Hi! I am so sorry about the long wait between chapters for those of you that are still reading this, and I will try to fix that! To the people who still read this even after my terrible updating problem, thank you! And to the super kind people in the reviews, thank you so much for the kind feedback! To Theepicduck, I hope this chapter and the next will answer your question... Or not, what I have planned for the story is pretty confusing even to me! And as always, feel free to review and give any suggestions you may have!
Wings of Fire belongs to Tui T. Sutherland and I'm getting help from Lemon.
Find the others. Find the Dragonets.
Find the others. Find the Dragonets.
Mastermind's words were on repeat in Starflight's brain. Nightfall- the dragon that his father knew, the dragon that Mastermind trusted, the dragon that knew more than he did about what was happening and and who was supposed to protect him while his own father might be getting killed- had come, taken him by his arm and pulled him down the tunnel.
Find the others. Find the Dragonets.
Find the others. Find the Dragonets.
The walls passed by in fast-forward, and he felt barely felt aware of his surroundings, as if he were in a book and seeing the world from outside. His mind felt numb, and for once, he was grateful for that. It hurt too much to think, to remind himself of the fact that his father was gone, and that he was now going away from the only home he had ever known. So instead of struggling and trying to go back to his father, he let himself be led.
Find the others. Find the Dragonets.
It pained him to know that he would have to remember again. Yet he could not forget.
Find the Dragonets.
Starflight cried. He didn't care if Nightfall could see him. The larger dragon was still rushing forward with the same breakneck pace he had started with. With each step, he was traveling farther away from everything he had ever known, and stepping towards an uncertain destiny.
Find the Dragonets.
The two dragons burst out of the tunnel. Starflight took one more step and collapsed. He couldn't get up at that moment, his whole body ached and his talons were bleeding. Drifting off to sleep under the sun felt almost like a sin when he should be saving the world, but he was too tired to continue further. The world started fading to black as he fell into a deep sleep.
Find the Dragonets.
l-o-O-o-l
"Starflight, Starflight, wake up."
Starflight couldn't recognize the voice at first, but he really didn't want to wake up. He felt heavy, like he hadn't slept in a week.
The voice sighed, and then Starflight felt himself be pushed and rolled onto his back. His glasses fell off, but at the moment he didn't care.
After a few seconds, he thought it was over, but then he was rolled even faster than before. He opened his eyes, seeing the blurry moonlit ground go past extremely fast.
WooaAAAHHH!" Starflight yelped as he was pushed into a pile of wet leaves.
"I told you to wake up," a large dragon with slightly crooked horns said, backing away a few paces to sit on a rock and looking extremely smug.
Who is this dragon, Starflight asked himself in confusion, and where am… I…
His thoughts trailed off as many memories came flooding back, each attempting to claw its way to his focus. He remembered Nightfall's visit, and how Mastermind had burned a lot of something on the floor and that there was a freakishly long secret tunnel that they ran through and...
And his father was gone.
He's dead, whispered a traitorous part of his mind. The pit of his stomach felt like ice with dread. He's gone, he's gone, I should have stayed to save him-
NO, NO, he is NOT DEAD, he argued with himself.
It all just didn't make sense. It was like his world had been turned inside out and someone placed him into it without telling him what was going on. And now all he had to navigate by was one command that made even less sense. Find four fictional characters all over Pyrihhia and warn them about some danger he didn't know anything about.
"Starflight, we have to get started of we're going to get to the Scorpion Den by tomorrow morning."
"The Scorpion Den," Starflight asked, trying to change his thoughts from his dire situation. Although he practically already knew the answer to his question. "Why are we going there?"
"Mastermind said something about a 'Sunny' there, though he didn't exactly specify where exactly where she was in the Scorpion Den."
"Oh." He had heard rumors about the Scorpion Den before, of the terrifying band of criminal SandWings who called themselves the Outclaws, defying Queen Oasis and controlling the desert city with an iron grip. He and Nightfall would be in a lot of danger there. Starflight became even more queasy after that. He was scared- scared he was never going to see his dad again, scared that they wouldn't find Sunny, or that she wasn't even real and scared that if he did find the Dragonets he wouldn't know what to do by then. Most of all he was scared of failing. All in all, he was terrified. To try and focus on anything other than his fear, Starflight started to feel around the tall grass to find his glasses. It was difficult, as he couldn't see a lot of things in the darkness without them. In addition, his talons were extremely sore from the crazed flight through the tunnel the day before, and he could feel a myriad of cuts and scrapes that had scabbed over insisting on reminding him of their presence. "Do we have to go so late in the night?
"It'd be much safer to travel in the night. In the daytime, there are a lot more dragons around, especially in the other kingdoms."
Starflight's talons brushed up against something hard, and he got it out of the grass. It felt heavy and thick, and it's outline certainly didn't look like his glasses.
And then it moved.
"Snake!" He yelped, leaping back quickly. The snake dropped back down to the floor, making a rustling sound when it hit the dry grass,
"Starflight… That was my tail."
He was glad it was night and that he had black scales, because if he didn't, Nightfall would have seen his embarrassed blushing. If I was with Fierceteeth, I would never live that down,
But then again, I'm not with Fierceteeth. I really hope she's safe right now.
Starflight's own tail brushed up against something he could tell was his glasses. He grabbed them quickly and put them on.
Nightfall looked as if he was still trying to hold in a laugh. Three moons, did I look that surprised?
"Well then," Nightfall said after clearing his throat, gratefully trying to save Starflight from his own embarrassment. "To the Scorpion den."
Starflight nodded, looking up at the one moon out that night. It was still the same; pearly white with black speckles of skyfire that had crashed onto it long ago, just like the other moons. It was comfortingly familiar in his strange new world.
Nightfall began to spread his wings to take off, and Starflight did the same. With a couple of strong flaps, the two were in the air.
Wind whistled under his wings, and it played and danced all around him. Ahead of them was a stream, sparkling with reflected moonlight from above. The night was peaceful for the most part, but Starflight couldn't help but feel anxious. And it wasn't the fear of his situation. (though that was pretty prevalent also) His stomach felt queasy and he kept on unconsciously fiddling with his bracelet, which he knew was never a good sign.
Nightfall is right there, and I have my glasses, Starflight thought uneasily. So why do I feel as if I'm forgetting something?
