Storm Season

Chapter 18

Monsoon woke with a start. He snapped his head around to stare at the hulking shape sitting in front of him. It was dark in the cave, the moon obscured by the clouds that had seemingly materialized out of thin air. The shadow in front of him twitched slightly, as if just now noticing that he was awake. It was Alpine. She was sitting with her back to him, staring blankly out into the starless night. Monsoon yawned, his wings quivering as he stretched his aching muscles. Alpine Turned her head when she heard him. Parrot was still asleep on his back, so he couldn't sit up to greet her.

"I realized today that our lives are always at risk," she said, turning back to the cave entrance. "And that I brought you to that risk." She bowed her head, closing her eyes. He saw a silvery tear drop from her snout and patter softly against the ground.

"You didn't know," Monsoon said softly, his voice rumbling in his chest as he tried not to wake Parrot. "You were only doing what you thought was right. You had no idea what would happen when we got there. You had no idea that any of that would happen to us. You only wanted to help us. To help me. So thank you, Alpine." She sat still, her eyes still closed. For a long time, she didn't move. When she finally opened her eyes, more tears dripped off her snout.

"You could have died," she choked out at last. "You, or Parrot or Boa..." she trailed off. Monsoon looked guiltily at the sleeping form of Parrot lying on his back. He shrugged gently, sliding her head off his scales and on to the cold stone floor. Quietly, he slid away from her to stand by the silent SkyWing. He stood awkwardly by her side as she stared blankly out to the dark night. Monsoon stretched again, this time shaking out his legs and tail. She didn't move as he took a step towards her. He stretched one wing around her back, shifting closer to her as she stared silently forwards. He felt the weight of the pouch thump against his chest as he moved. He touched it with one claw as Alpine leaned against him.

Should I look at it now? He thought as he stared out the cave entrance. The darkness of the night obscured the landscape below him. It was no longer a vibrant green field, inviting the dragons to stay and soak up the warmth from the sun, no, now it was a forest of shadows with malevolent eyes, watching and waiting for any dragon foolish enough to come near. Monsoon shuddered, thinking of the dragons trapped in The Place of No Escape. It was too similar, too close to what he was looking at now.

"You know that we're grateful - I'm grateful that you decided to help," Monsoon said quietly. "I don't know what this thing is or what it does, but I wouldn't have it if it weren't for you." He touched the pouch again, feeling the smooth object inside. Alpine glanced over his shoulder at the leaves that were folded to create the water-tight barrier. He undid the top and produced the black leather that held the object. Laying it carefully on the ground between the two of them, he inspected it properly for the first time since receiving it. Black leather bound together by black fabric strings and sewn together with black thread. The stings were tied into a knot at the top of the pouch, sealing away the object. Alpine looked over her shoulder at his face. He watched as she picked up the leather pouch and thrust it into his talons.

"Take this," she said quietly, uncertainly, "take this out there and open it up. I don't know what it's going to do, but that MudWing knew your name. He seemed to know a lot more about you than any of us do."

"He seems to know more about me than I know about me," Monsoon replied after a short pause. He squeezed the object in his talons, steeling his nerves against the panic that rose in his chest at the thought of what this could do. He took a deep breath, stood up and stepped closer to the ledge.

"Be careful, Monsoon," Alpine said, without moving. Monsoon nodded, glancing at his talon.

"If I'm not back by the time that the others are awake, tell them where I went. Don't lie to them either." Without waiting for a response, he dove over the edge, plummeting towards the ground. He kept his wings tucked in close to his body, letting the wind whip and whistle in his face. Flaring his wings at the last second, Monsoon banked hard, away from the mountains and out into the abyss beyond them. He touched down in the field, in view of the cave entrance. If anything went wrong, Alpine would be able to see it from her vantage point. Monsoon took a deep breath to slow his heartbeat and stop his talons from shaking so much. With a quick movement, he sliced the string off the pouch and tipped it's contents into his palm. There, resting against his black scales was a stone the color of the moons reflected in ice. He drew in a sharp breath at it's immediate luster, even in the dark of the moonless night. Running one claw along the surface, smooth as glass, he discovered a tiny set of hinges. The stone, as large as his entire talon, had a seam running laterally across the thicker part. Worrying one claw into the seam caused the latch to pop open, revealing the interior of the case. Gingerly, he lifted the top of the case up to display a silver bracelet with a large diamond at its center. Carefully, so as not to damage the pristine case, he removed the bracelet from its spot in the protective packing. He closed the case and slipped it into his pouch around his neck.

Monsoon turned the bracelet around in the dim light, cursing his frostbreath. A little fire would be nice right about now. As he inspected the bracelet, the dark glint of obsidian bands met his eyes. Monsoon yelped suddenly, his voice echoing off the mountains. This is the bracelet that Shadowhunter was thinking about. Does that mean that if I put this on, I will be taken to The Place of No Escape? He shuddered again, realizing what lay in his talons. A cold wind kicked up through the field, sending a chill along his spine. The wind picked up in intensity, rustling the grass around his talons, the blades swaying and brushing against his scales, an eerie note resonating from their stalks. Monsoon felt uneasy, his panic growing again in his chest, constricting his throat. He gasped for air, despite the wind whipping around his snout. The cloud cover broke as he struggled for breath. Tilting his head back, he could make out one of the full moons, it's light illuminating the field in which he stood. The bracelet in his talon glimmered invitingly, dangerously.

With one final breath, Monsoon quickly clasped the bracelet onto his wrist. Nothing happened. He let the air out of his lungs in a sigh, relief radiating from his core. He turned his head back up to the sky, drinking in the sight of the moons. Then the pain started. It spread like a wildfire from his wrist up along his forearm and into his shoulder. It sent pain rippling along his spine, and out to his extremities. Monsoon shrieked in agony, his body convulsing from the white hot veins of fire under his scales. Blinding purple light filled his vision, but before he was engulfed, he could barely make out the shape of three dragon heads poking out of the side of a cliff. I'm sorry, he thought to Parrot as he blacked out.

Monsoon woke to the sharp digging of claws between his scales. His eyes flew open and there in front of him, was Moonbeam. She gripped his shoulders tighter and he winced.

"MONSOON!" she bellowed in his face, her eyes lighting up. "It's been so long since you've been here! I was starting to worry about you!" Monsoon sat up with a groan. His body ached worse than it had when he'd gone to bed that night. He rubbed his head with his talon and hit himself on the horn with a large bracelet. The bracelet. It hadn't vanished like it had for all these other dragons. Monsoon yelped and scrambled to his feet. Moonbeam looked worried. Monsoon thrust his talon under her nose, bouncing on his toes.

"Look!" he exclaimed excitedly. "It's the bracelet, the bracelet! The curse of banishment!" Moonbeam's face contorted into multiple expressions at once. Shifting between anger, fear and awe. She reached tentatively towards his wrist, examining the glittering jewelry.

"Shadowhunter!" she cried in excitement. She bounded to where the larger black dragon sat eyeing Monsoon suspiciously. "It's the bracelet! He brought the bracelet!"

"So?" hissed the angry dragon. "Just because it's here doesn't mean it can help us." He glared at Monsoon as he made his way slowly over to the other two dragons. Monsoon flicked the poisonous tip of his tail slightly before wrapping it tightly around his talons. He stared defiantly into Shadowhunter's eyes. "You think that thisss is a game?" Shadowhunter snarled, stepping forwards, his teeth bared. Monsoon dug his claws into the ground, hoping that his facade was enough to mask his terror. Moonbeam thumped Shadowhunter viciously in the back of the head with her tail.

"That is enough out of you," she said disapprovingly. "He knows just as much as you do about that moons cursed thing on his wrist. Cut him some slack." Shadowhunter retreated, growling and hissing to himself unpleasantly. Monsoon shot her a grateful look and she shrugged in response.

"So how are we going to get everyone home?" he asked as soon as he thought Shadowhunter was out of earshot. He tapped the bracelet thoughtfully with his claws, turning over several ideas in his mind.

"I don't know if we can do that, seeing how I've been here for four hundred years myself," Moonbeam sighed.

"But you didn't have the bracelet here, did you? Maybe with the bracelet here, it'll have a different effect?"

"There's really no way to know for sure. It might, then we could all go free. Or it might not, then you'll be trapped here as well." Monsoon froze in place. He hadn't even thought about what might happen if he couldn't return to Parrot. What would she think, if she never knew what happened to him? He set his jaw in determination.

"Well you might not know how to fix this, but there are a few things that I'd like to try."