A Dragonlings' Haunted Halloween: Dragonlings of Valdier (6 page)

You go to them. I want to ride on the
moving transport. I’ve been watching Cara. It looks like so much
fun. Especially when it goes up to the ceiling and back down very
fast,
Arosa replied.

Go have fun on your ride,
Arilla said
with a wave of her hand.
I’m going down to see what the
Dragonlings are doing. They are trying to catch something it looks
like.

Arosa nodded, turning back to where the men
sat trying to get the machine to work. She knew the women were
there. She had seen them up in the area where all the controls were
for the playground.

Dissolving into a fine mist, she moved
swiftly down to the cart as it began to move. Just before she
reached it, the cavern was plunged into darkness. She swept past
one of the carts, brushing one of the men before she settled in the
last one and partially reformed.

*.*.*

Arilla smiled as the babies gathered around
her as she settled down on the ground next to them. A soft laugh
escaped her when Phoenix crawled into her lap and looked up at her
with brilliant dark brown eyes.

“Hello, little one,” Arilla whispered as she
gently stroked the soft black feathers covering Phoenix. “What are
you and the others doing?”

Phoenix rubbed her snout against Arilla’s
gold cheek before she turned and hopped back over to where Symba
and the other symbiots’ lit the ground with a soft light. Wiggling
her tail, she waited.

Arilla laughed as Phoenix and Spring and the
other Dragonlings, plus Roam, tried to pounce on the heads popping
up out of the ground. Whenever they were successful, a stream of
warm water would spray them. Arilla shimmered for a moment before
she changed into a small golden dragon that resembled Phoenix, only
she was covered in gold feathers. With a giggle, she joined in the
fun.

*.*.*

“I’m telling you, something touched me,”
Ha’ven snapped as he strained to move the bar. He was about to make
it dissolve when thousands of twinkling lights lit the cavern.
“What the…”

“That is the same thing Trelon said
earlier,” Vox commented in a distracted voice as he looked up at
the ceiling with a frown. “Are those stars?”

“It looks like it, but that is impossible,”
Zoran said from the front. “What is that?”

Mandra shuddered as dozens of glowing orange
eyes appeared. “I don’t know,” he replied in a gruff voice. “It
looks like something Ariel would bring home, though.”

“They’re moving closer,” Ha’ven said.
“Either that, or we are.”

“I’m pretty sure, it’s both,” Mandra
replied, trying to shrink down in the seat as the large bodies of
the spiders suddenly started to glow and their mouths opened and
closed as they crawled down the web spread out across the tracks.
“Don’t kill them,” he added in a rough voice.

“Why not?” Trelon asked desperately as he
felt for the knife he usually carried.

“Because they are probably Ariel’s new
pets,” Mandra groaned and closed his eyes as he slid sideways
against Kelan as they passed underneath the chomping creatures.

“You can sit up now,” Kelan informed Mandra
once they were clear. “Just sit in the cart. I want to see what
happens.”

“You have been around Trisha and Paul too
long,” Creon muttered as the carts turned in a curve to the left.
“What is that, Trelon?”

“I don’t know!” Trelon said in exasperation
as he realized that he had left his knife back in his living
quarters.

“I think Ariel must have left half her pets
here,” Zoran muttered under his breath as more eyes started to
appear as they entered a thick forest. “What is that sound? Why are
they asking us ‘Who?’”

“You are as bad as the twins!” Trelon
retorted. “I don’t know what type of creatures they are or why they
are asking us who. Maybe they want to know our names.”

“I am Zoran Reykill,” Zoran called out. He
waited a few seconds, but the creatures just kept saying the same
thing over and over. “Tell them your names, as well.”

“I am Trelon Reykill,” Trelon called out.
“They just keep saying the same thing.”

“Well, maybe they need to know that Vox
d’Rojah, King of the Sarafin, is here,” Vox said loudly. A snicker
behind him had him glancing over his shoulder at Kelan. “What is so
funny?”

“I didn’t laugh,” Kelan replied, raising his
hands off the bar.

“Don’t look at me,” Mandra said with a shake
of his head. “I already know who you are.”

Vox’s head whipped round when a low snarl
and glowing, yellow eyes sounded from the woods next to him. A loud
hiss escaped him when five beasts covered in dark gray hair that
stood up on the backs of their necks stepped out from between
several of the trees. He shifted before he was aware of what he was
doing.

“Bloody Sarafin,” Ha’ven cursed as he
suddenly found himself plastered between the side of the cart and a
pile of hissing fur. “Vox! Shift back before you crush me!”

Vox’s eyes were frozen on the ghostly shape
of the four-legged creatures. He swiped his massive paw at one when
it came close enough, but it went right through the creature. The
one furthest to the left suddenly stopped and a loud howl filled
the cavern.

Vox didn’t change back until he felt a sharp
tug on his tail. He turned and glared at Ha’ven who was glaring
back at him. Settling in the seat, he glanced back over his
shoulder as a shudder ran through his body.

“What was that?” Ha’ven asked Vox in an
aggravated voice. “You usually don’t just shift like that, do
you?”

“No, not since I was a young cub,” Vox
muttered in a rough voice. “There was something about those
creatures that pulled my cat out.”

“Well, next time it happens, get out of the
cart first,” Ha’ven snapped. “You almost crushed me and I didn’t
like having your ass in my face.”

“It looks like we are coming out of the
forest,” Creon interrupted, pointing between Kelan and Mandra.
"Look, the tracks are moving up.”

“Mandra, your mate needs some serious help
with picking her pets,” Vox called out over his shoulder. “I don’t
like those last ones. I think you should kill those beasts. At
least you could use their fur.”

“What’s the matter, Vox? Need a new jacket
for your mate already?” Kelan chuckled.

“I don’t like half of them, but if it makes
her happy, I live with it. By the way, you are not making any coats
out of my mate’s pets,” Mandra replied with a hard tap to the back
of Vox’s head.

“Why does everyone keep bringing that up?”
Vox complained as the carts moved in a wide circle around what
looked like a miniature mountain face complete with snow. Strange,
black flying creatures sat at different points, making cawing
noises and snapping their beaks at them. “I thought the jackets
were alive! I was just trying to protect Riley. How was I supposed
to know the hideous thing was a piece of clothing?”

“I don’t know about you, but my dragon is
sending out a warning,” Trelon muttered in concern as they climbed
higher.

“Mine too,” Creon called out, wrapping his
hands around the bar in front of him. “I don’t sense any danger,
just a feeling of anticipation.”

“As long as there aren’t any more of those
beasts back there at the top, I’m good,” Vox commented.

“This is actually enjoyable,” Kelan added as
he sat back. “My dragon isn’t worried at all.”

*.*.*

Trelon wasn’t feeling as confident as his
brother. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something was
bothering his dragon. He reached inside and saw that
his
dragon was burrowing down as if to weather one of
the violent storms that sometimes formed on their world.

“Wow! Did you see that?” Kelan muttered as
he gazed at the ceiling as the cart came to a stop at the very top
of the miniature mountain. “Trelon, I think your mate was messing
with the environmental system again.”

Trelon’s eyes swept across the sky above
them. Large bolts of lightning and swirling clouds darkened the
area above their heads. A fierce stream of wind blew on them as
they sat near the ceiling of the cavern. He lowered his eyes to
gaze out over the cavern. They were in a far corner of it. From the
angle they were stopped at, it gave them a view of the entire
underground area.

“This is incredible,” he murmured out loud.
“The planning that went into this, not to mention the engineering,
is unbelievable.”

“I see the forest with those hairy beasts
moving through it,” Vox said in unease.

“Look over there!” Zoran groaned, pointing
to another section where the faint sound of laughter could be heard
about the rising storm and the loud cawing of the birds. “Abby is
going to kill me.”

“How did they get out?” Trelon muttered as
he saw Amber and Jade’s distinctive dragons running through a
section and disappearing inside a building. “There is something on
top of the building!”

“Trelon,” Zoran said in a low voice.

“I saw something moving down there,” Trelon
growled. “Something that I’ve never seen before.”

“There have been a lot of things I’ve never
seen before,” Ha’ven commented as he winced as another bolt of
lightning flashed close by and the carts they were in shook. “Am I
the only one who thinks being up high is not a good idea?”

“I don’t think that is going to be a
problem,” Zoran muttered grimly as his hands tightened around the
bar in front of him. “I suggest everyone hold on.”

Trelon finally looked down to where Zoran
was staring as the carts began to move again. Now he understood the
apprehension his dragon was feeling. As the lightening flashed
again, he could clearly see that the tracks appeared to end right
in front of them. A loud curse escaped him as he suddenly felt the
cart start to fall. Ha’ven, Kelan, and Creon’s voices rose with his
as they sped downward in a free fall that left his stomach back at
the top of the mountain.

Laughter exploded from him as the carts
suddenly twisted and turned. They passed through a tunnel with
flashing lights and strange, ghostly faces, before they were back
out into the cavern and a large splash of warm water covered them
as they found themselves suddenly floating in the river.

“I want to do that again,” Zoran yelled as
he wiped the water from his face and twisted in his seat. “That was
almost as good as being in my dragon form and flying.”

“Did you see the cave?” Mandra chuckled. “I
jumped when the lights came on.”

“I loved the twist and turns,” another,
unfamiliar voice said next to Creon.

Trelon twisted around to see who it was.
Creon was cursing, low at first, then louder, as he finally pushed
the bar holding him up and he half jumped, half fell out of the
back of the cart into the water. It wasn’t long
before
he was the only one still sitting in the cart.
Some type of braking system must have engaged when the bar lifted
because the carts stopped moving.

His mouth opened and closed as the ghostly
golden figure of a beautiful woman rose up and float
ed
toward him. He cleared his throat and his eyes
flashed to where the others were climbing up onto the bank. His
eyes shifted back and he twisted until he was standing in the front
of the cart.

“Who… what are you?” He asked warily as it
hovered in front of him.

“Boo!” Arosa said, switching forms.

Trelon jerked to the side as the floating
form dissolved and in its place was a massive beast with six heads
and glowing red eyes. He called to his dragon as he
swung
over the side of the cart and into the water.
When he emerged, he was in his dragon form prepared to fight.

His head snapped around at the sound of
giggles. The gold figure of the woman was once again sitting in the
cart, this time where he and Zoran had been. She waved her hand and
all the bars moved back into place.

“Trick or Treat, Trelon Reykill,” she
whispered before she and the carts disappeared as if they had never
been there.

“Trelon,” Zoran called from the bank,
drawing his attention.

Trelon turned back to glance at Zoran who
stood waiting for him. He moved through the shallow river to the
bank. Digging his claws into the rocky surface, he pulled himself
out. Once he was on dry land, he turned to look once more at where
the woman and the carts had been before he shifted.

“What was that?” Zoran demanded. “And where
did the carts go?”

Trelon ran his hand through his wet hair and
glared at his older brother. He was getting tired of everyone
asking him what was going on! Just because his mate created this
didn’t mean he understood any of it. That was why he had placed the
damn tracking device on her in the first place, so he could find
out!

“Where are the others?” He asked
instead.

“They are trying to round up the younglings
before the women discover they are missing. I wonder if Abby will
believe me if I tell her I was following Zohar if she catches me,”
Zoran replied with a grin before he shook his head. “Probably not,
she knows me too well.”

“Let’s go find the kids. I think I’ve had
enough of this Halloween,” Trelon muttered as he glanced back at
where the empty tracks stood in the glow of the now, storm-free,
ceiling.

Arilla ran with Phoenix, Spring and Symba.
She loved the lighthearted moments with the different species she
encountered, especially their young. The other symbiots and
Dragonlings had separated as they ran to play in different parts of
the wonderful world that had been created.

She climbed up the steps onto the wiggling
bridge that lead to a house of some type. Both Dragonlings climbed
with confidence showing they knew exactly where they were going.
Giggles filled the air as she stepped through the door. Mirrors of
all shapes and sizes lined the room.