The Day of Fire

Chapter Nine: The Story

"You're what!?" Ocean gasped.

"I am your grandmother, I'm not lying," she answered. A horn blew and she snapped to attention. "We'd better hurry, if we miss the play then we'll get in serious trouble." Ocean followed her, a bewildered look on her face. "Since you're new here, you are able to go in front, we'll meet you back here afterwards," Gem assured her, pushing her forward. Ocean walked to the front and sat down with the other first timers.

"Hi there, I'm Tira, what's your name?" the girl sitting next to her whispered.

"My name's Ocean, it's nice to meet you," Ocean whispered back, shaking her hand. Suddenly a fanfare played, and the murmuring quieted.

"Today we gather in the town square to learn about the Day of Fire," the announcer called. "The day when dragons took over our fair land." The play started, and the announcer acted as the narrator. "They rained down from the sky one day, setting fire to our homes and killing hundreds. They took over the kingdoms and ruled over us for a thousand years to this day." Ocean paid attention to the whole thing, even though she was very bored. "To this day, no one has ever been able to stand up to their forces, but we believe one day, we will be free from their reign," the announcer finished. No one bothered to applaud, as this was a very sorrowful story. People stood up and started to leave, and Ocean met her grandparents at the back.

"I'm ready to go, let me show you where my parents are waiting," Ocean said, beckoning for them to follow. When they got there, her parents' eyes went wide when they saw her grandparents.

"Mom? Dad?" Coral whispered. "Is that really you?"

"It's really us, Coral," Gem answered, and Coral rushed to her and gave her a bear hug.

"I thought I would never see you again!" Coral sobbed. "You should come with us to our home, then we can be together again."

"We'd love to, Coral," her grandfather answered. A rustle in the bushes suddenly caught Ocean and her father's attention, since they had very sharp hearing.

"Who's there?" Skyfall warned, and Tira, the girl Ocean met earlier, came out of the bushes, looking guilty.

"Tira?" Ocean asked.

"You know her?" her mother and father asked at the same time.

"I met her at the play, we were sitting next to each other," Ocean explained.

"Your father is a dragon?" TIra suddenly piped up.

"Yeah, what about it?" Ocean asked, confused.

"It's just...I thought dragons and humans never spoke to each other at all, let alone fall in love and have children," Tira answered.

"Tira, you must promise to keep this a secret," Coral pleaded. "If any of the dragons or villagers find out, we're done for!"

"I promise I'll keep it a secret, and you'd better go, the dragons patrol this area a lot, and they'll be getting here soon," Tira warned them, walking away. 

"Everyone on, we need to leave as fast as we can," Skyfall urged, and as soon as everyone was on, he took off as fast as he could without anyone falling off. "We must keep Ocean alive, or the prophecy will never be fulfilled."