The five dragons followed the purple wolf through the forest. As the trees grew closer together, sharp branches tore at their wings and forced them to run along the ground instead of fly. Before long, they were all gasping with exhaustion and struggling to keep the wolf in view as she sprinted nimbly through the undergrowth, obviously quite confident in where she wanted to go. Despite the dragons' tiredness, they were pleased to notice the sounds of the shadow-monsters gradually fading away behind their backs.

After what felt like hours of running, she finally began to slow down and, taking a sharp turn to the right, vanished into a rocky cave hidden at the edge of the forest. The dragons gave chase, walking single-file so that they could all fit through the cavern entrance. Inside, it was dark and wet - rainwater had gathered in small puddles that lay unseen on the rocky floor, splashing under the dragons' enormous, clawed feet.

(Continued in next comment...)

'That...was...really...close,' panted Natok. His companions nodded in wordless agreement; he wasn't the only one who was exhausted from the long chase.

Just then, the purple wolf walked right up to Tigertail and sniffed him curiously. 'Is everyone OK?' she called out, and the dragons responded with a collective roar of 'yes'.

'I'm glad,' the wolf continued. 'Those monsters have been showing up more and more lately, stalking my pack everywhere. We can't seem to get away from them...'

Tigertail tilted his head to one side in confusion. 'Do you know anything about those creatures?' he asked.

The wolf nodded. 'Yes, actually. Me and my packmates have been working hard to discover a bit about them... if you like, I'll explain? I'm Spook, by the way.'

The dragons all politely introduced themselves, and then settled down to listen to what Spook had to tell them.

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'I don't think these creatures are from the same universe as us,' she began. 'They're just too... strange and different. There are dozens of them, enough to create a small army... I believe someone is commanding them, but why? Definitely not for a good reason...'

The dragons all wore the same grim expression on their faces as they listened. When Spook paused to think, Natok suddenly spoke up. 'I bet someone VERY evil is using those monsters to try and take over the world. That's what evil guys normally do, right?' He looked about to see how everyone reacted.

Tigertail seemed to be lost in thought and hadn't heard, but Loner was listening intently. His horrible red eyes widened a little and he whispered roughly, '...Yes. That is true...'

Everyone stared at him. 'What's true?' asked Snowangel, getting confused.

Loner shook his mane irritably. 'The shadow-creatures... they are being controlled by an evil force... We must hunt down their leader... and kill him.'

(End of Chapter 5.)

Great chapter!

I think I know who is controlling those shadow thingies. Is it some gigantic space monster made of dark matter?

(PSTP) Nope. XD

Oh, OK.

yuss!! ive been looking forward to this! I think you got Spook's personality spot on!! She sounds just like she would in any of my stories! cant wait for chapter 6!

(Spook) Thanks, I'm happy you liked it. :)

Awesome

GREAT CHAPTER!!! things are really getting interesting!!! ^_^

is it... Yazark?
nnnnnnnnnjuskiddn.

It would be very plot twisty(for me at least) if it were my char were the one controlling them. X3