The Dragoso Series 2: Strength in Darkness
Chapter 9

Trevor squinted his eyes as they emerged from the portal into a small, bright room. He spotted the Tech Dragon standing nearby looking at a shadow flying along the walls. The portal closed and the Tech looked at them.

“He’s been flying around nonstop since he freed himself from the ice,” the Tech Dragon stated and Anna nodded.

“He’s looking for an escape, not that there is one,” Anna stated. “Cenod is a coward unless he believes he has the upper hand. We know his tricks at this point. You should take your leave, friend. You’ve dealt with enough over the years.” The Tech huffed a laugh and shook his head.

“You have no idea.” He turned away from them and jumped through a portal, closing it instantly.

“So what do we do now?” Trevor asked and Anna’s eyes followed Cenod. She snorted and stomped her foot forward, inhaling quickly and releasing flames at Cenod. The Wyvern dashed away from the flames, turning on a corner but failing to transfer himself to the next wall and hit his head on it. The flames engulfed him and Cenod jumped off the wall, flying right at them. Trevor took a stance and thrust his head upwards, headbutting Cenod.

“Stupid dragons!” Cenod snapped as he caught himself in the air. He threw his head back and roared, his parasites jumping from his body and landing on the floor. “I can possess hunter controlled dragons, I can possess you two!” Anna stared at him with a skeptical look on her face.

“You honestly think that’s gonna work when a telepath can easily free a dragon from any means of control?” Anna asked and Cenod snarled.

“My illusions have worked before, they’ll work again!”

“Tch, you had Brokenstar last time!” Trevor snapped and he inhaled, ready to freeze the parasites that sat before them. Anna flapped her wings, moving out of Trevor’s range and let the Water-Ice Dragon freeze the parasites. “Sick of these stupid tricks. Quit being a coward!”

“He doesn’t know how, Trevor. Cenod fights by using others to do the fighting for him. He’s just a parasite like the ones he controls,” Anna replied and Cenod roared with rage and launched himself at Anna.

Anna barreled away from Cenod and flew towards Trevor. She looked over her shoulder before Cenod dropped onto her back, his claws digging into her back between her wing joints. Anna screeched with pain and fell to the floor.

“Anna!” Trevor yelled and pounced on Cenod, colliding with him and knocking the Wyvern off of Anna. Cenod adjusted his wings and landed on his feet, growling. Trevor got to his feet and snarled. “Are you alright?”

“No,” Anna whined. “I can’t move...” Trevor groaned in annoyance and Cenod chuckled.

“Did Anna never tell you of her one weakness?” Cenod questioned. Trevor raised an eyebrow. “Did you never see that scar on her back?” Trevor narrowed his eyes.

“You regret not bringing backup now?” Trevor snapped. Anna moaned and Trevor rolled his eyes.

Your ego is bigger than an old football teammate of mine. Trevor thought and Anna scoffed.

“So, Trevor,” Cenod spat Trevor’s name. “What do you plan on doing now? A yearling with little experience in battle against a creature of shadows, illusions, and possession? Hardly a fair fight.” Trevor growled before looking up.

“Hey! Tech Dragon! Reinforcements please!” Trevor shouted. Cenod scoffed and shook his head in disappointment. Trevor took that moment to let loose his freezing water.

Cenod screeched as his wings froze to his back and his feet were stuck to the floor. Trevor whipped his head around as the portal to the dimension appeared and Malice, Sylark, and Zoymey flew through. Malice and Sylark landed on either side of Trevor while Zoymey landed before Anna. Cenod looked between Malice and Sylark before baring his teeth and becoming a shadow.

“Oh no ya’ don’t!” Malice snapped and flew after Cenod. Sylark rolled his eyes.

“I suppose that will suffice as a distraction for the moment,” Sylark said and looked to Trevor. “Are you alright?” Trevor nodded. “Good. What did he do to her?”

“Talons to some scar on her back,” Trevor replied and Sylark exhaled.

“I will be having a talk with her later.” Sylark turned his attention to Malice chasing Cenod, who was now solid. “Do not let your guard down against him, Trevor. Cenod is craftier than Anna gives him credit.”

“Shut up, Sylark,” Anna mumbled and Zoymey chuckled nearby. Trevor smirked before turning his head to follow Malice’s pursuit of Cenod.

“Are we really just going to stand here and talk?” Trevor asked and Sylark gave his rare smile.

“No, we are not. Do the honors, Trevor,” Sylark offered, gesturing towards Cenod and Malice. Trevor looked to Sylark and grinned.

“Gladly.” Trevor flapped his wings and launched into the air in front of Cenod. Cenod made a sound of surprise and attempted to phase into the wall, but instead collided with Trevor. Trevor’s teeth made purchase on Cenod’s throat before they collided with the floor and Cenod threw Trevor off. Black ooze fell from Cenod’s neck and Trevor spat the same stuff from his mouth.

“You’ll pay for this!” Cenod screeched.

“Ugh, disgusting,” Trevor complained and spat again.

“What makes you believe that you will defeat us, Cenod?” Sylark asked, coming up behind the Wyvern. Cenod growled, the sound gurgled.

“Master Agony will stop you, even if I can’t,” Cenod gasped.

“The Council was sealed away centuries ago, how could he possibly stop us?” Malice asked.

“Hold your tongue, Malice. Anna faced Cenod in the past. Did you overlook the runes on his neck?” Sylark pointed out. Trevor turned his attention to them, the light pulsed slowly with a red light.

“But the image Aaron showed us...” Trevor started.

“Was of Cenod before Agony returned to full power. He has returned. They all have.” Cenod grinned before coughing. “It appears your magic is abandoning you, you can hardly stay together.” Cenod snarled before attempting to get away, only to have his body frozen by Sylark.

“My master will end all of you, you’ll see!” Cenod snapped as Sylark approached him.

“I grow tired of this battle. We will be ready for anything, Cenod. For now, you can join Brokenstar. Malice, if you would.” Sylark started away, gesturing to Trevor to follow. Trevor watch Sylark as he walked by before following him. The room was filled with Cenod’s shrieks as Malice used his Life Breath on him.

~oOo~

“Foolish,” Sylark remarked as Sereph patched up Kathey’s back. They had returned to the Academy as the moon had reached its peak in the sky. The battle had taken a toll on everyone, wounds and exhaustion. Sereph had spent hours tending to those wounded and sent them all to bed.

Per Tyrande’s request, Vatuna, Ractor, Ferentar, and Comeli were staying at the Academy now to recover from physical and psychological wounds that the hunters dealt to them. Sereph had taken care of what she could in the short amount of time she had. She left Kathey and Sylark for last, knowing something went wrong during their mission.

“I don’t need a lecture, Sylark,” Kathey mumbled. She barely had any energy to argue with the elder Ice Dragon. She rubbed her eyes, trying to fight sleep, she was glad Ayassa started sleeping through the night on her own, but after the kidnapping, she planned on stealing Tyrande and Ayassa from their beds tonight and keeping them with her.

“You cannot act so rash, Kathey! If what Cenod says is true about Agony and the rest of the Council, we cannot be stupid about our choices. What if they succeed in reviving their own master?” Sylark pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly annoyed.

“They won’t get that far. I won’t let them.” Kathey slipped off the table and pulled her shirt back on before starting out. She reached the door, but was stopped.

“Anna.” Sylark spoke in a somewhat softer tone. One that someone would use with someone they cared about. “This team needs you. Please, do not do something that will end your life. This is not the first time you dove into danger headfirst without thinking about it, but you almost lost your life. We cannot afford to lose you if the Council is back. It takes four Compass Dragons to seal them away. We cannot do this without you, and you know very well Zoymey cannot lead this team on his own.” Kathey stood in the doorway, silent. She exhaled and looked over her shoulder at Sylark.

“He’s not alone, Sylark. He has you.” With that said, Kathey walked out without another word.

~oOo~

Morning came and everyone was still exhausted from the mission. Trevor didn’t even bother getting dressed, he was still in his pajamas as he sat at breakfast, still half asleep. He held his head up with a hand, but was barely keeping his eyes open. He jumped slightly when a steaming mug came down in front of him. He looked up and smiled sleepily at Darkness.

“You all look exhausted. Thought some natural tea would do the trick, this stuff will wake you four up in a snap,” Darkness stated and patted Trevor’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” Trevor mumbled and grabbed the mug, taking a sip. Trevor was never one to drink coffee or tea, but this drink was to his liking and its warmth flowed through his body, waking him up.

“So what do you think we’ll be doing today?” Brenda asked, sipping her own tea.

“Well, from what everybody’s been saying, this Council is a big deal, we’ll probably be training until someone comes and attacks us,” Trevor guessed and took another sip.

“You’d be very wrong, Trevor.” The four siblings looked to see Kathey approaching the table. “That mission took a lot out of all of us. The Academy has a day off, no classes today so enjoy it. I want you four to finish your classes as soon as possible so you can focus on the team and not studies. Enjoy your day today.” Kathey smiled and started for her table.

“In that case, I’ll be in the griffin stable if you three need me later,” Trevor stated. He looked around for Darkness in the room, but spotted someone different.

One of the now Ex-Hunters taking a table’s orders. She scribbled away on the notepad, giggling at something someone said and she replied to the remark before heading to the kitchen.

“Was that a hunter?” David questioned.

“Ex-Hunter.” They looked to Darkness standing behind Aya. “Quite a few wanted to make it up to the dragons and help however they could. Kathey hired them to work the kitchen and Mess Hall. Certainly helps me out big time. Breakfast burritos today kids, what do you want?”

Breakfast passed rather quickly. Trevor ate his fill and went upstairs to get ready for the day before heading out to the griffin stables. Malice told him the stalls needed cleaning so Trevor got down to work.

Trevor always found something mindless like chores to be rather soothing, especially after an exhausting mission like the one they had. The griffins had all been released into the field -except Thunder, who was placed in the indoor riding arena- and Trevor got to work mucking out the stalls. Other than the stables smelling like a birdcage that hadn’t been cleaned in three weeks, it wasn’t too bad. Trevor had finished mucking three stalls when his cleaning was interrupted by a sweet voice, one that made his heart skip a beat.

“Hello? Anyone home?” Trevor looked up from his cleaning before leaning out from Roselia’s stall, spotting a woman with flowing blond hair wearing jeans, flat shoes, and a tank top.

“Over here!” Trevor called, waving to her. She spotted him and jogged over.

“Hey! Trevor, right? Kathey told me you were out here. I’m one of the Exotics, Vatuna,” she explained.

“One of the dragons we took in from the Hunters? Nice to meet you,” Trevor greeted. “I’m a little gross right now, might be best not to shake hands.” Vatuna waved it off.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m not too formal about meetings. So this is the griffin stable?” Trevor leaned his weight on the pitchfork and nodded.

“Yup, it’s one of my favorite places to be. What brings you out here?”

“Well, I never got a chance to see a griffin up close before. Think I could maybe...?” Trevor chuckled and leaned the tool against the wall of the stall.

“I have to warn you, they really like dragons.” Trevor started out of the stall and towards the door leading to the field.