By Anya Parikh, TIWP Student

Chapter 1: The Beginning

“The invaders are back,” said Wave. “The scrolls say that the Invaders will come back in three days, but, if you can turn off The Lever of Invading you can stop them from invading us. It is a dangerous adventure but, if you can turn it off, they will not invade us.” 

Little Sunset looked terrified, “Will my pet thunder come with me?” she asked.

“I am afraid this is a one-dragon job and only you can save it.”

“Can’t someone else do it?”

“They choose someone that will do it every year and this year they choose you.” 

“But I am so small and weak!”

“Did I ever tell you that last time they came, I was the dragon they chose? I was small and weak at the time but, just like you, I was a born fighter. Only a few sessions and I was killing Invaders just for fun on my way for the quest. We need someone to do it this year and I know you can do it.”

“But you did not turn off the lever”

“I had one second left, I was one inch away from it and I was so close to pushing it but they cheated and sunk me before the last second”

“Then how are you alive now?”

“I fought my way out”

Sunset was still and quiet almost as she was trying to find out how. For a long time it was like that. Then she stood up and, hovering over Wave, started to say something. But she was cut short by a hand reaching in and taking the ball of powers from Sunset who screamed. Breathless, she said, “What was that?” As soon as she said thatm she dropped from hovering on to the ground, she screamed again as soon as she did. 

“This happened to me too,” said Wave, “That was the invaders taking your powers. Now, you have to go on the quest, or else you won’t be able to fly or hover or anything with your powers. That is the first step getting your powers back.”

“The first step?” said Sunset, terrified. “There are more?” 

Chapter 2: Learning, Learning, Learning

At the arena, Sunset started training to fight fiercely, more than just clawing other dragons and hunting. “So, the first step to fighting The Invaders is clawing and jumping since you will not have your powers but The Invaders will give you one of your powers at the beginning which you may use on the quest.” 

“Really?!” Sunset gasped.

“But, I will tell you it will not fly so you have to get better at jumping. If you pass the jumping test I will give you something to help while you are learning other skills.” 

“What?”  

“I cannot tell you until you pass so… better start jumping!” 

“But what about the steps?” 

“I’ll tell you about them once you do the basics of fighting so… JUMP!” 

“Okay!” She started jumping until her legs hurt so badly that she could barely jump anymore. 

“You have passed your jumping test. Here is your something that I was telling you about.” As he held out a pair of springs, Sunset gasped.

“Springs for my claws!” she exclaimed excitedly. “What do I do with them exactly?” she asked, confused. 

“You put them on your claws, then you jump to see if they work. If they do, then you go straight to fighting.” 

“And if they don’t?”  

“Then you whistle until you see a screen and DO NOT TOUCH IT at all, it will put them on correctly and don’t jump until The Invader leaps up in the air. That is when you can touch it.” 

“Okay,” Sunset said determinedly.

“Now I will teach you to fight the invaders with just some simple steps. First, then the real stuff!” Wave showed her some easy fighting tips. Then Sunset tried to copy them, but failed. “Here is something you should remember, wait for them to approach you, don’t approach them. “Now I will tell you the steps,” Wave said.

Chapter 3: The Secret

“The first step is to get your powers back as you know; The second step is to fight your first invaders which if you fight one and win then they will give you your one power that I was telling you about; The third step is fighting lots and lots of machines. But if you fight one, there will be a button that reads “Click the Button” with two openings in the floor. Go in the one closest to the machine. You might have to fight it again but you might not. Anyways, go in the opening. It is dark. The fourth step is there will be more monsters and a button on the floor, click the button and a monster will fight you. If you win then there will be another button on the floor click that button and an opening will be in the floor the same thing will happen and jump in just like last time.”

“What if I lose a battle?” Sunset asked

“Then you go back to me and you will get your powers back. Anyway, the next step is to climb a mountain to pull down the lever. I will make sure they don’t cheat,” said Wave. 

“How?”

“I cannot tell you”

“Do you just not know or….”

“I know but you cannot know how and most importantly, don’t count on me ‘cause it has been a long time.” 

“A long time? You’ve done it before?”

“A long time means, well…. “ 

“Well, what?”

“Well, I just can’t tell you.” 

“Why not?”

“I just can’t! Anyways let’s get back to fighting.”

Chapter 4: The Suspicious Tower

“Perfect!” said Wave. “You look great! I just have one question. Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be! This is my big day isn’t it?” said Sunset, confused.

“It sure is!” 

“Now go fight ‘em! And I am giving this to you, one second.”

Wave went and came back with…

“A sculpture of me?”

“Yes.”

“What has been with you these days? Giving everything away that you love.”

“Who me? No way! Are you ready though?”

“As I’ll ever be!”

“Goodbye, Sunset!”

“See you on the other side!”

As Sunset left with her gifts, she wondered what was wrong. “Whoa!” she said as she entered.

“COME IN!” said a booming voice

Sunset entered quietly.

“THE QUEST WILL START IN 3… 2… 1… START!!”

Sunset found herself looking at the biggest thing she had ever seen. “How am I ever going to be able to fight in this thing?” she wondered.

Then she saw a suspicious sign. 

Chapter 5: FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

“I thought we were supposed to be at the Invader’s tower,” Sunset said suspiciously.

“NO TIME FOR QUESTIONS DRAGONET, JUST FIGHT!” said a booming voice. Sunset, too scared to ask questions, put on her springs. As she finished, a dragon with all black scales approached her. 

“Who are you?!” Sunset asked. 

“I’m the invader, that’s who!” boomed the suspicious voice. For some reason she thought the voice sounded familiar, like she had heard it before. 

“Do I know you?” Sunset asked. 

“I SAID NO TIME FOR QUESTIONS DRAGONET!” 

Sunset got scared but followed the black dragons’ rules. The black dragon started to approach her, and as soon as they got close, Sunset pounced, straight on to the dragons’ back, and clawed her neck. The black dragon fainted and Sunny took advantage of the time and ran straight ahead. Soon she found the button Wave was talking about and pressed and jumped down. Sunset was so excited she didn’t see the black dragon wake up and whisper, “Time to fight my little dragonet.”

Chapter 6: Time to Fight

It was a long jump, but once Sunset got to the bottom of the hole, she saw a glimmer of light. She guessed it was the way to the next place so she followed the light to a door. She creaked it open and it shined like the sun. She saw a black figure talking in a language she had never heard before. But it wasn’t a dragon. They were short, chubby figures that looked like they were reading or writing or something. She had never seen them before but they probably were not reading or writing because dragons were the only species that could write, right?

“Hey! Are you spying on them?! I THOUGHT you were fighting me, Sunset.”

Sunset whirled around and saw the same big black dragon that she fought. 

“How do you know my name?!” Sunset screamed in horror.

“Easy dragonet, you are my daughter,” said the black dragon calmly. 

“WHAT?!” screamed Sunset.

“Yeah, don’t you know I left when you were born for a reason?” 

“Does Wave know?”

“Well… Yes”

“WHAT!? B-but what happened when he went on the mission. Wait… DID HE EVEN GO ON IT?!” 

“Yes he did.” 

“Did you?”

“In a way.”

“What do you mean ‘in a way?’”

“Well, I did a mini run, because your father is connected to royalty but I wasn’t so….” she trailed off as she spoke. 

“So what?” 

“Never mind.”

“He set me up for this didn’t he?”

“Yes he did,” Sunset heard Wave’s voice, she whirled around to see one of those figures. Could they possibly be one of the Invaders? Sunset thought. She shook her head. No time for thoughts. She blinked to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, but when she opened her eyes there was a dragon that looked just like Wave in the figure’s place.

Chapter 7: The Mountain

What. Just. Happened?  Sunset thought.

She tried to start a sentence, but when she started to talk, they disappeared. She didn’t think about it this time though, she just kept going. Soon she saw a bright room, this time the door opened, with a big black figure that looked like a mountain. This is probably the mountain Wave was talking about. She took a deep breath as she walked in. 

Woah. When she walked in she saw the biggest thing in the world. How am I supposed to climb this thing while fighting a dragon? I’m just a tiny dragon who can barely fight, but climbing I am even worse at.

She took a deep breath and started to climb. It went by quicker than she thought. Considering no dragons fought her, she was about to pull the lever down when she heard some voices.

“Stop it, Wave! I can do it without Sunset knowing. She probably got lost or something. I have NOTHING to worry about.” 

“Well I’m just saying Sunset’s very sneaky and will probably come in without you noticing.”

As soon as Sunset pulled the lever, denying what they were talking about and as soon as she touched it she saw everything: the reason her mother left when she was born, the way her mother and father would shape-shift from figures (which were actually invaders!) to dragons, how Wave didn’t actually sink, how this was all a test and most of all, why any of this happened. As she saw this, she felt a tug and started to sink into the mountain.

Chapter 8: The Switch

“What’s happening?!” Sunset asked. 

“Well, you’re doing exactly what your father did!” said a voice as they tugged her leg.

“Who are you?” 

“You’re,” she felt an even harder tug, “about to find out!” 

“NOOOOO!” Sunset screamed as she felt her grip loosen and fall. 

Where am I?  She thought as she looked around. She had blacked out when she fell and saw the black dragon (her mother) and Wave (her father). She stood up, but it didn’t feel normal. It felt as if she only had two legs now. Once she was standing up, though, she found that she actually did! 

She looked around with her new eyes and found this thing that was silver with a frame, and she saw one of the invaders standing in it with dragons that looked like Wave and her mom. While looking at the silver thing, she saw them change into figures again. And when she turned around she saw the exact same figures behind her! She kept turning her head back and forth, but no matter how many times she did it, she saw the same ones over and over and over.

Finally, the one that was in place of her mother said, “Sunset, you are finally one of us, you see, Wave went on the mission and he didn’t know any more than you did when you came. Every time the dragons pull the lever and are successful, of course if they beat us in fighting. If you pull it means you are a true royal. If you don’t, that means you are just a local and you will only have powers locals have and everything will be erased from your memory so you don’t know about anything that happened here. But now Wave is allowed to crown you queen when he retires.”

“QUEEN?!” screamed Sunset.

Epilogue: Almost 5 years later…

“Welcome to your coronation, Sunset.”

Alright, this is it, I know what to do, I should be ready.

Everyone gasps as I enter. It’s probably because of my blinding dress. I picked it out myself, it’s mostly neon orange and has some triangles filled with blinding colors. I want to say, ‘What, you’ve never seen neon colors at a coronation?!’ In Dragon City, no one wears clothes unless it is a super special occasion. My legs are jiggly as I strut down the aisle. I am a dragon now and I know that once Wave and my mom set the crown on my head, I will turn into a figure and bow. Next, I will give a speech to the crowd. Well, I guess there is no going back now. I am here. 

“Wave, do you accept Sunset becoming Queen?” asks mom.

“I do,” says Wave.

“Sunset, do you promise to serve our city with care and respect?” 

“I do,” I say.

I am so excited, I am finally becoming Queen! Mom and dad place the crown on top of my head. “I am so honored to become queen. I will try my best to make everyone in Dragon City happy!