Chapter 3: A Midnight Meeting

     It was a clear, cool night. A waning moon hung high in the night sky. Far off in the distance, a bird sang a lonely song. Then, a darting shadow slipped out of the great entrance of the cave. It was Darkclaw with revenge burning in his thoughts. As silently as a shadow, Darkclaw opened his wide, leathery wings and took flight. He scanned the ground for any sign of the shadowy visitor who had come earlier that day. Finally, Darkclaw glimpsed a moving human-shaped shadow. He angled his wings towards the ground and landed lightly.

     “I see you have come,” said Drakath after a pause.

     “Yes,” replied Darkclaw shortly.

    “You know my offer, but since you know real power when you see it I will give you even more. Forget the lowly Dragon Council, it is time to move to greater heights,” the enticing voice hissed. “I will make you the king over all my dragons I have captured, and eventually you will be ruler over ALL dragons, even the Council.” Darkclaw’s ruby colored eyes flashed with pleasure. So engrossed by the amazing offer, Darkclaw failed to notice the evil intent under Drakath’s smooth voice.

     “I will join you,” agreed Darkclaw quickly.

     “Then give me one of your scales or you cannot.” Slightly taken aback at the price, Darkclaw hesitated, and then plucked an ebony scale from his shoulder. Drakath produced a deep bowl of water and dropped the scale in. After a few seconds, the water began to boil, and then it turned black. Drakath tipped the dark liquid into a crystal goblet. He uttered a few words lost in the hiss of magic from the smoking goblet.  Slowly it began to harden until it was a solid crystal like the goblet. Drakath took it and placed it securely in a hidden fold in his cloak.

     This ceremony bound a dragon to a human soul. Now, Darkclaw belonged to Drakath, forever. Realizing what Drakath had done, Darkclaw let out a cry of pure fury.

     “You tricked me! It was a trap!” roared Darkclaw.

     “No, it is your own greed that was your downfall,” whispered Drakath with a sneer.

     Darkclaw realized that it was true.

*****

     The Dragon Council was troubled when Darkclaw was not in the Cave at morning.

     “Perhaps he went hunting?” Riverscale suggested.

     “He would have been back by now.” Goldenflame pointed out.

     “If he is truly gone, who will be representing the Shadow Dragons?” asked Eclipse.

     “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet,” rumbled Goldenflame.

     “But it is a possibility,” said Emberleaf, “Do you think he could have joined Drakath?”  Every dragon’s face darkened at the thought.

     “If he really did join Drakath, it would be trouble for us all,” said Stoneclaw seriously, “if he isn’t back by sundown, we will assume that is the case.”

*****

     Later after the sun had set, the dragons in the Dragon Cave were nervous and fearful that Darkclaw had indeed joined Drakath. In fact, the dragons began to tell rumors which was whispered and passed around.

     The next day, the Dragon Council held yet another meeting. . .

     “Darkclaw has most likely joined forces with Drakath,” informed Stoneclaw. “The Shadow dragons must find a new Shadow Element representative by the end of today. We will go to them right now to tell them.”

     Branching off from the Council’s meeting place or the Main Cavern was several tunnels that led deeper into the Cave. Seven of those led to the Seven Elements of the Dragon which were in Order of Power from left to right: Fire, Storm, Shadow, Lunar, Wind, Water, and Forest. The tunnel directly straight ahead split into two tunnels; one to the Nursery where Velicity had chosen her egg and the other to the Healer’s Cave. A smaller tunnel the far most right was where the Dragon Seer lived. The Council now proceeded to the ‘Shadow’ tunnel. After a while, they reached the cavern where the Shadow Dragons lived.

     Stoneclaw gave a roar to get their attention and started to speak. “Shadow Dragons, you most likely have heard that Darkclaw is missing. The Dragon Council believes that he has joined forces with Drakath.” He paused to let that sink in. The dragons muttered amongst themselves. “You will need to elect another replacement for Darkclaw to represent you. If Darkclaw returns to be a Shadow representative again, the new representative will be next to take over in the case that Darkclaw cannot continue representing the Shadow Dragons.”

     “Who is willing to take on the responsibilities of being the Shadow representative?” asked Stoneclaw to the crowd.

     For a while, no one spoke, then a female Shadow dragon stepped up alongside Stoneclaw.

     “I am Nightfang and I am willing to take on that responsibility,” said the female boldly.

     “Anyone else?” asked Stoneclaw to the Shadow dragon. A dark gray Shadow dragon stepped up. He had a muscular build and a malicious look in his eyes.

     “Blacknight, I am called. I am willing to be the Shadow representative,” he said, arrogance in his words.

     “Who would like Blacknight to be Shadow representative?” About half of the Shadow dragons roared approval.

     “And who would like Nightfang to be representing you?” A louder roar than before echoed in the spacious chamber.

     “Then the representative shall be Nightfang!” roared Stoneclaw to the crowd. Roars filled the cave. The Dragon Council nodded approvingly at the new leader of the Shadow dragons. Nightfang was officially the new leader of the Shadow dragons.

     “Come with us Nightfang, we will familiarize you with the Council. . .” Nightfang left the Shadow Cave with the Dragon Council.