Chapter 4

"Deathwing?" Flint asked.

"I read about them in the queen's library," Hunter said. "They are told to be a mythical tribe that appears once every one hundred years during a full moon. They drag their victims into the depths of the caves where it is said that they do rituals on the dragon to purify it for their feast. It is said that the noises you hear throughout the night are from the dragon screams as they are eaten."

"AHHH!" Tulsi screamed and folded her wings over herself, shaking heavily.

"It's okay, Tulsi," Hunter said. "We'll get Prancer back."

"I don't understand," Flint said. "How could this dragon take Prancer and you or him not fight him off, it's only one dragon and there are three of you."

"I know," Hunter said. "But Prancer looked… I don't know… droopy. He didn't attack at all but looked at us in a panic. I think he tried to scream something but the dragon covered his mouth and disappeared."

"So why did you come for me?" Flint asked. "WHY NOT GO SAVE PRANCER!"

"Please stop yelling," Hunter said, looking over to where Tulsi still was covering herself with her wings. "We came for you because you can detect vibrations in the rocks so hopefully you can pinpoint where they are taking Prancer."

"Fine, but it is YOUR fault that Prancer got captured!" Flint shot.

"HOW? YOU WERE THE ONE RUNNING AWAY! Which made us follow you!" Hunter yelled.

"I WAS RUNNING AWAY BECAUSE OF HER!" Flint yelled, pointing to Tulsi.

"Mmm… Mmm… Me? Tulsi stuttered.

"YES YOU! YOU WHO COULDN'T DEFEND THEMSELVES IF THEY WERE ALONE! YOU HAVE TO HIDE BEHIND SOMEONE TO MAKE THEM HELP YOU! JUST GROW UP AND STOP HIDING BEHIND EVERYONE!"

Tulsi shook after hearing that and started crying. She turned around and ran away from Flint and Hunter down the tunnel.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Hunter yelled.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? SHE IS THE REASON WHY I RAN AWAY, WHICH IS THE REASON PRANCER IS CAPTURED!" Flint yelled.

"SO WHAT?" Hunter shot back. "You know the world doesn't just revolve around you! There are OTHER dragons who have different personalities than you! Just because she wants to keep Prancer safe as well DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO LET YOUR JEALOUSY TAKE OVER AND MAKE IRRATIONAL DECISIONS!"

"JEALOUSY?" Flint said. "Don't get me started on that, the only dragon I see here who doesn't have to worry about anything is a spoiled royal dragonet who gets everything he wants."

Flint saw Hunter take a deep breath to calm himself. He then looked right into her eyes and spoke.

"You want to know a secret? You are lucky, everyone else is luckier than me. I NEVER WANTED TO BE ROYALTY! IT SUCKS! DO YOU KNOW THE AMOUNT OF PAIN I HAVE TO GO THROUGH EACH DAY, FORCING TO BOW DOWN TO MY OLDEST SISTER AND HER MAKESHIFT AUTHORITY? DO YOU KNOW HOW I AM FORCED TO ACT A CERTAIN WAY WHEN I AM OUT IN PUBLIC? MY WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN CONTROLLED, I DON'T HAVE MY OWN FREE WILL! At least all of you can do what you want, I AM FORCED TO FOLLOW THE 'ROYAL STANDARD!'"

Flint got taken by surprise by this. "Wait, really?" she said.

"YES!" Hunter yelled. "BUT I DON'T THINK YOU CARE! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOURSELF, YOU NEVER THINK ABOUT HOW YOUR ACTIONS COULD BE HURTING OTHERS AROUND YOU! Did you ever grow up with manners?"

Flint's anger rose up from that comment. "WELL IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, MR. KNOW IT ALL, MY LIFE WAS TERRIBLE TO, MY TRIBE WANTED TO MAKE ME INTO A KILLING DRAGON FOR THE ARMY! MY WHOLE FAMILY BLOODLINE IS BASED OFF OF KILLING. But I didn't want that. I wanted to help other dragons, to be peaceful so I ran off before they could change me. Don't you get it, I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY DRAGONS IN FOUR YEARS! Prancer was the first dragon I saw after a long time and seeing him made me want to PROTECT HIM!"

There was a long silence after Flint had finished speaking. Neither of them spoke or even moved a muscle. Flint was still tense with rage but felt it subsiding throughout her body. She could tell from Hunter's stance as well, that he was doing the same thing.

She decided to break the silence. "So… I guess we both have had terrible lives?"

"Yeah," Hunter said, looking around the cavern. "Hey, where did Tulsi go?"

"I think she ran off when we started screaming at each other," Flint noted, remembering back to when Tulsi ran off after Flint yelled at her. "I think we should go find her."

"Yeah, I agree," Hunter said and they both went down the pathway that they saw Tulsi went down last.

It was very quiet as they walked down the tunnels in search of Tulsi. Neither one of them spoke unless it was to call out for Tulsi.

"Tulsi!" Hunter called out.

Flint looked at him and went back through what he said to her. Is that true of what he said? That we would rather be an ordinary dragon than be of royalty? I hate royal dragons because of the privileges that they get over everyone else. Would he happily throw that away so that he could be more like us?

"So are you sure that the dragon you saw was a Deathwing?" Flint asked.

"Yes," Hunter said quickly and then called out for Tulsi again.

"So what is it about these Deathwings that makes you worried?"

Hunter stopped and looked over at Flint. "Are you serious? We shouldn't be having this conversation right now, we should be looking for Tulsi, unless of course your jealousy won't allow you to do that."

"No!" Flint protested. "I just wanted to know what we need to watch out for."

"Fine," Hunter said. "From what I read about Deathwings, they are a vicious dragon tribe that is feared by all the other tribes. No one knows where they live but every now and then, it is rumored that they come out from the depths of the caves to catch unsuspecting dragonets off by themselves. They then take them off to eat them and all that is left is a pile of bones that is discovered days later when the Deathwings bring them back to where they initially snatched the dragonets. Tell me, did your Cavewing tribe have lockdowns at your school?"

"Yes," Flint said. "But I never knew what they were about, the adults just said it was because a Webwing was nearby."

"Yes," Hunter said. "Well you see, at our Webwing schools we would have the same drills and we were told that it was because a Cavewing was nearby. Of course though, being of royalty, I eavesdropped on a conversation my mom was having with other members from her council. I heard that these lockdowns are when someone thinks that there is a Deathwing nearby and the drills are to keep us in one place until the area is checked out and made sure it is clear. Since both our tribes used to be together, the drills seem to be the same for both of the tribes still.

"Wow that's scary," Flint said. "But are you sure it was a Deathwing that you saw and not another dragon from one of the tribes."

"I'm sure!" Hunter said. "It had the one feature that all Deathwings have."

"Which is?" Flint asked.

"Spikes," Hunter said. "Spikes all across its body, legs, and tail, but not its face."

"Are the spikes dangerous?" Flint asked.

"I don't know," Hunter said. "From everything I read, nothing said what the spikes did, I guess no one has ever lived to find out, so I guess they're deadly."

"So watch out for them," Flint noted.

"Yes," Hunter said and started walking again and yelled, "TULSI!"

So here we are, wandering around the tunnels endlessly, looking for one of our friends, while another friend has been captured by dragons who may eat him if we don't get to him in time. What a great way to start the day.

"Tulsi!" Flint yelled. They have been looking for Tulsi for over an hour now and they have had no luck in finding her.

"Where could she have gone?" Hunter said. "We weren't arguing for that long, there is no way she got a massive head start on us. And shouldn't she be trying to find us as well?"

"You don't think…" Flint said but shut herself up, not wanting to finish her sentence.

"That she got caught by the Deathwings as well?" Hunter finished for her. "I had hoped not but it may be the only thing that makes sense now."

They're picking us off one by one! Flint realized.

"Hunter," she said, turning to him, "stay close to me, let's never leave each other's sight. They won't be able to get us both at the same time."

"Ok," Hunter said and stepped beside Flint. They continued to walk down the tunnel and Flint felt Hunter's scales rest onto her own. They felt like Prancer's scales but had a more smooth feeling to them that made her relax. For that moment her mind had rested and all of the thoughts that she didn't realize were running through her head. She didn't even know what was happening but was enjoying the moment.

Her mind then shot awake. What am I doing? I should be caring about Prancer, not this Webwing! He's a part of royalty!

She shot her eyes open and looked around and saw that their tails were twined together.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Flint screamed. She saw that Hunter was thinking of something but got shot out of that mindset when she yelled. He untwined his tail around hers and backed away to give her some space.

"Sor… Sorry," Hunter stuttered. "I… I thought you would like it, you seemed so peaceful."

"WELL YOU SHOULDN'T JUST THINK THAT ABOUT OTHER DRAGONS! WE ALL NEED OUR PERSONAL SPACE!"

"I thought you wanted us to stick together?"

"YES, BUT NOT BE PRESSING AGAINST ME!"

"Sorry," Hunter said and then his eyes went wide. "FLINT LOOK OUT!" he screamed and pushed her out of the way.

She skidded across the floor and got a cut on her leg that started bleeding before she hit the wall.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Flint yelled but saw what Hunter was referring to when she looked up.

A Deathwing was holding Hunter in its claws and stabbed him with some of its spikes.

From what Flint could see, Hunter seemed to get drowsy as he used his final bit of strength to look at her.

"Ru… Run," he said and then passed out.