Defenders of Central City, Book 2: Battle for the Edge

Chapter 4 Dragon Defenses

"Oh no!" Fishlegs exclaimed when he caught up with her. "The Dragon Hunters must have found Dark Deep and captured the Gronckles! Oh no, oh no, oh no." Fishlegs was hyperventilating. "Get a grip, Fishlegs!" Shannon cried. "At least the Hunters didn't get the Prickleboggle and the Quaken." Fishlegs looked at the Quaken and Prickleboggle. The Quaken looked extremely worse for wear and the Prickleboggle was in a cage. "If we can get the Prickleboggle out of this cage he can heal the Quaken." Shannon walked over to the cage to examine the lock and continued. "Unfortunately, I've never seen a lock like this before." Fishlegs sighed. "And you can't pick a lock that you've never seen before." "We should've brought old Sticky Fingers along with us." Fishlegs looked up. "I don't think we need Snart's help. I think I saw Harald's ship following us here. Who knows, maybe he can help us." Harald was the last person Shannon wanted help from. But she didn't have much of a choice.

"Hello there, mate. I'm getting a feel for the water around your Dragon's Edge. I was navigating the shortest path here with the currents, but I appreciate you slowing down on the flight over to give me a sporting chance to keep up." In actuality, Shannon and Fishlegs were goofing around on their flight over. Singing, performing flying spirals. "I know you could have blazed on over here on your fast.... Nightshade, you said it was called? These creatures are pretty convenient." Shannon sighed. "Yeah cool. Okay, here's the thing. There's a dragon locked in a cage and we need your help to get him out." Harald blinked. "A dragon is stuck in a Dragon Hunter cage? Say no more, friend. I've picked up a few useful skills on the seven.." Shannon interrupted him. "Can you free him or not?" Harald sighed. "Yes, I can. Lead the way. I can get the dragon out of that little jam!" Shannon started to walk.

"Shannon. I'd be a fool not to know by now that you don't like me." Shannon looked at him. "Well, I don't hate you. But you're not my favorite person either. It's just.... We've been betrayed before. By someone really close and, well, ever since then I've been cautious around strangers. And I want to trust you, Harald. I really do." Harald nodded. "I understand. You've been burned and ever since then you've been afraid of the flame. But the bravest of souls overcome fear. You strike me as the bravest of them all." Shannon didn't say anything. For they had reached the cage. "Hello, dragon! Don't claw my eyes out, you hear? Harald's going to get you out of that sticky little situation." Harald started to fiddle with the lock. Suddenly, the door swung open. The Prickleboggle walked over to the Quaken and shot its purple healing blast. The Quaken perked up straight away. "I think our Quaken friend is going to just fine, Shannon. We should clear the island of these nasty weapons and traps that the Hunters let behind." "Can you handle the Dragon root arrows. We both know what that stuff does to me." They started to collect all the weapons with Harald helping them.

"The Dragon Hunters bit off more than they could chew with Dark Deep. You think you can trap the Catastrophic Quaken so easily? I wish I could have watched them slink away from the island, tails between their legs!" Shannon looked up. "Easy Fishlegs." "Sorry Shannon, as you know I get a little bit steamed when I think about dragons being mistreated. As much as I'm happy Quakey chased the Dragon Hunters away." Shannon looked around sadly. "Too bad they got the Gronckles. I feel we might be in danger, Fishlegs. I've had this feeling ever since Hobblegrunt Island. If the hunters are expanding their hunting grounds around us, they could be coming for us soon." Fishlegs put his hand on her shoulder. "Let them come. We'll be able to fight them off easy-peasy. Just like all the other times." Shannon smiled. That made her feel a bit better. But she still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. She was understanding how Snart felt when his 'Alexa' feeling was going off.