Chapter 22

Please don't hate me for this chapter.

They were on a beach again.

This time it was dark, long after sunset, and dark clouds were moving fast in the sky, blotting out the small stars that shone like the silver scales on the underside of Windracer's wings. The injured hybrid stared sullenly down at the waves lapping up the sandy shore.

Part of him was scared. Morrowseer and Blister would most likely be doubling their forces now, scouring the continent to find and kill him.

And the rest of him was revolted. He had killed a dragon. With his magic. He'd sent a spear flying into Whirlpool's heart without even touching it.

The small part of his brain that kept telling him that he shouldn't worry about it, because it was an accident, was being drowned out by all the turmoil that was pounding throughout his head.

What if it happens again? Only next time, it's someone I love? What if it's Mom, or Arid?

They think I'm a monster. That's all they'll ever see me as, because I killed someone.

His first failure was not using his magic to heal Sleet's wounds, to save her life while he had the chance. Why?

And this was his second failure. Using his power to hurt another dragon, to rip the life right out of them.

No.

Sleet wasn't his first failure.

The brightest night was.

His earliest memory was a voice that came from outside the darkness.

"We're almost there, my little moonbeam. You'll be safe, I promise."

He couldn't understand them yet, but he knew they held some meaning. Something he wanted to understand. He wanted to come out, and be wrapped up in the warmth those words provided.

A scratching noise, and then the world tilted. Suddenly there was light, dim and soft but there, beyond the wall he had only just discovered around him. How long had it been there? How long had he been stuck inside, all alone?

He wanted to come out.

He had to come out.

So he pushed.

There was a satisfying crack, and the sensation of something giving way in front of him. And when he pushed again, a piece of the wall fell away.

He fought harder, trying to free himself. Whoever had spoken to him, he was sure they were waiting. They wanted him out.

When the walls finally fell away, the very first thing he saw was the light.

Three big orbs were hanging high up in the sky above him. They were embracing him in their light, feeding him with their power. He wanted to pluck them right out of the sky and roll them around like little marbles.

But something was missing. The voice was gone. He was the only one there.

He was still alone.

He tried to cry out, "Mommy?" but the only sound he could make was "Squeak?"

Something fluttered from the corner of his eye, and he turned. A thin sheet, partly muddy, was blowing in the wind.

Maybe he couldn't play with the shiny orbs, but he could play with this.

He pounced, but it flitted away. He pounced again.

And again.

And again and again and again.

Finally, he caught it.

But what was it?

He barely got a good look at it when an enormous yellow dragon limped out of a large black portal-thingy and scooped him up in its talons. It made a gesture towards his prize, and he released it. What did this dragon want with him? Did it know where his mommy was? Was it going to take him to her?

Wait and see, he thought to himself.

And then he was plopped right into a decently-made nest made of scratchy straw, with three oval-shaped eggs about the size he was. One brown, one blue, and one white with little yellow spots.

Then the white one moved.

Lots of yelling, and two more dragons entered. A big red grumpy one, and a nervous blue-green one. The yelling was mostly coming from the red one.

A fourth egg, a rainbow-colored one, was squeezed in next to the brown and blue ones, but he didn't notice. He was too fixated on the white and yellow egg that was jerking and squirming. He could hardly look at it without seeing a spiral of confusing flashes: pain, anger, screaming dragons, and yet something so, so wonderful. The dragonet inside this egg had the will and power to change the world.

He did not understand yet that he could see the future. He had no idea what the flashes meant. He couldn't follow the paths that were unfolding in his brain; cause and effect and consequences were still beyond him. But in the dragonet's mind, he found the idea of strength and bravery, and the faintest outline of something called compassion.

He knew there were dragonets in the other eggs. Alive, and almost ready to come out and join him. He knew the three big dragons were talking and yelling about something important, something that he and these other dragonets were meant for.

Something tingled in his claws.

He could change that.

He could touch the eggs and keep them still. He knew it, somehow; he could see in his mind how the eggs would freeze under his talons. They would hatch tomorrow, when the moons were no longer full, and then he'd be the only special one.

He reached for the white egg...

...only to stop with his claws just centimeters away from the smooth shell.

A thousand futures flashed before him as he moved in to touch it. Futures where he conquered all the land; futures where he fought and stopped countless armies single-handedly; futures where he killed every other dragon on the continent and beyond; futures where he lived forever and alone on a desolated planet.

And none of it felt right.

As he folded his talons together, choosing to keep them still for tonight, every possible future with a lone dragonet of destiny fell away and disappeared. He saw them blink out, and although he didn't know exactly what they meant, he somehow felt a tiny bit happier.

This is right, he thought, not in so many words, as he watched the odd-looking, but beautiful, dragonet claw her way out of her egg. Visions of their futures cascaded through his mind, bright and warm and oh so perfect. This is my power. I get to choose what I do with it. Just me, and not anyone else.

This is what I choose.

The only mistake he'd made that night was when he didn't neutralize his powers in that very first moment. He could have used his magic to make himself just as normal as any other dragon. Or, rather, a small, unimpressive, skinny miniature of a dragon with no tainted blood or any cursed powers.

That, that, was his first failure.

"I know it's dark," Arid said behind him. "But maybe we should stay under the trees tonight. You know, just in case."

If she was trying to make him feel better, it wasn't working. Not in the slightest.

"Just go," he muttered, gazing down at his talons. "I'll...I'll catch up."

They were the only ones left on the beach. All of the other dragons had gone into the forest to rest for the night.

Arid sat down next to him. "I know that look," she said. "What's wrong?"

"You saw what I did back there," Windracer said. "At the Summer Palace. Whirlpool and the spear."

"I killed a dragon, too," she reminded him. "And that wasn't on purpose, either. You don't see me moping about it."

"That's different," he grumbled.

"How?" she asked.

Only then did he finally lift his head to look her in the eye. "I have magic. You don't. Whirlpool wasn't killed by frostbreath and SandWing venom, he was killed by my animus magic."

"By accident," she insisted, truthfully.

He bowed his head, avoiding her gaze. "What if it happens again? What if I end up hurting you? Or Mom? Or Lagoon, or Bog, or the twins?"

He's never been like this before, she thought. Whatever he's getting himself into, I've got to help him out of it. "You'd never do that," she said, "Everything you did was to help us. To save other dragons."

He let out a shaky breath. "Or what if it's a part of me, something I hatched with? Darkstalker and Albatross helped other dragons, too, before they snapped and tried to kill everyone. What if I'm destined to turn out like them, no matter how many times I try to stop myself?"

"Hey." Her talons cupped his chin, lifting his head back up so she could look him in the eye. "You said it yourself, Wind. It's our choices that make us who we are - what we do, how we help or hurt the world. You make the world a better place by being in it. With or without your powers, that's always been true."

He pulled away from her, scrambling to his feet and stumbling away. "Don't touch me," he pleaded. "Please. I could never live with myself if something happened to you. I can't, and I won't, let you get hurt because of me. Just...stay away from me, please!"

Dead silence followed, lasting several long minutes. Windracer was just about to turn and look at Arid when a talonful of sand smacked him in the back of his head, just behind his horns.

Pivoting slowly, he found himself looking at the epitome of anger. Arid's eyes were narrowed, her teeth were bared, she was breathing heavily, and her talons were quivering as she refrained from slashing his face off.

"The Windracer I know is kind and smart," she said in an eerily quiet tone that gradually increased in volume as she spoke. "He always tries so hard to protect his loved ones, and he never gives up on his friends, or himself!" She was yelling now, and throwing more talonfuls of sand at him, most of it landing in his eyes. "YOU'RE NOT ACTING LIKE THE WINDRACER I LOVE!" Something small and hard bonked him on the head, and he fell sideways onto the shore. "Let me know when you find the real Windracer, because YOU'RE NOT HIM!"

Arid exploded into the sky, leaving a large cloud of sand in her wake. Had Windracer been looking a bit closer, he would have seen tears in her eyes as she yelled at him. And if he wasn't trying to gather his bearings, he would have heard quiet sobs uttered in the wind as she flew away.

Instead, he pushed himself to his feet, wincing at the pain from the bite mark on his left hind leg, and scooped the bracelet Arid threw at him into his talons.

The bracelet he'd enchanted to protect the wearer from harm. She must have taken it off and thrown it at him while she was yelling. That's what had hit him.

But what did she mean "the real Windracer"? What was she expecting from him?

Slipping the bracelet into his bag of enchanted items, Windracer let his own tears fall.

"Arid, I'm sorry," he whispered. Despite knowing she couldn't hear him, he carried on. "This power I have...it's too dangerous. You keep telling me that I'm not a monster, that I shouldn't be afraid of who I am. But no matter how hard I try, every other dragon on Pyrrhia will always see me as another Darkstalker. I don't deserve someone as amazing as you."

Turning away, the broken hybrid spread his wings and launched himself into the sky. But instead of heading inland, he was heading out over the ocean.

It's better this way, he told himself. They'll all be safer without me around.

Arid stormed into the woods, shaking the sand off her talons and wiping away the tears streaming down her cheeks. If there was one thing she'd never let herself be caught doing, it was crying.

Her father was having what appeared to be a rather deep conversation with Diamondback, the SandWing who had saved his and Arid's lives. But she was too angry and conflicted to question why - yet, anyway.

"Where's Windracer?" Auburn asked. "I thought he was with you."

"He was," Arid replied. "But he's being a...a..."

"Frog-faced blob of camel spit?" offered Diamondback.

Arid opened her mouth to retort, but paused. After a moment of thinking, she relented. "Yeah, that."

"Maybe I should go check on him," mused Auburn.

"He'll come back in his own time," said Lagoon. "He always does. This one time, after a total beatdown in battle training, he hid in his room for five straight days. He finally came out just as we were starting to think he was planning to stay in there forever."

"But, what are we supposed to do until then?" asked Bog.

Typhoon was laying on a patch of moss nearby, his SeaWing stripes providing a source of light amongst the dark forest. "I know a place where you'll be safe," he said.

"Where?" Arid asked.

"Possibility," said the older hybrid. "It's a large town on the Great Five-Tail River. It originally consisted of a SandWing settlement on the west side and a SkyWing village on the east, but the two sides have been slowly merging together over the course of the war. Hundreds of dragons from all seven tribes occupy the town, including my parents." Then, to Ocotillo, he directed, "The Outclaws are all waiting there for us right now."

"Good," sighed the SandWing. "I've been wondering where that clever little Qibli was. He'll be so delighted to finally meet Arid."

Arid twisted around to give him a sharp look. "Why?"

Her father yawned and said, "I'll tell you in the morning."

"Stay on guard," Typhoon said to the dozen or so SeaWings and SkyWings hiding in the shadows of the trees. "In case Blister or the NightWings come by. And keep an eye out for Windracer, too, in case he comes back."

"Will do," said one of the SkyWings, who was still only a dragonet, about five or six years old. She went to take her post on the left, along with another SkyWing and a SeaWing, both of whom looked about her age.

"Overheat, Charcoal, and Torrent may still be young," said Typhoon, "But they're among the best dragons we have. They'll keep us safe."

Arid settled herself between her parents. The corner of her eye was fixated on Diamondback, who had flopped down next to Ocotillo. "Who is he?" she asked no one in particular.

"He's family," answered Storm. "A little unorthodox, but family."

Arid started, then realized that she was too tired to ask any more questions. All of her friends were curled up around each other, trapping in their shared heat. Even Webs was partaking in the dragon pile, though his face scrunched up every now and again, and his talons twitched, signaling a nightmare.

Before she drifted off, Arid's last thought was of Windracer, and the altercation she'd had with him on the beach. Perhaps she'd been a bit too harsh with him, but she didn't know of any other way to bring him back to his senses.

He'll come back, she thought. And we'll...I'll be waiting right here for him when he does.

Windracer didn't know how long he'd been flying for. His only thought was that he had to get as far away from his loved ones as possible, so he couldn't hurt them with his powers. His left hind leg was still throbbing with pain, but he remained ignorant.

He didn't stop to rest even once. Not even when he noticed the pitch black storm clouds that lay ahead.

He did slow down, however, when he thought he heard wingbeats behind him.

Was he being followed?

He swiveled his head around, but all he saw was open sky.

No, wait!

Were the stars moving?

Well, yes and no.

Stars could not move.

But NightWings can.

Windracer put on a burst of speed, his wings flapping at an increased pace. Even a dragon as scared and broken as he was would rather not die. A small part of him wanted to use his powers to stop his pursuers, but he squashed that thought like it was a tiny beetle under his talons.

The clouds, he realized. Even the strongest dragons wouldn't follow their prey into a storm.

He streaked forward, and the sound of concussive booms filled his ears. Blinded by the flashing lightning and deafened by the roaring thunder, he was certain that not even Morrowseer would dare to try and catch him in such a strong squall.

But he was wrong.

There must have been dozens of them, black scales and star-shaped scatters of silver under their wings, dive-bombing him from all directions. He flew this way and that, trying to find an outing, but each time he found his path blocked by a swooping NightWing.

I have to get out of here! Windracer knew without knowing. He had to go back. He didn't care if Arid was still mad at him. He'd gladly take being yelled at by his (possibly ex) girlfriend than being massacred by a gazillion angry NightWings any day of the week.

He burst out of the clouds, but they followed him - the NightWings and the storm. He was out and alone over the ocean, with nowhere to hide. What chance did he have?

No magic, he thought to himself. I can't, I won't, not after what happened. FOR THE LOVE OF THE THREE MOONS DO NOT USE YOUR MAGIC.

There was something on the horizon. It was faint, but it was there. Trees and mountains stretched across a long edge of land.

He knew those trees and mountains. It was the Sky Kingdom. If he could just reach it, maybe Queen Tourmaline could help him.

Then something slammed into his back, and he heard a loud SNAP!

And then he was falling.

He saw what hit him - a large NightWing, not nearly as big as Morrowseer, with a spear in his talons and a penitent look on his face.

Windracer tried desperately to regain his balance, but one of his wings flopped helplessly in the wind. He remembered the snap, which he'd feared was his spine, and realized that it was his wing that was broken.

Even still, the edge of the Sky Kingdom drew closer. He knew he could make it, he just had to keep going for a little longer...

He passed out in midflight.

A few minutes later, he awoke on the edge of the mountains, lying on his back. Rain pattered down on his scales, and he felt his body shaking, but he couldn't tell what the cause of it was.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was an unfamiliar SkyWing staring right at him, their face a mask of startled terror. A bright flash of lightning made him blink, and the SkyWing was gone, and he wondered if he'd imagined them. And then the pain flared all along his body and he opened his mouth to scream but it hurt too much.

Soft thuds reached his ears as countless sets of talons landed on the ground behind him and he had a moment to utter in a pleading whisper, "Arid..." and then everything - the pain, the worry, Whirlpool and Crocodile, his powers, Arid, the mystery SkyWing - everything faded away, and Windracer dropped into darkness as black as a NightWing's scales.

Trust me, he's not dead. If he was, the story would be over.

And that SkyWing that appeared briefly? Well, I have been wanting to include "The Runty SkyWing" (who was briefly mentioned in the prologue of Escaping Peril and confirmed by Tui to be important) in this story for so long. Unfortunately, my brain's been having a battle with itself over whether to wait and see if Tui still has any plans for the SkyWing, or to make a new character out of little Runt's blueprints. Until I can figure it out, this story will most likely be on what I hope is a temporary hiatus.

But you can help. You can tell me what you think in a review.

In advance I say, "I'm sorry," and "thank you."

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