Pupandaka 2

Chapter 12 - A Freezing World

The clones drew closer as the dragons rushed to search for Tearlach. Drele looked about in despair. Tanark approached him, fear in her eyes. "Drele, they're using the same battle tactic they used in the previous war when we fought the Third Talon. I'll explain later, but I need you to do something." Drele looked up at her, "What do you need? I'll do anything at this point!" "I need you to go to Mount Biodra and restore the seal. Take this amulet," she said, handing him the dragon amulet. "It's a key we used to lock them inside. Go to the mountain, where there is a limestone altar. There should be an emblazoned shape perfect for the amulet to fit into. Use it and it'll reveal an altar of jade." Drele seemed overwhelmed with all this information. "You need to restore its power. Here." She then hands him a tiny flask filled with a purple substance. "This is mana, it's what the jade is powered by. Pour this on the jade and it'll activate the seal. Don't lose it, it's the only one we have!"

Drele nodded and said, "Okay, that was a lot to take in, but I got this. What about you?" Tanark put her talon on his shoulder, "I'll stay and help fend off these clones. Go, now. Once the seal is activated, we'll need every dragon we can find to push the real Sapta into the seal." With that, Drele set off for Mount Biodra, running across the uneven ground and making sure that nobody has followed him. Not long into the journey, he came across a vast, frozen world completely unfamiliar to him. "What..." he muttered. The mountains were coated in white, everything below the tree line was frozen. He continued his trek on the sloped terrain.

Just then, he slipped and fell. The purple vial being thrown out of the grasp of his hands. "No!" Drele exclaimed. He rushed to his feet and frantically tried to search for the vial. Surely, it should stand out from the snow, right? He searched around several rocks, some small crevasses, and around a few trees. It was nowhere to be found. He slumped to the ground in defeat, his hands trembling at the fear of what would happen.

Back in the village, Tanark stands in front of the debris from the palace. She mustered all the courage she needed for this one. A few other dragons stood beside her, anticipating their next move. Tanark proceeded to swipe her tail at the closest clones to move them away. Fril, the fire dragon, asked her, "What do we do? We are basically cornered and all we can do is swipe our tails. None of our powers work on them." Tanark looked up as if she was thinking about Fril's question. "We continue to hold off. Pandora, can you call over every single dragon from the troops at my kingdom?"

Pandora looked at Tanark. "Are you serious? Most of them are still undergoing training. They might not be of much use. Are you sure you want to do this?" "I'm sure. We need all the help we could get. Call them over." Pandora flew off towards the Kingdom. Tanark looked around at the few dragons beside her. "Okay, let's just keep swiping our tails to keep them away. There's a slight chance they'll be downgraded. And you two, keep searching for the Queen. We need her." She nodded over at Kjelf and Cantra, the two dragons searching for Tearlach in the debris.

Tanark looked up and said, "Where are you Drele? Please hurry up!"