Chapter 15

Don't think for a moment I'd just leave them in that prison for too long.

Windracer wasn't sure how long he'd been in the SeaWing prison for. An hour? A day? A week?

It seemed like an eternity.

Everyone else had gone to sleep, seeing as how there wasn't much else to do. But Windracer couldn't sleep. He'd only doze off for a few precious minutes before snapping awake, for what reason he couldn't say for absolute certainty.

Wherever Lagoon was, he hoped she was aware of what had happened to them.

Until then, he had to occupy himself somehow.

A song. The only song he knew was the one Arid sometimes sang to annoy the guardians - about the dragonets coming to save the day. Oh, how she always sang so beautifully...

Stay focused! Windracer wasn't big on singing. Not that he was bad at it, he'd just never tried it before. At least, he hoped he wasn't a bad singer. If luck was against him, his singing would probably be worse than Marmoset and Mango's put together.

So, he decided to whistle it instead.

Oh, the dragonets are coming...they're coming to save the day...they're coming to fight...for they know what's right...the dragonets, hurray.

He felt like he'd barely started when he realized the song was already over. Why did it have to be so short?

"Oh, the dragonets are coming..."

Windracer leapt to his feet and peeked through the pillars of water surronding him. Was he hearing things?

"They're coming to save the day..."

No, this was definitely real. There was someone singing. And more voices joined in, one by one, as the song continued.

"They're coming to fight...for they know what's right...the dragonets, hurray!"

Now there were at least six voices, gradually getting louder and more fast-paced as they neared the end of the song. Windracer stuck his head out between the water walls, being careful not to get too close, and found several other prisoners, mostly SandWings and MudWings, looking content despite their poor surroundings.

The prisoners were singing.

Windracer swallowed. Now was probably as good a time as ever to find out if he could really sing. He opened his mouth and uttered out the first lyric, then the second one louder.

Was that his voice he heard echoing off the walls of the prison?

It sounded so...extraordinary.

He could sing.

He could really, honest-to-goodness sing.

Realizing he had faded out upon this discovery, Windracer quickly jumped back in, singing the song wholeheartedly. His voice woke up his friends, who joined in after they realized what was going on.

He picked up the pace a little the fourth time around. It seemed like every prisoner was singing now. He was pretty sure he could even hear the twins' croaky voices and Arid's strong and beautiful pipes.

This song meant something, even to the dragons hardened on the battlefield. Even if Morrowseer's prophecy turned out to not be real, they still believed in the dragonets.

They were on their sixth time through the song, all of them singing wholeheartedly, when a huge blue SeaWing decorated with vines of pearls on her horns and neck and wings burst in quite suddenly.

"What is going on in here?!"

The singing broke off at once. Windracer retreated back to his position in the middle of his stone island, as far away from the electrified water as he could manage.

The blue SeaWing padded down the hall, looking every prisoner in the eyes. "I could have heard that from across the ocean! Explain yourselves!"

Not wanting anyone to be falsely accused, Windracer called out, "It was me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I just started whistling, and..."

He trailed off as the SeaWing approached his cell and peered at him through the running water. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Windracer," the hybrid answered automatically. "Son of Auburn of the SkyWings and Killer of the NightWings." He took a good look at the pearls that were decorating the dragon. He already had a good idea who the SeaWing was, and a quick look into her mind confirmed his suspicions. "You're Queen Coral."

"Obviously," said the queen, tossing her head a bit to show off her pearls. "Lagoon informed me that some dragons she said were her friends were being held here." For some reason, her voice carried some form of disgust or bitterness as she said her daughter's name. "I assume you're one of them?"

Windracer gave a slight bow. "We've known each other since we hatched. We were all raised under a mountain by three guardians. I'm sorry for any trouble we've caused, Your Majesty."

The sudden appearance of Shark made Windracer jumped back in fear. He'd figured out by now that he needed to be wary of Queen Coral's brother.

"How do we know what he says is true?" hissed the SeaWing commander.

"No disrespect," said Windracer, "But I'm pretty sure I'm the only SkyWing-NightWing hybrid that has telepathy, precognition, and animus powers."

Shark wasn't convinced. "Prove it."

"Prove it?" Windracer repeated in confusion.

"Prove you're an animus," snapped Shark. "Prove you have powers."

Gulping nervously, Windracer rattled off all of the stray thoughts he was hearing in the SeaWing's mind. "Your daughter's name is Moray, your position on the SeaWing Council is Defense, you despise taking orders from your sister, you plan to kill us all behind Lagoon's back, and the odds of me accurately guessing any of that without the ability to read minds is zero."

Hopefully that would be enough to convince Coral and Shark that he and his friends really were there to help.

"Let him out," the queen commanded her brother. Shark hesitated, but obeyed the order. He padded over to a chain on the cave wall and pulled it up. What sounded like an enormous metallic groan echoed overhead, and then suddenly, the cascading water around Windracer shut off.

Windracer did his best to ignore the hateful glare Shark was giving him as he leaped out of his cell. The hybrid hadn't gotten far when he found himself standing face-to-face with Queen Coral. "Can you please free the rest of my friends? I'm sure Lagoon would like that very much. In the meantime, I wish to speak with you about the war. You heard my message, right?"

"Indeed," replied Queen Coral. "I suppose if my daughter wants her friends out of prison, she can have her friends out of prison. But you'll all stay under the eyes of me and the Council. Is that clear?"

Assuming he didn't have much choice in the matter, Windracer nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you."

Getting a tour of the Summer Palace was much better than being stuck in a electric eel-infested prison cell. Windracer didn't need to ask his friends to know that was true.

"Guys!"

Lagoon's shout came before her hugs. She threw her wings around them, one by one, including Auburn, Ocotillo, and Storm. "You're okay!"

"Well, we were the last time we checked," Windracer muttered. His eye caught the gleam of a white-pink set of scales. A smaller SeaWing, about a year old, was attached to Queen Coral on a thin, webbed harness. Windracer couldn't remember if the queen had been wearing it when she came to inspect them in the prison. From the looks of it, Coral didn't have any intention of letting the dragonet out of her sight.

Lagoon followed Windracer's gaze to the dragonet before answering the question that had yet to leave his mouth. "Oh, that's my little sister, Anemone. Cute, right?"

"I thought the scrolls said none of Queen Coral's female dragonets survived," Arid mused.

Windracer shrugged. "The Royal Lineage of the SeaWings, from the Scorching to the Present must have been written before she hatched."

Anemone was a pale, pale blue, almost white like an IceWing, with hints of pink along her wings and ears and horns. She looked a little like a dolphin. Anemone's eyes were large and blue, and tiny strands of pearls were woven around her neck and tail as if to match her mother's.

"I have brothers, too," Lagoon said cheerfully. "Mother said that by the end of the week, I'll have THIRTY-TWO of them. Can you believe it? I almost can't."

"How can you have so many brothers, and only one sister?" Bog asked.

"We may have to find out," Lagoon said, her voice more quiet and mysterious. "Mother mentioned why all the female eggs, besides mine and Anemone's, haven't survived, but she made me swear not to tell anyone who's not a SeaWing. Don't worry, I'll tell you guys, though. I told her you could all help."

Windracer wasn't sure how to take that. "Okay, what is it?"

What Lagoon said next shocked them all to the core.

"Someone has been killing all of the female heirs. And I think I'm next."

Maybe the ending of this chapter is too dark for whatever sort of holiday the dragons in the Wings of Fire series celebrate, but it sets the oncoming plot very nicely, I believe.

Merry or Happy whatever they celebrate in Pyrrhia and Pantala!

Auburn - Valka
Windracer - Hiccup
Arid - Astrid
Lagoon - Heather
Bog - Fishlegs
Marmoset and Mango - Tuffnut and Ruffnut
Killer - Stoick
Inferno - Snotlout
Scorch - Spitelout
Frost - Dagur