Brief Prologue "Ahh!" Pyrothraxus cried. "Get it off! Get it off!" The ent latched onto his ear frill tightly, grinding his splintery teeth against the membrane. He pulled down upon Pyrothraxus, bending the Red Dragon's neck awkwardly. Though the ent was as tall as Pyrothraxus' shoulder, Pyrothraxus still had another 40 feet to his neck. With one snap of the ent's shoulders, Pyrothraxus came toppling down onto his side. "Give it back to me!" the ent bellowed. "Give it back now!" "What?" Pyrothraxus asked. "Give what back?" The ent pulled harder, wrapping his arms around Pyrothraxus' neck and holding him tightly in a lock. The Red Dragon struggled under the great strength of the tree ent's branch-like arms. "Aiyah, Jonathan!" called Lao Shi from the pavement. "Just give whatever it is he wants back to him." "I don't know what it is he wants," Pyrothraxus growled back, trying to pull himself away from the vice-like grip of the ent's arms. "You're the dragon who stole it!" the ent shouted. "Stole what?" Pyrothraxus asked. The ent let loose a hollow bellow and flipped Pyrothraxus over onto his back. Cars parked in the street were suddenly tossed into the air by the Red Dragon's thrashing tail. Pyrothraxus gripped his claws into the pavement, sending the tar cracking and splintering across the surface. "Give it back!" the ent bellowed, tightening his grip around the dragon's neck. "That's it, I'm getting tired of guessing games, here," Pyrothraxus growled, black smoke slowly rising up from his nostrils. "You tell me what it is you want, or you'll be reduced to nothing more than ash." "Yo, Woody!" called a voice from above. Pyrothraxus' eyes turned skyward to see his son Jake in his dragon form flying around. "Let my old man go!" The ent growled, still keeping one arm around the Great Wyrm. He then waved the other hand and the pavement cracked and splintered again as vines shot up from the ground towards the American Dragon. Jake dodged and spun around through the vines, weaving in and out as best as he could. One vine whipped out and latched onto Jake's tail, yanking him down from the sky. "My son," Pyrothraxus sighed in dismay. "The hero." "Jake!" Lao Shi called. "Fire breath!" The ent grinned slightly and waved his hand again. Vines rose up and wrapped tightly around Pyrothraxus' body, binding his wings and legs and tail. Another vine came up and muzzled the Red Dragon, preventing him from using his fire breath. Jake glanced back and breathed his fire upon the vines around him, loosing them up. He looked over to his father, who still struggled against his binds. "Dad!" he called, flapping his wings and racing over to his father. Before he could reach his father, he was again knocked down from the sky. Jake glanced up and his jaw became slack when he saw the gigantic ent lumber towards him. The ent's foot rose up above Jake's head. "Jake!" called Lao Shi, transforming into his dragon form. The blue, Eastern-like dragon whipped about and made a grab for Jake, yanking him away before the foot came down. Pyrothraxus' glowing eyes lit up and his anger rose slowly. Parting his lips, the Red Dragon allowed his flames to seep out between his teeth, burning away the binds around his snout. Once he was able to open his massive jaws, the Great Wyrm snapped at the vines that bound his body, loosening them and breaking them. The ent heard the deep growl of the Red Dragon, but before he could turn back around, he was blasted across the street by a powerful fire ball. Pyrothraxus rose up, his jaws smoking and his lips pulled back into a sneer. "Dad!" Jake called. The ent called out, flames burning away at his wooden body. He tried to bat at the fire, dousing it, but it was not enough. Pyrothraxus wiggled his fore claw and the flames slowly died out. "Now, tell me what it is you want with me," he growled, his nostrils still smoked. The ent could see a glow deep inside the throat of the Red Dragon, meaning he could fire his breath again. "The sapphire jewel," the ent replied, gasping, his body still smoldering. "You stole my sapphire jewel." "Jewel?" Lao Shi asked. "Jonathan, give him back his jewel!" "Sapphire jewel?" Pyrothraxus asked, thinking for a moment. He settled down onto his haunches like a great cat and curled his tail around his legs. Lifting a claw up to his chin, he tried to remember which sapphire jewel he stole from this particular ent. He had so many of these jewels in his hoard, the very hoard he had to eat in order to Ascend. "I'm sorry, but I had to eat my hoard in order to Ascend. I don't have this jewel." "Aiyah, Jonathan!" Lao Shi threw up his arms. "I've seen you cough up Spanish Doubloons since that day, now just cough up the jewel!" "Alright," Pyrothraxus sighed. He started to hit his abdomen with a fist, causing him to cough and spit. He felt something come up through his throat and he leaned his head back. Finally when he felt the object shot out into his mouth, he spat it out. The ent rose his head up and found the sapphire jewel lying on the ground in a puddle of slimy saliva. He could smell the stench of sulfuric acid burn around at the pavement. Carefully, he picked it up once the fumes disappeared. Then, the ent turned around and regarded Pyrothraxus with intense hatred. He slowly lumbered off after that, hopping over a few low buildings and disappearing into the night. Pyrothraxus lowered his head and shook it. Jake glanced down at the hole in the pavement that his father's acidic saliva had created. "I didn't know your loogies were acidic," he said, glancing up at the Red Dragon. "Sulfuric acid," Pyrothraxus said. "Same type of acid that's found around a volcano." "Jonathan!" called Lao Shi. "Gaoyang zhong de guyang! What the duce were you doing stealing jewels?" "Uh, I haven't stolen anything in 1500 years," Pyrothraxus snapped, approaching the tiny blue dragon. "Besides, I stole that item about 3 thousand years ago, when that guy was much bigger than me." "Dad, why did you take it?" Jake asked. "Because I was an evil Chromatic Red Dragon who acted like a little punk," Pyrothraxus replied. "That's why." Heads perked up as the sound of thumping became louder and louder. Pyrothraxus picked up the noise of sirens coming around the corner. "Uh-oh," called Jake. "We must leave now!" called Lao Shi. "Aiyah, Jonathan, do you have to make such a big mess?" Pyrothraxus glanced back at the damaged his thrashing had made to the neighborhood he was in and he gave a sheepish smile: "Heh, woops. Well, this is coming out of my taxes." "Why me?" Lao Shi growled. "Come on, let's get out of here before that chopper comes close enough to take pictures!" Pyrothraxus sighed again, extending his massive, broad, bat-like wings. Casting his fly spell, he kicked off into the air with little effort and made his first downward stroke. Jake and Lao Shi followed behind him. Jake could hear the echoing sound of his father's broad wings flapping which each slow downward stroke. The two smaller dragons were having some trouble keeping up with the Ancient Dragon, who's great wings could carry him a lot farther than them. Jake flapped his wings faster, trying to keep up with his father. For some strange reason, Pyrothraxus seemed preoccupied with something. "Dad!" Jake called. "Dad, hang on! Wait up!" "Jonathan, slow down!" Lao Shi called. Pyrothraxus turned his head slightly and then angled his wings, slowing his pace down. The other two, smaller dragons grabbed hold of the Red Dragon's neck scales and held on. "I think it's best we just hitch a ride," said Lao Shi. "Dad?" Jake asked. "Are you alright?" "Just thinking about the days when no one knew I was Pyrothraxus and my past never came back to haunt me," he replied. "I missed having everyone think of me as some ordinary human. Sometimes, I wish that I was—just an ordinary human." Lao Shi was rather shocked to hear something like that coming from a Chromatic Red Dragon. Red Dragons typically did not want to be something weaker than what they really were. Pyrothraxus seemed to be the exception. Pyrothraxus was always the exception to every rule when it came down to Red Dragons. He swiftly back-winged, landing near the electronics store in the parking lot. Pyrothraxus folded his wings back and lowered his head for his passengers to hop off. Jake and Lao Shi reverted into their human forms. Jake sniffed the air, finding a peculiar stench hanging over his head. "What smells like rotten eggs?" he asked. Pyrothraxus craned his head around, lifting up a foreleg and taking a sniff under his armpit. Then, he lowered it and rumbled frustratingly. "It's me," he replied as he merely shrank himself. "Apparently, I need another lilac bath." "I've got some lilac spray inside," Fu said. "Just for something like this." They went inside and Pyrothraxus hopped himself onto the couch in the back room, settling himself down on the cushions. "Aiyah, Jonathan!" called Lao Shi. "I don't want that burning sulfur smell on my couch!" The Red Dragon snorted, black smoke escaping his nostrils.