Chapter Eight

She kept running. She ran all the way through the mountain, past her sleeping cave, up past Stonemover's chambers. No matter how far she ran, it didn't seem to be far enough. Never far enough from this pain in her chest, from this helpless sense of terror and betrayal. When she ran out of tunnels to run through, she flung herself out of the nearest opening and hastily flew into the air. Her wings were almost torn in two different directions before she got them under control. Then, she was soaring up, up, up, until the clouds were below her and the air was so thin, she couldn't breathe.

Moon, stop! Please, you're hurting yourself!

Wings folding around her, she dove back down, down, down. The wind stung her eyes, the force sucked her organs back towards the sky. Not until the last possible moment did she snap open her wings again. Membranes stretched as they caught the air and thrust it down to keep her aloft. Adrenaline flushed her neck and wrists with heat, and with it burned away all her self-pity.

Now, she was angry.

Very few times in her life had Moon been truly angry and had the conviction to stay so. Being inside someone's head had a way of deflating that anger when you could see their reasoning and feel their true emotions. For the first time, she was grateful that she couldn't see all the way into Darkstalker's mind. It meant he had nothing to dissuade her fury.

It was a bracelet.

His sudden words were quiet, small. She was momentarily confused. What?

A bracelet. A wrist cuff. Enchanted to put me to sleep forever. He said. Moon had a feeling he just wanted to say anything to break the silence. Since I couldn't die - that story about making myself immortal is true - they had to come up with something else.

Who?

Fathom and Clearsight. A pause. I knew it. I knew when she pulled it out - right before she put it on me, I thought Fathom must've touched that. He broke his sacred oath to his sister, just to betray me.

Moon's claws scrapped thin gouges into the rock as she came to land on a stone jutting out over the lake. The one or two SeaWings in the rebellion were often found here in the day, fishing. Now, the waters were black and still as a mirror. She stared down at her reflection, at the face that even looked naive enough to have fallen for such an obvious trick. You lied to me.

Technically… I merely withheld certain information. But Moon, you must realise, I was going to tell you -

She scoffed. Really? When?! We've known each other for a year and a half, you've had plenty of time!

I could say the same thing to you, he retorted defensively. Aren't you constantly avoiding telling your supposed friends about your powers?

That's different!

Is it? After a moment, Darkstalker sighed. Moon, please try to understand. I wanted to tell you, really I did. But what could I say? There were so many futures where the moment wasn't right, and you hated me, or refused to speak to me again. I was...

What? Afraid to lose their friendship? The same way she had been? Her green eyes met those of her reflection, talons reaching up to touch the silver scales at her eyes. "I knew you weren't telling me everything," she whispered aloud. "But I never thought…"

I'm not actually a monster, Moon, no matter what the little idiot's ghost stories say. After all this time, can't you tell? His attempt at humour fell flat. Moon glared at her reflection as if it were Darkstalker himself. It seems history has painted me that way, but perhaps that's what happens when you disappear before you can tell your own story, and only your enemies are left to finish it. Or your best friend-turned-enemies.

Alright. Explain your side then.

Grateful for the chance, he hurriedly filled her head with words. There was no theft. Foeslayer never stole Arctic - he ran away with her. They fell in love and eloped.

He betrayed his tribe? Didn't he try to explain himself?

Queen Diamond didn't want to hear it. An IceWing choosing his own path? Not following orders? The nerve! He grunted. She waged a war to get Arctic back, and he resented the fact that the rest of us fought to defend ourselves and protect him. And, of course, Arctic and Foeslayer had me. A thrice-moon-born animus.

Moon tried to imagine what Darkstalker must look like, overlapping the daydream onto her reflection in the water. Were his scales black, white or a mixture? Did he have the mane of horns IceWings did? Maybe his claws were more serrated than normal?

A random passing thought caught her interest. Even if you're immortal, how're you not mind-addled?

When I made myself immortal, I also made myself eternally youthful. Forever in my prime, both physically and mentally. I didn't want my mind to decay from years even when his body couldn't. And then he gave a slightly indignant harumph. And you make it sound as if I'm ancient.

Winter said the last IceWing animus was centuries ago.

Two thousand years, give or take. I've been asleep a long time, apparently. I suspect this bracelet was supposed to keep me that way forever.

So what happened?

It's broken. After two thousand years, anything becomes weaker. The earthquakes that came with the comet must've snapped it off.

The night her life changed. Hadn't she experienced some great amount of visions that night too? She hadn't been able to remember them, but what if they'd tried to warn her of this? Yet did she have a choice? What else was out there for her? A father hunting her, or the lurking animus in the shadows of her mind. It was as if forces beyond her control had compelled her down this road, from which she could not stray or draw back from. It was as if her whole life had been a prelude to that moment she heard him, that fateful meeting, that changed everything.* And now what was she to do?

Her claws grabbed hold of a flower, one of the first as the winter began to recede in time for the coming spring. One by one, she plucked off the petals. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to think you were some innocent victim, secluded away where I couldn't reach you."

They'd been talking about it for months. Moon wanted to know where he was, was starting to hope to put a plan together to rescue her friend. Darkstalker had said that he didn't want her to risk her life, but now she could see the lie for what it was. It burned her with shame.

Moon, Darkstalker said gently, please don't judge me just because of your IceWing's narrow minded simplifications. The IceWings hated the very thought of me from the moment I hatched.

Maybe they knew what you'd become.

It's not my fault I was born with these powers. I would think you'd know something about that.

But I never plotted to steal any thrones. The very idea went against the roots of her bones. My father might be bad, but I've never thought of killing him!

Arctic was a traitor. There was more venom in his voice when he mentioned that name. I saved the tribe from him. If I didn't, we would've all died. He was a lot worse than I am in those phony ghost stories! As for being king - why not? Just because we've only ever had queens, does that mean a king is impossible? Why would I have all these gifts if I wasn't supposed to use them to lead and protect the tribe?

Closing her eyes tight, she threw away the last remnants of the flower. She spun, ignoring the way her legs shook as she tried to walk. Her tail splashed into the lake, scattering the place where her image would have been.

Moon, Darkstalker tried to coax as she walked back towards Jade Mountain. I promise it's all highly exaggerated. Yes, I fought in the war, but almost every NightWing did, we had no choice. But I most certainly didn't make it 'rain blood'. Yes, I killed my father, but for good reason to save thousands of other lives. And I only wanted to take the throne because I wanted to make life better - for everyone! I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but please, you can't stay mad at me for this.

She stopped dead in her tracks, wings quivering. "You think this is why I'm mad at you?"

I… He must've searched through her mind, though she didn't try to hide it from him. And all at once she could almost see the way he shrank with realisation. Oh, Moon, I didn't -

"You're an animus." She hissed to the air. "The first NightWing animus. And considering that animus magic is genetic, that means you must be related to Stonemover. Which means you're related to Glassreader."

Yes, came the eventual reply. I had a sister. Not an animus herself, but she carried my father's blood. Glassreader must've been her son or grandson.

She continued, even though he already knew she'd figured it out. The words needed to be spoken aloud to make them real, to be laid at his feet. "Glassreader's spell meant that all the animus dragons of his family had to be bound to the will of his keepers. Keepers which run in my family. Which means you can't cast a spell without my permission."

I know what this looks like -

"You knew!" she yelled, tears in her eyes. "You knew all along I was the only one who could set you free! Did you even like me for me?! Or did you just read a script to pretend we were ever really friends?!"

Of course not! Moon, I swear to you, I didn't know - not fully - not at first. And after I found out, it was too late to just blurt it. Though she could only hear his voice, was it her imagination or did the scales on the back of her talons tingle as if the ghost of him had touched her? I swear, on my immortal life, I'm not faking that I do genuinely care about you, Moon. You're my only friend and my only hope.

To set you free.

Not if you don't wish it. Despite my desire to be free of this prison, I hold no power over you. I see futures where you free me, and futures where I live like this, in the dark, alone, for another thousand years. All your choices spiral off into different futures. The visions you've had are only brief glimpses of the most likely outcomes; you see them about as clearly as you'd see a dark cave with a burst of flame. And they could still all change.

So you can manipulate me into freeing you, she pointed out. You know exactly what you need to do to get me to say yes.

Another long pause. That's not fair, Moon. What can I say to that? Anything will sound like a trick to you. But it's not manipulating you if I tell you that what I'm going through right now is torture. That's just the truth. However, I cannot make you do anything. You make your own choices. That, unfortunately, is the essential problem with prophecy. Every dragon has the power to choose their own future. Except me, of course. Ironically.

The dots were all there, waiting for her to connect them and point the talon at him for being the bad guy all along. Yet there was still a part of her heart that wept at the thought of hurting their friendship, of being alone without him.

Where are you? She asked just to fill the silence.

I don't know, exactly. Somewhere close by, and dark. Underground. I can't move, I can only… think. Perhaps now you can see why I was so pleased to find you. I can hear everyone else, but they can't hear me. Makes for very boring, one-sided conversations.

The feeling of being torn felt so real, she was surprised her scales weren't splitting apart. Darkstalker was her friend, and yet he wasn't at the same time. He was someone who needed her, someone she could help. And despite the fact that she wanted to give Darkstalker the benefit of the doubt, she couldn't help but hear Winter's story repeat over and over in her mind.

I can't just set you free. I need… I need time to think about this. About you.

Have it, he said. I'll give you anything you want, help you in any way you want. Just… don't take away my only hope, Moon. Please. At least think about it.

Alright, she hung her head wearily. I'll think about it.

I never meant to hurt you.

Her wings folded around her, protecting her from the frigid winds. "I know."

The wind howled across the dunes, kicking up sand around Morrowseer's ears but he paid it little mind. His golden eyes remained fixed on the Stronghold, watching for movement. The night was creeping by and his patience was beginning to wear thin.

Then, a shadow broke from the sky and headed for his position. He did not stand, did not shift. The shadow in the sky split into three. Morrowseer's brow twitched. It would seem the would-be Queen was in the mood for testing boundaries.

Blister landed, neat and surgical, every move calculated and executed. Two guards came behind her more heavily, brandishing spears in what they obviously thought was an intimidating manner. Morrowseer gave them a quelling look. He out weighed them both and let them know it by peering down his snout at them. He stared at them in just the right manner for the correct length of time, and the trick always worked. After a few seconds, one guard shuffled a little, his talons readjusting their grip. The other's eyes darted about. Morrowseer curled his lip, and dismissed them.

That was the trick all NightWings were trained to perform, to make an enemy believe you could read their mind. It mostly worked through intimidation and reading body language. These guards didn't want to be here and the threat of Morrowseer was enough to make them question their orders. He could work with that.

Of course, telling all of that would be a lot easier if he had -

Don't think about that, he growled to himself, stamping out those treacherous thoughts before they had a chance to ensnare him in the muck of doubt.

"Over a year into this alliance, and still I have not won the SandWing throne," said Blister, her black eyes sliding off Morrowseer in an attempt to appear unaffected by him. "It would seem you oversold yourself."

"No more than you," Morrowseer replied evenly. "You have occupied the desert all this time and still you lack its complete obedience."

Her brows drew down with anger. "Traitors are being dealt with."

"Yes, by your 'Talons of Power'," he rolled his eyes. The reaction was immediate, Blister's wings stiffened and her guards looked at one another, growing pale. So the spies had been correct. "Former cutthroats and thieves. Fitting company for a Queen."

"As I once told you, Morrowseer," Blister snapped, "traitors tearing them apart from the inside is my kind of plan. To catch common rats you need to think like common rats. That is all Vulture and his goons are."

"But the NightWings are not." He allowed the first inflection to enter his tone, a growl rumbling up his throat. "Your push into the northern peninsula is reckless and we are not here to constantly clean up your messes."

"So long as my last sister still breathes, this war will never end. Blaze needs to die, so we must push-"

"Blaze is protected by hundreds of IceWing and SandWing guards, miles behind their blockade, inside a fortress. My soldiers will not keep saving yours. I will not launch an attack on the IceWings that will drag on longer than it should."

Blister snorted. "I was under the impression your tribe hated theirs."

"And I was under the impression you fought smart." He finally stood. The guards tensed, tails and spears at the ready. Morrowseer ignored them and instead focused on Blister's barely concealed outraged expression. "The IceWings will be destroyed. They shall be ground into their precious snow and all the fight in them shall be beaten out. But all in good time, when I have what I need to make an informed decision."

"When you can make a decision?"

"The Queen-apparent is still mourning the loss of her mother, and whilst she learns the nuances of ruling, she has appointed me to handle her duties." He said evenly.

"Then you are more equipped than ever to fulfill our agreement."

"And I shall, as will you. But there is now more of the board open for us to play with." He swept one wing to the dune behind him. Blister held her head high and strolled ahead. Her guards went to follow but Morrowseer stopped them with a quelling look. They decided not to push it.

Morrowseer followed after his SandWing ally. With his longer strides he drew level with her and led the way over the dune. A creeping sensation swept his talons and enveloped the scales of his arms the closer he drew to his destination. A feeling of quiet cold, of hardening tar, a wrongness that whispered to his sixth sense. Of course, he ignored it.

Black wings swept aside the sand to reveal the tunnel entrance. Though Blister had been through it once before, she still drew short momentarily. She eyed the tunnel's edges, but other than that she refused to show any reaction when she passed through. Morrowseer followed, his mind already cataloguing all the ways to dispatch her if need be. Behind her, he had the advantage to rip off her tail first and foremost. And whilst Blister was a vicious individual, she wasn't that impressive a warrior. With size, strength and training to his advantage, Morrowseer knew he could dispose of her quickly.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

They emerged from the dark and narrow tunnel into the flickering firelight. Two guards were waiting at the end of the tunnel. Curved spears, designed to stick in flesh and tear it, were at the ready in their talons. Upon seeing Morrowseer, however, they bowed and stood aside. He led the way again as they came around the side of the waterfall. All the trees in a hundred metre circle had been chopped down. The exposed trunks like the stumps of severed heads, bleeding red from the light of the brazier in the centre of camp. From the shadows came pairs of glittering dark wings, their faces turned to regard Blister solemnly before they carried on to their duties.

As their eyes adjusted to the light, Blister and Morrowseer could see the structures at the edges of the circle. Buildings made of wood taken from the ancient trees, or stone quarried where they could be found. It wasn't anything impressive, but it was the beginnings of things yet to come. The foundations for the kingdom the NightWings were going to build here. And Morrowseer had every intention of seeing that promise be fulfilled.

"I see you've been busy," Blister remarked.

"NightWings never rest until the job is finished," he said. "Not even when the odds seemed stacked or the goal is ever frustrating. We conquered the rainforest, we took the land we wanted and have made it ours. All without your assistance, it seems."

Blister glanced left and right, as more NightWings stepped out to surround them. They kept their distance, but their gaze was intent. Everyone watched for Blister's tail, to see whether she would act. Though her beady black eyes were dangerous, she did not move.

"I admire the show of strength, Morrowseer," she said in a tone that belied that fact. "But if you had no more use for me, you would have broken our alliance and never summoned me. There's more you want."

"Indeed," Morrowseer flicked his tail along the ground, and the NightWings receded back into the shadows again. "The former dragonets of destiny have started a little resistance against us, or so the rumours claim. Before they managed to escape us, they stole a vital informant that would help you win this war. This must be rectified."

"And how is this informant going to be of use? How do we know they haven't already been tortured and spilled all your secrets?"

Because I trained her not to, Morrowseer thought. But he said, "The dragonets of destiny are too soft to consider torture. And if we are to succeed in winning this war, then we need to play the long game, draw Glacier and Blaze out. I can only know how, when and where to do that with the help of this missing informant."

From the look on Blister's face, he knew she didn't fully trust his answers. But he wasn't giving her anything more. He needed Moonwatcher back. If that meant sending cunning and ruthless Blister to hunt her down to the ends of Pyrrhia, then so be it.

A twig snapped. All eyes turned towards the sound. The smug grin told Morrowseer more than anything else, the identity of the NightWing as he sauntered into the heart of the camp. In one talon he held a rope that dragged behind him.

"Fret not, for I have returned, triumphant," he proclaimed loudly. "Not that shocking, I know, but I thought you all might want to take this opportunity to be thankful."

Blister cocked a brow scornfully. "Do you allow all of your soldiers to show such insolence?"

It took every ounce of willpower, and counting backward in multiplications of three, for Morrowseer to maintain an outward appearance of calm. "Deathbringer is no soldier-"

"The greatest assassin in all of Pyrrhia, at your service." With a sweep of his wing, bowed low in an overly dramatic fashion. For not the first time, Morrowseer wanted to slice his claws along the younger dragon's arrogant throat. The only thing that stayed his talon was the fact that Deathbringer was, whether he liked it or not, the best agent he had.

Blister scoffed. "A bold claim."

"Deathbringer attempts to be amusing," said Morrowseer, "in the hope it will stave off future punishment."

The assassin cleared his throat as he stood. "Annnnnnnd, on that note, I would like to remind everyone that I did as ordered. Again."

He pulled on the rope, and a shadow fell into the firelight. Red scales and orange wings flopped to the ground in an undignified manner. Rubies encrusted into the scales along her brows caught the light, drawing attention to her furious yellow eyes. Even if Morrowseer hadn't met this dragon before this moment, he would recognise her by the hideous scar along one side of her face. Her flesh had been melted away around her eye socket and along her cheek, leaving her teeth to clack like a skull, and her eye to roll loosely.

Queen Scarlet.

Of course rumours had persisted the Scarlet was alive, even after she had been viciously attacked. Yet she'd disappeared so suddenly that many had doubted. Morrowseer had followed his gut and ordered Deathbringer to track her down. He could see the former SkyWing queen was a little weak, perhaps both from recovering from her horrendous injury, and from her captivity. Burn had kept her prisoner, yet with her death, Scarlet had escaped in the chaos. By the looks of it, she'd been in hiding for some time, barely surviving, on the run from a daughter who would want her dead to secure her own throne.

Scarlet starred up at them, growling savagely, smoke pouring out of her nostrils and from between her teeth. She couldn't do much more, Deathbringer had tied the rope tightly around her snout, wrists and ankles. She could probably do little more except shuffle in any one direction. Yet even when she lay so pathetically, she had the gall to promise gruesome deaths for all of them in her stare.

At last, Morrowseer jerked his head at her. "Let her speak."

"Err, are you sure about that, sir?" Deathbringer asked. "She's quite the fiery one - literally."

"Scarlet knows that she's without allies, without power, and surrounded by enemies. If she stopped and thought for a moment, she would recognise that by all rights, she should be dead. Unless we had something we needed to discuss." Morrowseer bent low to push his large face close to Scarlet's. She hissed, and more smoke poured out of her, but he ignored it. "Are you willing to talk, Scarlet?"

There was a moment of hesitation, where she weighed her options. But she must've found some wisdom in his words, either that or she spotted all the hostile dragons around her and recognised a fight she couldn't win - at least not in her current state. She nodded. Morrowseer pulled back and Deathbringer reluctantly did as ordered.

"Don't think me so helpless, NightWing!" Scarlet spat the moment the assassin undid the bonds around her snout. He left the rest of her tied up, however. "I didn't stay Queen of the Sky Kingdom for so long without good reason."

Morrowseer's expression mirrored the one he'd worn when he'd visited her arena - utter boredom. "The fact that you were Queen for so long is precisely why I wish to open negotiations with you."

"Negotiations?" Blister demanded incredulously. "Morrowseer, are you forgetting that this wretch was once an enemy of mine? She sided with Burn, directly opposed my candidacy as queen."

Scarlet threw her head back (as much as she could) and laughed. "For all your smarts, Burn was more fun than you, Blister-dear."

The SandWing turned her black eyes on her, and stalked around her. Scarlet had to try and twist her head painfully to keep her (and her tail) in her line of sight. "Yes, my sister let you play with your toys, until you became just hideous enough to become one of her toys. Was it fun, being in my sister's weirdling tower? I heard she likes to do all kinds of experiments on dragons who differentiate from the norm."

She completed her circle and tapped her talon on the end of Scarlet's nose, just shy of her scars. The SkyWing fought against her bonds, and snapped her teeth at Blister's claws.

"Believe me," Scarlet snarled. "If she were alive, I'd be the first in line to gut her! And my traitorous daughter too!"

Blister chuckled. "How? From what I hear, your kind are quite taken with Ruby. I find her dull witted, but your subjects are nauseatingly loyal to her. They'd probably kill you themselves before you could ever get close to issuing a challenge."

"But," Morrowseer said, "we could step in on your behalf. If Blister can involve alliances to obtain her throne, why shouldn't you?"

Scarlet scoffed. "Is that you opening negotiation? Bold, I'll admit. What do you want in return?"

"The rebels. The Sky Kingdom is vast and wild, with plenty of places to hide. The other Kingdoms are too extreme to house all of them comfortably. You know the mountains better than any other SkyWing alive - at least, that is what you always boasted. Deliver on that claim, and find us the dragons of destiny."

"I want the RainWing! The one who did this to my face!" She cried immediately, jabbing one talon towards the wounded side of her head. "I want to kill her myself, slowly, painfully."

"Done."

"And you will help me take back my throne?" this time she was a little more wary.

Blister smirked. "That depends upon how well you perform your task."

"Oh, don't you worry about that, Blister-dear," Scarlet grinned toothily. "I have just the plan for that. I won't even have to leave this rainforest. It turns out your beloved sister was more of an imbecile than even you realised. She was oblivious to what she had at her disposal."

They bickered back and forth for a time before their alliance was finally settled and agreed upon. Deathbringer quickly untied her, and made himself scarce before the SkyWing could kill him "accidentally" out of spite. Morrowseer wasn't sure whether he would reprimand her or not if she did so. Scarlet then demanded food and rest, and a NightWing scurried to show her to appropriate quarters.

"So," Blister said as they watched Scarlet be led into the camp. "Your plan is to have her find us the dragonets..."

He nodded. "Yes. When she leads us there, we destroy the RainWings, capture any runaway NightWings and force the Dragons of Destiny to publicly proclaim you, Blister, as Queen of the SandWings."

"And if they refuse, we can always kill them to stop others following in their footsteps."

"Then we understand each other."

And then, when it was all done with, he would finally have Moonwatcher back. She would be back where she belonged, her little rebellious foray would be over. The memory of her disobedience still made his stomach turn. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. She betrayed the tribe, betrayed him, and if she were anyone else, he wouldn't hesitate to have her punished severely. But then, she was also his dragonet. And she'd walked away from him.

Perhaps he'd been wrong to keep her away from the island. Perhaps being on the mainland, surrounded by the enemy, away from her own kind, had planted corruption in her. Her mind was addled and needed to be corrected. He would see to that.

And then, once he had his daughter back, her true purpose would be fulfilled. With her powers in both telepathy and foresight, he could discover the weaknesses of every Queen and Kingdom in Pyrrhia. NightWing dominance over the entire continent would be assured. The tribe would be made glorious once again.

"You will have your throne, Queen Blister. We will see to that."

* = Christopher Golden