| The light stayed on. Hm. I stepped off and waited for the light to go out. I stepped on it again using only my rear legs. The light stayed off. I dropped to all fours and the light came on. [Zidane, get off it, then walk onto it using your hands as extra support.] � You mean on my hands and knees?� [Yes.] He shrugged and stepped off the switch, got down on all fours, and crawled onto the switch again. It stayed off. � Now what?� [Zidane, how much do you weigh?] � How should I know? I don�t keep track of that kind of stuff!� [Tiovex, how much do you weigh?] [One-thirty d-weight.] [Gelgameth?] [One-twenty-seven d-weight.] I weighed one-ten d-weight, which evened out to eighty-nine human pounds. Tiovex would be one-hundred-nine and Gelgameth one-hundred-six. That wasn�t it then. For a bit I�d wondered if weight had anything to do with it. There must not be enough dragon in him. Zidane sensed our disappointment, mine most of all, and flopped into a sit on the switch. � Sorry, guys.� The switch lit up. � Huh?!� The room was abruptly encased in intense, dazzling white light. I ducked my head under my wing and shut my eyes. When it was over, the lighting was normal and the air was still broken by shots of rainbow. The maze was gone, replaced by a normal floor. [The dark was released,] Tiovex explained. [Swiftwing is now a pit of darkness.] I looked over to Zidane, who had his arms shielding his head as though the roof was going to cave in on him. [Ziaden? Are you all right?] � Yeah, I�m okay. Just freaked out.� [How did the switch come on?] Gelgameth wanted to know. Zidane shrugged. � Beats me. I just sat on the thing.� Sat? How could that be special? The rest of us were standing. . . . His tail . . . [The switch needed proof of his dragon blood,] I thought aloud. [The rest of us had our talons and feet as proof, but because he was wearing clothes it couldn�t read the dragon part of him and ignored him. When he sat down, his tail touched the switch. It read his dragon blood through his tail and activated.] They stared at me. � Well, glad that�s cleared up then.� Zidane hopped onto my back. � Mush!� I lifted into the air, out of the opening in the roof, and landed on the wall around it. The city was cloaked in darkness. [Let�s go.] I followed Tiovex down into the dark. We landed in an alley and peeked out onto the street. Fights had already begun. The dragons had come out of hiding and taken advantage of the dark that hid even those who were yellow and pink. We slid down the streets, finishing battles started by too-weak dragons, dragonlings, and hatchlings. As we travelled down a side street, a gaggle of hatchlings tumbled from a house, running straight to me. They huddled around my legs, cowering away from the pair of black mages that exited after them. Zidane, Tiovex, and Gelgameth took care of them while I made sure the hatchlings didn�t get in any trouble. Zidane returned and the hatchlings crowded around his feet and stared up at him, awe-filled. [Are you a human?] the eldest asked. � . . . Kinda.� [What?] �They can�t understand you. All they know is the dragons� language.� �Like I just know it off the top of my head!� �You should know. I taught you.� [Are you a human?] the hatchling repeated patiently. [ . . . Yeah. A little.] He sat down. [What�s your name?] [Zidane.] [Zi . . . dane? Zidane?] [Right.] [You have a strange name, Zidane,] she said as the other five tried to say his name on their own. [I�m Dili.] [I�m Perion!] piped the second. [My name�s Orec!] [My name�s Ilya!] [I�m Sique!] He looked down at the smallest, which had crawled into his lap, and asked, [What�s your name?] [Vanel,] she answered shyly. He picked her up like she was made of glass. She was so small she fit easily in his hand. If we were in the wild, she�d probably be dead. But luckily she�d been born in Swiftwing with older siblings who obviously cared about her. I had the strangest feeling that she would do great things when she grew up. [Are you going to eat us?] Vanel inquired in her quiet voice. Zidane made a face. [Dragons? Ew! Never! I would never do such a thing! It would be like eating family!] [It would?] He nodded and pointed at me. [See that empress over there?] [Yes.] <--Part 15 Part 17--> |
| The secret is not always as much of a secret as one is made to think. Do not doubt the perception of others. ~Dragon's Teachings, pg. 60 Part 16 |