“Get up and fight!” yelled the gray dragon furiously. She growled deeply, then lunged forwards and jabbed Firetail in the leg with her sharp beak. Firetail yelped and stood up shakily. He flared his wings and swung them forward, aiming the sharp edges that all hawk dragons had at his opponent.

The dragon jumped out of the way just in time and then let out a piercing shriek, with visible ripples in the air from the loud noise. The blast hit Firetail straight on and sent him wobbling around wildly, trying to find his balance. He recovered just in time to dodge another wild attack.

“Come on, Shrike. I’m tired and sore.” Firetail moaned. “Let's be done.”

“No way!” Shrike said with another lunge. “This is fun! Besides, if we stop now, you get a low score on your grade, and that would be bad for your career.”

Shrike gracefully lunged forward and yanked on Firetail’s ear. She then jumped around wildly, dancing around Firetail's pitiful lunges. Firetail became angrier and angrier as he realized that Shrike was just messing with him. He gritted his teeth and snarled fiercely. With a sudden woosh, his tail burst into bright red flames. The fire swirled around in whirling winds as he swung his tail back and forth, aiming for Shrike.

“Ooh, now we’re talking!” Shrike said. “Your signature move.” She jumped up, trying to sail over Firetail’s head, but he brought his tail up in a flash and hit her smack in the chest. She fell onto her back with an oof.

Shrike leaped upwards and whirled around, only to get smashed into a tree with a blow from Firetail. She groaned and flopped onto the ground. She slowly got on her feet and smiled.

“Works every time.” She said with a smirk. “And now you get a good grade.” She then trotted off in the general direction of the main village. Firetail sighed and walked after her tiredly.

When they reached the village, they made their way toward the biggest of the scout towers. They flew up to the highest platform and ducked inside the building.

“We are here!” Shrike called out loudly.

“Great.” The scout commander, Goldfleck said. “Fill out his report and then leave.”

“Ok,” Shrike said, walked over to a table, and picked up a paper. She dipped one claw in the inkpot nearby and quickly filled out the form. She then handed it to Goldfleck. He took it and examined it.

“Great job, Firetail,” Goldfleck said. “You got a high enough score to be assigned to first-class scouting.”

“First class?” Firetail said in disbelief. “What?”

“You’ll also be a fighter if there is a battle in or near your sector.” Goldfleck continued. “You are assigned to section 7L. Flicker can guide you there.”

A short dragon stepped forwards.

“I am Flicker,” Flicker said. “Now, if you please, follow me.” He then jumped upwards into the air and flew off toward the forest. Firetail followed after him, slightly dazed.

When they finally reached the area, Flicker stopped and landed on a branch.

“Here is your sector,” Flicker said. “Good day.” He then flew off in the other direction.

Firetail sighed and looked around. He flew down to the forest floor and started pacing the area. He was startled by a loud buzzing sound that reverberated through the jungle.

“The battle alarm.” He breathed. He flew up above the primary tree line and dashed towards the alarm. When he finally arrived, he saw chaos. At least a hundred reptilik dragons were attacking an outpost. However, at least two hundred of Firetail’s tribe was defending.

Firetail watched from a branch while he lit his tail. He then dived into the battle, swinging his tail wildly. He turned and hit a chameleon dragon just before it clawed him. He whirled around to find that a viper dragon was flying towards him. Firetail turned and flew into the trees, drawing the dragon towards what Firetail knew to be a very dangerous place.

He dashed between the trees, flying farther and farther into the dense jungle. He finally arrived in a clearing and very quickly hid in the trees above. Just as the viper dragon flew into the clearing, he lit his tail on fire, dropped it down from the branches, extinguished it, and drew it up again.

Very suddenly, about twenty large Venus Flytraps lunged into the center of the clearing and snapped closed around the viper dragon. Firetail smiled to himself with contempt. The Flytraps had moved away from the fire, but then they had tried to bite his tail when it was extinguished. Because his tail wasn’t there, they closed on the viper dragon instead.

There were several muffled yelling sounds from the Flytrap as the dragon inside flailed about. Then it became very still. Firetail looked down with interest. He saw a glowing light grow bigger and brighter from inside the Flytrap. The glow stopped growing for a split second before the Flytrap exploded in a burst of energy.

When Firetail looked down into the clearing he saw all the Flytraps burnt and flopped over and the viper dragon looking around in the center. He looked up and locked eyes with Firetail. The two dragons stood staring at each other for several drawn-out seconds before the other dragon spoke.

“Well hello there handsome.” He called. “What might you be doing up in those trees?”

“I’m currently hiding from someone,” Firetail said. “I might ask the same of you.”

“Well, I am not in some trees.” The dragon said. “I am down here on the ground. But let's start with formalities. What’s your name? I am Slangfang.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Slangfang,” Firetail said. “My name is Firetail.”

“Oh, is that why you can light your tail on fire?” Slangfang said. “I was wondering about that.”

“By the way, why did you call me handsome?” Firetail asked.

“Because that is the best way to describe you,” Slangfang said. He blushed.

“Well, I could say the same about you,” Firetail said.

“Well, thank you,” Slangfang said. “But,  might I ask, aren’t we technically enemies?”

“Our tribes are, I guess,” Firetail said. “But I don’t think we are.” He blushed and hid a smile.

“That makes sense,” Slangfang said. “Could we meet here again tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Firetail said. “I have to get going though. I’m needed elsewhere.”

“Oh. Well, bye then,” Slangfang said.

“Goodbye,” Firetail said, and then he turned and flew away into the forest. As he flew, he thought about what had happened.

What does this mean? Why couldn’t I fight that dragon? These kinds of thoughts went around and around his head until he neared the battle. He flew into the clearing and abruptly swerved to avoid a blast of energy aimed at him. He turned and slammed his back legs into the face of the dragon who had fired the blast.

He shoved the body away from him and flew upwards, turning and surveying the area. All of a sudden, there was a rumbling and shaking coming from the ground. Then, a huge metal snake-like machine came rumbling out of the ground, chewing through trees and dirt with huge grinders.

All the dragons pulled away from each other and focused their attacks on the machine because the one thing that the Avis and Reptilik dragons hated more than each other was the invaders.

Hundreds of energy blasts hit the machine with a powerful impact. The machine shuddered, then moved forwards again. Then, all the Avis dragons dived down at the machine and clawed at it, covering it in scratches.

The machine rumbled again and drew back down into the ground. The Reptilik dragons sent energy blasts at the ground, which closed off the hole. The rumbling slowly faded as the machine moved away from underground. Very suddenly, the dragons turned against each other again and started fighting again.

Firetail flew around the battle and flew down to the mound of dirt and bits of tree. He then glided slowly, trailing the path of the machine. The winding path suggested that the drivers were exploring the forest.

Firetail abruptly stopped in midair and whirled around. He had seen what he thought he never would. The new invading dragons, hundreds and hundreds of them, were marching through the forest, burning the trees and killing the animals.