Chapter 6
A Bad Dream
WINTER
"Where am I?" Asked Winter.
"Where do you think?" Replied a deep voice. Two glowing eyes opened and stared at him from the darkness. It was Darkstalker.
Winter found himself surprisingly calm. "How did you find me? How do you know who I am? How do you know who you are?"
"Never you mind about that," Darkstalker whispered. "We aren't here to talk about me. We're here to talk about you and your ghastly little NightWing-Sandwing companion. Come."
Winter was suspicious, but he followed the huge dragon to an underground pond. "What do I do?" Winter asked, but the moment he asked the question he knew the answer.
"Ask it a question," Darkstalker said. "Whatever you want to know."
"Will I really become... evil?" Winter whispered, careful not to let Darkstalker overhear.
The pond rippled, and Winter saw Sandcrawler on a hospital bed, his wing, though bandaged, still gushing with blood. Beside him, tiny in comparison, Winter saw Clingy's body. Still. Cold.
Winter gasped. "I- I did that?" He asked through tears.
"I think you know the answer to that," Darkstalker responded.
Winter jumped up from his bed. His cheeks were wet from crying unconsiously. The dream rushed back into his head, and Winter ran to the scavengers' room. Clingy was lying on the ground.
"Wake up," Winter urged. "Please!"
"Bllurble..." Clingy moaned, rubbing her tired eyes.
"Thank goodness," Winter wept, sweeping her up in his talons. "Come on. We won't let that prophecy come true. We can't! We're leaving, and going somewhere far away."
Clingy protested. "Blinner!"
"We have to! It's too dangerous for us here," Winter told her, putting her on his shoulders and shaking out his wings, which were still sore from him sleeping on them. He flew into the air, as high as he could without scaring the scavenger. "We'll find some cave to live in, just the two of us. Whatever we have to do to keep you alive, we'll do it."
SANDCRAWLER
One thing Sandcrawler was good at was racing.
He could feel the wind flying by him, and the prickles between his scales. He was freezing cold. His eyes watered from the pressure. But he never felt quite as free as he did when he flew.
WHAM!
Sandcrawler rammed into another dragon and fell dizzily from the sky. He heard the crack that came from his right wing when he landed on it. He touched it lightly and saw that his talons were sticky with blood. Shaking, he turned his head weakly to look at his wing.
That's when he fainted.
WINTER
Winter was flying, Clingy on his back, when a golden-scaled dragon flew right into him. It hurt, but he wasn't seriously injured. Unfortunately, it looked like the other dragon might not make it.
Winter looked closer and felt his stomach lurch. It was Sandcrawler.
"We ran into Sandcrawler?" Winter panicked, waiting for Clingy's usual conformation, a squeak or "blurble." When it didn't come, he turned to see what was wrong.
Clingy lay on the ground, giving Winter a glassy-eyed stare. "Blinner..." She whispered, and her body went limp. Still. Cold.