Scale Back Tail (Original Universe)

Chapter 10: Alarm

Ash's POV

I'd probably been in the library for about half an hour at this point, Thorn being more than happy to help me with researching. He was so focused on grabbing books from the shelves that even Cyber's excitement seemed baseline.

I was having my own fun taking my time reading through the massive logs of 'Documented Dragons at EverBurn' when something nearly slipped past my ears. Despite it being faint it was a relatively constant sound. I looked up from the book to see if there was a dragon approaching but no matter where I looked, I couldn't seem to find where the noise was coming from.

Cyber seemed to notice my confused look as he commented, "I'll add enhanced hearing to the list of things that are a part of you. You're definitely hearing something but even I can't tell what it is." he said with slight worry as I saw the tufts around his face twitch. I'm guessing he has a similar ear structure to me, but it's worrying that only I can hear whatever this is.

"It sounds like footsteps, but metallic." I tried to explain what I thought I was hearing to Cyber while straining my ears. That must've broken Thorn's attention to his books as he came over to us while carrying well over what seemed a normal amount of books. "I can't sense anything coming. My ears aren't as good as either of you but my senses can pick up anything." He spoke with a slight sternness as if he was doubting his own words.

"It's probably just some rain coming in with the moon. I've known a few dragons who can 'hear' the rain coming, most of them were ShockWaves though." Cyber commented, clearly trying to lighten the odd mood that had set in. "Speaking of the moon! Will you be joining the Golden Moon Festival a night away from now? New dragons are always welcomed in the festivities!" Thorn's excitement had returned, completely brushing off the minor event.

"The Golden Moon Festival? What exactly is that?" I asked, hoping that it didn't give suspicion to myself since I was genuinely interested in whatever celebration was titled 'The Golden Moon'. I had clearly set something off in both Thorn and Cyber, however, much to my worry. "Aurorus, how long have you been isolated from other kingdoms, let alone other dragons? The Moon Festivals are practically written into our blood!" Cyber explained with enough shock to be ironic.

"To be fair they don't even remember growing up as a dragon, so stop trying to bite their tail off Cyber," Thorn scolded lightly though I could tell he was just as surprised. "The Golden Moon Festival is only one of four festivals that EverBurn and several other kingdoms celebrate. The festival itself celebrates the survival of another season and all the growth we've managed to achieve. The 'Golden Moon' aspect is just supposed to represent the time the festival takes place, which would either be White, Pink, Golden, or Orange." Thorn briefly explained though I could tell he wanted to explain a lot more.

I was just about to tell him to continue when I heard that weird noise again, although this time slightly louder, almost like an echo. This time I knew that both Thorn and Cyber heard it as they started looking around as well. The noise sounded off again, sounding as if it was getting closer but still we couldn't see it. A futile bit of looking around to see if anyone could pick the sound up passed before Cyber spoke up in a quiet voice, "Don't move. I'm determined to get to the bottom of this."

I was grateful I had read a portion of that logbook now, as I had a good idea about what Cyber probably was going to do. My idea seemed to be proven right as I saw Cyber's accents light up, small bits of static building up from them. He was planning to make a static field, which would give away anything that was moving. His eyes closed as the buildup of static started giving up a light hissing noise. I was starting to get concerned when the hissing turned into popping, however before I could comment anything he opened his eyes, causing the static to burst out like a shockwave, which I'm guessing is their namesake. I could hear it crackle past my ears as it faded into the room, looking at Cyber expectantly.

Before I could even ask if Cyber caught anything a loud screech of a roar emitted from above me as I was hit by a heavyweight to my back, causing me to fall to the floor of the library with a surprisingly painless thud, sudden tiredness setting in after it. "Axis! Since when in the name of Arourus herself did you come back?" was the last thing I heard in what I believed was Thorn's voice before my eyes slipped closed.