Torrent slowly swooped down onto the trampoline, his night-vision picking out a spot for him to land, a hardened platform which wouldn't bounce. He quietly landed, tense as he checked around the area. So far, none of the RainWing dragonets had stirred, much to Torrent's relief. If one woke up now and decided to cry out for help, it would make the situation very, very tricky.

The dragonets were gently sleeping on the trampoline and around the edges of the platform, some huddled up in groups, and others a small distance off. In the dark, Torrent was unable to see the range of colors that they were, causing the RainWings to all look like shades of black and grey, like NightWings or IceWings. The SeaWing unsheathed his dagger, and pressed a talon to the amethyst. He slowly twirled the blade in a circle around him, feeling the gemstone heat and cool, hoping desperately that it would reveal his observations wrong, and lead away from the wingery. No such luck. The small dragonet he'd seen earlier was where the gemstone was the hottest, by far.

The RainWing animus was fast asleep, and had his tail gently wrapped around his head and neck. The dragonet's underbelly gently rose and fell as Torrent took a step towards him, carefully making his way around the other dragonets nearby. Torrent gently placed a webbed paw onto the trampoline, slowly feeling it, and lowering his weight so not to shake it up and down. Glancing to his left, another dragonet rolled over, tucking her wing in, creating small tremors in the trampoline. Fortunately, she didn't wake.

Torrent took another step. Only a few more before the dragonet was within reach. All he had to do was poke the poor thing with his sharpened dagger, just enough to draw blood, and the animus would be turned to stone. The trampoline gently swayed beneath the large SeaWing as he stepped forward again. Almost there now . . .

With a final step, Torrent had reached the animus. If he leaned far enough forward on his front-left leg, he'd be able to reach forward and prick the dragonet with his the dagger right forepaw. He hesitated for a moment. Sure, killing the dragonet would prevent him from causing mass travesty with his powers, but the RainWing was innocent, he hadn't done anything bad yet. Maybe there was another way. Maybe with the right guidance, the dragonet would avoid the fate of Albatross, of Darkstalker, of Fen.

Torrent thought back to his conversation with Crystal. This was all a maybe. And if the dragonet didn't receive the right guidance, if he slipped up . . . then he could kill many, many dragons. Sure, it was possible things would turn out alright, but that wasn't a risk Torrent could take. No, it wasn't a risk Torrent should make. This was his duty to Pyrrhia, to protect the dragons around him, to keep them safe. Just like his mother's duty was to protect the SeaWings, his was to protect dragonkind from animus magic.

Torrent made his decision, and reached forward with the dagger, poking the soft membrane of the dragonet's wing with his dagger, placing a talon on the midnight-black pearl inlaid within it. The point broke through the membrane, causing the dragonet to flinch. For a moment, it looked like he might wake, but by that point, it was already too late. Emanating from the point the steel had scratched, grey stone quickly covered the dragonet's body. The RainWing attempted to move slightly, but was trapped by it, quickly surrounding his small chest, crawling up his neck and his snout, turning what would have vivid scales in the sunlight to the dull, plain grey of stone. Inside and outside, the animus dragonet was completely frozen, his life snuffed out in his sleep.

Torrent stayed cautiously still. The trampoline had bent further downward from the transformation. He closed his eyes, and started to turn away from the stone corpse, like one of the ancient queens in the SeaWing mausoleum. He didn't want to look, but the dragonet deserved that much. This was his doing, his choice. He thought about whispering an apology to the RainWing, even though it wouldn't change what he did. "I'm sorry," he simply muttered, trying to be half-genuine. Even if the RainWing had to die, the dragonet hadn't deserved death.

The SeaWing solemnly glanced back up to the night sky, stars blotted out by the dense canopy of the rainforest. The fullest of the moons was barely visible, and it appeared to be sinking towards the horizon. The deed was done, and Pyrrhia was safe from this dragonet.

Torrent landed on the platform outside of the wingery, claws stiff and stable. He looked down, unwilling to meet Griffin's eyes as the feathered creature tried to meet his. "Torrent . . . ," Griffin whispered, not sure what else he could say. He swiveled his eyes down to Torrent's dagger, the faintest spot of red blood on its tip, revealing the fate of the dragonet.

Crystal was still on top of Schist, holding the shocked MudWing to the ground. He was bleeding, and the remains of frostbreath were on the vines not too far from him. It was clear to the SeaWing that there had been some sort of fight. Crystal looked over to Torrent, still uncertain of their decision. She opened her mouth, going to ask what had happened, but Torrent replied first.

"You can let Schist up," he quietly whispered in melancholy. The image of the dragonet still burned behind his eyes, the gleeful little creature from the pavilion waking up to a dark death. "It's done."

Crystal stepped off Schist. The MudWing was silent for a moment, then rose to his paws. He glared directly at Torrent. "You're a monster," Schist growled, fury bristling through his amalgamate of fused scales, liquid still seeping between them from the fight. "He was a dragonet!"

"I know," Torrent acknowledged, not bothering to try and defend himself. Schist was right, wasn't he? Torrent was a monster, even if he had done it for the right reasons. He'd killed a dragonet. No good dragon would be willing to do something like that.

"Does that not bother you?" Schist yelled. He turned to Crystal. "You're just as guilty in this!" he said accusingly. She didn't respond, keeping an emotionless expression across her snout.

Schist stamped a paw on the ground, and breathed a puff of smoke. Crystal tilted her head away to avoid it. "I'm leaving," Schist stated, "I don't want to see any of you, ever again." His wings shot open, striking Crystal across the snout, forcing her to take a step back. She raised a talon up to the wound he'd made, and wiped her claw across it. Blue blood.

Schist turned around, and lifted off into the air, his scars beneath his wing visible. Griffin watched as he swerved back and forth, trying to find a hole in the canopy to fly through, using only the moonlight. Torrent stared down in shame. Eventually, the MudWing was able to break free, and flew out of visibility, the foliage blocking the view of those beneath.

Crystal turned to Griffin. "Are you going with him?" she snapped.

Griffin turned to her with a glare. Maybe he should. He liked Schist, after all. But Schist had said he didn't ever want to see him again, and Griffin didn't blame him. He should have done something, tried to stop Crystal or Torrent. Maybe he'd get another chance. "No," he hissed, "I'm staying by Torrent."

Crystal wrinkled her snout, then stepped over to Torrent, her tail swishing behind her. Griffin watched her carefully, his beady eyes following her. This was her fault; she was the one who convinced Torrent to do this; to break his and Schist's trust. But she hadn't had a choice, right? She alone knew what was going to happen.

"Where to now?" Crystal quietly asked Torrent. She glanced around. None of the RainWings had woken up, it appeared, even with Schist's yell. She was glad they were such heavy sleepers, but they couldn't stay here for long. They needed to get out of the rainforest as soon as possible.

Torrent lifted his head up, avoiding meeting Crystal's eyes. They had come this far, already. They might as well continue on. "West. To Agate Mountain." The next animus was there.

Crystal nodded in agreement. "Then let's go," she softly said, giving Griffin a quick glance of caution. She unfolded her wings, and took off, Torrent quickly following behind her. It took Griffin a bit longer before he went after them. From the ground, his eyes tracked the two as they rose into the distance. Agate Mountain. Griffin spread his feathered wings open, and followed the two, keeping a pace behind them. As he rose above the canopy, he turned his beak to face the opposite direction. To the east, towards the Mud Kingdom. Now a small blotch in the distance of the night sky, a half-moon lighting his way, Schist appeared in the distance. The MudWing's wings slowly pulsed up and down as he flew. Loss and solitude was all Griffin felt at this moment.