Hey all. Here with another chapter. I'm happy to say, this story has broken past 2000 views this last week, and I'm glad that so many people have given my story a chance. I hope I can continue to write more for this story that you all will enjoy. This chapter marks the epilogue of my first "Arc" of the dragonets, and yes, I sort of rushed through book 2. I wanted to move it to where Wither and the dragonets could interact more, AKA: not being underwater. I will be taking a lot more time with the next part of this story, and I plan on jumping my chapters to be even longer, but also might make it so my upload schedule might be slower until I find a good rythm. I plan on heavily deviating away from the main storyline in the next couple of chapters, so I hope you all look forward to that. Anyway, please enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire.
"Normal speech"
"Thoughts"
It was completely silent for a few moments, the five dragonets staring in shock at Wither for what felt like hours, but in reality, was only about two minutes. Sunny was the first to speak, swallowing nervously. "D-D-Deathwing tribe?" Wither nods, before realizing that she was shivering out of fear. Wither raised his talons in defense. "It's honestly not as intimidating or horrifying as it sounds. My tribe were not mass murderers bringing death everywhere they went. Common misconception." That got the five to relax a little as Wither sighed. "... The reason for the name was... Well, for both what happened to that Crocodile, and for I did to Wave." Tsunami blinks, looking even more confused as Wither took a deep breath. "The name Deathwing wasn't born out of our ability to cause death. At least, not entirely. We... Were the only dragons in the world capable of the miracle of resurrection. The act of bringing back the dead. In short, the title of Deathwing comes from my tribe's ability to manipulate death."
He took another deep breath. "Though, I'm sure it's a tribe you've never heard of. My tribe... was lost a very long time ago." He gave a sad smile to the dragonets. "Before you start off on a tangent, however old you all think I am... You are vastly underestimating it. I've been around far longer than this war and the queens who preceded it." The dragonets all looked to each other, before Tsunami spoke up. "So, how old are you?" Wither thought for a moment, conflicting on himself if he should talk or not, before finally coming to a sigh. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth, so let's just put it at very, VERY old." Tsunami frowned but shook it off. "So... What you did to save Wave?" Wither nodded. "I didn't save her per say, I simply... gave her back the life that was taken from her." Starflight spoke up, his curiosity winning over caution. "How exactly? It seems impossible."
Wither thought for a moment. "Hmmm... how to explain this..." He pulled a couple of the sticks from their fire, setting them into three piles, each with two sticks, still burning. "Look at it like this. All beings have energy that propels their lives. Energy that lets them live. My tribe is capable of absorbing and transferring this energy." He gestured to the piles. "Say these three piles are dragons, and the middle one is me. Each of them has this energy, in this case represented by the burning wood, that fuels life, which is the flames. When a dragon dies, the flame of life goes out." He swept a talon full of dirt onto the right most pile, extinguishing the flames, the charred wood sitting under the dirt. "The flame is out... but the wood or rather, energy, is still there." He looked to the other piles. "The miasma I breath out, the same that caught Crocodile, was what my tribe calls 'Respira.' In an ancient dead language, this word roughly translates in the current tongue as 'Dying breath.' It allowed my people to absorb the life energy of other being. Plants, prey, dragons, anything that is alive. And what it does is this." He blew out the left most pile, before taking the wood, and adding it to the middle pile, the wood burning again in the middle pile's flames.
"It essentially allows me to take the life fuel of another being and add it to my own. This ties into how the resurrections works." He pulled the two sticks that had been taken from the left pile out of the middle, still burning. "Resurrection does have its restrictions. I can't just go bringing back the dead as much as I want. Like most things worth having in this world, there is a price." He moved the burning sticks, before purposefully dropping one of them into the dirt, the charred wood snapping, before slowly going out. "Like the transference of most things from one vessel to another, there is always a risk of losing some in the transfer. but, for one who knows how to do it right, there's a little... less fall off." He takes the remaining stick, using his other talon to brush off the dirt on the right pile, before placing the burning stick in the center, the flames licking at the wood that had been extinguished. The flame eventually caught hold, the right pile lighting again as the stick he had placed in it crumbled into ash. "As shown, while the flame of life had been extinguished, the energy or rather, fuel for that flame remained. I simply used some of the flame and fuel I hold within myself to... light a spark. To rekindle the flame of life inside them."
He looked to the dragonets, a somber expression on his face. "Respira is a very dangerous thing. It is my equivalent to flame or frost breath. Not as useful in terms of utility as the others, but far more deadly. Just one touch is all it takes, and then there's no escape besides losing whatever part of the body touched it. It spreads fast, almost like a disease. Honestly, I'll never get used to watching it work. It's... a horrifying way to die, and I try to use it as little as possible... Which is why I nearly had a heart attack when you all said you had slept next to me that night before we met. I can't regulate it in my sleep, and it does slip out sometimes... Especially during nightmares. I could have released it in my sleep and all I'd wake up to would be five piles of dust next to me." Tsunami shivered as the others looked concerned. They had really been that close to dying and didn't even know it? Sunny swallowed. "... What happened to the rest of your tribe?"
This was the question he was dreading. He didn't even wince, just looked at the ground sadly, staying silent for a long moment. "... A horrible accident... I'd like to just leave it at that. It's... a painful memory..." Sunny looked apologetically to him. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked." Wither shook his head. "No, no. You were just curious, and you couldn't have known." He shifted lightly to get more comfortable when Sunny spoke up again. "... What was it like, living with them?" Wither blinked at her, before looking up, staring at nothing with a smile as he reminisced. "It was wonderful. We had farmers who would grow all kinds of food. Carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms to bananas, mangos, and coconuts. Oh, and strawberries. Those are my favorite. Everyone would greet you with a wave and a smile. Nearly everyone had a pet, be it a cow, goat, or in some cases, bugs. Stag beetles were really popular at the time. But best of all were the festivals. A huge feast once every month, when at least one of the moons were full. We would sing and dance, even inviting dragons outside the tribe to join in it." His smile stayed as he was lost in memory for a few seconds, before coming back to reality. "I loved my tribe... And I miss them dearly. Though, like any dragonets, there were young ones who just loved getting into trouble, and... well, getting picked on for being different did exist."
Starflight looked up to him. "...Are there any other powers we should worry about?" Wither thought for a moment. "Not really. The respira and resurrection are the only ones that can outwardly affect other dragons." Starflight nodded but stayed quiet. Wither remembered that Starflight had saw him replay a memory and gave a small smile that the Nightwing respected his privacy in that. Glory spoke up next, looking towards Wither with a neutral expression. "So... What happens to you now? Pretty sure our next stop is the rainforest, and... Well, you're the one who said you didn't want to get roped into all this." Wither sighs, his head landing on the ground with a thump. "Well, Since the universe just loves making me miserable, and because I have a moon cursed bleeding heart... I think my chances of not getting pulled into all this disappeared the moment you all ran into me." He lifts his head again. "Besides... I think you five need all the help you can get right now." He started mumbling to the side. "And also, I need to get away from a probably very vengeful Blister."
Starflight frowns lightly at that, looking to the side. The others looked confused as Starflight scratched the back of his neck. "So... About Blister... Morrowseer told me to convince you all to pick her." They all looked even more confused, as if a second tongue had come out of his mouth. Wither thought for a minute. "Morrowseer?... Oh! the Nightwing who gave the prophecy... Huh." Sunny looked to Wither curiously. "What's wrong?" Wither blushed lightly. "Well... I've been calling him Barrowsneer for the past eight years" The dragonets stared at him, until Tsunami burst out laughing, devolving into a fit of giggles as she rolled to her side. "Barrowsneer! Oh, that is golden! He definitely sneers a lot, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did live in a barrow. That should have been his name from the start!" Sunny couldn't help but start giggling too, remembering the permanent sneer on the large Nightwing's face. Wither couldn't stop from smiling at the sight of the giggling dragonets.
His expression turned thoughtful. "Still, that is concerning... It sounds like the Nightwings have chosen a side to this war... and it's not a good one. Blister is a schemer, and by extension, doesn't like loose ends. Fairly certain she would have you five killed in secret once she became queen just so you all wouldn't try to oppose her, even if you made her queen. Or, at least, that's the sort of feeling I got from her." Tsunami nodded. "I felt the same way about her. She definitely has some sort of plan going on." Wither nodded. "Yes, and now she knows to some extent of what I can do, I'm sure she's already scheming something. And with Nightwings involved... It can't be anything good. The goal of the Nightwing tribe is something I've never been able to discern, but if they're supporting Blister... She must be offering something that they want."
He looked outside the cave, seeing the sun falling over the horizon as the first of the moons crested above. "A matter for another time. I think we can save the rest of the questions for the morning. You all eat and get some rest." He moves to make space for the dragonets, taking a spot next to the mouth of the cave. "I can keep watch." Clay nodded, before they all dug into the mean, Clay humming with appreciation. "Crocodile tastes good. It's tough but makes it fun to chew. Tsunami rolled her eyes. "Is there ever a time you don't think with your stomach, Clay?" Clay shrugged with his wings. "Easier to think this way. Makes it so I don't stress about a whole lot." The other dragonets couldn't help but laugh at their biggest member. they ate quickly, scarfing down the rabbits, before Tsunami stretched. " Come on guys. I think we all need to sleep after today." They got together in their sleeping pile, nestling into each other as Wither have a small smile, seeing Clay had already fallen asleep. He exhaled softly, gazing outside of the cave. "... I'm going to regret this..." His gaze fell on the pile of sleeping dragonets, before smiling. "I'm a fool for trying but... I want this to work this time... To have someone... just... some connection... It's been so lonely..." He reached out a talon, pausing just above their pile, his vision shifting to see an adult dragon with black scales, dotted with ivory white on their wings in their place for a split second. He pulls back, not disturbing them. "... It won't happen again. I won't let it happen again... Maybe... Maybe it will be different this time." He settled down. his eyes gazing up at the stars. They shone brightly tonight. He let a single tear fall down his face. "Mother... I'm scared to lose more dragons... Please, watch over me... and them."
He watched the stars for hours, noting the slow movement of the three moons across the sky. He then noticed a small shuffling to his left, turning to see Sunny coming over next to him. He gave a small smile. "Couldn't sleep?" She nodded. "I'm just... worried about... well, everything. I know we're destined to end this war, but... I'm so scared of losing the others." He nodded. "A reasonable worry. In my experience with prophecies, they always come to pass in ways you don't expect... I think you'll be able to get through, as long as you trust each other." She sighed, before sighing. "I really am having a hard time sleeping... I keep replaying Crocodile in my head..." He took a breath. "Yes... I'm sorry you had to see that... Anything I could do to help?" She shook her head. "Not that I can think of."
Wither thought for a moment, before pulling his instrument from his pouch, setting it down. "There's a lullaby my mother used to sing for me whenever I had nightmares. I could try to sing it if you want. I won't be as good as she was." Sunny blinked. "Lullaby? Our guardians never sang any for us..." Wither frowned, before giving a small smile. "Alright. I'd be honored to sing you one." She settled as he started plucking the strings lightly, a light tune that was soft, and caring as he started to sing in a soft voice, the moons reflecting in his dark eyes.
"It always seems more quiet. In the dark.
It always seems so stark, how silence grows under the moons. Constellations gone so soon.
I used to think that I was bold. I thought my joy was next to none.
Now all my stories have been told. Except for one...
When the stars start to align. I hope you take it as a sign, that you'll be okay.
Everything will be okay.
And when the world begins to fade, then just remember what I've said. That you'll be okay.
Everything will be okay.
And when you've not the strength to fly, you can find me in the sky. Upon the last day.
And you will be okay."
Wither looked down to see Sunny curled up next to him, sleeping contentedly. He sighed, before gently picking her up without waking her, moving her a safe distance from himself. He settled down again, turning back to the stars. The white gems of the sky contrasted with the red flecks in his eyes as he stared out at the stars as several hours passed. "It's a beautiful night... She always loved nights like this, where the stars were in full glow... I miss you... both of you." He heard shuffling, gazing to see that Tsunami had woken up, The Seawing came over to smile at Sunny's sleeping form, before coming up to Wither. "You should probably get some sleep too, Big guy. I can take watch from here." He chuckled lightly. "Well, I won't argue. I didn't sleep much these last few days." Tsunami nodded, taking a spot next to Sunny. Wither moved a good distance away from them and the rest of the group, before curling in on himself, allowing his exhaustion to catch up to him.
Meanwhile, outside the Seawing summer palace ruins
Frustrated and furious roaring echoed off the small island rendezvous. What little plant life that managed to grow on it being shredded, crushed, or burnt to a crisp as Blister threw the equivalent of a tantrum. "That camel spit sucking son of a lizard! How dare he ruin EVERYTHING!?" Blister then stabbed a poor, unfortunate lizard so furiously that she split it in two with her stinger. She growled, before yelling as she smashed her tail through a thin palm tree, panting as the wood splintered and flew across the rocks. A deep male voice rang out from above. "Well, I see our plan here fell to pieces. You're never this furious." A huge black dragon with silver scales dotting the underside of his wings landed down on a nearby rock, looking to Blister with a blank expression. Blister growled. "Morrowseer. Lot of good your Prophecy was. The dragonets escaped, and Coral has cut off her support! All because of one stupid dragon!"
Morrowseer frowned. "What dragon?" Blister growled. "Wither. He said his name was Wither. I've never seen anything like him. His scales are like stone, his eyes like a night of bloody stars, and he's somehow almost two or three times as large as Burn... Webs is alive. Sniveling eel got away because that moons cursed dragon kept refuting everything I could come up with to have Webs killed! It was infuriating!" Morrowseer shrugged. "He will be inconsequential. Our plan will go through regardless." Blister glared, before getting a semi-cruel smirk. "Wither brought a dead dragon back to life." Morrowseer's expression changed to shock for a split second, before morphing into outrage. "WHAT!?" Blister gave a cruel chuckle. "Yes, he brought back Coral's child who was killed 2 days ago. To think, there was a dragon in this world with powers vastly more impressive and useful than yours."
Morrowseer sneered. "No matter. He will be killed like all the rest." Blister growled. "No. Killing him will be a waste... We need to find a way to control him. If we can, we can use him to bring back anyone we want. By bringing back any who die, we could have an army unafraid to die. An immortal army that never falls!" Her smile became cruel as she ranted, almost sounding maniacal when she ended. Morrowseer hummed for a moment. "... hmm... Perhaps. But for now, Nautilus has an alternative. He and the other talons of peace were smart enough to come up with a backup set of dragonets for the prophecy." Blister sneered. "How will we know this plan won't crash and burn like the last one? Your visions did nothing to warn about Wither." Morrowseer smirked. "Because we can mold these ones to our design, then just use the originals to force this Wither to act on our behalf." Blister gave a cruel smile. "Perfect... I will make that dragon suffer for humiliating me... perhaps by killing one of those five worms he's become so fond of."
The next morning
Something was poking at Wither that morning. He cracked open an eye to see Tsunami poking him with a talon, spotting the other dragonets already awake, covering up their cooking fire from the previous night. He groaned sleepily, folding a wing over his head. "Five more minutes..." Tsunami chuckled but kept poking him. "Sorry, but we've got Mudwing activity outside. We're going to need to move soon." Wither gave another groan, grumbling as he picked himself up to a sitting position. "Fine, fine. I'm up, I'm up..." He rubbed at his left eye. "Ugh... did I mention that I am NOT a morning person?" Sunny giggled, before hushing as wingbeats sounded overhead as a group of Mudwings flew over their cave, Wither slowly getting to a more awake state. "Well, what's the plan? We certainly can't stay here for too much longer." Tsunami nodded, gesturing to Glory. "We head for the Rainforest to find the Rainwings. See if we can meet Glory's family." Wither gave a disheartened look to Glory. "... Don't get your hopes up on that too much. Rainwings are... VERY laid back, ever since the daughters of Queen Grandeur ended up being completely... well, putting it lightly, useless candidates."
Starflight blinked. "Shouldn't the current queen of the Rainwings be Queen Dazzling?" Wither shook his head. "Yes and no... Ever since Grandeur's daughters ended up not being worthy of the throne, Grandeur created a system where multiple females of the tribe get terms, set periods of the year where they act as queen. This was in the hopes that one who had the spirit of a true queen could be found. Unfortunately, none have been found to this day... As I've mentioned before, I prefer my isolated island, but I try to keep in touch with how things are going in the rest of the world." He nods to Glory. "I personally prefer the sort of society the Rainwings have made for themselves, if only because it means they never have a reason to go to war."
Glory didn't really have much of an expression, but flecks of red were going through her scales, causing Wither to sigh. "I'm not saying to not get excited. I'm saying... Don't set a very high bar. Rainwings have been about as isolated as I have been from this war, so it might be a little hard to grasp how relaxed their culture is." They all nodded, starting to get up. Wither followed, but the moment he put pressure on his right front talon, it buckled as a lightning bolt of pain shot through him. "NGH!" He fell hard onto his right shoulder, clutching his right talon with an expression of pain. The dragonets jumped, Sunny rushing forward. "What happened!?" Wither winced as his talon throbbed with pain. "I'm not sure, but by the moons, that hurt!"
He brought his talon up to his face to try and see what was happening before he went very silent for a long while. There, in his talon, was a swelling welt roughly the size of an apple under his scales. It pulsed lightly as black veins extended out of it, spreading to the rest of his talon. He gazed closer, noticing that it originated... right under one of the holes he had made from gipping his talons too hard two nights ago before he resurrected Wave. He thought back, trying to find what could have happened to get it infected. He had washed it that night, went to deliver Wave to her mother, went to breakfast, slammed a Mudwing into the ground and fought Blister, finishing the fight by catching her... His eyes widened as he stared at his talon. "... Well... snake spit."
Sunny blinked. "What's wrong? Why is your talon like that? It looks painful." Wither sighed. "I pierced through my scales the night before I brought Wave back. And it seems when I caught Blister's tail yesterday... The holes hadn't healed over. Her stinger must have slipped through and got me..." Sunny gasped. "Oh no! I-Is there a cure? How do we fix this?" Wither grimaced as he clenched his talon to stem the pain a little. "The rainwings might have something that will last me a few days... I know the cure, but its only found in the kingdom of sand. But getting there in a day or two is impossible..." He takes his pack off, tying it tightly against his wrist tightly to slow the flow of the poison. "That's all we can do for now... We need to get moving, fast."
They all nodded, checking for Mudwings, before taking off, Wither limping out of the cave, before taking off to join them, clutching his talon as they flew. Now that it had settled, he felt weaker than he normally did, the poison having had time to spread further than he would like. "This is bad... How are we supposed to take care of this when the kingdom of sand is so far away?" They flew west, towards the Rainforest as a thick fog started to settle on the ground below, Wither wincing as another spark of pain shot through his talon. "Well, could be worse. Could be caught by the cowardly schemer..."
He sighed once more, gritting his teeth against the pain in his talon. "I swear, if this is going to cause me to be unable to grip my food for a week, I'm going to make Blister sting herself and see how she likes it!"
There you have it. It's not everything about Wither's backstory, but I want to keep some secrets for later. I'm trying to make this a slow burn to a critical story point I have in mind, so while he wants the dragonets to be safe, He is still quite cautious of opening up fully to them. More is to come, rest assured, and Yeah, this is the point where the characters might start becoming a little OCC, mostly because I want to capture the essence of what makes each of the dragonets unique, and the fruits of their growth, as I see many people on Reddit criticize the books for essentially forgetting about character development at times, which I personally didn't mind since old habits die hard with the best of people. Anyway, Leave a review if you'd like. Always looking for constructive criticism, and I'll see you guys next Friday.