A Dance of Flames

The two men stood at the base of the volcano, the experimental heat reductions suits or HR suits equipped to them. While it wouldn’t allow them to directly touch magma/lava, it would allow them to get closer than any other HR suit before. “Ready to become the first people to stand inside an active volcano Rick?” Asked the shorter of the two. Under the suit, he had black hair with a pair of contacts that couldn’t be seen unless he took them off.

This man’s name Johnathan Ford, he stood at 5 foot 8 inches. He had a slightly tan skin color. He was a scientist that studied, you guessed it, volcanoes. “You bet Johnny Test.” Said the other taller man. He stood at 6 foot even and had flaming red hair. He had a few freckles that spotted his cheeks. He didn’t need glasses but had a bandana around his neck. It was of a blue dragon spitting red-orange flames.

This was Richard Morrow, he was an explorer that had been on many expeditions for National Geographic. They were friends since their childhood but had slightly drifted apart when they went to different colleges. John had earned the name Johnny Test from when the two went trick or treating one year. He had dressed as Johnny when a dog that had a similar look to Dukey had come up to him and acted like he was John’s dog.

John groaned at the nickname. “Come on dude, that was years ago! Even if I didn’t mutate the dog into talking and extending his life, we didn't keep him.” John playfully nudged Rick. Rick chuckled and began to lead John up the volcano. While they went up, the ground would crumble from small shakes every once in awhile. “Uh, Rick? I think we should turn back now. I think the volcano is becoming unstable.” John said over the radio headset that was in the suit.

“Come on, it’s now or never John!” Rick replied to John’s worry. Even if they were rightly placed. The two continued to climb even as the rumbling increased in power and frequency. It wasn’t until a particularly powerful quake did John speak up.

“That’s it Rick! I’m going back, I’m not risking my life for this!” John said as he began to climb back down. Rick rolled his eyes and continued going up, the ground getting steeper and steeper the higher he went. When he got to the top he looked down into the bubbling magma that was inside the volcano’s center. It was about a half mile down. If Rick knew anything about volcanoes, the magma should be a lot higher than what it was right now.

He got the one of the pickaxes and cable that was attached to his suit that was made to withstand the same temperature as the suit. Rick wrapped the cable around a huge boulder and began to climb into the volcano. He went down, and down, and down. That was, until he came upon an empty magma tube that was in the side of the volcano. He swung into the tube and detached the cable, wrapping it around the pickaxe before he put in the wall. He walked down the tube until he saw something glint in the walls.

He smiled and got out the other pickaxe he had. He aimed carefully and began to mine the diamonds. This was one of the reasons he did this. He not only wanted to be the first person to be in a volcano, but the one to get a diamond bigger than the Hope Diamond, the biggest diamond ever found. Distracted with his work, he failed to notice the light coming from behind him. It was only when he got the diamond from the wall did he notice it. He gasped and ran up the tube, running from the magma as it chased after him.

He kept running even as the whole volcano began to shake. He turned his head back only to see the magma was right behind. A few more feet and his goose was cooked, lIterally and metaphorically. He pushed himself to go faster when he saw the end of the tube. He ran and ran until the end was covered in magma and began flowing towards him from in front and behind him. His eyes widened and he began to cry. "No... This can't be how it ends!"

The suit could withstand magma, but only for a minute before it was incinerated. He clenched the diamond within his hand and pushed himself into the magma. It was like wading through extremely hot clay. If that makes any sense. He could tell the suit was beginning to melt so he stopped. He knew it was over. He looked at the diamond in his hand and clenched it in his gloved hand. Tears began to leak from his eyes as he accepted his death.

~Pov. Change: Dragon Lord Ember~

I sighed as I twisted the scepter in my claw. To most I would seem bored, but in reality, I felt lonely. I guess it was true what those ponies say, 'it's lonely at the top'. I looked at the scepter in my claws and sighed once more. I flew up and through the top of the my den and just flew. If some dragon needed me, they could wait till I returned. I just flew and flew, just thinking about nothing and everything as I flapped my wings.

I was so focused on it, I missed the clouds floating towards me. It wasn't until the flash of lightning and sound of thunder did I notice I was flying in the middle of a lightning storm. I turned to fly back but every direction looked the same. I would have flown down but with a flash and a bang, my wing exploded with pain as I was struck by lightning. I began falling out of the sky as I began to lose consciousness.

Before I could hit the ground though and possibly fall to my death, I felt something collide with my side and something wrap around me as whatever had saved me was sliding along the ground. But with that, I became unconscious.

~Pov. Change: Rick Morrow~

My eyes fluttered open as I felt something wet drop on my head. I grunted and shrugged it off before there was another, and another, and another, before a whole torrent of rain crashed on my body. My eyes snapped open as I bolted up, now without the suit and wearing my normal clothes. I didn't remember ever taking the suit off and then it clicked. ‘I died... hadn't I? That lava should have killed me.’

I looked around frantically and saw that the diamond I had gotten from the volcano was on the ground, only a few feet away. I didn't care at that moment as I patted myself down. “I'm alive... ha, I- I'm alive, hahahaha! I'm alive! Wooow! Take that Jonathan! Yeah!” I cheered in the rain. I relished the feeling of it till I saw a flash of lightning which was quickly followed by a crash of thunder.

“Shit!” I cried out as I snatched up the diamond and ran to find any possible shelter. The only thing I was able to see were mountains about a half mile away. While it was night time the moon still gave off a considerable amount of light that allowed me to see, even with the storm clouds, somehow.

I didn't understand science, just survival tactics and such. And lightning was definitely not good for my health. It was then when I saw the figure flying in the sky, carrying something that looked like a weird mace. It was flying frantically in the air as it tried to get away from the storm but the lightning won and struck one of its wings.

The wing tucked in, most likely in pain and whatever it was began to fly in a downward spiral. If that thing didn't die from the lightning, it was going to die from that fall. Without thinking, I ran to where that creature would land and I was only a few feet away when it was almost a foot from the ground. I jumped with all of my leg power and tackled the thing out of the air, my arms wrapping around it and the thing it was holding as I turned so my back hit the ground.

The air was pushed from my lungs as I laid there with the scaly creature in my arms. The scaly creature that was breathing. The scaly creature that was breathing and had wings. The scaly being that was breathing, had wings, and was unconscious. If the wings and scales didn't tell me this was a flying reptile, nothing would. And that leads to one of two things, a pterodactyl, or a dragon.

It couldn't have been a dinosaur as it had a very different shape to the bone structure that I had seen in a museum, so it must be a dragon. Though, now that I was up close, I could see the dragon had a bit of femininity to it. It had a small waist and feminine eyes and her chest was a bit elevated but had no breasts or nipples. Just scales. It's hips were also a bit feminine. But it's scales were beautiful in my eyes. A rich vibrant blue of the likes I had never seen from my world.

In total, this was a gorgeous creature. I grunted and picked her up. I heard a thump and saw a crystal scepter. It had a huge ruby, the size of which I had never seen before. It was held in a darker crystal claw that looked like a dragon claw. It was laying right next to the diamond I had dropped so I could catch this creature.

This thing must have been important to the creature in my arms so I picked it up and laid it across its chest. I also picked up the diamond and put it with the scepter. With that, I resumed my trek to the mountains, all whilst trying not to be bit by the wild lightning.