darkSpyro

Okay. For all that don't know what this story is about, this is from the book Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. We will be currently starting the rpg for this story and you can read this story on Fanfiction.net. Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/68..._of_Nettlebrand

For all who don't know the story, read the book or google it. Also, Nettlebrand is a giant, man-made, golden dragon who was made to hunt silver dragons and kill them for their horns. At the end of the story, this antagonist was turned into a toad, which is where this story begins. For more information, google Nettlebrand. I hope you like this story.

Prologue

It had been five weeks since Firedrake and his friends had defeated Nettlebrand and brought all of the dragons from Ireland back to the Rim of Heaven. They thought that everything would be fine now. Soon Firedrake would be visiting Ben, the dragon rider, and after that, the Greenblooms would be leaving for their search for Pegasus.

The fight with Nettlebrand had been intense for Firedrake and Maia, but luckily they had managed to save Twigleg, the homunculus that had once served the Golden One, and melt Nettlebrand's golden armor with dragon fire. Thus doing so, Nettlebrand had been turned back into his original form before he was enchanted: a toad. However, this toad was let free from the dragons for they didn't think that it would harm anything.

This very toad was lying in a bush deep within the Himalayan mountains with no memory of his evil past. Now this toad was living the life of a normal amphibian, but he was alone. Very, very alone. In fact he began to feel extremely lonely. Being a toad and all, there wasn't much to do. The toad could have sworn he had felt very bored in the past, but he wasn't sure. What had happened back then?

A nearby raven began to squawk in the trees, searching for prey. If this bird saw him, he was toast! The toad slowly and quietly tried to hop away into the forest.

The raven squawked again and turned its head towards the toad. It cawed and dove at him, angrily pecking at the ground. This bird was very fast on the ground!

"Ribbit!" went the toad as he tried to escape the bird's clutches. He was dead for sure, and he knew it! Well, at least he wasn't being killed by a human and being put in a French restaurant.

The raven dove at the toad as it jumped behind a tree. The bird drove its beak into the tree, eager to kill the toad. However, it soon got its beak stuck in the tree's bark.

Now was the toad's chance: Run away or be killed. The toad hopped away towards a rabbit hole; maybe he could find shelter there. The hole was just a few inches away when the bird came back and blocked the hole.

The toad gulped and hopped over to a rock. When was this bird going to let him live? If only there was a mountain lion or some other creature that could stop this bird...

The raven stabbed its beak at the toad once again a squawked even louder. This toad was becoming very frustrating to the flying creature. Maybe it should just go find some other prey. No, this was worth the catch.

The toad leaped behind the rock and back towards the hole, trying to confuse the bird; however, the bird was too smart for that. It dove again, determined to make the kill, when the toad stopped. The raven dove right over the toad, missing it and landing its beak deep within the rabbit hole. It tried to yank its way free, but it was stuck real good.

The toad hopped away into the forest and disappeared among the large bushes. It breathed hard and settled down in a thicket. That was a very close near death situation, and he hoped it wouldn't happen again. The toad kicked back and fell asleep in the thicket hoping for a better more intense life.

A loud rustling in the thicket echoed throughout the area. The toad snapped awake and looked out at the noisy bushes producing the annoying sound. He gasped, what if was the raven again? He couldn't take any chances, but he had to know. He shouldn't just assume that every noise in the forest was an evil predator.

The toad lazily stood up and hopped out of his hiding spot to see what was going on. Several bushes were rattling as more and more suspicious creatures entered the perimeter. It sounded like a raven, but maybe it wasn't. He continued to look on to find out.

Suddenly, the bushes stopped rattling and the creatures approached the toad. He was completely petrified, so he closed his eyes. What ever these things were, they were pretty scary.

Then one of the creatures spoke, "Hey, guys! Look who I found! By golly, it's Cousin Garthin!"

What? Who was Garthin? The toad opened his eyes to ask when he gasped in shock. These creatures weren't the raven, a mountain lion, or any other predator. This group consisted of toads and frogs.