Inferno's eyes opened from her sleep, and she let out a long yawn. She rolled over, stretching out her legs as she turned to look at her mother. More smoke began to rise up from her scales as she came back to consciousness, slowly filling the cave and floating out through the entrance.

Goat was already awake, and was gnawing at a roasted deer leg, the delicious smell wafting over towards Inferno. In general, food smelled better than it tasted to Inferno. By the time she was able to rip off a piece of meat with her fangs, it would already be charred up. Still, the smell was nice, and if Goat was in a good mood, she was sometimes willing to tear off pieces of meat for Inferno and throw them directly into her dragonet's jaws, keeping the scorching to a minimum.

Inferno stepped down from her small ledge, and smiled at her mother. Even though Inferno had slept well into morning, as she presumed from Goat's eating schedule, Inferno had difficulty holding back a small yawn. She was still drowsy. This wasn't unexpected for her — whenever Inferno talked to Ash, it felt like she hadn't slept half an entire night's sleep. What she wouldn't give to be a RainWing right now, with normal scales and lots of sleep.

Oh, that was right. Ash. They had talked last night. She thought back to the conversation she'd had with her brother. Fortunately, talks with Ash were far easier to remember than a normal dream. She winced. Leaving the Talons. Going to Jade Mountain. Inferno tried to force a smile and think of the positives. She'd be able to meet new dragons, maybe ones that were nicer to her than the ones here. The Talons weren't so awful that they never let her out of the cave to see the sun, and the previous hideout of the Talons was above-ground, but Inferno would be glad to be outside more. The caves were stuffy. Maybe Inferno would even be able to see the ocean! Apparently, one of the Talons' really old hideouts was on the ocean, but Queen Scarlet had found it and burned it to the ground. It was unfortunate, Inferno would have loved to live near the ocean. Although she wasn't quite sure what would happen if she tried to swim . . .

Still, Inferno wouldn't have to deal with Ochre and Coyote anymore, and wouldn't be around for her mother's bad moods. But what if she met even worse dragons at Jade Mountain, ones which wanted to hurt her? At least everyone here was tolerable. What if Peril was there?

Inferno started to hyperventilate just at that idea. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath, exhaling hot air. Ash had said that Peril probably wouldn't be at Jade Mountain. She just had to trust that he was right, and if he wasn't, she was sure he could tell her what to do.

Inferno glanced over towards Goat, trying to get the last few scraps of meat from her leg. Inferno gulped. She wasn't sure how Goat was going to take this. "Mother," Inferno announced, pulling Goat's attention towards her. Goat glanced over towards her daughter, looking slightly annoyed that Inferno was taking her away from her food. "I think I'm going to leave the Talons," Inferno continued. "I don't know when I'm going to be back."

Goat looked at Inferno for a moment, frowning slightly. "Oh," she answered, spitting out flecks of venison. "Fine. See you around. Don't get yourself killed, and if you do, don't tell them I'm here."

Inferno kept her feigned smile up. That was it? No argument? No 'you're too young, it's too dangerous to leave'? Inferno supposed that it was easier this way, but she was almost hoping that Goat would tell her to stay, saying that this was a stupid idea, and that she'd miss her daughter if she left. Did Goat want Inferno to leave? Inferno knew she secretly did. Inferno was a burden to Goat, and without Inferno around, her mother would be able to live her own life. And it wasn't that Goat didn't love her dragonet or wouldn't miss her, it was just that Goat knew Inferno was an adult, and that she didn't want to stop Inferno from choosing her own path. Yes, Inferno thought, that must be it. Goat was just a good SkyWing mother, supporting her daughter's independence.

"Don't worry," Inferno replied, forcing a grin, "I'll be fine."

Goat snorted, and went back to gnawing on her almost barren bone. Inferno looked down at her belongings. She couldn't take her entire rock collection, of course, all of the leather and cloth satchels that the other Talons used would instantly go up in flames if she touched them. Still, she would be able to take the agate near her ledge, she could just hold that in her claws. She picked it up, then thought for a moment. It wasn't as if she could bring food or water either. Well, the flight to Jade Mountain wasn't too far, and SkyWings generally didn't need to eat every day, so that wouldn't be a problem. She could just get water on the way there. If she remembered correctly, high mountains had snow and ice, which was pretty much water or steam as soon as she touched it, so that would be fine.

Inferno stepped out of her and Goat's cave, taking one last look back at her mother. Goat glanced up towards Inferno uncomfortably, then turned back to her bone. Inferno looked away. That was it. Who knew when she'd next see her mother again?

Unable to resist, Inferno looked back. This time, Goat kept her head down. Embarrassed, Inferno whipped her head around to the tunnel in front of her, and hurried down it. It wasn't too crowded, fortunately. It was late enough in the morning that most of the Talons were already doing their daily duties, and were out of the way. She smiled at the few dragons she passed, who pressed themselves up against the stone walls in order to keep as much distance between themselves and Inferno as possible.

There was only one dragon who Inferno felt the need to talk to before she left, Riptide. Not because she really wanted to talk to him, but more that he was in charge of remembering who was in the Talons and who wasn't, and she felt slightly obligated to tell him she was going. Hopefully he wouldn't be too angry. She really didn't want to have to deal with any angry dragons.

Inferno slipped through the small entryway into Riptide's room, folding in her wings. The SeaWing glanced up from a series of scrolls rolled out over the stone floor. Inferno looked down at them, but couldn't read much of anything on them. Maybe news from the outside world? Or letters from allies?

"Oh, hey Inferno," the young SeaWing began. "Is something up?"

Inferno smiled. Riptide tried not to show it, but it was pretty clear he was uncomfortable around her. He wasn't mean to Inferno like Avalanche or Coyote (though to be fair, Avalanche was mean to everyone), and Inferno thought that he genuinely didn't want to not like her, but she was a difficult dragon to like.

"Er, yeah," Inferno replied. "I've thought about it a bit, and I've decided that I'm going to leave the Talons."

Riptide looked at her for a moment, as if trying to judge if she was being serious or not. His expression turned into a dour frown. "You mean leave as in go out into Pyrrhia?"

Inferno nodded.

Riptide's expression worsened. "Is Goat coming with you?" he continued.

Inferno shook her head.

Riptide sighed. "Inferno, are you sure? Do you know how many dragons out there would try to kill a fireborn roaming around? I know you'd never hurt them, at least intentionally, but it'd be dangerous, and you're barely more than a dragonet."

You were nine when you took charge of the Talons, one year older than I am now, Inferno wanted to reply so she could point out Riptide's hypocrisy. She was eight, plenty old enough to leave. All the kingdoms which had a draft conscripted dragons by at oldest seven, with some even as young as five. "I know," Inferno replied politely. She wasn't quite sure how to reply. "I'll stay safe."

Riptide shook his head. "Look, Inferno, it's not like I want to keep you here, but I can't let you leave."

"Riptide, is that your choice to make?"

Inferno turned around as Riptide's eyes followed behind her. A silvery-black NightWing stood in the doorway, slightly closer to Inferno's tail than she was comfortable with. The torchlight of the cavern reflected off his scales, causing them to take on a strange orange tint. An elderly tabby slept between Trustbreaker's horns, flicking his furred ear in his sleep. That was right. Goat had mentioned Trustbreaker was going to arrive today.

"Oh, hello Trustbreaker, welcome back," Riptide said, with a slight hint of disdain in his voice. Inferno could tell that Riptide was a bit irritated by the older NightWing. Trustbreaker had been in the Talons of Peace far longer than Riptide, and Riptide could get a little annoyed when the NightWing encroached on his authority. "And to be clear, I think it is my choice to make," Riptide answered, "I'm in charge here."

Trustbreaker expression or tone didn't seem to change. "In charge of the Talons, maybe, but not of the lives of the dragons within it. And if Inferno has decided she isn't in it, I think that means you're no longer in charge of her. If she wants to risk the real world, that's her choice. She's not a crawling dragonet anymore. But if you want to try and stand in the way of Inferno and the cave's exit, be my guest."

Inferno stepped to the side uncomfortably. She liked Trustbreaker arguing in her favor, but it was still a bit strange. And if Riptide really wanted to stop her, he probably could. She wouldn't disobey his direct orders.

Riptide flicked out his forked tongue with a glare. Trustbreaker was right about one thing — it wasn't like he, or any dragon alive, could actually stop Inferno from leaving. One of the benefits of having firescales was that dragons tended to get out of your path very, very quickly.

"Fine, she can go," Riptide growled, maybe a little too quickly. She doubted the grim SeaWing would miss her too much. Unlike him, she was a bit of a nuisance to the Talons of Peace. Chances were that he partly wanted her to leave. Riptide turned to look at Inferno. "But don't come crying back to us when no one will accept you."

Inferno felt a pang of anxiety. Maybe Riptide was right. Maybe she'd be out in Pyrrhia, with no home to go back to, and no one to live with. Maybe dragons would try and hunt her down. Maybe this was a bad idea. No, she had to trust Ash. If he thought that it would be more dangerous staying here, he was probably right.

Trustbreaker glanced over to Inferno. "Do you mind if I ask where you're going? Just in case Goat or one of us wants to go find you."

Inferno hesitated for a moment. Ash had said she wasn't safe here. Would it just be better to not tell anyone where she was going? Probably not. It wasn't as if word wouldn't get back to the Talons anyways. "Jade Mountain Academy," Inferno replied, "but maybe somewhere else after that."

"Jade Mountain?" Trustbreaker replied, slightly surprised. "I thought . . ."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Inferno averted his eyes. She knew what he was going to say. 'I thought Peril was there.'

Riptide's expression softened. "Oh, Jade Mountain?" he commented with a hint of relief. "Why didn't you just say so? That's a good choice. You'll be in good paws." That was right. Tsunami, one of the Dragonets of Destiny and Riptide's mate, was head of the academy there. Inferno wasn't quite sure if that was a positive or a negative, but at least Tsunami would be glad to hear how Riptide was doing.

The three dragons stood in awkward silence for a moment. Sapphire stretched out his paw, brushing it against Trustbreaker's horns as he yawned.

Inferno finally broke it. "So, can I leave now?"

Riptide hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, sure. If you come back, make sure to tell me how Tsunami is doing, alright?"

Inferno nodded, slightly confused, and stepped out of the cavern, Trustbreaker backing up so she could get through without touching him. She glanced over at the NightWing as soon as the two of them were out of Riptide's earshot. "Didn't he say he didn't want me coming back?"

Trusbreaker shrugged his wings. "As long as you say something good about Tsunami, I'm sure he'll forget all about it. So, it's true that you're going to Jade Mountain?"

Was Trustbreaker asking Inferno if she had lied to Riptide? "Er, yeah," she answered. "I am."

Trustbreaker looked at her for a moment. It seemed like he wanted to ask what had changed, but he held his tongue. "Good luck," he answered, "and remember, you always have a place here in the Talons if you need it."

Inferno nodded. "Thank you," she replied, "for everything."

Trustbreaker smiled as Inferno stepped away, walking towards the exit of the caverns, the agate still in her claws. A bright ray of light entered through it, and Inferno almost rushed into it, even though took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the direct sunlight. Clean, dry air entered her lungs, unlike the damp, stuffy smell of the caverns. Small foothills of the Claws of the Clouds were visible behind her, and the skies were clear. That was fortunate, it would make flying easier.

Although there were trees hiding the cave entrance, there was a small clearing not too far from it. Inferno walked towards it, the grass around her claws sizzling and crisping with every step she made. She looked down in worry. If she wasn't careful, she could start a fire. On her flight, she would need to make sure that she didn't land anywhere too dry.

Inferno spread out her wide wings, and pushed them down, creating a gust of air beneath them. It took a few more flaps until she finally gained enough lift to take off. The wind whipped against the scales on her snout as she flew upwards, the clouds getting closer with every wingbeat, and the home she'd spent much of her life in growing smaller and smaller beneath her.

It was less than an hour before Inferno realized that she wasn't alone in the skies. The wind was loud, which made it difficult for her to hear the dragon behind her, but a haphazard glance back caused her to see the dark speck in the distance, with the familiar shape of wings spreading out from the dragon's sides like two straight lines. Inferno tensed up. How long had she been followed?

As if realizing that Inferno had noticed them, the dragon swooped upwards, hiding in a cloud. Inferno gulped. Well, it wasn't like Inferno was in danger. Even if someone was following her, they couldn't lay a talon on her, or else . . . Inferno didn't want to think about what would happen. Anyways, she was leaving the Talons of Peace, not going towards it. There wasn't much danger of their pseudo-secret hideout being discovered.

Inferno continued flying for a few minutes longer, worry still plaguing her mind. She glanced back again. She could see a hint of color in the clouds. She sighed. She might as well get this over with.

"Hello?" Inferno called out, raising one of her wings as she banked to the left, reversing her direction. She started flying towards where the other dragon was. "Are you there? Why are you following me?"

Familiar aquamarine scales lowered themselves through the white cloud-cover, as a slightly ashamed SeaWing's eyes met Inferno's. Inferno frowned, confused. What was Seahorse doing here?

"Er, I can explain," Seahorse quickly said. "I heard that you were going to Jade Mountain Academy, and I have, um, a relative there I kind of wanted to see, so I thought I'd catch up with you and see if you would be fine if I went with you."

"Go with me?" Inferno asked, unsure. "Why me?" She looked over Seahorse. He had certainly packed. He was carrying a huge cloth sack, a large waterskin and a scrollcase. Inferno looked closer at the sack. It was visibly sagging, and Inferno thought it looked quite heavy. How was Seahorse able to fly with whatever he had in it? And even more, how had he been able to catch up to Inferno, a SkyWing? Wasn't she supposed to be a really fast flyer or something? Well, Inferno was pretty out of practice, and Seahorse seemed pretty strong. So maybe it wasn't that weird.

"Um," Seahorse stammered, "the dragon I want to talk to, you see, she has a bit of a grudge against me, probably for good reasons, and I kind of want to apologize, but I'm also a bit worried she might just get really angry, and you seem like the perfect dragon for helping me with her." Seahorse gulped, his teal flushed with embarrassment.

Inferno almost laughed. Inferno was the perfect dragon for helping Seahorse out? That was ridiculous. Chances were that Inferno would just end up scaring Seahorse's relative away, if not the rest of the academy. She was probably the worst dragon for whatever Seahorse wanted. Why couldn't Seahorse just do it himself? Back in the Talons, the SeaWing had seemed so confident in his own scales Inferno doubted there was anything he couldn't do if he put his mind to it. Still, Inferno didn't want to let Seahorse down, especially when it seemed like the SeaWing was so desperate.

"I mean, I can try," Inferno answered.

Seahorse sighed in relief. "Thank you, so much," he replied. "You don't know how much this means to me."

Inferno nodded. "Yeah. No problem." As Inferno turned herself back around, going further towards Jade Mountain, she suddenly remembered what Ash had said last night. Inferno was in danger in the Talons of Peace. What if Seahorse was that danger, and Inferno had just invited him to go to Jade Mountain together? And Ash had told Inferno to be wary of Seahorse. Which was the opposite of what Inferno had just done. Ugh, she was so stupid. What could she do now? She couldn't just ask Seahorse to leave. Maybe she'd ask Ash about it the next time she saw him. He could help, and if Seahorse was the danger he'd mentioned, he would have told Inferno. Right?