The Chronicles of Drakken

Chapter 10: Musical Wind Tunnel

Maria Wildwind was sitting outside the walls of Cumulus City with Coda Breeze. The two were there to help with stockpiling supplies and assist in other ways. The added protection by the guards put Maria's mind at ease, but Coda was itching to fight the horde of Demons that came through the portal.

Ever since Coda had almost lost his life due to a demonic attack, he'd been waiting to seek revenge. He didn't hate Blaze for what happened. Still, Coda held him responsible for letting his emotions be unguarded for possession. However, he forgave Blaze when he apologized.

Now, the Dark Realm was invading their world as a slap in the face, saying, "You can't beat us. We dare you to try." Well, Coda would rise to the challenge, and Maria knew that he would. And, perhaps, there was some small part of her that wanted to fight, too. After all, this was her home too, and she didn't want to see it destroyed.

Maria helped load the last crate of food into the warehouse and wiped the sweat from her head with a small handkerchief. Her long black hair, tied in a bun, stood out in contrast to her sky-blue back scales. The six-inch jet-black horns matched perfectly with her hair and made her front silver scales dazzle in the firelight. Her wings were tucked to her back as her grey, yellow-trimmed shirt flapped loosely in the wind. She wore black pants and handmade sandals as her tail swished mindlessly. Her eyes were a glacier yellow.

Coda had all the same features but with a few exceptions. First, his horns were the same color but stood at a foot each. Second, he didn't have hair. Third, he was two inches taller than her, standing at six feet and nine inches. Fourth, his front scales were a darker gray. His shirt was yellow with light blue trim as his tail swished violently.

This was the first indication that Maria had received that something was wrong. Usually, Coda was a happy, go-lucky sort of Dragon, but he had changed a lot since that day in the Terrain Region. At first, Maria wasn't too worried about it, thinking it would blow over in a few days. However, Coda became more isolated from his emotions and sought more time by himself. She didn't think it was good for him to be alone, but she didn't want to press the issue. Everyone heals differently, and she knew that. Maria just hoped that it wouldn't be a negative way.

Maria's thoughts turned to Kyle, whom she'd known for most of her life. Her family grew up next to the Whirlwinds, and she played with Kyle as kids. Both were the best of friends and even went to the same academy to stay with one another. Secretly, she loved him but never really said anything because she figured he had enough on his mind than to worry about her. So what was the point?

Still, she couldn't help but wonder if Kyle was doing okay and longed to find him. Maybe even help him if she could, but she had duties to take care of before heading out anywhere and thought she might take Coda with her.

There was an explosion as Kyle launched himself from the ground to avoid it. War lobbed energy balls at him the size of cannonballs, and Kyle did his best to dodge them. After an energy ball whizzed inches past his head, Kyle saw an opening and to it. He swung his father's Wind Sword and shouted, "RAGING CYCLONE!"

Instantly, the winds responded to Kyle's command, and a towering twister sped towards War at incredible speeds.

"Is that it?! Is this all the power you can muster?" Ware said with a laugh and shot an energy ball into the twister.

Kyle cracked a smile and turned his hand, which caused the cyclone to reverse its wind direction. The energy ball rounded the twister and fired back at War, who held up his hand to halt the sphere. "Alright, in that case."

Kyle didn't like the sound of that, and his suspicions proved correct War worked the energy ball. Suddenly, Ware lanced out a wave of energy. Kyle barely had enough time to deflect the wave with his Wind Sword and direct it to the ground. However, the explosive wave sent Kyle flying up into the air, flipping end over end.