The Draconic Balance: The Pendant

Raven's Mission

Miya takes me down a long pathway lit by more of the glowing crystals. It takes quite a while, and I'm just about to ask where we're going when Miya stops and calls loudly, "Everybody, meet Vicky."
I don't see anyone. I poke my head out from behind Miya and gasp. Some people just appeared in front of us! I count four. Miya smiles at them and while they talk I decide to observe them more closely.
The first one is a boy with floppy, windblown blond hair which I guess is cute if you like that type. He has a blue T-shirt and blue cargo pants. On his head is a light blue and white baseball cap. He has- you guessed it- blue eyes. That much blue would probably look stupid on someone else, but he makes it work.
Next is a girl. She has strawberry blond hair that comes down a few inches past her shoulders. The ends are dyed bright red, and so are random streaks in her hair. She has fierce green eyes and a red and gold T-shirt with the name of some obscure band on it. She has on those weird jean shorts that come ripped and clunky dark red combat boots. She's wearing bright-red lipstick which for some reason, instead of looking tacky, only adds to her scary image.
The one next to her is also a girl. She has long golden-brown hair and deep, friendly sea-green eyes. She's actually smiling, unlike Duchess Doom next to her, and she has on a dark green shirt with a blue jacket and long skinny jeans with light green sneakers.
The last one is standing in the back. He's one of those goth-bad boy guys that can do the "tall, dark and handsome" thing. He has black hair that flops into his eyes which I think are... gold? What the heck? Ooooookay, I'll ignore that for now. He has on a black leather jacket, a black T-shirt and, of course, black jeans. These people must really like color schemes.
"Who are these people?" I whisper to Miya.
"You wouldn't believe us if we told you the truth. Humans are so cynical," growls Red-and-Gold.
Um. So, she heard my whisper, meaning she must have really good ears, and... she said something about humans. Like she wasn't one. Miya breaks in. "These... people," she says quickly, "are my friends and companions."
"Aegrin," she indicates Blue-and-White, "Ikarine," Red-and-Gold mutters something, "Lira," Blue-and-Green waves, "and Sabris." Goth Dude nods at me.
"I said you were here for a reason." I nod.
"This reason will become clear very, very soon. You are very important, Victoria, in ways you will never have guessed. Now, follow me."
I start off after Miya, and then I realize something. She called me Victoria... and I never told her my name.
★★★
"Keep it moving! No holding up the line! No cutting! For Mortin's sake, worms, didn't yer mothers ever teach ya how to form a line? We're gonna run out of food before we've fed 'alf the Facility!" the lumpy rock dragon at the front of the line bellowed.
Ugggh. I can't believe they don't even bother to ration out food for the top commanders! I'm the leader of the whole of Squad Five and I haven't eaten in two days! Raven snarled at the small yellow dragon trying to worm his way in front of her. "Get to the back before I bite you. Hard," she hissed.
The small dragon gasped, cringed and scampered away. Raven sighed heavily. If she didn't get to the front before lunch break was over, she swore someone was going to get dismembered... and she didn't become one of Mortin Redwood's favorite commanders for her bark being worse than her bite.
"Miss Raven? You've reached the front."
This voice came from the dragon in charge of the lunch line, a well-meaning but impossibly timid dragon named Twist. Yes! Finally, food! Raven shook off her violent thoughts and ordered piles of steak, chips, zulgarde root and stardust to be delivered to her feeding area... "five minutes ago," she barked at Gorn.
"Geez, Rave, it'll be there ASAP," sighed Elfridge, the food deliverer, before zipping off to get all her food ready.
Raven soared toward her feeding area. As leading commander of Squad Five, she had her own area to eat. Any dragon trespassing would be punished severely. She didn't have to wait long before Elfridge zipped down with blinding speed and delivered her huge meal. I still can't decide whether it's a good or bad idea to put a lightning dragon on lunch duty... She ignored her thoughts for now and dove into her food, devouring it with a speed she hadn't known she was capable of.
As soon as she had finished eating... RIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! The increasingly annoying alarm bell was going off, meaning... "Breach in Sector Three! Breach in Sector Three!"
Raven gasped. Sector Three was the captured prisoner cells. No one's ever breached Sector Three before! The commanders, including Raven, tore off to find the disturbance, leaving their uneaten food behind.
★★★
Raven didn't know what she had been expecting in Sector Three... a huge mutant trying to destroy the whole Facility, which she would valiantly help to fight off? Whatever she had been hoping for, she was disappointed when the breach turned out to simply be a struggling purple dragon, already clapped in chains.
Wait a second.. this is Korimun! The Dragon of Magic is being kept here? Raven had of course heard of Korimun's capture; hadn't every dragon? She had just assumed he was being kept in Mortin Redwood's secret cells.
She flew down to sneer at the captured dragon. "Not so tough now, are you?" she jeered. Korimun snarled and tried to bite her, but she danced out of reach. "Just so you know, I'm Raven, the head of Squad Five, the squad that will eventually capture all six of the Elemental Dragons... oops, six? Silly me, I meant to say five, since one of them has already been enough of an idiot to get himself captured!" she taunted, then was surprised to see Korimun react.
"You're right," he snarled, "I am an idiot. I protected my friends so they could get away from you monsters! I sacrificed myself to save my friends from a fate worse than death, which is what the Facility is! Of course that makes me an idiot, just because I was captured."
He stopped, either because he had run out of breath or because one of the guards had started nipping at him to get him to be quiet. As he was led away, Raven was reluctantly forced to ponder what he had said... Does being brave make you an idiot? Are we really monsters to them... a fate worse than death? She didn't have much time to think about it, though, as her communicator buzzed and she recognized Mortin Redwood's voice. "Raven, I have an important mission for you and Squad Five. Meet me in my quarters as soon as possible." The communicator went dark, and off Raven flew again.
★★★
Raven was in Mortin Redwood's darkened chambers. She couldn't see him; no one ever had, as far as she knew. But there was no time to think about that now... the leader of the Facility had news for her.
"The five remaining free Earth's Dragons have somehow found their Riders again, or at least their descendants. A young Earth girl has been found to be Miya's new Rider, and they are tracking the others, including Korimun's."
Raven gasped. If they found Korimun's Rider, he or she would have the power to find the Pendant and free Korimun, and the Facility would lose its most powerful weapon over the humans.
"Raven, you and Squad Five must stop them finding the Riders at all costs. Capture them, threaten them, torture them, and if it comes to worst kill them. You are my elite, Raven. Do not let me down."
Raven bowed deeply. "I won't, sir."