"He didn't," blurted out Ozone, stepping in front of Cornice as if he could protect him from Gale's hostility. "At least, I don't think he did. He was trying to warn us."

He's definitely on our side… right? He glanced back anxiously at his friend. He didn't think his heart would be able to take it if Cornice turned out to be an enemy. Not after Claret and the others had gone to Possibility to investigate the potential crimes Jackal might be committing. Whatever it looked like to Gale, he couldn't bring himself to mistrust Cornice. He couldn't let go of the connection that had formed between them. Please let me be placing my faith in the right dragon this time.

She snorted skeptically. "Maybe that's what you believe."

There was a moment of tense silence.

Then the IceWing ducked under Ozone's wing, presenting himself to Gale with a short bow. "I'm Cornice, formerly a dragon of the Third Circle. I left my tribe and was only intending to pass through your kingdom when a storm hit, injuring my wing and leaving me unable to fly. Ozone has been helping me recover. I mean no disrespect or harm to you or your tribe, nor did Ozone intend to be disloyal by giving me aid."

Ozone stared at his friend as if the other dragon had suddenly sprouted feathers. He'd had no idea Cornice was capable of such formality and politeness.

Gale glowered at Cornice. "How long have you been rehearsing that story?"

The snowy white dragon met her burning gaze calmly, keeping his spikes flat to look unthreatening. Unfortunately, the red blood splattered across his claws and scales didn't help that attempt. "Ever since the storm, actually. I knew it wouldn't look good if you discovered me living close to your base. But it's all true."

The two dragons stared at each other for a long moment. It was broken only by a groaning sound from further down the hallway.

Ozone craned his neck to look past Gale. "What's going on?"

Her angry expression shifted to a worried one. "I don't know. Is that Spark?"

Giving Cornice a quick glance, she seemed to decide that the sound was a bigger cause for concern than his presence, at least at the moment. "IceWing, come with us. I don't have time to interrogate you further right now. But I will later."

"Noted," he said. Ozone noticed him grimace slightly, but other than that, there was no hint of emotion written across his face or in his tone of voice. In the moments since the battle had ended, Cornice had put that mask on again, the one he'd worn the first time he'd met Ozone. Being caught and mistrusted by the SkyWings seemed to be having no effect on the IceWing whatsoever.

But he had to be feeling something, didn't he? Ozone had no idea what was going on beneath the surface. It was like there was nothing there at all.

Gale suddenly gasped, and the sound was so unlike her that it made Ozone jump. He blinked back to the present and saw that they'd reached Spark's side. The old solider was bleeding profusely from the shoulder of one wing—the limb itself had been twisted at some unnatural angle far worse than the dislocation Cornice had sustained. The membrane looked as if it were a few scales short of being torn away completely.

For a moment, all Ozone could do was stare.

"Hurry!" said Gale, hitting him with her tail. Her claws were pressed against the wound, and Ozone realized with a start that he hadn't even seen her move. He'd been too stunned by the horrific scene in front of him. "Get me some bandages!"

He stumbled backwards, almost tripping over his own tail, before turning and fleeing along the tunnel, towards the room where some rational part of his overloaded brain knew Spark kept the medical supplies. He fumbled for one of the first aid kits, trying to focus on what was happening instead of flashing back to the day he'd taken one for Cornice and wishing that today and the day before and every moment since he'd gone to Possibility had been some kind of cruel nightmare.

Focus, he told himself. Focus, you worthless soldier!

Grabbing a first aid kit, he ran back to the cavern where Spark had fallen. To his relief, the old SkyWing still seemed conscious, even though his eyes were glazed with an agony that was almost physically painful to look at.

"I'll be all right," the soldier grunted, though the effort clearly pained him. "I haven't fought in the war only to die at the claws of some cowardly invaders."

"With all due respect," said Gale, in as polite of a tone as she could muster, "shut up. Don't waste your energy trying to talk. Just try to stay awake."

"Hmph," said Spark. "Dragonets these days…"

Not trusting the steadiness of his own talons, Ozone passed the pack of bandages to Gale. She talked to him as she wrapped them around Spark's wing, though he wasn't sure if that was more for his benefit or her own. "I'm going to do my best to stop the bleeding, but that's all I can do. I don't know if I'll be able to save his wing. I don't even know where to start treating an injury like this."

"Can I help?" asked Cornice, edging tentatively past her. When Gale didn't snarl at him or push him back, he exhaled a small stream of frost onto the wound. "Putting ice on it will numb the pain, and keep the wound clean."

She nodded. "Good."

It seemed surreal—actually working together with Gale, seeing her interact with Cornice. Three moons, I wish this was just a dream.

"Can I help?" asked Ozone. I should do something. Why am I never helpful?

Gale nodded again without averting her eyes from her work. "Get more bandages for me. I don't think these will be enough. Bring as many as you can carry. Please."

Now, of all times, she was actually treating him like a real dragon, but that hardly mattered to him now. He raced off to collect more first aid kits.

When he got back, Cornice was staring off into space, his tail tapping worriedly against the floor of the cave. Ozone stood next to Gale, passing her whatever she asked for, and then turned to his friend. "What is it?"

Cornice blinked back into focus. "What?"

Had Ozone imagined it? "You looked kind of worried."

Cornice bowed his head, his eyes shadowed. For a moment, it seemed like he wasn't going to respond, but then he said, "Like I said before, I was able to glimpse some of the dragons who attacked your base. They came to the cave where I've been living to go over their plan one more time before they attacked. I think they've been using the cave since before I ever came here, which seems to indicate that they've been hunting for your base for a long time. But I don't know why they wanted to attack you."

"Oh." It was the only way he could think to respond. This had definitely been a premeditated attack, so Cornice's words didn't have much of an impact on him.

Ozone was surprised to realize that he'd barely questioned the motive, after what had just happened. Some part of him seemed to be subconsciously think that everything would be all right because Claret would be back soon, and Claret had always defended her troops no matter what happened.

But she's not all-powerful, he realized. I can't rely on her for everything.

"Ozone," said Cornice, bringing his attention back into focus. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I think they were your friends."

Ozone stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that the dragons who attacked you were your SandWing friends and their non-history club," said Cornice. "I definitely saw Rockslide there. And there was a mottled dragon who the others were calling Jack."

Jack. Jackal. Ozone couldn't breathe. "No. That can't be true."

Jackal was Ozone's friend, the only dragon who had ever understood him. Jackal wouldn't just turn on him like that, with no explanation and no warning.

If Jackal had truly been one of the dragons who'd attacked them, and Rockslide had been another, did that mean that Tumbleweed and Kulta were part of this too? Yes, they seemed to have no respect whatsoever for authority, and yes, they were most likely up to something illegal, but he couldn't accept that the SandWings would've done something like this to him. They're my friends.

He remembered what Tumbleweed had said about Barracuda in Possibility. I've got her back. That's what you do for your friends, isn't it?

He should defend Jackal and the other SandWings—he knew they'd do the same for him. And even if they were planning something illegal, it wouldn't be something this horrible, would it? They wouldn't attack a dragon they'd just been smiling and laughing with only the day before. They're my friends. I should believe in them.

But Cornice is my friend, too, Ozone thought. He wouldn't lie to me.

Cornice's expression was as gentle as he had ever seen it. "I know you don't want to believe it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's true. There were SandWings and SkyWings and MudWings and SeaWings. That sounds exactly like the group you were describing to me after you came back from Possibility."

Gale had apparently been listening, because without averting her gaze from what she was doing, she said sharply, "Ozone, have you been telling this IceWing everything that's been happening around here since you met him?"

"Well, yes…" he admitted. "But he's trustworthy. I promise."

"That's what you thought about those SandWings, too," she retorted, "no matter what anyone else said about them. I don't exactly trust your judgment."

Ozone hung his head, ashamed.

She was right. There was nothing he could say in his defense.

"In this case, it's true," said Cornice. "I am trustworthy. I didn't tell anyone any of the things Ozone told me. I swear it to the Great Ice Dragon."

"Even if that's true, that doesn't entirely absolve Ozone of his guilt," Gale pointed out. She didn't even sound hostile, just grimly matter-of-fact. "Ozone, when you spoke these things aloud, it doesn't matter who you were talking to. There's no way you can guarantee that no one besides Cornice heard what you were saying. Even if both of you had only the best intentions, you could have been the leak that allowed the invaders to find our base. And that could be considered treason."

Ozone had never felt worse about himself than he did at that moment.

"I messed up," he said. "I messed up so badly."

"Yes, you did," said Gale. "When Claret returns, I suggest you tell her everything and beg for mercy. But I doubt you'll be her favorite for much longer."

So that was the reason she wasn't being hostile towards him about this.

Ozone wondered if deep down, Gale felt some kind of vindictive satisfaction. In her eyes, this day—the day Ozone messed up so badly that even Claret probably wouldn't forgive him—had probably been a long time coming.

Feelings couldn't be controlled, though, and even if they could've been, he didn't think he'd be able to find it in himself to blame her.

"Try not to move, Spark," Gale said, stepping away from the old SkyWing. She'd plastered bandages all over his wing and side, so that there was more cloth than scales visible in that area. "I think that'll keep any more blood from oozing out, but not if you start trying to stand or move or even sigh too hard."

"Understood," Spark rumbled. His eyes had slid shut, but he was still conscious, and his breathing seemed steady enough. Gale felt his pulse and nodded, satisfied.

"Now," she said, turning to Cornice. "It's interrogation time."

"I don't want to make trouble," he told her calmly. "I'll answer anything you ask as thoroughly as I can. And I'll swear on anything you want me to that it's the truth."

"Your life," she said. "You're going to swear it on your life, because if you're lying to me, I'll kill you myself. That's only fair, don't you think?"

Ozone winced, but Cornice only nodded.

"Where have you been staying?" Gale asked.

"In a small cave further along the gorge," the white dragon answered. "I thought it had been used in passing and then abandoned, since there was a piece of wood inside when I first settled there. However, your attackers gathered in the cave to review their plan just before ambushing your base, and that was when I saw them. I then realized that they were probably the previous inhabitants of the cave. They could have used it as their own temporary base while searching for yours. I suppose that after they failed to find it, they returned home and decided to try a different strategy."

He turned to Ozone, thoughts flickering behind his sky blue eyes as he put the pieces together. "That strategy was probably to pry the information they needed out of you, an unwitting SkyWing soldier. When you first met the SandWings, they connected with you as fellow soldiers-in-training. After exchanging letters with you, trying to find out if you'd help them voluntarily, Jackal decided to meet with you in Possibility, where he was intending to share his plan with you."

So they planned it all along, thought Ozone, his heart aching with betrayal. They never really cared about me at all, did they? Did all those letters we exchanged mean nothing to Jackal? Were they just manipulating me that whole time?

Cornice paused, thinking, and then seemed to reach some kind of conclusion. "However, he deemed you unusable, and instead probably sent someone—most likely Rockslide, who I saw flying overhead one day and mistook for a SkyWing soldier—to tail you. When you returned to your base from Possibility, Rockslide followed you back, and was able to identify the location of the base. That was how they found you."

Gale narrowed her eyes. "That does sound plausible. But you managed to put all that together rather quickly. Why should I believe you aren't spying for them?"

"I fought alongside you in the battle," said the white dragon. "And as you can see, I sustained wounds helping you. I wouldn't have been fighting for my life if I was truly allied with the dragons who attacked your base."

"I suppose you have a point," Gale conceded, flicking her tail. "And after Ozone's supposed friends already betrayed him once, they could hardly bet on being able to trick him a second time. He'd undoubtedly question everyone close to him if he had even half a brain in his skull—though for the record, I'm not entirely convinced he does."

"That's true," Ozone said weakly. "I have been questioning everything."

They were probably acting like they understood me just so they could get close to me, he thought. The Jackal I know might not even be real. The utopian dream he claimed to have for Pyrrhia—it's probably just another lie…

"The only thing I don't understand is the motive," said Cornice, frowning. "I get that they've been planning to eliminate you for a long time, but I don't know why."

Gale grunted. "It could be anything, really. We don't know enough."

It suddenly struck Ozone like a bolt of lightning. "I think I do."

Both of them turned to him, startled.

"When I came back from Possibility," he said slowly, "I told Claret about three things that were worrying me. Those three things were Barracuda's weaponized jewelry, Jackal's not-really-history group that he was lying about, and the Tribeless. But what if we made the wrong assumption from the start?"

Cornice's eyes widened as he realized what Ozone meant.

"What if Jackal's group is the Tribeless?" they said together.

Gale's yellow eyes blazed as she looked back and forth between them. "What?"

"Think about it!" said Ozone, not sure if he felt more exhilarated or terrified by the realization that was plowing into him with the force of a landslide. "The Tribeless is a group formed by dragons from multiple tribes, and the leader is a SandWing. Jackal's group is formed by dragons from multiple tribes, and Jackal is a SandWing. Three moons... Three moons! He must be the heir of Famine and Queen Rain Shadow. He's too young to be their son, but what if he's their grandson?"

Cornice looked stunned, but Gale was shaking her head.

"That seems too convenient to be true. Do you have any other proof?"

"Yes," said Ozone, the memories of every letter he'd gotten from Jackal running through his mind. "He wrote to me once mentioning a utopian dream he and Kulta had for Pyrrhia. And in that same letter, he said something about finding it absurd that we only trained with dragons who look like us and have the same skills as us. So he wants the tribe boundaries to disappear. And the same thing is right there in the name of the Tribeless. They want to tear down the tribe system." His mind was racing. "Puddle… Puddle warned me to stay away from the Tribeless, and she told me to warn Jackal too. She's the one who got it in my head that the two groups were separate. But she might not have known that Jackal's their leader—after all, she just heard rumors."

"Or she might even be part of it," pointed out Gale. "But still, why were they so determined to attack us? That seems stupid, when we're only one base, with only seven dragons. It's not like they'd make any actual change that way."

"They're terrorists," Cornice jumped in. "They just want anarchy, in the hopes that they can rebuild our society from the ashes up in a second Scorching. If they have enough dragons to overwhelm your base, they're going to want to shut it down."

"Three moons," said Ozone. "We have to tell Claret as soon as she gets back."

At that moment, they heard wingbeats echoing through the tunnels. Ozone froze at first, thinking that their attackers were returning, but then the dragons came running inside, and he recognized the familiar hues of Buzzard and Sard and Ridge and Claret. He would've broken down crying right then and there, he was so grateful to see them again, if not for the urgency of what he needed to tell them.

Claret and the others looked unsurprised by their injuries—Sard had told them about the attack—but they did a double take as they spotted Cornice in the middle of their cave, glistening frostily in the firelight.

Buzzard opened his jaws, hissing up fire. "Intruder!"

Gale threw her wing out in front of him. "No, stop! The IceWing isn't important right now. I'm going to explain his presence in a moment. Actually, Ozone is." She turned to him and nodded, her expression grim. "Ozone is going to tell you everything."