Chapter 23

I figured it wouldn't be fair to leave you guys hanging on that last chapter, so I concocted this one up "just now-ish", as said by Prince Cliff (who is going to be in this story).

When Arid woke up the next morning, she expected to find Windracer standing over her with an apologetic look in his eyes. Instead, she found herself looking into the dark green eyes of a young female dragon with cool, smooth, shiny purplish-black scales with shades of dark blue and green mixed in.

The hybrid leapt to her feet and roared threateningly, awakening her friends. Contrary to what she expected, the NightWing gasped and fell backwards, her talons and wings flailing as she scrambled to catch herself.

Arid's posture relaxed as she took another look at the young dragon. Her dark scales were gleaming in the morning light, as though they'd been polished, she was lean, but not skinny (much less painstakingly thin), and she had an overall healthy glow. Whoever she was, she certainly didn't look much at all like the NightWings that had attacked the Summer Palace the day before.

Typhoon pushed past Arid's outstretched wings to look at the dragonet. "It's okay," he said, "She's with us." Then, to the NightWing, he said, "You're supposed to be waiting for us in Possibility. What are you doing out here?"

The dragonet shifted her talons bashfully. "Looking for Windracer," she admitted. "Dark red, black wings with silver star-scales, about this tall." She reared up a little on her back legs and held her talons up to about a head taller than her own height. "I thought he'd be with you."

"He was," Typhoon confirmed. "But he hasn't come back yet."

"Who are you?" demanded Arid. "And how do you know Windracer?"

Her shouts made the NightWing shrink back down and curl around herself. "I'm Moon," she squeaked. "Well, Moonwatcher, but...just Moon is fine." She stared down at her talons with a shameful look. "My mother hid my egg in the rainforest, away from the volcano where all the other NightWings live, so that's where I hatched. A few days ago, I was in hiding, waiting for my mother, and I got bored. I thought it wouldn't hurt to take a walk, but I got lost, and ended up in these woods." She lifted a claw to point in the direction of the beach. "I saw a bunch of strange dragons on the shore, and I ended up speaking to one of them with my thoughts." She turned her head to reveal a set of silver teardrop scales by her eyes, just like Windracer's. "I didn't want to leave, but Mother told me to stay hidden, and I knew she was going to be back to look for me soon. She's been trying to find Windracer, and she happened to meet Typhoon while she was looking."

"And I invited them to join us," Typhoon finished for her.

Now that that had been settled, Arid scanned the trees, looking for any sign of her boyfriend. "Windracer should have been back by now," she mused.

"Perhaps we should go search for him," Typhoon suggested. "Though, we ought to regroup in Possibility first. The more dragons looking, the sooner we'll find him."

"Alright then," said Arid. "Let's go to Possibility."

Typhoon was in the air first, heading inland towards the Sand and Sky Kingdoms. Arid was the first to follow, then Auburn, then Moon, and then all the others. The female hybrid glanced back to see Lagoon and Bog on either side of Webs, all three wearing expressions of anxiety, exhaustion, and the tiniest hint of vexation towards Marmoset and Mango, who were pushing and shoving against each other (likely trying to hide their own nervousness about the situation). She spotted her parents taking up the rear, conversing with Diamondback, and she realized she'd forgotten to ask about the SandWing. Oh well, it could wait until later.

Arid looked back to the horizon that lay ahead, thinking to herself, Windracer, wherever you are, hang in there. We're coming to get you.

"Well," Morrowseer said, "So that didn't go as planned."

"You neglected to mention a few things," said Blister calmly. "Such as the fact that those dragonets are remarkably annoying." She draped her barbed tail pointedly over her talons and folded her wings back.

"Yes," said the NightWing. "True. Especially that half-breed. He doesn't deserve to have our powers." He stared down at the charred ruins of the Summer Palace. Fires were still smoldering on a few floors of the pavilion. Nothing remained but smoke and corpses.

"Queen Coral survived?" he asked.

"And both of her brats as well," said Blister. "Ally or not, it wouldn't be convenient for me if she died." She bared her teeth and hissed softly. "Of course, now she's hiding in the Deep Palace where I can't get to her. And she insists that my secret weapon will be no use to me for years still. She's gotten all squeamish about animus powers since finding out about her first daughter - like she'd rather waste that little one's magic just to keep her from turning homicidal."

Blister sighed a small burst of flame. "It's not been my favorite week of the war."

She batted away a piece of smoking foliage. "So, NightWing, I hope for your sake that your dragons bring me news I want to hear."

"There is another option," Morrowseer said, "But I'm not sure you'll like it all that much." He spread his wings and beckoned to a green shape circling in the sky overhead.

The SeaWing landed carefully on the cliffside, vines crumbling to ashes below his claws. He glanced down at the palace and shuddered. Morrowseer noticed that he stayed well away from Blister. Perhaps he'd heard - or guessed - what had happened to Kestrel.

"This is Nautilus," Morrowseer explained. "One of the leaders of the Talons of Peace. Nautilus, explain your backup plan to the queen."

"Possible future queen," Nautilus corrected, then jumped back nervously as Blister raised her venomous tail. "Er," he said quickly, "We have a...a set of alternatives."

Blister's black eyes glittered with interest. "Alternatives?" she said. "Really. My, my. I had no idea the Talons of Peace could be so devious."

Nautilus frowned. "We prefer to think of it as planning for every contingency," he said. "We did whatever we thought was necessary for the prophecy to come true."

"Or true-ish," Morrowseer interjected. He shot the SeaWing a look to remind him that no amount of trying to weasel his way out was going to work. Even if every dragon on the continent knew the Dragonet Prophecy was fake, Morrowseer still planned to make it come true the way he wanted - one way or another.

"Of course," Blister said. "Dragonets can be so unpredictable. You are very wise."

"Well," Nautilus said, pleased, "It was my idea."

"Of course it was," she said. "Very clever. We are talking false dragonets, yes?"

"But," rumbled Morrowseer.

"Yes," Nautilus said. His tail twitched. "But. They're, ah - not quite perfect."

Blister snorted. "Can't be any worse than the originals."

"We'll take the best options from each group," Morrowseer said. "Kill the half-breeds, obviously. And the RainWings. We can probably work with the original MudWing."

The sound of beating wings alerted them to an approaching NightWing. He landed on the cliffside in between Nautilus and Morrowseer, his expression and posture submissive.

"Risktaker," Morrowseer said impatiently. "Whatever news you're bringing, it had better be good."

The NightWing laid his spear down and spoke carefully. "Right. We have captured the uh...the hybrid. The one that 'stole our powers', as you put it."

"Excellent," said Morrowseer. "Make sure he's out of the way by the time I get back."

Risktaker nodded obediently, picked up his spear, and took off.

"And the other dragonets?" Blister growled. "How do you plan on handling them?"

"We have dragons working on it as we speak," Morrowseer promised. "Recruiting assassins is surprisingly easy in the middle of a war."

"Good," Blister flicked her tail menacingly. "Those dragonets need to know they're not as valuable as they think they are. Anyone can be replaced."

She smiled with all her teeth. "After all...there's more than one way to fulfill a prophecy."

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but Moonwatcher is probably my most favorite Wings of Fire protagonist, and the one I can relate to the most. Socially anxious yet friendly and with secret abilities is exactly my kind of dragon.

As for my least favorite, I like all of the protagonists in different ways, but I would say that Snowfall is probably the least like me.

And my least favorite Wings of Fire character of all time...there's too many horribly evil and cruel dragons in the series to pick just one, but Morrowseer and Blister are ranked relatively high on my list at the current time. And I don't like Nautilus, either.

The next chapter should be out soon.

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