New Dragon's World Chapter 18

New Dragon's World
Chapter 18: Theian's Decision Pt. 1

Crystal sat on the edge of the back seat, looking down as she cupped her hands together, only looking up to catch a glimpse of Titus and the others walking towards the car. Drake and Sean were sweating in fear of being yelled at by their parents.

With a stern look on his face, Titus walked up to his son and asked him, "Drake, would you care to explain to us what Crystal is doing here?"

Crystal jumped off the seat and walked in front of Drake, her eyes still focused to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Mr.Flamel! It's my fault! I hid in the back of your car before you all left. Please don't blame Drake!" She exclaimed.

"Do your parents know where you are at least?" Titus asked.

"Well…actually, Mr.Flamel. I told them you were going on vacation and that you said I could go along too…"

Titus rubbed his temples in annoyance. He paced back and forth for a short time then abruptly came to a stop. Letting out a hefty sigh, Titus shook his head, raised his arms, then quickly lowered them again.

"Well, it's too late to take her back." He said.

"Let's find somewhere to rest for the night." Ben suggested.

Titus agreed. Everyone got back in the cars and drove around, searching for a hotel, motel or just anywhere where they could spend the night. While they found neither a decent looking hotel or a motel, they pulled up to a bed n breakfast.  The building appeared rather old, looking as if it had built sometime in the 50's.  It rested on a small hill with a large sign overseeing the building that read, "Ma and Pa's Bed & Rest".

"Ma and Pa's?" Kyle thought aloud.  "Couldn't have been a little more creative?"

"Nice, Kyle." Jackie replied sarcastically.

Titus and Lucas parked their cars as the party got out and walked up to the house. There they were greeted by an eccentric middle aged woman and her two sons.

"Hello, there!" The woman greeted with a smile.

"Hi." Titus greeted back. "We were wondering if you had any available rooms."

"It's $20 a night." She explained.

"For all of us?!" Kyle exclaimed.

"Well the little ones don't have to pay of course."

Drake pointed to himself with a hint of confusion at which Sean and Crystal laughed. The woman showed everyone to their rooms while her sons brought in the luggage.

"You know, we usually don't have so many visitors." She said, unlocking the door to Titus and Sarah's room.

"There you are. Dinner will be ready shortly." The older of the two sons said, setting their stuff next to the closet.

Each of the six rooms was occupied. In the first room, Drake, Sean, Crystal and Tim. The second room saw Lucas and Rick. The third Ben and Jessie. Fourth was Jackie and Kyle. The fifth room had Titus' parents occupying it and the final room was occupied by Titus and Sarah.

Crystal jumped around happily. "It's kind of like a sleepover!" She exclaimed.

Following Crystal's example, Tim started to jump up and down on his bed excitedly, only to be scolded by Sean.  When at that moment, just as Sean was trying to get Tim to stop, the youngest of the house's owner's sons opened the door to see Tim still jumping. Tim looked over to see the man watching him. He knew right then and there that it was time for him to settle down. He stopped jumping and sat back down on the bed.

"Sorry, my little brother got a bit excited." Sean said.

"Oh, no, it's okay, don't worry! I just wanted to let you kids know that mom was going to make dinner soon."

"Really?! Cool!" Sean exclaimed as his stomach rumbled.

Time came and went and soon enough, it was time for dinner. Everyone sat around a long square table which took up nearly all the space in the dining room. There the house owners served them corn with some gravy and mashed potatoes. There was also a plump, juicy turkey seated right in the middle of the table.

"Boy." Titus said with anticipation. "With all this food, you could've sworn it was Thanksgiving."

"Well we don't usually have this many guests. So we wanted to cook up something really nice for you. We hope you like it." The older brother smiled as he served Drake some mashed potatoes.

Everyone got down to eating and for a few minutes, no words were spoken.

"So where are you folks headed?" Asked the younger brother.

"Well, we're heading to Death Valley. We plan to meet up with some friends of ours there."  Sarah said.

"Death Valley?!" The women exclaimed. "Sweetie, if I were you, I would just pack up and go home. Haven't you heard what happened?"

"Something happened at Death Valley too?" Ben asked.

"No, not at Death Valley. There's a town some ways from here that was attacked a few nights ago. No one knows what happened but the entire town's population just up and disappeared! Not a soul up there now!"

"No one?" Drake asked.

"No one. No woman, no child. No one." She replied.

"But still, we at least need to make sure our friends are alright!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Well, if you're hellbent on goin' up there, I won't stop you."

After dinner, what one would expect to be a loud, bustling night with that many guests, was instead a night of silence. In the kids' room, Tim tossed and turned in his bed, unable to get to sleep. He was troubled by what the woman had said about the town. He was afraid that maybe the dragons would try and take him away too. He was worried that if that did happen, he would never see his big brother or his dad again. He knew how sad they would be and how sad he would be without their love and protection.

Crystal woke up to notice Tim still squirming around, making whining sounds as he shifted back and forth in his bed. So she got up and kneeled down, getting to his eye level.

"Are you okay, Tim?" She whispered softly.

"Crystal, I'm scared. I don't want those dragons to take me!" He whispered back.

The little boy sat up and sniffled. Crystal sat on his bed, placing an arm around Tim's shoulder and bringing him closer to her.

"I won't let them take you. And I know Sean and Drake won't either. " She smiled, trying to reassure him.

Tim noticed her smile and started to feel calmer. He smiled back at her and then said…

"Thanks, Crystal! I kinda wish you were my big sister."

Crystal giggled a little. "Well, Tim. Maybe someday I will be. Now c'mon, let's get to sleep."

Tim nodded and lay his head back down on the pillow. Crystal got under the sheets and quickly drifted off into slumber. For the rest of the night, everything was peaceful.

The next morning, having said their thanks and farewells to the kind woman and her sons who had provided them a place to stay, Titus and the gang were back on the road, making their inevitable way to the small town which the dragons had decimated some time before. Drake sat in the front seat with his dad, tapping his fingers on the car door and staring off into space as he watched the endless scenery go by.  This time, Crystal sat in the back seat with Titus' parents as they likewise watched the passing scenery.

"We must be getting closer to that town." Said Titus.

After about another hour or so more of driving, they came across what they assumed was the town the bed n breakfast owner and the gas station employee had told them about. Just as they were about to enter the town, Titus' car came to a screeching halt. He stepped out and looked around in horror. It was even worse than they had described it. Buildings were destroyed, some having even been burned to the ground. Everyone got out and looked around.

"Oh, my God." Jackie said scared.

"This is terrible." Rick said.

"Don't look, Tim." Lucas said as he picked up his youngest son.

As they looked around a little more, Drake noticed someone, lying on the ground face down. He ran over to make sure he was alright. He moved the man on his back and shook him to try and wake him up.

"Hey, mister! Mister, are you okay?!" Drake asked.

Titus walked over to his son who was still attempting to wake him up.

"Drake, stop!" Titus commanded.

Titus pointed to the man's stomach, where a huge hole had been left. Dried blood had run from the wound, covering part of his shirt and pants.

"It's too late, Drake. He's gone…" Titus said in a mournful tone.

Still looking at the wound, Titus rubbed his fingers against the blood which was now brown and flaking.

"The blood's dried. This didn't just happen. He's been dead for quite awhile." Titus explained.

"Uncle Titus! Come here!" Exclaimed Jackie.

"Titus…those aren't…" Sarah said horrified, unable to finish her sentence.

She was pointing to three badly burned bodies. The burns had made it difficult to determine just who the people once were. Hair had been burned off, skin completely charred, some even missing. All that remained were the eyes of the deceased which still held a feel of unspeakable terror in them.

"Oh, God…" Jackie said equally as terrified as Sarah.

Kyle hunched over and started to throw up. Drake, Sean and Crystal were petrified. As badly as they wanted to scream, they couldn't. They looked on in fear, wanting nothing more than to leave this place as soon as possible.

"We should at least bury them before we leave." Lucas said.

Titus agreed. "First, let's look around. Someone should still be here."

The gang split up into groups and searched the entire town. Drake and his friends went one way, Titus, Rick and Sarah going another way. Lucas went with Ben and Jessie while Jackie and Kyle went together, leaving Titus' parents to check around. They called out for anyone who may have still remained, only to be given no answer.

Titus noticed a small bar with the door still open. He ran up and looked inside, seeing if there was anyone around. As he stepped in, he heard a crunching sound beneath his feet. He looked down, noticing the shards of glass that covered the floor. Trying to pay no mind to it, he continued in, as with each step he took, more and more crunches followed. He called out once more. Still no answer. He looked over the bar counter, hoping someone may have been hiding underneath. Nothing more than more broken beer bottles.

Meanwhile, Drake, Crystal, Sean, and Tim walked down what would normally be a bustling little neighborhood. They called out, not receiving an answer either.

"Okay this is scaring me." Sean said.

"Me too…" Tim agreed, clinging to Sean.

As they continued down the neighborhood, eventually getting to another street, they were greeted with the sound of a blaring car horn. Thinking it was someone beeping for help, they ran to find the source of the sound, only to come across a badly damaged car with the top missing. Tim put his hands over his ears to try and drown out the sound. Drake and Crystal looked around, taking note of all the destroyed houses, some of them having even been burned to the ground. They felt bad for the people who lived in those houses. Even if they were to find them, where would those people have to go? They didn't have homes anymore.

"Let's keep going." Sean said.

Ben, Jessie, and Lucas walked past a grade school. Figuring there may have been at least someone in the school, they decided to check it out. They noticed that some of the doors had been torn off. Walking through the hallways, they called out, hoping to receive an answer. Nothing. So they continued through the halls, calling out to anyone who may have remained. Still they received no answer. They then realized they would have no such luck. Still they figured it would be best to continue to look around. As they looked, Lucas looked at all the drawings the kids had done. Some of the drawings were of the kids with their families, others were of what the kids wanted to be when they were older. One such picture caught his eye. In the picture, a little boy was standing outside his house, with his parents and what appeared to be his older brother beside him. Lucas looked at the bottom of the picture, reading aloud the name written on it:

"Tim…" He said as a tear ran down his face.

Without saying another word, Lucas let go of the picture, tears running down his face. He walked past Ben and Jessie, his head hung to the ground so that they wouldn't see him crying…

After having scouted the entire town, everyone met back up. Lucas walked up to his sons and gave them both a big hug.

"Dad?" Sean asked, confused and slightly embarrassed.

"Sean, Tim, your father loves you both very much." He said in a strained voice.

"We love you, too, dad! Are you okay?" Tim asked worriedly.

Lucas sniffled, then said, "Yeah. Don't worry."

Titus sighed. "Well…" He said, trying to think of something to say. "We've done what we can…Let's bury these people now…"

Everyone agreed. Titus and his parents turned into their dragon forms and used their tails to dig four holes next to the town hall.

"Drake, you and your friends don't have to do this. Go and wait in the car, okay?" Titus said.

"It's okay, dad, I'll help." He said.

After having dug four holes big enough to fit a person into, Drake and the others brought the charred corpses and the body of the man who had been impaled through the stomach over, placing them in each of the holes. The dragons then used their tails to push the dirt over the holes, filling them up. With the job done, they turned back to their human forms and took ten steps back to get one final look at the graves they had dug. The graves were dug right under a tall tree with beautiful red leaves. Titus was surprised. Fall hadn't come yet and it already appeared that the leaves had changed color. Just as he continued to watch the leaves, he heard a flapping sound. He looked higher into the sky, noticing a large shadow over them. It was too bright to make out just what it was but it started to grow bigger, lowering itself until it reached the ground.

"Theian!" Titus exclaimed.

Theian looked over at Titus with a small hint of surprise. "So, Doulstraz, you're alright. I was worried you died back there."

"Theian!... You did this, didn't you?!" Titus growled angrily.

"…Yes." Theian said without any hint of emotion in his voice.
Titus' anger began to swell. "WHY?!" He shouted. "What did those people ever do to you?!"

"It isn't about 'what they did to me'. It's about Saulstrance looking to complete his plan." Theian explained.

"This goes beyond just 'collecting humans', doesn't it? What does Saulstrance really want, Theian?" Titus' dad asked.

Theian looked at the group with his usual, stern look. He didn't know what good would come out of telling them but he knew that if his mom were in his position, she would probably tell them anyway.

"Saulstrance plans to turn this world into his kingdom. To do that, he is using us to help him capture humans."

"How many towns and cities have you conquered already?" Asked Jackie.

"So far this is our only one. Although right now the others are probably attacking another small town as we speak." Theian explained.

"YOU!!" Titus exclaimed, ready to fight Theian once more.

"What good do you think fighting me will bring? It won't bring back this town and it won't bring back those humans who died."

Titus continued to growl. Deep down, he knew Theian was right. But still though, he couldn't help but be angry at him. He tried to calm himself down.

"Why are you helping us?" Titus asked in a calmer tone.

"Because I don't particularly agree with his goals. I heard you tell Girido once that Angela…that my mother never hated humans. So I figured that if she were still alive…and saw me like this…that she would probably never want to speak to me again…" Theian said in a slight melancholy tone.

"Theian…"

"Don't get me wrong!" He said. "I don't plan to become your friend. But I'm not going to let Saulstrance continue this stupid plan of his. Not if it makes my mother - -"

"Just stop it!" Titus shouted. "You keep saying, 'mother this and mother that'! You're just making excuses for yourself!"

"What the hell would you know?!" Theian exclaimed in a furious tone.

"You think you're the only one that misses her?! She died right in front of me when I was just a kid!! I've never been able to forget that no matter how badly I wanted to! At first I wanted to fight Saulstrance just for revenge. But this isn't just about revenge anymore. I want to fight him because I love this world. The world that Angela also grew to love."

Theian growled under his breath.

"I'm glad I ended up in this world. If I hadn't, I would never have become Ben's brother, or Jackie and Kyle's uncle. I would never have become friends with Luke, or met Sarah. And Drake would have never been born. That's why I want to protect them and this world!"  Titus exclaimed.

Without another word, Theian turned his back to the group and unfurled his wings, about to take off. But just then, he was stopped by Titus, who reached into his pocket, pulling out the single scale left behind by Angela.

"Theian…you should have this…" Titus said sadly, holding the scale out in front of him.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Angela's scale. The only one she left behind…" Titus said as a tear ran down his face.

"Titus!" Sarah gasped.

"It's okay…It is from his mom anyway…Theian's the one who should really have it…" Titus said in a strained voice.

"PUT THAT AWAY!!" Theian shouted.

"What?" Titus asked confused.

"I don't need you feeling bad for me! You put that thing away before I kill you!" He shouted once more.

"Hey, Titus was trying to be nice to you! You don't have to be such a dick!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Listen to me. Tomorrow, one of three things will happen: First, I may decide to leave Saulstrance's group and join with you.  But I also might not join you and may decide to fight Saulstrance myself." Theian explained.

"So what's the third possibility?" Asked Sarah.

"Third possibility is…" Theian started to say.

TO BE CONTINUED