The Chosen One- Book One (Editing)

Chapter 17- Leeches of the Swamp

Silverfang woke up to a leaf tickling her snout. She sneezed, swiped at the leaf, and got up. Claws clinging to the branches, Silverfang inched toward the edge of the branch and leaped off cautiously. She flapped her wings, trying hard to extend them to their full length so she could glide. Two feet from the ground, her wings finally worked and she managed a steady landing. "Phew." She looked up at her bag hanging on the branch. "Shoot." Silverfang hooked her claws in the bark and started climbing. When she finally reached the branch, there was nothing there. "What?" She looked down. The bag had slid off the the branch and landed on the floor, where it laid covered in mud. Sighing, Silverfang climbed the branch, extended her wings, and glided slowly to the ground. She fished around her bag for a cloth and wiped some mud off it. It was sticky and warm, which generally disgusted Silverfang. She slung the muddy bag over her equally muddy shoulder, and headed off to find a clean water source.

After searching the entire area for a water source, Silverfang found a murky swamp filled with mystery plants and vines. She pulled out her knife and cut off a length of vine. Silverfang tied it around her waist and then to a tree. She looped the remaining vine around her claw and stepped cautiously into the swamp. The water sloshed as she walked, and she seemed to be going deeper and deeper. By the time the water reached her knees, Silverfang was already halfway through the swamp. Suddenly, something latched onto Silverfang's ankle. She tried to pull her claw out to inspect it, but she couldn't. Frantic, Silverfang tugged on the vine, dragging herself slowly to the tree. When she finally reached the shore, she had been bitten seven times. Large purple leeches were hooked onto her ankles and legs. Their rear ends had green vines that sank into the water. "Gross," Silverfang said, trying to scrape off the disgusting creatures with a stick. One of the creatures broke in half, part of its body landing on the floor. It oozed with proseit. But the top half of the leech was still attached to her scales. Silverfang grabbed a thorny plant off the ground and stabbed at the leeches. They just broke off their bodies and continued to bite Silverfang. She finally limped toward the camp and rammed Icetail's tree with her forehead. The ice dragon bolted down with her medicine bag, and the two tried to pry the leeches off using several different types of anti-leech medicines. The leeches' bodies would fall off easily, but the suckers themselves were still stuck to the scales. Silverfang tried everything: burning them, freezing them, poisoning them, shocking them, even going as far as trying to use her psychic power to pull them off. Nothing worked. Icetail even used her special homemade concoction: a thick green paste that stank like rotten eggs. Silverfang pinched her snout, dipped a claw into the container, and smeared it all over her leg. The leeches shriveled up and fell to the ground, landing with a splat! sound and breaking open. Golden proseit splattered across the muddy ground, making Silverfang sick. She washed her claws and kicked the carcasses into a muddy puddle, where they sank into the mud.

Silverfang felt absolutely disgusting. The undersides of her claws were caked with dirt, and her wings and tail were covered in mud. Even her forehead was covered in sweat and dirt. Disappointed with her sanitary condition, Silverfang wet her cloth with what remaining water she had and tried to wipe herself clean. The cloth was dirty again in seconds, and Silverfang sighed. She folded the cloth and slid it into her pack. Serpentis had just woken up, and the serpent spat a wad of mud from its mouth before sliding back into its pocket. Silverfang tried to use her conversion power again, this time successfully converting an entire length of vine into water. The gemstone in her bag was helping her, and she didn't feel very tired after. Silverfang practiced using her wing while the entire group walked. Icetail was a bit grumpy because the HoloMap's controls were caked with mud and couldn't be used. They had to navigate by compass, which Steamblade had packed. Silverfang chewed on the remaining fish, but the heat made them generally unappetizing and she soon stopped. Scorchtail was especially annoyed because he could barely move without setting something on fire, and Frozenclaw felt like she was melting. Flashscar was grumpy because the air was more humid than ever, and Steamblade was also not his usual self. The entire group wasn't feeling very well, and soon Icetail stopped the group. "Up ahead, there's a huge river. It should signal the end of this swamp, but only if we keep traveling for the whole day. However, that's not possible, because everyone's grumpy and tired. So we're going to stop here for a bit, eat some leftovers, and then go on our way whether you like it or not. According to this paper map of Venomwing's, there's a large field beyond this and then we enter the Kingdom." Flashscar grumbled and rolled her eyes, reaching into her bag to pull out a ripped garbage bag. She picked it up by the sides and pulled it out to create a blanket over the mud. Smoothing out the creases in the thick material, Silverfang began pulling out the remaining food and canteens of water. She pulled out a knife and cut off four lengths of vine and holes in the corners of the garbage bag. The dragon then looped one end of each vine through the four holes and knotted them. She wrapped the other ends around four thick, high tree branches. Silverfang stepped onto the now elevated garbage bag and checked to see if it would hold. The branches held until four dragons stepped on, which then they started to sag. Steamblade picked up two sets of PinIt weights and flew into the air, pinning each vine down to the branch. The vines, however, showed no signs of severing, which was strange.

Silverfang looked into the distance from her place high up in a tree. Large clusters of trees spread out in front of her, and in the distance, there was a field of wheat. Steamblade was on a few branches under her, and he was looking for possible prey. Silverfang pulled her knife from its sheath and inspected the blade. It was a bit dirty and scratched, but it was in good condition. Silverfang shined the blade before sliding it back. "Steamblade!" she called. "Mass of trees up ahead and then the fields! Icetail was right." The silver dragon nodded, climbing closer to the ground to tell Scorchtail before getting back onto his spot. Silverfang looked up, her back against the tree's trunk. From her spot in the tree, she could see the sky. The moon shone brightly, stars dotting the dark background of the sky. Silverfang opened her claw, summoning a blob of water. The liquid swirled around, forming a perfect circle. She used her ice power and froze it. A perfect sphere of ice. Silverfang held the sphere in her palm. It was cold but soothing. She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the sphere. It shattered, shards of ice flying out of her claw and falling. She squeezed her eyes shut, claws gripping the branch. It was too much. Her future as the Chosen One would crush her.

Silverfang climbed down the tree, a blank expression on her face. Steamblade had come down a few minutes earlier. His hunt had been successful. He had managed to catch two birds and a tree rat, along with gathering several edible fruits and nuts. Silverfang chewed on her dinner, occasionally feeding Serpentis a cube of meat or a piece of a fruit. After finishing her portions, the dragon helped clean up. She didn't acknowledge anyone or speak at all. Silverfang rested her head on her claws, smoothed her blanket over her shoulders, and fell asleep.

The dragon immediately fell into a nightmare, but not one by the Dark One. Instead, Silverfang watched as bombs rained down on the Kingdom of Elementals. A large group of dragons were in the center of the kingdom, using all of their powers to protect the place. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by an army of trolls. A dark mass floated above the city, creating a dark force field around it. And Silverfang could only watch as Dark One destroyed the entire kingdom.

Silverfang woke up, gasping for air. She quickly calmed down after realizing that she wasn't dreaming anymore. The dragon stepped off the suspended cloth, navigating her way around the mud. Silverfang finally reached the tree she had perched in last night. She hooked her claws in the bark, slowly climbing the tree until the branches began to thin. Then she extended her wings, gliding from one branch to another until she reached the kopler tree. She balanced on her hind claws, swiping at the kopler fruit. She managed to snag three before she lost her balance and fell back. Luckily, she was leaning against the tree trunk so she didn't fall. Silverfang placed the fruit between her wings, extended them, and glided smoothly to the swamp floor.