The Regathering

Written by Zelda

 

       The young dragon yawned and paced, carefree about the dry land. He turned into the blinding sun and grinned, soaking up the warmth. Whetherwind always loved the hot deserts of Arizona, especially when it was so freezing back at the Territory. He spread his wings and took off, soaring on the warm updrafts. Sooner or later, the warm sun became hot on his back, and the brown lizard landed among a bright orange outcropping of rocks. He was surprised to find a medium-sized cave staring back at him, beckoning in cool and shade. Whetherwind knew of the American Indians that used to live here... and in the middle of the desert... curiosity drew him into the cave, deeper and deeper into the cool rock. At the end of the cave he began to dig around, hoping to find a piece of pottery or a necklace or something. Suddenly his claws scraped against something stone. Eagerly he scraped it out of the red dust. It was round in shape, just slightly ovular. But there was that reddish dirt all over it. He blew it off and ran out of the cave to view his prize in the light. He stared curiously at the shapes he saw. He licked his claw and etched it through the lines, prying out the dirt a little further. The images invoked something deep in him, almost a foreboding. He stared with wide eyes at the stone. He wasn't sure what it meant, but it was important. The wings pumped quickly, and the dragon flapped up into the sun again, heading west.

 

       Zelda stared at Whetherwind, and then at the stone again as he told his story.

       "This is a great find of yours Whetherwind." Zelda smiled at him. "I know how you love to get your claws in the dirt." The young dragon smiled proudly at the rest of the Ducks, laying his ears back and grinning as if he were bragging. "And I haven't seen the symbol, not in this part of the continent."

       "I bet the others wanna know huh?" he said with a grin.

       "I'd bet they'd love to know. Especially Silver, you know him. And I bet you're the one who'd want to tell them." The young dragon nodded happily.

       "Well wipe that little smirk off of your face and go tell them!" Zelda laughed at him and swatted playfully at his face. "And next time bring a partner when you go out like that!" It was too late. The dragon had scampered off and out the door, waving a goodbye to his leader and the Ducks with a flap of his wing. Zelda sighed and curled her tail about her as she sat down to the stone.

       "Yo Zel, what are these symbols?" Nosedive asked.

       "Strange to see you taking an interest in archeology Dive." his brother jested. Nosedive scowled and took the stone from Zelda's open hand. On the stone were carved two dragons, ringed together in a kind of yin/yang shape. One curved their tail over the other's head, and the front claws lay on top of each other's. The tail and wings locked together to make up a circular shape.

      "Well, it's pretty?" he said, looking for the right answer. Zelda grinned and took it back, handing it to Grin next. His answer was quick.

      "This stone contains a massive amount of energy..." he started.

      "Steeped in it." Zelda agreed. "That stone is a universal dragon symbol that existed thousands of years ago. Three more for each other species also have been found, they look similar."

      "But if it's just a symbol, why's it so 'powerful'?" Duke asked.

      "It's a symbol of power." Zelda answered. "Thousands of years past, my kind was said to have possessed the power of having a hand in earthly activity. Storms, floods, earthquakes, fires, volcanoes, you name it." she said.

      "So what happened? I hope you haven't been sneaking around the San Andreas lately..." Tanya started.

      "Ahh, well I'm not done with the story. You see a very scattered handful of humans knew of our existence here. They were highly educated and knew the ways of earth and magic. But they hunted us. They thought our teeth and claws and skin possessed magical powers. Of course they don't. But legend has it that the leaders got together and decided they couldn't be hunted forever. So they offered up their powers as a gesture of respect, to the earth. But the magic was told to have been preserved in stones. One for each creature, and scattered far and wide about the earth for them to find when they were no longer hunted." Zelda was finished. Nosedive, who was 'pretend napping' snorted awake fakeishly and yawned arrogantly. Mallory whacked him hard on the shoulder for that. Grin gave the stone back to Zelda.

       "So more of these have been found?" Wildwing asked.

       "Ten in all now, and all in our possession. Two of each kind."

       "And none of this, 'regathering of magic' has happened?" Zelda laughed.

       "Not yet." she grinned, furrowing her brows. She took out a piece of vine and tied it around the stone, then tying the vine around her neck. "Just to keep it safe." she explained, sitting again.

 

       Wraith smiled and called his Lord down from his throne.

       "What is it this time?" the huge red lizard snorted in his face. Wraith grinned and withdrew a bit. When he had a plan, there was no need to fear the Overlord. "Well?"

       "Recently I acquired a very special chart." Wraith started. He slowly heaved up a thin slate tablet and gave it to Dragaunus. The Overlord looked down upon an inscription. Hundreds of ovals were drawn on the tablet. Inside each was either a dragon, lion, griffon, or eagle. Ten of the ovals glowed with a red phosphoresce.

        "And this means?" he asked.

        "My Lord, there are stories that tell that these creatures once possessed the power to control the forces of earth. Now these forces were lost, but trapped in these stones. Ten of them have been found, the last one just this afternoon."

        "So?" Dragaunus asked a little impatiently.

        "So each creature had received a stone. Once the stone was found and given back to the proper creature, the powers were reenacted in the stone itself. The key to releasing these powers lies in a very secret spell, which I conveniently happen to know."

        "You're saying that if these creatures were to reenact the stones and receive their powers again, that they would gain the power to destroy us, right?" Dragaunus sighed.

        "Yes but I'm not done yet. The last stone that was found belonged to Zelda herself, and was given to her. Now all we have to do is release those powers...."

        "But you said that would be bad!"

        "Not if those powers aren't turned evil first, by yours truly." Wraith grinned, finally having made his point. Dragaunus thought for a minute and smiled.

        "You do good work Wraith. But where did you get that tablet?"

        "Magical artifact of the month club." the old lizard replied, with an enigmatic grin.

 

                Wildwing scanned the grounds quickly. The Petroyle refinery again? Three times this made. Wing didn't like it. The Saurians were getting much to comfortable here. He pressed the Mask into activation and started to scan the grounds

                "See anything?" Tanya asked.

                "There... they're in the control room over there!" Wildwing said, spotting them suddenly and getting up out of his chair at the wheel. The team rose up with him.

                "Come on Ducks, let's go!" he yelled, puck launcher raised. He charged out the door, with the team close behind him. As they ran for the tiny shack across the empty lot, a wall of green appeared in their way. Hunter drones. Ten of them. The team stopped on a dime. "Mallory! You, Duke, Zelda and Grin stay here and take care of those drones!" Wildwing yelled, and pressed forward. Duke raised his launcher and fell behind, covering for him and felling a drone as he ran. They were reaching the shed. Duke sighed and whirled around to face two more drones. Grin smashed through both of them, and stood nearby as the others were quickly finished off.

                "That was easy..." Duke began, dusting his hands off.

                "Nobody said it was over yet." a sinister voice cackled behind him. Duke spun around just in time to dodge a fireball. Wraith parted through the smoke, holding his staff out before him, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

                "I should have known." Mallory quickly re-aimed her launcher, setting her gunsight on the frail lizard. Wraith grinned and raised his staff. The eyes of the duck skull started to glow with an eerie light. Duke rushed forwards suddenly. He was trying to cast a spell! Wraith was muttering something as Duke charged. He was almost on him when WHAM! Duke slammed into a solid wall. But there was nothing there! Just plain air. Duke rapped his fist against the wall again. A force field of protection. Great. Mallory was already setting up explosive pucks, but Wraith was ahead of her, muttering his spell. Suddenly, the three Ducks heard Zelda roar behind them. They turned to see her reeling over, arching her back. The stone she wore glowed with a white light.

                "Zelda! It's the stone!" Grin yelled to her. Zelda grasped the rock in her claws, but suddenly the light burst out, enveloping her. Her silhouette was illuminated as the light grew. Wraith grinned and yelled out.

                "Now, by the powers of the great Saurian Ancestors! Call forth the magic of the earth to my bidding!" he cried. Suddenly, the stone burned in orange flame. Zelda released it, her eyes burning as well. She reared up, growing in size to an immense height, almost as tall as the oil tanks! She howled and threw a plume of flame at her feet. The fire quickly whipped up her body, sending flames everywhere, enveloping her until it finally reached her wingtips. She was no longer a dragon, but living fire! The Ducks stumbled back in awe. Mallory finally turned and fired on Wraith, but even the explosive pucks had no effect. The bounced off and Grin had to run and duck for his life as they went off near him. "Aha, you feathered fools!" Wraith cackled. "You will have to kill your pathetic little dragoness before you can get at me! And until you do, she and her powers are under my control!"

 

                Empty. The whole shack was empty! Wing remembered it well from the last time they had been here. Suddenly, he heard Tanya and Nosedive yelling at him, and seconds later explosions sounded a ways off. Wing jerked his head up in the storeroom, nearly hitting his head on the low ceiling.

                "Yo Wildwing you'd better get out here!" Duke yelled to him over his com. Wing stumbled outside and gasped at what he found. About 200 feet away, Zelda stood howling at the top of her lungs. Nosedive and Tanya were already running back to the rest of the team. Wildwing joined them.

                "Guys what happened?" he yelled.

                "Wraith cast a spell or something over Zelda... and he's got a force field over him." Mallory said, pointing to Wraith. He stared back, still and amused, grinning at Wildwing. Wing frowned and turned back.

                "It's that stone." Grin said. "She said it held the powers of the earth. Now the great elements are at Wraith's command!" Suddenly Wraith waved his hand. Zelda came crashing down to all fours and laughed.

                "You fools, you will never defeat me! For I am the all powerful force of fire!" She rumbled sinisterly over the oilfield. "And I will incinerate your city flat, not resting until your death comes by cremation!" She reared up and flailed her wings, brushing them against the neighboring oil tanks, which then exploded with the heat and flame. The waving heat rushed over the Ducks.

                "Let's split!" Nosedive cried. The team fled for the Migrator and huddled inside it as Wildwing took the wheel.

                "Now what do we do?" Mallory asked. They looked out the back hatch to see the flaming creature charging for the vehicle.

                "Run!" Wildwing said, and slammed down on the gas. The car shot forwards, blazing out of the burning plant with the dragon not too far behind. At the wheel, Wildwing frowned.

                "We can't be out here Wing, she'll burn everything up!" Tanya argued. "We've gotta combat her with something until we can figure out how to break that spell!" Wildwing agreed. He drove at quite an unsafe speed just to keep out of the way of the thundering animal behind them.

                "Head for the freeway Bro." Dive suggested. Wing turned gently towards the freeway entrance ramp. Suddenly a huge flaming ball of fire that might have been a foot, slammed down in front of the ramp! Wildwing yelled and swerved violently. The Migrator couldn't take the speed of the turn and upended, rolling onto its back. Most of the Ducks weren't strapped in and found themselves up on their heads. Mallory rolled back and groaned.

                "Everyone out!" Wildwing yelled. He unbuckled his seatbelt and quickly pushed the others out of the Migrator. They stood behind it to look up in horror, and find a huge, flaming head of a dragon staring back from over the belly of the car. She grinned evilly and started to laugh. Suddenly Tanya grabbed Wildwing's shoulder.

                "If we set our freeze pucks on full power, it might slow her down..." she reasoned. It was certainly worth a try.

                "Okay team, fire on my mark!" Wildwing yelled out. The team pulled their launchers and rallied next to him. "Fire!" he yelled. Blue light flashed, and was lost among the burning flames. Suddenly puffs of frost went up. Zelda reared back and screamed.

                "It's working guys! Keep going!" Tanya yelled. The huge dragon stumbled backwards as she became enveloped in the steam of doused flames. Over the top of the tipped vehicle, Nosedive climbed up and peered over curiously.

 

                The dragon roared in pain, stumbling and falling to the ground. No longer was she burning, but instead putting off a thick smoke. Nosedive felt the awful stench reaching his nostrils. Immediately he fell to coughing. He raised his launcher again and started to fire. But he couldn't see anymore. The thick smoke was surrounding him. He choked. Someone was calling for him. Nosedive couldn't breathe. "Time to stop firing now." he told himself sarcastically. He fell backwards, into the air, and landed on his back with a thud on the asphalt below. Mallory was quickly beside him, hoisting him up, He was still coughing and gasping for air. He heard her telling Wildwing

                "The little brat'll be okay." Nosedive coughed harder. By now the smoke had reached the other Ducks. Nevertheless they kept firing. Nosedive finally pushed Mallory away and sat up beside his brother.

                "How we holding up?" he asked.

                "It's working!" Nosedive told him. "Keep firing at her!"

                "The fire may be out, but it's still hot enough to melt our freeze pucks. The most they're doing is dumping water on her." Tanya said.

                "That's good enough!" Wildwing yelled back to her. He stopped, and noticed slowly that no more noise came from over the Migrator. He raised his hand to signal his teammates to stop their barrage, and slowly peeked over the top of the overturned vehicle. The smoke was clearing quickly now, and all he could see was a vast puddle of water, maybe ankle deep, all across the ramp. He sighed and slumped back down. Grin stood up next to him and started calling out for Zelda. Indeed, she was nowhere to be seen. The team filtered out onto the ramp and began to search for her.

                "Zelda, for cryin' out loud where are ya?" Duke called, tired, wet, and annoyed. The water sloshed at his ankles.

                "Temper temper little Duck." Zelda's voice chided calmly. Duke leapt a foot into the air and spun around. The others had heard it as well. The water rippled quietly. "You forget that I'm not done with your dragon yet. She's still under my control."

                "Wraith...." Mallory seethed.

                "That's right. And if you think you've defeated me, your sadly mistaken. This is but the first phase of our battle Ducks. The earth has massive powers, and by defeating flame, you have conveniently provided me with my next option..."

                "Out of the water!" Wildwing cried. Suddenly a huge whirlpool erupted in the middle of the puddle. The Ducks were pulled to their knees in the surprising suction force. They waded desperately, as they saw the edges of the puddle being sucked in. Tanya looked behind her to see the water collecting itself, rising up in a huge wave, heading right for...

                "Duke! Behind you!" she yelled. Duke looked up and gasped, seconds before a huge wave of water rolled over and crashed on him. In the muddy water, Tanya saw his helpless maroon figure tossed and thrown as the water foamed around him. Finally he poked his head up and thrust himself out of the water, gasping for air and soaking wet. Immediately a rip current of undertow pulled him under again as the whirlpool began to form in the middle again. He resurfaced and paddled helplessly as the water swirled around him, dragging him under again. He disappeared into the foaming waters, and the liquid drew up behind him, leaving the rest of the Ducks high and dry. The liquid flowed up and formed Zelda's shape again, holding Duke in her claws, who was still gasping for air. The dragon spread translucent wings and laughed. Duke reached down and pried out his saber, and with one swack sliced off the entirity of her claw. There was no reaction from the dragon as Duke plummeted and hit the ground with a splash, the claw turning into a puddle again. Duke limped up, grabbing his hip, desperate to get to safety. As he ran, the puddle was sucked back into the dragon form, and the claw regrew itself instantly.

                "You fools, your puny weapons cannot harm me." the dragon grinned. She slammed her tail down and showered the Ducks, the water returning to her once it hit the ground. Tanya started thinking.

                "Guys! I know what to do!" she yelled. Bad move. The huge shadow fell over her as the dragon suddenly turned to face the soaking wet Duck. Tanya backed away as quickly as she could as Zelda drew in a deep breath, but it was too late. The dragon lowered her massive head and let out a blast. Under normal circumstances, it would have emerged a plume of fire, but this was far from normal. Tanya yelled in pain and fear as she disappeared among a scalding cloud of steam. Mallory gasped.

                "Get her out of there! She'll burn!" she yelled, and ran for Tanya. The dragon closed her jaws and withdrew grinning. She strode proudly away and went off down the city streets. Wildwing watched her. His team went first, and he immediately rushed to Tanya's side. The poor Duck lay on her back, breathing abnormally. Mallory squeezed a wet cloth over her to try and cool her off.

                "Relax Tanya, you'll be okay..." Nosedive said. Duke limped up last.

                "You holding up Duke?" Wing asked him.

                "I'll be fine." he waved it off, and crouched slowly down. Tanya looked pale and hot. Grin slowly picked her up and moved her over to a cooler spot under a tree. The night was moving in hostily around them.

                "Come on Tanya, you'll be okay. We'll get a cycle and get you back to the Pond...." Wing started.

                "No...." Tanya interrupted. "Listen... use the thermal pucks... stay away from her...keep her away from water..."

                "Okay okay Tanya, we will." Wildwing assured. "Dive, I want you to take Tanya back next to the Migrator and stay there until we come back." His brother gave him a thumbs up and hooked his arms under Tanya's. As he began to drag her away, Wildwing waved for the others. "Come on! We'll take the cycles and track Zelda down!"

 

To be continued....