Wild Kratts: Here Be Dragons (Wild Kratts X Monster Hunter)

Chapter 21: Fatalis

The little glowing speck of white seemed to get closer and closer. Even in darkness, the light it emitted blurred out its outline, making it impossible to see clearly.

"What is that?" Chris held up his Creature Pod and zoomed in, trying to get a better look at it.

The speck seemed to swoop down closer and closer, descending faster and faster, until it crashed onto the stone roof they were standing on and straightened.

It was another dragon, this one standing upright and on two legs, clad in brilliant white scales that resembled shining diamonds, the image of majesty and beauty. A pair of massive wings extended from its shoulders. Pale grey horns crowned its head. Thick, white fur adorned its head, jaw, and square chin, running down its neck and back to the very tip of its tail. Its jewel-like eyes glowed a deep, rich, blood-red hue. Martin noticed that its left horn was slightly longer than its right.

The massive white dragon lowered its head until its eyes were nearly level with Martin's. The crimson of its eyes stood out against the pure white of its hide. They caught your attention and held it. Martin couldn't look away.

Just like the old man in my dream.

Suddenly the dragon blinked and the spell was broken. Martin stumbled, as if the dragon's eyes were the only thing keeping him upright.

"Martin," said the dragon. His voice had a deep, ringing reverb to it that reminded him of a church bell. The dragon's lips curved up into a smile. "It has been quite a while since we last spoke."

"What? I've never met you."

"In my true form, at least," said the dragon. "My name is Fatalis."

It was then Martin noticed the scars all over Fatalis's snout. He pointed at them. "What happened?"

 Fatalis glanced down at the scars. "Oh, these are from the Equal Dragon Weapon. They are nothing."

"As I was saying," Martin straightened up, "how do you know me?"

"It was I who sent you that dream of the old man next to the fire. I am that old man."

Martin stared at the old dragon in shock. "Bu-bu-but that's impossible. How would you be able to-"

"A gift of the Sapphire Star," replied Fatalis.

"So, um, Guanzor- I mean, Emperor Guanzorumu, why did you call us here?" Chris shifted his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other.

"I called you here to discuss a very serious matter." The dragon king suddenly became solemn.

"What is it?"

"A few decades ago, Safi'jiiva," Guanzorumu gestured towards a large, red-scaled dragon with curling horns and golden eyes, "received a message - a vision, you could say - from Archangel Uriel. Uriel foretold the arrival of two brothers with the power of nature and their enemies, four greedy humans who would attempt to rob the planet of its resources. We have reason to believe that the two brothers mentioned are you and your brother, and that the four greedy humans are the strange businessmen now terrorizing the cities on our border."

"You have to be kidding," said Aviva. "Predicting the future is impossible! And besides, angels aren't real!"

Teostra rolled his eyes. "What will it take for you to accept that there are simply some things that science cannot explain? You just witnessed Fatalis create an eclipse- that is still going on, by the way." He pointed to the black sun. "We are hexapods, which, according to your little theory of evolution, is impossible as the fish Tiktaalik had only four lobed fins. And Fatalis, Safi'jiiva, and a few others here are old enough to have bore witness to the creation of the earth."

Koki shook her head. "You have to be kidding."

"Sadly, we are not," snapped a mammalian dragon that had coppery-black scales and orange fur. "This is a most serious matter."

Aviva shook her head. "If you can prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that supernatural phenomena exist, then I'll... I don't know."

Guanzorumu cleared his throat and approached them. "Anyhow, I'd like you to stay alert, should they attempt to attack you again."

Aviva looked up from her notes. "Can we stay in the vicinity of your palace? I'd really like to study you dragons."

Guanzorumu nodded. "You may."

Martin looked at all of the dragons a little more closely. Despite all of them being hundreds of thousands old at the very least, only Guanzorumu seemed to have any signs of aging. Well, he was the leader of a country, after all, and that meant a lot of responsibility.