"What!? How!?"
Opal stared at her lessoner. Larimar was one of her favourite lessoners. She rested Larimar's head on her talons. Her surprised and terrified expression painted on her face forever. Then Opal's tears came flooding out. Quartz came over to look at Larimar.
"Wait. Look." She said pointing to her stomach. Opal set down Larimar's head, wiped away tears, and came to look at what Quartz was pointing to. Along Larimar's stomach was a long purple scratch, as though something poisonous had sliced at her and given her the smallest of scratches.
"This doesn't look deadly," Quartz said inspecting the wound. She ran her claw around the wound where it looked like the skin had gone black as if burned.
"It looks as if shes been paralysed!" Finished Opal. She pressed her ear to Larimar's chest. She could hear the faint thump of Larimar's heart, it was slow but still beat.
"She's alive!" Opal cried, as she hugged her lessoner.
"We'd better get her to the healers before she dies then."
Opal and Quartz flew Larimar back to the ledge where Jasper, Sugilite and Jade where waiting patiently. Sugilite spun around and hissed when they landed but settled when she realised who they were. Jade eyed Larimar, putting a talon to her shout and Jasper looked around, obviously looking for someone.
"Where is Holly-Blue?" He asked looking at the dark Forest, "not that I was worried."
"Is she dead?" Asked Jade, who looked on the edge of tears.
"No," said Opal, "she's just paralysed."
Jade sighed of relief as Jasper walked up to them.
"We'd better get her to the healers then." He said as he positioned himself beside Larimar. Sugilite sidled up on Larimar's other side and Jade walked up behind Opal, at the back of the group.
"Just so I can come too." She said. Opal nodded in understanding. Jade was caring of everyone, especially Larimar, so she must be very worried for her. They took of flying west toward Mt.Unakite's healer den. The den was a large opening in the side of it rimmed with red-orange acacia wood and a few flowers decorated the wood. A few green and white crystals marked the corners of the den and there were berries and leaves were scattered between the shining surfaces. They hurriedly shuffled down the corridor leading to the den, the ceiling dotted with luminous stalactite crystals to light the way. They hurried faster hearing the beat of Larimar's heart growing fainter and fainter by the minute. As the group of lesson mates reached the den, Jade cried out.
"Quick we need help!"
Instantly two GemWings, a white Selenite and green Rutile, came rushing forward instantly spotting the motionless form of Larimar.
"Oh dear what happened?" Asked Selenite, her eyes filled with concern.
"We don't know." Replied Opal, "we found her like this."
"Well she's lucky you found her when you did," said Rutile leading them to the nearest free nest. The group lay down the patient carefully resting her head on the soft leaf woven pillow filled with dove feathers.
"She at least has a fighting chance, unlike the other patients." Rutile gestured to the other patients nearby. As Opal looked hard, she began to see blackened scratches that glowed just like Larimar's.
"What happened to them?" Asked Sugilite.
"We managed to get something out of one of our patients before she died." Said Selenite, walking over to a dip on a small rock ledge that contained berries. There were other dips too, which contained other healing items. She brought the berries over to Larimar and the squeezed them into a paste, cupping her other talon to catch the juice. Rutile walked over and got something that looked like thick cactus leaves. She squeezed the juice out of it into the berry paste in Selenite's talons. Selenite mixed the two juices with the paste and then rubbed it on Larimar's wound.
"That should get rid of the paralysing poison." Said Rutile.
"How did you know it was poison?" Asked Jasper, "what did this patient tell you?"
"Gypsum told us that he was attacked." Said Selenite grimly.
"By what?" Asked Jade.
"He told us that he was attacked by a dark purple dragon that could teleport." Said Rutile, "he explained that it was fast and ruthless, with claws of poison." Opal shuddered.
"Do you know the name of this dragon?" She asked.
Both Rutile and Selenite shook their heads. Quartz looked back at Larimar with a grim expression. The tips of her silver claws and the lavender gem on her tail twitched ever so slightly. But just enough that Opal noticed. She's alive. Opal thought with relief.
"She could tell us more when she wakes up." Said Rutile reassuring the lesson group. Jade held her breath and stared at Larimar.
"She will wake up, you made sure of that." Selenite reassured her. Jade beamed a proud happy smile. They turned to leave as another GemWing came in carrying a talonful of Aythem stones. He left them piled by Larimar's snout.
"She needs rest for now, but when she wakes up she'll need food before she tells us what happened." Said the GemWing nodding to the group.
"That means she'll need to be alone for a while."
Jasper nodded.
"Let's go back to the cliff to wait for Malachite." He said leading the way back down to the tunnel entrance.
They flew back to the cliff to see Malachite was was waiting for them, pacing around anxiously. He looked up suddenly and spotted the group descending toward him.
"Thank goodness you're all alright." He said as he sighed with relief. "Where have you all been?"
The group looked at each other.
"We—" Jade began. No one wanted to tell Malachite what happened.
"We went to the healer den to—" Sugilite started, but then snapped her mouth shut to prevent herself from saying anything else.
"To?" Malachite pressed. His stern gaze passed over each of the five dragonets. Opal sighed. She knew they wouldn't get away without an explanation. She stepped forward and faced her flight lessoner. She explained everything that happened, from when Holly disappeared into the forest, finding Larimar and bringing her to the healers, to finding out there was a new species of dragon.
"We don't know what they are called but all we know, is that they wanted Larimar dead." Opal finished.
"But why?" Asked Jade her eyes starting to fill up with tears.
"We don't know, but there were other victims as well."
"Who?" Malachite asked.
"The only name we got was Gypsum but I think I saw a Ruby and maybe a Pearl there too."
"Hmmm." Malachite thought for a moment, "these attacks aren't planned. It seems as if these new dragons are attacking whoever they get. Where did you find Larimar?"
"By a withered tree in the forest." Said Quartz pointing to the forest below, "that must have been what the scream was."
Opal got home three minutes before sunset, which was early for her. Her parents came up and wrapped her up in their wings.
"Had a good day?" Emerald asked.
"Yes." Opal lied. She couldn't tell her parents what happened today right now. She hugged her mother tightly and then did the same to her father and then raced off to her room. She had to read her scrolls. She arrived at the entrance of her room, her scales accidentally scraping across the stone as she skidded to a stop. She instantly slithered over to her shelf, made of crystal, and scanned each shelf for the scroll on ancient dragon tribes. She found it and hastily took it out, scattering a few other scrolls in the process. She then settled on her nest and opened the scroll. It said;

The eight ancient tribes of Pyrexia, long before the time of today;

GemWings:
Hard crystal-like scales with a gem for a tail. Their breath, not fire, but a crystal shard frost. Some even believe they have control to grow crystals out of the ground. A peaceful tribe. Prefers to live underground.

SlitherWings:
Smooth snake-like scales with three horns on each side of the head. Long thin forked tongue and small round eyes. No limbs except their wings. They have a two families, Viper and Python. Python families are bigger and more muscular with spikes on their necks, whereas the Viper family is more thinner and slender, with long fangs for inflicting poisonous wounds and no spikes. Both families can breathe a poisonous breath which can paralyse their enemies. A neutral tribe. Prefers to live in tall grasslands.

So, Opal thought taking her eyes off the scroll, it could have been them, but the poison came from the scratch not the air around her.
Opal turned back to her scroll.

FeatherWings:
Soft feather-like scales with a beak at the front of their snouts. They walk on two legs instead of four with arms that have wings attached to them. Fast fliers, like birds. Can be any colour of the rainbow or any colour of birds. A peaceful tribe. No one knows where they prefer to live.

BrightWings:
Smooth scales with a rim of horns around the top of their heads. Can be any colour of the sky at night or sunset. One of the only two tribes that can breathe fire. Some are rumoured to be able to see the future, or access others' dreams. A peaceful tribe. Prefers to live in bushland.

ShiftWings:
Small scales with two horns on each side of the head. A mane of fur around the neck, and a tuft of fur on the tail. Can breathe fire. Not much else is known. Has been rumoured to have the ability to shapeshift. A shifty tribe. No one knows where they prefer to live.

VoidWings:
Slender like bodies with a thin whip-like tail. Twisted horns instead of straight. Can come in many shades of purple and pink. No information on their abilities. A secretive tribe. No known habitat.

ArachneWings:
Large dragons with two tails; four eyes and wings; six legs instead of four. Can shoot silk from their tails and can be known as professional weavers. Some have even been rumoured to talk to spiders. Eats anything they catch in their webs except dragons. Breathes a poisonous breath which can kill enemies. A neutral tribe. Prefers to live in swampland.

As—
The scroll stopped there since it was too grubby and unreadable at the bottom. Almost the whole of the bottom had been ripped off. Opal stared hard at the information of each.
"Not much known about VoidWings huh?" She muttered, "I bet it was them."
She decided to go for and evening flight. Not only to practice her flying, but to think and get away from all the clutter of Mt.Unakite. She slipped past her parents and crept to the edge of the cave. She took to the sky just as the sun was kissing the horizon. Orange red and yellow filled the sky, as the bright blue of the  sky was turning grey. She swooped over the grasslands below looking at the animals below. She named each of them as she passed, except that blue thing.
Wait, what blue thing? She stopped to hover and stare at the blue thing on the grass below her. It was long and thin, and looked bigger than the zebra nearby. It had no limbs and a diamond shaped head. Snake! Her brain went. But deep down she knew it wasn't a snake. It was too big for that. She swooped down to land beside it just as it let out a low groan. She slowly made her way next to it. It lifted it head tiredly to look at Opal and she sat down beside it. It had small round eyes and three horns on either side of the head. Its a SlitherWing!
"Is it gone?" She asked looking around frantically.
"What?" Opal said confused.
"That purple dragon that attacked me a few minutes ago." The SlitherWing said. "Don't tell me you didn't see it."
"I didn't." Opal replied. "Wait do you know what it looked like?"
"Well it was fast, but I saw it for just a few moments. It had twisted horns and a slender body. I couldn't see it's tail but I saw what looked like a portal behind it before it jumped in it and disappeared." The dragon explained. Instantly her mind shouted, VoidWing! It sounded about right, since nobody knew what their powers were. She went to help up the SlitherWing as she rose up. Opal got a glance at her tail and saw it frosted with purple.
"It breathed on me before I fake died, so it was satisfied I was dead before it disappeared." She said proudly. Opal grinned at her.
"What's you name by the way?" She asked.
"Seasnake," The SlitherWing said, "it's Seasnake."