Two

"Attack me."

The dragonet frowned. Attack my mother? What was she saying?

"Well? Go on. Attack me."

"But —" The dragonet struggled to put her young thoughts into words. "But — but I can't beat you."

"That is true now," said her mother, "but one day you will be able to. In the meantime, you must learn. You may someday have to fight when you know your opponent has already beaten you."

The dragonet still did not move. What's the point? She thought. Why spar with a fully-grown dragon who will flatten me in less than a minute? Surely there's nothing to be learned from that.

"Another lesson of today," said the queen, her voice hardening, "is that my orders are to be followed promptly and without delay. They are not to be disobeyed. Attack me, Sandstorm." A quiet snarl followed the dragonet's name.

Seeing she had no other choice, the dragonet leaped at her mother. Queen Jackal flared her wings and roared. Sandstorm, afraid, quickly twisted out of the way and landed hard on her side. She heard the queen's claw-steps advance toward her, and could feel hot breath on her neck. Sandstorm looked up nervouslyly; the queen's eyes burned with rage.

"Never give in to fear!" she shouted, brandishing her wings. "Fear will warp your mind and cloud your senses. It is not enough to simply hide your fear. You must learn to destroy it!"

Sandstorm flinched away from the blow as it came. She felt Queen Jackal's diamond-hard claws slice through her snout, but she didn't cry out in pain.

In fact, she felt no pain at all.

"You're not real," whispered Sandstorm in a voice ten years older than her own. "None of this is real."

She raised her tail and drove the sharp barb through her own throat.


Sandstorm sat up in bed, gasping. The scar on her snout stung like it was still new. She rubbed a talon against it, trying to get rid of the lingering pain.

She had had another nightmare; Sandstorm was sure of it. And she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was about.

I am completely loyal to Queen Jackal.

They all had memories that needed washing away, Sandstorm and her brothers and sister. They weren't biologically related, of course, more like partners in crime, but she had grown up with them, and they felt like nestmates to her.

Ivory and Glass had each other to hold onto. Caracal fought her scars away, and Arid buried them in a deep, unknown chamber in his mind. But Sandstorm . . . Sandstorm didn't quite know what she had done with hers. But whenever she slept in a new place, the nightmares would come back. And she never remembered them in the morning.

Sandstorm couldn't tell if it was morning yet. Under the mountain, everything was dark. It made her feel trapped, having so many tons of rock above her. Not being able to see the sky.

She heard Secretseer stirring across the cave, and her vision adjusted to see the NightWing dragonet staring at Sandstorm.

"Why are you awake?" she asked, seeing Sandstorm had noticed her.

"Nothing," said Sandstorm quickly. "Just . . . just a nightmare. Why are you awake?"

Or, why are you here talking to me when I need to do my job?

Secretseer shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. NightWings are used to hunting at night, you know."

"What about her?" Sandstorm asked, gesturing to Vermeil, who was sleeping at the other end of the cave.

"She's out like a firefly in winter. I've tried poking her, shaking her, and head-butting her and she won't wake up. Maybe she will if you stab her with that tail of yours."

I am nothing but a killer.

Sandstorm recoiled, a second too late. "I'd never use my tail on a dragonet!"

"Really? You were talking in your sleep."

A cold dread came over Sandstorm. "What . . . what was I saying?"

" 'None of this is real.' Over and over."

"I don't remember that at all," said Sandstorm, and it was the truth.

"Hello?"

Perfectly in sync, Sandstorm and Secretseer swiveled their heads toward the cave entrance. A SeaWing dragonet was at the entrance, illuminated by the lantern he was holding. He had bright blue scales, brighter blue eyes, and was a bit on the large side. Sandstorm noticed his royal scale pattern immediately.

"It might interest you to know that this is the girls' sleeping cave," said Secretseer, sounding annoyed. "And you, as far as I can tell, are not a girl."

"No, no. I'm — I'm not a girl," said the SeaWing in response. "I'm Krill, from cave nine. I heard you two talking."

Krill, Quartz Winglet, Sandstorm committed to memory.

Krill took their silence as surprise. "Yeah, I know it's ironic. Me, named Krill! Totally. A shrimp." He chuckled.

"Well look at that," said Secretseer, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "We should make an Ironic Names Club and get an award for Dragonet with the Cruelest Mother of the Year! What do you think?"

Krill blinked. "No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why are you awake?" Sandstorm asked, to change the subject.

"Couldn't sleep under all this rock." Secretseer frowned, and Krill flinched. "Well, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"Everything is fine," said Sandstorm, as sweetly as she could muster.

"Then I'll — I'll go back to my sleeping cave, then." He ducked out of the cave entrance.

"Yes, please do!" Secretseer shouted at Krill's retreating tail.

"Why are you being so mean to him?"

Secretseer shuddered. "SeaWings rub me the wrong way." She twisted her claw around a necklace. It wasn't the jet necklace Sandstorm had noticed her wearing before, but a thinner, longer one made of black filigree.

"That's intolerant, Secretseer."

"You're right." She sighed. "I suppose I should go say sorry." She got up and left.

Yes, please do! Sandstorm shouted silently at her retreating tail.

Once she was sure Secretseer was gone, Sandstorm reached for her satchel and pulled out a slab of black glass.

I have one job to do.

"Show me Krill," she muttered. The Obsidian Mirror grew warm and comforting in her talons, and two blue tendrils of smoke snaked from its thin frame. One moved as if it was rearing its head back.

"Are you going to do this or not?" the Mirror hissed. This wasn't Krill's voice. It came from an older dragon.

"I won't," said Krill. He was trying to sound brave, but Sandstorm could hear his voice shaking.

"The only reason I duped your way into this silly school was because of our plan!"

"This wasn't our plan!" Krill's voice rose to a shout, and the adult dragon shushed him.

"This wasn't our plan," repeated Krill, more quietly this time. "It's yours."

"And you will follow along with it, whether you like it or not."

"I won't do it."

The wind whistled through the Obsidian Mirror, and Sandstorm heard the whap of a tail striking scales. A second later, there was a thump as Krill's body hit the floor. The smaller blue tendril whimpered.

Sandstorm rolled her eyes. "Coward," she murmured. She turned her attention back to the Mirror.

"Who's first?" Krill was saying sadly.

"The Princess Vermeil of the SkyWings." Sandstorm stole a glance at the dragonet sleeping on her stone slab. "She's in your winglet, so even someone as annoyingly idiotic as yourself should be able to find her and neutralize her quickly."

"And then?"

"Provided you succeed, I'll handle the negotiations with Queen Russet. A SeaWing guard in the Sky Kingdom will be put in place, and then . . . well, you know the rest." The Mirror picked up the sound of a dagger being drawn from its sheath.

"Three moons," Sandstorm breathed. She had known the Sea and Sky Kingdoms had been on the brink of war for years — and she had personally killed some important dragons to bring the tribes closer to the edge. Even so, she hadn't expected to find anything at Jade Mountain Academy. But this . . . the assassination of a queen and her second heir would definitely spark a war.

"Who's there?" A rusty voice emerged from the Obsidian Mirror. Sandstorm's eyes widened when she saw the third yellow tendril on the Mirror's glass surface, but she knew enough to keep her mouth shut.

"Hello?" the voice called out as the two blue tendrils disappeared. "I know you're there. I heard you. 'Three moons,' you said."

Sandstorm still didn't say a word.

"Oh, come on." The voice sounded like a whiny child now. "Come talk to me. I haven't had someone to talk to for a hundred years."

She changed tactics. "Look, you're a SandWing. I know who your queen is and what she stands for. She wouldn't be pleased if she knew you had the chance to speak with her idol and let it pass."

"What idol?" asked Sandstorm. "Who are you? How can you hear me?"

"One question at a time, little lizard," said the voice. "I'll go first. Who are you?"

"My name is Kowari," she lied. "Daughter of Glass. Gold Winglet."

"Oh, a Jade Mountain rat, are you?" The voice hardened until it was sharp as steel. "You're lying. I'll give you one more chance to tell the truth before I turn you away. So I'll ask again: Who are you?"

Sandstorm exhaled. Whoever this was, she was good. Caracal sometimes called Sandstorm "The Mask" because she was so good at lying. And this dragon had seen through her without even seeing her face.

"I'm Sandstorm," she admitted. "Daughter of . . . Cactus. But I do go to Jade Mountain Academy. I'm in Quartz." Might as well tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

"Intriguing," said the yellow tendril.

"Now it's my turn," said Sandstorm. "What's your name?"

"Oh, I think you know my name already."

Sandstorm had the feeling she did too, but she refused to show it. "That's not an answer."

"I like your spirit." The voice chuckled. "Very well. My name is Queen Burn."


A/N: I am so sorry I have literally not updated since August. I've been focusing on other, more urgent things (such as getting another sixty-chapter fanfic written and posted in a mere ten months), so I think I'm going to make this my "work on it when I feel like it, update very rarely" fanfic. Sorry, friends. It'll be epic when it's completed, I assure you.