axinite and Chasm climbed onto the ceiling and crawled across, Flint following behind them. He could feel the heat of the lava on his back, and he hoped he wouldn't fall. Finally they had made it across, and entered the tunnel, where they were met with 2 separate paths. "Me and Chasm will take the right, you take the left," Axinite snarled before her and Chasm went into the tunnel, leaving Flint by himself.

Flint sighed and entered the left tunnel. As he got deeper, the heat kept getting worse. He kept going, until a blue glint caught his eye. *'I found the diamonds!!'* he thought in excitement. He ran towards them, but started to slow down. *'Wait, are they... moving?'* he thought as he saw the diamonds rise up and down, like breathing. Suddenly they turned red and rose up. It was a dragon, one Flint hadn't seen before. The dragon hissed, baring their long fangs. Venom shot out from the fangs, and hit Flint along his neck and left leg. Flint screeched in pain as the venom sizzled and melted his scales.

*'IT HURTS MAKE IT STOP!'* he thought frantically as he fell to the ground in pain. The dragon lunged for him, but he instinctively bit down on one of their talons, and wouldn't let go. The dragon roared angrily as he held on tightly, the pain getting worse. He couldn't think clearly, the heat and pain wearing him down. The world started to go black, and he finally let go of the dragons talons as he went unconscious.

"Is he dead? I hope not, he could've been our way out of this hellhole!" an unfamiliar voice said in the darkness. "I don't think so, he's still breathing, and moving. I think he's about to wake up," another voice said. Flint could feel the scorching heat in the air, and he slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurred. "He's waking up!" another voice said frantically. He groaned in pain as pain flared through his left leg and on his neck from the venom earlier. Flint tried to get up but he felt something holding him down. His vision cleared a bit, and he saw three dragons standing in front of him. The one in the middle had blue scales, with reddish pink scales that faded to a pale tan on their wings. They had long, sharp spikes along their back, and a ruff on their neck. Their tail was long with spikes along it and on the end of it. It was curled up, the spikes tucked against their scales. The other two next to them had brown and red scales. They both looked the same, except the one on the left was bigger. They had large wings and bulky, muscular bodies and flat snouts with their nostrils on top.

*'They aren't CragWings, and no other tribe is allowed down here... so how did they get in... and how long have they been here?'* Flint thought. "He's tied up securely Horizon. He won't be going anywhere," the large red and brown dragon said to the blue one. "Great, now we can try to get some information out of him, where is Nova?" Horizon replied. "She was supposed to meet back here with the rest of us."

"Probably still checking the tunnels for another exit, I'll go find her," the large dragon replied before trudging over to one of the tunnels and disappearing through it. Horizon turned back to Flint with a scowl. "Alright you overgrown lizard, you better answer my questions or I'll shoot you with my venom again," she said, flaring her ruff. Flint shuddered at the thought of feeling the venom melting his scales and flesh. He nodded at her, not wanting to feel the agonizing pain again. "Is there a way out of here without having to go through the main tunnels?" she asked, watching him closely.

Flint thought for a second, trying to remember the exits from the map of the mine he saw before he came. "There... is one that leads to Glittering Lake... through the Southwest tunnels," Flint said, the heat and numbing pain on his left leg and neck slightly hindering his speech. He slowly pointed his right talon to a tunnel on their left, the ropes making it hard to move. Horizon look at the tunnel then turned back to him. "You better not be lying, or you'll regret it," she said coldly before turning to the other dragon next to her. "Grab him, he is coming with us."

There was clicking from a tunnel as the large dragon walked out with another dragon. Their scales were a gorgeous black at the top, fading to a violet into a bright, shimmering blue. She had white scales like stars on her wings and gills that were pulsing on her neck. She bounded over to Horizon before stopping a few feet away from her. "I didn't find any exits but I found this really cool stone!" she said, showing them a glittering sapphire that seemed to glow, even though the air was filled with smoke and heat, the only light coming from some lava on the opposite side of the room.

"That's great Nova, some sapphire is going to get us out of here! Stop messing around, this "dragon" is going to get us out of here, so stay close, and DON'T wander off!" Horizon replied. Nova bowed her head sadly as Flint was picked up.

"Let's go." Horizon ran into the tunnel Flint had pointed at earlier, the others following. The heat seemed to get worse, messing with Flint's head. They finally started heading upward, the heat fading the higher they went. Finally, there was a cool breeze blowing from further up the cave. After a long hike, the entrance was just ahead.

They stepped outside, Flint hearing their talons against the grass and dirt. He looked up, seeing the glittering stars. He had never gone outside, preferring to stay in the caves to mine or learn how to be a blacksmith. He stared up at the moon, watching it for the first time. *' It's beautiful out here '* he thought, almost forgetting that he was being held hostage.

Suddenly he was thrown against the ground. Heavy, sharp talons pressed against him, holding him down and pressing the ropes against his scales. Horizon looked down at him with a frown. "Now that we are out... we don't need you anymore," Horizon said, baring her fangs. Flint closed his eyes, waiting for the searing pain to come.

"WAIT!!" a voice cried out. Flint opened his eyes to see Nova between him and Horizon. "He can still be useful!! Maybe he knows a way off this continent!!" she said, Horizon giving her a cold look. "Are you just trying to spare him?" Horizon asked. "No!! I really do think he knows a way off this continent!!" Nova pleaded, still between them. Horizon growled before turning away.

"Fine, we'll let him live, but he will die as soon as we are back home," Horizon said, her forked tongue flicking in and out of her mouth. Flint let out a quiet sigh of relief. Hopefully they would keep him alive long enough for him to find a way to escape.

"Which way now?" Horizon asked, her tail flicking impatiently.