The Chosen One- Book One (Editing)

Chapter 20- Perodine

Silverfang returned to the camp with Flashscar to find everything just gone. There wasn't anything there- almost as if the group had never camped there. Even worse, they still hadn't found the rest of the group. Flashscar wasn't helping. It seemed as if the creatures had fed her something to make her hyperactive, which she was right now. Before Silverfang even released her, the dragon began talking extremely fast. "Okay, so like after I headed down the path, those two things ambushed me. I don't even know why, but that cloth smelled horrible..." Silverfang detected a strange scent on her friend, but she dismissed it. However, a voice in her head told her she was going to regret that. Somewhere, she seemed to recognize the scent, but it was a faint memory. Shaking her head, Silverfang scoped the area, bringing Flashscar with her. The hyperactive dragon started twitching and tapping her claw once they reached their former campsite.

Silverfang sighed and sat down on the thick grass. It had been nearly an hour since the two dragons had run into the creatures, but none of the group members were back yet. Silverfang tried everything- she searched the area, called for help, and even built a small fire so the smoke would attract attention. Worse of all, Flashscar's condition had begun deteriorating. The electric dragon had stopped talking about fifteen minutes ago, and she was now shivering. The blue lightning that usually danced between her claws had faded to faint sparks that fizzled away. Silverfang had tried her best to help her friend- she built the fire to keep her warm, gave her Steamblade's blanket, and even tried giving her some of the canned food in her bag. Flashscar took the blanket, but she sat far away from the fire and refused the food. Silverfang was almost convinced that the other dragons had lost them, but something inside of her told her that it wasn't the case. Suddenly, Silverfang remembered Serpentis. She reached into the snake's special pocket and felt around. Nothing. "Flashscar." The dragon had nodded off and jolted awake. "Hmm?" Silverfang flipped the bag over and shook it. Nothing. "Serpentis. He's gone."

Silverfang dumped everything out of her bag. A heap of medicines, cloths, canned foods, cases, and other things the backpack held fell onto the floor of the field. Flashscar didn't respond to anything Silverfang said, staring blankly into the grass. Silverfang reached a claw into Serpentis' favorite pocket to check one last time- and found something else instead of the serpent. A silver charm hung on a pendant made from some kind of metal. The charm was an elaborate carving of a serpent and looked a lot like Serpentis itself. The end of the serpent's tail curled around a smooth green stone. It was the color of an emerald but had the texture of a piece of jade. Silverfang reached behind her neck and looped the pendant around it. She began to shove her things back into the bag when she saw something. The DrayCom she had been given was a bit scratched up and dirty, but it was still working. Silverfang shoved everything else back into her bag quickly and turned on the machine. Flashscar's DrayCom began to bounce back the visible waves, so she turned off the signal for that. The DrayCom, however, wasn't really giving reliable information. It said that the rest of the group was at the circular clearing a bit to the north. But Silverfang had already checked that area and the places around it; she would've noticed some kind of mark the dragons left behind. Silverfang left the bag with Flashscar and took to the air. The DrayCom suddenly vibrated and fell out of her claw. She folded her wings and claws, diving toward the ground to catch the machine before it broke. A few inches from the ground, the machine fell into Silverfang's claws and she rolled on the field's floor. "Augh..." she groaned. Just that moment, the rest of the group walked into the clearing. "What's happening here?"

Silverfang explained everything to Icetail who, after hearing about the kidnapping, immediately rushed over to Flashscar and stuck a thin piece of plastic between her jaw. The dots on the plastic began to turn blue, until almost all of it was covered with blue dots. "This is bad. This is really, really bad. Steamblade, I need some penitsilic and a paste of trioguat. Frozenclaw, make a bag of ice cubes. Scorchtail, light a stick on fire. Venomwing, I need a thick blanket of moss. Silverfang, come here. I need to tell you something." The dragon walked over, unsure of what to do. "Okay, here's the deal. The creatures are called the xenophites. They're lethal and almost indestructible, due to the fact that they are mechanical and move with ninja-like speed. They're servants of the Dark One. It's a wonder that you managed to defeat them." Icetail pointed toward Flashscar, who was lying on her stomach and shivering uncontrollably. "I think the xenophites drugged Flashscar with something called perodine. It's poisonous and extremely lethal. It makes you really hyper at first and then it slowly drains your energy. About how long has it been since Flashscar got kidnapped?" Silverfang thought about it for a moment, adding up together all of the times. "I think about three or four hours. Why?" Icetail turned pale. "It may already be too late."