Chapter Twenty One

After a good breakfast, like he'd promised, Darkstalker led Moon out into the city for another lesson. She did her best to banish thoughts of the scathing remarks from her friends, but it still made her heart heavy. Not even the light of the three moons on such a clear night could soothe her like they normally did. There was not a single cloud in the night sky, allowing a chill to creep across her wings. Spring flowers were creeping out from their underground beds, but it wasn't warm yet.

Darkstalker took her to what once must've been a small park, filled with climbing frames, gliding platforms, and jumping rails. Most of it was destroyed, the grassy hills overgrown. But it wasn't hard to imagine this place filled with the laughter of tiny dragonets, too young for school, their parents watching over them from the benches to the side. It was the little details like this that allowed Moon to believe that this was once a thriving city, not just a monolith to some unknown entity beyond remembrance.

Before she could speak, Darkstalker held up a claw to his lips for silence. He beckoned her to follow. Hunkering down, he crept behind overgrown bushes and trees at the side of the park. It was rather comical for a dragon of his size to try to sneak at all, even when he laid his skinny stomach flat against the ground and pulled his wings down and tight against his body. Moon followed as best she could, though there wasn't much room in his hiding spot, thanks to his big bulk. He seemed to realise and gave a strained smile in apology. Squishing himself against the building wall behind him, he made enough room for her to get in. It wasn't very comfortable, and her flank was pressed against the cradle made by his thigh and waist.

What're we doing here? She asked in her mind.

You'll see, was all he said at first. It might take a little while, but our prey should be coming along shortly…

She frowned. Our prey? But we just ate!

Not that kind of prey.

It did take long for her to realise what he was talking about. From across the playground, there was a scuttle amongst the grass. Then, climbing up a broken ladder of a slide, was a monitor lizard. It sat there for a while, forked tongue flicking in and out as it tried to find prey. It seemed almost completely oblivious to their presence.

Darkstalker put his talon over hers. Not yet…

They watched the lizard as it prowled closer and closer. It didn't seem aware of their presence, either that, or it had been so long since dragons had lived here, that it had no clue as to what they were. It came to just within reach of them, and when it did so, Darkstalker lunged out of the bushes with frightening speed - it should have been impossible for something of his size to move so swiftly! He hadn't even ruffled Moon as he'd rushed past her. The lizard was snatched up in his claws before it had the chance to turn. The NightWing drake held it in his claws, grinning with all his teeth, the moons bright behind him, casting his face in shadow aside from the glint of a pale blue-silver iris.

Moon was rooted to the spot, her throat choked as she stared at him. But then he moved, reaching to beckon her out, and then his usual warm smile was there, his eyes bright with excitement. A shiver ran down Moon's spine as she crawled out. What had happened there?

The lizard squirmed in Darkstalker's talon but was not hurt in any way. He brandished the lizard with a triumphant grin. "This is your lesson!"

Moon frowned. "How to catch a lizard?"

"Don't be a ninny. Look into its mind."

Animals didn't have thoughts, not in the way dragons did, at least. But she did as asked, and tried to delve into the mind that belonged to the monitor lizard. As she suspected, its mind was not very complex. There was more of a 'life-force' glow to it, the warmth of something alive was what she could feel. Along with basic emotions such as hunger and fear. But there were no words, no actual 'thought-process' for her to read.

"It's a lizard. What is the point of this?" she asked.

Darkstalker twisted his talon so that he might study his prize from all angles. "This lizard recently came out of hibernation. There's a whole colony of them back there," he gestured his head to the hill in the centre of the playground. Sure enough, Moon now noticed a series of small holes; entrances to burrows. "What we're trying to do is teach you to find a particular mind even when it is drowned out by other voices. We lack a crowd to do this in, so we can try with this. If you can pick out one lizard's mind amidst a group, you will have no problem finding the dragon of your choice in a crowd."

Anxiety made her stomach twist. "Doesn't this sound a bit advanced? I haven't even mastered the techniques we tried last night."

"You'll get the hang of it. I want to try everything, to see where your strengths are so that then we can build on your weaknesses."

He plucked a white flower from the bushes they'd been hiding behind, and smeared it over the lizard's back. A white residue was rubbed off on its scales, leaving an easy identifier. Frantically, Moon tried to read as much as she could from the lizard, familiarising herself with its emotions in the hope of finding something to mark it from any others.

You'll do fine, said his soothing voice in her head. You're worrying a hole in the floor. Relax and trust yourself.

Moon's eyes shot downward. Sure enough, her claws had been digging furrows in the ground without her knowing. She bit her lip, willing herself to calm down and failing spectacularly. Darkstalker gave her a smile and then placed the lizard on the ground. There was a breathless moment where it froze, as if to be sure it was really free. And then, all at once it burst with energy and raced back across the park. Moon tried to keep up with it, mind to mind, so that she wouldn't lose it. But the moment that it ducked into a burrow, it was swallowed by a sea of similar minds.

The task was supposedly simple - follow the mind of the lizard and retrieve it. On shaking talons, Moon went to the burrow. She sat and scrunched her eyes shut, searching a dozen lizard-minds under the earth for anything that felt familiar. But all of their minds were like clones of the other - indistinguishable and foreign. Was it this one, who had a stab of extra hunger? Or that one who was a little more afraid than the others? The longer she took to decide, her anxiety grew. It was like she could feel Darkstalker's eyes on her back, could hear the tick of time as it went by.

All her lessons with her father came rushing back. She wasn't good enough, she was failing!

Latching onto a mind she was almost sure was the right one, she thrust her talon into the burrow and grabbed hold of it. A chorus of hisses came her way but she quickly pulled out her prize. Only to find the lizard in her grasp had no white stripe.

"Moon-" Darkstalker tried, his voice gentle.

But she panicked. Putting the lizard down, she went to the mind she had first thought might be her prey. Sticking her talon into that one's burrow, she pulled it out. Still not the right one. One final time, she plunged -

"Moon, stop." Darkstalker said, catching hold of her wrist before she could put her hand back into the nest of now angry lizards.

Now she'd done it - she'd failed utterly. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and immediately ducked low in submission. "I'm sorry!" she burst, and then cursed herself. Her father had always said that wasn't a very NightWing thing to say. "I'll do better next time, I promise!"

"Moon, it's alright," he was saying. "Why would you-"

"I can do better this time! Just give me another chance, I'll do it right-"

Moon. His voice resounded in her head like a gong. She froze, as if awoken from a terrible nightmare. An abyss yawned in her mind, ready to swallow her sense of self. But then, Darkstalker's mind was within hers, his music washing over her mind and bringing her back from the brink. You're fine. You did fine.

How can you say that, she whispered back. Slowly, giving her ample chance to reject him, he reached out to take her talons in his. The solidity of his flesh against hers helped to ground her. I completely failed the test.

It wasn't a test, it was a lesson. And it is perfectly fine not to get them correct the first time. And you were on edge right from the start. Forgive me, next time I'll be sure you're okay.

How disappointed you must be, to have a student as pathetic as me.

A soft growl rumbled out of his chest. And then he did something unexpected: he pressed his forehead against hers. Moon froze, shocked by the action, but it wasn't unwelcome. Your father should be ashamed of himself for doing this to you!

"He…" her voice croaked a little and she swallowed. "He did the best he could, to motivate me-"

"Tosh!" He snorted. And Moon didn't know whether it was because he'd said such an absurd word, or the intensity of her emotions had made her hysterical, but she laughed. "You are not a failure, Moon. And you are not pathetic. It is your father who has failed you."

"But what if I keep failing?" she couldn't help but ask fearfully.

"Then you fail. And we will try again and again, until we get it right. Like with the raindrops. And the dream-pulls. You're stronger than you think, Moon, I know it. Just stay calm. I'm never going to hurt you like he did."

And she believed him wholeheartedly. If the previous night had been the first clue, his actions now fully cemented in her mind that he wasn't like Morrowseer. He wouldn't get impatient with her, scare her, yell at her, or only accept perfection. Darkstalker was gentle, encouraging and funny. He made her feel safe.

"You're rather good at these pep-talks," she said with a watery smile.

Darkstalker huffed in amusement as he pulled back his head. He dropped her talons but blanketed his wing over her back. "This isn't my first experience with terrible self-esteem thanks to horrible families."

"Oh?" she quirked a brow. "Who else?"

"Well, I had to endure it like you do," he said. "But later I had to uplift a friend as well…"

He trailed off, his smile fading and his gaze going distant. Moon watched his face, perplexed. It was as if all the warmth had been sucked out of Darkstalker, and in his eyes came many fleeting emotions. Anger, hurt, guilt, hate.

"Was it… was it Fathom?" she asked quietly.

"Yes." The word was clipped, but Moon got the impression that he wasn't being bad tempered with her. He held his head high, avoiding eye contact. "A lot of good that did me."

He stalked off, heading in the vague direction of the city centre and the Great Diamond. Clearly, he didn't want to have this conversation. Moon didn't know why, but she felt like she had to try and draw it out of him. With longer legs, he tried to keep ahead of her, but she was determined to keep pace.

"You've always talked about Fathom as if you knew him before…" she stopped, unsure how to say 'before you apparently turned evil and he had to stop you' without offending him. "How did you two meet?"

"He showed up." Was the only answer he provided.

Moon rolled her eyes. So he was going to act like a dragonet? Very well. "What was it like, knowing another animus? I know you had your father -"

"Ha!" Darkstalker's bark of laughter held no mirth. "My father was as useful as a paper thimble when it came to anything about magic!"

"Then you and Fathom really only had each other."

He stopped, head snapping to give her a hard stare. "Why are you so insistent on this line of conversation?"

"Because it's clear to me that you cared for Fathom at some point in time," she tried to say as gently as possible.

"Of course I did! He was like a brother to me - made it all the easier for him to stab me in the back." he growled.

"You keep focusing on the betrayal, Darkstalker. You're forgetting to remember the good memories, too."

"You would, if you knew what he did."

She set her jaw determinedly. "Then show me. Share with me those memories in exchange for a spell."

The wind whistled between them, stirring dust and dried, uprooted weeds along the road. Darkstalker stood in thought for a moment. It was clear he didn't like this idea. Moon wondered if she'd pushed it too far. She didn't want to hurt him again like she had last night, but she also needed to know his story. It was the only way to prove to her friends that Darkstalker wasn't the monster of legend.

Eventually, he accepted her terms, and then led her to where he wanted to perform his spell. There was one bridge that connected the Great Diamond to the living district that had fallen apart centuries ago. Moon gave him specific instructions for his magic, as she always did, and he got to work setting it right. Stones that had fallen into the ravine below now defied gravity and were restored to their former place in the bridge. Vines and bushes that had grown in the cracks of the stonework were stripped out so that the cement could be made as good as new.

"Might as well get two birds with one snap," Darkstalker said after a while. He extended his tail to Moon, and she did not hesitate to twine hers with his. Closing her eyes, she allowed their minds to meld together and be pulled into the flood of sensations and memories. It was getting easier to handle the more they did this.

And then as one, they pulled up the memories they needed and re-lived them.

It was around their third birthday when they heard the rumours of the Royal SeaWing massacre. Father had been an emotional wreck, his mind filled to the brim with fear and panic. Prince Albatross of the SeaWings had been one of the most decorated animus dragons in Pyrrhian history. Queen Lagoon always loved to show him off and all of his enchantments. It was how she kept the MudWings at bay for so long. They had studied the SeaWing animus bloodline with their tutors for -

The memory shifted slightly.

Queen Vigilance had invited their family to the palace. Well, Whiteout stayed home - 'less embarrassment' had been the words used, which made them angry. It didn't seem fair. Whiteout wasn't broken, and she shouldn't be treated as such! And on the other talon, why wasn't she being monitored too? Why didn't she have to suffer the awful training and do the exhausting work and -

The memory shifted away again.

"He was found washed up on Claw Beach," the Queen was saying. "Apparently, he's one of the few survivors."

"And you want us to keep him?" mother asked.

"I think that would be fitting." Vigilance said, pretending to look bored. But they could hear in her head how she was brimming with excitement. She wanted three animus dragons under her control. "What better place for an animus? The drakes can be good influences on each other."

A door had opened, and a green SeaWing was escorted into the throne room. He couldn't have been more than a year older than them. His eyes were wide, terrified, and his thoughts were spinning, filled with blood and tears and grief. And in the mind of the queen, she knew all this, but didn't care. It was heartbreaking.

Though they knew they would be in a lot of trouble later, they still decided to step out of bounds and walk towards the SeaWing without being told to. He shrank away from them, limbs trembling. They could see futures where the pair of them became the best of friends, and they could also see futures where this little SeaWing was the most miserable creature in all the world. And so they made a vow that day to never let those futures come true.

Slowly, gently, they put a wing over his. "We're going to be brothers now." they said with a smile. "My name's Darkstalker - what's yours?"

"F-Fathom," though their fear was still very strong, in the depths of their soul was the faintest glimmer of hope.

The memory faded and in came another, from a few days later.

It was decided that Fathom would live with them, but he was quiet and always sad. Father had already decided to fill Fathom's head with all his horrible lectures about souls and corruption. Was it meant to be a form of consoling? They were not sure. Whiteout had been moved into her own room so the young drakes could share one. They all waited for the moment Fathom would join them as a member of the family, but he wandered their house silently and obediently, like a ghost.

That day, they awoke because their mind was filled with Fathom's worst nightmares. Fathom was having to adjust to the NightWing sleep schedule of sleeping during the day, and it was hard. When he did manage to sleep, however, it was always filled with all sorts of bad dreams. He was living through the massacre in his dreams. He watched his grandfather kill his Queen, his mother and father, hurt his friend - he had to stop him, he had to! They saw in Fathom's dreams how he killed his grandfather and then ran away, too frightened of his own power to stay. It was a mess of shame and horror. They had to stop it.

They woke him up, but he was still half in the dream and shrieked. "AH! No-no! Stop it!"

"Fathom?" they drew back, trying to let him calm down. "You're safe, it's alright."

He didn't say anything for a long time, his mind slowly catching up on where he was and that the dream had been just that - a dream. But instead of coming back to normal, Fathom instead ducked his head under his wings and began to cry. They felt distress - why couldn't they make him better?

An idea came to them. It had to be kept secret, otherwise they'd be in big trouble, but something had to be done. They ran to their satchel hanging by the door and pulled out a small coin. They held it in their talons and whispered: "I enchant this coin so that whenever Fathom holds it, it helps him to not feel sad or frightened."

They quickly returned to Fathom, a smile on their face. "Here, Fathom! This will make you feel better."

Fathom took the coin, a little confused. But as soon as he felt its magic begin to work, he dropped it with a gasp. "You-You used your magic! You can't do that, Darkstalker! You can't!"

"But… I was only trying to help…" They looked from their friend to the coin, not sure why this wasn't working like they wanted. "If I can make you better, why shouldn't I?"

"Magic is evil!" Fathom whispered. "It makes you lose your soul, it turns you into…" Into Albatross… his mind finished for him. "I'll never use my magic! I swear by all that is sacred! I'll never use it! Never, never… never…"

He cried. They sat beside him, slowly putting a wing across his back. Fathom's scales glowed softly, in strange patterns that they read in his mind meant that he was sorry and he just wanted his mummy. They tried to imagine a world without their mother, even though she could only share her love when no one was watching. What an awful existence. Thankfully, it wasn't in any future they could see coming. But still, how awful for poor Fathom.

They laid next to Fathom, wing still across his back, their neck laid over his. Whiteout always liked it when they did this whenever she was upset. "You don't think I'm bad, Fathom, do you?"

"No!" Fathom said, shocked by the question. In his head they saw how he had secretly been worshipping them in his silence over the past few days. "You're not bad, Darkstalker. But I don't want you or me to become like him…"

"We won't." they promised. "You know why? Because I've got you, and you've got me. We can look out for each other to make sure the other one doesn't turn evil. Right?"

Fathom didn't respond with words, but they could feel the sunbursts of warmth and joy in his chest. After a while of laying there, he finally asked: "Did you really mean it? I mean, when you said we were brothers now?"

"Of course I did, you wolly!" they chuckled. "I've never had a brother before. I think it'll be fun!"

"I… I do too."

The memory faded away.

Over the next year, Fathom lived with them and they lived up to their promise to slowly let him forget about his past trauma. It was always a great day when they got Fathom to laugh, and the bad days where he didn't even smile became less and less. The pair of them did everything together. Mother even convinced the Queen to let Fathom attend NightWing school with them and Whiteout. They really became like brothers. They studied together, played together, raced to the dinner table to fight over the best portions, argued over books and jewelryjewellery. Though they loved Whiteout dearly, Fathom was his best friend without a doubt.

One night, they were flying back from the academy, and Fathom wasn't being very talkative. They stared at him, waiting for the words they could hear building up in his head. Finally, Fathom said: "I saw that back in math class. Endeavor didn't just 'accidentally' break his own chair!"

They shrugged, smirking. "Not my fault if he isn't watching what he eats."

"And then his books falling on his face? They nearly broke his nose!"

"Perhaps someone should tell him that's not what they mean when they say 'nose stuck in a book'."

"It's not funny!" Fathom scowled. "You shouldn't be using your powers on such petty things like this."

Their smile faded. "It wasn't petty. Endeavor was picking on that girl, Miasma, and I can see in his head how he was going to move on to you next. Because he could see how upset you were. He's a bully that needed to be taught a lesson."

"There's always a justification," Fathom muttered. "Magic is a powerful force, and you shouldn't waste it. You don't know the damage it could do."

"Yes, but what good can it do if we never use it?" they argued passionately. "Fathom, you could do so many good things - change dragons' lives for the better. Look at that dragonet we saw this morning. His wings were born wrong and he'll never fly right. We could change that, Fathom, you and I."

The SeaWing was quiet for a while. His mind kept ticking over those words. He was slowly building his confidence about his gift, but he still remembered his sacred vow, and it held him back. But that was fine, they were willing to wait and encourage Fathom bit by bit until he blossomed into the great animus their visions told them he could be.

The memory faded away.

It was 3012, they were five now, and flying west as fast as they possibly could. Dawn wasn't far off, they were already past curfew but tonight was a night for breaking the rules. Even play-by-the-rules Fathom was feeling giddy. They led the way, calling to their companions to keep up. A brush of a wing along theirs. They looked left and were met with beautiful amethyst eyes. Of course she was close, she could feel this need to be close as they did, that destiny itself was entwining their lives, their powers, their very beings together.

The smell of the salty sea wafted up to their nose and they dived out of the sky, the other two hot on their tail. They came across the rocky beach, and they expertly led the way to a secluded cove. The water was a stunning shade of midnight blue and green here. It would look even better when the sun just broke over the horizon.

"Darkstalker!" cried their soulmate with a laugh. "Why don't you just tell us what this is all about?"

As if she didn't already know! There was no way she would have resisted the temptation to peek into the future, despite his wishes. "You don't have to wait long! We're here!"

They landed, and they could already feel the shock of both their love and brother. Fathom stepped ahead as if in a daze. In front of them stood two houses carved into the cliff side by side. Pride made their chest swell. It had taken several nights, their magic having to twist the stone just right in order to achieve the perfection they had envisioned.

"This… this is for us?" asked their love quietly.

Fathom spun. "You can't mean this!" he gaped.

They grinned. "I do. One for Clearsight and myself, and of course my brother would be living next door. How else are our dragonets going to be able to see their favourite uncle whenever they want?"

Clearsight tucked her head beneath their chin and nuzzled their neck, humming happily. Of course her mind was elsewhere but in this moment, they couldn't help but think, a little annoyed. Though, they couldn't exactly blame her, she was in the vision they had just described, happily watching their dragonets play in the sand before rushing off to tackle Fathom as he came out of the sea.

There were no visions anymore of Fathom returning to his own tribe. Why should there be? Fathom had a family here, one that valued him and whom he loved just as well. This was the place that Fathom was truly accepted - news of Queen Pearl, Fathom's sister who had miraculously survived the massacre, banishing all magic from her kingdom had reached even these distant shores. Though Fathom was oblivious. And it was better that way. They couldn't imagine life without their brother, Fathom made their gruelling life a little easier with his laughter and caring heart.

"But… what about our duties in the city?" Fathom asked. "Surely the Queen won't let us-"

"It won't be today," they said. "But someday, Fathom, the war will end, peace will reign across the continent, and we are all going to get the happily-ever-after we want. The one we deserve. I promise."

Their love sighed sadly and disengaged from him. "You will be sent out to war a week after your sixth hatchingday." She said it with finality. She'd obviously foreseen this. "So many variables exist in the chaos of battle. What if…"

"Nothing will happen to me." They wouldn't allow it.

"Even if not," said Fathom. "You'll be so far away…"

They couldn't stop the grin that spread across their face. "Actually, I won't!" and from their satchel, they pulled out three star-shaped sapphires. They held out one to Fathom and one to their love and held onto the last. The other two looked at the jewels curiously. "I call these Dreamvisitors. All you have to do is hold them and close your eyes and think of someone. Then you can step into their dreams. So now, no matter where I go, what any of us end up doing in the days ahead, we'll all still be together. No matter what."

The others were touched by this gesture, but there was a worming doubt that spoiled the mood. "Another spell?" Fathom asked. "The Queen has you casting so many… How do you know…?"

"I checked." they replied. They had foreseen this coming and was glad to have made preparations. From the satchel, they pulled out a telescope with an hourglass attached. One end held purely black sand, the other held white. "This is a Soulreader. Point it at any dragon you wish, and it will tell you how evil their soul is. Black sand for good, white for evil."

To demonstrate, they pointed it at their own chest. The hourglass spun, and finally settled. The sand in the bottom chamber was mostly black with only a few sprinklings of white. They then pointed it at Fathom, and the result was almost identical. Fathom stared in amazement. With a gentle smile, they handed it over him.

"Keep it," they said. "And if you ever have any other doubts… you know you can rely on this to always tell you the truth."

Fathom clutched the Soulreader to his chest, his eyes glistening. "Thank you, brother."

Darkstalker slowly disengaged his mind from Moon's, and she returned to her own sense of self again. As she opened her eyes, she saw that the bridge was now complete and looking almost brand new. Darkstalker stared into the distance, his wings drooping and his head hung low.

Thinking over these new memories, Moon tried to find the part where Darkstalker could ever learn to hate the friend he had loved like a brother. The circumstances of Fathom's actions that put Darkstalker in the ground two thousand years ago was still unclear. But surely what could have been bad enough to make him forget these wonderful memories?

Or perhaps… he hadn't forgotten, she realised as she looked upon Darkstalker's contemplative but sad blue eyes. He'd merely pushed these memories aside, and reliving them again was making him feel things he didn't want to feel. Not wanting to push him too far like she had last night, she tried to think of something different to say to fill the silence.

"That was Clearsight, wasn't it?" she asked. He had spoken of her very little in all the time she'd known him, but she knew she held an important role in this story. "What was she like?"

He didn't answer at first. Instead, he turned his head just enough to stare at her out of the corner of one eye. He held that stare, unblinking, for an awfully long time. Moon felt the beginnings of some revelation dawning at the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite grasp it. The more the silence stretched, the more awkward she felt. Finally, after what felt like a small eternity, Darkstalker turned away and sighed.

"Forgive me, Moon. But I don't think I can get into that tonight." he said at last. "One spell, one story, that was our deal."

"But-"

A loud crash and a shriek of pain echoed across the city. Moon and Darkstalker froze, they snapped their heads in the direction of the sound. Had they really just heard a voice? But wasn't this city supposed to be abandoned?! Whoever was there, they were too far away to hear their thoughts.

As one, the pair leapt into the sky and raced towards the sound, though Moon was quite sure if it was for the same reasons. They flew to the northern outskirts of the city, to a rather large, if rickety old house with a hole in its roof. They landed on silent talons, though there was not a sound to be heard. But then, shuffling and rummaging came from within the house.

Darkstalker, someone's here! Moon said telepathically.

For a dragon of his size, Darkstalker moved scarily quietly as he pressed himself against the wall of the house, just out of sight of the doorway. Moon followed him without question. His body language spoke to her own, his defensive position unconsciously making her prepare for a threat. Her heart started to pick up speed.

Who do you think it is? She asked.

I don't know. He replied after a moment. He turned his head to catch her eye with his. Stay behind me.

Moon felt her stomach flip. A thousand different bad scenarios flittered through her imagination. But she trusted him, and nodded.

Slowly, Darkstalker crept forward, Moon so close behind him she almost stepped on his tail. They turned into the large doorway, Darkstalker having to hunker down a little in order to fit. The place was a mess - with pottery broken, ancient furniture overturned and even a bit of the ceiling broken down. Thoughts came to Moon from the back room, mostly indistinct mutterings though now and again something about value would come through clearly. She looked at Darkstalker but he shrugged his wings, just as baffled as she.

But then, the dragon from the back came through. Upon seeing the two of them, they froze, stunned. She was a SandWing, perhaps in her late forties or fifties, but stunted in growth and nearly as skinny as Darkstalker. Scales chipped and scraggly, she looked like she'd lived on the edge of starvation her entire life. In her talons, she held an old box lined with faded leather, but at the very edges was trimmed with gold.

Moon realised what this SandWing was doing at the same time as she felt Darkstalker's violent outrage as he too figured it out. This SandWing was here to steal whatever was left of the NightWing kingdom.