Chapter 14

It felt like hours later when Flint woke up in a dark space. She tried to move but something pulled on her claws. She lit up her scales and saw that they were chained up to the wall and that her wings were pinned to the wall as well.

Ugh, where am I? she thought.

Flint looked around and saw that the cell was covered in a quartzite rock, the most durable rock on the continent. Trying to break through it would be impossible and would take too long. She looked across the room and saw both of her parents chained up against the wall as well.

Great, not only am I locked up, I'm locked up with the two dragons that hate me.

I hope Vala was able to get out.

What will she do though? She will figure out I was lying when she doesn't find Hunter at the Tuff Resistance. Will she then just leave me here?

"Ugh, what on earth happened?" Diamond asked, waking up.

"I think we are in the Cavewing jail," Marble said.

"YEAH NO THANKS TO YOU TWO!" Flint yelled.

Diamond looked towards her, stunned. "Daughter, you're…"

"DON'T CALL ME YOU DAUGHTER!" Flint screamed at the top of her lungs. "YOU NEVER CARED ABOUT ME, YOU TRIED TO ERASE ME AND REPLACE ME WITH A NEW DAUGHTER! YOU ARE THE WORST DRAGONS EVER!"

"No, Flint you don't understand," Marble said. "Diamond and I…"

"NO I AM NOT LISTENING TO YOU LIARS! YOU NEVER HELPED ME THROUGHOUT ANY OF MY LIFE SO WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU?"

"Flint, please," Diamond said and Flint noticed tears rolling down her eyes. "Please, we were forced to."

"What?" Flint asked. She was confused by this. What were her parents talking about? Forced to? What did they mean by that?

"What on earth are you talking about?" Flint said.

"They are talking about what I forced them to do," came a new voice outside of the cell. Flint turned her head and saw Granite standing there.

"Granite?" Flint asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I had to make sure that our prisoners were nice and comfy," Granite said. "Enjoying your chains?"

"Very funny," Flint said. "What's the real reason you are here?"

"Oh, it's to congratulate your parents for my evil bidding."

Flint turned to look at her parents. "What did you do?" Flint asked.

"We didn't want to," Marble said. "She forced us to."

"That's right," Granite said. "If they didn't do what I wanted then I would expose their secret to the whole tribe."

"Hang on, what is going on here?" Flint asked.

"How about I start from the beginning?" Granite said. "You see, my family had figured out what your parents did in a secret organization that they were in."

"What were you in?" Flint asked her parents.

"Be quiet, child," Granite said. "I'm talking."

"Oh, how much I want to kill you right now!" Flint said.

"Anyway, we learned that they knew of a Cavewing family that was hiding a Drillwing."

"You knew what?" Flint asked her parents.

"We were trying to protect them," Diamond said.

"You were doing a terrible job," Granite said. "That's how we found you out. My family then blackmailed you and in order for us not to tell the whole tribe about the secret, you had to do one thing for us."

"What was that?" Flint asked.

Granite laughed. "Oh, it was simple, it was to kill you."

"What?" Flint asked, stunned.

Why did Granite want my parents to kill me?

"But they wouldn't go along with it," Granite said. "So we came up with a compromise, them hating you and forcing you to flee from their safety, and we would kill you ourselves."

"Wait, so you never hated me?" Flint asked.

"Yes," Marble said. "We loved you with all of our hearts but were blackmailed and couldn't show it. Believe us, we wanted to tell you but we couldn't."

"I still don't understand," Flint said. "Why did you want to kill me?"

"Because of what you are," Granite said. "You are a threat to Queen Obsidian.

"How am I a threat?" Flint asked.

"Because your bloodline leads back to Queen Lennon, before the royal bloodline got messed up."

"What?" Flint asked, perplexed.

She was of royalty? But no she hated royal families, she couldn't be a part of one, she couldn't!

"YOUR LYING!" Flint yelled.

"I wish I were," Granite said. "But it's true, you are a part of the original royal bloodline before it got messed up when Queen Lennon and the other dragons disappeared two hundred years ago."

"So Queen Obsidian…"

"Isn't a part of the royal bloodline," Granite finished for her. "Yes and if all the tribe knew what you were, they would be a riot. So to be safe we have to get rid of you."

"Then why didn't you already?" Flint asked. "What happened in your plans?"

"These two ruined it," Granite said, pointing to Flint's parents. "They were supposed to keep you in your home that night but they allowed you to escape. WE WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU THAT NIGHT BUT THEY DISOBEYED US!"

"You did that for me?" Flint asked.

"Yes," Diamond said. "You are our true daughter."

"But then what was about that other dragonet?" Flint asked.

"Well earlier yesterday, we found one of our side guards knocked out," Granite said. "When we asked him what happened, he said he didn't know but had grabbed one of the dragon's scales before he got knocked out." Granite then held up that scale in her claw right now. It was one of Flint's scales.

"Wait, he did that?" Flint asked.

"Yes and lucky for us or we may have never known you were here," Granite said. "So we forced your parents to do the drama show that you saw, hoping to draw you out, and look, it worked!"

"Wait but I heard you talking about it earlier before I even went by the side guard."

"Oh that?" Granite said. "We were just messing around but that is where I got the idea to draw you out."

"So all this time, you have been controlling my life?" Flint asked.

"Yes," Granite said. "It has been rather fun. But now it must come to an end. We can't have your bloodline be a threat anymore to my mother."

"Your Obsidian's daughter?" Diamond asked.

"Queen Obsidian that is!" Granite yelled. "But yes and now when we get rid of Flint, no one will stand in her way.

Flint couldn't comprehend all of this information. Everything she thought she knew was a lie. Everything in her life was being controlled. Her parents cared about her.

She started crying, realizing that she had friends who were counting on her and here she was, trapped in a cell, most likely ready to be executed so that she couldn't threaten Obsidian's legacy. She would never see her friends again, they would still be frozen by Dredge and never be freed again. She would never confess how she truly feels.

If only I could see Hunter one more time, she thought. It has taken me a long time to realize it but I do care for him as well. I may even have a crush on him like Vala says. He has always been there for me. When we were captured by the Spikewings, when I felt like I was useless, he brought me up from the depths.

He never gave up on me.

I shouldn't either.

"Now," Granite said. "Let's get down to some business." A guard opened up the cage and Granite stepped inside, in front of Flint, by staying far enough away so that Flint couldn't attack her.

"What do you want?" Flint asked.

"How about you tell me where your friend went," Granite said. "And I may consider releasing one of your parents."

"You think I'm stupid?" Flint said. "No deal."

"Fine, have it your way," Granite said and whipped Flint with her tail.

"Is that all you got?" Flint asked and Granite punched Flint in the stomach.

"You will die here," Granite said. "You will never see anyone ever again but you can at least save your parents. Don't you want that?"

Maybe I should allow my parents to go, at least they will still have a life to live.

"No," Diamond said. "If our daughter is to die then we will die with her."

"Yes, we aren't leaving our daughter's side again," Marble said.

Flint looked toward her parents and her heart felt mushy.

"You really would do that for me?" Flint asked.

"Yes, I would do it a million times over if I had to," Diamond said and then screamed after Granite smashed one of her wings in.

"Hey attack me!" Flint said. "You want me don't you? Hello, dangerous dragonet that may ruin the tribe over here."

"Oh you are one heap of trouble!" Granite said and kicked Flint's underbelly again. Flint went down on the floor, the kick knocking the breath out of her.

"That's right, squirm on the floor, you don't deserve to live!" Granite tried to attack Flint again but Flint tripped her up and knocked Granite to the ground. She then slashed at her face and nicked one of Granite's eyes.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Granite screamed and backed up away from Flint holding her eye. She looked at Flint with her good eye. "Fine, you have saved yourself for now, but it won't last." Granite then stepped out of the cell and the guards locked the cage and walked with her down the tunnel, out of sight.

"That was brave of you," Diamond said. "When did you learn to fight like that?"

"Well spending four years on my own has taught me some stuff. Also I have friends who helped me."

"About that," Marble said. "Who are these friends?"

"Well there is Prancer who is a hybrid between a Cavewing and a Webwing."

"Who's the Cavewing?" Diamond asked.

"Amethyst," Flint said.

"Oh wow, now I know why that dragon was always careful around everyone," Diamond said.

"There is Tulsi who is a Drillwing and the other Webwing is a son of the Webwing Queen and his name is Hunter."

"Wow, a son of a queen is in your group, that is so interesting," Marble said.

"And the final dragon and the one who saved Chert is Vala, she is a Spikewing, not a Deathwing."

"You became friends with a Death…Spikewing, sorry," Marble said.

"It's okay," Flint said. "I only wish you could meet them, they are my best friends."

"They seem like nice dragons," Diamond said and fell asleep beside Marble, who also fell asleep.

"Sleep tight mom and dad," Flint said and closed her eyes and fell asleep.