The Hellhound's Return

Kali blinked as she looked up from the book she had been reading. The panel blocking the dragon's mouth opened allowing Nick and Xander entry into Root core. "What took you guys so long?" she asked. "Your shift ended ten minutes ago, and where's Vida?"

"Haven't seen her since yesterday," said Xander, flopping into a seat beside Chip. He reached across the table and pulled one of the many books towards him, flipping it open to the first page.

"That's strange," said Maddie. "She didn't come home last night, either."

"I'm sure she's fine," said Kali. "If she weren't, she'd have contacted us by now."

The others nodded but Maddie still looked nervous. This was the first time she had gone longer than ten minutes without seeing her sister.

"Any luck?" Nick asked, taking the spare seat beside Kali.

Kali shook her head and returned to the ancient language set out in front of her. "We've checked half the books here," she said. "Since I didn't have work today, I came in early to get a head start, but I still can't find anything."

Since the fight with Necrolai over the Fireheart scroll, the Rangers had been doing everything within their power to find something that would help decipher the second half of the map. They needed to find the Fireheart power before Necrolai could get it to Morticon.

"If you've been reading all day and still haven't found anything then maybe we're not meant to find the secret to the Fireheart," said Xander, aimlessly flipping a page.

"Don't you dare give up," said Kali, tossing him a second book. "We're not allowed to give up. Ever."

"Says who?" Nick asked.

Maddie grinned. "Udonna shouted at Kali an hour before you turned up," she explained. "Mainly because she wanted to give up, too."

Kali shrugged sheepishly. "It was kind of scary," she admitted.

Maddie and Chip laughed and Kali pouted at the pair of them, while Nick and Xander merely chuckled.

"By the way, where is Udonna?" Nick asked, looking around.

"Last time I saw Udonna, she was teaching Claire another invisibility spell," Maddie answered.

"Which could be the problem right there," said Chip.

Kali sighed and rubbed her eyes. The words were starting to swim and merge into one. She shook her head as it started to feel fuzzy, and tiredness was creeping into her voice.

"Don't fall asleep," said Nick, nudging her awake.

"But I'm tired," Kali whined.

Nick chuckled and handed her a bottle of soda pop from his backpack. He had made sure Root core was stocked up with supplies to keep the Rangers going and searching.

"Yo, crew," Vida said, entering Root core. She looked wide awake, but walked with a lazy gait, swaying from side to side. She pulled out a chair and flopped down into it. "Sorry, I'm late."

"' Late'? We haven't seen you since yesterday," said Nick. "That's - that's beyond late. So much for giving us your word."

"Relax. You're not my dad," said Vida, even her speech was slow. "So I missed a night of saving the world. Good news is the world's still here."

"Uh, V, it's not that you missed last night," said Xander. "You missed all day, too. It's night-time again."

"I was worried about you," said Maddie.

"Yeah, she's been gearing up to send out a search party," said Kali. "I was ready to join her."

Vida sighed and stood from the table. "Look. I'm sorry. I gave my word, and I blew it. It won't happen again," she said.