Chapter Twenty-One
Destiny
Destiny rarely doubted her destiny. She would save the queens of Pyrrhia. But tonight was different. Her snoozing head swirled with questions. What if they weren't impostors? What if the so called fakes were actually the real prophecy dragons, and she and her friends were never meant to save Pyrrhia? What if the impostors were helping the assassin, and the one of the queens actually died? What if the assassin became upset at his loss and came back to try and kill Queen Glacier again? Or the dragons who had stopped their plot? What if the impostors discovered that they were following them and came back to murder them in their sleep? What if…
Destiny's head snapped up. Her anxieties had woken her, and anyway, Nightwings are more nocturnal than the other tribes. The light from the moons spilled down onto her scales, and she felt a little calmer, but not much. There was still a thumping worry that grew as she lay her head back down to try to fall back asleep. Not only that, but now that the moons were out and the stars were shining, she didn't feel tired at all. Just very alert, and very bothered. Why was sleep always so difficult at the times where she needed it most? She would have emitted a low growl of frustration, that is, if she were able to talk at all. Which she couldn't. Being mute was such an annoying handicap. Talking in dragon's minds was irritating when she ended up having to fill in all the curious dragons around her what she had said. If she could have screamed, she would have, several times by now, out of pure frustration. She could get very angry.
Scanning the clearing, she noted that most of her friends were gone, probably elsewhere. She noticed a flicker of firelight from the cave nearby. Probably where Tempest had fled. Kraken was most likely in the stream, and Blizzard...who knew? Monsoon was still sleeping peacefully, occasionally twitching a leg as he dreamed with a grin on his snout. Macadamia was mostly blending into the grass, but every now and then a streak of white fear spiraled wildly across the dark green scales, helping Destiny locate him, before the Rainwing's natural camouflage instinct swallowed it up. Cactusflower appeared to be in a calm slumber, but you never could tell with that Sandwing. Destiny stood up and rolled her shoulders, stretching her arms and wings to ease the lumps that formed in restless sleep. Elsewhere...that sounds nice. She thought. Maybe I'll find somewhere to spend the night, or what's left of it. Somewhere that gets a lot of light from the moons… She patrolled the clearing, lifting off into the night sky, staying low. Aha! She spotted a rock, just outside the clearing, with a beam of moonlight funneling onto the cool stone. She dove in for a landing, alighting on the rock with barely a sound. She turned around several times before plopping down with a sigh. The concentrated silvery light spilled over her scales, setting her anxieties to rest. And her. She shut her eyes, slipping away into the pleasant, silent land that we know as peaceful sleep.