Kitty looked bereft, heartbroken. Only a few minutes earlier things had apparently been going so well, and now here she was, captured by the people she feared, loathed and hated the most. Scared at the thought of what they would do to her, it didn't stop her asking.
"Who the hell are you?" she challenged, terrified by everything that surrounded her.
Earth, cigarette back in her hand from somewhere, smiled evilly, smoke pouring from both her nostrils, which was something of an irony really, given exactly what she was. Padding over to Kitty in her bare feet, she grabbed her by the chin and looked her straight in the eyes, a despicable snarl on her face.
"My name is Earth, and I'm your worst nightmare!"
Kitty, trembling by now, tried frantically to find a retort. But before she could do so, a blinding blue light, followed by an uncomfortable tingling, burned in and around her jaw. Earth smiled as Kitty struggled against the pain, before the darkness finally consumed her.
10
Breaking News
It drove him mad, the pomposity of it all. Dressing up, the coming in, the words to begin the meeting, the feast... oh, he didn't mind the feast, he was a dragon for goodness' sake, and they aren't exactly renowned for turning down food. Plus, of course, he hadn't had anything to eat for the last seven days. But the rest of it was outdated and unnecessary.
'In that respect,' he mused, 'we could learn so much from our wingless charges on the surface.'
Starting pretty much as normal, the council assembly had now nearly reached the end of the feast, the mood of which had been lively, despite the tragedy of a week ago and the ongoing hunt for survivors and bodies. Most councillors had totally forgotten about everything outside the chamber, with the tone from the sombre worldwide gatherings that morning having been totally turned on its head. All but the king it seemed. Not wanting to tell them either piece of news, he knew that he had little choice. If he didn't tell them today and they found out about it, there was a chance they could have him removed, and given the importance and significance of the white dragon (he couldn't bear to call him Tim) showing up at this time, he felt it his duty to see through whatever fate was going to throw his way. Over the last few days he'd come round to thinking that his destiny was in some way intertwined with that of the white dragon detailed in the ancient prophecy. Reaching forward, he clutched the last charcoal and jam doughnut from a pile that had originally been two feet high, flipped it into the air with his index finger and opening his jaws wide, allowed it to sail in, the tiniest of satisfied burps echoing around the back of his throat. Savouring the sweet taste and crunching the last remaining chunks of charcoal, he stood, grabbed the two empty silver plates in front of him and crashed them together, before announcing,
"The time for merriment is over. Please be seated."
And so against the backdrop of crackling fires, spitting lava and an overpowering smell of roasted meats, they started. Reports of dead being found, dragon and human alike, kicked off the business end of the meeting. Status updates were read out on the repairs going on above ground across the globe, and tales of just how much difference it made having laminium ball teams from across the planet helping out the emergency dragon search and rescue units. For the most part, it was all pretty depressing. Trying to listen, in all honesty he struggled. No doubt the other councillors had got their nightly four hours of sleep, but he hadn't had that much in the past week, and he was weary, exhausted, drop dead tired. As he watched the spitting and hissing lava wiggle its way down the nearest marble pillar, transfixed by its colour, movement, and in particular the heat and steam that it gave off, slowly his eyelids began to close.
At that very moment, Councillor D'Zone stood up and announced that he had something to say. It was a break from protocol; he should have either waited for his turn, had he booked a place in the order of things, or until the end of the session for any other business. But given his reputation as a solid, dependable and hardworking councillor, whatever he had to say was important. Instantly, the king became alert, along with all the councillors in the room.
"With everything that has transpired over the last week across the planet, I propose we withdraw any and all efforts to send a force of dragons to Antarctica. Even before this worldwide catastrophe, it made little or no sense to do so, but now, with the human and dragon bodies still being recovered, with infrastructure the world over, both dragon and human, in need of repair and overhaul, and with the threat from whoever committed this heinous crime still hanging over us, now is not the time to consign forces anywhere, least of all Antarctica. Given how important, and indeed how obvious, to any dragon, this decision is, I say we vote here and now, the old fashioned way, and get this one topic over and done with."
Echoing murmurs of, "Here, here," reverberated around the ancient room.
Councillor Rosebloom looked on, more than a little agitated, as even his cronies nodded in agreement with D'Zone's proposal. So far he hadn't had a chance to convey to them just how vital it was that the force was dispatched to Antarctica. How could he? Frustration boiled up inside him, because as far as he was aware, the bombs weren't supposed to have gone off now; it was all supposed to have happened after the force had left for the South Pole. It was all coming apart and he didn't know what to do.
With a quick glance over his shoulder at the king, in return receiving an almost imperceptible nod to carry on, Councillor D'Zone pronounced,
"All those in favour of cancelling the mission to Antarctica, raise their left wings now."
Every dragon in the room did, including the king who wasn't even obliged to vote. What was noticeable though, was that Rosebloom was incredibly slow in raising his wing, almost as if he was just following suit. The king hadn't missed this, no not at all.
"Motion carried unanimously," bellowed Councillor D'Zone. "Thank you very much for indulging me."
Some of the other dragons applauded, others nodded in appreciation.
Giddy with excitement inside, the king sat outwardly stony faced. For him, it was one less thing to worry about, and could now stop the master mantra maker moving forward with his plan to construct a fake ring and have a second vote that way. Any way you looked at it, it was good news, especially as he'd had no idea D'Zone was going to do it. He was, however, jolly glad he had.
Fires reached their dying embers as the council ploughed through some of their normal business. It wasn't anywhere near the usual volume, with their efforts mainly focused on the ongoing disaster that had transpired from the laminium bombs. Once again, the king struggled to stay awake, despite maintaining a façade of thoughtfulness.
Councillor Rosebloom wrapped things up on the ongoing topic of graffiti in urban areas throughout the dragon kingdom, with South America and India having been hit particularly hard. This moved nicely into any other business. Just as it looked to all and sundry that the session was going to come to a close early, the king breathed out a huge stream of fire to attract everybody's attention.
"I have some information to pass on to you regarding the terrorist events of last week," he announced.
Simultaneously, the councillors started chatting, mainly about a possible lead in tracking down those responsible.