Griffin hated the feel of the net beneath him, how powerless he was with his wings bound. The netting swayed from side to side with the motion of the dragons, and Griffin was constantly worried it would flip over or tilt too far. Griffin knew he was tied in because of the uncomfortable rope wrapped around his three uninjured legs, rubbing against his feathers, but he wasn't looking forward to dangling from the net. Hopefully, he'd get his wings back soon. How long would they take to heal?
As the net shifted around, it was a struggle for Griffin to keep his limbs and feathers from getting tangled in it, especially his broken wing. It reminded him a bit of when River had captured him in the Sea Kingdom in a similar net, and how she'd threatened Griffin and Torrent before Orca had brutally murdered her. Griffin had never known River, and that had been the only short conversation he'd ever had with the late princess, but at least from what he'd heard from Orca and Torrent, he was glad he hadn't known her better.
At the time of her death, Griffin hadn't grieved for River, and didn't understand why Torrent had thought Orca killing her in the way she did was a sign of Orca's magic affecting her. But as he'd grown, Griffin finally understood — awful or not, River was Torrent and Orca's sister. Sure, they didn't get along, ever, and River, frightened of Orca's magic, had even threatened to kill Griffin and Torrent, but that didn't make killing her right.
But Griffin wasn't sure if Torrent was right about it having been a sign of Orca losing her soul. She'd reacted trying to protect Torrent and Griffin, just as scared as River had been. Griffin still thought that she would've done something different if she'd had more time to think. It was like when Schist and Crystal had fought in the rainforest, and Schist had almost used his firebreath on Crystal. He'd been trying to save a dragonet, and until Griffin had stopped him, had been too focused on that to care what happened to Crystal.
Griffin's heart still pulsed as he thought back to that night, so many years ago now. Maybe things could have been different, if he'd only done something. Maybe if he'd helped Schist subdue Crystal, they'd have reached Torrent in time to save the RainWing dragonet. Maybe Torrent and Crystal would have given up. Maybe Griffin and Schist would still be together right now.
Instead, he'd just stood on the pavilion, and watched as Crystal and Schist fought, and Torrent had murdered an innocent dragonet. He wasn't sure he could ever forgive Torrent for that, so instead, he just pretended like it hadn't happened. For a while, he'd blamed Crystal for it. Torrent wouldn't ever kill a dragonet willingly, Griffin knew he surely wouldn't. So he'd deluded himself into thinking Crystal had poisoned Torrent's mind, so it wasn't Torrent's fault. Griffin wasn't so sure that wasn't true now. Maybe Crystal had had something to do with it, but it was Torrent who'd chosen to do it, out of his own free will. Whatever free will was — as a rock enchanted to life, Griffin wasn't quite sure he even had it himself.
Griffin thought about Schist, and what he was doing right now. Was he still in the Mud Kingdom, where Griffin had seen him last? Did he have a mate? Dragonets? Maybe the latter. From what Schist had told him, Griffin didn't think MudWings had mates, just sibs. So maybe things wouldn't have ever worked out between them. Maybe he would have decided Griffin was a better sib than a mate. Three moons, Griffin was the only one of his species in a world of dragons. He wasn't quite sure he was even alive. It's not like they could have had dragonets, or hatchlings, or whatever family they might have raised together.
All these maybes. Griffin sighed, and glanced up towards Torrent's light-blue underbelly, with his leather pouch dangling at his side. Inside it, Torrent had put Orca's map of animuses and the wax statue of Schist that Fracture had made Griffin; Erosion had kindly left them in her escape with Stonemover. It would be good for Griffin to stop thinking about the past. The future might be kinder, whatever that would be. Other than Darkstalker, the animuses at Crosswinds were the only ones left in Pyrrhia. If Torrent won whatever would happen with Erosion, that would be it. No more animuses for him and Griffin to hunt.
Torrent and Griffin would stick together, of course. Whatever had happened in the past, it was behind them now. They were brothers. But where would they go? They'd spent the last four years, up until now, just the two of them, roaming Pyrrhia, going after animuses. Would they still do that, even without a goal in mind? Griffin wasn't sure Torrent could. At least since he'd left the Sea Kingdom, Torrent had always needed something to do. He was on edge the entire time they were in the Sky Kingdom, anxious to go after another animus. Even in the freezing cold, he'd volunteer to go on patrol missions with Kite, or help out around the village, just so that he'd have something to do.
Would he try looking for Crystal? Maybe. Even with no leads after four years, Griffin knew Torrent missed her, and wanted to find his dragonet he'd never known. Griffin wasn't a fan of that idea. In addition to everything else, he didn't think he could forgive Crystal for putting Torrent through all that pain. Torrent wasn't be able to raise his dragonet, and the dragonet would grow up without their father. Crystal had taken that from him, permanently, and there was nothing she could do to make up for it.
Griffin wasn't so sure for himself, but maybe Torrent would be able to find someone else again. He glanced up towards Nightreader. Both she and her brother might be candidates, if they decided to stay with him and Torrent. Stonemover seemed nice enough, but a bit . . . fidgety. He hadn't even tried to help Griffin back when Griffin had been attacked by the animuses. Griffin didn't hate him for that, but he didn't seem particularly brave, or courageous. Nightreader seemed alright. She was driven, like Torrent, and she was willing to do anything to protect her loved ones. Griffin hadn't known her for too long, but he liked her better than Crystal.
As the net swayed beneath him, Griffin let out a sad laugh, lost to the winds. Look at him, matchmaking. His own single barely-existent relationship had ended poorly; he had no reason to think he'd do better pairing up dragons. It was shameful. The net ride had given him far too much time to think. Anyways, it would be better to consider the challenge in front of them. Erosion was still poising to take over the Sand Kingdom, and the four of them still didn't have a plan on how to actually defeat her and her animus legion, even if they actually reached Crosswinds in time.
The four approached the NightWing island during night, flying so low to the water Griffin kept getting his feathers wet. Sharing the extra load of Griffin had worked well, at least for Nightreader. The harnesses around them and having to fly in tandem had proved a little tricky towards the start, but the group had seemed to have quickly gotten the hang of it. Although, Nightreader was still worried about Gazelle — she seemed to be far more exhausted than the other two dragons, and kept coughing and wheezing throughout the flight.
The moons were starting to light the night sky up less and less, as all three waned in the aftermath of the Brightest Night. Nightreader had told the other three that this was a good thing. Having to live at the bottom of the ocean, where the light of the moons never reached, SeaWing night vision was far better than NightWings', and Torrent would be able to alert everyone to any watching NightWings far before the NightWing could see them.
Nightreader kept nervously glancing towards Torrent as they flew closer to the island, cloaked in smoke, but the island seemed clear, at least of watchful NightWings. Sailing across the bay, the three dragons gently landed on the rocky beach in unison, so not to hurt Griffin.
After they quickly untied Griffin, Nightreader motioned the other three over to the side of a steep cliff, where it would be more difficult to see them. Gazelle and Torrent grabbed the net, ropes, and makeshift harnesses as Griffin limped over towards Nightreader. The cliff above them was rocky and sharp, and as Griffin pressed up close to it, to risk his chance of being seen by any dragons above it, black pebbles fell from it into his feathers.
As Torrent and Gazelle reached the cliff, hiding against it, Nightreader took a step back, looking to see if there were any dragons above them. It seemed clear, but Nightreader knew that there would be four NightWings guarding the entrance to the tunnel, and they'd need to be out of the way before the other three could get past.
"I'm going up," she whispered to Torrent. "Remember the plan. After you see that the four guards have flown from the cave, and they're too far to see you, bring Griffin up with Gazelle."
Torrent nodded in understanding, while Nightreader stepped away from the cliff, onto the thin beach of rocks, waves crashing at her paws. She spread her wings wide, and allowed a gust of wind from the ocean to carry her upwards, towards a ledge around halfway up the cliff, where the entrance to the tunnel would be.
The cave opened in front of Nightreader, and she entered into its mouth, puffing up her scales to seem more confident than she was, as if she knew she was supposed to be here. She smiled as the first whiff of clean rainforest air entered her nose, pushing aside the stench of sulfur that clouded the island. The light of a small fire grew closer, along with four bored-looking NightWings surrounding it. And beyond the fire was the disk-shaped hole of the tunnel.
Even if it was Nightreader's own brother's claw-work, it still gave her the creeps, like if the cave wall was a scroll, and someone had decided to rip a hole in it. Still, it was her freedom from this island. This time, hopefully forever.
"You need to get out of the cave, now!" Nightreader yelled urgently, rushing towards the four guards, who immediately noticed her. She intentionally breathed heavily, trying to make it sound like she'd become exhausted just coming here.
Two of the NightWings quickly glanced towards each other. "What is it?" one asked in worry.
"The tunnel," Nightreader panted, allowing one of her forelegs to buckle for added effect, "it's an emergency. Stonemover told me he enchanted something wrong, and that the tunnel is unstable."
"Unstable?" one of the guards repeated.
Nightreader nodded. "He thinks it might trigger an eruption this time."
"Eruption?" the same guard repeated, his eyes wide. He quickly glanced back towards the tunnel, and took a step back, almost dragging his tail into the fire-pit before pulling it back with a squeal. "Was that what happened a few days ago? We need to warn the princess and get her to safety!"
"Hurry!" Nightreader shouted. "I don't know how long the tunnel will last!" She stepped aside, motioning the four NightWings to run past. The two who had glanced to each other when she first walked in scrambled for the exit, almost trying to fly in the cave, while the two others followed. Nightreader had almost breathed a sigh of relief when one of them stopped.
"Aren't you coming with us?" he asked, confused.
Nightreader shook her head. "I need to stay here. Stonemover thinks there might be a way to delay it, and I'm going to see if I can try that."
"Ah," the guard said, a blank expression on his snout. He continued looking at Nightreader, until it suddenly turned into a frown.
Nightreader's claws tensed up. This wasn't good. If she needed to subdue this NightWing, she thought she could. He was barely more than a dragonet. Brave, and wanting to do his service to his kingdom and queen. He didn't deserve to be attacked. Maybe she just didn't look scared enough? At least according to her lie, she was supposed to be risking her life by staying behind. She gulped slightly, and allowed her claws to shake. "Don't worry," she smiled, trying to sound slightly unsure of herself, "I'll be fine. If it doesn't work, I'll make sure that I get out in time."
"It's not that," the NightWing said, still frowning, "I'm just confused. Twilight mentioned you were here a few days ago, when the rumble happened, why wait until now to do anything about it?"
"Stonemover just realized it," Nightreader snapped with urgency. She glanced back to the tunnel, and tapped her claws impatiently.
"I thought he was still on the mainland; I haven't seen him here, and no one said he'd returned."
Nightreader snorted. "Have you ever seen Stonemover before? He's not the type to greet everyone and loudly proclaim his return to the island."
"Oh," the NightWing answered, thinking about it, "you're right. Sorry about all this. Is there anything you need me to help you with? I'd be glad to lay down my life for the Night Kingdom, so please don't send me aw—"
The young guard didn't have time to finish his sentence, as the body of a huge SeaWing leaped out of the dark, tackling the guard to the ground. The NightWing tried to yell out, but Torrent stomped his paw on the NightWing's snout, shutting it closed. The guard reached out to the side, attempting to claw at Torrent, but the SeaWing stayed on top of the NightWing's back, using his second forepaw to grab ahold of a horn and control his head, while forcing him to stay down with Torrent's much greater weight.
Nightreader winced. "Sorry," she muttered to the NightWing, "this is really important." The NightWing continued to flail about, trying to get free of Torrent. He scratched at the forearm holding his jaws shut, causing Torrent to pull it back.
"You're a traitor," he hissed with menace, glaring at Nightreader. "You joined forces with the SeaWings?"
Nightreader snorted. "Far from that. He's just a friend. He also isn't planning to kill you," she said, giving Torrent a glare of warning. "So when you go back to Greatness, it might do you better not to tell her that we passed through here. You'll likely be punished for your failure to protect the tunnel from a single SeaWing. But if you do decide to tell Greatness, be warned that if the NightWings ever go after Stonemover or I again, my brother will not hold back in using the full extent of his powers to stop you."
Torrent frowned at this threat. Even if the threat was empty and Stonemover wasn't able to use his animus magic anymore, Torrent didn't the idea of him using his animus powers for something like that. Animus magic could kill or maim a dragon in almost any possible way, no matter how gruesome. Darkstalker's killing of his father being a perfect example. He wondered if that was what the poor NightWing guard was thinking of now.
Nightreader turned to Torrent with a hiss. "I told you to wait until the guards had all left! He was just about to leave!"
"Didn't sound like that to me," Torrent muttered, "anyways, I saw three of them leave."
"You saw three," Nightreader replied exasperatedly. "I told you there were four, you stupid fish-eater, can you count?"
"I can count," Torrent snapped, "that's why I came. I saw three leave, not four, and was worried something bad had happened. There was one left, and I knew we could take them on two-against-one if it came to that."
Nightreader sighed, rolling her eyes. "Thanks, I guess," she muttered. She glanced towards the tunnel exit. "I'll get the other two," she stated, careful not to share their names in front of the NightWing guard. If the Obsidian Mirror wasn't disenchanted after all, it could still be used to spy on them only with a name.
She quickly ran from the cave, leaving Torrent and the NightWing guard behind. The NightWing struggled again, trying to claw out from beneath Torrent, though the SeaWing didn't let him move.
"I'll knock you out if you keep trying to escape," Torrent growled. The NightWing hissed back viciously but stopped moving, defeated.
It wasn't long before Nightreader entered the cave again, and Torrent glanced over to see Gazelle and Griffin following slowly behind her, Griffin limping as he attempted to walk the long distance.
"Cover his eyes and turn him to the left," Nightreader ordered Torrent, who placed his webbed paws over the NightWing's eyes. She quickly glanced down to the young NightWing. "If you so much as scratch him with your teeth, I'll tear out your throat," she threatened, knowing that the bacteria from a NightWing's bite could be fatal. "You won't be much use to Princess Greatness then."
As Torrent blocked the NightWing's vision, Griffin and Gazelle trudged behind him towards the tunnel, the netting and ropes on her back as she carefully held her injured tail above the ground. They disappeared into the dark expanse of the tunnel, causing a small lurching motion in Torrent's stomach as they crossed the barrier into an area that shouldn't exist. Nightreader grabbed one of the spears the NightWing guards had left in their quick rush.
"You can let him see now," Nightreader said, placing the tip of the spear directly on the young NightWing's neck. As Torrent removed his paws, the NightWing saw the spear, and tried to hold back a gulp. He was unable to, and the spear gently pressed into a space between his scales, though not hard enough to puncture.
"After the SeaWing gets up, keep your neck bared. Don't try to attack, and don't come after us."
The NightWing nodded slightly as Torrent stood up. He walked around behind Nightreader, and glanced at the tunnel. "I allow this tunnel to remain enchanted," he muttered as he touched a talon to the dagger at his side, knowing that he'd be unable to pass through otherwise.
Nightreader slowly backed away from the NightWing, who remained motionless, eyes slanted downwards. "You know what Darkstalker did," she snarled, issuing a final threat before backing into the tunnel. "Stonemover can do much, much worse."
Torrent entered the tunnel first, with Nightreader facing backwards, still holding the spear in position. As he continued down through it, he suddenly felt a strange boundary within the tunnel, almost as if he had splashed down through the water surface. His scales rattled from his snout to his tail in succession, and the air got lighter. He took in a deep breath, and felt the clean air of the rainforest in his lungs.
Eventually, the tunnel came to an end, and moonlight shone down on his eyes as he exited into the branches of a dark tree. He quickly climbed down it as Nightreader stepped backwards, then dropped the spear, turning around and leaping onto the rainforest floor.
Torrent glanced around, and saw Griffin and Gazelle not far from them, the two conversing hushedly. He walked over, and frowned as he saw Griffin visibly shaking, fear within his wide eyes. He breathed heavily, and it looked a little like Gazelle had been trying to calm him, though she stopped speaking as Torrent had approached.
"Are you alright?" Torrent asked worriedly.
Griffin quickly nodded, and gave off a weak smile. "Yeah," he answered shakedly, even though something was obviously bothering him, "I'm fine."
Torrent frowned. What was wrong? Maybe the SandWing poison was starting to affect Griffin more? Or maybe it was just being in the rainforest again. Torrent remembered far too clearly what had happened the last time he was here. The last time he'd seen Schist.
He glanced back at Nightreader. She seemed almost blissfully unaware, too happy she was off the island. "Which way is it to the next tunnel?" Torrent asked. He wasn't sure if they'd have much time before the NightWings came after them, if the guard had decided to tell Greatness, and Torrent didn't want to stay in the rainforest any longer than he had too. He wasn't too keen on ending up drugged by one of the RainWings he'd met here four years ago. He doubted they'd be as hospitable as last time, considering that Torrent had killed one of their dragonets.
Nightreader pointed a talon towards across a small stream. "Not far away, it's on the side of that boulder over there." Torrent followed her claw to a greyish boulder half-covered by moss. Sure enough, a similar hole to the one they'd just emerged from was there. Torrent almost had to look away as he saw it, it gave him the feeling like he'd be lost inside it if he stared at for too long. For a short moment, it felt like the edge of the boulder was starting to peel away around the hole, revealing something beneath, but Torrent blinked too quickly, and whatever it was, it was gone. He shook his head and gave out a yawn.
"Come on," he suggested to Griffin, "let's get out of here. We're almost to the Sand Kingdom."
Griffin gulped, and slowly stepped towards the hole.
"Don't worry," Gazelle assured him quietly, "you'll be fine."
As Torrent, Nightreader, and Gazelle walked into the tunnel, disappearing into the side of the boulder, Griffin hesitated slightly, looking at the boundary of where the tunnel met the grey stone of the boulder. The crack between the two widened slightly before him, and bright lights danced, trying to draw him in closer. He turned straight ahead and walked forward into the tunnel, ignoring the flashes of light in his peripheral vision as he crossed the boundary while pieces of the world flaked off behind him. There was nothing for him to be scared of.