The Chosen One- Book One (Editing)

Chapter 2- The Cave

Silverfang groaned, using a claw of push away some rocks that had landed above her. One of her wings were badly damaged, and it would take a few days before she would be able to fly again. The leafpack she had made was gone. She looked around and spotted the little serpent. It was curled up in a coil position, with its head resting on its tail. Silverfang reached over, and the serpent slithered onto her arm. It seemed okay, with the occasional scratch or two. She peered up at the sky, which was only a small speck of light. To her right, a rock-encrusted wall. To her left, a large tunnel. Silverfang raised a claw and struck the ceiling, seeing if it would fall. A small stone fell onto the ground. Silverfang crouched down, her tail brushing the ground. The little serpent slithered next to her, hissing occasionally. There seemed to be no end to the tunnel, and soon, it became impossible to see. The dragon brushed a claw on the tunnel walls and found a large, gnarled root. It seemed to have been part of a tree, but as the tree died, it was left in the ground. She concentrated and blew a small wisp of blue fire. The tip of the root caught on fire, providing  a small but strong light. Silverfang curled her tail around the base of the root, bringing it in front of her snout so it would light up the patch in front of her.

Breathing fire until she saw light was not an option, so until the root burnt out, she would have to rely on it. She heard a hiss, and stopped abruptly, before realizing it was the little serpent. It was hungry and tired, like she was, and a look of weariness dawned onto its slitted eyes.

    "It's okay," she whispered to the serpent, who flapped its frill feebly to show that it understood.

The root was slowly burning out, and before long, a burst of fire flew from the little knob of root and died out. It was useless to try to look for another one, so Silverfang tried to sit upright, delivering a blow to the top of the tunnel to make it more comfortable. Sighing, the dragon scratched at the ground, hoping to try to find a meal. Instead, the ground began to give away, and Silverfang scrambled to her feet, backing into the tunnel. A hole opened up in the ground, revealing a swirling black mass. The little serpent was wrapped around her arm, shaking in fear. It hissed feebly, slitted eyes blinking in confusion. The vortex died out, and slowly, the void closed. Silverfang cautiously looked over the edge of the hole at the place where the vortex was before, and gasped. Under her, a large group of dragons were training, mostly adolescents. Further ahead, a group of adult dragons were growling to each other, sharing news and other important things. There was a huge community right under her feet, and she hadn't realized until now.

    Cautiously, Silverfang growled, "Hello?"

The dragons that were training looked up, roaring. They scrambled to their feet and stood in a circle around the hole. Then, one of them flew off to alert the adult dragons. An ice dragon came to the hole, narrowing her eyes.

    "Who are you?" she asked.

    "M-my name is Silverfang. I woke up in a cave a few days ago, and I don't remember anything about myself. I was planning to travel through a forest, but the ground collapsed beneath me and I was badly injured in one wing. I saw a tunnel and decided to follow it, but when I stopped, I scratched at the gound to look for food. A vortex opened underneath me, but I scrambled away. When it receded, I saw a group of your dragons training."

    The ice dragon gasped, then shook her head and said, "Follow me."

Silverfang clambered into the large room. Everyone stared at her while she followed the ice dragon. Finally, she arrived at a large doorway made of wood.

    The ice dragon knocked three times, then said, "Elder, this is First Class member Icetail." The door opened, revealing a huge room with a simple desk in the corner, a large throne in the far back, and  a serpent-like dragon in the center. "Enter."

Icetail entered, dipping her head. Silverfang dipped her head, trying to copy the way Icetail did it. Icetail looked at her funny before walking across the room and whispering in the dragon's ear. Silverfang sat upright, curling her tail over her claws and raising her foreclaw so she could shrug at the little serpent. It had coiled tightly onto her arm, and was flicking its tongue. The serpent-dragon would pause before nodding, and a grave expression slowly took over his face. The dragon frowned, before nodding and walking toward Silverfang.

    "Tell me, where did you find that little serpent on your arm?"

Silverfang gulped before answering, "When I was walking through the forest, I saw it on the ground. It looked thirsty, so I grabbed some wet moss I had and let it drink from the moss. It sort of liked me after that, so it followed me and I let it follow me."

The serpent-like dragon nodded, before answering, "My name is Goldenscale, the Elder. I am the leader of this clan. This is First Class member Icetail. The reason we found you so peculiar is because you may be a part of an old prophecy. You see, Silverfang, you may be the Chosen One."