So when I was writing this, a number of the chapters ended up being unexpectedly long. I've been thinking of breaking some of the future ones in half and posting each part separately. What do you guys think? Have some of these past chapters been a little long to get through in one sitting? You'd still get both parts in the same week: one on Wednesdays and one on the weekends.
Caiman did not understand what was happening to him. First the SeaWings had imprisoned him with no explanation, then the strange-looking SeaWing had freed him with a stone of invisibility, and now he was flying quickly east with an IceWing, a dragon who looked like a SkyWing but whose scales appeared black and silver in the moonlight, and the SeaWing who'd freed him. At least, Caiman assumed she was still with them, even though he couldn't see her. Caiman was willing to trust her, but he wasn't so sure about the others.
Suddenly the IceWing looked up in surprise, though there was nothing above him. Then he reached up towards nothing, then disappeared. A split second later, the SeaWing, (Hurricane, he now remembered), appeared above the space where the IceWing had been, veering closer to Caiman. After a second, the IceWing reappeared, slinging a scroll case over his shoulder. Caiman assumed he had dropped the stone into it.
Caiman took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to do.
"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but what is going on?" he blurted, before he could lose his nerve.
Hurricane looked towards the silvery dragon as if for direction, and the dragon nodded.
"Go ahead," she said. "We're not being followed."
Hurricane turned towards Caiman, indicating the other two with a wave of her claws.
"You already know me, and this is Frost," she indicated the IceWing, "And over there is Firestorm. What's your name?"
"Caiman," he said cautiously, unsure where this was going.
Hurricane nodded, and Frost spoke up.
"Do you know why the SeaWings imprisoned you, Caiman?"
"No. They didn't say anything about why, they only. said that they'd find the 'others' soon enough. I don't know what they meant by that, either."
"We're the 'others'," Hurricane said.
"What Hurricane means is that the three of us are a part of a prophecy that has most of the tribes all nervous about us. We think you're a fourth," Frost explained.
"Me? In a prophecy? You can't be serious," Caiman said, a little surprised at the news.
"I am serious," he said solemnly. "However, we think it's a fake. It was delivered by a prophet named Fatespinner, but we haven't been able to pin him down and get the truth from him."
"What is it about the prophecy that has all the queens so worried?" Caiman asked, genuinely curious.
"The prophecy says we're going to bring about- What was it? Destruction and catastrophe," Hurricane answered matter-of-factly.
"Well, then," Caiman said, stunned. Then, realizing something, asked "Why do you think it's a fake?"
Firestorm snorted. "The thing is incredibly vague about the nature of our catastrophe, or attack, or whatever, but it's incredibly specific about the dragons who are in it."
"How specific?" Caiman asked.
"It does everything short of saying; 'The blood-egg MudWing is named Caiman, the NightWing-SkyWing hybrid is named Firestorm, the IceWing is an animus named Frost, and the SeaWing-IceWing hybrid is named Hurricane,'" she answered.
So Frost was an animus? That explained the stone that had turned him and Hurricane invisible in the SeaWing palace. And Firestorm was part NightWing? He looked at her again, and in the light of the dawn, saw that her scales were black and orange, not silver.
As if he'd spoken aloud, Firestorm suddenly turned to look at him.
"What?" she cried.
She looked back at the eastern horizon, now glowing pink with the sunrise.
"No! I meant to turn south! Now we're almost at the Sky Kingdom!"
Caiman turned and saw she was right. The mountains and cliffs of SkyWing land loomed in the western skies before them.
"There's nothing we can do about that now," Frost said to Firestorm. "All we can do is find a place to stay for the day."
Hurricane squinted ahead at the cliffs. "There's a narrow cave about halfway up the cliffs ahead of us," she reported. "We may be able to stay there for today."
Firestorm nodded, looking tired. "Might as well," she sighed.
As they drew closer to the cliffs, Caiman saw that an overhang kept the cave out of the sight lines of dragons at the tops of the cliffs. Caiman allowed the others to crawl in ahead of him, figuring that if violence broke out, he would be better off near the entrance, where he could escape quickly.
The ceiling of the cave was low, and Caiman had to duck his head a bit in order to fit. Frost pulled a scroll out of the case where he had left the invisibility stone, and unrolled it in front of Caiman.
"This is the prophecy," he said, pointing to a cluster of black words.
Caiman read the prophecy with growing uncertainty. It certainly was suspicious, but the Dragonet Prophecy had also been vague and specific in turns. Caiman looked at the lines concerning him.
'The third comes from the pools of mud,
His fate, egg and scales all red as blood.'
He knew his egg had been red, and his scales were at least sort of red, but his fate? Was he really destined to be a spiller of blood? Was he really going to become a killer?
He looked back at the other lines, the ones about Frost, Hurricane, and Firestorm. He saw that the second line about Frost had a reference to 'dark magic'. Almost everyone knew about the dangerous cost of animus magic. Was it possible that Frost would succumb to the curse and lose his mind, becoming the killer the prophecy said he would be?
Frost saw where he was looking and chuckled. "Don't worry. I promise I've never used my scroll to cast any dark magic."
"What about the fifth dragon?" Caiman asked. "What do you think about her?"
"Well, we think she's a SandWing-RainWing hybrid, judging from the first line and the line about venom. We plan to start looking in the rainforest, as it will probably be safer for us than the desert," Firestorm said. "We'll only risk the desert if we have to. I don't know how Queen Thorn will react to us, but the RainWings, well, I don't mean to sound prejudiced, but they probably won't mind all that much."
Hurricane yawned. "Sorry, I haven't gotten any sleep since that night you two showed up at my island. I didn't mind the mud all that much, but I couldn't sleep in it."
"You're right," Frost said. "Neither could I. Let's get some sleep. We should try to get out of here by nightfall."
Hurricane and Firestorm curled up next to each other in the middle of the cave, and Frost lay down in the back. Caiman curled up near the opening, looking out at the sky. He couldn't help thinking about the prophecy.
What if I turned myself in to Queen Moorhen? I can't imagine she'd kill me, and it sounds like the prophecy needs the five of us together. If I'm in the queen's dungeons, it can't be fulfilled. And how do I know I can trust these dragons? They said it's fake, but how do I know that's true? What if they're already what the prophecy says they are, and are trying to make me like them? And this NightWing who delivered the prophecy, Fatespinner? How do I know he even exists?
As his frantic mind gave in to his tired body, he heard a voice whisper in his head.
Don't turn yourself in to Queen Moorhen. She allied her tribe with Burn in the war for eighteen years to protect them from the SandWings for the next hundred years. I don't think there's much she wouldn't do to protect her tribe. We need more answers before we do anything drastic. Don't be a fool.
The voice may have gone on, but Caiman drifted off to sleep. When the moons rose in the east, their light falling across his face, he knew what he would do. He would stay with the dragons who had rescued him, at least until he got some answers.
They made their way south, moving slowly to avoid being seen by the SkyWings who flew at dusk and dawn. As they moved further away from Queen Ruby's Palace, there were fewer and fewer SkyWings, but there were still enough to make Caiman and the others wary of traveling by day.
As they neared the Diamond Spray Delta, they slowed again, for the threat of SkyWings had been replaced by the threat of MudWings. Just before they reached the Mud Kingdom, however, Firestorm and Frost called a stop.
"I think we should move inland now, then follow the mountains south towards the desert and the rainforest. If we keep following the coast, we're bound to be spotted," Frost said.
Caiman finally said something that had been on his mind for the past few days. "How do we know Queen Moorhen even knows about the prophecy? We know Queen Coral knows, and Queen Ruby, and probably the NightWing queen, but how do we know it's spread any further than that?"
Firestorm spoke up. "News like this wouldn't be kept to one kingdom. It's got the queens so nervous they're willing to kill over it. Besides, before we found Hurricane, we were asking around for you in the Mud Kingdom, and when we asked about male MudWings hatched from a blood-red egg, some of them thought instantly about lines from the prophecy. I can't be sure if they know the entire prophecy, but they know enough to condemn us if we try to approach them."
"Oh," Caiman said, feeling foolish.
"But if we go inland and follow the southern part of the Claws of Clouds Mountains, well, those are mostly uninhabited. We should be able to find some safety there. Also, it's right in between the rainforest and the desert, so we have a good place to start from when we look for the last dragon in the prophecy."
The others agreed that it was a good idea, and that night they headed west. When they landed halfway up a mountain, they noticed a cave behind a small cluster of trees where they decided to stay for the day.
As they moved into the cave, Caiman voiced an idea that had been on his mind all day. "Do you think we should keep watch? I mean, since we're still sort of in SkyWing territory?"
He expected them to say no, but Frost nodded.
"That's a good idea. We probably should have been doing that before now, actually."
"I can take watch at dawn and dusk," Hurricane offered.
"I can do it at midday," Frost said.
"I can take it in the morning," Caiman said.
"Then I'll take the afternoon watch," Firestorm said.
"Then get some sleep," Hurricane said, turning towards the entrance. "Don't want you falling asleep when it's your turn on watch."
Caiman curled up just behind her, thinking again about turning himself in to Queen Moorhen.
If I want to turn myself in, I should do so soon. Our route will take us close enough to her palace, and that would give me a good chance of getting there without being killed before I can speak to her. But will she want to listen? Maybe this prophecy has her really scared. If she can break the prophecy by killing me, would she do so? How far would she go to protect her tribe?
Once again, another voice penetrated his tangled thoughts.
Queen Moorhen is a good queen, but she would go to great lengths to protect the whole of her tribe. I believe that she might kill you if she thinks that would be the safest option. Don't throw your life away. You know how Coral reacted to the prophecy, and her tribe would likely be the least affected. Very few dragons would be able to reach them if they hid themselves deep enough in the ocean. Who knows how the other queens will react?
This time Caiman recognized the voice. It was the same one that had spoken to him the first time, but now he realized he had heard it out loud as well.
Firestorm? he thought.
There was a pause. Then: Yes.
All right, Caiman replied.
A few minutes later, he fell asleep.
Caiman was awakened by a cold snout nudging the side of his head. Blinking in the light from the opening, he saw it was Hurricane.
"Your turn," she yawned. "I'm too tired to stay up."
Caiman nodded, stretching and walking towards the opening. The warm sun felt good on his scales after so long flying at night and spending the days under trees and rocks. He wasn't too concerned about being spotted. They were close to MudWing territory, and as long as the others weren't spotted, he could claim to have gone further than he'd meant to in search of food and had stopped here for the night.
After a few minutes, his thoughts turned to his siblings. Swamp. Heron. Egret. Frog. His bigwings, Cougar, who'd tried so hard to protect them all. She had been a good leader, but had lost confidence after Heron and Frog had died in a battle against the SeaWings. Later, Swamp had been killed by a SandWing who'd been after Cougar, and she'd blamed herself. After that battle, Cougar had pulled Caiman and Egret out of the fighting, choosing instead to live in an isolated patch of land off to the east, claiming that they would be safer away from the fighting.
Caiman winced, remembering how he'd argued with her about that decision, saying it would be a betrayal to their tribe if they left. Cougar had held firm, the first time she had been sure about a decision since Heron and Frog had died. It was this that eventually convinced Caiman to listen to her. He'd hoped she would be back to her old self if she wasn't always so worried about him and Egret. It had worked, to a point. Cougar never became the lighthearted, happy dragon she'd once been, but she was less nervous and indecisive.
Caiman had always looked up to Cougar. He'd always trusted her to make the right decision, even when she didn't trust herself.
I wish you were here now, Cougar,' Caiman thought, his mind returning to the present. 'You could tell me what to do now.
Caiman sighed, looking up at the wispy clouds high in the sky. Cougar couldn't help him now, and she never would again. She and Egret had been killed after the war ended by unknown dragons. Neither of them could ever help him again.
Caiman forced his thoughts away from the past and stared hard at the sky. He was alone, and had to make his own decisions as best he could. It was the only thing he could do.
Caiman was scanning the trees, wondering how long he had to make his choice, when he heard a sound from the slopes behind him. He whirled around, scanning the mountainside. He saw few obvious hiding spots, only a large crag sticking out of the slope and a narrow crack in the side of the mountain. He dismissed the crack as too small, and focused on the crag. He stared at it for a long time, waiting for something to show itself.
After a while, Caiman was about to dismiss the noise as his imagination, when a blur of yellow-orange shot out from behind the crag, straight at him. Caiman only had time to tense before the dragon was on him. Blazing heat shot through his scales, and he cried out in surprise. The heat didn't hurt him, but he hadn't expected the dragon's scales to be so hot. The heat was more intense than a SandWing's, and as he threw the dragon off him and its tail set the leaves on fire, he realized what it had to be.
"A SkyWing with too much fire," he called to the others, who had stumbled out of the cave.
The SkyWing was back on him with surprising speed, digging his claws into Caiman's scales. Caiman clamped his teeth onto the dragon's wing, but the dragon didn't seem to feel it.
Caiman let go and fell backwards, crushing the SkyWing underneath him. The SkyWing's grip loosened, and Caiman threw himself to the side. The SkyWing rolled back onto his feet, but a blast of frostbreath from Frost and Hurricane hit his wing and leg. He jerked away in surprise, but the ice quickly melted and turned to steam. It had caught his attention, however, and he turned towards the two ice dragons, his eyes fixed on them hungrily. He charged, shoving past Caiman. He was about to leap on the three others, when a voice echoed from behind them.
"Stop," it commanded.
The SkyWing froze, turning back to look at the speaker. He was completely still except for the smoke rising from his scales. A NightWing had landed on the clearing by the entrance to the cave, smiling coldly.
Firestorm stepped forward. "It's you," she accused. "Fatespinner!"
The NightWing nodded, still smiling.
"Yes," he said. "Me. You're more resourceful than I'd thought. Four of you managed to come together. Well done."
Now that the SkyWing was no longer attacking him, Caiman felt his mind freeze with fear. The dragon's fire couldn't hurt him, but he wasn't immune to claws or teeth.
"Why did you fake the prophecy?" Frost demanded, moving to the side to get further away from the SkyWing, who was now blocking most of the entrance. Caiman, who was still outside the cave, saw that the blue eyes of the SkyWing were slightly unfocused. It was like he was looking at something only he could see, except his eyes kept darting around erratically.
Fatespinner smiled again. "Oh, all of it was true," he said smugly. "Just not in the way I allowed the queens to interpret it."
"You made it up!" Firestorm challenged. "Don't deny it!"
Fatespinner nodded. "Oh yes, the prophecy is fake, but the future it predicted isn't. I did have a vision where you four, as well as a RainWing half-breed, caused me a lot of trouble. I just wrote the prophecy to bring it to the queen's attention. I couldn't have you destroying my plans."
"So you had a vision of us defeating you, and made up the prophecy to try to get us killed before we could stop you from doing whatever it is you're doing?" Hurricane asked.
"Oh yes," Fatespinner nodded again, the silver scales by his eyes glinting in the sunlight. "The SkyWing queen was especially helpful. She even gave me Spark, here to help hunt you down." he gestured to the SkyWing.
"How do you control him?" Caiman asked warily. All his instincts were telling him to turn and run, to look after himself and let the others fend for themselves. "What if he turned on you?" he asked anyway.
Fatespinner looked at Caiman as if he'd forgotten he was there.
"Ah, yes MudWing. Excellent observation. You see, this bracelet I'm wearing matches the one Spark wears. They're animus-touched, and they allow me to control even his actions. He simply can't turn on me."
"Read my mind, NightWing," Firestorm said hotly. "Oh, wait. You can't, so I'll just tell you. You won't win, no matter what your precognition tells you. The tribes won't allow you to take over. You won't ever win. I don't need prophecy to see that."
Fatespinner didn't seem fazed by this.
"I didn't come here to exchange a battle of wits, half-breed. I came to give you a choice."
"What choice is that, squid-brain?" Hurricane challenged.
"I'm giving you a chance to live," Fatespinner said. "Break fate. If any of you joins me and kills another one, I will send word to the queens that you have broken the prophecy. You will once again be allowed to move freely through Pyrrhia without fear. You may even occupy a position of power when I triumph. If you refuse now, then you will die. If not now, then later."
Caiman looked at the others in the cave, meeting their eyes.
He's lying, Firestorm's voice said in Caiman's head. Even if we did turn on each other, he'll have us killed.
Caiman turned towards Fatespinner.
"There are very few dragons I trust. Why should I believe a self-centered NightWing liar who can barely predict the sunset?" he challenged.
Fatespinner's eyes flared. He turned towards Spark.
"Kill him," he ordered.
Spark's head snapped towards Caiman, blue eyes staring hungrily. He sprang, knocking Caiman to the ground and pinning him with his greater weight. He drew his talons back, aiming for Caiman's throat.
"No!" Firestorm cried.
Caiman saw her leap at Spark, screaming in pain as her scales met his. As Spark tumbled off him, Caiman remembered the scream Swamp had made as she was killed. Firestorm's scream had sounded like that.
He saw Spark turn on Firestorm, who was crumpled in a heap on the ground, her scales charred and smoking.
"Don't you DARE!" he roared.
He lunged at Spark, knocking him towards Fatespinner, who had to scramble out of the way.
"Get out of here, now," Caiman growled at Fatespinner. "If you want to live a little longer."
Fatespinner saw the pure rage in Caiman's eyes, and fear showed in his own. He leaped into the air, Spark following, racing away to the north.
Caiman turned towards Firestorm. She was crumpled on the floor of the cave, her right wing, shoulder, and foreleg were scorched black, as well as the right side of her neck. Caiman put his claws in front of her mouth. She was still breathing, but she was unconscious and didn't respond to anything they tried to wake her.
Frost had spread his wing over the burns, but now folded them.
"We should get out of here," he said in a shaking voice. "They might come back with reinforcements."
"But what about Firestorm? Won't moving her hurt her more?" Caiman asked worriedly.
Hurricane looked down at Firestorm's limp body, saying nothing.
"I don't see how we could hurt her any more than she already is, as long as we're careful," Frost said. "And we may be able to help her if we go somewhere else."
"I could carry her for a while," Caiman offered. Firestorm was slightly smaller than he was.
"All right," Frost said, looking relieved. "We'll head south, as we have been. We should try to put as much distance between us and them as possible."
Caiman was hovering over Firestorm, trying to figure out how to best carry her without hurting her. An idea struck him, and he dropped back to the ground, pushing her burned wing against her body. He lifted off again, using his left talons to hold her just behind her left leg and his right to hold her right wing against her side, being careful to avoid touching any of her burns.
With some difficulty, he lifted her off the ground, turning south with Frost and Hurricane in front.
"If you need help, or need to stop, let us know," Hurricane called back.
"All right," Caiman replied. "Just remember to keep an eye out for any other dragons."
Frost nodded, and fell back to guard from the rear of the group.
As they flew south Caiman's thoughts plagued him. Why did I do this? Why didn't I just run? I could've been free long ago. I never needed them. I could live on my own. I have been for a couple years now. Ever since Egret and Cougar-
At the thought of his siblings, Caiman moaned inwardly. Swamp was killed by the SandWing's venom, but just before, he blasted her with his fire. When she screamed-
Caiman clenched his jaw, forcing his thoughts away from those painful memories.
They're dead, he thought. Thinking about their deaths won't change that.
He stared at the mountains passing below, concentrating on the rocks and the trees so he wouldn't have to think about the past.
As the sun started to sink in the west, Caiman suddenly noticed the pain in his wings. He had been ignoring it for a while, but now realized that he couldn't fly while carrying Firestorm for much longer.
"I need to land," he called.
Hurricane looked back at him with a mix of surprise and awe, then turned back to look at the ground below.
"There's a small river not much further from here," she reported. "Can you make it to there?"
"I think so," Caiman grunted, seeing the river she meant.
Firestorm suddenly became a bit lighter in his claws. He looked back in surprise, and saw that Frost had pulled in behind him and taken some of the weight. He nodded gratefully, and angled down towards the riverbank.
As he set Firestorm down on the sandy streambed, a moan escaped her jaws. He looked down at her hopefully, but there was no further reaction.
"All right," Frost said, looking around. "Caiman, see if you can find some moss. The thicker the better."
Caiman nodded, looking up and down the river. He spotted a mossy boulder sticking out of the water a short way upstream, and walked over, pulling his aching wings against his sides. When he got to the boulder, he sloshed into the river to get at the moss, shivering at the cold. As he pulled the slimy strands off, he wondered, How will this help Firestorm?
He suddenly realized that he had come to trust Frost sometime during the course of their journey, so he continued tugging at the moss and piling it on top of the boulder. Once he had pulled off all the moss he could find, he had a clump about half the size of a dragon egg. He splashed back to shore, then on to Firestorm's side. Frost looked at the clump of moss that Caiman held.
"Thanks, Caiman," he said, sounding surprisingly calm.
"What did you want this stuff for?" Caiman asked, holding out the clump.
Frost took a few strands of moss off the top, trailing them in the river for a few seconds before laying them over Firestorm's burns.
"This should help keep them cool," he explained.
Caiman nodded, finally understanding. He soaked the ball of moss in the water, then pulled off parts of it to cover his friend's injuries. They had only used about half of the moss before they had Firestorm's burns covered. Caiman was about to sweep the extra moss into the river, but Hurricane stopped him.
"We should save it," she said.
When Caiman looked at her curiously, she continued, "This moss will dry out eventually, and it might fall apart. We can use this if that happens."
"Oh," Caiman said.
He pulled the moss away from the water and set it on a flat stone sticking out of the sand.
Caiman's stomach rumbled loudly.
"Sorry," he apologized.
"No," Frost said. "We should have guessed you'd be hungry. You've been carrying Firestorm all day without rest."
Hurricane looked at the river for a moment. "There won't be any fish big enough to eat in here," she reported. "The river is too shallow and too far from any bigger river."
Frost jumped into the air.
"I'll go find something," he called as he flew away.
Caiman spread his wings to fly after him, but Hurricane stopped him.
"No," she said. "You've been flying hard half the day. Stay here and rest. Frost and I will catch something."
Caiman nodded, glad to accept her offer. As she followed Frost into the sky, Caiman turned towards Firestorm. He lay next to her on the shore, staring at her.
"Why did you do that, Firestorm?" he asked, even though he knew she couldn't answer. "You knew what Spark was. You knew you would get burned badly, so why did you do it?"
He sighed, shaking his head.
About an hour later, Frost and Hurricane returned, each one carrying a fat wild pig. Frost sat down next to his, but Hurricane moved quickly over to Firestorm.
"How is she?" she asked hopefully.
"Nothing's changed," Caiman sighed.
"Firestorm?" Frost asked. "Can you hear me?"
Her response was another, softer groan that sounded like "cold". Her eyelids fluttered open for a second, then slid shut again.
"Take the moss off," Hurricane ordered, brushing the moss off Firestorm's shoulder and wincing as her claws scraped the burn marks. Caiman breathed a weak spurt of flames over her back, hoping that it would warm her up without reminding her of the scorching she had received off of Spark's scales. Firestorm didn't react at all, so Caiman repeated the action again.
Firestorm didn't move again, and after watching her for a few minutes, the three friends turned back to their prey. They ate in silence, with Frost and Hurricane sharing one and Caiman eating another. Caiman saved some of his, in case Firestorm woke up, though he knew it was unlikely.
As night fell, Caiman walked to the riverbank and sat down next to Firestorm. Hurricane slipped under the water and closed her eyes, and Frost lay down behind them. For a long time, Caiman watched the sky, the stars slowly appearing against the darkening sky.
He heard a rustling behind him a bit before midnight, and turned around to see Frost walking towards him.
"You can't sleep either?" he asked softly.
Frost shook his head. "No. I'm too worried about Firestorm."
Caiman looked back towards Hurricane. Though she hadn't moved, her eyes were open, staring at the riverbed.
"Do you think she'll be all right?" Caiman asked.
"If the burns haven't killed her by now, I doubt they will," Frost said. "At least, I hope not."
They sat in silence for a bit longer, then Frost spoke.
"You should try to get some sleep. You've been up a long time. I can keep watch."
Caiman wanted to protest, but the truth of the IceWing's words fell over him like a wave. He was exhausted, and he would have loved to sleep.
Though he doubted he would, Caiman laid down next to Firestorm, trying to sleep. At least sleep would give him some relief from the pain and worry he was feeling.
Eventually, his tired body overcame his restless mind, and Caiman slept. In his dreams, he was circling over the warm mud pools, looking for a crocodile to eat. He saw one, and dove after it. As his claws hit the large reptile, it disappeared. He flew up again, looking for it, but heard a voice from behind him.
"Caiman!" the dragon called.
He turned around and saw Firestorm flying above the trees.
"You're all right!" he cried, then realized something. "Did you find a dreamvisitor?"
She smiled. "No. I'm reading your mind to be here. I need to tell you about what I learned from Spark and Fatespinner."
"Just wake up and tell us in the real world," Caiman said, anxious to see her awake.
Firestorm smiled sadly. "I can't. I'm still too badly hurt for that, but I can talk to you here. You need to know this. Fatespinner was telling the truth. The prophecy was fake. He did have a vision of the five dragons, us, stopping his plans, which I saw would not be good for the rest of the tribes. This makes it even more important for you to find the fifth dragon."
"Not without you," Caiman said firmly.
"You MudWings are all so stubborn. And loyal," She smiled again. "But you need to know. It will be almost impossible for you to fight Spark."
Caiman thought about the fight with the SkyWing. "I clawed at him, but it didn't seem to hurt him. I mean, I drew blood, but he didn't seem to notice or care."
She nodded. "It seems that insanity is an effective way to dull pain. All I felt in his mind were broken memories of pain and fear, as well as desperation and hostility. He was beaten and abused his entire life, and it broke his mind. He doesn't know anything else. He never did."
She said this softly, as if she saying it at a normal volume would cause it to happen to someone she cared for.
"If he shows himself again, don't try to fight. You'll only get yourself killed. Just run, or fly, or whatever it takes to get away," she continued.
"Not if it will put you and the others in danger," Caiman said adamantly.
Firestorm sighed. "Did an animus use magic to make you this stubborn?"
That sentence gave Caiman such a sudden idea that he jolted awake.
He turned towards Frost, who was still sitting by the river.
"Frost!" he cried.
Frost turned in alarm. "What? What?" he gasped.
"Can't you enchant something to heal Firestorm's injuries?" Caiman asked breathlessly.
"Maybe," Frost said, "But I can't enchant just anything. I'd need something to use."
"What about that stone Hurricane used to get me out of the Summer Palace?" Caiman asked.
Frost's eyes widened, and he whirled around, pulling his scroll case down from the tree branch he'd hung it on. Hurricane, seeing the movement, splashed out of the river.
"What's happening?" she gasped.
Frost didn't notice. "As far as I know, most things can only be enchanted once, but I can try," he said, as he pulled the stone and his scroll out of the case.
As his talons touched the stone, he disappeared, and it seemed to Caiman that the scroll was unrolling itself on the sandy ground. He heard Frost take a few deep breaths, calming himself down. Then, he spoke.
"One of you, find me some thin vines."
Caiman had no idea how this would make a difference, but he turned to a tree behind him and tore a long vine down from it. He turned back to where he knew Frost was, and held it out. It disappeared from his claws, and he let go.
For a few moments, there was silence. Then, Frost's voice came out of nowhere.
"Enchant this bracelet to heal the injuries of any dragon who wears it."
Frost faded back into existence at these words, and Caiman saw that he had tied the opal in a loop of vines, making it into a sort of bracelet.
"Did it work?" Hurricane asked anxiously.
"Only one way to find out," Frost said, and tied the vines around Firestorm's forearm.
Caiman watched excitedly, but the excitement turned to disappointment as the charred scales remained on his friend's shoulder. He sighed in disappointment and reached out to take it off.
Frost stopped him.
"Might as well leave it. It can't hurt, and it might do some good," he said, but his voice was flat and without hope.
"All right," Caiman sighed, and lay down next to Firestorm again.
So Spark's backstory was something I intended to change, maybe make it a little less bad- or at least bad in a different way.
To my guest reader: I'm sorry to say that Sky won't be appearing here- I wrote this six or seven years ago, way before I knew he was alive. But if I had known I would definitely have gone for it- I've really been looking forward to his and Peril's meeting.
To Silver the Shadow Cat: thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
To Shirzadym: thank you for the honest critique. Characterization was something I was worried about even back when I first wrote this, and I'll readily admit I prooobably didn't do too great. I see what you mean about Firestorm and the whole "talking heads" thing, and the characters feeling passive.