Moonwatcher's heart raced. She felt Winter rush ahead of her yelling, "Run!"
Moon followed him, Hailstorm hard on her tail.
Suddenly, without warning, the sand dropped away from under her talons. Moon spread her wings in panic, but she could not open them, for the sharp rocks on her sides cut them. She was falling, falling, falling into the abyss.
Moonwatcher braced herself to land on rocks, or Winter, or sand. An icy wind was battering her face as she fell. HELP! She thought desperately.
Over the wind, she could hear Hailstorm and Winter screaming, until she heard Winter's cry abruptly stop, followed by a splash.
He hit water, she realized, there's an underground river! At that same moment, everything became muffled, and she felt cold water running in between her scales, washing away all the sand on her.
The current rushed Moonwatcher forward, she desperately flailed her arms, trying to steady herself. I'm going to drown!
She banged her head against a rock, sending alarm shooting through her head, then passed out.
...
Her muscles screamed with pain, and her head throbbed. Something hard fell down on her chest, and she vomited water.
Moonwatcher opened her heavy eyelids, which only revealed blurred white figures. She gasped for air, taking it in gulps.
Someone seemed to say something, but it was muffled from the water in her ears. She felt wet and cold, and let out a groan.
Her vision cleared, revealing Winter. She was lying on sand in a cavern and Winter stood over her, "Are you okay?"
"No…" she mumbled, "everything hurts."
Moon managed to shift into a more comfortable sitting position, gazing around the cave. It was very wide, with torches placed on the walls. Torches? How were there torches? Icewing didn't have fire, and she had been asleep. She saw Hailstorm curled up in a corner on some moss, which was tangled in his tail. She also realized that she, too, had moss carefully placed on the spot where she had hit her head in the river. The moss was soaking the blood and acting as a bandage. Winter must have done that, she thought.
"Torches? Wood?" She began.
"They were there when we got here," Winter replied.
Moonwatcher realized with a jolt that she could still hear water. Looking behind her, she saw the firelight reflecting off of a pool of water with small waves lapping the sandy bank. We must have washed ashore, she thought.
"Is Hailstorm asleep?" She asked.
"Yes, I think we should all rest before we go on, though," Winter said.
Moon flopped back onto the sand, "Yes, please!"
Moonwatcher's cheeks felt hot as Winter curled up beside her. The only thing he said was, "Good night."
Winter was an Icewing, so she got no warmth from him, but she still felt comforted by his presence. She noticed his tail was position funny, but she was too tired to think about it. Hopefully some rest will ease off this pain, she thought. Soon sleep washed over her.
...
A claw prodded her side, awaking Moonwatcher. She sat up blinking, and wondering if it was still day or night, but she had no way of telling.
"We should get going," Winter said.
"Oh, okay."
This time Moonwatcher led the way down the dim tunnels. They were much wider, big enough for her wings to stretch out some. The stone walls had holes in them, where lit torches still burned. Then she realized something.
"If these torches are still lit, it must mean Snowfall has been down here not long ago," but then she corrected herself, "Or someone else, maybe a Sandwing, Nightwing, Skywing, or possibly a Mudwing"
Winter passed her to study the nearest torch, his wings brushing hers in the process. She again noticed his tail was positioned away from her.
"It must have been a while ago," he observed, "These are getting short."
They advanced through the underground tunnels for what seemed to be an hour, torches lit throughout.
"Do these ever end?" Hailstorm asked from the rear, "I'm getting pretty hungry."
At the thought of food, Moon's belly growled in agreement.
They walked further along the path, until she saw an opening up ahead. Moonwatcher signaled with a flick of her tail for the others to stop. She peeked into the opening; It was a cavern much like the one she had slept in, but bigger with torches placed along the walls, and the floor was stone. The cavern had a small stream running through the middle of it, and there was no sign that anyone had been there.
"All clear," she reported.
Moonwatcher bent down at the edge of the stream and drank the clear, cool water. Her muscles and head felt better ever since she got some rest, but her talons were beginning to get sore from all the walking.
"Watersweet!" Winter exclaimed from the far corner of the cave. Moon turned her head to see Winter carefully uprooting some kind of gray plant.
"Watersweet is perfect for sore muscles and cuts," he explained, "They grow without sunlight… My mother is a medical dragon, she teaches me some of the stuff…" he trailed off.
We might never see our families again, she realized. Moonwatcher went over to him and put her wing around him, but he shoved it away, looking embarrassed.
Winter laid the steam on the ground and began to mush it into a pulp.
After it was done, he gave some to Moonwatcher to rub herself with. She relaxed as it soaked into her skin. It had a minty kind of feel, making her tingle. While she was busy, Hailstorm drank from the stream and refilled his water pouch. In the corner of her eye, Moon saw Winter studying his tail. She looked at it, too, suspicious of why he had been strange about it.
She saw a huge blue gash across his tail; Icewing blood was blue, and the wound looked infected.
"Are you okay?" Moon exclaimed.
Winter looked up, then turned away, "It's nothing," He muttered.
Moon opened her mouth to speak, but a startled screech came from above her head. Looking up, she spotted a bat fluttering wildly.
"Hey, can we eat that?" Hailstorm asked.
In reply, Winter shot up and skillfully impaled the bat with a claw.
Upon closer inspection, the bat looked furry and plump. It was big enough to be a snack for one dragon, and only a nibble between three.
Hailstorm hurried over to them, his belly growling.
"That looks like a fruit bat! That means we can eat it," Moon pointed out.
"I've never eaten bat before," Hailstorm commented.
The three ate their share, cooking it with the torches. Moon's stomach was unsatisfied with the meal.
"Wait. Fruit bats eat fruit. How can it have stayed alive down here?" Winter asked.
"Maybe there's a tunnel that leads to the surf-" Moonwatcher was cut off by the echoing sound of talon steps behind her. Whipping around, she met the glaring gaze of a huge male Nightwing emerging from the tunnel.
She took a step back, "W- who are you?" She stuttered.
The Nightwing did not reply, but reared up on his hind legs and opened his gaping jaws menacingly. Looking into his mouth, Moon saw a dim glow coming from his throat.
He's about to blast me with fire! She realized, but her limbs would not move.
She was frozen with terror! Just then, quick as a flash, Winter darted in front of her as a freezing breath erupted from his mouth. Winter's frost-breath went straight into the dragon's mouth, blasting him backwards and freezing his mouth shut.
The Nightwing's eyes burned with fury as he stuck his jaws into a torch's flame, melting the ice that enclosed it. He let out an aggressive roar and charged towards Winter, who rolled out of the way.
Now the Nightwing was charging towards Moonwatcher, but she was ready for him. She bunched her muscles and leaped into the air. The huge dragon skirted to a stop beneath her as she landed on his back. She sank her teeth into his neck and dug her claws into his broad shoulders. The dragon tried to shake her off, but she held on.
Suddenly, he flipped over and rolled, crushing her. Out of breath, she tried to get up, but stumbled to the ground again. The huge Nightwing was on top of her, pinning her to the ground by the time she had recovered.
The dragon looked at her with triumph as he raised his talon for a killing blow. Moonwatcher screamed, and to her surprise, the weight lifted off her. She quickly retreated away. Winter had bitten the Nightwing's tail, and she saw Hailstorm with a torch in his gaws running towards him. He's going to burn him! Moon realized.
She summoned some fire of her own. Moon's throat warmed up and she aimed at the Nightwing, who was being savagely clawed by Winter. Hailstorm arrived at that moment, pressing the torch into the Nightwing's back. Moonwatcher's fire blasted through the air and scorched the Nightwing's face.
Roaring, he turned tail and scrambled out of the cavern through the opposite tunnel he had entered.
Relief flooding over her, she glanced at her friends. Winter only had a few scratches, and Hailstorm was untouched.
"I'm going to chase him off so he doesn't come back," Winter growled, turning away.
Moon turned to Hailstorm, who was putting the torch back into its socket.
"Who do you think that was? I wonder if he lives here," She said.
"I have a feeling we're going to find out. Perhaps he was that dragon who was telepathically talking with Snowfall…" he trailed off, a hint of curiosity in his sightless eyes, then said, "Was he a Nightwing? I know he was big."
Moon blinked in surprise, "Yes, he was a Nightwing," she answered, "How did you know?" She was careful not to offend him.
But Hailstorm just smiled, "I had a feeling. I guess I have to rely on my other senses more than others do."
They sat in silence for a few moments, thinking, until Moonwatcher said,
"Do you think that Nightwing was the dragon talking to Snowfall?"
"Maybe," Hailstorm replied, "I bet there are other dragons down here, too."
"Well, I think we should focus on getting out first," Moonwatcher said, "Who knows how deep we are?"
"If there was a fruit bat down here we're probably not too deep." Hailstorm pointed out.
Just then, Winter came rushing through the tunnel, "RUN!" he gasped, "HE HAS REINFORCEMENTS!"
