Chapter 4

Feel free to let me know if this is going too fast.

First, silence.

Then Kestrel snarled. "This dragon is your son?! You're always doing stupid things, Auburn, but this?! Why do I even bother calling you my sister anymore?"

Poor Windracer didn't know what was more shocking - that he was half SkyWing, or that Kestrel was his aunt.

"This may not be so bad," Webs said. "Think about it. We may have had our SkyWing all along."

Kestrel shifted her glare from her sister to the SeaWing. "He's not a SkyWing! He's not even a NightWing! He's nothing but a freak!"

Auburn lifted her talons to cover Windracer's ears, but it was too late. He already heard it. The young hybrid reached up and removed his mother's talons.

"What about my father?" Windracer asked. "It's - it's not Morrowseer, is it?"

"Bright smashing suns, no," Auburn said, her voice wavering with surprise at her son's question. "What a horrible thought. No. Your father, Killer, is...not around anymore. We can talk about that later. Gather your things, Windracer. We're leaving this place."

"He can't leave," Dune said. "He's a dragonet of destiny. He needs to stay hidden until it's time to fulfill the prophecy."

Auburn shook her head sadly. "There is no prophecy."

Webs and Dune looked shocked, while Kestrel looked more apathetic.

"What do you mean there's no prophecy?" Webs asked.

Auburn pointed for Windracer to leave the room so she could discuss things with the guardians. He did, rushing into his room and gathering all of his belongings into a small, leather pouch he made himself. He also packed the Invisibility Stick, which only worked when a dragon was physically holding it, in case he'd need it later. As soon as he was finished packing, he tied the leather pouch around his neck and ran back out to hear what the older dragons were saying.

"The NightWing I met, Killer, is one of Morrowseer's followers," he heard Auburn say. "I didn't know it at the time I met him. When we started...getting acquainted, so to speak, he told me everything I ever wanted to know about his kind. The NightWings haven't had telepathy or precognition in several hundred years. Morrowseer made up the prophecy so he and the other NightWings could take over and win the war. But Killer was different. He was supposed to serve as a sort of assassin, killing anyone who opposed the NightWings. But he was kind to me. I can't explain how it happened, but I couldn't help but fall in love with him. He left one night before I had the chance to tell him I was with egg. My son is the only thing I have left of Killer. I knew I had to protect him, so I brought him here to you."

Kestrel scoffed. "You really believe everything that bone-headed lizard told you? NightWings will do anything to make themselves more important than other dragons."

"He told me because he knew he could trust me," Auburn insisted. "Killer has never lied to me, and there'd have been no point for him to start then."

Dune rumbled. "She has a point."

"So, then, what do we do now?" Webs asked.

"I am taking my son with me," Auburn said. "He's gone long enough without the knowledge of his heritage."

"You know you can't bring him to the Sky Kingdom," Kestrel said with a snarl. "The Queen will have both of you executed without a second thought."

Windracer couldn't stop himself from entering the room. "What about my friends?"

Auburn didn't seem surprised that her son had overheard the conversation. "Windracer, I don't think we can take any more dragons with us..."

"But they were going to kill Arid!" Windracer blurted out.

The mother SkyWing froze for a few seconds before turning to look at her sister. "Is it true?"

Kestrel didn't answer.

"It wasn't our idea," Dune said. "Morrowseer ordered us to kill her."

"We followed the prophecy," Webs added. "The SandWing egg was found alone in the desert."

"The prophecy is not real," Auburn reminded him, heavily emphasizing the last two words. "It's all a lie. Morrowseer will do anything to make sure everything goes as he's planned."

Windracer shook his head. "But, how can it be fake? Does this mean the Talons of Peace have been keeping us under this mountain for nothing?"

"That, I believe," Kestrel said. She had turned so she was facing the wall instead of her sister.

Windracer waited until Auburn turned back to look at him before he continued. "Mom, I'm not leaving without my friends. They're the only family I've had my whole life. There has to be something you can do."

The much kinder SkyWing thought for a moment before shrugging her wings. "I suppose I could escort them all to their homelands."

"And what about the war?" Dune asked.

Auburn looked from him, to Webs, to Kestrel, then back to Dune. "We'll have to find a way to end it ourselves. Prophecy or no prophecy, this fighting has to stop before the SandWing sisters kill everyone."

"So, does that mean we all just go home?"

Everyone turned to find the other five dragonets gathered near the river. It was Lagoon who had asked the question.

Windracer was stunned to see Arid free of the chains. "How did you get out?"

Arid shrugged. "Turns out me and Bog combining our fire was all it took to break the chains. I'm probably gonna be a little sore, though."

"Is she Arid?" Auburn asked, pointing to the SandWing. "The one they were going to kill?"

Bog nearly fell over. "What?! They were going to kill Arid, too?!"

"Morrowseer's orders," Webs grumbled.

Auburn stepped towards the gathered dragonets. She noticed the RainWing twins, but didn't seem to consider questioning it. "All of you, gather whatever belongings you have. I'm taking you out of here."

All of a sudden, Windracer seized up as the most painful headache he'd ever had in his whole life struck him like a lightning bolt. He fell on his side, his talons clutching his head. Auburn was by his side in an instant.

"Windracer!"

The hybrid barely heard his mother's cry as multiple visions flashed in and out of his mind. The SandWing sisters at each other's throats, an exploding island, sparks and lightning leaving ashes in its wake. Words were marching through his head and out of his mouth, inexorable and strange.

"Blood and tears soak in the sand,
In the fight for an empty throne.
Three in battle, two shall fall,
And one shall stand alone.

Find the eye that sees the worthy.
Fear the dragons of the night.
Fear the ones who seek to conquer.
Find the dragons of full moons bright.

Wings of mud and sea and rain,
Wings of sand, ice, night, and sky.
All seven form the wings of fire,
And the time for peace shall be nigh."

Slowly, Windracer's headache subsided, and he found himself looking into the eyes of a concerned Auburn. The SkyWing was shocked.

"I don't understand," Auburn muttered. "The NightWings haven't had prophetic powers for hundreds of years. How did you do that?"

The young hybrid looked up at his mother. "I have those powers," he said. "I hid them from the guardians because I was afraid of what they'd make me do with them. I didn't know the NightWings couldn't do that anymore."

"You had powers all along?!" Kestrel shouted at the top of her lungs. "You slimy, lying, little...!"

Auburn quickly covered her son's ears. "Kestrel, don't!"

The grumpy SkyWing reluctantly snapped her jaws shut. Thin wisps of smoke were coming out of her mouth and nose.

Windracer groaned as Auburn helped his to his feet. "Thanks, Mom." He meant for it to be a whisper, but it was loud enough for the other dragonets to hear.

"That's your mother?!" Arid asked. She was more surprised than Windracer had ever seen.

Bog sat down, hard. "Well, that would actually explain a few things."

The RainWing twins didn't quite take that news in the same way. "Windracer has a SkyWing mother," Marmoset uttered. Then he and his sister exclaimed simultaneously, "Awesome!"

Dune, however, was more focused on a different matter. "If that prophecy he just delivered was real, what could it mean?"

Webs was also confused. "The eye that sees the worthy? The ones who seek to conquer? The dragons of full moons bright?"

Any other question that could be asked vanished like dust in the wind as Auburn approached Dune and grabbed the key he always kept on a chain around his neck. She fit the key into a grooved niche in the stone wall and turned it before pushing the boulder that was blocking the only entrance and exit to the caves to the side, revealing the outside world.

"We'll have to figure out the meaning of that prophecy later," Auburn said. "Everyone, follow me."

Windracer was the first to step out of the cave, after his mother. The sky above him was still quite dark, despite the pinkish-orange line on the horizon that signaled the approaching dawn. Two crescent moons and scattered stars were also providing light. Windracer looked up at the moons, whose light reflected in his eyes, like the night he had hatched.

Wait.

The moons!

"Mom," he found himself saying. "Did my father ever say where the NightWings lived?"

Auburn shook her head. "The only thing he ever told me about their home was that they have a lot of volcanoes there."

Windracer knew from reading so many scrolls throughout his life that volcanoes produced smoke and ash, which, in large quantities, would be enough to block out the moonlight. But he had hatched outside the guardians' cave, under the three full moons of the brightest night. That had to be the answer!

Before he could tell Auburn about the revelation he just had, Bog suddenly barreled past Windracer. The RainWing twins soon followed, colored gold with excitement as they used Windracer, who was struggling to stand from the force of the MudWing's accidental push, as a launch pad. The hybrid cried out as he ended up sprawling into the dirt. Arid and Lagoon then padded out into the open, prompting Windracer to quickly pick himself off the ground and straighten himself. The sound of laughter brought their attention to a now overjoyed Bog, who was rolling around in the dirt.

"I'm not usually that happy about getting dirty," Windracer muttered under his breath.

"Bog is, apparently," Arid said, which startled Windracer. "And we're not even at the MudWing swamps yet. I wonder if I'll be this excited when I get to the desert."

Windracer didn't know how he could have forgotten that SandWings had a sharpened sense of hearing. He needed to be careful about what he said around Arid. Who knew what would happen if she ever heard him talking about his crush on her.

"So, where do we go, now?" Lagoon asked. "Personally, I'd like to see the ocean, but I know better than to argue with a SkyWing."

Auburn turned to look at the young SeaWing and gave her a warm smile. "Wherever you young ones want to go, we'll go." Her smile suddenly dropped, and she spoke in a more serious manner. "But we'll need to be careful. There aren't many dragons out here you can trust, so stay close to me at all times."

No sooner after she finished her warning, there was a loud, angry roar and a burst of flames from the distance. A minute later, Marmoset and Mango flew over and landed near their friends.

"Somebody sure is cranky," Mango said. Any other dragon would have been shaken, but there was excitement and joy in her voice instead.

The same applied to her brother. "And I thought Kestrel was the grumpiest dragon ever!"

The sound of wingbeats signaled that whoever Marmoset and Mango had run into was rapidly approaching their location.

Arid glared at the color-changing twins. "What did you do?!"

"Ask for directions," Marmoset said bluntly.

"And I may or may not have asked her if I could have the jewelry she was wearing," Mango added nervously.

Auburn's eyes went wide with realization and fear. "We need to get out of here. Now!"

Too late.

An orange SkyWing dragon, slightly smaller than Auburn, landed in the clearing across from them. Wreaths of smoke curled around her horns. True to what Mango said, golden chainmail decorated with bright red jewels was fitted around the dragon's torso.

Auburn gasped loudly at the sight of the new SkyWing. Bog picked himself up out of the dirt and ran to hide behind Windracer's mother, along with the RainWing twins. The orange dragon paid no attention to them. She was smiling wickedly at the SkyWing that was standing before her.

"Auburn? How thrilling. I've been looking for you for an awfully long time."

Windracer noticed the look Arid was giving the orange SkyWing, and before he could stop her, she threw herself between Auburn and the strange dragon. "Who are you?" the young SandWing demanded fearlessly. She wasn't afraid to fight this dragon.

The dragon chuckled as she held her head high. "My name is Scarlet. But I highly recommend you call me 'Your Majesty' if you want to live."

Windracer inhaled sharply.

They were all standing face-to-face with the queen of the SkyWings.

Leave it to the twins to stir up trouble, right?

Auburn - Valka
Windracer - Hiccup
Arid - Astrid
Lagoon - Heather
Bog - Fishlegs
Marmoset and Mango - Tuffnut and Ruffnut
Killer - Stoick