Chapter Three
The Aurora Mountain Dragon City
(47)
When Jeff, Chess, Roy, and Alli reached the saiga herd, they found Poppy’s parents. Poppy was finally reunited with his mother and father.
(48)
Lily then approached them and said, “Thank you for what you all have done. I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want,” replied Jeff. “We’re all just glad it’s all over with.”
“I see,” said Lily. “I take it that you all are here to move to the new Dragon City as well?” she asked them.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am,” Chess responded to her. “I don’t quite get what you mean. You see, me and all my friends were out hiking when we came across your kid.”
“Then you simply must allow me to introduce you to Costello,” she said. “It’s the least I can do. After what you’ve done, he’ll most certainly want to meet all of you!”
(49)
Lily then guided the friends to meet Costello, a wingless purple dragon with a horse’s mane in between two large horns on his head. As they approached, Lily turned back, and Costello looked toward them and said, “Is this the strange herd of animals I’ve heard so much about?”
(50)
“Um, I don’t mean to be rude here, but,” Chess said as he approached the dragon, “How in the world could you have heard about us before being introduced to us just now? Who are you?”
“Oh?” replied Costello, smiling, “Don’t you have an older canine companion in your company?”
“Yes, but-”
“You have so many questions,” Costello said, interrupting Chess as he continued. “But if you want answers to your questions so badly, why don’t you just ask your friend Marie for them?”
Costello pointed over toward a way over on the other side of the clearing and said, “There be the answers you seek.”
(51)
The herd of friends gazed in the direction Costello pointed and walking into view was -MARIE! She’s alive!
Her fur was all a mess. She was limping and visibly shaken, but she was alive- and that’s all that mattered.
“MARIE!” The different members of the herd of friends all began to call out as they raced toward her. “We’re coming, Marie!”
“Chess! Jeff! Roy! Alli!” she called back to them.
(52)
There were so many questions, but none of them mattered at that exact moment in time. There were tears of joy streaming down the faces of every member as the group of friends were made whole once more.
As they gathered together in one big group hug, though no one said a word, there was an understood feeling among everyone that they would be friends now and always.
(53)
After the friends had reunited and wiped away their tears from their faces, Jeff spoke up saying, “Mr. Costello, sir, it was you who rescued Marie, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” added Alli, “That’s how you know her, isn’t it? How in the world did you come across our friend?”
(54)
“Costello is the founder of the brand-new Dragon City being built right here on the side of Aurora Mountain.” Marie began to explain.
“Really?” asked Alli.
“Well,” replied Costello, “it’s not much of anything yet, but that will change as time carries on -Rome wasn’t exactly built in a day.”
“Who’s Rome?” asked Jeff.
“Yeah, and why did they need to build him?” added Roy. Costello laughed and said, “Never mind then. I’ll explain it to you later some other time.”
(55)
“Anyway,” Costello continued on to say, “As the founder of this new city, it’s my job to protect and oversee the growth of the city to ensure it prospers. I was out on patrol when I spotted Karthrix falling down the mountainside alongside another animal. By the time I reached the area Karthrix had already taken off, so I went to check on the other creature who had fallen.”
“That’s when Costello and I met,” Marie explained, “and I’m so glad we did.”
“Indeed,” responded Costello, “I carried her back to the city for medical treatment. And that’s when she told me all about you all. I offered her sanctuary at the city since that’s where all the saiga herds in the area are moving to and she was most likely to meet up with all of you again.”
(56)
“Because,” continued Marie, “I told Costello all about how we all became friends, climbed a mountain together, and rallied together to stand up to that awful lion when he came after that poor baby saiga.”
“Yes,” said Costello aloud while eyeing the group of friends, “Speaking of which-” he began to say.
(57)
“Everything you all have done up to this point,” explained Costello, “your friendship, teamwork, compassion, bravery, and perseverance -these are the qualities that make dragon squads as powerful as they are legendary.”
(58)
“What do you mean?” asked Jeff. “What’s a dragon squad?”
“A dragon squad is a group of creatures deputized with the power and authority to serve and protect their dragon city, as well as all the citizens who reside therein,” explained Costello. “The Dragon City of Aurora Mountain is still brand new, with barely a building in sight, but as you all have already experienced for yourselves today, the city is not without its struggles and adversities. And if you are willing, I would like to deputize all of you as the new dragon squad that will help me maintain peace and order here on Aurora Mountain. But whether or not any of you decide to join is entirely up to you.”
(59)
Marie, Alli, Chess, Jeff, and Roy all gathered together in a huddle to think and discuss Costello’s offer amongst themselves.
“I don’t know about this, you guys,” said Jeff. “Should we really be doing this? I mean, what he’s asking us to do is a really big responsibility.”
“Costello seems to think we can handle it,” replied Chess.
“Yeah,” added Roy, “and besides, we already stood up to that one lion already. How much more difficult can it get than that?”
“Well, whatever we decide, I think the final vote should go to Marie,” said Alli, “After all, she did risk her own life.”
“Okay then,” said Jeff, “what do you think we should do, Marie?”
(60)
“I think,” said Marie, “if being a part of this dragon squad allows us to help out even more creatures like we did today for Poppy and his family, then becoming part of the Dragon Squad is worth all the risk and responsibility that doing so entails.”
“Agreed,” replied Roy. The group of friends then decided together that they would take Costello up on his offer.
(61)
Then, they all broke up from their huddle so that they could face Costello.
“Mr. Costello,” said Chess, “we have all talked it over, and we’ve all decided that we want to become your Dragon City’s newest dragon squad.”
“Excellent,” Costello responded. “Follow me then to the Dragon Pond. I shall deputize you there.”
(62)
As they gathered before the pond, Costello then explained to them, “This Dragon Pond is where all the magic needed to power the city, as well as give its guardian protectors the abilities they need to protect and serve the city, are stored. Every Dragon City ever founded has one located at the center of their city.”
Costello continued to say as he dipped his front paw into the glowing water, “Come forward one by one and I shall bestow its magic onto you so that you can tap into its energy and become full-fledged members of Aurora Mountain’s new dragon squad.”
(63)
“So what you’re saying is-” Alli began to ask excitedly, “I mean, are we getting powers?”
“Yes,” said Costello, “but I’m afraid it’s only my shared dragon ability to grow plants since I’m the only dragon currently living in the city. Your duty to the city will be two-fold: the first being to serve and protect the city and all its citizens, and the second being to go out in the surrounding lands near the city and recruit wild dragons into accepting a domesticated life in the city. The more dragons that join the city, the more energy the Dragon Pond has to power the city and the more shared dragon abilities you will also get in turn to help you protect said city.”
(64)
“But how in the world are we supposed to know which dragons are which?” Roy complained.
“A very good question,” replied Costello, “You see my medallion, like the ones you all have now as well?”
“Yeah,” said Roy.
“Well,” explained Costello, “these medallions are a manifestation of our direct connection to the Dragon Pond and are what allows us to use the shared dragon abilities unique to other dragons. Any dragon with such a medallion is already a member of a dragon city somewhere, but any dragon without one is still very much wild and might be potentially dangerous. So you’ll have to use your best judgement and be careful when coming across them in the wild.”
“What about those who are clearly non-dragon members of the city and have no medallion, like the saiga family that just moved here?” asked Alli. “Do they just not have any magical abilities?”
“Well, no, not exactly,” said Costello, “Normally, this kind of magic, to tap into shared dragon abilities, only works among other dragon citizens, but since I’m the founder, I alone can deputize non-dragons and allow access to them. But I don’t just deputize anybody willy-nilly. Only those who prove themselves trustworthy and true obtain such a privilege to share the power of dragons. Otherwise, the only powers those who are non-dragon citizens receive are slight telekinesis, levitation, and telepathy. And for most, these powers don’t really develop until they’ve lived in the city uninterrupted for a couple of months.”
(65)
“And you five have more than proven yourselves as such,” Costello continued to speak, “especially since you protected that little guy from a lion attack!”
“Speaking of which,” Jeff quietly turned to Roy, asking, “Why did that lion want us to hand over Poppy so bad that he’d attack us?”
“Yeah,” said Roy, “That does sound really weird when you say it out loud.”
“I believe I can answer that,” came a gruff and commanding voice.
(66)
“Squad members,” answered Costello, “This is Kaiba, a former member of the Lion Tribe Altri. Don’t be frightened though- he’s on our side.”
“Thank you, Costello,” replied Kaiba. “I see that you’ve finally gotten around to forming a dragon squad, and here I was, hoping there would still be an opening for me,” Kaiba said teasing before his voice turned somber again as he said, “but all silliness aside, I’m afraid the threat from Karthrix and the rest of all those who are loyal to the Altri Tribe is all too real.”
“What do you mean?” asked Jeff, “Are all lion tribes bad?”
Kaiba laughed and said, “No, of course not. There are plenty of powerful and peaceful lion tribes, but Tribe Altri, on the other hand, is tragically nothing of the sort.”
“Yeah, but why?” asked Roy, “If most lion tribes are good, then why is this one so different?”
“I’m afraid the answers to your questions have sad and tragic origins,” responded Kaiba.
(67)
“Many years ago, when I was just a young cub,” Kaiba explained, “Tribe Altri was like any other lion tribe -proud and strong- until the first attempt to build a dragon city here on Mount Aurora occurred.
“You see, this isn’t the first time a dragon city has been built in this very location. The first dragon city was built using magic to grow the trees into naturally forming buildings. The city was beyond overcrowded and poorly designed for public safety, but that didn’t discourage the founders of the original Aurora Mountain Dragon City from allowing even more construction, along with mass influxes of creatures from all over the world into the city, with no plans in place with which to properly house them all.
“No one knows to this day how the fire started, only that the infernal blaze burned so hot and spread so quickly that it engulfed the entire mountainside in minutes. The fire could be seen miles away, turning the night sky red with flames -I know because I was there. Nearly an entire city’s population perished in the terrible event now known as the Aurora Mountain Fire.
“My father, the leader of the Altri, along with his followers, were furious with the dragons who built the city and blamed them for the destruction and massive loss of life that occurred both during and in the aftermath of the fire. But in time, their righteous anger would give way toward blind hatred, and suddenly, you were either on Tribe Altri’s side or on the side of the dragons.”
(68)
“The lions of Altri hated the dragons of Aurora and all who supported them, including all those who chose to go live in the cities.” Kaiba continued explaining, “Even going so far as to consider any and all of those animals that willingly travel to the dragon cities as ‘fair game’ and began targeting them for acts of extreme violence. As I got older, I came across one of the survivors of the Aurora Mountain Fire, a hyena by the name of Petra, and in time, our friendship grew into something more. She believed in giving the dragons a second chance, a chance to learn from their mistakes and allow them to rebuild the Aurora Mountain Dragon City, but I knew my father’s hatred would never allow him to understand her perspective and he would have most certainly seen her as ‘fair game’. So I hid our relationship for many years until it was finally discovered and we both were forced to run away. And I,” said Kaiba, “have never returned home nor have had any contact with my father or any other members of Altri since.”
(69)
“That’s awful,” said Alli. Kaiba released a heavy sigh. “I know,” he said, “I’ve tried to keep tabs on things going on within the Altri through other means, but I only get bits of information here and there.”
“Like what?” asked Roy. “If you don’t mind us knowing, that is.”
“Not much,” replied Kaiba, “Mostly hearing about the birth of my younger brother, Karthrix, not too long after I was forced to leave. And that our father banished our mother not long after that. Karthrix has grown up completely under the new Altri way of hatred against any and all who are not a part of, or supportive of, the tribe. I hold no reservations in my mind about our father not wanting to lose the loyalty of another one of his cubs to the Dragons of Aurora Mountain Dragon City and has undoubtedly been using far harsher and manipulative means to ensure that end… I wish there were something more I could do about all of this, for Karth’s sake anyway.``
(70)
“So you see,” said Costello as he shook hands with a passerby, “nothing about this new city’s situation is easy or simple, and the challenges we will face moving forward will be difficult to say the very least.”
“I see,” responded Alli.
“But there’s still one thing I don’t get,” asked Chess, “What is it that draws so many different kinds of non-dragon animals to these cities? Don’t you guys have problems with predator-prey relationships with so many different kinds of animals in one place?”
“Actually,” said Costello, “it’s because of the answer to your second question that is the reason for the first. Part of the path toward becoming a citizen of a dragon city is agreeing, whether you be prey or predator, dragon or non-dragon, to never eat, hunt, or in any way consume another fully sentient animal regardless of their citizenship status.
All major and minor predators, or otherwise omnivorous creatures, must agree to abide by a strict diet that contains bugs, small fish, and a wide and extremely varied assortment of fruits and vegetables in order to supplement their loss of protein and other nutritional needs. So animals from all over flock to these cities because of the obvious benefits that come from living in a place where you are much more likely to live a prosperous life in safety than living virtually anywhere else.”
(71)
“So as members of the Dragon Squad,” Jeff began to ask, “we’ll be expected to look after all of this? Even potentially dealing with Tribe Altri?”
“Yes,” said Costello, “but you won’t be doing it alone. I will lead and train your squad until you are ready to go out on patrol on your own, as well as do missions solo. As the Dragon Squad, you’ll not only be protecting others like the saiga family you saved earlier today or families like Kaiba’s that have nowhere else to go, but you’ll be protecting a new and better way of life open to any who choose to pursue it.”
“Then what are we waiting for already!?” Roy shouted excitedly, “Let’s get into those uniforms and be the Dragon Squad already!”
(72)
...To Be Continued…
...In Chapter Four!
...See you next time on Aurora Mountain...