The Dragon King

Phantom's POV - Darkness Descends

Heffres looked at me. I nodded, calling my shadows to me before letting darkness cover the moon, the eyes of the fire dragons covered by oily blackness.

"ONE!" Heffres roared out. He waited five minutes, before calling out, "TWO!". The numbers went on and on, as more and more dragons took to the skies. I had my eyes closed, to make it easier to maintain my concentration. If I let the mask on the fire dragons slip minutely, they could raise the alarm.

I sagged. Heffres had just called out the next number (67) which meant there were three more groups to go, plus the original five other dragons because there was an odd number. But I was running out of power, my energy was fading rapidly. My wings were drooping, my head hung down and I wobbled slightly. My energy reserves were nearly depleted. Then I heard a voice, a voice in my head I had not heard since he put the iron chains on me.

Phantom

Liam?

Yes

Where are you? I can come and get you and-

Phantom, you are not my dragon and I am not your rider. Not any more. You owe nothing to me and I owe everything to you

So?

So let me give you a gift, to help rescue all the dragons and save yourself as well. Just promise me one thing

What do you mean?

Take these dragons to Amy and tell her not to rescue me. That the spark of who I am will be gone

Wait I-

A strange rush of light shot through the air, hitting me square in the back. Although my eyes were closed I could feel a rush of power running through my veins. Liam's voice was fading.

Phantom, can you hear me?

Liam, what have you done?

I have given you most of my energy, so you can escape.

Why?

My energy is fading Phantom. I will no longer be able to talk to you like this - until the next full moon, I will have no powers or abilities. Now go!

I opened my eyes, feeling weirdly replenished and rejuvenated. Heffres looked at me.

"It is just us and the other five left," he remarked. We spread our wings and pushed off, my wing beats slow and steady as we flew to the desert. We were free! But I couldn't help feeling that I had condemned Liam to a fate worse than death, if only for a while.

To be Powerless.

We landed in the sandy gulley an hour before dawn. We had flown a bit further over the desolate desert, cacti the only thing to be seen. Many of the smaller dragon's wings were drooping, unused to flying, the dragons were utterly exhausted.

"Three hours to rest!" I roared out, before joining Heffres at the front. He nodded to me before looking out at the expanse of desert all around us.

"What is Amy like?" He asked. I thought for a moment before replying:

"I have never known her too well but I know she is kind and loyal. My sister, Electra adores her and Amy adores Electra,".

"Does she have a mate?". Heffres enquired, interested.

I snorted with laughter. "Whereas we dragons will choose our mates and be with them for a few hundred years before breeding, humans generally have a very short lifespan so they don't always have a specific mate,".

Heffres stared at me. "You mean they could have three or four mates?".

I bobbed my head. "Yes. Although as a dragon rider, she will live as long as her dragon, Electra so I doubt she will have a normal human mate. However I happen to know that her right hand has a crush on her,".

Heffres nodded. "That makes sense,".

I nodded in agreement as he continued: "So in this Anchemi, what other dragons and riders are in it?"

I paused for thought: "Well, other than Amy and her Plasma Dragon Electra, there is Adam and his Fire Dragon Furnace-"

Heffres hissed in displeasure. "A fire dragon? You never told me there was a fire dragon!"

I looked at him, my anger rising, "Not all fire dragons are like your Dragon King!". I carried on quickly before my rage got out of control. "There is also Barney and his ice dragon Arctic, Cherry and her Earth dragon Cedar and Stephen and his wind dragon Atlas,".

"Ah ok,". And that was that.

Three hours later the sandy desert was slowly transforming into a thick forest. The trees were twisting and snaking upwards, their leaves yellow in the humid atmosphere. We soared on the wind currents, the flock of dragons behind me looking at the forest with great interest.

"I never knew the forest was so big,". A dragon murmured.

We flew slowly, the dragons chattering whilst I scanned the forest. I couldn't remember where the Academy was, and I needed to find a dragon and rider to help us get there. Or even just a dragon. Like that one over there. I squinted, trying to discern the colour of the dragon against the pale pink sky.

"No way,". I breathed. A Plasma Dragon and her rider were on the horizon.