Forseer woke up to a scream. For a moment she was reminded of Viper and Braveclaws and all of the other victims of the lava back in the volcano. No. This isn't the volcano. There is no lava here. It isn't that bad. Whipping around, she spotted Crimson shaking, her claws lashing out at invisible opponents, her eyes firmly closed. Opening her mouth, she let out another bloodcurdling screech.
"Wake up and stop making that racket!" Cobra yelled, shaking Crimson awake. Just a nightmare. Thank goodness.
"Are you guys going to come to the lake or am I going to have to drag you all there?"
Forseer turned to see Crystal behind her, a very disgruntled Majestic in tow along with Gull and Tadpole. The two later dragons were laughing and chatting, indicating that they had probably been friends before they came here. Had Gull been a spy for the MudWings during the war? It certainly seemed that way. Gull's eyes kept darting from side to side, seeming to see everything important. He visibly leaned away from all the dragonets but Tadpole. Forseer turned her eyes to the rest of the dragons. Morrowseer's words echoed in her head: Look closely. Read their body language. Make them think you can read their minds.
Crystal held her head and wings erect, standing perfectly still. Nothing unusual or even interesting about the dragon could be seen. She's probably a rule follower. Obeys without question. Probably never had an original thought in her life. Typical IceWing.
"Hello? Are you going to come over here or are you just going to stare at me like that for all eternity? You might as well. It would be an improvement." Crystal snapped. Startled, Forseer looked around to see that all of the dragonets but her had joined Crystal. Forseer reluctantly walked over to Crystal and followed her through a system of caves for what seemed like forever until they finally burst into a vast cavern with a large pool in the middle. Forseer spotted Tsunami waiting on the other side. The dragonets spread out along the lake, Forseer trying to get as far away from Crystal as possible and winding up next to Crimson on one side and Cobra on the other. Oh great. I just had to wind up next to the grumpiest dragons in all of Pyrrhia.
"Okay. I think that first we should introduce ourselves. Like, your name, your age, anything interesting." Tsunami explained. "Majestic, you go first."
"I'm Majestic. I'm four. My favorite color is purple. No, yellow. No, white. No,-," Majestic began.
"Get to the point. Your favorite color is all of them." Cobra snapped.
"I am Crystal. I'm six." Crystal stated, then gestured to Gull, who was sitting next to her. Wow. She really is a boring dragon. In fact, Forseer still could see nothing in Crystal but the indifference of a guard.
"Hi guys…I'm Gull, in case you haven't already noticed. I'm five. Yes, despite my exceptional awesomeness, I am five. My favorite color is yellow. That's right. Yellow, not blue or green. Contrary to popular belief, SeaWings don't spend every free moment looking at the sea." Gull said. Several dragons giggled, but Crystal kept a straight face. Forseer clawed the ground in frustration. Had this dragon trained to be unreadable? Giving up, Forseer looked at Majestic. Her scales were currently colored bright pink with small pale green stripes. It looked like happiness mixed with nervousness, based on the RainWings Forseer had seen. A new color spiraled along Majestic's scales: a dark magenta that usually meant why is that creepy NightWing staring at me? Forseer quickly ducked her head away, then looked back when she thought Majestic wasn't looking. Majestic, who was looking, shot her a glare. Am I going to make everyone hate me? Forseer anxiously thought.
"Tsunami! Moon won't stop screaming! She keeps getting up like she's going to look for the scroll, so we wound up tying her to her bed but she's about to burn through the rope! Tsunami, we need you!" Sunny yelled, crashing into the cavern. Tsunami turned to the dragonets.
"Class dismissed! Next up is history with Webs in the history cave!" Tsunami ordered, hurriedly following Sunny out of the cavern. Forseer growled. It just had to be that an insane rainforest-born NightWing that had always eaten every day and never had to watch their mentor eat on days they couldn't that had wound up with powers. Powers the real NightWings, the ones who grew up on the volcano and weren't hidden away by cowards, had never had. It wasn't fair. IT WASN'T FAIR! Spoiled Moonwatcher who had never had to live with her aunt when her mother fell into lava. Spoiled Moonwatcher who got to breathe pure air with no smoke. Spoiled Moonwatcher whose mother had betrayed her whole tribe. HORRIBLE AWFUL SPOILED MOONWATCHER! No. Moonwatcher didn't have powers. She didn't have them. SHE DIDN'T HAVE THEM!
Snorting a puff of flame, Forseer turned and walked towards the history cave.
…
After a history lesson so boring that it made the history Forseer had learned in the volcano seem like parties, it was time to eat. At first, the prey center had seemed so crowded and chaotic that Forseer had thought she'd never find Fearless, but before her eyes her cousin slunk out of a shadow to stand right in front of her.
Fearless. The cousin who had been like a sister to Forseer ever since her mother Braveclaws had died. The friend who had talked to Forseer every day, and had introduced her to Fierceteeth. Fierceteeth had been pretty cool to hang out with. Forseer had liked integrating herself with the older dragons. She had hoped that they would think she was more sophisticated than she actually was. But then Fierceteeth was imprisoned. Sometimes Forseer wondered what Fierceteeth was doing, and what life would have been like if she had joined her in capturing Sunny, like she had offered. Would they have succeeded in their mission? Could they have stopped Glory from making the NightWings kowtow to her? It was too late now. Fierceteeth probably hated her. But sometimes, in the deepest, blackest place in her mind, Forseer liked to remind herself that Fierceteeth had asked her, not Fearless, to help her.
"Forseer! I missed you!" Fearless cried.
"You too." Forseer said affectionally.
"There are these really good mountain goats here! Why don't we find one?" offered Fearless.
Just then, a scream sounded from the edge of the prey center. Forseer hurriedly flew over to see what was happening.
Gull was looking down at a series of rocks arranged to form words. Forseer's heart skipped a beat as she read them. In simple letters, the message was shown.
Blister has returned. Hail the true queen.
