The Last Hope

Chapter 3

Talons scraped across the rocks as he took off. The rockdrake glided above the radiation zone, immune like all the other creatures EXCEPT for the furless monkeys, mostly known as humans. They were usually a dark brown or pale pink, depending on which tiny settlement they lived in. They had tufts of fur on their heads and stood on two legs, wearing creature skin.

The dark blue and orange rockdrake veered down, into the Blue Cavern, as they called it. The Toxic Lake of Bones shimmered, its pink glow bright. He headed up to his own cave, marked with the words: Juorignagh (Jore- igg- nagh). Jourignagh climbed through his tunnel, leading to under the Water River. He took a turn leading up the tunnel for hunting- he felt like that. But before he hunted, he wanted to look at his secret stash of relics, he thought they would take him to the other ARKs, or worlds. He knew it was real, if he could get anyone to believe him just th-

"No, you did!" A deeper, female voice roared. "Quickly, MOVE THE ARTIFACTS!"

Juor's heart quickened. 'Are they stealing my relics?" He thought with dismay. He poked his snout through a little hole in the wall to watch.

Two dragon-like figures stood next to a yutyrannus and a big, fluffy raptor. The first dragon-like thing was a dark red, and was very big- wait, was she pregnant?

Juor's eyes widened. 'NO WAY! I JUST FOUND EVIDENCE TO MY WHOLE LIFE'S RESEARCH!'

He dodged down as one looked over, but then he got back up. The female dragon thing was laying her eggs. Juor ducked again as the other one looked over. He had to run into his own tunnel, because the yutyrannus was patrolling outside. When he got back, there was one egg. A single egg lay in the middle of the red dragon.

The smaller dragon-like thing with red dots on his blue scales looked around. "We're being watched," he said.

Juorignagh ducked beneath the hole's light, but it was not quick enough. "Who are you?" The voice demanded.

'Ugh,' Juor thought as he strolled into the tunnel's sight.

"Woah," the yutyrannus exclaimed. "What ARE you?"

"Uh, I'm a rockdrake? Don't you know what I am? Are you from another ARK? Why do you have that half-relic in your tail? What are the rest of you?" Juor's questions poured onto them like a Water River flood.

"I'm a yutyrannus, this is Quinter, a deinonychus," she said, gesturing to the fluffy raptor. "This is Darkwater and Vein, mother and son. Darkwater is half-tropical wyvern and half blood wyvern, and Vein is a blood wyvern."

"Uhh, okay..?" Juor said.

"What are ARKs?" Darkwater asked.

"Worlds, Juor answered. "There are many. The Island, home of the humans, Genesis, home of the Magmasaurs and Bloodstalkers, Abberation, here, home of the Rockdrakes, Reapers, basilisks glow creatures, Extinction, home of the corruption, managarmrs and snow owls, Valgrueo, home of the Deinonychus, fire wyvern and ice wyvern, Scorched Earth, home to the Lightning wyvern, Poison Wyvern and Fire wyvern, Ragnarok containing more poison, fire and ice wyverns and griffins, The Center containing more humans, and Crystal Isles, containing ember, blood and tropical wyverns, with basilisks."

"How do you know this much?" Vein asked. "Do.. Do you know how to get us back to Crystal Isles..?"

"Why did you come here in the first place?" Juor asked.

"Our home was destroyed." Darkwater said. "..a-and my father was killed."

They all broke off into mourning, Vein sobbing the most. "And he didn't get to see our egg."

'The egg!' Juor's eyes widened. Vein pulled out a dark red and blue egg.