The Chosen One- Book One (Editing)

Chapter 21- The Eeries

Silverfang's eyes widened. "No," she whispered. "How?" Icetail checked Flashscar's pulse while talking to Silverfang. "Perodine is a fast-acting drug. You say it's been three to four hours?" Silverfang nodded, confirming the fact again. "Then it's a miracle she managed to stay alive for this long, even for an Elemental." Icetail wrapped her tail around her pack, which was a few feet away, and pulled it toward her. She flipped the pack around and spread out all the remaining medical supplies. "We only have a few more medicines. None of them will help Flashscar in this condition." Flashscar suddenly let out a violent cough, splattering golden blood on the field's floor. The air filled with the metallic smell of proseit. She rolled onto her side, and Icetail quickly fumbled for a white container. "Hold down Flashscar for me." Icetail said. Steamblade and Frozenclaw went to help, and Scorchtail and Venomwing volunteered to go hunting. "I saw a pack of field rats by the waterway." Venomwing mentioned. "We can probably eat those." Icetail nodded and yelled after them, "Bring back some water. Flashscar may need it." Silverfang sat a few feet away from the dragons, watching as Icetail carefully dripped some kind of liquid into Flashscar's mouth. She quickly dropped a silver pill after it, and Silverfang could see Flashscar's neck convulse to swallow it. Then Frozenclaw moved over and blocked her view. She exhaled a small wisp of smoke and wished she could help Flashscar, but there was nothing she could do. "Don't tire yourself out, Silverfang. Go rest. We'll take care of this." Steamblade said. Silverfang knew he was right, reluctantly curling up and going to sleep.

Her dreams were scattered and made no sense at all. When Silverfang awoke, she didn't remember a thing about them. "Guys?" Silverfang lifted her head from her claws. Steamblade was dozing off next to the small fire that the dragons must've made after it got dark. Icetail, Venomwing, Scorchtail, and Frozenclaw were all asleep as well. It was Flashscar who was awake. Shocked, Silverfang asked, "Flashscar?" The electric dragon didn't reply. Silverfang knew she should wake the rest of the team, or at least Icetail. But as she got closer to the older dragon, Flashscar moved to block her. The dragon moved too fast for her condition. "Stop." A voice hissed. It was not Flashscar's voice, but it came from her mouth. Silverfang turned slowly to face her friend, and saw a monstrous face instead.

The face had small, beady eyes, a crooked nose, and a monstrous smile that stretched from pointy ear to pointy ear. It also had wrinkled skin and brittle strands of hair. And the stench the thing emitted smelled worse than the grimers. What Silverfang thought was Flashscar was actually a goblin-like creature. The thing was wearing what Silverfang recognized as a shapeshifting cloak. Silverfang lashed out with her tail, catching the creature by its ribs. It stumbled, and Silverfang shook Icetail while it recovered. "Icetail!" she roared. "Wake up!" The creature flicked its claw, revealing long, blade-like claws. It charged at Silverfang, but it was also unbelievably short. The creature's hair only reached Silverfang's knee. She growled and swiped at it, but it dodged and darted behind her. As Silverfang turned, the creature crawled onto tail and between her wings. Annoyed, Silverfang extended one wing and flung it off, wrapping her tail around the thing's waist and trapping its claws. As the creature squirmed and struggled, Silverfang shook Icetail awake. When the older dragon did wake, she leaped onto all fours immediately and darted to the creature in one quick movement. Silverfang loosened her tail and Icetail swiped her claw down the creature's stomach. It let out a bloodcurdling shriek, red blood spilling from the gash on its stomach. Its face was locked in a grin as it died. With one swipe, Icetail took the shapeshifting cloak from the creature and kicked it far into the grass. The creature's blood stained the ground. Icetail looked around. "Where's Flashscar?" she asked. Silverfang looked around, but the electric dragon was nowhere to be seen. "Alright, get everyone up. We'll go looking for her. Serpentis also returned a while after you went to sleep." Silverfang lashed her tail along the ground. "Where is it?" Icetail brushed aside a large pile of grains and Serpentis was coiled up under it. The serpent sprang and coiled around Silverfang's right foreclaw.

After everyone was set and prepared, Icetail rounded up the whole team and barked an order. "Okay, here's the deal. Everyone's staying together this time, so we don't have another incident. Our mission right now is to look for Flashscar. Got it?" The amateur dragons nodded and pulled out their weapons. Icetail turned to Silverfang. "Choose something else, Silverfang. Your blade isn't sufficient and doesn't have enough power." Silverfang nodded and sheathed the knife. She slung a silver bow and sheath of arrows across her back. The tips of the arrows were dipped in lethal venom that could kill on contact. Just to be safe, Silverfang had covered them with a thin coating that would break on contact with her clawprint.

Before the team even left, Venomwing noticed a rustling in the grass. She spun and threw the knife she was holding with deadly accuracy. The rustling stopped immediately, and Frozenclaw noticed that nothing was there. "Probably just the wind," Scorchtail muttered, and the threat was over- or so they thought.

The team began to search the main path for clues of Flashscar's whereabouts. Several times, as they searched, Silverfang thought she saw Flashscar. But it was always just the wind or a wild animal. It was an extremely eerie sight and Silverfang was left unnerved after the second time it happened. Finally, as the team stopped for a rest break, Silverfang saw it happen. The grass was split in a straight line and Silverfang saw into the middle of the field. As she ate her lunch of plants and fish, the tip of Flashscar's tail appeared in the distance. Then, suddenly, it shape-shifted into Flashscar's crest and then into her wing. Finally, Flashscar disappeared entirely, leaving behind only the faintest wisp of purple smoke. There was no way the electric dragon could move that fast, much less just disappear from sight. Silverfang signaled to Frozenclaw, who was the closest to her. "I think I just saw Flashscar, but she disappeared." Frozenclaw flattened all the icy spikes on her body and told Silverfang to do the same. Both dragons followed the path and reached the area where Silverfang saw her. There, on the ground, was a single white stone with a purple carving on it. The stone was still warm, and the carving glowed. Silverfang closed her claw around it and flew back to the rest stop, with Frozenclaw trailing behind her.

When they arrived, Steamblade was in a heated argument with Scorchtail. "Icetail said it herself; it's a miracle that she's managed to survive that long. How do we know that she's still alive?" Steamblade narrowed his eyes. "That just means that you have no faith in her whatsoever." Scorchtail exhaled a cloud of smoke before replying, "I never said that. But still, someone has to be reasonable here." Icetail broke the argument with a swipe of her tail. "We must leave. Stop bickering like a pair of draklings and start packing." Silverfang landed a few feet away, a cloud of dust rising from her feet. "Guys, look what I found." Icetail immediately narrowed her eyes. "What were you two doing out there?" Frozenclaw replied, "Silverfang thought she saw Flashscar, so we went to investigate." Icetail glared at them. "What did I say about going off alone? How can I trust you two if you don't even ask me before you leave to go exploe something? But that's not the point right now. What did you two find?" Silverfang let the stone roll from her claw onto the ground. "This."