The New Solare - 14. Chapter 14- Chief Atraze

When he had been restrained with his arms tied behind his back, and a sack was tossed over his head, Darifer flew into a panic. He thought that his days of being held captive were over. He hadn't been all that afraid with Duke Borev, someone whom he was familiar with and had learned how to handle. Being ambushed by strangers was infinitely worse. The lavender Astral dragon had to struggle to reign in his fear.

He was shoved down into a chair, and the sack was finally pulled off. The first thing he took note of was the fact that the uniformed dragons around him were Astrals and not Pure dragons. He felt a touch of nausea at the thought. His own kind had been behind the leveling of the volcanoes? The bombings? The blatant disregard of wildlife?

But, then a familiar figure stood before him...one whom Darifer had never thought he'd ever see again.

"Dad?" He asked incredulously as he continued to look on at the person before him, still unsure if he was a ghost or if he was truly alive. Had the stressful situation finally broken the lavender dragon's mind? That just couldn't be his father, Atraze.

The older, plum-hued Astral motioned with his hands to have the room be emptied until the two of them were alone. "Around here, they refer to me as Chief, son," he responded. "My, have you've grown."

"Dad, what in the world is going on? If you were alive, why didn't you come back?" Darifer prompted. "Why is this island in shambles? What happened to the wildlife? Why were we all ambushed?"

A coldness formed in the older dragon's lime green eyes. "We were targeting the Pure dragons, not your group. We managed to save you from their clutches."

"Save me? The pure dragons with us were trying to help us uncover the source of the tremors, appointed by the Solare himself-"

"So, the new Solare has betrayed our kind…" the plum dragon murmured to himself. "He has chosen to harbor such violent beasts? This is unacceptable!"

"They're not violent!" Darifer countered. "Not unless provoked...but, the same goes for us." The lavender dragon let out a yelp when his father gave him a backhanded strike along the side of his face.

"So they've poisoned you," Atraze growled. "My own son...aligned with primitive vermin."

Darifer swallowed blood from where he had bitten himself during the blow and clenched his teeth as he glared at the irrational dragon. "What happened to mom?" He questioned.

"She was just as easily fooled as you," the older dragon replied. "The two of us were the first to have come across them, the hidden Pure dragons in the underground," he explained. "We found the plans laid out by those conniving Pure dragons, along with their explosives."

His face became grim. "Due to an accident, we were able to find out just how destructive those explosives could be. During the explosion, some larger pieces of stalactite came down right above a Pure dragon child," he continued. "Her maternal instincts betrayed her, and she shoved the child out of the way, taking on the crushing weight of the stalactites herself…"

A heavy silence fell over both of them as Darifer took in what had happened to his mother. "Dad," he tried again. "You don't understand...the Pure dragons behind those bombs were radicals. They were against the Astral Princess and her children. The Pure dragons that exist now are nothing like that! They didn't even know that such radicals even existed!"

"They fed you lies, and you believed them," his father hissed.

"Lies? I was there! I saw with my own eyes how the bunker that the radicals used, and such unprotected technology, could drive them to insanity!" Darifer countered. "Worse yet, the more you use the explosives, the more it affects the whole planet!"

"Impossible," Atraze scoffed. "We're only to target that underground kingdom, not the surface."

"Do you seriously believe the damage wouldn't affect the surface, as well? Are you listening to yourself-!?" Darifer was cut off when one of the uniformed Astrals came back inside.

"I thought I said I was not to be interrupted!" The plum dragon hissed as he aimed his wrath towards the subordinate.

"But, Chief, Sir!" The dragon stammered. "The Pure dragons seem to have escaped!"

"What kind of novices were put in charge of holding them captive?" Atraze growled as he stormed past the uniformed Astral. "Keep an eye on this Astral. Make sure he comes to no harm!" He demanded before slamming the door closed behind him.

When the Astral dragon pulled back his mask, Darifer let out a sigh of relief. It was Gallant Ruthed. "How did you even get here?" The lavender dragon asked.

"Long story short, our green-orange team busted out the other Pure dragons, knocked a couple of heads together, and stole some clothes. It was just a game of 'following the uniforms' after that." Ruthed said as he quickly freed Darifer from his restraints. "But, that's not important right now. Do you know where they took the others?"

A sad and frustrated expression formed on the lavender dragon's face. "I'm afraid not. They covered me with a sack and separated me from them. I didn't get to see where they took anyone," he confessed.

Ruthed peeked his head out of the door. He was already thinking up what to tell the other uniformed Astrals about having to "move the captive" to another location. However, everyone had cleared the hallway. Were they all heading over to where they had kept the Pure Dragons?

"Come on, this is our chance to meet up with some of the others," Ruthed urged Darifer as he pulled the mask back over his head and took him by the elbow just in case anyone spotted them.

They went down a third hallway until Ruthed stopped in front of a door. He gave a special knock consisting of a few different beats before he entered. Darifer immediately headed over to the Solare.

"Solare Sindri, I'm so sorry," Dari pleaded. "My father's the one behind everything. I didn't even know he was still alive! I had only been told that both he and my mother disappeared during one of the tremors..."

"None of this is your fault," Sindri affirmed. "But, know that your father needs to be stopped."

"He said he was targeting the entire underground kingdom," Darifer informed. "I warned him that using explosives in the underground would affect the surface as well, but he wouldn't listen."

"I think they're headed towards the area we were before," Ruthed added.

"Then, we're running low on time," Pier pointed out. "It doesn't seem as if they know that we can change forms, so it won't be long before they start looking for us right here."

"Darifer, if someone can take you to the control room of this bunker, do you think you can stop their operations?" Talden asked.

"I...I think so," the lavender dragon responded. "If it's anything like the bunker I was in before, I should be able to figure out how it works."

"Then, we need to figure out where that control room is," Ava deduced. "For now, it's really up to you two-"

"Three," Sindri insisted, motioning towards Talden. "Switch clothes with me."

"What? But, Solare-" Pier began only to be interrupted.

"Once again, I'm the only one who can heal," Sindri elaborated. "There are bound to be more guards around the control room...and, they wouldn't think twice about an outsider Astral being escorted by two people, right?"

"Nothing. Better. Happen to you, you hear?" Ava emphasized through gritted teeth. She then pointed at Darifer and then at Ruthed. "You two better keep his golden bum safe."

"Golden bum?" Sindri whispered to himself as he fought down a blush. "The three of you just keep hidden, ok? I don't want anything to happen to you, either."

"The three of us together are unstoppable," Pier boasted. "Don't waste your time worrying about us."

After Sindri had donned a uniform, the three Astrals set down one hallway at a time while Darifer tried to make sense of the bunker's layout and whispered directions under his breath. "I think we should make a left here and a right at the end," he whispered.

They passed by a couple of groups of uniformed Astrals, but they merely nodded in their direction and moved on. All of them seemed to be rushing from one task to another. The anxiety built when they came across more and more groups the closer they got to the area near the control room.

"At least we know were getting closer," Ruthed muttered.

They only saw one guard in front of the door to the control room. But, the unmistakable sheen of healthy indigo hair was easily recognizable.

"Madhal?" Ruthed asked when they came up to him.

"Ruthed?" Madhal responded with a sigh. "Go on in, Emyve's the only one that's gotten anywhere close to shutting everything down."

"With me helping him, we'll figure it out," Darifer affirmed as the three of them walked into the control room.

All activities seized inside until they all recognized one another. Gonuret rushed forward to tug Sindri into his arms. "Thank the cosmos you're ok!" he stated, refusing to let the blond go.

"The same goes for you!" Sindri responded as he took in the other dragon's warmth.

A similar moment was also shared between Emyve and Ruthed a few feet beside them. However, it took the tall redhead a lot longer to all but peel his partner off of him. Ruthed had climbed him like a tree and clung to him like a monkey.

"Ruthed, I do need his help for this," Darifer urged.

"Ok, ok," Ruthed griped as he shifted to hug Emyve from behind. "Don't look at me like that; his hands are totally free!"

While Emyve and Darifer worked together to decipher that bunker's controls, Sindri realized that only Kelius and Ansar were missing. "Where are Kelius and Ansar?" He asked Ilohir, who stood by the door on the inside, ready to corral everyone out if Madhal asked him to.

"Out looking for you," Ilohir admitted. "We told them we'd do our best to shut everything down and to run towards the exits if or when the lights go out."

Sindri nodded. "There's still the problem of being quite outnumbered. I don't think we'd be able to reach the ships in time to escape...but, there is one thing I haven't tried." Once again, the Solare touched his hand to his circlet to make his staff appear in his hand. "I've only seen Yuneza do this once…" he admitted. The orange-eyed dragon did his best to channel his power through the staff, and then he tapped it onto the ground, as he had seen Yuneza do before.

"Sentain Vitara," he spoke into the staff. Relief flooded his features when he was able to hear a response immediately.

"Solare Sindri?"

"We've been captured by, not Pure dragon radicals, but Astral radicals led by Darifer's estranged father," he quickly summarized. "He has quite the cult following, and we are more than outnumbered. We are on the first island indicated by the tablets, in the Qyton reefs."

"Half of the Sentains know how to operate ships. I'll send them out to you right now with as many fighters as they can fit!"

::::

"Wait a minute, I don't remember seeing any recruits as short as you," a uniformed Astral commented as he stopped in the middle of a hall to gape at a disguised Ansar.

"The Chief swore him in as a trainee himself not too long ago," Kelius quickly responded as he kept a firm hold on Ansar's shoulder. "Would you go against the Chief's direct orders?"

"Hey, I meant no insult," the Astral said as he backed off and kept walking.

Ansar and Kelius both let out a sigh of relief.

"Who knew that being a traitor had a height limit," Ansar scoffed.

"Shh!" Kelius suddenly warned as he urged Ansar to flatten his back against the wall.

"...and he says he didn't see anyone?"

"Said he was knocked out from behind."

"And the others are still unconscious."

"How could we have lost them? They're huge!"

"If they flew off, they're sure to warn the others."

"Chief said he's going to head to the control room to speed up the process."

Ansar's eyes widened. The couple wasted no time in backtracking towards the control room to warn the others. Just as they reached Madhal, they were surrounded in darkness.

"Whoa," Ansar gasped, but it was immediately followed with glee when Sindri stepped out of the control room with an illuminated staff casting a radius of light around three feet long. "Sin! You're ok!"

"Ansar?" Sindri wondered until he verified that he really was there with his own eyes.

"No time to spare!" Kelius warned. "The Chief is heading this way."

"Darifer, do you think you can lead us back to where the others are hidden?" Sindri questioned.

"Yes, let's go," Darifer responded.

"Is there any way they can turn everything back on even after you shut it down?" Ansar asked.

"Not without the power supplies that we're taking with us," Emyve pointed out.

As Ansar squinted, he was barely able to see that most of the Gallants were carrying large bags.

"They scanned the whole bunker for any other power supplies, but the only ones were in the control room, according to the map," Ilohir explained.

Everything seemed to be going well when they managed to find the hallway with the room where their Pure dragon comrades were hidden. But, that same hall began to fill with Astral radicals from the other end. Eager to free their friends, Sindri rushed forward and opened the door to the room before the uniformed dragons reached them.

"Come on, let's get out of here," the Solare urged. He remained standing at the door until Talden, Ava, and Pier rushed out to join the gallants at the other end of the hall.

"Sindri!" Gonuret called out. He rushed forward just as one of the radicals tried to grab hold of Sindri's arm. He held up his gauntlet, his hand clenched in a fist, as he summoned up the power that had been dormant until then. Before their very eyes, the door swung to block the Astrals that were closest. Then, the entire metal wall began to curl and peel back until the rest of the hallway became blocked by it.

For a moment, the entire group stared at the Lunare in the dim light of the Solare's staff.

"We'll figure out how the hell he did that later," Kelius hissed. "Let's get out of here already!"

Darifer continued to lead the way back out of the bunker. Every now and then, they were blocked by uniformed Astrals, but Gonuret continued to use segments of the bunker itself to either block them or shove them out of the way. The exit was easy to spot with the light of the sun filtering through it.

The three Pure dragons immediately shifted into their larger forms so that they could carry the others. They flew right back to the edge of the island, where six ships had just begun to land. Sindri couldn't help but laugh with relief at the sight. Though one of the Sentains wanted to restrain Darifer in order to question him about his father, Sindri did not allow it.

"His father's actions have nothing to do with him," Sindri insisted. "Without his help, we would have still been held captive or worse."

Championed by the Solare himself, no one else dared to treat Darifer as anything other than an ally.