Dream Saver

NO LONGER WILL BE UPDATED. IF YOU WANT TO READ THE REST, PLEASE CHECK OUT THE STORY ON FANFICTION

~This is a fanfic by Puppy! Please do not use anything on this page without her permission! All characters belong to her unless otherwise stated! Thank you~

• ^ pre-final cover, left to right=DayBreak, Toad, and Deer. Forgot DayBreak’s scale pattern, whoops

~NOTE: there is mentions of blood and death. Quite a bit of it. Light use of Pyrrhian cursing, as well. Please do not read if you are sensitive to those kinds of things. Thank you.~

Intro

Toad has these “dreams” every night, where dragons are dying and they all seem to need her. She’s afraid about screwing everything up— yet is set on helping them. So she takes a journey in her dreams to try to help the dragons. While there, she meets alternative versions of dragons she hasn’t actually met before, even meeting the ladies that used to rule over the land. With the help of a few dragons from that dream world, can she save the dragons in her dreams?

Cast of Characters

POV: Toad, owned by me
Main Characters: DayBreak, owned by LaceyRocks7, Deer, owned by me
Side/Supporting/Background Characters: ”Lady” Diamond, owned by me, !Conjure!, owned by Fawnspotss, Gatekeeper, owned by me, Ray, owned by me, “NightWing Dragoness”, owned by me, Toad’s sibs, all owned by me, “Lady” Kori, owned by me, Puddle, owned by me, Dart, owned by Sab, Anzu, owned by InterGalacticFly, NightWing accused of killing Lady Kori, owned by Pokeballmachine, Kelp, owned by me
Antagonists: Prophetseeker, owned by me, Commander Tropic, owned by me, Pyrope, owned by Delta

You may no longer submit characters into this story.

Prologue

A dark storm raged behind the even angrier NightWing. Each time lightning flashed, his dark silhouette shown far bigger than the dragoness he talked to, nearly black eyes blazing. He could hear the terrified thoughts of the other NightWing, and all the wonderful visions of her demise under his bloodied talons. Such a fate for the stubborn dragon he would much enjoy; too bad she was worth far too much to allow himself to do that.

A SeaWing sat in the corner, pinning down a much smaller NightWing. “Stay still, you brat!” He hissed, although there was no physical reinforcement. 

The dragoness kept turning from the smaller NightWing to the taller one, fear clear in her moon-blue eyes as the rain continued to pelt down on her. “Please…don’t hurt him. Just let Gatekeeper go; he’s done nothing to hurt you. I’m the one you want. I’m the animus who will do as you say. Just leave him be.” 

“Mother!” The young NightWing struggled under the grasp of the SeaWing, but wasn’t able to break loose from the older dragon’s grip. The SeaWing whacked him with his tail in response.

The oldest NightWing barked a laugh, glaring down at everyone else as if they were all just dragonets. A deathly smile crept across his face, seeing and hearing the terrified feelings of everyone around him. “Oh, he hasn’t hurt me, dear.” He said in a semi-mocking tone. “You know better than to assume that could happen. Dragons can’t hurt me, thanks to you. All they can do is get in my way. And, moons, has your son done that. Far too many times.” 

The dragoness stepped back. “We have never done anything wrong to you,” she said levelly. Although he knew that was only a bundle of lies. “Just please let my son go, and I will do what you ask of me.” 

“It’s far too late for that, my dear,” he said, now looking down at his talons with a bored expression. “Ray. Toss the boy into the storm.” He knew exactly what he was doing. He had seen the futures; Gatekeeper survived in them all, sometimes without even a scratch. But of course the dragoness watching didn’t know this. She’d think her precious son was dead. 

The SeaWing nodded. Prophetseeker… I am loyal to you. The NightWing heard the thought loud and clear, and smiled devilishly as Ray tossed the younger NightWing into the storm. Within moments, the NightWing was too far gone to hear what was going to become of his dear mother. 

“You monster!” The dragoness cried, lowering herself closer to the ground.

Prophetseeker grinned. “Why, coming from you, that’s a compliment. It’s not like I try to be nice and friendly.” He lowered himself to the ground, using a talon to tilt the dragoness’s head to meet his eyes. He used his tail to move a crystal close to her. “Enchant this crystal as I had told you before. And then get out of my sight, you insignificant dragoness.” 

Fear was clear in her eyes as she quickly took the crystal and muttered things to it. A moment later, she dropped it and burst open her wings. She started flapping, but Prophetseeker was ready for it. He grabbed part of her snout and dragged her back to the ground. Ray flinched in the corner of his eye. 

“I’m not done with you yet,” Prophetseeker said in a chilling tone. He could hear the fears of her death and rushing memories of her children. And all of it only made him wish he could do it. That he could kill the pathetic dragoness scrambling under his talon, without consequences. No. She was far too expensive for such a cheap want. “Calm down, you idiot. You should know more than anyone that I can’t kill you.” 

This still didn’t calm her. In fact, it might just have made her more terrified. Ray had his head down as he walked over to Prophetseeker. 

“What do you want me to do?” He asked in a grave tone. Why are you doing this..?

 Prophetseeker decided to answer the second question first. “Remember when your dear mate left you? How she left because you were still alive?” He asked. Ray nodded slowly, as if not knowing if he should be responding. “Think of how your precious daughter is lost somewhere. Think of the fact that I know where she is. Think of your family, and how I spared most of their lives.” He looked over at the SeaWing, tall for his tribe but still small compared to the huge NightWing. “Now think of everything I am doing for you. I am going out of my way to insure you stay with me; that you stay alive. Now repay that.”

Ray was silent for a moment, his eyes glossy in the rain as he stared down at the dragoness. “How?”

“By asking her…who she enchanted to watch over dragons in their dreams.” Prophetseeker replied simply. “Everything you can. Every bit of information that lying snout of her’s will tell you. I’m afraid I might kill her if I do it myself—best to kill you instead.” 

Ray nodded. “Yes, Prophetseeker.”

Prophetseeker let go of the dragoness’s snout, instead giving her a sharp stroke across the cheek. He wanted to see more of her blood. He wanted to hear her cries. But he knew he couldn’t. Not until he was done with her. Not until a while from now. Ah well, he thought, walking away with a flick of his tail. Lightning flashed again, making the dragoness flinch. And he heard the beginning of Ray’s interrogation. He stalked away to watch from a distance. 

“Oh, and remember…we don’t want things to get bloody.” Prophetseeker reminded them with a grin.

Chapter 1

Graves. Blood. Tears. Pain. All these things were clear to Toad as the little MudWing ran through the blood-soaked hillside-turned-graveyard, heart pounding as she tried to figure out why she was doing this. Dragons were crying around her, terrified that the dragon chasing her will catch up. She didn’t know who it was. All she knew was that she had to keep running.

And only a moment after that thought came, she nearly tripped over a dismembered tail and paused. Toad felt the cold chill run down her spine as a dark, shadowy figure stopped. He looked high above her, almost five—if not more— times her height. 

Then everything stopped. “Save us, save us.” The surrounding dragons cried. “Help us, help us. Save us from ourselves; help us find peace. Please. Please. Help us, save us…” 

Toad was heartbroken. “I don’t know how to help you!” She said, trying to shake off the feeling of wanting to cry. “How can I help you? Please?”

There wasn’t anymore said. Everything just went black. And then there was light again. The busy sounds of Possibility started becoming clearer and clearer to her. She had woken up. They had made her wake up. 

She rolled over with a groan, turning onto her back as she opened her eyes. All her sibs were here. Ash, Boulder, Darner, Lily, Frog… Each one of them were still here. Toad sighed in relief, though she couldn’t stop her still pounding heart. 

“Are you awake now?” Darner called from the flower-tying spot, glancing back to look at her youngest sister. “We’re losing from you snoozing, you know!” 

Toad nodded, getting up from her spot while trying to shake the dream away. She had long stopped pretending it was no longer just a dream; she had known those were real about a year ago, by now, verging on two. Or maybe it was verging on three…

“I bet you had a nice dream,” Frog said. The slightly taller MudWing bounced over to her, whacking her playfully with his wing as he smiled. “You were all muttering and crying with joy…”

“That…wasn’t joy.” Toad replied in an exhausted tone. If it weren’t for the fact those dragons would be waiting for her as soon as she closed her eyes, she would be going back to sleep right now. “That was absolute terror.”

“Oh. Same thing.” Her brother said in response, walking back over to help Lily with the customer. 

Ash, their BigWings, took a moment to look at her. He was the only one that really knew the full extent of Toad’s dreams; and she hadn’t even meant to tell him. She was glad she had, though. One less dragon she had to keep on lying to. “So it was one of those nights again?” He asked generally. 

“Regretfully.” Toad replied, motioning Darner off the stool for tying the flowers together. Beside it was an unfinished weaving project, something some dragon was going to pay them a lot once it was finished. She had to continue working on that. 

She saw Lily in the corner of her eye tending to a male SkyWing. She could see his light yellow underscales and a tiny sliver of his bright teal eyes. And when Lily asked for the dragon’s name, he replied simply with “Conjure” as Lily wrote it down on a piece of paper. 

Lily then handed it to Boulder, who looked at it and shouted the flower types to Frog. Frog started looking through the patches of flowers Toad and Boulder had organized together and picked out the ones, then handed them to Toad. She tied them together with a light brown string, then handed it back to Boulder. Boulder handed it to Lily, and she gave it to the customer. The customer sat the change on the counter, and disappeared once more into the streets of Possibility. Darner went and took the money, then stalked back over to Ash to count it all. 

This pattern kept on repeating for hours. Toad just enjoyed the bustling sounds of the town around them as she worked, weaving together flowers for the wreath while waiting for flowers to be given to her to tie. She hummed along to it, smiling as she worked and the thought of the bloody ground beneath her faded. 

I am safe here. There’s nothing to worry about here, in the real world, with my sibs… She thought, piecing one of the last flowers onto the wreath. And the second she was done, Darner snatched it out of her talons and grinned. 

“Break time!” The third-oldest announced as Lily flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED.

Toad got up from her spot, and started towards the bustling streets of Possibility. She was just planning to go to that little food stall across the street and get them all some drinks— assuming she didn’t get stepped on because of her tiny size. The sound of a dragon brushing beside her made her stop, realizing it was Ash.

“I’ll come with you,” he offered, putting one of his large wings over her. Ash looked over at Boulder, and instructed “Start helping Lily clean up; and make sure Darner has everything we earned today.” Boulder nodded, and it sounded like he bounded off to do as their BigWings had asked.

Toad nodded, grateful for the bigger dragonet’s comforting touch. She stayed close beside him as they walked across the streets, pushing their way along with the much older SkyWings and SandWings. 

“Are you sure everything is alright?” Ash asked, once they were out of earshot of their siblings. “I watched you— and it took me everything I had not to wake you up. I can tell things are getting worse in there; don’t lie to me. I want the truth.”

“You already know the truth.” Toad replied in a simpler tone as she leaned closer to her brother. “Dragons are dying, and need my help…but I’m too afraid to do anything about it. They need me— but instead I’m here cowering in fear like they are. I’m the worst hero ever.”

“Oh, so they aren’t scaring you?” Ash said in an almost accusing tone, making her flinch a bit. “I know it’s getting worse, Toad. Now tell me it all. I’m your BigWings; it’s my job. Soon enough, the others are going to find out, too. And I can’t cover for you forever.”

Toad didn’t want to admit he was correct. “I… Yes. You’re right. I can barely sleep now, knowing they’ll be right there, waiting for me… But I don’t know how to help them. I really—“

The ground shifted underneath her. For a moment, she saw the bloody ground of her dream. For a second, she heard the terrified scream crying out her name, begging her to help them. And for the first time she was awake, she saw the world that needed her help. 

She could no longer feel Ash beside her. And she could only hope she could hear him. “Ash…take me back to the others, please. I… I’m seeing things…”

Chapter 2

Toad knew she was fully in the world of her dreams when she couldn’t feel anything else around her, and she couldn’t hear the sound of Possibility. She could only hope Ash had brought her back to the others, preferably setting her down in their mound and wrapping her in a blanket. She started humming to herself, quietly, silently, imitating the nighttime sounds of Possibility. 

“Hello?” A tiny voice whispered. Toad perked up, and tried to look at the direction of the sound. 

“Yes?” She replied, hoping the speaker will show up. Her heart began racing once more, if not for the fact someone had said something that wasn’t “help us; save us.” 

A SkyWing, definitely older than her, appeared from no where. At least, Toad thought she was a SkyWing. Her main scales were light sunset orange, with ripples of pink throughout her entire body— like waves. Some of her scales were pink-ish purple, glittering in the dim light, and her underbelly was blue-gray. It wasn’t until a bit closer inspection that Toad realized she may not be a normal SkyWing. 

“Hello.” The probably-not-actually-SkyWing said casually. 

“Uh…hello.” Toad replied. 

“Are you here to save us?” The SkyWing asked. 

Toad didn’t quite know how to answer that. “I don’t know. One second I was with my BigWings and now I’m here.” She paused, figuring it was as good as a time as any to ask. “How can I help you?” 

She was a bit surprised when the dragon actually replied in something that wasn’t a cry for help. “Why, you can help us by helping us! You visit here every night— I thought you would’ve already known that.”

Why wasn’t I told this before..? Toad wondered, actually getting a bit annoyed. “Oh! Okay! What do I need to do first?”

“Visit Lady Diamond,” the SkyWing said. “I’m part of Her Greatness’s council, you know! I’m DayBreak, by the way.” 

“Toad,” the MudWing replied, although she didn’t know if the SkyWing already knew. “Uh… Can you help me find, uh, Lady Diamond?” 

“Of course, silly!” DayBreak said, turning on her heel and smiling. “Follow me, Toad.” She said the name as if testing it out; seeing if it was worthy as the name of their hopefully savior. And with a curt flick of her tail, DayBreak started towards the bushes once more, Toad almost tumbling to keep up with the bigger dragon.

Toad tried to calm herself a bit more as they walked. She passed dead bushes, dismembered dragons, and blood-soaked streets as she mimicked those of Possibility. She tried to imagine there being a bustling town around her, instead of this forced scene of death and tears. She couldn’t understand how DayBreak seemed to be completely fine with everything around her— or maybe the dragons here were used to it by now. The thought didn’t make Toad feel any better. 

She had started imitating a fight she had heard between to dragons when she was working; quiet accusations and cries of pain included. She even voiced when an old, elderly SkyWing came and whacked them both, and their grunts as they disbanded. Then she started fading back in to that busy sound of Possibility.

“What are you doing?” DayBreak asked, tilting her head although she wasn’t facing the MudWing. 

“Humming,” Toad replied simply. 

DayBreak didn’t seem all that satisfied. “If I might ask: why?”

“It, um, calms me.” Toad answered. She never really had to explain why she was calmed by quite hums; all of her sibs had always just went with it. She never even really thought why it calmed her to begin with. “Because I am actually pretty scared right now.” With a look around the unchanging scenery of death, she knew that that feeling won’t change anytime soon. 

“Don’t be!” DayBreak replied. “You’re the one who’ll save us! Of course you can’t be scared! Scared is an emotion that shouldn’t exist for you! The worst that can happen is that you’ll get killed and we’ll have to find someone else. Actually, the Lady would be quite disappointed if you didn’t turn out to be the one we needed.” 

Am I…disposable to them? Toad wondered, reflecting DayBreak’s words in her mind. I’ll die, someone else will help… It certainly sounds like I’m disposable. But I’m not disposable, am I..? “How much longer until we get to Lady Diamond?”

“Oh, it’s a long way’s away.” DayBreak said casually and simply, shrugging as she walked. “It’s gonna take a day, at least. On foot, anyways. We could get there sooner flying, but…there’s dangers up there.”

Toad looked up at the sky. “What…kind of dangers?” She asked, wondering how much she’d regret it. 

“He has these…things…up there.” The older dragon answered. “And they’re made to kill. They…they killed my sister a long time ago. Some say they killed Lady Kori, too, but Lady Diamond says that’s not true. Only way to travel here is on foot, or underground.” She paused. “And no where’s safe— no one is safe. Not until this all ends.” 

That’s wonderful, with every step Toad took, her mind whispered a darker thought to her. And with every step she took, she felt like more and more pressure was being set on her. She wasn’t the one to dump everything on—she wasn’t the oldest. If only Ash were here. He’d know what to do. And he’d do it. If not only for her. “So who’s this…Lady Kori?” 

“You don’t KNOW?!?!” DayBreak acted like Toad had asked her something dumb. “Lady Kori is only, like, Lady Diamond’s one true love and literally the role model for us all! Although she disappeared soon before he took over everything. No one’s seen or heard of her since. Lady Diamond fears the worst; and is making everyone work ten times as hard to make sure she’s found.”

Toad thought for a moment. “When was she last seen?”

DayBreak seemed to mentally count some numbers. “About ten years, by now. Just about as long as I’ve been alive.” She paused. “Too bad my sister didn’t make it this long.”

Toad walked up, and nudged the SkyWing. “I can’t imagine what that’s like,” she said. “I have siblings, too, but… I’ve never been away from them for more than half a day. I don’t know what I’d do if one of them left me forever.” What would they do if I left them forever..? She wondered for a moment.

The much larger dragon wiped a single tear that began to form under her eye, and nodded. “Maybe we can rest up? Then later we can try to get as far as we possibly can until we can’t possibly walk any further.”

Toad nodded, firmly plopping down on the ground. She avoided the bloodied parts of the ground, but it was a little hard to do, and she wished the ground was muddier, but decided she had to go with what she has. She closed her eyes for a minute, and thought that she could see her sibs all in the mud mound around her for a second. 

Chapter 3

Then, when it all went black again, she heard voices.

“…who do we have to thank for helping us?” It was Ash; Toad knew the sound of her BigWing’s voice anywhere, although she didn’t know who he was talking to.

“Oh, yes, names,” another, new voice said. “I’m Deer. And it’s completely alright; I’m the head healer in my home town.” Their voice was gentle and soft, and their tone was comforting, whoever they truly were. “Now. Tell me what happened, maybe I can help.”

“I don’t know about that…” Ash replied, most likely knowing where Toad was right now. 

There was a bit of silence, and Toad opened her eyes to see DayBreak standing right in front of her.

“Toad.” The SkyWing said, poking the little MudWing. “Come on. Lady Diamond is very impatient. She’d hate for our rescuer to come, only to be delayed coming.”

Toad nodded, only pausing one moment when she thought she heard something.

“Don’t worry; you’ll be safe.” 

“D-did you hear that?” Toad asked.

“Hear what?” DayBreak returned, tilting her head as she began walking again. “You are the weirdest little savior.” She added with a shrug.

Toad all but tumbled over herself to keep up with DayBreak, wishing fate had paired her with dragons closer to her age. Or that the older dragon would be a bit slower to match her pace. Either one would be a nice option right now.

They walked in silence, for the most part. Toad couldn’t think of any more questions to ask DayBreak, and DayBreak seemed to be fine with staying quiet. She tried to ignore her surroundings, and started to wonder if she’d annoy the SkyWing if she started to hum again. So the little MudWing started humming anyway, chilled by the complete silence that surrounded them. 

And slowly, the scenery began to change. Kind of. Vegetation seemed to pop up more frequently, and less blood and limp bodies were scattered across the ground. She started to hear wingbeats, symbolizing a large collection of dragons up ahead. A path formed in front of her. Toad started hoping that they were almost to Lady Diamond. 

“Oh, we aren’t there yet,” DayBreak said, as if reading her thoughts. “This is just a base camp. We’ve still got half a day’s of walking left until we reach Lady Diamond.”

“Oh…” Toad replied, unable to hide her disappointment. 

As they continued walking, it got more obvious that what DayBreak had said was true. A big clearing came into view, showing tents and dragons. Lamps and campfires lit the area, almost like it bordered the camp from the rest of the near-barren landscape. Most of the dragons there seemed to be MudWings or, oddly, RainWings; given the fact they were all brown, yet some were smaller and built differently from the rest. And every dragon seemed to be doing something important.

A tall MudWing stood at the entrance. Toad had to think about where she had seen that face, those scales…it looked so familiar, yet someone completely new. And then she saw it. The face of her youngest brother.

“Frog?!?” Toad asked, realizing how dumb she sounded. There was no way this wasn’t him— well, this world’s version of him, anyway. Yes, scars decorated his body and he was much, much taller than her, even taller than DayBreak, but there was parts to the MudWing that made him undeniably Frog.

The MudWing just down at her, then glanced at DayBreak. “What did you bring with you now?” He asked the SkyWing, completely ignoring the littler dragon.

“This is Toad,” DayBreak explained, rolling her eyes as if it was obvious. “You know. The girl who’s gonna save us.” 

“Toad.” The MudWing repeated. “Toad.” 

“Um…yes?” Toad replied, not quite sure what she should say. 

The MudWing seemed to have acted like he’d seen a ghost— or was just reminded of a violent memory. “But you’re dead.” He said. “You should be dead right now. Are the rest of them alive, too? Lily? Ash? Boulder?”

Now Toad really didn’t know how to reply to him. Obviously this was her brother. An odd, mixed up backwards version of her brother, but her brother nonetheless. “Is Darner alive in this world, then?” She couldn’t help but ask, remembering her oldest sister. 

“Never heard of her,” Frog replied. “Dunno who you’re talking about. My only sibs were you, Ash, Boulder, and Lily. And you all died ten years ago. Me, the BigWings, let everyone die in my arms…”

“BigWings?” Toad repeated, confused on this world’s logic. “But… Ash is our BigWings.”

Frog smiled weakly, gesturing for the two of them to come inside. He called for someone named Puddle to guard, before sitting by one of the campfires and nodded for the two others to sit down. 

“We don’t have time for this,” DayBreak muttered. “Lady Diamond’s gonna kill me if she finds out we have our savior and we didn’t go straight to her.”

“Oh, go slap a dagger in it.” Frog said bitterly. “Lady Diamond can deal with it; this is family matters.” DayBreak seemed to want to protest, but sat down anyway. Frog then looked at Toad, a terrible memory flashing through his eyes. “Toad, dying must’ve messed you up big time. I’m your BigWings. Ash is the younger brother, Boulder is the second oldest, Lily’s the middle sister, and you’re the youngest.”

Toad didn’t understand the logic of this place. Everything was the same, yet different. Yes, Boulder is the second oldest, and Lily sort of is the middle sister, and Toad’s the youngest but… Frog and Ash had switched places. Frog is supposed to be the youngest brother. Ash is supposed to be the BigWings. She had to explain things to him— tell him she isn’t part of his world, whatever that world is. 

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Toad admitted. “I’m not your Toad. Well, I’m not the Toad from this world. I come from another one— I’m technically asleep right now.” She didn’t know how to explain this to him, but she wished she could and he’d understand. “I’m sorry for what happened to you. But I’m not your sister. I mean, I am, but…not this version of me— not this version of you. If any of that makes sense.”

Frog seemed devastated. “That makes sense why you’re still so tiny, then…” He nodded, as if trying to tell himself something. “Go. Find Lady Diamond. Put my sibs to rest. Make sure all the lives lost here were not in vain. Save us. You’re our only hope.” 

Toad nodded, wanting to badly to hug her not-brother. Instead, she got up and looked at him one last time, seeing the innocent face of her brother. “I’m sorry. I’ll make things right. I’ll make you proud of me. All of you proud of me.” Then she looked over at DayBreak, who seemed to be quite pleased this conversation was ending. “Come on, let’s go see Lady Diamond.”

(I swear, I plan on explaining the logic of this place. Just not now. And yes, it does have logic.)

Chapter 4

The two of them walked in near-silence for the rest of the day; the only sound being Toad’s hums. They only stopped once or twice to hunt or get some water— not like any of those things were very plentiful here. 

A path became wider and more like those of Possibility as they continued on. The sound of wingbeats from the camp had faded a while ago, but birds began daring to speak to fill in its place. A few homes built out of sticks and mud began dotting the landscape, and in the distance she could see the silhouette of a wall that seemed to stretch on for miles in either direction, aided by the rising sun behind it. 

“Here we are,” DayBreak said before they were even really that close. “The one safe spot left. This is where we’ll find Lady Diamond.” 

The one safe spot left? Toad thought, wondering what that meant. Was this the only place where “he” couldn’t get to them? It certainly didn’t seem like it as hidden very well; it all but stood out, actually, given it’s size in such a barren area. 

As they neared the fortress-looking walls, Toad could hear fighting. 

“You DARE say such things to your COMMANDER?” One of the voices roared.

Toad heard a loud hmph and the sound of a dragon flicking their tail against the wall. “Well, what good are you really doing? Guarding does nothing when there’s no one here to guard. Lady Diamond has made it clear that any male dragons should go out and help. You aren’t helping. You’re guarding. Like a weak scavenger.” The voice sounded familiar, but Toad couldn’t figure out from where. It was soft; gentle. Obviously annoyed, but the normal nature of their voice was still clear.

DayBreak rolled her eyes and bounded over to the noise. Toad was there moments later, thankful it didn’t take her longer despite seeming to be the tiniest dragon she knew.

“Oh, it’s you.” The first voice, another SkyWing, growled when he saw DayBreak. He was really, really tall, making Toad feel like she was just a bug compared to him. His scales were crimson and shiny-looking, with blood red underscales that had blotches of red-pink. 

“Nice to see you too, Dart.” DayBreak returned coolly, although there was a bitter edge to her words. She turned to the other dragon. “Hello, Deer.”

Deer, Toad thought, realizing why the voice was familiar. She turned to study the dragon. 

Deer was a lot shorter than Dart, but taller than DayBreak. And Toad couldn’t figure out what tribe she was from, either. Her snout was similar to Toad’s; flat headed with the nostrils on the top of the snout. And the scales on her head and ran down her back were light brown. But her main scales were sky blue, turquoise, and darker sky blue that striped her entire body, and the colors shifted faintly the more Toad looked at them. Toad made her last note how she had frills behind her ears, much like a RainWing’s. 

“Ah, DayBreak,” Deer said after noticing them. Her scales seemed to disperse more, turning into faded blotches instead of clear stripes. She looked at Toad, something close to realization showing in her eyes. “And look who you brought with you! Lady Diamond would be pleased, I know it.”

“Are you just going to IGNORE ME?” Dart shouted, although he didn’t wait for a reply. He opened the gate and stalked out of sight, not closing the gate behind him. 

DayBreak nodded to Deer. “What’s up with him?” She asked as she began walking through the other side of the gate.

Deer motioned for Toad to go first, so the little MudWing did. She heard the door close behind her, meaning Deer must’ve shut it.

“Oh, I just called him a scavenger.” Deer replied casually, moving closer to Toad so then it almost looked like she was guarding her. It reminded her of Ash. Moons, he must be so worried right now. 

DayBreak bounced around the whole town, greeting everyone she saw in an optimistic tone. Some greeted her back; others just completely ignored her altogether. 

The inside of the walls seemed to be nothing more than the town. Small carts full of random items lined the dirt roads, patterned in such a way that a dragon could circle around any given one. There were a few covered areas that emitted a warm glow from whatever was inside it, which Toad assumed were some of the houses. There was a busy bustle to the town, reminding her of Possibility and making her oddly comfortable here. 

And right in what Toad assumed was the center of the town, stood something close to a palace. Four towers stood out from any corner, although one of the front ones were crumbled down to half the size of the others. A large balcony sat up on top to watch over the town, right above the wooden entrance that was marked by designs of dancing dragons. Everyone stopped in front of it. 

“Now, Toad,” DayBreak began. Deer seemed to perk up further Toad’s name, as if she knew it was special. “I’ll tell you what you need to do around Lady Diamond: do whatever she tells you do. Otherwise, you’re dead. Literally.”

Toad nodded, forcing herself not to think about it too much. She hoped that she couldn’t actually die here; that she’d just wake up back in the real world. But knowing this place, she feared being wrong. 

Deer nudged Toad forward. “Don’t worry; you’ll be safe.” She whispered. Toad looked up at her. The older dragon nodded. It still didn’t make any sense, though, as DayBreak opened the door and called for a servant to call for Lady Diamond. 

Chapter 5

A scrawny RainWing appeared from a tinier, less fancy door, grumbling. His scales were blue-gray, with blueish-orange stripes. “Lady Diamond awaits.” He growled, then sulked off back in the direction he came in. 

DayBreak took the lead, walking down the hall until they all stood in front of a huge door. She brushed off her scales, held her head high, and seem to try to make herself look as elegant as possible as she opened the door. “Lady Diamond,” she called. “Our savior has arrived.”

Toad walked in. She never thought she’d see such a busy scene, and definitely hadn’t been expecting it. Dragons raced from one side of the room to the other while others started cleaning up whatever fell on the glittering floor. The only objects in the room were a throne, being occupied by a light pink, blue, and yellow IceWing stretched across it,  and a painting easel with an odd-looking dragon standing in front of it. 

“Oh, make sure you get my good side, Anzu,” the IceWing said.

“But Lady Diamond…” The artist said in a tired tone. He almost looked like a RainWing, but there was something different to him. It looked like he had…feathers? His main color was green, with a frill made of gray feathers. She couldn’t really see his underbelly from here, since his back was facing her, but could see his tail was feathery as well, and that he was using it as a paint brush. 

“OH SHUT AN ICICLE IN IT.” The IceWing—Lady Diamond?— yelled, but not particularly at the feathered RainWing. 

“I told you, I didn’t kidnap Lady Kori!” This brought a NightWing to Toad’s attention. His main scales were black, with a silver underbelly. Almost every other pattern he had was light gray. “If I had, do you think I’d still be here? That’s treason!”

“That’s exactly why I’m accusing YOU of doing it!” The IceWing shouted back. “YOU SHOULD DIE FOR KILLING MY SOULMATE! YOU DON’T EVEN DESERVE TO BE IN THIS ROOM!” She roared, almost falling out of her throne since she was so close to the edge.

“Lady Diamond, please hold still…” The artist said quietly. “I cannot paint your portrait if you don’t stay in one place.”

“WELL HOW ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO GET MY REVENGE???” Toad was surprised when it was confirmed this was Lady Diamond. She was so…nothing a ruler should be. Maybe Toad was just spoiled with Ash being her BigWings. But this didn’t seem like how a ruler should act around her subjects. 

“By finding out who actually did it,” the NightWing replied simply. “And it was not me. I gave being evil up years ago, Lady Diamond; you know that. Lady Kori wouldn’t like you assuming such things of me due to my past.”

“IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU, KORI WOULD STILL BE HERE!” Lady Diamond roared. “TAKE HIM AWAY.” She commanded. A few dragons nodded, and guided the NightWing away.

“You won’t kill me!” He protested as they dragged him off. “You can’t kill me! You’re afraid to! If you kill me, you think that you’ll never see your precious soulmate again! I know you! You don’t hurt a fly now that she’s gone. YOUR LOSS HAS MADE YOU WEAK.”

Toad was only half-listening now, lost at the idea of all the horrible things the NightWing had just said. What would happen if I mess up, but I’m still alive? She thought, staring down at her talons. Will Lady Diamond just kill me? If I die here…what’ll happen to me in the real world?

 Lady Diamond whipped her head around to face the newcomers now, burning hate shown through her eyes. Her tail flicked as she set her eyes on DayBreak. “Why, DayBreak. What took you so long? Did you find our savior?” She looked around at the three dragons who entered; DayBreak, Deer, and Toad. Out of all of them, she seemed to overlook Toad the most. “I don’t see any strong heroes, you know.” She tapped a claw on the throne with irritation, her frown growing as she looked over the group again and again. 

“Yes, I did,” DayBreak said, bowing. When she was done from her bow, she gestured a wing over to Toad. “This is Toad—the dragonet who has come here every night, remember? She’s our savior. She has to be. No one else has been here outside of him.” 

“But that weak little thing’s a MudWing,” Lady Diamond groaned. “I’m sure it couldn’t even hold my crown.”

“To be fair, Lady Diamond,” the artist piped in. “Your crown is very heavy.”

“NO ONE ASKED YOU, ANZU.” Lady Diamond barked, giving a deathly stare at the feathered RainWing before looking back at Toad. “Not to mention…it’s very tiny. How old are you again—Toad?”

Toad was starting to feel mildly offended by this conversation. First, how she was overlooked. Second, how she was treated as an “it.” And third, what was wrong with MudWings? “Um…I’m almost three.” 

“THREE???” Lady Diamond shouted. “I was three when I took this throne! This MudWing looks like it hasn’t even grown an inch since it hatched!”

That statement was only getting truer as Toad sunk at every work Lady Diamond said. Was there a way she could just bypass this step and move on to the next? Or for someone else to talk to Lady Diamond for her? And she didn’t realize how close she was to Deer until she bumped into the older dragon. 

“Lady Diamond,” Deer said calmly. “Please; I think you’re scaring the girl. And she isn’t an it, she’s Toad. And she’s herself.” She glanced down at the MudWing, who had decided to take Deer as her BigWings substitute for right now. “There’s advantages to this. Even you, the almighty Lady Diamond, didn’t think to notice a little dragonet. Neither would he. Think about it.”

Lady Diamond seemed to ponder this, smiling. “Well, I am amazing. Although I knew all along that this little MudWing was the savior, I was just testing her.” That was the tone of a dragon who’s only goal was to make herself sound better. Toad hated that tone. It belonged only to the dragons who ignored everyone else, despite how “good” they were. The dragons only there to make friends and boost their ego, instead of help like they should be. “Obviously, silly Deer, I’m not dumb.”

“Quite frankly I think you are.” Deer muttered, and Toad was just barely able to hear it. She had to admit, she wished she had the nerve to say that in front of the IceWing, instead of hearing it whispered by somebody else.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!” Lady Diamond roared, almost falling out of her throne again. “YOUR MOUTH MOVED BUT I DIDN’T HEAR YOU SAY ANYTHING! WHAT TREASONOUS THINGS WERE YOU MUTTERING ABOUT ME???” 

“That you have insecurity issues since Lady Kori left and you’re too much of a coward to get her back,” Deer examined her talons with a grin. DayBreak looked at her and Toad, gaping.

“What in the moons do you think you’re doing?” She said. 

Chapter 6

(Oh, yes, possibly a bit more violent in this chapter. Whoops, that’s what you get for annoying Diamond)

“Annoying Lady I’m-A-Bad-Leader.” Deer replied in a simple tone. Toad didn’t know if she wanted to agree with her or DayBreak. But it had gone too far to be ignored by the IceWing watching them. 

Lady Diamond slithered off her throne, hissing, knocking over the painter’s easel with her tail. She didn’t seem to notice. Although the painter looked very disappointed before he walked away.

“How dare you,” the IceWing hissed. “HOW DARE YOU!” She roared. Toad wished she could be like everyone around them and just slink away into the background, but she couldn’t. Not without running into someone that would most likely stop her. 

“Lady Diamond I’m sure she didn’t mean—“ DayBreak began quickly.

“SHUT UP.” Lady Diamond yelled, glaring at DayBreak before the SkyWing whimpered and fled the scene. She was still there, though, watching what would unfold; Toad saw her under one of the catering tables.

“Lady D,” Deer said coolly. “Or— I guess it’s just Diamond, huh?” 

“SHUT YOUR MOON-FORSAKING, TREASONOUS-SPEAKING SNOUT THIS INSTANT.” Lady Diamond shouted. “YOU DIRTY, LYING EXCUSE OF A PURE-BLOODED DRAGON!” 

“IceWings,” Deer remarked. “Always thinking their better only because they’re ‘pure-blooded.’ Lady Kori is a hybrid, too, you know.”

Toad was confused. Is Deer a hybrid? She looked over the only semi-MudWing-looking dragon. She did have those changing scales, so it would make sense. I’ve never seen a hybrid before…at least, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hybrid before. Possibility only had SkyWings, SandWings, and a bit of MudWings, after all; sided with Queen Scarlet and Queen Burn. Queen Burn hated hybrids, so it was usually thought of as a death wish— at least in Toad’s view of it.

Lady Diamond froze. “Kori is…she’s different.”

“But she lies to keep her name hybrid-free,” Deer pointed out. “She claims to be full-IceWing. But she’s got SeaWing blood, too.” 

“She…she…” The bigger dragon seemed to be at loss for words. Until rage burned in her eyes once more. “TREASON! GET THIS STUPID HYBRID OUT OF MY SIGHT!” She growled, flicking her tail as she whipped back around to face her throne. 

“Lady Diamond, think for a moment.” There was a new voice now. A mint-green dragon appeared from behind the throne. His eyes glowed eerily, and his wings were shaped like leaves. He almost looked like a SeaWing…but looked different, too; apart of some tribe Toad has never seen before. Was he another hybrid? 

“Get out of my sight, Kelp.” Lady Diamond commanded, but still the dragon did not move. “I SAID GET OUT OF MY SIGHT YOU USELESS DRAGONET!”

“Quick to anger, fall too short, my lady. Harm these dragons, and death shall come to this world.” The dragon—Kelp, possibly?— said. 

“I don’t CARE about this world,” Lady Diamond barked, swerving around to face the dragon. And with a blink, she was right beside him, holding him up by his neck. He wiggled in her grasp. Toad gulped, not wanting to see what might happen next. “I CARE ABOUT MY WIFE!!!!!!” 

“Then…you will…fall…unlike the…resilient…and…and the brave…” Toad was sure he was looking at her when he said that, choking on every word. 

“SO BE IT!” The IceWing threw the other dragon across the room. Toad didn’t want to know if he was still alive— she feared her own life just for being near Lady Diamond. She snuggled closer to Deer, whimpering. 

DayBreak appeared from behind the table. Toad could tell she tried not to flinch when Lady Diamond’s eyes rested on her. “Have you given up to him, Lady Diamond..?” She asked. “Do you not care about your people? Of us? Those of your loyal subjects who died just to try to stop this? Do our lives not matter to you? Are we all objects for you to use as you see fit? Are we only here to be thrown away like garbage..?” Tears began to form under her eyes, a few of them already halfway down her cheek by now. “What about my sister; my twin? What about Frog’s siblings? Have you ever counted all the lives that were lost under your guidance? Have you ever began to consider what it’s like for us, the ones who have lost someone too? Lady Kori could still be alive. The rest of us had to watch our friends and family die in our arms. You still have a chance to be happy…the rest of us need to deal with the memory of losing everything…”

Lady Diamond growled, but stalked back up to her throne. She waved a talon at them. “Why must my council be made up of defiant hybrids..? Fine. You may go. You”— she looked at Toad with a cold glare— “must find a stone. A special stone.”

A small movement came from the corner where Lady Diamond threw the odd-looking SeaWing. “Find the lost stone…place it in it’s resting place— the center of his fortress. And then, we shall be free…and you shall wake up.”

“Yes, yes, what Kelp said.” Lady Diamond said with an eye roll. 

Toad nodded, looking over at DayBreak. The SkyWing nodded and bounded over to them, and they all turned around. 

“Oh, and do try to hurry,” Lady Diamond said behind them. “No pressure or anything.” 

And then they walked out, DayBreak leading the way with Toad still closely next to Deer.

Chapter 7

A lot of their trip back outside was nothing but silence, at least from the three of them. Around them was a different story. It seemed like almost every dragon in the town had heard Lady Diamond’s yelling—which didn’t really surprise Toad—and they all seemed to be looking at them as if they were some kind of problem. Although some looked at them like they were a hero—like Toad was a hero. 

Once again, she couldn’t stop the creeping sense that she was going to mess everything up from coming into her mind. Everything she had seen so far came back to her. DayBreak all but saying she was disposable—whether she meant it as such or not— Lady Diamond taking that NightWing away to moons knows where, when Lady Diamond threw that hybrid across the room. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking of being that dragon. That dragon sent away to be killed. That dragon tossed across the room for being useless. That dragon no one cared about at the end, pretending to have never cared from the start…

Letting everyone down. Failing. Only gaining their disapproval as she finds out what happens to dragons when they die. 

Deer bumped the little MudWing. “It’s alright,” she said. Toad didn’t know if she was starting to sense her distress or noticed that her pace was slowing down. “Everything’s gonna be fine. I swear I can explain everything later.” 

“I doubt you can explain anything,” DayBreak remarked casually from ahead of them. She glanced back over at them. “You're not part of Lady Diamond’s council, after all.” She paused. “Not to mention, anyone with a functioning brain knows not to pester Lady Diamond.”

“She deserved it,” Deer replied with a shrug. “Can’t a gal just be honest every once and a while?”

There was a long pause, until they reached the gates of the town. Dart had come back to guard again, and sat firmly at the entrance, only nodding at them as they passed. 

And then they walked a bit further from the entrance, and DayBreak started leading them off the path a bit. “Okay, but…how do you know? About her nickname? What Lady Kori calls her? It’s…it’s been years since that name was said. And even I didn’t know it until recently.”

Deer seemed to hesitate for an answer. Or maybe Toad was just imagining things as she listened to their conversation. “I dunno. Lucky guess? Not like Lady Kori’d call her anything else.”

“You could’ve gotten yourself killed,” DayBreak said. “You could’ve gotten us all killed! Moons knows if Kelp is still alive! His flimsy little body can’t even stand falling from the top of a throne! Not to mention being slammed into the side of the wall by a full-grown dragon.”

“He’ll live,” Deer said with confidence. “In some place or another.”

DayBreak groaned. “You know what I’m just now starting to notice about you?” The SkyWing didn’t wait for a reply. “That you’re freaking annoying and stupid.” 

Deer only shrugged. “That’s what you think.”

And then the three of them fell back into silence. Toad assumed DayBreak knew where she was headed, so she continued to follow her through the silence—staying close to Deer for some reason. Then something odd happened. Someone was humming. And it wasn’t Toad. 

She looked over at Deer. The older dragon smiled, and stopped walking. She stretched out a wing in Toad’s direction. “Want a ride?”

Toad didn’t know if she wanted to accept, or question her. But…it was an interesting thought. She was never really friends with anyone older than her to ride on—the biggest dragon she really knew was Ash, after all. After a moment, she nodded. Deer gestured for her to climb up, and the little MudWing did; barely taking up as much room as the pouch tied to Deer’s side.

DayBreak looked back at them, and rolled her eyes. “Really? Bonding? This is important work. And you’re bonding.”

“When else are we gonna do it?” Deer asked, grinning. She glanced over at Toad with the best of her abilities. “Hold on to my pouch, so you don’t fall off. This way, we can travel more ground—since you’re up there instead of trying to catch up to us.” 

Toad nodded, wrapping a talon around each piece of fabric that made up Deer’s pouch. She was able to see more from up here, although she felt disappointed when the forms of dragon parts scattered across the distance. She couldn’t understand how these dragons lived like this—she could barely stand a night here. And yet…they were completely used to it. She watched as DayBreak led the way, Deer close behind her now that Toad was on her back. She listened to their conversation, which turned into a reminiscing about calm times. Deer informed them on things that happened before Lady Kori’s disappearance, before Toad started to doze off on her shoulder.

“Strong little soldier, please don’t cry,” Deer began to sing in a sweet, melodious tone. “Although you’re scared and wondering why, remember the strong never really die; with a heart strong and true that never lies…”

Toad couldn’t hear the rest, before sleepily securing her grip in Deer before falling asleep.

(Uuuuh, that lullaby is this weird parody to another one...I think. At least in the tune of one.)

Chapter 8

Toad missed how close she was to Possibility, apparently closer to reality in her sleep in this messed up dream world. She could just barely hear Darner yelling at the rest of them to get to work, and that “Toad wouldn’t be happy if you slacked off, now would she?”

“That’s what you want, not her!” The voice was obviously Frog’s, although Toad saw nothing but black.  “I hate this. Darner, I’m hating you right now. You’re acting like Toad doesn’t even exist now!”

“I’m just trying to make sure everyone knows what’s important,” Darner’s confident voice said. “For all we know, she’s dead or gonna die.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” now this was Ash. “We don’t know that. Stop being so negative, sis. Toad’s gonna be fine.”

“She has to be.” Lily’s voice piped in. 

The only voice Toad didn’t hear in this conversation was Boulder’s. But she knew he was there, giving his sibs silent comfort. He may be an idiot sometimes—but he was their idiot. She couldn’t think of him any other way. 

“Alright, are we all done now?” It was Darner again. “Because there’s work to be done, and it isn’t being done here.”

There seemed to be a moment of reluctant nods, because there was only silence for a while. “No.” Frog’s voice said. Toad thought she felt something beside her—a dragon sitting close to her. “I’m staying with Toad. And if you don’t like that, Bossy, than I don’t care.”

And then the final noise she heard was a snort, most likely from Darner. Then the dream world started making itself more apparent as her eyes fluttered open and closed a few times before finally deciding she had to wake up. 

She looked around. She was no longer on Deer, but instead facing a small campfire. She scooted away from it a bit before noticing Deer on the other end; she seemed lost in thought, the light golden glow from the flames lighting up her worried face. DayBreak wasn’t here. And it was far too dark to see anything around them outside of the fire’s light. 

“Where’s DayBreak?” Toad asked sleepily.

Deer looked up at her. “You’re awake now,” she observed. There was a moment’s pause before she answered her question, though. “DayBreak went out to some nearby lookout to get us something to eat—she took a torch with her, though. Not to mention she’s the only one out of the three of us who can breathe fire.”

“I can breathe fire,” Toad pointed out. “All MudWings can.”

“But you were asleep,” Deer remarked. “And, quite frankly, you looked like you were either terrified or having the best dream of your life.”

Toad shrugged. She wasn’t quite intent on sharing what her siblings were doing in the real world. It would only make her wish she was there with them more, and that she wasn’t worrying them.

“And know what? It’s a good thing you woke up before DayBreak got back,” Deer said. Toad looked at her, confused. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something that might help you help these dragons sooner—something that might help you be more confident in your ability to rescue these dragons.”

Toad nodded, and listened. 

“While I don’t know who or when this place was created…” Deer began. “I know how it works. Each person here is both living their worst nightmares and wildest dreams. The real-world DayBreak doesn’t want to live without her sister, and dreams of being in high ranks. Here, her sister’s been dead for almost as long as DayBreak has been alive, but she’s the highest dragon in Lady Diamond’s council. This place’s version of Frog? I don’t know if he should be the one to tell you this or not, but…he fears losing you all—and living a long life without you. He dreams of a world where your oldest sister, Darner, doesn’t exist, and where he’s the BigWings.” She paused, flicking a pebble into the fire. “Lady Diamond is one of the only exceptions of that. In the real world, she’s already living her worst nightmare—a world without her love, Kori. All she has is gain. So, let’s just say…this world compensated by making her a bit more insane than the real world.”

“How do you know this?” Toad asked, generally curious. She also wasn’t very sure that Deer was telling the truth, either, but she believed her still.

“I—“

“Hey Toad! Did you have a nice nap, you sleepy head?” A long, skinny bird was thrown in front of Toad, and DayBreak appeared to sit down beside them. “Whatcha talking about?”

“About how dark it gets,” Deer rushed before Toad could reply. “See, Toad was getting scared; afraid something was going to jump out of no where and eat her.”

Hey, Toad thought, giving Deer a hurt look. But the older dragon nodded to her, telling her to continue on with this lie. “Yeah, what Deer said.” She tried to sound like she was afraid. But quite frankly, she was more afraid when she walked into Lady Diamond’s throne room. 

“Aw, that’s so sad,” DayBreak said, giving Toad a sympathetic look. “Though, the even sadder thing is that Toad’s right; many of his minions have taken dragons away under the mask of the night.”

Now Toad was actually scared of stuff coming at her. Of course. But they then continued on a normal dragon conversation. Well, ‘normal’ dragon conversation. Whatever might’ve seemed normal to DayBreak was no where close to what Toad called normal; since they SkyWing began gossiping about different dragons at Lady Diamond’s council.

Chapter 9

Toad couldn’t sleep when the time came to it, when Deer and DayBreak finished eating and curled up. The fire was still going; but it was dim. And the bird DayBreak had thrown at Toad was still sitting there, half-eaten as it looked at the fire with blank eyes. She only sat there. Listening to the sounds of nothing, wishing it was the nighttime sounds of Possibility. Apparently neither Deer nor DayBreak snored normally, unlike Boulder or Frog, so sometimes Toad thought it was just her here. Alone. On the verge of giving up as she was thinking of all the possible ways she’d fail—and how she’ll be punished for failing.

“Don’t cry, little Toad. All is fine as long as he doesn’t find you.”

Toad looked around. No one was here. DayBreak and Deer were still asleep; neither of them had moved from their spots besides the occasional tail flinch. 

“Don’t look for me.” The voice said again. It was unfamiliar to Toad. Gentle, sweet…but there was an edge of distress or worry in their tone. Much like everyone she had interacted with before now. “No, nothing good will come of that. Nothing good at all.”

“Can you at least tell me who you are?” Toad asked to the air around her, feeling quite dumb. Am I going insane? Has this weird world finally taken me over, and I’m simply just losing my mind?

 “Oh, moons no, dear.” There was a pause; as if the person was shaking their head. “He’d find us. And he mustn’t know I’ve turned on him again. Of course, there’s a chance he already knows… Please, stay strong. Help these people. If you save them—there are dragons in the real world you’ll save, too.”

“Who?” Toad didn’t know if she should be worried for herself, in the case that this was her imagination getting the best of her, or if she should believe what this dragon was saying. 

“Many, many dragons,” the voice replied. “Dragons who have been captured by him will be free; if not just for a while. And—and there’s a chance someone very, very special might have a chance to— oh no. No! No! Please, no! What are you doing? Pr—“

With a high squeal, the voice stopped. Toad flinched, then jumped as Deer jumped up—whacking DayBreak on the snout with her tail. 

“Hey!” DayBreak moaned. “What the moons do you think you’re—“

“Toad! You’re safe. Phew.” Deer interrupted, sighing in relief while she seemed to completely ignore DayBreak. “You had me worried there for a moment.”

“Why..?” Toad began, confused once more. Nothing was making sense. At least not to her. Deer was the biggest “what in the moons” on that list, followed by everything else in this world. Like, how did Deer know how this place worked? What did she want to tell Toad before DayBreak interrupted? Why does Toad have this feeling that everyone’s lying to her, or keeping the full truth hidden from her? Did…did they think Toad couldn’t handle the truth?

“Oh, nothing,” Deer replied coolly, her eyes widening for a moment as if she forgot about something she wasn’t allowed to say. She seemed to swipe it off, though, and literally swept off a bit of dust on her shoulder. “I just had a dream you, uh…how’s the nicest way to say this… Killed yourself.”

Why, that’s lovely, Toad thought in a semi-bitter, semi-sarcastic way. It was always nice to know that her friends thought she’d do something like that. One of the last things on Toad’s “how to run away from this mess” list. Definitely. But still, there was something odd about the way she said it. As if she was making it up instead of saying what she really meant. 

“I have dreams of dying dragons sometimes,” DayBreak remarked casually, seeming completely oblivious to the part of the conversation that meant she wasn’t apart of it. “Not very often, though.”

Try having them every night, Toad wanted to remark bitterly. She has visited this dream world for two, if not almost three, years— basically her whole life. She had watched dragons kill each other; kill themselves. In this same world, she only heard their cries of suffering as they never answered her questions on how to help. Until now. Why now, of all times, and not, say, two years ago, Toad didn’t understand yet. Maybe she never would.

“Well, since we’re all awake now,” Deer began.

“Yeah, thanks for that.” DayBreak added in. “You have a very bony tail. Must be a MudWing thing.”

Deer seemed to ignore her. “How about we continue on? Maybe there’s someone that knows the way to any mysterious-looking caves or something. Anything that can get Toad back home.” She gave the little MudWing a nod, and Toad felt noticed. 

“You’re sounding very confident,” DayBreak remarked. “I bet you don’t know this place like the back of your talon.”

“I bet you’ve never been smart enough to try,” Deer shot back, giving her a violent look. “Do not judge me. I’ve done more than you ever had. And I’m still going strong. So don’t question me, and I won’t question you.” 

“I’d like to see a contract with that on it first,” DayBreak said. 

Deer growled at her. “Just shut your mouth and let’s get moving before he catches up to us.”

Toad nodded, although her moment of feeling noticed was over, and bounded after Deer. She heard DayBreak grumble something before seeing the SkyWing beside her. 

Chapter 10

Both DayBreak and Deer kept their word about being quiet. None of them talked, and Toad kept her mouth shut like she had been any other time. She was behind both of them by now, wondering if her nap on Deer would be enough to keep her awake. Even though she was technically already asleep. Wait, why do I need to sleep in the dream world, again..? Her mind wondered, before she realized she was getting pretty far behind. She bounded up to the bigger dragons, knowing that she’d probably only stay beside them for a short while. 

The terrain slowly started getting steeper as they continued walking, making it all that much harder for Toad to keep up. She wished there was an easier way to do this, but they couldn’t fly, and it wasn’t like they could magically teleport from place to place like she gathered dragons could do in normal dreams. 

“I think you’ve got us lost,” DayBreak remarked to Deer, who was ahead of them. “This looks like it’s near his land…wouldn’t the stone be in ours?”

Deer shook her head, swirls of darker sky blue cluttering around her sky blue scales, but the colors on her underbelly were shifting in a noticeable pace. Toad wished she could understand what that meant. “That’s what he wants you to think. He wants us to go on a pointless hunt for something in this part of the land—knowing none of you would dare cross over with someone like Diamond as your leader.”

“I am literally going to flinch every time you just call Lady Diamond that,” DayBreak remarked, looking a bit annoyed yet relieved that something terrible didn’t happen. “But how do you know that? Are you…are you working for him?”

“Moons no!” That was a very quick response. Deer stopped to look at DayBreak. “That snailbrain can go lick a cactus! Forget the moons if that was the case!” She paused, glancing over at Toad. “Oh yeah. Uh, probably shouldn’t curse in front of a three year-old, huh..?” She asked sheepishly. 

“Dragons curse at Possibility all the time,” Toad remarked, shrugging. “I hear them every day.” 

“ANYWAY,” DayBreak interrupted. “Deer, answer my question. Now.”

Deer rolled her eyes. “Remember who’s older than you. And anyway, let’s just mark it under ‘I can’t explain why’ and leave it at that, okay? Just trust me for once, DayBreak. Please?”

“I don’t believe you,” DayBreak remarked. “I’m an optimist. I like to think the best. But not about anything you’re telling me right now. Spill out the truth, Deer. We aren’t that far from another base camp. I can get Lady Diamond on you in a second’s notice.”

“I told you the truth,” Deer answered simply. “I can’t explain it. It’s a really long and complicated story. But, let’s decide it this way.” She turned to Toad. “Toad, do you believe me?”

Toad had to think for a moment, although she didn’t know why she needed to. She trusted Deer. But she wished she would give her an explanation on how she knows what she knows. The little MudWing knew that what Deer told her before wasn’t meant for DayBreak to hear; thus why they lied about it. She just wished she knew why. “Yes— I believe you.” She could only hope she wasn’t making the wrong decision. 

“See, DayBreak?” Deer asked the SkyWing. “The savior believes me. So get you’re lazy tail moving! We don’t have all day.”

DayBreak nodded reluctantly, and Deer continued walking again. The SkyWing followed her, and Toad stayed close to the tip of her tail.

                                                               …

The area began to get steeper to the point where Toad was almost climbing, wishing she had at least a soft cushion below her if she fell. But she didn’t have her sibs, and by now she was falling so far behind that she could barely see DayBreak’s tail slither in and out of her eyesight. She didn’t even know if one of them would hear her if she asked for assistance. 

But the top had to be near sometime, if the remark from Deer was any indicator. “Where’d Toad go?”

“She probably hasn’t caught up yet,” DayBreak replied. “She is, like, over seven years younger than I am, apparently.” 

And it took a few minutes later, but Toad finally climbed up to where they were, out of breath as she ungracefully plopped down on the actually quite hard ground. “I hate climbing.” She proclaimed, rolling over. 

The object she was now looking at upside down caught her attention. It was a dark obsidian color, yet shimmered with a shiny, silvery color. It had the basic diamond-shaped cut, and a spiral of gold seemed to swirl around it. She wondered how they didn’t see it earlier; behind this high up in the mountains and noting how the swirl climbed up to the clouds. 

In the corner of her eye, Deer looked disappointed and actually quite annoyed—her scales even shifted a bit in color. DayBreak looked really, really pleased, though. 

“You weren’t lying!” The SkyWing remarked, awe in her tone as she admired the stone.

Chapter 11

Deer snorted. “Of course I wasn’t!” Then, more quietly as she stared into the obsidian stone, muttered “And she wasn’t, either.” 

Toad tilted her head, but Deer just shook hers. And the little MudWing got the message. Don’t ask.

 “So, do we just take it..?” Toad asked generally, wondering the best way to take it out. She flipped back over to be on her underbelly, realizing that she’d need to stand on her hind legs and stretch if she were to grab it. 

“That sounds like a bad idea,” DayBreak admitted. “I mean, what if it’s rigged? What if we all die? Or…or what if he finds us here??”

Deer shrugged. “If we die, we die. Dragons die all the time. Some die young. Some die old. Some live just long enough for their family to say goodbye before they go away forever…” She seemed to be repeating this from something; like she had been told this or she had told someone else this before. “As long as Toad lives.”

“But I don’t want you two to die for me!” Toad cried, one of the quickest times she’s ever remarked anything. She shook her head. “You two are already putting off so much to help… I don’t want you to die for my sake. Moons, I should to something to help you once and a while…”

“You are gonna help us, though,” DayBreak replied. She walked over to Toad, and flicked her snout with the corner of her wing. “Remember? If you can defeat him, then we’ll all be safe. Everyone still alive can have happy lives, without having to worry about him. Nothing we can do would ever be able to repay that.” 

Toad nodded, although she didn’t really know how much of that she was actually going to use. She just felt like she needed to repay them more. Then again, she also really just wanted to be back with her siblings—how many days has she been asleep? It was only about the third day here…but was it longer in the real world? Shorter? The same time? 

“I think we should just take the stone.” Deer remarked. “That seems like the easiest, and simplest thing to do.”

“But what does he want us not to do?” DayBreak asked. “That seems to be your answer to everything else.”

Deer shrugged. “I don’t know what he’d think. If it weren’t for my—let’s call it a hunch—then I wouldn’t have been able to guide us here. Quite frankly I’m kind of surprised no one’s found this before.”

“That’s because no one’s thought of looking near the other land.” DayBreak answered in a know-it-all tone. “This area is known for his minions all over the place. No one who valued their life would come here; besides the foolishly brave.”

“Well, we’ve made it this far without anyone stopping us,” Toad remarked. “So maybe it won’t be too bad..?” She wished she kind of understood this place a bit more. Then maybe she could have a better judgment and be able to feel a bit more helpful. 

“I’m gonna take it.” Deer announced, rubbing her hands together. 

“What—“ DayBreak began, reaching a talon out to stop Deer. 

But of course, in a simple, smooth motion, Deer took the stone off of its resting place. She tossed it from talon to talon as if it were a toy. 

“Nothing to fear!” Deer remarked, amusement clear in her tone. “It’s—“ 

Toad’s ears perked up, interrupting Deer. She thought she heard… “Wingbeats?” She wondered aloud, looking up at the sky above her. Nothing was there. Nothing but clouds. 

Then there was a dart against the sky, forming a clean cut through the clouds. More appeared, more and more. Until there were several cuts through the sky. Everyone sat in stunned silence as Toad recognized the shape they were forming—more specifically, the letters they were forming. D-E-A-T-H…Toad shivered. 

“No! No! Oh, sweet mother of the moons, no!” DayBreak cried, looking up at the sky in terror. She seemed to be reliving some moment. She shot Deer a cold, hard look. “This is your fault! Now we’re all going to die!!”

“This isn’t supposed to be happening!” Deer remarked, seeming to ignore DayBreak. She stuffed the gem in one of her pouches, shaking her head. “The stone isn’t—“

The last thing Toad heard or saw was the other two dragons looking at her, exclaiming her name, before everything turned black.

(No, Toad’s not dead. Sorry, Toad...you were birthed into the wrong person’s mind to have a bright and sunny story...)

Chapter 12

“Toad… I don’t know if you can hear me or not…but please come back to us soon. It’s nearly been five days by now; since that Deer lady came. She said she’d help, but I’m not sure what she could do since she’s obviously not here with you. Darner’s really annoyed and trying to brush this all off, and Lily’s so worried that she messed up an order— Darner yelled at her for it. Boulder’s tying and getting the flowers now…since I’m here with you. Darner’s not happy about that either. Ash is just trying to comfort the rest of us by saying everything’s alright…but, if I’m completely honest, I think he’s just saying that now.  Just— please come back. We really miss you. I really miss you. And please don’t die on us; I don’t want to be the youngest, either.”

                                                              …

Toad groaned. Her head felt fuzzy and she was lying on cold, hard stone. She wanted to roll over and figure out what just happened, but instead she slowly opened her eyes to figure out where she was now. 

It was definitely a cave. It was bigger than the mud mound, but probably not by much. The dark grey walls were uneven, with rounded edges. She was sure that if she were to look at it from outside, it would look like a giant hole in the wall. A tall, thick gate kept her from getting out, though; and on. The other side of the bars stood a SkyWing with deep red scales; and their talons appeared to be…smoking? Toad couldn’t see their underbelly, or anything else, though. And finally, on the other side of the room from her, Deer paced in front of an assortment of herbs. The scales on her underbelly were violently swirling now, and most of her main scales were now turquoise. She looked worried, her eyes flicking from one herb to the next. 

“Where’s DayBreak..?” Toad asked in a tired, quiet voice. 

Deer turned to her immediately. “Oh, thank the moons you’re alive!” She cried, and some of her underbelly scales changed to a slower swirl. “I thought I killed you!” She quickly gathered up some of the herbs, and pushed the rest at Toad. “Eat these.” 

“DayBreak.” Toad repeated, moving to a bit more comfortable position before pushing the herbs closer to her. Half of them smelled like flowers, although the other half smelled like rotten meat. Though she knew better than to not eat them because of their smell—she trusted Deer enough to know that she probably wasn’t actually feeding her poison. 

“Oh, right…” Deer started, trailing off. “I lost track of her. They knocked you out and tied and blindfolded us, then took us here. But she’s still here. I heard her cursing a while ago—she was probably yelling at her guard.”

Toad nodded blankly. She hoped nothing bad would happen to DayBreak. Then she stared at the herbs a bit longer, before eating them. She licked her lips, kind of wishing she didn’t feel like rolling over and going to sleep. “Water.”

The guard stirred. “Oh, does the wittle MudWing want a drink?” They said mockingly, before snapping back into a harsher tone. “Well guess what? You’re gonna have to wait for Commander Tropic. And moons know what he’ll say. Most likely ‘no.’” 

“Please, Pyrope,” Deer said. “She’s just a kid. Not to mention that if she dies, then your master is gonna have to search all over the world again to find the other dragon with her ability.”

“We wouldn’t have to look that far,” the SkyWing said in a dark tone. “But how do you know my name?”

“One of the other guards said it,” Deer replied simply. “Stating that you were to guard me and Toad.”

The SkyWing didn’t reply, only snarling. “Tell your MudWing friend she can live without water, then.” They snorted, then got up. “I’m done with you idiots. SOMEONE COME TAKE OVER THESE IDIOTS! I bet that SkyWing with that IceWing don’t yap as much as these MudWing-bloods do.” 

Then they stalked off, their tail disappearing on the other side of the bars. Toad could still hear their footsteps, though; but when she couldn’t anymore, Deer turned to her. 

“Finally, we’re alone,” she breathed. She looked at Toad, and sighed. “There’s still a lot of explaining I need to do. And I’m thinking it’s now or never.” Deer walked over closer to Toad, but sat near the bars instead. She looked around, and didn’t look at the MudWing as she talked.

Chapter 13

(//hands out “Give Toad a Hug” T-shirts//)

“It’s time I finally tell you how I know what I know.” Deer confessed. “And please don’t tell anyone else—she told me not to. Well…I guess I can say her name now. Dreamwatcher told me not to.”

Toad nodded, realizing she should probably sit up now but her head still felt a bit fuzzy. She watched the other dragon’s underbelly shift colors, glancing at her blank expression. 

“Where to start…” Deer wondered aloud. “I guess at the beginning, huh?” She paused, before nodding to herself and continuing. “I was visiting my uncle in Possibility when I met your brother—Ash, I think. I offered my assistance as a healer, and he told me a good half of it. That you randomly passed out in the middle of the street. I didn’t know how to help you, or even some way to calm your siblings. That night, Dreamwatcher visited me. She told me how to help you—that I needed to join you in your dream world, and guide you through it. She told me useful things about this world; how it worked, what important figures I had to know. The version of me you saw around Lady Diamond and DayBreak? Fake. Apparently this world’s version of me not only died five years ago like I should’ve, but was also a bit more quick to answer and such. Then I asked my uncle to watch over me in my sleep and to send a note to my parents— I’m pretty sure he’s freaking out in the real world, just like your siblings are about you. I had my mission; to protect you. I knew that the gem we found was a fake; the real one is actually in here somewhere. And… I actually used part of that gem to make sure you woke up just now, to be honest. So here I am, making sure you get back to the real world safely. Any questions?”

“So was that her, then?” Toad asked. “The dragon I heard before you woke up before? When you lied and said that you had a dream I killed myself?” It sounded kind of weird reminding herself of that, and saying the works “kill” and “myself” in the same sentence didn’t really make it better. 

“Dreamwatcher? Most likely.” Deer nodded, her underbelly now showing almost no signs of movement at all. Toad assumed that meant she was calm; given the past few times she’d seen it like that. “I heard a shouting voice in my ear, and that’s why I woke up. It was her—saying that he knew.”

“Who’s…he?” 

“Prophetseeker. The true mastermind behind this world’s creation. Dreamwatcher never told me why he created this place—but I know that he knows about you; about Dreamwatcher’s plan to save this place. He might even be trying to figure out where we are right now.”

Toad nodded, trying to take all this information in. She had one more question, though; being reminded of the stone. “What did you do with part of it, to help me?”

Deer shrugged, looked at Toad, and gestured a wing near the little MudWing’s talons. “I broke part of it off and put your talons around it. Dreamwatcher told me that the fake stone would be an obsidian-looking gem that shimmered with silver—and I learned a few years ago that a stone from the same description comforted and or helped to wake up knocked out dragons.”

Toad looked at her talons while Deer talked, seeing that there was, in fact, a piece of the stone in her talons. 

“I knew you’d be too dead to notice it when you woke up,” Deer remarked. She moved from her spot again to sit beside Toad. “You’re probably too dead right now for a jail break, too.”

Toad had to admit, she wasn’t really sure how much good she’d do in a jail break right now; and Deer was right, she did feel kind of dead. She leaned back on Deer, pretending as though she was Ash or Boulder. The little MudWing pulled her legs closer to her, and curled her tail up. She let her eyes flutter open and closed for a while, before talking. “Thank you for telling me,” she said in a tired, soft tone. “It makes everything make a lot more sense.” Toad admitted; if she didn’t feel so blank right now, she would most likely be marveling on how several of Deer’s actions made more sense now. But right now, she didn’t really care. “Sometimes…I like to pretend you’re Ash. It’s kind of comforting…knowing that I have someone to lean on who’d listen to me…”

“Get some rest,” Deer said gently. “You’ll need it once me and DayBreak come up with some form of a plan.” She started humming to the same tune of that lullaby she sang to Toad earlier. 

Toad weakly smiled, curling up into a nice ball. She wished she was warmer, and hoped that she could actually get some sleep. Feeling the older and bigger dragon close to her, she really did feel comforted. She almost thought she could hear the muted noises of nighttime Possibility, and her brothers snoring either beside or below her. The words she heard before she woke up replayed in her mind, and she felt like Frog was really beside her now…as she drifted off to sleep, almost hoping to have another glimpse of the real world again.

(//hugs Toad// Sorry that I’m your creator...)

Chapter 14

She woke up no longer on Deer; instead just lying there. And besides the fact Toad felt a bit dizzy when she decided to sit up, she felt perfectly fine. She yawned, looking over at Deer, who had her ear against the stone wall. 

The older dragon glanced at the little MudWing. “Pyrope brought in our meal while you were asleep,” she explained, nodding to a bowl full of water and two dead mice beside Toad. “Eat all you want; growing dragonets need more food than I do, and I’m not very hungry right now.”

Toad nodded, although she felt kind of guilty to eat it all by herself. But she knew she probably should eat it all, since she was actually pretty hungry. So she took turned lapping up the water and taking bites of the mice. They weren’t nearly as good as the cows back at Possibility, but they’ll do. 

“DayBreak wants you to know she’s glad you’re alright, and told me to give you a mug.” Deer said absently. “Oh, uh… a hug. She totally said hug.” 

“What are you doing?” Toad asked curiously.

Deer sighed, flicking her tail against the stone wall. “Trying to talk with DayBreak from her cell. We’re too far away to hear a lot, though—I’m pretty sure she’s shouting on her side.” She went over to the bars, and sat down facing them. Her bronze-gold eyes focused on the floor on the other side. “These bars won’t melt. DayBreak’s tried. They can’t be frozen, either; the IceWing she’s apparently with isn’t cold enough. They’re technically non-organic material, so even if I had RainWing venom…” She trailed off. “Unless you have some special, super-secret ability, there’s no way out unless they let us out.”

“And I have a feeling that’s gonna be a bad thing.” Toad added, finishing up what she had to eat before a bit unsteadily walked over to sit beside Deer. 

Deer nodded. “Probably. He knows you’re here. Soon he’s going to come looking for you. I just hope I can keep my promise to—everyone, really.” 

It stayed quite for a while. The SkyWing guard from before came back, grumbling about having to be here. They perked up when they saw someone across from them though, saluting at the figure Toad couldn’t see. 

“Commander Tropic, sir!” The SkyWing said. “What do you need?” 

Toad watched the other dragon’s shadow get closer to her, telling from the dim candlelight on the other side of the bars. She was expecting some tall, broad SkyWing or NightWing or something—and she was shocked to see that only one of those things were true. 

Yes, the dragon was tall and quite muscular; a lot taller than Deer and so, so much taller than Toad. But he was a RainWing. He was matching shades of blue and blue-greens, his tongue flicking in and out as his snake-like eyes scanned the area around him. His gaze rested on Toad for a moment; a dark, piercing glare that put Lady Diamond’s to shame. 

“Bring out the prisoners,” he hissed. “Including our little IceWing friend.”

The SkyWing nodded. “Yes, Commander Tropic, sir!” And ran off to Toad only assumed the direction of DayBreak’s cell was. 

And to her dismay, the RainWing turned to look at them. He stepped closer. Giving them a devilish, toothy grin. “Why, hello,” he greeted. His talon reached for the lock, and Deer moved closer to Toad; pulling the little MudWing closer with her wing. “I seem to have trouble remembering something. So remind me: which one of you is the savior?” 

Neither of them answered, and the RainWing frowned. He still opened the door, moving aside to let them out. “Well, it has to be one of you,” he remarked. “That obnoxious time of day was talking about this…amphibian. Toad. Which one of you is an amphibian?”

Toad didn’t want to answer that. He was looking for her. But she didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to learn what’ll happen if she died here. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Frog… She was reminded of her brother. He was counting on her to come back alive. She only hoped she was confident she’d come back.

“Tropic, you moon-blasted idiot!” Someone shouted, sounding like they were struggling. There was a crash, like a dragon hitting the wall, before an IceWing jumped out from no where and onto the RainWing. “I won’t let you hurt anyone else!”

The IceWing was more of a sky blue color; a bit too dark for normal IceWings. A long, ragged scar ran across her probably once elegant snout, her eyes full of a burning hatred as she snarled. She raised her talon to whack the RainWing underneath her, but Toad looked away before she could see any results.

“Tsk, tsk,” the RainWing said. “I thought you were better than a few empty oaths, Kori.” 

Kori, Toad thought. Like, Lady Kori? She guessed it wasn’t impossible; after all no one seemed to actually know if she was alive or not. 

“At least I’m not a killer like YOU!” The IceWing replied. Toad only assumed that she dealt another blow to the RainWing; but she was happy she wasn’t seeing this unfold. 

“Lady Kori—“ DayBreak! The familiar voice of her SkyWing friend became clear, although it was further away. 

“Good die young.” The RainWing spat, and there was a pause for a moment before he continued. “Be lucky it isn’t you today.”

Toad opened her eyes to see the RainWing slithering away. Kori looked really mad as the SkyWing guard appeared to tie her up again. Then the SkyWing turned to Deer and Toad. 

“Come on,” they said. “Commander Tropic isn’t happy. And no one likes him when he’s not happy. Quite frankly dragons don’t like it when he’s happy, either, but you get the point.” 

Chapter 15

Toad followed the SkyWing in silence, sticking close to Deer; even though it was almost impossible in the narrow hallways. She kept her eyes on her talons, following the red tail in the corner of her eye to keep her from bumping into the SkyWing. They didn’t have to walk very far before the sound of a loud crowd cheering something. And it didn’t take her very long to hear the voice of the RainWing—Commander Tropic—riling up the crowd. 

“We’ve done it!” His harsh voice sounded through the walls. The crowd outside cheered. “We have caught our most hated enemy! The savior of this pathetic world is in our grasp! There’s nothing left to do but bring back what is our true leader’s!” There was a pause, and the SkyWing grunted as it seemed the entire world shouted “For the true NightWings!! For Prophetseeker!!” 

Deer shivered beside her at the words; DayBreak probably did, too, although Toad wasn’t close enough to her to tell. 

Light started showing at the end of the tunnel, bright but not very welcoming. She didn’t realize how dark it was inside until she walked closer to the outside, hearing the louder and louder thumps of tails and cries of victory. Toad gulped as she turned and to stand directly above the crowd; the dark, piercing gaze of Commander Tropic staring down at her and her friends. The view would almost be pretty; if it weren’t for the fact of a seemingly endless pit below her and the bloodthirsty shouts from the dragons around her. She just wanted to run away; but the SkyWing blocked the path back into the caves, and a large net-like dome was above her, taunting her with clear, blue skies.

Commander Tropic flapped down to the podium, but didn’t get on it. He watched them as they came out and formed a row. Toad glanced at them to see that DayBreak also looked terrified, yet Deer and Lady Kori seemed to stay emotionless. 

“One of those two mud-bloods is our little savior,” Commander Tropic explained, flicking his tail at Toad and Deer. 

“You don’t even know?” Someone asked. They were a SeaWing; dark green and blue, with webbing and a long, jagged scar across their neck. 

Commander Tropic whipped his head around to the voice.  He hissed, and without warning, he opened his mouth and something black shot out of his front two teeth. Straight at the SeaWing. A moment later, they were sprawled across the bench in pain as it hit them—until the dragon beside them laughed and pushed them over the edge. 

Toad shivered. She didn’t want to know what happened to the SeaWing after that. But she was a bit more disturbed on how everyone wore amused expressions; as if they were happy in the other dragon’s death. 

“One day you’ll have no more minions to serve your awful cause.” Lady Kori observed from the other side of Toad. “We’re desperate, too, but at least we know what it means to be a living being with feelings.” She paused. “Oh wait. I don’t think you’re any of those things.” 

Commander Tropic growled at the IceWing. “Shut up before I make you.” 

“Make me.” Lady Kori insisted. 

DayBreak looked over at her, clearly trying not to gape. “Lady Kori! That’s a death wish! You can’t die—“

“If it serves my people, then I will die.” Lady Kori said to the SkyWing. “You aren’t a part of my council, you’re a part of Lady Diamond’s. You are six years younger than me at least, you have no experience doing anything but looking pretty and obeying orders, and you aren’t even brave.” Toad was surprised when she nodded to her. “That little MudWing has more of a say in what I should do than you do.”

DayBreak’s face turned red. “But Toad’s three! I’m ten! I’ve had more experience in this world than she has! She’s not even from here!”

Commander Tropic snorted, bringing everyone’s attention back to him. He glared at Toad, eyes slitted as his tongue flicked out again. “So you’re the amphibian.” He observed, flicking his tail in amusement. “Oh, I must thank your friend for clarifying that. But let’s get to the point. You need to die. Now. Or else.” 

“You can’t kill her!” Deer exclaimed, stepping in front of Toad. 

“You can’t kill her,” Lady Kori said at the same time, but a lot more like a fact that an objection. Deer stared at her. “If you kill the savior, then you’ll have to find the new one. That new one might be older; smarter. Smart enough to figure out your plan and take you down, Tropic. So you can’t kill the weakling, because you’ll have too much to risk.” She stated matter-of-factly, raising her head to better look at him. 

Chapter 16

Toad sinked down closer to the exit, although she knew there was no way out. Even if there was, Commander Tropic could just use whatever he hit that SeaWing with to bring her back into her place. 

The RainWing snarled. “Older, yes. Wiser…probably not. You forgot a major fact in there, Kori,” he replied harshly. “That that mammal hasn’t been seen in this world for five years. But look; the court’s healer is magically back. Coincidence? You tell me, Hybrid.”

Lady Kori seemed stunned; as if she didn’t expect that reply. She looked over at Deer, who looked back at her like she wanted an answer to that question, too. DayBreak just stared at them, looking really confused. 

“Five years…” Lady Kori repeated, seeming to be lost in thought. “That time word was going around that…that someone on the council had died.” She paused. “Everyone was so victorious. I thought D had been killed, until I heard that she was still alive.”

“And you never found who it was, huh?” Deer asked. Lady Kori paused, before shaking her head. “Me.”

“But you’re right here..?” DayBreak said. “Moons this is confusing…”

Toad was a little confused, too, if she was being honest with herself. But she had a nice idea of where Deer wanted to get to, although she said not to tell anyone. 

“DayBreak,” Deer began in a calm tone. “I was the dragon who recommended you to the court. And I ‘disappeared’ a year after that. I’m also guessing that you forgot all of that.”

DayBreak didn’t answer. 

“You were the one that died.” Lady Kori seemed to realize what she was getting at. “The best healer we had. Everyone thought D was so dumb as to not appoint a new one. They thought it was a win. So that means…” She stopped, her gaze shifting between Deer and Toad. “This version of you died. This world’s version. So you’re actually from the waking world, too.”

Commander Tropic groaned. “Finally,” he remarked. “I was about to spoil that surprise for you. Took you idiots long enough.” He flicked his tongue before continuing. “See, dear Kori? You don’t have an ace up your sleeve this time. There’s nothing you can say that won’t stop me from killing that pathetic amphibian.” 

“D-does he want you to kill Toad?” DayBreak piped in, finally seeming to muster up the courage to say something. “Who said she needed to be killed?”

Commander Tropic paused, then hissed.  “The amphibian will die if I want it to die!!!”

Why am I always an it..? Toad wondered, recalling Lady Diamond as well. At least everyone in Possibility called me a boy. That’s better than just being an it.

 “Tropic,” Lady Kori said coolly. She looked up at the RainWing, staring right into his snake-like eyes. “I think you’ve done enough killing for now.” She flicked her head at the other three. “Go back and find the crystal. I’ll deal with the guards.” 

The SkyWing guarding the door growled and jumped at Lady Kori. “You aren’t going anywhere!” They growled

“Who said I was?” Lady Kori shot back before tossing the SkyWing off of her and off into the pit below them. 

Toad watched, too scared to really move, as the SkyWing opened their wings to prevent falling down. Sure, she had seen quite a few of fights at Possibility—but none of them were ever set on a platform above a bottomless pit. It was always on the streets. And more often than not it was just two dragons who were already having a bad day as it was. But this showed more meaning than simply scarring them a little. This was the kind of battle that started a war—or ended one. 

Lady Kori jumped up and threw herself at Commander Tropic next. “Go! You know the way!” She yelled at the other three, before slashing her ragged claws against the RainWing’s shoulder. 

DayBreak didn’t seem to wait very long, dashing for the now-open door. When Toad was still just standing there, Deer started hurriedly pushing her along. The crowd cheered at the battle that still went on behind them as they rushed back into the dark tunnels. 

“You idiot!” Toad heard Commander Tropic say, his voice quieter now that they were further away. “You’ll take us both down!” 

“That’s my plan.” Lady Kori replied simply. 

Toad didn’t know if she wanted to be calmed or more terrified by the fact that she heard nothing after that. No cries. No sounds of dragons hitting the ground. Even the crowd stopped. She walked closer to Deer, seeking the comfort of an older dragon close to her. 

DayBreak looked back at them. “Lady Kori told me where the crystal is. We’ll get the crystal, place it at the center, and then everything will go back to normal and Toad gets to go home. Alright?”

“By ‘normal’ you mean ‘war-free and at peace’, right?” Deer remarked off-handedly. “Because I have a feeling this current state is normal for these people now.” 

“Whatever,” DayBreak replied. “My point is that we just finish this stupid mission so then Toad—and I guess you, too, apparently—can go back to the real world.”

And then they walked in silence. Toad found a nice pace and stayed between DayBreak and Deer, kind of hoping that they won’t get into any fights for a while. Though she had a feeling that probably wouldn’t happen; especially now that DayBreak knew that Deer was from the real world, too.

(Yes, DayBreak is the same age in this story as she is in the real world...even though Diamond and Kori are both waaaaay over the age of seven, as they are in the real world.)

Chapter 17

Coming Soon