The Strider

by The Strider

It was a dark, rainy night and a sudden flash of white sped through mid city like lightening. Jasmine signalled her dragon, Renegae, to a halt at the end of the dead end. Renegae magged Jasmine off and she walked over to a large vent tube shrouded in shadows. Jasmine twisted the four bolts that held the grill to the tube and then the nails then moved the grill aside. Renegae then walked forward to Jasmine, magged her on and then jumped into the vent tube that led to the wastelands of Loan.

The next day Artha and Beau where gearing up ready for the first race of the day. When Artha had just finished gearing up Lance and Parm came running up to him.
“Mortis wants to see all of us after this race” panted Lance.
“What does he want now?” asked Artha in an annoyed voice.
“Dunno” replied Parm
“Does he want Kitt to come as well?” Artha asked again.
“Yes” said Parm and Lance in unison.

At the race track the lights on the track signalled red, then orange, then green. The crowd cheered as the racers took off.
Artha and Beau were racing at an easy pace when Kitt came on commlink:
“Have you seen Moordryd at all?” she asked curiously.
At that minute Moordryd sped past Artha
“He’s in the race all right” said Artha.
Kitt nodded thanks.
“Kitt” Artha said curiously
“Yeah?” she replied
“Have you got another race after this one?”
“Not for an hour no, why do you ask?” she said
“Because Mortis wants to us” replied Artha.
“What does he want?” she said quickly
“I don’t know” admitted Artha.
“All right, I’ll come” said Kitt.
“Cool” Artha said and Kitt went offline.
Artha was thinking that if he over took Moordryd he could come second. Artha activated the level three red thruster boost and took over Moordryd with ease. Moordryd narrowed his eyes with anger and announce.
“Stable brat” he mutted and Artha smiled to himself.
“Good race” Artha said to Kitt once they were at the crew tent
“Thanks” said Kitt
“What gear did you receive this time?” he asked
“Level 4 red thruster boost” replied Kitt
“Cool” said Artha.
“C’mon we better go and see Mortis” said Artha.
Kitt sighed then nodded.
When they entered the temple they both saw Mortis looking right at them.
Artha smiled back
Kitt shuddered “I hate it when he looks at us like he know what second we’ll come in, It’s freaky!!!”
Artha chuckled.
“Good afternoon” said Mortis
“Hey, what’s up?” asked Artha
“I have asked you to come because I have discovered some disturbing news in Shadow Town.”
“What is it?” inquired Artha.
“There is a new crew in Dragon City, The Dragon Striders, and it has just formed with a total of 50 members.”
“Wow” said Artha.”But what do you want Dragon Booster to do?”
“To be an official crew the Dragon Booster must meet with the leader of the crew and discuss whether or not the crew is able to race.” replied Mortis.
“So how do we find this crew?” asked Kitt.
“I do not know where the crew is located but I do know that they are having a meeting soon and a message will be sent out via radio.” admitted Mortis.
“I guess we will just have to find a crew member track him or her down and follow them until they get to their secret headquarters” said Parm
“A good suggestion Parmon, but the riders and dragon are equipped with wraith dragon powers such as the ability to become invisible and be controlled over long ranges” replied Mortis.
“Scales!” said Artha.
”I’ve got an idea” said Kitt.
“Do you guys remember the first time we met up the Army of the Dragon?”
(Flash back from The Chromatic Dragon)
“Yes” they said in unison.
“Remember that I caught the marking gear that Ferryt dropped, well I still have it and Artha can use it when the message is sent out” and she threw the marking gear to Artha.
“Excellent idea Kitt and it could possibly work” said Mortis.
Word’s Citadel
“You sent for me, again” said Moordryd.
“I have a mission for you” replied Word in a sly voice.
“Don’t you always?” mutted Moordryd in an annoying tone.
“There is a new crew in dragon city, the Dragon Striders and they are having a meeting soon, you will track down a member and follow him or her to their headquarters, place a tracking device on the back exit door and return to my citadel and give me the connector to tracking device so I can gatecrash their meeting and trick them into helping me catch the Dragon Booster!” (Evil laugh)

The next day Artha and Beau were roaming freely around Dragon City waiting for any sign that would alert the crew. Artha halted Beau outside a small snack bar and went inside. When Artha came out he was carrying four dreconee - yum bars
“Two for you and two for me” said Artha handing one to Beau.
After they had finished eating their dreconee - yum bars they walked into a dark alley where Artha was free to transform.
Dragon Striders Headquarters
DeeDee’s Control Room
“Ok” she said about to explain to Bec how they were going to get the message out.
“I have intercepted the data base of Nova and I have jammed the number 1 songs frequency rate therefore giving us the advantage to…”
She stopped talking when she realized that Bec was making snoring noises.
“Ok, fine I will put it in a less technical way just for you.”
“I think that will help” said Bec
Deedee rolled her eyes and continued...
“I have stopped the number 1 song playing and replaced it with our message” she said
“Thank you! A language I actually understand” said Bec.
Deedee rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“In exactly 30 seconds our message will be sent out” said Deedee.

Back in Mid City Artha and Beau were waiting anxiously, in the side alley, for the message to be sent out.
“And the number 1 song on the count down” said the radio host.
(Walkie Talkie Man by Steriogram starts playing)
Many dragons and their riders stopped dead in their tracks and quivering violently as if an invisible energy drain whip had just caught them.
A quick, blindening flash of light flashed from each dragon instantly changing their markings (roboraptor markings) then they roared loudly and ran in different directions to various ducts and air vents.
“Let’s go Beau!” yelled Artha and they lept from their hiding place and followed a member. Artha was aiming the marking gear at the rider when suddenly a battle stick hit his arm, hard. The marking gear fell off his arm and over the railing.
He looked across from where he had seen the battle stick and saw Jasmine. He couldn’t see her face behind the tinted visor on her helmet but he could assume that she was glaring with rage.
Jasmine then flicked up the safety cap of her dreconium controllers and pressed the button under neath which activated her dragon’s wraith powers which turned both Jasmine and Renegae invisible. Artha gaped in surprise and he looked ahead at the other dragon which was now, also, invisible.
Artha halted Beau and sighed unbelievably about what had just happened.
After a few minutes Kitt and Wyldfyr pulled up next to Artha and Beau.
“Didn’t get them?” asked Kitt.
“Nup” replied Artha.
He sighed and removed the amulet not thinking to look for people who might be snooping around.
“C’mon we better go and break the news to Dad.” said Artha. Kitt nodded and they walked out on the street. Artha, later, then realized that he shouldn’t have taken off the amulet in the alley because he had a funny feeling that some was watching him remove the amulet. And he was correct. Some did see Artha remove the amulet and that person was taken aback when he saw the true identity of the Dragon Booster.

Back in the dragon temple Artha was waiting for the worst from his dad.
“I’m really sorry I didn’t get dad” confessed Artha.
“That is all right” replied Connor in his calmest voice.
“It isn’t easy to catch a strider, they are as sly as a mechanist” continued Conner.
“You four had better get some sleep, another big day of racing” said Conner.
Artha, Kitt, Parm and Lance all stood up and headed for one of the stable stalls.
“Aren’t you going to stay with us tonight?” asked Artha when he saw Kitt saddling up Wyldfyr.
“No, It’s my cousin’s birthday” “she just got back from her dragon racing tour” she replied
“OK then, see you tomorrow.” said Artha waving good-bye as Kitt left the stable.
Half way home Kitt had a funny feeling that someone was watching her every move, and she didn’t like it.
She turned around as quick as lightning only to see a few rubbish bins fall.
“Hmmm” she mused and continued walking.
She then had enough of that funny feeling and motioned for Wyldfyr to walk in side an alley.
Wyldfyr obeyed but with a slight frown on her face.
“But we never go this way” thought Wyldfyr.
Kitt halted Wyldfyr and signalled for her turn around and Wyldfyr did so. A few minutes later something flashed past, Kitt and Wyldfyr jumped in surprise. Kitt was breathing hard and so was her dragon.
“I knew it!” “There was someone following us!” exclaimed Kitt.
But then she heard a distant clank and she motioned Wyldfyr to walk forward. She eventually found a small black and grey coloured pod which looked slightly like mind control gear. There was also a small lense which had a holographic screen in the middle. On the screen it showed a white dot moving across the screen and a red dot. Kitt figured that she was the red dot and the Strider that just ran past was the white dot.
“Hmmm” she mused.
She put the gear in her saddle pack and headed for home.
The next day Kitt got up extra early so she could show the gear to Conner. She got to Penn Stables in record time using fully charged red thruster gear.
She skidded to a stop at the stable door which was looked and alerted Beau, he growled.
“What is it boy?” asked Artha in a sleepy voice.
Beau motioned to the closed door and growled again. Fracshun jumped up and ran towards the door.
“Fracshun wait!” yelled Lance.
“It could be the Dragon Eye crew!” exclaimed Parm. Fracshun looked carefully through the small bars on the door. Lance walked up to Fracshun and looked through the bars himself.
“Don’t worry it’s only Kitt and Wyldfyr.” said Lance.
“Let ‘em in” said Artha still rubbing his eyes. Lance pushed the button and the door slid open. Kitt jumped off Wyldfyr and ran to Artha.
“Where’s your dad?” she asked anxiously.
“In the temple, Why?” he asked suspiciously.
“I need to ask him something” she said and ran to
elevator that led to the ancient dragon temple.
“Playing dress-ups are we?” she said when she realized that Connor was wearing priest clothing.
“You could say that” admitted Connor.
“Connor, when I was riding home last night a strider ran past and dropped this” she said handing the pod to Connor. At that moment the elevator door opened and they saw Parm, Artha and Lance standing with their dragons. Kitt smiled and filled them in of what happened while Connor took the gear to a separate room for x-rays.
After Kitt had finished explaining what had happened Conner came back in the temple and was holding the pod.
“You were right Kitt, this is ancient Strider gear” said Connor.
“Although it has a slightly different design in the dragon-human war.” continued Connor.
“Where did you find the gear Kitt?” asked Conner.
“On my way home, a strider ran past and dropped it.” she said.
“Was there anything particular that he or she might have been heading towards?” asked Artha.
“From the way the strider was heading, a dead end with an air duct at the end. replied Kitt.
“Maybe, just maybe that air duct lead to their headquarters” said Parm.
“Possibly, well you now have another mission.” replied Conner.
“But I can’t come!” said Lance.
“Of course you can Lance, this isn’t one of those things where you can’t come” said Artha.
“I’m going over to Sprat’s house today, we’re going to practise our racing skills” said Lance.
“Oh, Ok but don’t worry you won’t be missing out on much.” said Artha.
“And I can’t come either” admitted Parm. “My mum want’s me help out at the college that she works at” said Parm.
“Looks like it’s just us” said Artha.
“Looks like it” replied Kitt and she smiled.
They walked out of the Dragon Temple and went to the gear room.
“What gear should we take?” asked Artha.
“The air duct is very steep so we’ll need sledding gear.” said Kitt taking a set of sledding gear, Artha did so too.
“And red thrusters, for a quick getaway if we need to.” said Artha taking red thrusters and Kitt did as well.
They geared up their dragons and headed off towards the duct.
“So, how was the birthday party?” asked Artha.
“Pretty good” replied Kitt.
“How did she go in the race?” he asked.
“She came first, again” she said.
“Um... again?” he asked in a puzzled voice.
“She has one the race five times in a row and she has chosen a crew but I don’t know which one.” Kitt admitted.
“What’s her name?” asked Artha.
“Stephanie, but everyone calls her Steph” replied Kitt.
“This is where I found the gear” Kitt said.
“And the Strider went this way” she continued pointing to the dead end.
They walked their dragons over to the dead end and jumped off. Kitt studied the air duct carefully then removed the nuts and bolts just like Jasmine did then Artha removed the grill.
“Talk about steep!” Artha exclaimed. “I now know why we took sledding gear” continued Artha.
Kit chuckled and they walked back to their dragons, jumped on, and leaped into the duct activating the sledding gear as they went through the vent.
When Artha came out of the duct he used his own mag energy to stop himself from crashing into a pile of ruins.
“Wow, that was weird” Artha said then shuddered.
He then looked around suddenly realizing that Kitt hadn’t come out of the duct yet.
“Kitt?” he said with a worried expression on his face.
At that moment Kitt came sliding out of the duct.
Artha, thinking fast, used his mag energy again to stop Kitt from crashing into him.
“That was weird, and scary, but fun, by the way thanks for stopping me.” said Kitt smiling.
“You ok? You look worried” Kitt continued.
“No I’m fine, just got a bit worried when you didn’t come out” said Artha. A few seconds later they heard a massive bang and jumped in surprise.
“What was that?” asked Kitt quickly.
“I dunno, but we’re goanna find out” said Artha confidently
Release the dragon! , thingy
Kitt and Artha walked their dragons cautiously to where they heard the massive bang. They looked cautiously around another pile of ruins and gaped.
About the size of a three story building stood a black and grey building surrounded by dragons which had Dragon Strider markings.
“I think we found the headquarters of the Dragon Striders” said Kitt. Artha nodded, a vacant expression of surprise hung on his face.
“We have to get in somehow” said Artha looking around desperately for some kind of device that could lure the dragons away from the entrance. Unfortunately there was no such device. Then Artha smiled he saw and air vent which led inside the headquarters.
“Hmmm” he mused and walked over to the end of the air duct and removed the grill.
“Pssst” he whispered and Kitt turned around and Artha motioned to the air duct.
“Very clever” admired Kitt. Artha smiled and started climbing up the air vent. As soon as Kitt was in the duct there was another bang but not as loud as the previous one. They both jumped.
“I never knew there where so many bangs in Loan.” said Kitt. Artha smiled and they continued their climb.
At the other side of the headquarters Moordryd had just set off a distrupter mine to scare away the dragons, it worked. (Moordryd laughs evil laugh)
“Now I have a strait shot at the back exit” he said confidently.
“You mean we” replied Cain.
“Yes Cain, we” said Moordryd in an annoyed voice. Little did they know that two Strider Riders where watching their every move and aiming trap gear
“Fire!” yelled one and they both trapped Moordryd and Cain and locked them in a separate room.
Inside the air vent Artha and Kitt had a great view of the meeting room.
“Wow, this is good, I think” said Kitt.
“This is brilliant, we have a great view of the whole room” replied Artha.
“I’ll call Mortis” continued Artha.
“Mortis, hi, Kitt and I are in this air duct and we can see the whole meeting room and it looks like there’re about to start, you might want to listen in to this” he said and hit the amplifier button.
“Sorry to bring you all in from such short notice” admitted Jasmine as she stood in front of a table.
“We have six guests that will be joining us in our meeting two of which oppose us and the other four are with us” continued Jasmine.
“Let’s introduce two first of all” said Jasmine and the doors behind the crew members opened and Moordryd and Cain entered accompanied by a detachment of Strider Riders.
“Moordryd and Cain, did you really think that you could just walk in our headquarters unnoticed?” asked Bec.
“Well I did expect a trap, about two seconds before we got hit by traps” replied Moordryd.
“And I presume that you have come here on your fathers orders?” asked Jasmine.
“You could say that” replied Moordryd.
“We’ll deal with you later” said Bec sternly.
And Moordryd and Cain were escorted back to the room again.
“Now, the other two” continued Jasmine. And a door opened at another end of the room and Rivvet and Stewardd entered the room and both carrying a large box.
“Thank you both, your crews will be rewarded greatly” said Bec taking the boxes and putting them under the table. Stewardd sighed with relief and quickly scurried away while Rivvet merely smiled and walked casually away.
“Now, the last two” said Jasmine while pressing a button under the table and before Kitt and Artha knew it they both fell from their hiding place and landed in the centre of the meeting room. They both groaned from the rough landing.
“Dragon Booster, so pleased that you could join us in our meeting” said Jasmine casually.
“Um, yeah” replied Artha sounding uncomfortable and still in pain. Artha looked over towards Kitt who had an aghast expression on her face for seeing Jasmine for the first time then he looked at Jasmine who, too, had an aghast expression from seeing Kitt, Artha frowned in confusion. Then Artha took action conjuring a mag ball and threw it at Jasmine, Jasmine, being alert, conjured her own mag power, which colours alternating between white, grey and black, raised her hand and the mag energy formed sort of a protective mag shield around her hand. She caught the mag ball with firm grip, squeezed the mag ball like bread into a pulp then released it quickly causing it to explode into a million pieces of golden electricity.
“I wouldn’t try that again Dragon Booster” said Jasmine convincingly and smiled. Kitt was about to say something but Jasmine cut in.
“We must talk alone” said Jasmine motioning to a pair of doors which had opened. Kitt and Artha walked slowly towards the doors keeping a careful eye on Jasmine. Once they had entered the room the doors shut and Jasmine smiled at Kitt and Kitt smiled back.
“Steph, what are you doing here?” said Kitt after a while.
“What do you mean what am I doing here what are you doing here?” replied Jasmine.
“And why did every one call you Jasmine?” asked Kitt.
“To conceal the identity of our crew, every one else has different names for privacy reasons” replied Jasmine.
“I’m confused, let’s start again,” said Kitt. “What are you doing here?”
“I run this crew,” replied Steph “What are you doing here?”
“Your crew isn’t able to race yet, you and your crew have to be knighted by my friend the Dragon Booster” said Kitt motioning to Artha who smiled and waved dreamily still in shock.
“What’s Paynn and co doing here?” asked Artha.
“Trying to trick us into helping Word capture you” replied Steph.
“Ohhhh,” mused Artha “Well what are we waiting for?” said Artha after a minutes silence while taking out his Jaxx stick “Let’s get on with the knighting!”
Outside the room the other crew members were getting restless.
“What are they doing in there?” asked Bec.
“Search me” replied Deedee in an annoyed tone.
Just then the giant doors opened and Jasmine walked to the head of the table.
“We are now qualified to race!” she stated proudly and the meeting room erupted into millions of cheers.
“And to honour this special occasion the Dragon Booster will be joining with us in our feast!” continued Jasmine she then turned to Kitt and Artha “You may take your dragons into the stable Bec will show you the way”. Bec smiled and lead them to the stables.

“How are we goanna get out of here?” complained Cain.
“I’m thinking Cain!!!” scowled Moordryd.
Cain groaned in annoyance just then the doors slid open and Jasmine walked in.
“Moordryd and Cain from the notorious Dragon Eye crew!” said Jasmine in an improvingly sort of way
“Did you honestly think you could just walk in here?” she continued.
“Not entirely” retorted Moordryd.
“Since you have accepted that we will let you go on one condition, you never return or you will suffer the consequences” said Jasmine.
“And what are the consequences?” asked Moordryd.
“Do you like this room?” she asked.
“No” replied Moordryd and Cain in unison.
“Because if you come back this room will become your cell!!!” shouted Jasmine.
Cain gulped and Moordryd was taken aback by her strong words.
“Now go!!!!!” she shouted as a door opened Moordryd and Cain were out of sight before Jasmine knew it. She chuckled.
When the feast had finished Kitt and Artha started walking back to the dragon temple but ran into Rivvet along the way.
“I need to talk to you” said Rivvet.
“Ok” replied Artha.
“I know who you are” Rivvet suddenly
“Huh?” asked Artha.
Rivvet rolled his eyes.
“I know you’re the Dragon Booster” he hissed.
“How do you know that?” asked Artha cautiously.
“I saw you transforming” Rivvet replied quickly.
“Ah” said Artha slightly disappointed that Rivvet, among the least likely of people, were to find out his true identity.
“Don’t worry” replied Rivvet making a zipping noise across his mouth then winked as if to say your secret is safe with me and then pressed a button in his arm pad and disappeared.......
Back at the dragon temple Connor was very impressed with what Artha and Kitt had achieved and every thing was back to normal, sort of.

The End