Chapter 37

As we made our way into the Mudwing village, I began to wonder how they would react to our arrival. For the most part, I didn't know the Mudwings that well, having only known Clay as an example of them. Sure, I was introduced to his siblings who were nice enough, and I also met Queen Moorhen when I was with the dragonets during the end of the war, though I didn't really speak to her.

There was also the concept of my new title that I was informed about with my time with the Seawings, in which I was now titled "The Protector". Essentially, after talking to Sealion, I learned what the title meant. It essentially showed that I was a protector of the Dragonets of Destiny, ensuring their safety and the protection of Pyrrhia as a whole. Would have been good to know I had such a title beforehand, though the dragonets themselves probably didn't know at the time, though it doesn't explain why Queen Thorn didn't tell me, but it does explain why I've been treated so well everywhere I've gone.

I wasn't sure how to feel about my title, since it basically proclaimed me as a great hero, almost as great as the dragonets themselves, when really I was just a friend trying to help them out. Thankfully, it wasn't an official title, which is why there was no ceremony or anything, but it meant that I couldn't use it to do anything any other dragon couldn't do. It was still a title of some power though, due to how every dragon that knew of my title would know me as a hero.

Unfortunately, my wishful thinking that my title hadn't reached the Mudwings was quickly swept aside as we entered the village. We soon got several stares and whispers about us, specifically me in particular, such as "That's the Protector!", "What's the Protector doing here?", and "Who are those dragons with the Protector, and what are they doing here?".

Honestly, I was starting to feel a bit embarrassed about my title, not liking so many dragons looking at me at once or thinking that I was so important. Sure, I was currently striving to stop the world from ending while looking for a way home (which, sure, sounds kinda heroic and all), but I still wasn't different from anyone else, no matter how much the others told me otherwise.

Once we had walked into the village for a bit, i stopped walking in the middle of an intersection before facepalming, much to the surprise of my companions and confusing of the Mudwings watching us. Singularity came up to me and put her hand on my shoulder as she spoke. "Static, what's wrong? We're in the Mudwing village, after all."

I looked towards Singularity with a blank look. "But have we even begun asking anyone any questions yet?" Singularity blinked back at me. "We came here to look for a Mudwing, and yet, instead of starting at the edge and asking the first dragon we met, we have instead walked into the middle of their village with them not having any clues as to what we're doing here, along with not having asked anyone anything yet."

Singularity blinked for a second as the others all facepalmed as well, realizing our mistake. Thankfully, I wouldn't have to ask any random dragon what we were doing here now, due to how the surrounding Mudwings had heard what i had said. One Mudwing, a small though fully grown female with very light brown scales and large ears walked up to us, followed by two larger male Mudwings who looked related to her.

"Hello there, I heard you were looking for someone! Maybe I could help out with that." The small Mudwing said, looking very excited to be speaking to me. However, her two brothers, if I had to guess their relation, looked a bit unsure about me, though still curious.

"Well, I'm not looking for anyone specific." I explained. "My friends and I are on a bit of a journey and we're looking for a single Mudwing to join us. I know this will be difficult though, because I've already been informed about the sibling bonds that Mudwings have, and i wouldn't want to have to make any of them leave each other. I'm Static, by the way."

"Oh, everyone here has already heard your name by now." The Mudwing giggled. "Several even saw you the night the war ended, when you were with the Dragonets of Destiny. You've been quite the word around here. My name is Lily by the way, and the two kind brutes behind me are my brothers Gator and Swamp." The two dragons in question rolled their eyes but smiled at the remark.

"As to your reason for being here, you're right on the aspect that most dragons wouldn't want to leave their sibs behind, especially for an extended time. Thinking about it, most dragons around here are in groups, with most of the single dragons who lost their sibs in the war creating new groups." I sighed at this, thinking we were now out of luck and would have to go to the next closest Mudwing village. "There is one Mudwing I know who might join you though…"

One of her brothers, the one she pointed to as Swamp, stepped up at her comment. "Lily, no, you don't mean him do you? You know that dragon isn't fully right in the head, not since he lost his sibs in the war! You wouldn't want an insane dragon to go with the Protector on some kind of mission, would you?"

Tempest stepped up at his comment. "And what is wrong with seeing things differently, brown scaled one? I believe that it allows quite the different view of most flowers." Swamp blinked at Tempest, not fully knowing how to respond, as Lily rolled her eyes and spoke up.

"He's not insane Swamp, he just thinks differently is all. And from my talks with him, he's always been that way, whether or not he lost his sibs. He's perfectly fine and I think he would be a perfect candidate for whatever journey Static here is on."

At her comment, both brothers went wide eyed as Gator stepped up. "You've kept going up to talk to him even after we specifically told you not to?" At this, Lily's eyes went wide as Gator grabbed one of her ears and began pulling her away, much to her disagreement. "We're going home and having a nice talk, especially when we tell Darter about this." This only made Lily's eyes open wider as she began to be pulled away.

Lily looked towards me while the group of three began walking away. "You're looking for a Mudwing named Rivlet (ow, that hurts!). He lives on top of the far hill over there (please, ow, let go of my ear!)." Lily said, pointing to the West of the village, which, as I followed her point, revealed a single mud hut on the top of the hill.

I turned to thank her for her help, but she had already been dragged off by her brothers, leaving me and my slightly unsure group in the middle of the Mudwing village. Turning to the others, I could see they were as uncertain as I was. "Should we just let them drag her off like that?" Sahara asked.

Shrugging, I turned to look back up the hill. "That's family business, not something we should interfere with. I was going to ask whether or not we should check out this Rivlet fellow or not." After all, Lily's brother's reaction to her talking to this dragon was a bit unsettling, but then again she said that he was fine to talk to and wasn't actually insane. But on the other claw, I had just met her and wasn't sure whether or not I'd see her again.

"I see no reason for us not to." Asteroid said, looking up at the single mud hut as well. "It's a lead, at the very least, and it would save us the trouble of having to ask around anymore or having to go to the next village. We should at least give this dragon the benefit of the doubt and check him out."

Nodding, I decided to agree with this, and with no one arguing, I decided we would go say hello to Rivlet. And so we began walking to the West side of the village, getting some more stares and looks along the way as other Mudwings watched us go by.

After about ten to twenty minutes of walking, we finally made it out of the village and began our ascent up the hill. I began to fully realize how far the actual hut was, being a good walking distance from the rest of the village, making me wonder if Rivlet was some kind of hermit. I then imagined an older Mudwing with swamp plants hanging off of him and crazed like an actual hermit and suppressed a laugh to myself, though Asteroid began looking at me oddly.

For another half hour we walked up the hill, making me wonder what would make Rivlet live so much further away from other Mudwings, especially how according to Lily's brother he was all alone, which was especially strange for a Mudwing. From what I knew, they were the most social of any other tribe, so to hear of a Mudwing living all by himself was a bit disconcerting.

When we finally arrived, I could tell that someone was home, with fire light leaking out through the open windows of the hut, along with the sounds of what sounded like hurried movement from inside. Not sure what else to do, I casually walked up to the hut and knocked on the wooden door that was the entrance of the hut.

The sounds of movement stopped for a moment, in which a second later a male, slightly deep but around my age of voice called out, "Just give me a moment, I'll be right there." The sound of frantic movement began again, and about a minute later the large door opened, revealing the sole occupant.

Standing before us was a dragon around the age of the rest of us, thus being around fully grown. He had dark brown scales and reddish colored wings, with a coffee colored underbelly. He stood with a relaxed but knowing stance, and seemed to be studying our group with careful but calm and knowing eyes.

"Ah, I've been expecting you, though we've been yet to be introduced." That was the first flag to raise in my head, making me wonder how he knew we would be coming as he continued. "My name is Rivlet, which I'm guessing you heard in your trip to the village." That was the second flag to raise in my head, due to how it meant he was watching us fly in. "Please, do come in, it's been forever since I've had anyone to talk to."

With only two flags having been raised in my head so far and the others only looking mildly uncertain and concerned, I took a second to ponder whether or not we would follow him. Tempest made the decision herself, however, hopping her way forward and making her way into the hut.

So, with not many other options, we entered as well, looking around the plain looking mud hut. Making our way forward, we were greeted to a larger room that could fit several dragons in it, with a large table in the center of it. Laying around the edges of the table were pieces cut from a cow in the center, a meal for several dragons set up.

"I wasn't sure if you would like the cow cooked or not, so I left it alone to be cooked by any flames if you would like to. You do like cow, don't you?" He asked, looking at our group. "I would offer fish or camel, but I haven't ever been to the desert and I there are no nearby lakes for me to get fish from either. It was either this or a crocodile, though I've heard that most other dragons don't like their tough texture."

"Cow is just fine." I said, with the others nodding in agreement. Singularity and Tempest also nodded, even though they did prefer fruit and fish themselves. With that, we sat around the table, with Sara and Singularity being closest to me, Asteroid and Sahara sitting in the middle, and Tempest sitting closest to Rivlet, who was at the opposite end.

"That's good, I was so worried when I first anticipated guests arriving. Especially guests who are probably here to speak to me for one reason or another that is important." Looking at our group, he suddenly changed topics as he got to Sara and I. "If you don't mind me asking, do the clouds on your scales have any significance? Are they showing the actual weather somewhere or are they for the camouflage in the skies?"

I blinked at him for a second before responding. "Probably more towards the second guess. I don't believe that our scales actually show any given place." Rivlet nodded before turning to Tempest, who was poking at the cow experimentally, contemplating whether or not she would ask Sahara to cook it for her.

"Ah, I see. And you, the Seawing, would you happen to have any descendants from Skywings perchance? I noticed the color of your eyes as you walked in, and from I've seen, amber is a color more typical of Skywings than Seawings."

Tempest looked over at Rivlet and shrugged, meanwhile I watched him a tad cautiously, starting to understand why the other Mudwings might think he's insane, which wasn't the case. "Anything is potentially possible, but to my current understanding of the ancestors before me, I don't currently have a belief that I would be related to a Skywing. But as I said, anything is possible, and there were never any clear answers as to the identity of the one who paired with my mother."

Rivlet once again nodded, not even seeming fazed by the way Tempest talks. After that, we began to eat, in which I would ask questions when I was done, since I hadn't eaten since that morning. Rivlet ate as well, though continued asking question after question, his interest not holding onto one thing or another for very long, either making him an extremely curious dragon, or he had some form of condition such as ADHD, which was possible.

After eating for a bit and letting Rivlet finish asking Singularity what the brightest color Singularity could make (which was a very bright form of white which caused several of us to look away), I decided to ask Rivlet a few questions of my own. "So Rivlet," I started, getting his attention quickly, "I don't mean to pry, but why are you asking all of these questions, and why in such a hurried fashion?" I asked, wanting to know the meaning behind these questions.

Rivlet seemed to blush as he looked away sheepishly. "Oh, I'm sorry if it bothered you. I've always just had a knack for wanting to learn more about, well, everything." Rivlet said, making me think he would get along just fine if he met Starflight. "As for my hurried way of talking, I've always had my mind preoccupied with one thought or another, and I'm always finding myself distracted quite easily. My siblings always did say I was a bit too easily distracted." The last sentence was said sadly, while Rivlet looked away, lost in his thoughts.

I nodded at his answer, making me think that he probably did have something like ADHD. But that didn't matter right now, as I decided to speak up once more. "Well, not being rude, I do have to ask why, unlike the other Mudwings, you're not part of a group." At his saddened look, I quickly added in, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

Shaking his head, Rivlet responded. "No, it's fine. It's just I can't imagine myself living with any dragons other than my sibs, and well, they're gone now." Looking around the room, Rivlet continued. "This was our home, and we were the outer scouts for this village. I...lost them one day during the war, but I still refuse to leave our home to go live with other Mudwings."

I nodded. "That's perfectly understandable. Once more, you don't have to talk about it any more if you don't want to. We could change the subject and talk about the reason we're here, after all."

Rivlet shook his head. "I'd rather talk about it, actually. It's been forever since I've had anyone over, and I'd rather get it off my chest." Nodding slowly, Rivlet continued. "I wasn't exactly the bravest dragon, and so I always found ways to avoid our routine scouting and other fights we were forced to fight in, fleeing whenever I could on impulse."

"One day, I came back to this house several hours after another scouting mission, expecting the same understanding yet scolding talks from my sibs. But when I came in, all I found were their broken bodies laying on the floor, the only hint as to who killed them being the signature venom stings of Sandwings."

Looking up from his piece of cow that he had been staring at during his story, Rivlet saw many of us looking at him in emotions of pity, understanding and sadness. He spoke up towards Sahara, who was looking down as well. "I don't blame Sandwings, so don't worry. I just blame my cowardice, since I know I should've been there with them. Anyhow, I do think it is about time you told me why you're here. It'll give me time to think about something important I needed to tell you anyway."

I looked at him questioningly, wondering what this important thing was. "Well, alright then, if you say you're fine." Rivlet nodded as I began explaining who we were, fully introducing everyone to him at last. After that, I described the journey we were on, and how we needed a dragon from every tribe to join us, in which he nodded.

"I expected you would be asking me to accompany you, seeing as how you already have representatives of several other tribes, missing only a Skywing and an Icewing. I would be delighted to join, since it has been too long since I've left this hut. The village won't notice my disappearance either, since I hardly visit. This trip will be just the thing I needed to clear my head after all this time."

Nodding, I looked around to see that everyone had finished eating. "Well, in that case, would you like to get moving?" I asked, in which everyone looked semi-surprised at how far I had been planning ahead. "We'll need all the time we can to get to the Skywing Kingdom, which is our next stop. Of course, we'll give you some time to pack anything you need as well."

Rivlet stood up and nodded. "I'll be ready within the hour. I can't wait to get moving and to see the Skywing kingdom. I've heard much about its impressive stone structures." As he said that, he turned around a corner, exiting our sight as I turned towards the others.

"So, what do you think of him?" I asked, wanting the other's opinions before I told them mine as usual. Tempest spoke up first, looking in the direction that he had left.

"He has a troubled past, and is hiding more than he thinks we know. I like him, and it will give me another voice to converse with during our extended travels through the air. I'd like to ask him about his opinions on gravitational pull and how we are even technically able to fly, after all."

I nodded as Asteroid spoke up next. "I have to agree with Tempest in her observation of him hiding something, along with his past. I could hear more troubled thoughts when he was telling us about his absence of his siblings, though it wasn't clear enough for me to hear fully. His mind also seems to keep going back to something specific, something his minds keeps focusing on, though I still don't know what that is. He seems kind enough though, and might be able to help us."

Sahara spoke up, looking uncertain. "I don't know if we should take him. He said himself that he doesn't like fighting, and even runs from fights. What if we get into another situation where we're outnumbered again, and he's not there to help?"

Sara nodded, agreeing with Sahara. "There's something about him I don't fully trust. The fact that he's been observing us so much and guessing our actions before we take them is kind of unsettling, and the way he always seems so relaxed is strange."

Singularity shrugged, her turn being next. "He seems like a nice enough dragon to me. After all, he fed us and easily agreed to join us, wanting to get away from this place himself. Besides, it might be harder to find a different Mudwing to join us, and if he does have something important to tell us, we should let him stick around and find out what that is."

Finally, everyone turned towards me, in which I sighed while shrugging. "I'm honestly not fully certain about him myself, though we can take him with us for now. Besides, I think he will be helpful, what with everything he seems to know, and he seems quite friendly, if a bit strange. So, with that, and the fact that he is already packing, I guess Rivlet will be our Mudwing."

The others nodded, though Sara and Sahara still looked a bit uncertain, in which they came to the mutual agreement of keeping an eye on him, though hopefully it wouldn't come to that. I wasn't fully certain of Rivlet either, but we did need a Mudwing and he did at least seem to be nice, so hopefully we made the right decision in choosing to bring him along.

After about half an hour of waiting, with our group making small talk during the time with conversations about the Mudwing kingdom (with the general opinion being that it was alright, but there was just a bit too much mud for our tastes), Rivlet finally joined back with us, carrying a large but not overly packed bag that looked like it was made from a crocodile on his back.

Rivlet nodded at our group as he entered. "Alright, I have everything that I should need on an extended journey." He said, gesturing to his bag. "I'm actually quite excited to get moving now. I haven't seen too much of the world outside the Mudwing kingdom, and I can only imagine everything there is to learn about out there."

I grinned and nodded, liking his enthusiasm at least, while Singularity smiled and agreed with him. "I had the same opinion when we left the rainforest, and so far everything I've seen so far is great. I'm sure you'll love it." As Singularity said that, we began heading towards the exit of Rivlet's home.

When we were outside, Rivlet decided to speak up again. "So, do you happen to know what we'll be seeing on the rest of this journey? It would seem I'm a tad late to join this journey, but I would still like to know what else is instore for me."

Nodding, I began explaining the other places in which we still had to go to. "Our next stop, as I said before, will be the Skywing kingdom to find ourselves a Skywing that will be willing to join us, though from what I've heard, it's going to be difficult to find one with the same...attitude as the rest of us."

"After the Skywing kingdom, we'll have to go as far North as possible in search of an Icewing, which could be problematic. If we don't find one then, we'll fly to the village of Possibility and hope we can find either an Icewing to join us or at least a messenger."

"Once we have everyone together, we'll have to begin searching for a hidden place known as the Sky Tower, which I'm also hoping to find information about in the Skywing kingdom. Once there, we'll make our way upwards and encounter Storm, and do what needs to be done." I finished explaining, though my sadness was clearly audible through the last part.

Rivlet nodded at my explanation, looking a bit timid himself at the final aspect. "Yes, as you told me before, we have to put her to rest. Hopefully you won't need my help when it comes to that, but….I will certainly try my best to aid you if you need me."

We were fully outside now as I spoke to Rivlet. "That's all I expect. As long as you try, I don't care if you fail or not. Just remember there is a lot at stake, after all." Rivlet nodded, though his gaze seemed to be staring off into the distance, in which I decided to get his attention. "So, before we go, do you remember what it is that you wanted to tell us?" I asked, in which Rivlet looked at me confused for a moment before realization came over his face and he nodded.

"Oh, yes, I remember now! As I was watching your group fly in, I saw someone watching and following you. It was a strange looking Sandwing with several scars all over him." My heart froze as what he said, and the others had similar expressions, including Tempest, who I had already informed.

"Are you certain?" I asked, needing to make sure that he was talking about the same dragon that was after us. If he was really following us, then he could strike at any time, due to how he was potentially watching us for the perfect time to strike. Little did I know that to him, that perfect strike was about to occur.

Rivlet nodded as he turned towards some bushes close to us and pointed. "Yes, we was watching you from those bushes right there, and since he was so close to my home, that's how I was able to see him so clearly. In fact, if i had to guess, he more than likely is still…"

Time seemed to slow down at what happened next. As Rivlet was speaking, Asteroid's eyes opened wide as she went to push Rivlet and me aside, as for at that moment, the familiar face of the Sandwing assassin appeared from the bushes, his tail poised to strike.

After we had all fallen, I heard two roars of pain and saw a bright orange flash, making me get up quickly as flames soon erupted the area. Looking over, I could see the assassin howling in pain as his tail erupted in flames, the venom that had been dripping from it igniting. Meanwhile, Rivlet lay slumped over, a stab wound in his side.

I quickly yelled out to Singularity to get a venom antidote and use it on Rivlet as I jumped over to the assassin, who was currently stamping out his foot. Thinking he was distracted enough, I quickly spewed out a course of lightning, but he saw it quick enough to move himself mostly out of the way. However, I did manage to hit his tail barb, quickly making a new set of flames appear on it, causing him to scream in pain once more.

Carefully watching him as he stamped out his tail, the rest of my group quickly surrounded him, leaving only Singularity and Rivlet the only dragons not surrounding the assassin. When he was done stamping out his tail, there was almost nothing left of the barb, leaving his tail essentially useless as a weapon now, in which he glared and hissed at me through pain gritted teeth.

"We have you surrounded, assassin. Any attempts to escape will not end well for you. Now, tell me, how did you find us?" I asked, getting a chuckle out of him, one that made all of us uneasy and getting us ready to fight.

"Alright kid, I know when I'm beat. Let me tell you, it was quite easy to find you when an informant can just find me at any time and tell me. Though I doubt she'll want my services now, what with the failure this attempt has been. And to think, I was going to get so much gold for your head, which I would have used as a bowl to hold it all." He said, glaring at me.

I glared back at him, not liking this. "And who is this informant?" I asked, wondering if we were being spied on by somebody else...or worse.

The dragon cackled once more as he shrugged. "Even I don't fully know. She appears at random, only giving me what I need to know. She first appeared, giving me and my crew a nice base of operations, the only catch being we had to attack groups of traveling dragons. The second time wasn't that long ago, when she told me where you and your little friends were. Now, even though she promised me gold, the satisfaction of getting to try to kill you was enough."

"What did this dragon look like, at least? What tribe was she from, and did she have any defining characteristics?" I asked, needing to know who it was that he was talking about.

The Sandwing cackled again, before pointing towards Sara, much to our shock. "Imagine her, but bigger, older, and way meaner. Even I'm afraid of that dragon, and not much scares me. She has this weird power about her that makes me uneasy, and even now, I doubt I'll live long now that I've spilled the beans."

As he said that, everyone jumped as a loud sound erupted the area, like that of an explosion. I heard everyone cry out suddenly as there was a bright flash of light that accompanied the noise, making us temporarily blind.

Blinking my eyes, I was eventually able to see again, and what stood before us shocked everyone who saw it once their vision cleared.

Where the assassin was lay only a skeleton, his skull in a permanent smile as he laid on the ground, the grass around him having been burnt to a crisp by what had hit him. Looking up, I saw that there was not a single cloud in the sky, and yet, while I looked up, I had an uneasy feeling I was being watched from up there.

And I felt like I knew who it was.

Author's Note: Woot, another chapter up on time, and once more full length. Anyhow, thank you all so much for reading so far, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. I'm still not fully sure how I'm going to go about writing Rivlet, though I currently have him as this intelligent but relaxed dragon whose mind is usually somewhere else, though he still has his moments, like where he forgot to warn the others that they were standing right next to where an assassin was. (...) Yeah...I don't know fully myself. Anyhow, thank you for reading, be sure to tell me what you think if you want to (I do enjoy reading the comments), and as usual, the next chapter should be up on time next week.