Chapter 27

New characters are on the way.

Three days.

That's how long it had been since Windracer had returned. Mayfly was still working on his leg.

And Arid was scared for him.

The MudWing doctor had allowed her to stay for as long as she wanted, but that only lasted for a few minutes as the hybrid found she didn't have the stomach for what Mayfly had to do to Windracer's badly infected leg.

She was sitting by the river, far away from the commotion in the markets. Every now and again, she'd dip her talon into the water and watch it ripple. Her heightened SandWing hearing picked up the sound of tiny talons scurrying through the sand, but she drowned it out with her thoughts.

He'll be fine. Mayfly knows what she's doing. He'll be okay.

Those thoughts had been looping around in her mind for a while. She wouldn't allow herself to think anything else.

"Hello," piped a small, friendly voice from beside her.

Arid turned her head just enough to see a little SandWing dragonet sitting next to her. Her yellow scales were as pale as the sand beneath their talons, and there was a diamond pattern running down her side like the one on Diamondback. Unlike his, however, this dragonet's pattern was a shade of yellow so pale it looked white.

The dragonet tilted her head, confusion evident in her warm brown eyes. "I said 'hello'!"

Arid turned her head away.

"You look sad," the dragonet observed. "You know what cheers me up? Coriander seeds. You can have some, if you like." She reached up to grab the small pouch she had looped around her neck like a piece of jewelry.

"No thanks," Arid grumbled.

The dragonet looked the tiniest bit happy that Arid had spoken to her. "My name is Coriander, but you can call me Cori. What's your name?"

Arid sighed. "Listen, I want to be alone right now, okay?"

Coriander sulked a little. "Sorry. I didn't mean to bother you."

Somewhere from the market, a dragon called, "Cori!"

"Is that your mother?" asked Arid.

"Orphanage supervisor," Coriander corrected. "Gotta go." She looped the string of her pouch over her neck and laid it in the sand at Arid's talons. "You can have my coriander seeds. They'll make you feel better. I hope."

When Arid looked up, the dragonet was gone. She gazed down at the small pouch Cori had left, and the little SandWing's words sunk in.

That poor, sweet little dragonet was an orphan.

Arid lifted the pouch out of the sand and opened it, revealing several talonfuls of coriander seeds. She sighed. Coriander had been trying to cheer her up, and all she could think about was Windracer. The dragon she was destined to be with forever, and have eggs with.

How could she be a mother to her own dragonets if she couldn't even pay attention to an orphan that had been sitting right next to her?

We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Windracer would say.

Arid stood up, the bag of seeds in her talons, and started back toward Mayfly's hut.

Windracer was dreaming again. But it wasn't a flashback this time.

It was a vision.

Arid - older, bigger Arid - passed a scroll into the talons of a small dragonet with a head of white-gold scales, serrated claws shaped like crescent moons, silver scales under her dark wings that resembled sparkling diamonds, and a venomous stinger on the end of her long, orange-red tail.

Oasis's onyx-black eyes shimmered with excitement that rippled down her SandWing frill. She kissed Arid's temple and flew off down a nearby hallway, calling, "Thanks, Mom!"

"No flying in the halls!" Arid called after her, but she was smiling.

The bubbly little dragonet practically plowed into Windracer, fidgeting with excitement.

"Daddy!" she squealed, waving the scroll under his nose. "Will you read this to me? Pleeeeeeeease?"

"Oasis," Windracer said, gently pushing her off. "Of course I will. But your siblings will want to hear it, too, and you know I don't like playing favorites."

Oasis wasn't at all disappointed to hear that. "So read it to all of us! I saw them in the Jade Mountain library with Miss Lagoon!"

Windracer laughed. "Alright, but be patient. And try not to blow all the scrolls off the shelves when we get there."

"I won't," Oasis said through excited giggles. "I promise!"

Jade Mountain. The tallest mountain in the Claws of the Clouds mountain range. And home to the inter-tribal school called the Jade Mountain Academy.

Sunlight poured through the windows as father and daughter moved through the caves. Small dragonets, each of them a different color, played a game of chase in the sky.

They came into the library and the dragon behind the desk raised her head to greet them. Lagoon exchanged friendly hellos with her friend and his bubbly little dragonet before directing them to the window bay.

A ruby-red SkyWing-like dragonet with reddish-black NightWing spikes, sunshine-yellow SandWing talons, orange-white IceWing wings with a pinkish tinge, and a silver teardrop scale on the outside corner of her amber eyes was curled up with two other dragonets - one white with dapples of orange and one pitch black. Both had white IceWing spikes, red SkyWing talons, sand-colored SandWing wings and teardrop scales by their eyes like their sister's. The three had a scroll spread out in front of them and were studying together.

"Can you imagine?" the white one said. "The tribes hated each other so much back then."

"It's a good thing we're so much smarter than all the dragons who lived before us," said the red one importantly. "We'd never make their mistakes."

"All the dragons?" asked an amused Windracer. "Are you sure about that, Skyfire?"

The red dragonet's head shot up at the sound of her father's voice. "Sorry, Dad."

"What brings you here, Father?" asked the black dragonet.

Oasis answered the question for him. "He's gonna read us a story, Duskflight!"

"What kind of story?" the white dragonet asked, her green eyes shining with intrigue. "Adventure? Comedy? Romance?"

"All of those, Dawnbringer," Windracer smiled. "It's the story of me and my friends." He held up the scroll so they could read the title.

"'A Fate Fulfilled, by the Dragonets of Destiny'," Duskflight read aloud. His blue eyes twinkled faintly. "Sounds exciting."

Oasis bounced in excitement, but it died down when she noticed that there was someone missing. "Where's Bluemoon?"

"He's out gathering strawberries with Peacemaker," Skyfire answered.

As if on cue, two more dragonets entered the library, carrying a large wicker basket filled to the brim with strawberries. The older of the two, Peacemaker, had black scales, a round face, wide-set eyes, and a constellation of rainbow-colored scales on the undersides of his wings. The other one, Bluemoon, had sapphire blue scales with hints of white, black NightWing talons, a pale yellow-white SandWing frill and tail with IceWing spikes in place of a stinger, striking pale blue eyes, a narrow, elegant, diamond-shaped head, and bluish-red SkyWing wings, the membranes of which were snow-white with a scattering of jet black scales.

"Dad!" Bluemoon perked up at the sight of his father.

Windracer chuckled. "Hey, you little berry-pickers. Want to hear a story?"

"We'd love to," his son answered.

Peacemaker held up the basket proudly and declared, "There's enough for everyone!"

The six dragonets all sat down in a circle around Windracer, the basket of strawberries placed right in the middle so they could all reach in and grab some when they wanted to.

"Be sure to put that scroll back before you leave," Lagoon said, sliding out from behind her desk.

Skyfire answered, "Sure," absentmindedly.

Windracer unrolled the scroll, gazed fondly at his children, and began to read.

Windracer didn't want the dream to end. It was so bright and beautiful, and it felt so real.

But he had to wake up.

And that's what he did.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes were the sunshine-yellow eyes of his mother, Auburn. The SkyWing sobbed in relief and caressed her son's face and horns lovingly.

"Mom." His voice sounded much better now. "How long was I out?"

"Almost a week," was her answer. "You gave us quite a scare. How do you feel?"

"Better," he answered honestly. He gave his limbs an experimental stretch. His wing was as good as new, but his leg...

He turned to look over his shoulder at his left back leg.

It still had Morrowseer's teeth marks, but the inflammation that signaled an infection was absent. It looked better than Windracer had expected. But when he pushed himself off the table and onto the floor, he stumbled a little. He started for the exit, and his leg faltered. His injury had come with a price, after all.

Windracer would be scarred and limping for the rest of his life.

But he was alive. He'd survived the infection. That was what mattered.

A shadow blocked the doorway, and Mayfly hobbled in. "Good, you're awake," she said, "Your friends are all waiting for you."

If the MudWing could get by with a limp, Windracer didn't see why he couldn't. Arid would still love him even if he did walk funny, right? He knew for a fact that his mother preferred having him alive and well no matter the circumstances, but could the same be said for his friends?

Steeling himself, the hybrid padded forward, only to trip when his bad leg stalled. He braced himself for an impact on the hard floor, but found himself being cradled in Auburn's wings instead.

"Thanks, Mom," he breathed. His heart leapt when he remembered that Oasis had said the same thing to Arid in his vision-dream. He preferred not to play favorites with his future dragonets, but, if he was being honest, he was probably looking forward to meeting his youngest daughter the most.

Windracer straightened himself back up and resumed his walk to the door, his mother hovering next to him in case he were to trip again.

When he made it outside, he expected his friends to be there. So it was a complete surprise when he found a whole crowd of dragons of varying tribes waiting for him. He recognized Queen Tourmaline and Queen Moorhen among the SkyWings and MudWings, Princess Greatness and Cleverclaws were standing out amongst the NightWings, Queen Coral and her two younger daughters were standing next to Lagoon, and at the head of the IceWings was a tall and majestic white dragon with arctic blue eyes. Windracer didn't have to read anyone's mind to know that that was Queen Glacier.

"When did they all get here?" he asked no one in particular.

"We got word from our subjects that you dragonets had been attacked," Tourmaline said. "We came as soon as we could."

One of the SkyWings standing next to her - Inferno, Windracer realized - pointed his talons at the hybrid and said, "Just so we're clear, this does NOT mean we're friends!" He shrank back, however, when his queen gave him a warning glare.

Bog was the first of Windracer's friends to reach him. The MudWing gave the hybrid a crushing hug that Windracer thought was strong enough to snap his spine in half. Marmoset and Mango each nudged either of his shoulders. Lagoon gave him a sisterly hug and told him how glad she was that he was okay.

And then there was Arid.

The first thing she did was nudge him hard enough to make him stumble, and nearly fall thanks to his bad leg. "That's for scaring me," she said, her tone neutral.

Incredulous, Windracer stuttered, "W-what?! Y-you know, after everything I went through, I thought that you would have - "

He was cut off when she rushed into him and, much to his surprise, kissed him.

His eyes went wide for a split second, by reflex, before he closed them and returned his girlfriend's affection. He paid no mind to the stares they were mostly likely receiving from all of the other dragons around them. This was their moment, and he wasn't going to ruin it.

I'm not letting go now. I'm not ever letting go of her again. If this is it, all our truth spilled over the table, then this is my truth: I love Arid. Even if she is half IceWing, and I'm half NightWing.

Arid pulled away after about five seconds, but it felt like an eternity to the utterly lovestruck Windracer.

Unfortunately for the hybrid couple, the moment was ruined when a black dragon from somewhere in the giant assembled group called questioningly, "Auburn?"

The SkyWing padded out of the doctor's hut and met the NightWing's eyes. She replied neutrally, "Killer."

Windracer's eyes shot open the second his mother mentioned that name. He gave the crowd of gathered dragons a once-over and found a burly-looking NightWing who was staring at Auburn as though she were made of precious jewels and gold.

Finally, after all of his imagining and wondering, here he was - face-to-face with his own father.

Fun fact: Tui wanted to include a Ripnami kiss scene in The Lost Heir but she left it out because her editor thought it was too weird. As far as dragon kisses go, we'll just use our imaginations.

Also, first look at the Aridracer dragonets! As for Coriander, I wouldn't have introduced her if she wasn't going to be important later on.

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