Mystic Dragon Cadets

"Look out below!"

Apples fell from above as Sloan caught them in a basket. Grinning all the way Tegan sat on a thick tree branch as she tossed her friend more fruit. She actually enjoyed this errand and having Sloan around made it more fun, the tree she was climbing was actually 80 feet tall. Tegan took a bite of one of the apples and gazed at the dystopian landscape. She did find it odd that fruits only grow on the ridiculously high trees.

"The basket's full!" Sloan yelled.

She flew down and scooped up her basket of peaches while her friend had the apples. "Great, lets get going."

They met Sir North and Professor Rayne near the big clock tower in the middle of Manhattan square. Doing small errands like this made her feel sorta normal. Tegan yawned which made Sloan glance at her.

Professor Rayne and Sir North picked up the baskets and they followed, the market was lively as people chatted amongst themselves. She liked that people didn't stare at them like they were some endangered species or looked disgusted or afraid. Having a pet dragon felt like a common thing like asking for a puppy or cat.

"Not again!" screeched a man. "Stop that!"

Next to the repair shop a woman with wild blonde hair and oversized clothes waved something in her hand before running away.

"Whats that about?" Sloan asked. "Did he get robbed?"

"Marcy Sinclair," Sir North said.

Tegan listened to the shop owner curse. "Who?"

"The woman who ran off," Professor Rayne explained. "She use to be a brilliant Mystic Knight before her accident."

"What happened?" Sloan looked curious.

Sir North gave Professor Rayne a knowing look before speaking. "We can't get into details, but I heard her last mission was so bad she developed PTSD and became a recluse.”

"Anyway," Professor Rayne interrupted. "Were going to hand these baskets to Mr. and Mrs. Cho at the bakery, why don't you check if Matthew needs help?"

Tegan and Sloan walked over to the repair show as the owner reappeared with a bucket and a rag. He was a plump black man with a scruffy mustache, a scar across his nose, sunglasses, wearing overalls and rain boots.

"Mr. Matthew do you need help with anything?" Sloan offered.

The man stopped, lifted up his glasses and smiled. "Well, thank you youngbloods. This isn't the first time that crazy lady vandalized folks shops."

There was a bar of soap in the empty bucket as Sloan summoned water, he handed her the rag as she noticed the strange drawings on the wall. The drawings were people with X's for eyes and drowning in a pool a blood, next to that was a row of tombstones.

Seeing that made Tegan’s stomach twist as soapy water splashed the wall. All the doodles slowly faded as Sloan handed her a sponge to scrub away those morbid thoughts.

Back at Timber Moon Mystic Force Academy it was 8:15 at night. Tegan and Sloan were eating dinner in the cafeteria when Lisa sat next to them.

"After supper meet me at the Crypt Garden," Lisa whispered.

The night air was cozy as Tegan and Sloan sat on a glass prism at the heart of the Academy, it was almost 9:30 when Lisa finally showed up.

Tegan stood. "I almost forgot. Lisa, are you going to play dodgeball tonight in the Kombat Hall?"

"I guess," the mighty Dust Devil looked distracted.

"Whats this big secret?" Sloan asked. "And don't forget curfew is at 11."

"Ssshhhh," Lisa opened her hand to reveal a skeleton key. "Not here."

When they entered the Crypt Garden a huge tree stood in the middle. Tegan knew this was an all-in-one fruit tree and getting your hands on a seed is pretty rare. Fireflies glowed all around them as the Crescent moon floated in the starry sky.

That's when Lisa flew up and snatched something from the branch before sitting. Calpurnia, Patches and Kong chased each other before rolling around in the dandelions, it was a cute sight.

Sloan had his hands in his hoodie.

"Hmm," Lisa ate her grapes. "Tomorrow, I'm gonna ask the chefs to make me a chocolate banana smoothie."

"You still hungry?" she smiled.

Lisa pouted. "I'm stress eating."

"Okay, whats really going on?" Tegan became serious.

"I found this when I was snooping through my dad's office," Lisa sighed and took out a scroll. "Doomsday is coming."

"What!" Sloan was surprised by the news.

Lisa stopped eating. "In 5 years the earth will be unhabitable, everything will be dead."

"I don't understand," Tegan said bitterly. "I knew the earth was slowly dying, but the Calamity Bureau said it would take thousands of years before being destroyed."

"Zodiac Nests," Lisa pointed to an oval on the scroll. "From what I read these giant Easter eggs are the reason earth is being sucked dry."

Tegan stared hopelessly at the piece of paper that announced their death sentence. "What are we going to do?"

"Everything will be okay!" Sloan hugged her as she trembled.

She wanted to believe her best friend's words and she wanted to believe that someday she would be able to live peacefully with her family. This new discovery crushed any lingering hope Tegan had, everyone's fate was now written in stone.