Swordfish could hardly pay attention to his classes, and neither could his friends. A group of Dragonets from the two new winglets had set up a plan to catch the killer and to retrieve Rainfall's scrolls of studies. It was Vulture's ideas. Swordfish, Rattlesnake and Cedar would go into Rainfall's room and sneak the scrolls out without waking Frigid. If Frigid did wake up, that's where Vulture and Savanna came in. Vulture used a makeshift version of one of his father's inventions. "It's a wire that runs across the ground, once hit, it will pull down a sheet of wood across the path, allowing Savanna to come up behind and fight him until help arrives." Vulture had explained.
The group consisted of Savanna and those he found he could trust and/or were useful. Swordfish KNEW Savanna suspected him of being the killer, but the fact that Rainfall had trusted Swordfish to open the scrolls meant Swordfish was important to finding out the truth.
The reason the trap was set for Frigid was because the only dragon Savanna suspected more than Swordfish was Frigid. "He's strange, definitely odd, and didn't answer my questions in an understandable way. Like he's keepin' somethin' from us." Savanna explained. "He may be able to murder sleepin' dragons, but I'm willin' to bet most of us can take him in a fight, especially if we have weapons." Savanna had made his own weapons out of things he had found. Makeshift bows, sticks with sharpened rocks and metals tied to their ends with rope, various daggers Savanna had smuggled in with him, and even some serrated talon-covers. "If this dragon likes to kill, then he's gonna get what he gave out."
The group sat through history, hunting and the other classes, hardly paying attention. Swordfish kept thinking about the coming night, when they were going to do their plan. So much so, that Scorch couldn't get him mad when she started pestering Cedar during lunch.
Farseer was back in class, but she kept her distance from her brother and stayed quiet. Darkseer most likely knew about the plan but didn't need to help. Or he saw what was coming and didn't want a part of it. Swordfish hoped the second option wasn't true. While going class to class, Swordfish, Rattlesnake and Cedar passed Rainfall's room. The three of them stopped and shared an unspoken thought; "There's something in there."
When the day finally disappeared into the sea of luminescent darkness of the night, Swordfish and Cedar returned to their cave. It was a windy night, and a small branch blew in the wind outside their leaf window, making a tick, tick, tick…
Swordfish and Cedar listened to the noises in the outside halls, waiting for the noise to calm down. "I wonder what's in there." Cedar said suddenly. "What did Rainfall write that's so important?" Swordfish flashed back to the time Rainfall told him about his research. "I'm not sure, but I feel it can answer things." My dreams, the killer, my scars, that scavenger-thing, Vine. Swordfish hoped all would be answered.
After about an hour of silence between Swordfish and Cedar, they heard a knock at the door. They both grabbed a weapon Savanna had given them, and opened the door. Rattlesnake was waiting at the door. "You ready?" She whispered. Swordfish and Cedar nodded. "Vulture is in place and Savanna is hiding somewhere. We can't get caught by any teachers." Rattlesnake seemed like she had done this before. Snuck around, trying to avoid dragons. She led them past Clay, who was walking towards the library. He didn't notice a thing. They finally reached the door not long after.
Rattlesnake lit a small torch and handed it to Cedar. "Now, we must be very quiet." She whispered, "Try not to wake Frigid, but if we do, you know what happens." Swordfish and Cedar nodded again.
They opened the door.
Inside was a nightmarish scene. Four dragons wearing black hoods and golden armbands were perched around the room, staring at Frigid sleeping. One of them was perched on top of a chest, staring at Frigid. One of them leapt to their talons and brought out a knife. They began running towards the dragonets. "Hey! You-" Cedar began when Rattlesnake pulled him out of the way of the hooded dragon. "Whoever they are, they mean harm! Go!" She yelled. A larger hooded dragon dropped down from above and lunged at Swordfish. He could clearly see their talons and saw that this one was a Nightwing. The large Nightwing lunged at Swordfish but Cedar blocked it with a dagger. Cedar growled and went at the large dragon with dagger and talons out, but the hooded dragon caught his talon with the dagger, and slammed the handle back into Cedar's face, scratching him with their talons at the same time.
Cedar slammed backward into Swordfish, bleeding. The large dragon and the one with the knife began running at them. "Run!" Rattlesnake whisper-yelled. The three dragonets ran towards Vulture's trap, but when they looked back, the hooded dragons weren't following them anymore. But they kept running until they reached the prey center. Swordfish ducked under a table and gestured for the others to hide with him. Rattlesnake began tending to Cedar's wounds. "What is it?" Cedar asked in a coarse voice. "I heard voices. Shh." Swordfish answered. The three waited in silence underneath the table until the two voices were right up close. It was Blizzard and Webs, an odd duo. "…and so I really want to know more about the dragonet my tribe killed." Blizzard was saying. She's asking about Moon and Winter. Swordfish realized. "Well, I didn't know much about the prince, but the Dragonets of Destiny told me a lot about Moonwatcher." Webs answered. Their conversation faded out into the distance.
"Let's follow them." Swordfish whispered. "If we can find out more about Monwatcher, then we may be able to find out more about Darkstalker and his scroll." The three began creeping in the direction Blizzard and Webs went. On edge the whole time, watching for the hooded dragons.
They walked until they reached the entrance of the academy, its doors open. "Why?" Cedar asked. He was answered by the wind picking up and blasting them with a gust, almost loud enough to mask the high-pitched noise in the air. Swordfish cautiously stepped outside and peered around. No sign of Blizzard or Webs.
Suddenly, Swordfish heard a branch break. He whirled around to see the scavenger monster, standing in the pale moonlight like a wolf from an old story, seeking out its new prey. Rattlesnake saw it too and let out a piercing yelp. It made a step towards Swordfish and Swordfish and Rattlesnake bolted inside, slamming the doors behind them. "What is it?" Cedar asked. "The thing that killed Rainfall. Run." Swordfish replied hurriedly. "Again?" Cedar complained desperately while beginning to sprint away.
They ran into Swordfish and Cedar's room and closed the door. Swordfish knocked the scroll rack in front of the door, but he doubted that would stop it." They all stayed awake until daybreak. When they emerged, the school was buzzing with activity. No hoods or skulls in sight.