Chapter Ten

Moon yawned, brain groggy and eyes heavy. She'd only gotten perhaps an hour's worth of sleep after overhearing the would-be murderer. One would think that with mind-reading, it would be easy to catch a mental conversation. But whoever she had overheard last night, had cut the connection and didn't go back.

Now, as she tried to go about her usual business, she was left with a quandary. Should she tell someone about the voice she heard, about someone's plan to murder another dragon? The Dragons of Destiny were an obvious choice. But then, what could she say? If she overheard real voices, why couldn't she pick up any clues about them? Tsunami's first question would be to ask where Moon overheard this conversation. But of course, Moon didn't know exactly where the conspirator had been, she just had a vague impression that they were on the eastern side of the mountain. If she picked a random spot, they would want to know why they couldn't pick up the scent of another dragon. Or worse, if they did, what if that led them to the wrong dragon?

The other alternative would be to admit that she had powers. That way, she could come clean about exactly what she'd overheard and her friends would have a better vantage to sort out the clues. But would they believe her? They had all accepted that NightWings no longer had powers, if they ever did at all. Being around Fatespeaker and her delusional "prophecies" so much, Moon already knew the five would be very skeptical of any claims she made. If she could convince them, what would they do? Tsunami and Glory had already taken some time to fully trust Moon. They thought she didn't notice, but after so long in their heads, she knew how hard it had been for them to overcome their suspicions.

If Moon admitted to having powers, and what's more, revealed to having lied to them all this time, they would surely be angry. Would they kick her out of the rebellion? No, she knew too much. So would they lock her up? Flashes of her mother's worst nightmares spun in front of Moon's eyes. Of dragons locking her away, or shunning her, or using her power for themselves. And of her friends… of them no longer wanting anything to do with her.

Moon suddenly became aware of how much her own worries and insecurities sounded like Darkstalker's pleas to her the other night. Was this how he had felt? Desperate to say something but nervous about which one was the right choice?

This internal debate with herself carried on for the rest of the morning. She had her first lesson with a bunch of two year-old dragonets. Most of them were RainWings, though some refugees who had found safe harbour with the rebellion had brought their dragonets with them. Moon taught them about the other tribes, their abilities and known histories. Sunny wanted all of them to have a general education about the others, so that they might grow up to have friends like she did. And through friendship could come understanding.

She must've been more tired than she'd first realised, as Turtle had to prompt her more than once. When the class ended, for lunch, he came to her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she said quickly. "Sorry. Didn't sleep well."

His face softened. "Oh, I understand that."

Moon could see it, his head was often soft and quiet, but there were moments where even Turtle caught her attention. Times when he would feel achingly lonely, or afraid of that loneliness. He went from being one of thirty, always in a group, always used to chatter and sleeping side by side with his brothers… to being one of few, one always in danger of being alone. She'd even overheard his brain at night when he longed to sleep beside someone, anyone, for that feeling of closeness.

"You know what I do when I can't sleep?" he said. "I go and sleep at the bottom of the underground lake. The noise - or lack of it - is tuned out. The constantly moving water fools you into thinking someone's there with you."

"It does sound comforting… though I'm not sure I could successfully sleep underwater." They both smiled.

"Moony! Turtle! There you are!" came the loud sing-song voice of Kinkajou as she poked her head through the entryway to Moon's classroom. "Come on! I got us the best spot for lunch!"

Turtle chuckled. "You say that every day."

"Well, today it's true. This time, I've picked a spot where we get the most sun for me but it's sheltered from the wind for you guys. Although there is a slight chilly spot - we can just stick Winter there. Did I mention I totally don't do this whole changing seasons thing? I much preferred it being one constant climate in the rainforest. Argh! Stupid NightWings and their stupid faces. No offense, Moon."

"None taken," Moon murmured distractedly as she followed behind Kinkajou and Turtle. The pair of them naturally fell into step, talking almost without pause, while hardly paying attention to where they were headed. Kinkajou's scales, though still their ever bright sunny yellow, quickly formed splashes of vibrant pink. Turtle couldn't keep a smile off of his face. Sometimes Moon wondered if she even needed to see into their heads to confirm they both felt something more than friendship. If only they would ever admit it.

As they traversed the halls, Moon quickly phased out the voices of her friends, and barely paid attention to where they were going. Once more, her mind spun away to other places, other tracks of thought. The debate from earlier was back with a vengeance, and it quickly frustrated her to constantly think in circles.

"Hey, Glory!"

Moon blinked and looked up. They weren't at the Prey Centre. Instead, they were outside of the 'war-room', as everyone had affectionately named it. It was pretty high up in the mountain, and usually only the Dragons of Destiny and the delegates they chose to speak to in these meetings were allowed inside. Glory and Tsunami were walking towards them from a separate tunnel. Their conversation stopped when Kinkajou had called out.

"Hello, Kinkajou. Prince Turtle. Moon." Glory greeted. "I trust you're all well?"

"Of course we are!" Kinkajou bounced excitedly. "Especially because it's such a nice day, and you need to come with us for lunch."

Kinkajou went to wrap her wings around her queen's shoulders, but Glory shied away from the physical contact. "Kinkajou, I'm afraid I can't. I've got a meeting and-"

The smaller RainWing turned a despondent blue all over. "But… You have to! You're always in meetings, you should be out with us. Show everyone how awesome you are!"

"How can you say no to that?" Tsunami chuckled.

The muscles in the queen's jaw tightened. "Look, I'm sorry. But you wanted me to be queen. This is the responsibility I have to deal with now."

"Just five minutes!" Kinkajou pleaded. "You won't be late - you're always early to these meetings anyway. Five minutes won't hurt."

Moon could see the despair growing inside Kinkajou at the thought of the Queen not wanting to spend time with her. The younger RainWing's mind instantly went to dark places, such as if this was her fault, had she done something wrong, did Glory not want to be her friend anymore? It broke Moon's heart to let her best friend think like that.

"Kinkajou has been telling me how much she's looked forward to this lunch with you," Moon piped up.

Ruff flaring yellow, Kinkajou spun to Moon. "I have?" At her significant look, she whirled quickly back to Glory. "I mean - I have! Yes, I have."

"She is right," said Tsunami. "Between us and those IceWings, we're always early for these meetings."

"It shows that we're taking this seriously!" Glory shot back. "Now come on, we need-"

A pounding was steadily growing in Moon's head, like a wave building and building until it crashed upon her shore. Moon gasped. White hot pain roared through her brain and down her spine. Her knees went weak and her skull felt like it would be split open. Images flashed across her eyes. Flames, blinding light, blackened scales -

Darkstalker! Moon tried to pull herself out of the visions, the way he had taught her too. But it was like attempting to free herself from quicksand. The more she struggled, the deeper she was pulled in.

Moon, watch out -!

It was like someone had stabbed a claw through her eye socket. Moon collapsed to the ground, clutching her head. The vision branded her brain, overtaking her senses, enslaving her to its whims until it was done with her.

She was in the war room. There were flames everywhere. The heat seared away her flesh and blasted away her bones. No matter where she ran, hot embers seared her feet. No matter where she turned, flames ate at her body. Smoke clogged her lungs and choked her throat. There was no air - why was there no air?!

Glory was screaming, scales a pale white before they melted away. Starflight was feeling along the walls for the exit in a panic, the scars over his eyes now matching all the rest of his blistering body. Tsunami was roaring and thrashing around the room trying to douse the flames. Clay was motionless on the floor; in the explosion, a stake from the war-table had blasted into his chest and pierced his heart. Sunny was beside him, shaking him, yelling at him to get up, her tears evaporating as they left her eyes. She seemed oblivious to her wings turning to ash.

"Moony?" called a voice, maybe more than once. She tried to turn away from this nightmare, go to that cool place the voices called to her from. Where could she hear them? Why couldn't they help her?

"What's wrong with her?"

"She told me she gets these episodes, l-like post traumatic-"

"Maybe we should get her inside. Moony, are you alright?" A talon touched hers.

The world churned and spun, until Moon thought she would be sick. It felt like she had been balancing on a single taut wire, and was suddenly pulled onto another thread to watch unravel.

Now, Kinkajou and Turtle were in the flames too. They were screaming, dying. Turtle was fiddling with a pouch but his talons were crumbling to ash. Kinkajou crawled towards Moon, her mouth hanging open in an endless scream. She clawed her way up Moon's body, her melting eyes begging Moon to do something! Why couldn't she do anything?!

Moon! Came a loud, thunderous voice. A shadow fell over the world, like giant wings folding around her, shutting her away from the awful scene. Music filled her head, low and calming, a beautiful melody that wrapped around her mind. You're alright, you're safe, it isn't real.

How… how...? Moon struggled. Her spirit felt caught between the horror and despair of the fire, and the music in the darkness that caressed and soothed her spirit. Slowly, she became aware of herself again, her mind slowly coming back piece by piece. How is it not real?

It's in your mind. It's not happened yet. Deep breaths, calm down. You need to get up and move. You only have a few minutes-

The others-!

"Clay! There you are!" yelled Tsunami's voice as Moon opened her eyes. The lights felt too bright, the floor too cold. Tsunami was ushering someone in from another tunnel. "Something's wrong with Moon, can you do something?"

"I think she's having a panic attack," said Turtle. He and Kinkajou were on either side of her, trying to help her up.

"Moony! What's wrong? We need to lie you down-"

They were going to take her inside the war room. She couldn't let it happen. She couldn't let them die! Pulling away from them, she stood in front of the entry, wings spread wide to block the way.

"Don't!" she begged. The vision was trying to encroach upon her again. It kept shifting and changing. The pain and the distraction made her voice weak and her sight dim. "Don't… go in!"

"Something's got her scared," said Glory from the back.

"Please, listen!" she yelled. "You can't! It's too dangerous!"

"Dangerous?"

Clay wiggled through his friends to stand in front of her. He took her head in his talons and tried to see into her eyes. The touch amplified his thoughts, how worried he was, a little voice warning him that something wasn't right. Was she mad? It whispered to him.

Two other sets of thoughts were coming down the tunnel towards them. One brilliant and quick. Another cold and strong.

"By the Great Dragon, what is going- Moon?" shouted Winter. And then he and Qibli were elbowing through the crowd until they were in front of her. "Moon! What's wrong?"

"You can't go in!" she told them. "No one can go in!"

Look at her eyes, she's terrified. Did someone do this to her? No, no one seems to know what's going on. Thought Qibli. "Maybe we should get her to the infirmary."

"She doesn't want us going into the war room," said Kinkajou. "Something must be wrong…"

Winter lifted his head to see over Moon's shoulder, his eyes focused, assessing. "I'll check-"

Moon grabbed hold of either side of his face and pulled him down to look into her eyes. "No! No one can go in there! Promise me! D- ARGH!"

Winter and Qibli were the only ones in the room now, and they were both burning. Screaming -

"Moon!" The cold touch of white scales anchored her back to herself. Winter was holding her up. She'd collapsed again, into his arms. He tried to set her on her feet, his wings supporting hers. Qibli helped him to turn her away, Kinkajou's rainbow mind there ready to help lead the way to safety. "We promise, no one will go in. Just tell us what's wrong."

Had she done it? Had she saved them? Maybe everything would be -

Get down! Darkstalker roared into her brain.

Moon felt as if he'd slammed great talons into her back and thrown her to the ground. Just a second later, there was a whoosh and a boom, as light exploded around them and the war room blasted into a ball of fire.

Everyone was thrown back by the force. Moon felt weightless until her body slammed into the tunnel wall. Her head hit hard enough that she went blind for a fraction of a second. She melted to the floor, boneless, disorientated. Forcing her eyes open, she tried desperately to stay awake. Warm wetness was running down the back of her neck. Her shoulder was burning.

Tsunami, Clay and Glory were up on their feet, as were Qibli and Turtle. But Winter and Kinkajou were on the ground, faces contorted in pain. Moon tried to stand up, to get to them, but one of her forelegs didn't want to work properly. Down the hall came Peril, running, with Sunny further back helping Starflight along. Glory was pointing and saying something but Moon couldn't hear it, there was a ringing in her ears that was too loud to overcome.

But everything in her head was coming through loud and clear. Most of it was an overwhelming wave of fear, words scattered from many different voices, images and imaginings. It pressed down on Moon, their fear becoming her fear, until she thought that if she could be any more scared, she would die.

Listen to me, Darkstalker's voice came into her head, batting away the other insignificant noise and commanding her attention. With him he brought that beautiful music that instantly hypnotised her into a sense of calm. I am the calmest voice you can hear. Use me as your anchor. I'll keep talking until you calm down. Breathe, Moon, breathe.

She did. One after another, she tried to suck in air to remain calm, even if it was tainted with the smoke pouring out of the war room. Darkstalker talked, constantly and calmly, and it rooted her in place. She looked at Winter, at Kinkajou and was almost too afraid to reach out to them. What if they were dead? Or close to death?

Abruptly, she remembered that awful night in the rainforest, when she had been inside that NightWing's head, had experienced his death with him. Vomit threatened at the back of her throat. That moment had haunted her for months on the run. She couldn't go through it again - especially not with those she loved! Pop, that dreadful pop and then gone. They were gone, she was gone, just -

You're not in the rainforest, said Darkstalker, pulling her back to reality. You're in Jade Mountain, with your friends, with me. Everyone is fine. Kinkajou is fine, Qibli is fine. Your little idiot, regrettably, is fine.

Why regrettably? She asked shakily.

So you are listening. Good. Now stay with me.

Sound was slowly coming back to her. Muted at first, like she was trying to hear underwater. Peril was poised at the edge of the scene, face stricken as she looked between Clay and her friends. And then, Clay was beckoning her to follow him into the smoke, likely trying to find out what had happened. Tsunami was pointing, and then she was hoisting Moon onto her back whilst Qibli tried to take Winter. Glory and Sunny brought Kinkajou. Moon whimpered, her injuries aggravated when Tsunami pulled her up. And then, all of them were travelling down and through the mountain, towards the infirmary.

The infirmary was the sunniest cave in the mountain. Small openings in the walls (now rigged with large palm leaves to act as curtains) allowed sunlight to pour in from every angle. Vines of flowers and poultices of healing herbs hung from the ceiling, giving the room a strong scent, as if to transport the minds of the sick back to the comforts of the forests. There were two lines of short wooden cots and thin pillows. The healers were usually two rainwings, but they were absent - probably gone for their suntime. Tsunami, Glory, Sunny and Qibli each went to a bed and deposited their charges as carefully as they could. When Moon was finally laid down, she tried to relax, but became aware of the drip of her blood staining the wood of her cot. Tsunami moved away, and in her shadow was Turtle, fretting his talons, tears in his eyes as he looked over his injured friends.

"...get help," Tsunami was saying as sound finally returned to Moon's ears. She, Sunny, and Glory hurried towards the exit. But Tsunami quietly paused beside Turtle, her eyes glancing towards Moon. She bent close to whisper, but Moon heard the words ring in her mind. "Find out how she knew about this."

They left. Turtle watched them go, brown eyes wide and frightened as a rabbit before a wolf. Kinkajou looked concussed and was sporting one laceration across her chest, but seemed otherwise fine. Qibli was checking over Winter's injuries, moving his wing aside carefully - it was a blackened mess. He must've been hit by a piece of burning debris. His entire left side was burned, blackened, and shrivelled. His face was turned into his pillow, teeth biting into it to stop himself from screaming.

"There's got to be something we can do!" Qibli hissed, he looked along the vines of herbs, desperate for something to help.

Turtle began to pace. His mind was spinning so fast, Moon couldn't keep up. The only thing that came up frequently in his thoughts was a… stone?

Finally picking one herb, he came to Winter. "Chew this!" He practically nearly stuffed it into the IceWing's mouth. Winter choked a moment but did as he was told. He rumbled his displeasure at the taste - IceWings were almost pure carnivores.

Turtle stopped pacing to sit, hunched over and clutching his horns.

Qibli's eyes found Moon, and she saw in his expression how bad her injuries must look. He came to her side, his warm talons brushing over her shoulders. Picking more of the pain-killer, he offered it to her. She shook her head. "Give it to Winter,"

"Move!"

Everyone jumped, shocked that Turtle, of all dragons, would speak in such a way. Qibli stepped aside as the SeaWing prince came beside Winter. He reached into the pouch he always carried around his neck and pulled out what looked like an ordinary river stone, round and smooth. He pressed it to Winter's injuries and passed it along his scales.

Moon froze, transfixed. Where Turtle's rock touched, Winter's scales slowly knitted themselves together, returning to their usual white-blue colour, and lost every blemish. Winter gasped, eyes wide, his mind quickly emptying of pain. Qibli's jaw fell wide open. Turtle ignored him as he moved from Winter to Kinkajou. He delicately held her head in one talon, and passed his stone over her head and then her chest. The cut healed itself, and her eyes lost their dazed gleam.

Lastly, he came to Moon, and pressed his stone to her head. There was a touch of dark ice, of wrongness, of something that defied the laws of nature brushing close against her. But then, she felt something warm sweep through her flesh, and all pain receded. There was an itch along her scales as they fixed themselves, and then all the cloudiness that had fogged the edges of her mind vanished.

Well, rumbled Darkstalker, this changes things…

"That… that's magic," stuttered Qibli, staring at the rock in Turtle's talons.

Winter slowly, shakily, pushed himself up. "Where did you get an animus-touched object?"

Turtle slowly stowed the rock into the pouch around his neck, avoiding their eyes. Moon peered into his mind as much as she could. His thoughts still seemed uninteresting and slow; she had to fight through the muck of it in order to get to what he was really thinking. And that was when she found it.

"You're an animus…" she breathed.

Everyone held their breath.

Turtle nodded.

Qibli rushed to the entryway and looked out into the tunnel. He glanced left and right, before quickly pulling back in and sweeping a vine curtain across the opening. He spun back to the others, eyes wide. "How is this possible?!"

Kinkajou jumped up from her bed. "How could you not tell us?!"

"No one else knows. I've never told anyone. Actually, can we not talk about it? It's not really a big deal."

"NOT A-" Winter went to shout, but Qibli almost jumped on him to hush him up. "Not a big deal?! You are an animus! Why keep something so important hidden? You could have served your tribe, you could have helped us win this war already!"

"Um, exactly?" Turtle shrank into his wings.

"Why didn't you use your magic sooner?" demanded Qibli. "You could've stopped that explosion -"

"I didn't know that was going to happen! And it was too late by then, and everyone was panicking, and I didn't want anyone to see!" He shot back with small frustration. "I've only ever used it for small things. Things no one will notice. You can't get it wrong and disappoint people if no one knows you're different."

Moon felt that resonate within her like a bell. But she was surprised to see that it quelled Winter too, his wings drooped and his eyes became downcast. His thoughts plummeted down into a memory of an IceWing surrounded by SkyWings, and the shame that it brought him.

Kinkajou scurried towards him, her scales turning a grey, sad blue with slick flecks of red along her tail. "But… don't you trust us?" Don't you trust me?

Turtle looked stricken. "Of course I do - I trust you guys more than anyone! I just… didn't know how to tell you. And… I was afraid."

"Tsunami said you were quick to run away with her when the Summer Palace was attacked," Qibli said, his eyes narrowed, his mind reeling off all of Turtle's body language. "You were discovered. That's why you fled."

Turtle slumped. "It was Whirlpool - my mother's chief advisor. I went to speak to her to try to free Tsunami and her friends. I don't know what happened. I was trying to enchant something to make me seem more convincing, I guess, and Whirlpool saw me. He died when Tsunami broke out. But I didn't know if he'd told anyone else. I… I panicked."

Moon couldn't speak. Didn't trust herself to. Qibli and Winter exchanged significant looks.

"Please," Turtle begged quietly. "Please don't tell anyone - I promise, I'll come clean to the others. I just… I didn't want to be used - I didn't want to hurt anyone. Ever."

All the power in the universe, and he would rather sit under a rock, Darkstalker growled. The blank wall that shielded his true thoughts fractured for a moment and Moon sensed a deep, seething resentment, so strong she was taken by surprise. Just like Fathom!

She decided to question him on it later. Her head was clear but her legs still felt weak as she slowly crawled off her cot. Turtle watched her approach with great trepidation. Slowly, she placed her talon over his. "You're still our friend, Turtle. Your secret is yours to tell."

Turtle let loose a rush of air, his eyes glistening. A smile spread across his face, creasing his eyes. His mind was filled with warm currents and sunbeams through the waves.

"Moon, you're still hurt," said Winter, already walking towards her.

She glanced down at her shoulder. There was a small burn, about the size of a claw. a burning splinter must've hit her. Turtle reached for his pouch again, but Moon stopped him with a wing. "No, it's fine. Nothing to worry about."

"Here, let me." Before she could stop him, Winter was pushing aside her wing and leaning in.

A rattling collected in the back of his throat as he summoned his frostbreath. Moon's stomach clenched for a second, and she remained still as stone. Winter brought his snout close to her shoulder, just an inch from her scales. He opened his mouth and gently breathed the softest trace of frost across her neck. There was a moment of slight discomfort, before the area went numb and all she could feel was the tickle of his breath. A shiver that had nothing to do with the cold rippled down her spine.

Slowly, he pulled back. Why was his face so close? When had he reached out to hold her arms in his talons? Why couldn't she look away from his deep blue eyes? And… why was his mind so torn between something forbidden and warm, and something dark and suspicious?

"Now," he said slowly. "You need to tell us how you knew about that explosion."

A/N: I know this first section is very book-plot heavy, but I promise that as soon as we get into part two, things will quickly go into a completely new route. This is all just set up for what is to come.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please don't forget to review!

(Edit: I've fixed the formatting issues now, FF just wanted to really misbehave with me, it seems -_-)