Slangfang turned around.

“Over here!” Kryptonite called. Slangfang turned and saw nobody. He growled and pounced. He landed on the ground with an oof.

“Missed me!” she said. “Over here!” “Right here!” “You can’t catch me!” The voices echoed around his head, bundling up his thoughts and tangling them up, only to tear them apart and repeat.

He looked up and saw hundreds of Kryptonites, all stalking him. They swarmed in, and he thrashed around, trying to break free of them. He yelled and bit and scratched, but he could do nothing. He was helpless.

…

Slangfang woke up with a start. He sat in the bed, breathing heavily, shaken. As he sat there, his senses slowly came back to him. He exhaled in relief as he remembered where he really was.

It was all just a dream. He thought. He got up out of his bed and stretched. As he flared his wings, he heard a soft pop. He inhaled deeply. He saw some dragons bustling around, but they were all so focused on their tasks that they didn’t notice him.

Slangfang continued stretching to not injure himself later during the day. He thought back to what had happened the previous day. Firetail! He thought. He crept towards the trees. When he had almost made it to the jungle, he looked back. When he saw no one, he launched into the trees and flew towards the clearing he had met Firetail in.

When he neared the clearing, he slowed down, a little cautious. He saw Firetail sitting there waiting for him. He flew down and landed gracefully.

“Well, hello there,” Firetail said.

“Hi,” Slangfang said. He blushed slightly.

“How are you doing?” Firetail asked.

“Not bad,” Slangfang said. “Although, these past hours have been trying on me.”

“Same!” Firetail said. “What happened with you?”

“Well, there was this whole thing with a dragon I knew being taken into a mountain that then collapsed,” Slangfang said.

“Well, that’s nothing,” Firetail said. “Yesterday, I was doing my job as a guard in the mines when these ant dragons started invading.”

“The village or the mines?” Slangfang asked.

“The mines,” Firetail responded. “I barely managed to get away.”

“Are you ok?” Slangfang said, worried.

“Yep!” Firetail answered. “Completely! Although lots of dragons weren't so lucky. And also, any of the dragons the ant ones captured, they turn them into more ant dragons.”

“That’s so sad,” Slangfang said. “Hey, wait a minute!”

“What?” Firetail asked.

“I think that my friend was taken by the ant dragons,” Slangfang said. “Is there any way to reverse the process?”

“Actually, yes!” Firetail said. “If an ant dragon is killed, any wounds are healed and then the exoskeleton folds away into nothing.”

“So, the dragon they once were is underneath?” Slangfang guessed.

“Yep!” Firetail confirmed. “I found this out because one dragon was my tribe’s Scout Leader’s girlfriend.”

“Hmm,” Slangfang said. “This is all really weird.”

“I agree,” Firetail said.

“Hey Firetail?” Slangfang asked.

“Yeah?” Firetail said.

“You know the old egg song?” Slangfang said.

“The Be it Shell or Feather or Scale or Scale one?” Firetail said

“Mm-hm,” Slangfang said.

“Yep, I do. Why?” Firetail said.

“Do you think that one day, when this is all over and we’re older, it would work for us?” Slangfang said, blushing.

“I mean, why shouldn’t it?” Firetail said. “Just because we are from different tribes and our tribes are at war doesn’t mean it won’t.”

“Oh,” Slangfang said. “That makes sense.”

“Hey, Slangfang?” Firetail asked.

“Yeah?” Slangfang said.

“This might be a weird question, but, …” Firetail hesitated.

“What?” Slangfang asked, curious.

“Would you be my boyfriend?” Firetail said, blushing profusely.

“…” Slangfang said.

“Sorry! It’s totally fine if you say no or whatever I don’t really ca-” Firetail said, but he was interrupted by Slangfang.

“Firetail!” Slangfang said.

“What?” Firetail asked hesitantly.

“Yes, I totally will.” Slangfang said, smiling.

“Ok, well I guess that’s WAIT WHAT?!” Firetail said, going from dejected to ecstatic.

“I said yes,” Slangfang said, laughing.

“EEEEE!” Firetail said, tackling Slangfang to the ground.

“Oof!” Slangfang said. He rolled out from underneath Firetail and lay down next to him on the ground. After several minutes of lying down and enjoying each other’s company, Slangfang finally sat up.

“We should probably get going.” He said. “I need to lead a scouting mission today.”

“Sad,” Firetail said. He slowly got up. “See you soon?” He asked.

“Soon,” Slangfang said. He then lifted up into the air, flying towards the base camp of the Reptiliks. He landed in the outskirts of the area and then walked in as if he had just been relieving himself.

“There you are!” Gila said. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Sorry, sir,” Slangfang said. “I was relieving myself.”

“Ah,” Gila said. “Well, you said yesterday that you could lead a scouting team to investigate. You still up for it?”

“Yes, sir,” Slangfang said.

“Good,” Gila said. “Here is your team. We have Chameleo, Sandy, Crown, and Gator.” As he said each name, a dragon stepped forwards. Chameleo had a coiling tail and a colorful pattern on his back. His eyes swiveled around independently of each other. Sandy had a body shape similar to Slangfang, although she had a light sandstone color and almost no patterning. Crown was similar to Sandy, although he was larger and covered in dark blacks and browns. His neck also had a wide hood, revealing him as a Cobril dragon. Gator was short and stocky, with large jaws and green scales. His tail and legs were shorter than most, but they rippled with muscle.

“With this team, you shouldn’t have any problems whatsoever,” Gila said. “Now, off you go.” The group flew up and away, with Slangfang leading them towards the area where Crystal was kidnaped.

As they flew, the sun slowly rose into the sky until it was beating down on them with the intensity of a forger pounding his hammer on a sword.

“We’re here,” Slangfang said.

“Finally,” Gator said. He had a rough voice that sounded like sandpaper.

“Are you ssssure?” Sandy asked. “There are many of these mountainssss in the area.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Slangfang said. “Let’s investigate now.” The group flew down to the base of the mountain. Nestled amongst the trees nearby was a small house where Crystal had lived. Slangfang turned to face the mountain and stopped.

“Um, what is that?” he said, very unnerved. The others turned to face him and saw what he had seen. Right at the base of the mountain was a gaping hole large enough to swallow one of the massive plain elephants that grew to be strong enough to easily kill a dragon.

The hole had a feeling of wrongness seeping out of it. It was like a black void that nothing could escape. Slangfang stared into its depths, almost hypnotized.

“Do we have to go in that?” Crown said.

“Yes,” Slangfang said. “We do.”

“I don’t like it,” Chameleo said.

“I don’t either,” Sandy said. “But we have to.”

The group got out several torches and cautiously made their way inside the gaping hole. The darkness clawed at the flames, sending shadows flickering all over the place. The tunnel didn’t have a discernible floor or walls. It was almost completely round with a rough papery texture that rasped ominously.

Deeper and deeper they went, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. They all stopped as a clicking sound echoed below them, only to fade off as if it had never happened.

“That was ominous,” Gator said. He shivered.

“I’m ssure it wassss nothing,” Sandy said.

Crown continued on. As he moved forwards, the light from his torch flickered off of a small string that extended across the width of the tunnel.

“Look out!” Slangfang said, but he was too late. Crown’s leg triggered a mechanism that opened up part of the ceiling. A heavy object landed on Slangfang’s back and he tried to shake it off. Then, he felt a prick in his leg, and then everything went black.

…

“Get offa me!”

Slangfang woke up with a start. He looked up and found himself in a depression in the ground. He saw that two ant-like dragons were dragging Gator away into the tunnel.

He sat up more and saw that the rest of the group was lying unconscious in similar depressions. As the dragons moved away, Crown sat up quickly.

“Good, they’re gone,” he said.

“What’s happening?” Slangfang asked.

“Oh, you’re awake too. Good.” Crown said. “Well, these ant dragons appear to be kidnapping others and taking them somewhere into the tunnels.”

“Creepy,” Slangfang said.

“Creepy,” Crown agreed. “We should get out of here.”

“That we should,” Slangfang said. “Let's see if we can find a way out.”

“Keep your spells at the ready,” Crown said. He and Slangfang walked forwards cautiously. They were so tense they jumped at any noise.

With a clicking sound, two dragons ran past them, down a side tunnel. Slangfang and Crown froze, tensing. The dragons stopped and backtracked. They peered at the two dragons that stood there, examining their talons closely. There was a flickering of energy around them that showed that they were readying spells. An ant dragon sniffed Slangfang, causing him to twitch. The ant dragon snarled, and, in unison, Slangfang and Crown let loose their spells, creating a fiery blast that torched both dragons and continued on down the tunnel, exploding against the wall at the end.

The force of the explosion caused the wall to collapse, revealing a huge cavern swarming with ant dragons. Then Crown gasped.

“This material!” he said.

“What?” Slangfang said.

“It’s insect paper!” Crown said.

“And paper…” Slangfang said.

“Burns,” Crown said.

“Run!” Slangfang said. Both dragons turned and fled, following any path that led upwards. All around them, the ant dragons swarmed to put out the fire, but it was slowly burning its way through the walls, floor, and ceiling. Slangfang turned back once and saw the fire directly behind them.

They burst out of a small side tunnel that revealed the forest around them. Just as they did, the fire flickered out, eating away at the tunnel. The clouds opened up and rain poured down, dousing the flames partially and preventing them from burning the forest.

The mountain shook slightly and part of the side collapsed onto itself. Slangfang realized that the entire interior of the mountain was made of the same insect paper. The rumbling continued as the ground shifted.

“We’re not safe!” Slangfang shouted, but his words were concealed with a clap of thunder.

“What?” Crown said.

“We’re not safe!” Slangfang repeated, already backing away.

Crown realized what was happening and tried to get away, but the mountain crumbled into the forming sinkhole and swallowed him into its depths.

The rain pelted the ground as the ground settled. In the end, there was a large and deep depression in the ground where the mountain had once been. Slangfang was struck with grief at that moment. He knew that each one of the ant dragons had been someone else. And Gator, Sandy, and Chameleo too!

Slangfang turned and walked into the forest. His feet splashed in the growing puddles as he plodded through the forest while the clouds wept above.