Misted Deceit

The Terminator

Forrest yawned; they'd been marching for hours and still showed no sign of stopping.  He'd tried to sleep, but the constant motion made it nearly impossible.  After failing at that, both he and Orchid started to taunt the hydras.  That ended in another threat to be sent to the Terminator.  And as one last snide remark, he couldn't help but say, "Oo, I'm so scared!  I want my mommy."

Several hydras snorted.  Autumn Breeze swirled around, livid.  "You should be scared.  You have no idea what it even is, Forrest," a cynical smile played across her face, "That doesn't even sound like a proper name!"  Everyone laughed, and she smirked.

Forrest thought about it, "No, you are right, it's not proper."  Orchid gasped and the hydras stared at him in surprise.  "How about, Forrest, Gracious Receiver of Your Kind Hospitality?"  At this, Orchid suppressed her own laughter.

Autumn growled menacingly, "That is it!  Ishnak, take him to the Terminator!  Let's see how much Forrest enjoys pain," she finished in a whisper.  He glared at her, a sure sign he'd heard what she'd said.

The rough canvas was thrown back over the cage, and everything went dark.  He felt it being turned around and driven over fifty backs.  Murmurings could be heard through the thick fabric, but he ignored them, concentrating on conserving his strength for whatever pain was to come.  Abruptly, the cage stopped and was roughly tossed on the ground.  Forrest grunted as he landed on his stomach.  A key unlocked the door and two heads stared in.  "Get up," they snarled in unison.  He glared at them as he exited the cage, pushing past the canvas.  Stepping outside, he was only able to catch a quick glance at a large, metal cylinder lying on its side before he was blindfolded.

He heard something creak open and was thrown into what he assumed was the cylinder.  The cold metal brushed against his wings, giving him barely enough room to turn around and growl as the door was shut.  Unable to see, he backed up, trying to find the end.  He only took three steps before his foot came in contact with something slick and slimy.  Pain shot up his leg as he felt the skin melt away.  Venom! he thought, So that's what they consider pain?  Ha!  I could think of a hundred better ways!  Stepping back to the safe area, he laid down and pawed off the blindfold.  Looking around, he realized it made no difference; the interior was midnight black.  He couldn't even see the pool of venom.  He couldn't even smell it.  What is up with that?  That stuff can burn through anything.  Tapping his claws against the metal, Forrest thought of ways to escape, as he knew he didn't want to be in here longer than he had to.  And out of all the ideas he had, only one struck him as probable.  Sucking in a deep breath, he prepared to fire and melt the cylinder.

"That won't work.  I've tried it before."

Forrest jumped at the new voice and nearly landed in the venom.  A fire suddenly blazed up, revealing a mottled green and brown dragon with huge wings.  He appeared to be young, possibly still a student.  And behind him stood...
"Solar!  Zanzi!  You're okay!"  Forrest cried.

Zanzi rushed over, almost knocking over the new dragon, and gave him a wing-hug.  "Oh, my, it is so good to see you again, Forrest!  Both of us thought we'd seen the last of you two!"  Tears spilled over her eyes and she began crying dramatically.

Solar stared at her, "Is that really necessary?"

"Are you really necessary?" she shot back.

"What is that even supposed to mean?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Ahem," the newcomer cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry," Zanzi said, still shooting daggers at Solar, "This is Mossy Stone, our fellow prisoner."

"And scholar!" he piped up.  "The reason you can't burn your way out, mister, is because this cage is built out of tungsten, more commonly known as wolfram.  It has a melting point of 6,191°  Firetongue, which is the highest of any metal.  It can be easily found in..."

"Basically, it can't be melted," Solar cut him off, "Even with all of us flaming, it can't be done.  And, as I'm guessing you've seen, the venom isn't able to do it, either."

"Well, there goes my escape plan," Forrest said, dejectedly, "Speaking of venom, how are you not all bones?"

"Well," Mossy started, "the properties-"

"Yes, yes, we know, Mossy," Solar sighed, exasperated, "The chemical properties enable it to mix with the blah, blah, blah."

"I was just trying to explain," the younger dragon said meekly.

"Yes, well, we've heard it about twenty times now.  Forrest, hydra venom is flammable.  It is like gas; set it on fire and it spreads."

"So, we burned away all, well, most of, the stuff," Zanzi explained, "That way, the hydras won't suspect anything and we won't die from the acid."

"Ah, I see.  Does Autumn know about this?"

"Autumn?  Who's Autumn?" Zanzi asked.

"She's a noble in...Wait, you don't know her?  Didn't she order the hydras to throw you in here?"

"No.  As soon as we were caught, they put us in this metal piece of junk."

"Oh.  Well, she is a noble in the king and queen's court and is like their daughter.  However..." he trailed off.

"However, what?" Solar prompted.

"She's a dragon," Mossy finished.  Both the dragons stared at him in disbelief, stunned to the core.

"But...how-Wait, what?" Zanzi burst out.

"I'm not sure why, but..."

"Her family was killed by the Elite Hydranian Guard and she was brought to RiverWide where she met the king and queen and Potawasset and was then brought into the family.  She learned about them and was given a position in the court and now works part-time for the military," Mossy explained rapidly.

Solar went to stand by Forrest and whispered, "What in Pyrrain did he just say?  I just heard a bunch of words slurred together."

"Autumn's family was attacked by hydras, she became part of the royal family, and now works for the military," Forrest interpreted.

"I see," Zanzi said, nodding, having understood every word Mossy had just spouted out.

"How does she do that?" Solar wondered.

"It's called listening.  Ever heard of it?"

He rolled his eyes.

"So, Solar, how did you end up here?" Forrest asked as Zanzi and Mossy conversed.

"Well, that's quite a story you are asking for."

"We've got the time."

"If you say so.  After Zanzi and I sent you and Orchid the vedfolnir, Myle came to us, explaining that he'd just overheard Paganblood's guards talking about our escape plan.  It was too late to warn you, so we just hoped for the best.  Myle stayed with us, and together we tried to come up with another way to get out.  However, all the sentries were called to the perimeter, and Myle being one, left.  Of course, you could probably guess how it went after that.  Zanzi and I couldn't agree on what to do.  And stupid as it was, we split up.  I have no idea where she went, but I decided to sneak out near the LongClaw pavilion.  Looking back, I can see how dumb that was; I did it anyway.  The closest I got to escaping was the front of the pavilion.  Paganblood came out, saying he was going for a 'nightly stroll.'  He attacked me, I attacked him.

Let's just say that didn't last long.  Soldiers surrounded us and pulled me away.  They chained and muzzled me and threw me into a cage, most likely like the one you came in.  The same night, wouldn't you know, hydras attacked camp.  And in the mayhem, I was handed off to these three-headed freaks.  Soon enough, Zanzi and I were put together and transported south.  I fought the whole time, and as a result, I was thrown in here.  A few days later, Zanzi arrived, too.  By then, I'd met Mossy who'd apparently been in here for several weeks.  We've, ah, been here together for a couple of days now.  And what about you?  Did you get out?"

At that, Forrest retold the adventures he and Orchid had had, ending with Autumn's betrayal.  "I guess that really shows how much you can trust dragons."

"Yeah, it...Where is Orchid, by the way?" Solar asked suddenly.

"Probably still in the cage.  Most likely she'll end up here in a few days."

"Knowing her, most likely."