Chapter 13

"Nice place," Midnight commented as she looked up at the gate to the Outclaws' compound.

Sunny nodded. It might not have been the SandWing palace, and her quarters were cramped, but it was nice, especially compared to the caves she'd grown up in. She winced. Just the thought of the other Dragonets, and of Glory's fate, was painful.

The two SandWings standing guard at the compound's entrance turned alert as they saw Sunny approach, Midnight and Ecru behind her.

"Your majesty!" one of them barked, mildly concerned. "You're supposed to be under watch at all times by an Outclaw! Who are these strange dragons?"

The other guard glared at the first. "Didn't you hear? Her majesty left with Ecru yesterday and has been missing since." He bowed his head, even lower than Sunny's, in respect.

"Oh," the first guard said. "Er, my sincerest apologies—"

"It's fine," Sunny stated with a smile. "Would you please find Clay and Cheetah for me? I have bad news to share."

The first guard quickly bowed before running off, leaving the second behind, unsure what he should be doing. He carefully watched Midnight and Ecru as they followed Sunny into the compound courtyard. Should he be letting strange dragons in? The rules pretty explicitly told him not to, but Sunny was the queen.

The three only had to wait in the courtyard for a moment. "Sunny!" Clay shouted as he burst through the doors to the compound, Cheetah behind him. He ran up to Sunny before wrapping his wings around her in a hug so tight she could barely breath. Sunny wrapped her arms around his neck, holding her head against his scales.

"I've been worried sick about you!" Clay huffed, his scales finally relaxing. "There was an explosion where you were supposed to meet, and you didn't return, and—"

"It's fine, Clay," Sunny cut him off, keeping herself close to him. Her disappearance must have put him through a lot, especially after losing Glory so recently. "I'm fine."

The two held their embrace for a while, small tears starting to roll down Clay's neck. At least they still had each other. Were Tsunami and Starflight like this too? In Jade Mountain, feeling like they were the only two dragons who could ever understand each other? Sunny wondered how long it would be before the four of them would finally be all together again.

Sunny finally let go of Clay, taking a step back as his wings unravelled from around her. She looked over to Cheetah, already knowing what the Outclaw would say.

"Where's Kudu?" Cheetah asked nervously, looking over towards the entrance to the compound. "She's not here with you." He glanced over to Midnight and Ecru. "Who are these . . . new dragons?"

Sunny shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm so sorry Cheetah. It was a trap. Kudu is dead."

Cheetah's anxiety faded, being replaced with a solemn expression. "I see," he said, lowering his head. "Jackal returning was too good to be real. You're absolutely sure?"

Sunny nodded. "I saw her die. She didn't go down without a fight." She shook her head back and forth. "This is all my fault. Had she not come with me, she never would have been in danger."

"No, it's not you," Cheetah grimaced. "She should have taken more Outclaws with her. I suggested it, but she wanted to go with only you. Maybe if I had pushed her more, things would have turned out differently."

Clay stepped forward, glancing between Sunny and Cheetah. "Please don't blame yourselves," he pleaded. "What happened wasn't either of your faults. It was a trap, right?"

Cheetah nodded, letting out a wistful sigh. He looked up at Sunny, wiping his eyes. "How did you escape?" he asked. "Please, tell me what happened. Everything. From the beginning."

"It was the Talons of Power," Sunny answered. "Rattlesnake and Sirocco. They set the trap in the warehouse, and had their goons kill Ecru and capture me. They were going to trade me to Aloe, I think. I was in their prison for a night, and then they threw Midnight in. She's my—"

"—friend," Midnight quickly interrupted. "I'm her friend. Well, not exactly a friend friend, but we have a mutual friend at Jade Mountain."

"I then rescued both of them," Ecru grinned. "I knocked out Sirocco and freed both of them."

"How did you get out of their compound?" Cheetah asked, mildly surprised. "It's supposed to be one of the most well-defended places in Pyrrhia, although I've heard their defenses have faltered since Vulture's death."

Sunny opened her mouth to respond, but Midnight interrupted her again.

"We took Sirocco hostage," Midnight answered. It was part of the truth. "At least until we were able to get out. We couldn't take him here."

Cheetah's gaze narrowed, keeping his eyes locked on Midnight, frowning. He could tell she was hiding something. Midnight kept her expression as motionless as possible. He might have been Sunny's friend, but Midnight didn't trust him yet. What would he do if he found out Midnight was an animus? Would he just let her go, or would he try to capture and control like Rattlesnake had? Or would he even try to kill her?

"Is that it?" Cheetah asked, turning to Sunny. "I'm surprised you got out so easily. Rattlesnake is ruthless."

Sunny nodded uncomfortably. "Yeah. I guess we got lucky," she lied. She didn't want to lie to Cheetah, especially about the circumstances around Ecru's death. But she understood. Midnight was an animus. That wasn't something she wanted to tell others lightly. Sunny would give Clay all the details later, while they were alone, but Cheetah would just have to hear the abridged version for now.

"Well, I'm glad you got out safely," Cheetah said, keeping his stare locked on Midnight. "All of you. Rescuing the queen makes you a hero in my eyes, and likely in most of the Sand Kingdom's. I'm Cheetah, by the way, second-in-command of the Outclaws."

"Er," Clay said, frowning, "if Ecru is dead, doesn't that make you . . . leader?"

Cheetah frowned, like he was considering this for a moment. He shook his head. "Not yet," he replied. "I would like some time to mourn Kudu before I take on that position." He looked back towards Midnight. "Who are you, I must ask? You don't look like you're from around these parts."

"Actually, I live relatively nearby," Midnight smiled, hiding a glare of daggers behind it. "In Crosswinds. I'm Midnight, and this is Ecru."

"Ah," Cheetah replied. "Crosswinds. Of course." He glanced over to the compound. "It's starting to get late. Would the two of you like to stay for dinner? It would be wrong of me to not invite you after what you've done."

Midnight frowned. She didn't like this. Being offered something for free in the Scorpion Den, by a dragon who'd spent the last few minutes glaring at her? It sounded like a bad idea.

"Of course!" Ecru answered. "We'd love a good meal! I don't eat meat, is that a problem?"

"Er, not at all," Cheetah smiled. "I'm sure our chef can find something for you."

The dinner was practically a feast. Even Sunny noticed — the Outclaws' chef was going all out. In celebration of Sunny's rescue, or as a way to sooth everyone's grief? But for all the celebratory food, the tone of the meal was quite somber. By now, the news of Kudu's death had passed through the Outclaws, and instead of the raucous meals Sunny was used to here, the SandWings all had their heads down in silence.

Sunny looked across the table, to Midnight. Her cousin's eyes were focused on Cheetah, glaring at the SandWing. What had he done to anger her so much? Ecru seemed just as oblivious to her mate's anger, eagerly eating the special meatless meal that Cheetah had had prepared for her.

"So, what brings you to the Scorpion Den from Crosswinds?" Cheetah asked the two newcomers with a smile. "The flight across the desert isn't fun. Are you planning to be here for long?"

"No," Midnight answered. "This place isn't really for us, and I've got someone to get back to."

Cheetah frowned, mildly concerned. "Wait, are the two of you not toge—"

"My mother," Midnight snapped back with a glare. "I take care of her."

Ecru turned towards Midnight, placing a wing around her back. "Midnight, be nice," she whispered. She turned back to Cheetah with a smile. "We came to the Scorpion Den searching for information. It's how we ended up with the Talons of Power, we were hoping Rattlesnake could help us."

Cheetah chuckled. "I suppose that didn't work out? Rattlesnake isn't really the helpful type of dragon."

"It did work out, in fact," Midnight stated. "We got the information."

Ecru nodded. "Sirocco accidentally let slip that Her Majesty was imprisoned there. Midnight tried to rescue her, but they didn't take kindly to that. Ooh, Midnight! Show Cheetah the chakram, maybe he knows something!"

Cheetah opened an eye curiously. "Chakram?"

Midnight sighed, and pulled the metal disk from her bag, flashing it in front of Cheetah's eyes. "Someone attempted to assassinate me with this," she explained. "Rattlesnake thinks it's NightWing made. We're planning to go find the NightWings to see if they know anything."

Cheetah nodded. "Last I heard, most of the NightWings are in camps near the southern edge of the Mud Kingdom, southeast of Queen Moorhen's palace. I'd strongly suggest leaving as soon as possible."

Midnight snorted. First Cheetah wanted them for dinner, and now he wants to get rid of them?

"Do you mind if we stay the night?" Ecru asked politely. "It's been a long day."

Cheetah shook his head, tapping his talons on his plate. "Unfortunately not. We're at capacity right now. Kudu believed that there was strength in numbers, and well, we certainly have the numbers."

"Wait, could they stay with Clay, Acacia, and I?" Sunny suggested to Cheetah. "It's a little cramped, but . . ." Sunny's explanation trailed off. Midnight was her cousin, and the only family member other than Stonemover that Sunny knew of. She wanted more time before Midnight left, to at least get to know her a little.

Clay looked over at Sunny with a hint of skepticism, his mouth stuffed with mutton.

Sunny sighed. Their room was already cramped with just the three of them already there, they couldn't fit two more dragons. "Maybe more than a little cramped. But I'm sure we could find something."

"I really think you should leave tonight," Cheetah frowned.

"Really?" Midnight asked, suspicious. "And why is that?"

"If you're trying to find the NightWings, you'll need to do it soon," Cheetah explained with a sigh. "Queen Moorhen is dealing with unrest in the northern MudWing territory. She's likely going to kick the NightWings out of her territory soon to avoid a war with the IceWings she can't handle. If they leave, you might not get another chance."

"Oh," Midnight replied. That was a good reason. "Wait, what do you mean, might not get another chance?"

Cheetah grimaced. "The NightWings only have one safe place left to go. Jade Mountain. And unless they want to abandon the weak and young, that means a few days flight through the Claws of the Clouds. Neutral territory. It's pretty clear from her troop movements that Queen Blackice plans to attack them there, and slaughter them all."

The small group of dragons fell silent. Midnight suddenly felt sick, just staring down at her plate almost made her vomit. Queen Blackice was planning genocide. The entire tribe that Midnight's mother had come from, gone.

"We'll leave after dinner," Ecru said, almost choking on the words.

Midnight had known that there weren't many NightWings left, even before Queen Blackice's initial attack on the rainforest. She'd always wanted to meet the NightWings, the tribe she'd come from. But it hadn't occurred to her that this was her only chance. That soon, there could be no Night Kingdom left for her to visit.

Cheetah nodded, smile gone. "I wish you good luck. Both of you. I'd suggest flying at night. The desert will be cooler, and you won't be seen by IceWings patrolling the rainforest."

Midnight felt a lump in her throat. "I have to do something," she whispered. Moons above, she was an animus! Even if using her powers were dangerous, she couldn't just leave the NightWings to die. There had to be something she could enchant, something that would turn the tide of battle.

"I know," Ecru replied quietly. "We can talk about it later." She looked up to Cheetah and Sunny, and bowed her head. "Thank you for your hospitality."

The rest of the meal was quiet, Midnight and Ecru quickly finishing their food, knowing that their time left was short. After they finished, Midnight got up, leaving the dining hall with a short goodbye, Ecru following behind her.

The two hybrids stepped out into the Outclaws' courtyard. Midnight looked up into the desert sky, the sun set out to the west, leaving behind a halo of oranges and yellows, fading into a deep blue. Stars were starting to appear in the dusk sky, small dots of light, like the golden specks beneath Midnight's wings. Even if Midnight was half SeaWing, even if she could count the number of NightWings she knew on her claws, she still owed them something, didn't she? If it was to save the lives of an entire tribe, her tribe, would she sacrifice her soul?

"Midnight, wait!" a voice called out from inside the compound. Sunny stepped through the door, into the grassy courtyard.

"Hi, Sunny," Midnight smiled. Even if Queen Sunny didn't look like it, she was half NightWing too. Did she want to go with them? Midnight doubted it. Sunny had her own kingdom to take care of, an usurped throne to take back.

"Hey," Sunny replied. "I just wanted to thank you before you go. For rescuing me, and all that."

Midnight laughed. "To be honest, it was really Ecru who saved you. I just yelled at Rattlesnake enough."

Sunny nodded. "I'm glad I have more family. And someone who isn't a total jerk." Even if their parents were kinda awful, Clay had his sibs, Tsunami a whole menagerie of brothers and two sisters. Glory had had Jambu. Even Starflight had Fierceteeth, as awful as she was. But Sunny had been an only dragonet. After Queen Thorn took the throne, all the other Dragonets of Destiny all had their siblings to meet and bond with, but not Sunny. "It might be too much to hope, but after this is over, can we meet again?"

"Of course!" Midnight replied. "Don't worry, I won't die on you. You better not die either. Come visit Gazelle Ecru and I in Crosswinds sometime, alright?"

Sunny grinned. "I will. And after I retake the palace, I'll invite you there."

Ecru bowed her head in front of Sunny, and laughed. "This is still a little surreal for me," she said. "Growing up a hybrid in Crosswinds, I didn't imagine in my wildest dreams that I'd end up rescuing the Queen of the SandWings and dining with two of the Dragonets of Destiny. I'm glad I got to meet you."

"Me too," Sunny replied. "And not just because I would've been shipped off to Aloe and probably would've died if I hadn't met you. Good luck, both of you."

Midnight paused for a moment, before suddenly remembering Sunny. "Oh, wait!" she said. "Er, maybe this is a little out of place, but I had a request from a hybrid named Slate a while back. If you do get back on the throne, he wanted you to try and make things better for hybrids in the Sand Kingdom."

Sunny looked back, and nodded. "I'll try," she promised. "If I can get rid of Aloe, I'll do that." Sunny hadn't wanted to take the throne, and had even considered giving it up, but was there any dragon but her who would be able to champion that cause? Queen Thorn, maybe, but her reign had been too short, and she'd had bigger priorities in her three years. Queen Sunny frowned. If she got back on the throne, that was some good she could do.

"Alright," Midnight said, looking up towards the desert sky again. "We really need to get going. See you soon, alright?"

Suuny smiled, and nodded. As she walked back towards the Outclaws' compound, Midnight and Ecru opened their wings, a burst of wind hitting Sunny's back as the two took off, the moons lighting their path to the east.

Sunny glanced back, and sighed. She'd failed in her short time as queen. But maybe she could make things right.

Winds whipped around Midnight's wings as rain flew into her eyes. Rivulets of water dripped sideways along her scales as she flew through the storm, leaving from her tail and spiraling down through the sky below. A flash of light lit up the sky, and a few seconds later, thunder shook through Midnight's scales.

"They don't call it a rainforest for nothing!" Midnight yelled, turning her head back towards Ecru.

Ecru nodded, her wings out, moving back and forth as she tried to keep herself stable in the ever changing winds.

Midnight looked down towards the ground. It was difficult to see at night, especially during the storm, but the charred remains of this part of the rainforest were far below. The rainforest had looked healthy when they'd entered, but the last few nights of flying revealed the great scorched gap in its center. Where the IceWings had set it on fire, destroying the home of both the RainWings and NightWings.

Midnight felt a shiver in her scales. How could dragons be so horrible? She knew about the 2000 year grudge between the NightWings and IceWings, of course. She tried to imagine herself in the IceWings' paws for a moment — surrounded by the fading remnants of magic, memories of a great dynasty long lost. Constant reminders of what the NightWings had stolen from them. Midnight could understand their anger. But even in a million years, Midnight couldn't imagine being driven to this amount of violence. Not just attacking innocent NightWings who weren't liable for the crimes of their ancestors, but murdering and enslaving RainWings, peaceful dragons who had absolutely nothing to do with the entire mess.

A cold thought suddenly came over Midnight, one that she hadn't put together until now. The NightWings had stolen their animus magic from the IceWings, and it been passed down through generations. Through the Darkstalker, through Sunscorcher, through Stonemover. Midnight and Queen Sunny were the end of that bloodline. Midnight herself wasn't sure which side of her family her magic came through, but what if it had been the NightWings? Did that mean that she was responsible for this, that she carried the burden of Foeslayer's ancient sins? What if the only way to make this right, to save the NightWings, was by Midnight giving herself and her magic up to Queen Blackice?

Midnight looked down at the scorched forest once more, blackened stumps of trees rising up from the ashes. She doubted that Queen Blackice would be satisfied with her giving herself up. It was more likely that the IceWings would just kill her outright, or worse.

Another blast of rain hit Midnight's already soaked scales. She tried to shake the water off, but there was no point. She sighed. Why would the assassin be a NightWing? SandWing or IceWing Midnight could understand, even a MudWing. But a NightWing? Was this about her mother and uncle fleeing the Night Kingdom? She supposed it made some sense — they'd taken Stonemover's animus magic with them, just like how Foeslayer took Arctic's magic. Were they trying to get it back? Trying to kill her then didn't make a lot of sense. Wind suddenly hit from above, causing Midnight to tumble through the sky for a moment, before flapping back up to Ecru.

"This would be so much easier if I used my magic to find the assassin," Midnight grumbled. "Far less wet too."

Ecru gave her a look of concern, the hybrid's expression barely visible through the rain.

"I'm not going to do it," Midnight assured Ecru. "I know. Soul and all. But it would be easier."

"It's a shortcut," Ecru reminded her. "A dangerous shortcut. Hey, we wouldn't have saved Sunny if you'd used your magic."

"True," Midnight replied. "We also wouldn't have almost died in the Scorpion Den. And not just because of Rattlesnake — I still think Cheetah poisoned my food."

"It was probably just bad," Ecru said, rolling her eyes.

Midnight tsked. "I had cramps so bad I had to use the healing scroll on myself."

"We should've waited thirty minutes to fly," Ecru remarked.

Midnight shook her head and turned back to the forest. Leafless trees poked up like twigs, and fallen logs crisscrossed the soaked ashen ground.

Ecru rubbed her claws together. She knew Midnight wasn't serious about just using her magic so freely, but it still worried her. Before she created the healing scroll, Midnight rarely discussed magic, but now it seemed like she joked about using it for everything.

"Midnight," Ecru said quietly, Midnight barely hearing over the storm, "if you do use magic, can you promise to at least talk it over with me before you do?"

"Yeah, sure," Midnight agreed. That seemed reasonable. She knew as well as Ecru did the dangers of animus magic. Making sure to talk it over with her was probably a good idea, especially if she did start to lose her soul.

"Thanks," Ecru said with a smile.

The storm only got worse as the night went on, strong winds turning into great gales. The rain was so heavy that Midnight couldn't even see the rainforest below anymore.

"Maybe we should land?" Ecru yelled out, her voice barely reaching Midnight even though the two were barely a few wingspans apart.

Midnight paused for a moment. This was far from ideal flying weather. She needed to get to the NightWings as soon as possible if Queen Moorhen was kicking them out, but there wasn't much point in this weather. She wasn't quite sure they were going in the right direction anymore, or if they were even making progress against the strong winds.

"Alright," Midnight yelled back, turning around so she could see Ecru, similarly struggling to keep fly. "Let's find a place to—"

The sky lit up as lightning struck, a large crack sounding almost instantaneously. Midnight stared behind Ecru. In that moment, she'd thought she'd seen the silhouette of black wings and a dragon's figure in the distance.

"Eek!" Ecru said, glancing over to where the lightning had struck. "That was close. No point in going to the NightWings if you're fried!"

"Quiet!" Midnight gulped, staring back behind Ecru, straining her ears to see if she could hear whoever was behind them. No luck; she couldn't detect anything in the storm. "I think we're being followed."

Ecru went silent, and Midnight knew she was thinking the same thing. Who could be following them, remaining undetected up until now? There was only one answer that made sense. The assassin.

Midnight's breath got faster, her heart racing. Had the assassin seen that she'd seen them?

Midnight suddenly stalled, dipping her wings down towards the ground, gesturing for Ecru to follow. She did, quietly heading down to the rainforest with Midnight. Midnight squinted. Where was the ground? How far were they?

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning cracked in front of the two, causing Midnight to yell out, flapping her wings in surprise and twisting away. Out of the corner of her eye, black star-speckled wings appeared above her.

Midnight suddenly screamed as she felt the scales on her neck ripped open, metal streaking through her flesh. She turned and tried to dive downwards as she saw wings descending, black scales and talons around her view.

"Midnight!" Ecru roared as she heard the yell, blindly staring in the rain. Where was she? Ecru tried to go towards where she'd heard Midnight's scream, but the winds wrapped beneath her, twisting her around. She stared into the darkness. Without night vision, how could she see either of them?

Midnight tried to call out back, but felt the sharp talons touching her head, trying to tear in before the wind pushed her away from her attacker. She turned back at the assassin, barely visible in the night. He rushed towards her, this time the winds slamming him into her. Midnight felt his wet scales against hers, and talons tore into her wings and forelegs, the assassin using all of his claws to immobilize her. Midnight let out a roar, trying to alert Ecru to her location, then bit into the attacker, tasting his blood in her mouth.

If the NightWing felt anything, he didn't yell. Midnight suddenly felt a sense of dizziness, as the attacker started spiraling downwards, pulling her down with him. Rain hit her eyes from all directions, Midnight barely sure which way was down and which was up. Her heart raced. She had to do something, or she'd be flung into the ground. The healing scroll couldn't help her then.

Midnight heard Ecru yell out again, this time even further. Midnight tore her jaws away from the NightWing, spitting out his blood. She turned her head to where she thought his was, and opened her jaws wide, like she was about to spit fire on the both of them. A blast of warm smoke hit the assassin's snout, and he suddenly let go, not wanting to go up in flames with her. Midnight spread out her wings and kicked him off, for a moment, believing her fake-out was a minor victory.

As she turned, wind starting to lift up her wings, she felt something suddenly tear into her wing membranes. She glanced back to see a charred tree branch behind her. Lightning lit up the sky, Midnight realizing that she was sailing through the top of the leafless rainforest.

Midnight yelled as a treetrunk sailed past her, hitting the edge of her other wing. She flapped, trying to regain control and slow down, the winds pushing her forward, into another tree. Barely able to slow herself down, the trunk whacked into her side, and she grabbed her talons into its charred wood, trying to hold on as she plummeted, branches barely able to break her fall.

Finally, Midnight hit the ground, landing in a pile of wet ash. She winced, trying to pull herself to her paws. Ecru's calls had disappeared, lost in the storm. Midnight let her head fall back staring up into the storm, rain falling into her eyes. Everything hurt. Could she have broken something? She breathed heavily, trying again to move, even as the wounds on her neck and her wing screamed at her not to. She turned, suddenly feeling her leather satchel against her side. The satchel. With the healing scroll.

As Midnight's talons reached into it, pain suddenly ripped through the top of her snout, a metal disc hitting the side of the tree. Her eyes went wide as she saw the shadow of a dragon through the rain. She had to get up now.

Body burning, Midnight stumbled as she got to her paws, trying to run away, burnt sticks cracking under her paws as she struggled to find any sort of cover. One paw reached into her satchel, rolling open the scroll. She roared in agony as she felt another disc hit her, this time in her hindleg, and she fell to the ground.

Midnight glanced behind her, the assassin closing in on her. No. She couldn't stop now. She had to make it out of this alive. For the NightWings. For Sunny. For Ecru. For Gazelle.

Midnight dragged herself behind a scorched trunk, offering her just the smallest bit of protection. "Cindime Dybo Ndmi," she whispered, staring back at her tail. The pain suddenly started to subside, the wounds in her wing and neck closing. She grimaced as she grabbed ahold of the chakram in her leg, ripping it out to allow the cut to heal.

As soon as her leg started to work, Midnight leapt back to her paws, sprinting away on all fours, holding the scroll in her mouth. She heard another metal disc shot at her, but the wind and rain ruined the assassin's aim, the chakram barely grazing her wing. She looked left and right, the barren remains of the rainforest extending in both directions.

Just beneath the roar of the rain, Midnight heard the gargling of water. A river. Wings tucked in, she ran towards it, knowing the assassin was just moments behind, and that a misplaced step could mean her end. Trees rose up before her, and she weaved in and out, trying to make her a hard target, even more difficult to see and hit in the wind and rain.

Midnight's paws suddenly splashed into water, almost ripping them away from her. Small branches and stones hit her scales, being swept away by the flooded river. A treetrunk floated along the river, forcing Midnight to jump over it to not getting knocked over it. She kept trudging forward, water getting deeper as she moved, trying to wash her downstream

Before she dove into the river, Midnight glanced back. At the edge of the stream, barely visible in the storm, the figure of the NightWing assassin stood between trees. Midnight turned and jumped in, the river immediately sending her tumbling. More rubble and scorched wood hit her scales as she was pulled downstream.

Will the assassin see me under the water? Midnight wondered as the river took her, short of breath. She rose up, taking a short breath above the surface. No sign of him anywhere around.

Not long later, Midnight swam towards the edge of the river, taking all her effort to pull herself out of the water. She panted as she splashed through it. Had she lost him? If not for the storm above, there'd have been no cover for her in the burnt forest.

Midnight walked into the forest, rain pattering around her. All her scales were on edge, talons shaking. What if the assassin was still in hiding, waiting for her to come out? The healing scroll dripped limply from the hybrid's mouth.

As Midnight walked through the rainfall, there was still no sign of the assassin. But no sign of Ecru either. What if the assassin had gone after Ecru? She could be in danger. Midnight winced. What could she do? If she yelled out Ecru's name, the assassin might hear her. But how else could she find Ecru?

Midnight's thoughts went back to the scroll in her mouth. That was a way she could find Ecru. Using her magic again. An idea for a spell had already popped into her mind. Midnight winced. She'd just promised that she'd talk to Ecru before doing another spell. But Ecru wasn't here right now to talk to, and this was an emergency.

Midnight kept pacing. She could keep walking around. Maybe she'd find Ecru. But it was just as likely she'd find the assassin. And if she didn't get out of the rainforest before morning hit or the storm went away, the assassin would be able to find her. A growl rose up through her throat. Was there anything else she could do?

Nothing else came to mind. Midnight took the scroll from her mouth, and took in a deep breath. Another enchantment. Another piece of her soul, gone. But she didn't have a choice.

"Sorry Ecru," Midnight whispered, walking up to a blackened tree. Careful not to tear the scroll, she opened it up to a blank section. She placed a talon against where the last chakram had grazed her wing, and pressed her talon into the wound, wincing from the pain. She could heal it later.

Midnight moved her bloody talon to the scroll, writing three smeary words with it. Ntpoi. Ndif. Tionrecdi. Point. Find. Direction. The blood ran down the wet scroll, barely visible. She hesitated. Should she really be doing this? This was a life or death situation. Why even have her magic if she couldn't use it for times like this?

Midnight moved her claw to her wing again, and drew an arrow on the scroll with it next to the words. She closed her eyes. There was no other way.

"I enchant this scroll," Midnight slowly whispered, "so that if someone reads the words written here on it while holding the scroll, the arrow points towards the dragon they picture in their mind."

Midnight suddenly lurched, the world around her starting to spin. No! No! I can't faint now! As her vision went blurry, she looked to the healing part of the scroll, then to her talons. "Cindime Dybo Ndmi."

The dizziness stopped, much to Midnight's surprise. She moved her head, glancing around to make sure the assassin wasn't nearby. Something still felt off, like the world around her was weirdly fuzzy, but this was good enough.

Water dripped from Midnight's scales as she pictured Ecru in her mind's eye, involuntarily smiling as she thought of her. Hopefully Ecru wouldn't be too angry at Midnight for this. She probably deserved it though. "Ntpoi. Ndif. Tionrecdi."

The red arrow on the scroll suddenly started to move. Midnight lay the scroll flat, watching as it turned around. To her right. That's where Ecru was.

Now, the assassin. Midnight took a deep breath as she tried to remember what the NightWing looked like. She'd only gotten glimpses of him in the storm, but hopefully that would be enough. Black scales. A pouch around his neck. There'd been an odd mark on his neck, just a tiny bit darker than his scales, that Midnight had barely seen — a circle? She hoped that was right.

The arrow spun around, and Midnight let out a sigh of relief. He was back towards the river. In the opposite direction as Ecru. She was safe from him.

Midnight rolled the scroll up, trudging through mud towards in the direction the scroll had pointed its arrow at Ecru. She glanced up into the rainy sky again, lighting up before she heard a crack of thunder. If the assassin tried to look for her in the skies, she doubted he'd be able to see her.

Midnight walked through the storm for the better part of an hour, rain pouring the whole time. She tucked her wings in, shivering. At least there was rain at all. It was better that it didn't clear, so she remained undetected.

Midnight suddenly felt something poke her paw, almost tripping. She glanced down. A large stone was embedded in the ground below — no, not just embedded, but placed. Similarly placed stones formed a circle in front of Midnight, rising up in a few places to form what looked like a wall. Something had been built here.

Midnight stepped into the circle, looking around. Through the charred trunks, she glimpsed the edge of another stone structure downhill from her, this one rising up almost to where the canopy could have been. Some sort of shelter? Midnight pulled out her enchanted scroll, and once again said the words to find Ecru. The arrow pointed directly at the stone structure. She had to be inside there.

The outline of the structure appeared more clearly as Midnight approached. She touched her talons to the stone walls, some scorched by the recent flames. It was old, much older than any building she'd seen in Crosswinds. She looked up, the sides of the structure gently curving up, parts of it falling off, before meeting in a tall spire at the top. A few more of the smaller stone rings were scattered around this one, like similar structures had been built around it, but all but this one had fallen. Who built this? Midnight wondered. RainWings?

Around the side, Midnight spotted what looked like an entryway, a small rectangular outcrop from the structure, the broken remains of a roof over it. The hybrid walked over. It was wide enough for a dragon to enter comfortably, but strangely flat, and Midnight would almost need her belly pressed to the ground to sneak into the crevasse. The two sides were uneven. Maybe there'd been a landslide here, something that covered most of the entrance?

Above the entryway, the old stone looked like it there'd been a small facade. Midnight pressed her talons to it, feeling out the remains of what could have been a carved dragon, now worn away to barely an indentation. Whatever this place was, it was ancient. Midnight felt a shiver rise up through her scales, this time not because of the cold. Something about this place creeped her out.

Midnight glanced down, peeking her head into the low entrance, covered in mud. There were paw tracks through it, and she could see that someone had dragged their tail in the mud. Midnight rolled her eyes with a smile. It had to have been Ecru. She loved ancient ruins, and was a bit more fond of mud than Midnight was. The hybrid grimaced, and stuck her head beneath the outcropping's entrance, crawling through wet mud into the ruin.

"It would've been nice if you'd been in an easier to get place," Midnight sighed, grimacing as she squirmed through the mud. It seemed to be getting everywhere, beneath her wingblades and between her legs. Blegh. Still, this was a good place for Ecru to have gone — it would provide shelter from the storm and if Midnight had been trying to find Ecru without magic, there weren't many other landmarks in the rainforest she could look for.

Finally, the ground started to slope downwards, Midnight able to stand fully upright again, not having to swim through mud anymore. The entrance opened up, revealing a circular space, the inside of the ruins. The ceilings of multiple floors had been broken apart, including the ground floor, which had collapsed under the weight of the dirt.

"Midnight!" Ecru's voice shouted excitedly.

Midnight looked down to see Ecru on the ground beneath her, where dirt had fallen in, the rain turning it into a huge mud pile. Ecru waved her paw, grinning. "Down here!"

Midnight let out a happy sigh of relief, and jumped down, gliding to the basement floor. Four corridors led away from it in every cardinal direction, possibly leading to the other stone circles at one time. She ran forward through the mud, meeting with Ecru and wrapping her wings over her, smearing even more mud over the hybrid's scales.

The two held each other close, Midnight's breathing slowing down as she relaxed. Ecru was safe. The assassin was nowhere to be found. Everything was alright.

"I'm so thankful you're okay," Ecru said quietly, putting her forepaws around Midnight's neck. "You were attacked, and I couldn't see you, and then you were gone and I was alone, and I thought you were—"

"I know," Midnight replied. "I couldn't find you either. But I got away, just barely. The assassin is still around, though. I don't know how much time we have before he finds us."

Ecru nodded. "I came here because I thought this place was interesting," she whispered, her breath quickening. "It's some sort of temple. But it's weird, and wrong. Awful and creepy. There's something here, and I don't know what. I think something, something horrible happened here. I wanted to find out, but the longer I stay, the more I feel it."

Midnight nodded. She wasn't sure quite how or why, but Ecru seemed to have a good sense for these sorts of things. And if even Midnight had felt something was off when she came in, it was no surprise that Ecru was super-freaked out about it.

"Alright," Midnight replied. "We should leave then." She paused for a moment. Ecru didn't know how Midnight had found her. Did she just think that Midnight had come across the ruins on accident? For a moment, Midnight considered keeping it that way. If Ecru never knew that Midnight had used her magic again, she wouldn't be afraid that Midnight had lost more of her soul.

Midnight sighed. This was Ecru. She couldn't lie about this. "Ecru, before we go, I need to tell you something. I used my animus magic again, this time to find you."

Ecru's anxious expression turned to one of distress and disappointment. Midnight turned away, not wanting to meet her eyes. "Oh."

"I'm really sorry," Midnight apologized. "I know I told you that I would talk to you before I did another enchantment, and I didn't. But I wasn't sure where you were, and the assassin was probably coming after me, so I couldn't think of anything else I could do that would get us both out of here alive."

Ecru sighed, tapping her claws against the mud. "Midnight," she said quietly. "Look at me."

Midnight raised her head up, staring directly into Ecru's eyes, her jovial luster gone.

"I want to make sure you understand the stakes behind this," Ecru continued. "I know you're excited about finally being able to use this power you've been afraid of for so long, and that a whole new world of possibilities has opened up before you. But you need to be really, really careful. Even if you ignore the whole soul thing, animus magic is still dangerous. Something made in a fit of fear or rage could cause irreversible consequences. And as Torrent said, the more magic you use, the easier it gets to use it. I don't know if you can see it, but you've changed since creating the healing spell. Where you wouldn't have touched magic before, you're now seriously considering using it."

Midnight opened her mouth. She wanted to say 'The reason I've been using magic is because I've had to! Because our lives have suddenly been put in danger!' but knew that wouldn't help. Ecru was right. Midnight was thinking about using magic more, and Ecru was correct to urge caution.

"Alright," Midnight replied. "I'm sorry." She could tell that Ecru was unhappy with Midnight breaking her promise. Hopefully she wouldn't have to do that again. "The enchantment I made — it's something that directs you towards the dragon you're thinking of. I was wondering about how the assassin might have found us so easily, or how he followed us all the way from Crosswinds without being seen. What if he has something similar?"

"It's possible," Ecru said. "What can we do then, if he's just going to keep going after you forever? Can we confront him?"

Midnight put a claw to her snout, where the wound the assassin made had been before she'd healed it. "No," Midnight answered. "He's an assassin going after an animus. He could be well-prepared. He could even have something like Torrent's dagger. If we try to confront us, I don't think things will work out well. We need to just keep flying, as fast as we can. Maybe someone at the NightWing camps will know who he is, and how we can stop him."

"Alright," Ecru begrudgingly agreed. "Then let's get out of here. The temple is cracked at it's roof, we can exit there."

The two flew up to the top of the ruins, Midnight poking her head out the crack. Rain pattered down on it. She sighed. This would be a long flight.

Chapter 14

Queen Scarlet's throne rose high, fluffy clouds flanking her sides. The throne room was once again open to the sky like the rest of the palace, and Queen Scarlet could see all of Pyrrhia beneath her. The distant isles of the Sea Kingdom to one side, the snow-covered glaciers of the Ice Kingdom to another. All of it was hers. All of the world was hers.

"Your majesty," a faceless SkyWing said, handing her a scroll through the clouds. "You're beautiful."

Queen Scarlet smiled as she felt her snout, taking the scroll and unrolling it. She accidentally dropped one end off the throne, and it sailed down through the clouds until the queen couldn't see it anymore, the scroll stretching all the way from the sky to Pyrrhia. She stared down at the scroll, trying to read it, but the letters seemed to blur together. She squinted, unable to figure out what it said.

"What is this?" she asked, turning back to the dragon who'd given her the scroll.

Where the faceless SkyWing had been, there was now a far too familiar dragon. Queen Scarlet's blood went cold as Glory loomed over her. The RainWing's fangs were as long as daggers, drops of viscous venom trickling down. Scarlet screamed as a dribble hit the side of her head, scales and flesh instantly burning away.

"GUARDS!" Queen Scarlet yelled, turning away from Glory. The two guards in her throne room stared up at her, doing nothing. "What are you doing? STOP HER!"

The guards' red scales suddenly changed, shifting from red to unfamiliar greens and blues, frills appearing behind their ears as they revealed their RainWing forms. Queen Scarlet screamed again, and stepped back, falling from her throne, through the clouds below.

Queen Scarlet's vision turned white as she sailed through the clouds, weaving in and out. Everywhere she looked, turquoise scales appeared. "Leave me alone!" Scarlet roared. "Haven't you taken enough from me?"

Scarlet suddenly landed, tumbling forward into a glass wall. She stood up, brushing herself off. The SkyWing arena spread out below the balcony, her hatchday battle playing out again. Aurora was in the stadium, fighting a huge SkyWing. The crowd cheered, their roars filling the balcony.

"More blood!" Queen Scarlet yelled out. "More violence!"

The huge SkyWing lowered his head down, and Aurora placed her paw against his snout. It suddenly started to disappear, each of the SkyWing's scales turning into a butterfly. In a burst of color and wings, both he and Aurora were gone.

"Lame," Scarlet grumbled. "Butterflies are not thrilling."

The SkyWing spectators all looked up at simultaneously, turning their heads to stare at Queen Scarlet. Just like her guards had, each of their scales started to change color, until the arena had become a sea of RainWings. Queen Scarlet let out another squeal as their jaws opened, shooting venom out at her.

Scarlet put her paws up, tensing up as she tried to protect her face. The venom splattered against the glass shield, dripping down it until it filled the arena's sand pit, now a pool of boiling venom. Scarlet suddenly turned around as she felt the presence of a dragon behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Aurora's light-blue scales.

"Aurora," Queen Scarlet whispered. "You have to help me. They're RainWings. All of them!"

"I know," Aurora said, her voice unusually malicious. Queen Scarlet's eyes flew wide open as Aurora's scales changed color, turning turquoise as frills appeared. Where Aurora had been, Glory's evil expression replaced her.

"NOOOO!" Queen Scarlet screeched as Glory's paw grabbed her neck, pushing her through the glass shield, dropping her below. Glory let out a cackle as Scarlet fell, her wings unable to keep her from falling. She screamed as she felt two paws grab her, pulling her down into the pool of venom, her limbs and bones melting away, the RainWing venom reducing her to nothing.

Queen Scarlet let out a gargling sound as the venom drowned her, tearing her throat and organs apart from the inside out. She tried to flail, but had no claws left to flail with, disappearing in front of her very eyes.

"Your majesty!"

Queen Scarlet woke up with a roar, lashing her claws out wildly, tearing through scales. The SkyWing who had been holding her jumped back, a thin line of blood dripping from where she'd scratched him.

Queen Scarlet huffed in and out, hyperventilating. She looked around. She was in her bed, in her locked palace room, her concerned guards surrounding her.

"Was it a dream?" she asked, talons shaking, teeth chattering. "Are you RainWings?" She squinted at the SkyWing in front of her, half expecting his scales to change color.

"Er, no, your majesty," he gulped. "I'm a SkyWing."

Queen Scarlet scowled. It had been a dream. Glory was dead. Scarlet had gone all the way to the IceWing Embassy in Possibility, just to see it herself. Unless, of course, it wasn't actually her head. It wouldn't have been the first time Queen Scarlet had seen a fake Glory head. She started to shake at the possibility, and took a deep breath to try and calm herself.

"Why did you wake me?" she snapped at her guards. There were more of them here than normal.

"The Eye of Amethyst," the guard who'd woken her replied nervously. "It's gone."

"WHAT?" Queen Scarlet screeched. Her face contorted into a lop-sided snarl. "Aurora. Find her and bring her here. ALL OF YOU!"

The SkyWings looked back and forth between each other, unsure which was more dangerous to their own health — trying to capture Aurora, or risking Queen Scarlet's wrath. They all decided on the latter, quickly dispersing from Queen Scarlet's bedchambers. The SkyWing queen huffed angrily.

The Eye of Amethyst, stolen again. What other culprit could there be? The image of Aurora turning into Glory popped up into Queen Scarlet's mind, and her talons started to shake. Queen Scarlet didn't know where Aurora had come from, or why she was really helping her. What if Aurora was a RainWing, hiding in plain sight? What if this was all just a plan by Glory, to get close enough to Queen Scarlet that she could finally finish the job?

Queen Scarlet suddenly saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head around, staring at a painting of herself.

"Who's there?" she yelled, locking her eyes with the painting, neck stiff with fear. Her gaze turned to the painting's snout, her beautiful, unblemished scales taunting her. "Show yourself!"

The painting didn't move, and Queen Scarlet let out a low growl. She had been sure she'd seen something there. A RainWing assassin, hidden in her room, come to kill her, to end the royal SkyWing lineage. Well, Scarlet wouldn't go down without a fight.

With a roar, Queen Scarlet leaped at the painting, talons out as she grasped onto it. Expecting to feel scales, she tore her claws through the image, ripping the fine paper as she tore through the image of her own neck. With a snap, the frame broke into two.

Scarlet stared down. No RainWing. Had they moved out in time? She scanned around the room, looking for any signs of movement, and places where a hidden RainWing would be. Her heart raced. Beneath the bed? Hiding in a pile of treasure? Behind her?

Suddenly, the door opened, and Queen Scarlet let out a shrill scream, terrified as she turned to the entryway. Two SkyWing guards stared back, unsure what they'd done wrong now.

Queen Scarlet's scales shook, breathing quickly as she tried to calm herself. "RainWing," she whispered. "There's a RainWing in the room."

The guards looked at each other, then at the torn up painting the queen was standing on. "Your majesty," one said, "there's no RainWing here. Glory is dead."

Queen Scarlet just stared. What if the guards were the RainWings?

"Your majesty," the other sighed, "we found Aurora in her room." She gestured to a tired-looking Aurora behind her. "The Eye of Amethyst was with her. We, er, left it there. Thought you wouldn't want us touching it. Um, cause, we'd soil it with our dirty peasant talons."

"You TRAITOR!" Queen Scarlet screeched as the guards stepped to the side, motioning Aurora into the room. "You stole it!"

Aurora growled, flexing her claws. Why had she been woken up for something this stupid? "I didn't steal it," she snarled back. "I didn't take it from the treasury. Someone else must have put it in my room."

"Where were you last night?" Queen Scarlet hissed. "I didn't see you."

"In my room," Aurora replied, exasperated. "I was asleep."

Queen Scarlet narrowed her eyes, grinning. She'd finally done it, she'd caught Aurora right in the act! "And how do I know you were in your room, you can walk through walls and turn invisible!"

"What?" Aurora asked, confused. "I can't turn invisible."

Queen Scarlet flicked out her tongue. Aurora sighed. Was there anything she could do to convince Scarlet that she hadn't stolen the stupid Eye?

"If I had taken the Eye of Amethyst, why would I have left it in the middle of the carpet of your guest room?" Aurora said. "I would have left the palace, with it. It was clearly placed there by someone else."

"So you did take it!" Queen Scarlet squealed. "You just admitted it!"

"No, I—" Aurora started to say. She sighed. Was there any point in trying to convince this stubborn SkyWing? She really didn't think so. But she needed Queen Scarlet. That's what Calamity had said. "I have no motivation for taking the Eye of Amethyst," Aurora explained. "I just returned it to you, and I'm trying to offer you help."

"You haven't been any help," Scarlet growled. "You've been a lousy advisor. Queen Blackice was the one who killed Glory. You've done nothing for me but ruin my festivities." She squinted at Aurora's strangely colored sky-blue scales. If she could walk through walls, Scarlet would bet she could change her scale colors. So she was a RainWing! "You're just trying to steal my throne!"

"No." Aurora gritted her teeth. "I'm have to become Queen of the SeaWings. Not SkyWings."

"So you think a lousy RainWing like you can be my equal?" Queen Scarlet screeched, lashing her tail against a pile of treasure, spraying it across the floor. "You're not worthy to be my equal! You're just a thief! Guards! Arrest her for treason!"

The two guards on either side of Aurora gulped, looking at each other. "Please come with us," one suggested to Aurora, her teeth chattering. "We'll, er, show you the way to the dungeon."

"A RainWing?" Aurora asked Queen Scarlet, utterly confused by all this. "Why do you think I'm a — nevermind. I see no reason to converse this with you. There's clearly nothing I can do to convince you of my innocence."

"Please?" the guard asked again, seeing that Aurora had completely ignored her. She winced, then looked over at Queen Scarlet's terrifying snarl.

"I said, TAKE HER AWAY!" Queen Scarlet screeched. "Are you disobeying me? I'll put you in the arena! For treason! All of you, treason!"

The guard sighed. Being turned into metal would probably a faster death than the arena. The guard carefully reached out, saying her goodbyes as she tried to grab ahold of Aurora's wing. Her paw passed through Aurora's scales, unable to touch them. The guard stared down at her claws, expecting them to turn into metal. She breathed a sigh of relief as nothing happened to her scales.

"Er, your majesty," the guard said quietly, "I can't touch her."

Aurora took a step forward, staring down Queen Scarlet, leaving the guards behind her.

Queen Scarlet looked up. "What are you doing?" she snarled. "You're my subject! Go to the dungeons!"

"I am not a SkyWing," Aurora snarled, slowly walking forward. "I wasn't even hatched in your world. All your power over these dragons is built on lies, but you cannot control me."

"Stop!" Queen Scarlet ordered. "I command you! Stop right there! Don't come any closer."

Aurora stopped closer, only a tail-length away from the SkyWing queen.

"STOP!" Queen Scarlet screamed, putting her paws and wings over her head, cowering in fear. "DON'T HURT ME! PLEASE! DON'T HURT ME!"

Aurora stared down at Queen Scarlet, placing a paw down through the SkyWing queen's wing, phasing it into her. How many dragons had pleaded for her mercy, only to receive nothing? More than any dragon, Queen Scarlet deserved no mercy.

Queen Scarlet let out a shrill shriek, almost crying as Aurora passed through her, her words turning into an incoherent mass of noise. She kept screaming for a few moments, the guards just staring, knowing there was nothing they could do.

After a few moments, Queen Scarlet's screams stopped. She stared down at her talons. She was still alive? But how? She turned around. Aurora was walking away, back turned. She'd passed through Scarlet like the queen was nothing but air.

Her course unaltered, Aurora stepped into the wall of Queen Scarlet's bedchambers, into the outside of the SkyWing palace. She looked down, a sheer cliffside wall stretching down far beneath her, a wooded ditch beneath the palace. Aurora opened her wings, and let the wind push beneath them, lifting the hybrid up, the palace and Queen Scarlet behind her.

Aurora rose into the sky, flying through a cloud, water droplets forming against her scales like tears. She clenched her talons. What was even the point in trying to advise Queen Scarlet if the SkyWing queen wanted to hate her? No matter what she told Scarlet, she seemed to refuse to believe anything Aurora said.

Aurora growled. Just thinking of the queen made her blood boil. Scarlet had nothing in her head but thoughts of her own position and grandeur. How could she be a good ally to Aurora? How could the fate of the world, even the fate of this single kingdom, rest on such a horrible dragon? Someone who killed and tortured for her own amusement, who cared less for her subjects than her bottle of scale polish. Aurora was supposed to help her, but she didn't understand how! Didn't Queen Scarlet understand what Aurora could do? And yet, Aurora was just a source of entertainment, a toy that Queen Scarlet could throw in the arena.

Aurora hissed. Well, if Queen Scarlet had thought she was just her toy, she'd shown her wrong. The clouds beneath her parted, revealing a grassy slope beneath, a herd of goats grazing. As Aurora descended, the shadow of her wings passing over them, the goats fled, leaving the slope alone to Aurora.

She folded her wings in as she landed. The SkyWing palace was still visible from where she was at, flashes of red and orange buzzing around it as the sun rose. Another new day for the Sky Kingdom.

Aurora gritted her fangs together. Maybe Cyclone had been right. Maybe she should just leave Queen Scarlet. Aurora didn't need her. She was Queen Coral's granddaughter — hybrid or not, she could just challenge Queen Coral her right there and then. It might take a while, but Aurora could probably find a way to grow gills, or figure out something to let her fight underwater. It would be better than trying to deal with a queen who wouldn't listen to anything Aurora said.

The wind flew through the grasses, pressing against Aurora's scales. Cold. She put her talons around a blade of grass, careful not to break or tear it. Beautiful. Alive. She looked up, the great blue sky above her, infinite in every direction.

Aurora sighed, her mind drifting back to her hatchplace. She hadn't been allowed to stray too far from Calamity's location in the Crystal Caverns, but he'd occasionally guided her and her mother into its depths. At first, all the exits led to darkness. The Mausoleum was usually still intact here, but outside it was nothing but pitch black. Aurora had been taken into these worlds, never straying far. Other than the darkness, the terrain around the Mausoleum was usually similar. Occasionally, there were even the ruins of a long dead city.

It had annoyed Aurora how little she could see of the worlds, especially those with the cities in them. Until she'd been allowed to go out into this Pyrrhia, it was the only glimpse of dragons and dragon civilization outside Crystal and Calamity that she'd seen. The bones weren't all that interesting, but the cities were. The rubble of buildings, some that Calamity had said were as tall as the sky before their inevitable fall. Strange metals twisted into all kinds of strange shapes that made Aurora want to study their structure for hours. Huge steel boats that Calamity told her would lift into the sky just by thinking about it. Calamity had warned her that this Pyrrhia would be far different, and that the Pyrrhias with the great cities were worlds that hadn't worked.

Aurora had wanted to look at the steel boats and the weird metals for a lifetime, but they could never stay long. Calamity never allowed much light, so as soon as they saw any sort of strange lights, or heard the buzzing, they had to leave. That meant that the Horror was coming. At least, that was what Calamity called it. He said that it had a name that was too unpronounceable for any dragon to speak, and so long that you could spend a lifetime trying to say it and be bones before you were done. Aurora had seen it only a few times, and had never gotten near, but that was enough. Streaks of colorful lights across where the sky should have been, whispers and screams of a thousand dragons. She could even hear it now. It got louder every time she used the Darkstone, closer to her, closer to breaking into this Pyrrhia.

There were only so many worlds that Calamity could show Aurora. He said there'd been many, many more, but there was even less left of them. He'd shown her, going as deep into the Crystal Caverns as they could, each step more dangerous than the last. Then there was a point where they couldn't go any further, where the tunnels turned to lava. Aurora had suggested that she could turn the lava to air to help get them through, but Calamity had just smiled, and told her there was no point. That there was nothing of value beneath there.

Aurora let go of the blade grass, a cloud passing above her. That was what awaited this Pyrrhia. No more grass. No more sky. Just darkness and death, brought to a fiery end by lava. Her claws started to shake as she thought back to Queen Scarlet. She'd been unable to follow Calamity's orders. After aligning with Queen Scarlet, activate the Eye of Amethyst, give Queen Scarlet the Darkstone, and obtain the SeaWing throne.

But Aurora had been unable to keep Queen Scarlet as her ally. She'd been too short-sighted, too short-tempered. It was her fault. She'd failed. Failed Calamity. Failed this entire world. Because of her, this Pyrrhia, as disappointing as it was, would end up dead. Aurora felt her breath start to go short, talons shaking faster.

"No," she growled to herself. "No. I haven't failed yet." She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Queen Scarlet was still alive. It might be more difficult now, but what Aurora had done had to have been reversible. The fate of this world depended on it. She had to be able to regain Scarlet's favor.

Aurora clutched her paws around a small rock, talons still shaking. She clenched her claws tight as she started to change it. "Focus," she hissed. "Don't listen to your emotions. Your fear and guilt don't matter. Not now."

She kept taking deep breaths, what could she do? Would a simple apology be enough? What if she offered to give Queen Scarlet another arena battle, where she made this one more spectacular? Could she steal Glory's head from the IceWings? Would that work?

"Who are you talking to?"

Aurora looked to her side, startled. A huge armored SkyWing had landed in the field from above while Aurora had been distracted. Cyclone.

"Myself," Aurora stated, her expression going stiff and emotionless. What was Cyclone doing here? Had she heard about what happened?

Cyclone's gaze turned down to Aurora's claws, where something glinted between them in the sunlight. "Woah, is that . . . ?"

Aurora looked down, following Cyclone's gaze. Where the rock had been, there was now a huge diamond, as large as her paw. She glared at Cyclone, and the glittering diamond suddenly transformed into a dull black and grey stone. Aurora closed her paw, crushing it, leaving grey marks on her sky-blue scales.

"What do you want?" Aurora growled. "Did Queen Scarlet send you?"

"No, she didn't send me," Cyclone replied calmly. "I'm not here to hurt you, Aurora. I doubt I could."

"Then why are you here?" Aurora snorted. Did Cyclone intend to help her figure out how to regain Queen Scarlet's trust? Given the SkyWing's earlier suggestions, Aurora doubted it.

"I heard about what happened," Cyclone explained. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Aurora answered. "I'm just figuring out what to do. You know Queen Scarlet. If I offered to participate in her arena, would she let me be her advisor again?"

Cyclone frowned, mildly disturbed at that idea. "Maybe, maybe not. She's very fickle, and not particularly predictable. She's not really a stable ally. I don't know what you're planning now, but if I were you, I'd find someone else to help you."

Aurora sighed. Why was she even bothering to explain this to Cyclone? "I can't," she stressed. "Calamity gave me orders. I have align with her. As long as I follow his orders, it will all work out in the end. It'll save Pyrrhia."

Cyclone raised an eyeridge, giving Aurora a skeptical glance. "There'll be a point where you'll need to make your own decisions."

Aurora flicked her spiked tail across the grass. Why didn't Cyclone understand? This had nothing to do with her making decisions or not, this was the path that Calamity had told her would lead, eventually, to the breaking of the cycle. Calamity was the one who knew what decisions to make, not Aurora. Why was Cyclone so insistent on separating Aurora from Queen Scarlet.

It suddenly hit her. Aurora frowned, turning her head to look Cyclone in the SkyWing's eye. "You did it, didn't you?"

"Did what?" Cyclone asked, looking puzzled.

Aurora squinted, trying to read the SkyWing. Was Cyclone flustered? She couldn't tell. "Framing me for stealing the Eye of Amethyst."

"Why would I do something like that?" Cyclone questioned.

Aurora could tell now. Cyclone was nervous. Still, most SkyWings seemed nervous around Aurora. Aurora flicked out her tongue, narrowing her gaze. "You've been trying to get me away from Queen Scarlet. Maybe you want to weaken her. Or maybe you thought I would end up killing her. She has no heirs. Who would become queen in the aftermath? You?"

Cyclone stared at Aurora for a moment, then let out a long sigh. She chuckled sadly, shaking her head.

"Alright," Cyclone admitted. "You're right. It was me. I wasn't expecting you to figure it out so quickly."

Aurora stood up, and Cyclone suddenly tensed up. Aurora took a step towards the SkyWing, glaring up at her, deciding what to do with her.

"Aurora, please wait," Cyclone quickly responded, her heart leaping into her throat. "Do you want to know why I did it?"

"No," Aurora replied. She didn't care. Regardless of Cyclone's intentions, she'd put Calamity's plan and the fate of Pyrrhia into jeopardy.

"You're partly right," Cyclone said rapidly, taking a small step backwards, down the slope. "I didn't want Queen Scarlet to have another powerful weapon on her side. That's why I originally talked to you. You don't understand how horrible Queen Scarlet is, not really. We had a brief period of hope while Queen Ruby was there, but you destroyed it. I hoped that you were going to kill her, and that someone, anyone, would replace her."

Aurora glared, unimpressed with Cyclone's ramblings.

"But it wasn't just that," Cyclone continued. "After meeting you, I wanted to help you. I can see that you're not a bad dragon. Like what you did in the arena. You're not like Queen Scarlet. I didn't want you to end up like me, or Peril, or Soar, filled with regret for the things we've done in Queen Scarlet's name, things we've done that we can never undo."

Aurora scratched her claws through the grass, tearing a few blades from the ground. "Any guilt I feel is unimportant in the grand scheme of things," Aurora growled. "It doesn't matter how I end up feeling, or even if I end up surviving. And you don't get to make my decisions for me."

Cyclone shook her head, sighing. "I suppose. It's not like anything I did or didn't do actually matters. Given how many advisors, generals, and champions Queen Scarlet has gone through, something like this would have happened to you eventually."

Aurora glared up at Cyclone, baring her fangs. She opened her paw, scrunched up grass falling out.

Cyclone laughed again. "So, what now?" she asked. "Are you going to kill me? I probably deserve it. I've done things so horrible I can't fall asleep. And apparently, I've inadvertently caused the world's end. But I hope you know I just wanted to help you, to be your friend. So please, at least make it quick."

Aurora stood still for a moment, debating. "No," she finally replied. "You're not part of this. You're not important, or Calamity would have mentioned you."

Cyclone let out a sigh of relief. As much as she thought she deserved it, the SkyWing didn't want to die. Suddenly she felt something squeezing against her paws, and looked down to them. Stone had grown up from the ground beneath her, wrapping around her paws, partway up her legs. "Wait, what are you—"

"Consider this a warning," Aurora interrupted her. The stone finished growing, trapping Cyclone's legs to the ground. "If you get in my way again, I will kill you."

"Aurora, wait!" Cyclone called out as Aurora started to walk away. She tried to walk forward, but was unable to get her legs out of their rock prisons. She shook them, trying to break them free.

Aurora glanced back as she opened her wings, glowscales occasionally pulsing beneath them. "Stay out of this."

Aurora leapt from the mountainside, wind lifting her blue wings up. She stared straight ahead, eyes focused on the SkyWing palace. Whatever it took, she would regain Queen Scarlet's favor again.

Chapter 15

Skytaker paced back and forth. As large as their palace room was, it was still far too small. They hated it. Feeling confined, feeling trapped. Jade Mountain Academy had been alright — at least until the Queen Blackice's attack, they'd been allowed to freely roam the land outside the caves. Then Skytaker had won their bet against Tiger, and they'd gone into the rainforest, and gotten in this whole mess. The hybrid pouted. All they'd wanted was a little bit of fresh air, a little bit of freedom, and now the three were trapped in a different world.

Tiger watched Skytaker pace from her bed, sighing. They were clearly distressed. Not that she blamed them. "You alright?"

"No!" Skytaker huffed, turning around, whipping their tail against the tapestry of the Empress. "I'm not alright! We can't just do nothing!"

"What are you thinking, Skytaker?" Tiger asked, mildly concerned. "Don't do anything rash."

"I'm not going to," the hybrid grumbled. "Maybe I'll try finding some more rooms. I have a few new ideas."

"Then I'll go with you," Tiger suggested, the RainWing stretching out, climbing from the bed. "I want to make sure you don't get us in more trouble."

"Yeah, yeah," Skytaker replied, trying to brush Tiger's words off. Yet, she was right. This was their fault to begin with. If they had just stayed inside like the teachers wanted them too . . .

"Ermine, are you coming?" Tiger asked, glancing over to the IceWing.

"Huh?" Ermine said, a little surprised he'd been asked to join. "Are you sure this is a good idea? What if we get in trouble for snooping?"

"We're already being held prisoner here," Skytaker grumbled. "It's not like Liliana can do much worse."

Ermine's eyes opened wide in terror as he began to think of worse things the Empress could do to them. "But what if she throws us in the scary dark dungeons?" he protested. "Or she tortures us by pulling out our talons one by one? Or wha-what if she forces us to eat fermented shark for the rest of our lives?"

"I feel like the talon-pulling is worse than eating fermented shark," Tiger said, skeptical.

Ermine shook his head wildly. "You've never had to eat fermented shark," he whispered, horrible memories resurfacing in his eyes.

"Well feel free not to join us if you don't want to eat rotten shark," Skytaker replied. "But I'm going, regardless. I'm not just letting her keep us here. Not after what we saw her do."

Ermine winced. At least until Duskwind's murder, he'd hoped that he might be safer here than on Pyrrhia. But now, he wasn't so sure. "I'll go," Ermine said quietly, following the two out of the room.

Skytaker led the three to the moving room, standing in the center as soon as the doors opened. They squinted, focusing on the term they thought would bring them to a new room. The circular room suddenly lurched.

"What did you think of?" Tiger asked curiously.

"War room," Skytaker replied. "I had a few other ideas in mind, but the Empress mentioned it. I'm sure it's a real room."

"I hope she's not there right now," Ermine gulped. "I doubt she'd be happy for us to walk in on here."

"War room," Tiger mused, as the doors of the room opened, and the three walked out into a hallway they hadn't seen before. "Do you think there's a war going on? None of the books mentioned one."

"If there wasn't a war, she would've called it a peace room," Skytaker snorted, looking around the hallway. "Which one do you think it is?"

"Probably that one," Tiger said, pointing towards two large doors at the end of the hallway, past another rug bearing the Empress's image. "Stay here. I'll check if it's empty."

Ermine stared as Tiger's orange and black scales suddenly faded into the color of the palace's walls, the RainWing practically disappearing. He tried to keep his eyes on her as she quietly walked down the hallway, but other than the rug strangely blurring for a moment, couldn't keep track of her. One of the doors opened a crack, before Tiger reappeared, appearing from nothing.

"All clear," she said, motioning the two forward.

Ermine and Skytaker slowly walked up to the war room, Ermine peering around the entrance. "It's smaller than I'd have thought," he said quietly.

Skytaker followed as Ermine and Tiger entered. Ermine was right. The war room was a relatively small room. The walls were covered in a clean white sheen, and the only furnishings were a tall table in the center, surrounded by maybe six short stools for adult-sized dragons to sit on.

"If it's small, that means that she doesn't have many top generals," Skytaker reasoned. They put their paws on the table, and climbed up, trying to see over the top of the tall table.

"Does that mean that the Empress doesn't have a large army?" Tiger asked.

Skytaker shook their head. "No. It could just mean that each general has a large force they control. Maybe Liliana doesn't trust very many dragons." They finally pulled themselves up to the table, looking over its surface. Their expression suddenly fell. "Oh no."

"What is it?" Tiger asked, getting up on a stool and trying to get over the table, quickly followed by Ermine, wanting to see what Skytaker was so worried about. As soon as they saw the table, they understood. The surface of the table was divided into two halves, each with a map painted on it, and a number of small figurines of dragons placed down. One of the maps Tiger recognized as the odd, sewn together map of Antigonia that she'd seen in the books. The other, all three could easily recognize.

"That's Pyrrhia," Ermine whispered, with a gulp. "She's planning to wage war on one of the kingdoms? Why?"

"Do you remember what she said when we first met her?" Tiger frowned, looking back and forth between the two maps. "She said that the Pyrrhian dragons were barbarians. I think she wants to conquer Pyrrhia to make it part of her own kingdom."

"She can't just do that!" Ermine protested. "We have seven kingdoms for the seven types of dragons. It's what we've had since the Scorching! She can't just take over all of them!"

Tiger sighed, rolling her eyes. What had the IceWings taught Ermine before he came to Jade Mountain? "Ermine, we haven't had that since the NightWings joined the RainWings. Three years ago."

"Oh," Ermine responded, thinking about that for a moment. "Yeah. That's right."

"Anyways, from what I can tell, Empress Liliana united the seven kingdoms and a bunch of random scavengers here on Antigonia," Tiger continued. "It seems reasonable to suspect that she'd do the same to Pyrrhia, if given the chance. Which apparently, she's been given."

Ermine frowned. "If she's able to attack Pyrrhia, does that mean she's lying about not being able to take us back there?"

Skytaker snorted, unable to hold in a laugh. "Seriously? You didn't realize that until just now? Of course she's lying! You've seen all the weird magic stuff in this palace, right?"

"Skytaker," Tiger scolded the hybrid. "Don't be mean."

"I realized that," Ermine glared. "I'm not stupid. I know how magic works. Just, now we know for sure she's lying."

"Moving on," Tiger sighed, "the books say that the Empress has control over all of Antigonia, all seven tribes. The Obscura verified that. Presumably, that means that her army is the size of seven kingdoms. With every kingdom but the SeaWings and SkyWings currently embroiled in some sort of war or rebellion right now, there's no way we could defend against her."

"Unless Pyrrhia had some sort of warning," Skytaker replied. "Which is presumably why she's keeping us here, instead of sending us back. Right now, no one on Pyrrhia even knows Antigonia exists." They looked down at the map again, taking note of the positions of the dragon figurines. "But I'm not sure that her plan is to conquer Pyrrhia kingdom by kingdom. Look at the positions of her troops. All the ones on Pyrrhia are located right around the Sky Kingdom, at Queen Scarlet's palace. And they're all RainWings. Why would she attack there with only a small part of her full army?"

"She could be trying to get a stronghold there by taking over the palace, then spreading out to the rest of Pyrrhia," Tiger suggested.

Skytaker shook their head. "I don't think so. If that was her plan, she shouldn't have gone for Queen Scarlet. Her only resistance would be a united front by Pyrrhian dragons, and Queen Scarlet is far less likely to get into an alliance than any other queen. She's stronger than the rest. Especially if the Empress is only attacking with a small portion of her army, she should've gone for the Mud Kingdom, since they're already fighting off a rebellion. The SeaWings and IceWings will think they're safe, and the RainWings and NightWings are in no position to put up a fight. The only likely alliance would be a SandWing-SkyWing one, which neither Queen Sunny or Queen Scarlet would ever agree to, whereas in this case a SandWing-MudWing one is possible. A SandWing-SkyWing alliance could only happen if Queen Sunny abdicated the throne to Aloe, or if—"

"Alright, we get it," Ermine interrupted with a huff, flicking his spiked tail back and forth. "Maybe the Empress doesn't know much about the politics of Pyrrhia. Or maybe her army is so big she just doesn't care."

"No, this is weird," Skytaker pressed, the hybrid's eyes focused like lasers on the maps. "If she was overconfident, I'd expect she'd just attack all at once. Which is tactically the right choice, otherwise she gives Pyrrhia time to respond to her attack. This doesn't make any sense, given the size of her army. What does she want with the Sky Kingdom?"

"Maybe she's looking for Trustbreaker," Tiger suggested. "He could be there."

Skytaker frowned. "I don't think so. Sending an entire dragon after a whole dragon seems like a poor strategy unless they're, like, able to fight off an entire army or something like that. She already sent General Glory after Trustbreaker and brought a dragon that she thought was him into her palace." Skytaker huffed, fidgeting with their earring. There had to be something here they were missing. "If I remembered more about the Sky Kingdom, I might be able to figure it out."

"Skytaker, I know what you're thinking," Tiger said, turning to the hybrid with a glare. "Don't do it. Remember what happened last time."

"I know what to expect now," Skytaker protested, turning back to the RainWing. "I think I'll be better able to handle it this time."

Tiger shook her head. "It won't help anyways, and you know that. I don't want you out of commission for the next few days."

"Hey, excuse me," Ermine said, confused and slightly annoyed about how left out of this conversation he was, "what are you talking about?"

"It's personal," Skytaker grumbled.

"Not really your business," Tiger added.

Ermine scoffed, pouting as he looked back down at the map.

Skytaker let out a long sigh, taking their paw away from their earring. "Either way, we need to get back to Pyrrhia as soon as possible. We have to warn everyone about Liliana's invasion. We need to escape the palace somehow."

Ermine squirmed. "What if Antigonia is more dangerous outside the palace? The dragons in the Obscura all looked scared."

"Ermine's right," Tiger added. "We know almost nothing about the outside world, and how similar or different to Pyrrhia it is. We might not even be able to find a way back to Pyrrhia out there."

"We have to do something!" Skytaker protested. "If Pyrrhia is in danger, we have to at least try and help it. I'm not letting Empress Liliana hurt my friends. At least if we leave the palace, there might be other dragons that can help us. Dragons who don't like Liliana's rule, like those part of Trustbreaker's rebellion. We need to at least try."

Tiger sighed, remembering the images she'd seen in the Obscura. Sepia, Toxin, Tsunami . . . Maybe it was hopeless, but Skytaker was right. They couldn't just let the same thing happen to Pyrrhia, not if they knew there was a chance.

"Alright," Tiger agreed, "I'll help. Like Ermine said, we can fly to the mainland from this NightWing island; it's only a few hours south of here. Do you have a plan to escape?"

"Maybe," Skytaker replied. "There's only one entrance in and out of the palace, from what I can tell, and I've been watching it. It's guarded by two RainWings, and they stagger shifts, so for a short period of time there's only one."

"That's not a lot of guards," Ermine said. "For an entire palace? Queen Glacier's palace had way more."

"The Empress isn't worried about being attacked by anyone," Skytaker reasoned. "And she isn't worried about anyone getting out of the horrible cells beneath the palace."

"Better for us," Tiger replied.

Ermine frowned, staring down at the map again. "I don't know," he worriedly gulped. "Do you think all three of us can take on an adult dragon? These aren't the RainWings on Pyrrhia. They look like they know how to fight."

"And I won't be able to sneak past one either," Tiger said. "They'll know if I do."

"Yeah," Skytaker grumbled, seeing the two dragonets' point. "Even if we got a surprise attack and one, they'd probably alert the rest of the guards."

The three were silent for a moment, unsure what to do. How could they get out of the palace?

"Skytaker," Tiger asked, "is Mangrove one of the RainWings who guards the entrance?"

"The dark purple one? I think so. Why?"

"If he's alone, I might be able to convince him to let us go," Tiger answered. "I know him, at least a little. He's not the type of dragon who'd want us to be captured here."

Skytaker thought about this for a moment. The dragons in Antigonia seemed so different than their Pyrrhian counterparts. General Glory seemed nothing like Queen Glory. Yet, maybe there weren't all so different. The Tsunami in the Obscura seemed like she was a lot like the headmaster back at school.

"Alright," Skytaker replied. "We'll try it out."

Tiger glanced over to Ermine, the young IceWing still staring at the map of Pyrrhia. "Ermine," she said quietly, "are you in? If we're going to escape, all three of us need to be on board."

Ermine sighed. What was the point in him going back to Pyrrhia? The palace had surely repaired itself by now, but with everyone he knew dead, and Queen Blackice ruling over it now, he had no home. Maybe Jade Mountain Academy would at least be better than this.

"Okay," Ermine hesitantly agreed. "I'll do it."

"Great," Skytaker grinned. "Then we make our escape tomorrow. Tiger, tomorrow, you go and talk to Mangrove. Then when he's alone on his shift, we'll all escape."

"Yeah," Tiger frowned, uncertain this plan would work. Could she really convince Mangrove to let them go? "Just in case Empress Liliana decides to check in on us with the Obscura, let's not talk about the plan until then. We need to act normal."

"What if she's already listening?" Ermine gulped.

"In that case," Skytaker growled, placing a talon on the Sky Kingdom, "then our plan has already failed, and Pyrrhia is doomed."

Chapter 16

Sunny stared up at the ceiling, her eyes tracing out the blemishes of the cracked sandstone above them. Next to her, Clay's scaly body rose and fell, his wing brushing against Sunny's. Clay's loud snores echoed through the small room, interspersed every so often with Acacia's snoring, the two soundly sleeping dragons creating a cacophony of noise. Sunny smiled. It seems like Clay had really enjoyed the feast put together for Sunny's rescue.

Sunny let out a long sigh. With the two snoring dragons, Sunny wasn't sure she'd be able to get to sleep tonight. And not just because of Clay and Acacia — Sunny had a lot on her mind from the day. Midnight and Ecru, putting everything at stake just so they could rescue her. Wasn't that what Sunny was supposed to do, as queen? Put everything at stake, devote her entire life to rescuing her kingdom? And here, she was just hiding in the Scorpion Den, waiting for other SandWings to give their lives to take back the palace.

Yet, at least now Sunny knew she wasn't alone. When Sunny had first discovered her NightWing heritage, she hadn't heard of any hybrids before, except in myths. It wasn't something that was supposed to happen. The guardians had taught them that there were seven tribes, and they were all separate. The Dragonets of Destiny were supposed to bring peace between the tribes and create a better world, but they weren't supposed to unite them. The guardians had just let the five believe that love stayed within the same tribe. They didn't tell them that love outside of one's tribe was bad, per se — Webs even admitted later that something had gone on between him and Dune. But it was unusual, and some days, Sunny had even felt like living proof that hybrids shouldn't exist.

Yet as time went on, Sunny had met other hybrids. There weren't many others, but she occasionally came across them. RainWing-NightWing dragonets in the rainforest kingdom, a passerby in Possibility, Skytaker becoming a student at Jade Mountain Academy, and now Midnight and Ecru. She really wasn't alone.

Her mind kept travelling back to what Midnight had asked her to do. Make things better for hybrids in the Sand Kingdom. In the short period when she'd been on the throne, Sunny had thought that the best she could hope to do was live up to her mother as queen. But maybe she could do better if she became queen again. Her mother had been a good queen, but she hadn't been perfect. Queen Sunny could try and succeed where Queen Thorn hadn't. She could work to give hybrids and non-SandWings rights. She could pay more attention to the Scorpion Den and Crosswinds. And maybe she could even create a better system, where daughters didn't have to kill their mothers, and fights over succession would never happen again. Maybe that was too much, but if Sunny became queen again, she could at least try. To live up to the queen Midnight and Ecru had seen her as; to make the Sand Kingdom a better place. Queen wasn't the position from which Sunny had wanted to achieve her goals, but if she had that power, she had to use it for good.

Sunny suddenly lifted her head up as she heard a noise from the door. It slowly opened, revealing a SandWing behind.

"Cheetah," Sunny said, relieved as she saw who it was. "What are you doing here? Why are you up so late?"

Something seemed different about Cheetah than earlier. Not just his mood. She glanced down to his forelegs, a glint catching her gaze, to see him wearing a golden band with two dragons engraved on it. Just like the one that Thorn and Kudu had worn. Could it be something that belonged to the leader of the Outclaws?

Cheetah sighed. "Sunny," he said, his normally cheery tone sharp and serious. "Come with me. We can do this either the easy way, or the hard way."

"What do you mean?" Sunny asked, confused. "What's going on?" Were they under attack? She stared down at the golden band again. How had Cheetah gotten it back? Kudu had been wearing it when the Talons had killed her. Did they have extras somewhere? Or . . . was he given it back?

"Cheetah," Sunny whispered quietly, "did the Talons of Power give you the band back?"

Cheetah flicked out his tongue. "Yes. It was part of our deal. Now come on. I don't have all night."

Sunny winced. Cheetah was the one that betrayed them. Had he forged the letter from Jackal, and led them right into the Talons' trap? "You planned for me to get captured."

"Don't act so impressed that you figured it out," Cheetah replied, the barb on his tail gently swinging left and right. "But yes, it was me. You see how the Scorpion Den now? That wasn't your mother's fault. It was Kudu's, weakening the already skimpy Outclaws and engaging in pointless fights with the Talons of Power. I've been trying to get rid of her a while in more peaceful ways, but I guess it came to this."

"You killed her!" Sunny said, shocked. "She trusted you, and you went behind her back to kill her!"

Cheetah snorted. "If she fell for a trick that stupid, I think it's more her own fault than anything."

"What do you want with me," Sunny growled. "You already got what you wanted, didn't you? Kudu out of the way?"

Cheetah shrugged. "Well, yes. The problem is, I made a deal with the Talons of Power, and I can't back down on it now. This would have been so much easier if you'd just stayed put and let the Talons give you to Aloe. I have to return you to them. Sorry."

"Cheetah," Sunny pleaded, "you don't have to do this. You're the leader of the Outclaws, you can just not complete that part of your deal." Sunny prodded Clay with the end of her tail. Why wasn't he waking up?

Cheetah shook his head. "No. We've had strife between the Outclaws and the Talons for long enough. But we're a new generation now. We can set that aside, and make the Scorpion Den whole."

"You don't need to work with the Talons for that," Sunny protested, trying to wake Clay up again. "If I become queen again, I won't ignore the Scorpion Den like my mother did. I promise."

"I wish I could believe you," Cheetah continued, looking down at Sunny, "but I can't. You know as well as I do that you won't be able to hold the throne, even if by some miracle you did get Aloe off of it. You're too weak, too compassionate. Dragons like me would take advantage of that."

Sunny winced. She was a Dragonet of Destiny, she'd saved the world, and was the rightful queen of Sand Kingdom. How come everyone still treated her like a helpless dragonet? Was it because she was small? Because she had no barb? Or because she relied on her friends?

Sunny put a claw on Clay's side, trying to shake him awake. He kept snoring, eyes closed.

"You won't be able to wake him up," Cheetah sighed. "I gave him and Acacia heavy sedatives at the dinner. I didn't want them interfering."

So that was why he tried to get Midnight and Ecru to leave so quickly, Sunny realized. She'd gotten lucky the first time. Now, there was no one left to help her. Sunny stared down at her small claws. Maybe she should have paid more attention to Kestrel's fighting lessons.

"Now either you come with me willingly, or I take you," Cheetah ordered. He started to walk forward into the room, careful not to trip over Clay's tail as he stared Sunny.

Sunny's heart raced. Could she try and fight him? She didn't want to, but was there any other choice she had? But what if he decided to hurt Clay? Maybe she should just go willingly.

Cheetah took another step, practically standing over Sunny. Sunny stared down at his golden legband, his forelegs shaking. Suddenly, he fell to the right, whacking his head against the wall before slumping down to the ground.

Sunny stayed still for a few moments, as Cheetah's head lay still on her. "Cheetah . . . ?" she asked, confused. There was no response. Sunny pushed his head up with her paws, and shimmied out from beneath him, dropping his head to the ground with a thwack. She stared as white foam started to form at his mouth.

Sunny put a talon to Cheetah's neck. His pulse was gone.

"He's dead."

Sunny almost jumped as she heard the voice. She glanced up to the doorway to see the shadow of a dragon, walking in through the door to reveal herself as an elderly dragon. For the age and wear visible on her scales, she was strangely small, not even that much larger than Sunny herself. She cocked her head as she looked over at Sunny, squinting to see. Sunny shivered as the SandWing examined her, and every one of her motions judging Sunny's appearance.

The SandWing walked into the room, her paws making no sound as they moved. She climbed over Cheetah, more foam spilling from his mouth, eyes empty. Just like she'd thoroughly examined Sunny, she did the same to Cheetah's body. When her gaze landed on his forelegs, her mouth twisted into a frown.

"I'll take these back now," she tsked, lifting up one of his forelegs to take the golden band off his corpse. After putting it on her own leg, she turned to Sunny with a chuckle. "Poison in his wine. Oldest trick in the scroll. Thorn wouldn't have fallen for that."

"Were you—" Sunny stammered, "did you kill him?"

"You're welcome," the SandWing replied, lifting up one of Cheetah's hindlegs, as if she was searching his body for other belongings she could take. "Impersonating me in a letter was bad enough, but working with Vulture's spawn was going too far. I couldn't let him soil the Outclaw name any longer."

Impersonating her? "Wait, you're Jackal?" Sunny asked. This tiny elderly dragon had been the leader of the Outclaws before Thorn? Sunny glanced over at Cheetah's foaming mouth again, and scooted away from him, not wanting to be so close to the body.

"Surprised?" Jackal chuckled, rummaging through Cheetah's body. "And you're Queen Sunny. How's the palace life treating you? I don't think I could ever get used to that."

"Wait, did you know about his plan?" Sunny questioned.

"There's little that goes on in the Scorpion Den that I don't know about."

Sunny stared at Cheetah. "So you let Kudu die."

"Not much of a loss," Jackal yawned, finally deciding there was nothing left of interest on Cheetah, and standing up. "Kudu was the same as him. Vain and power-hungry. She couldn't even see past Cheetah's trick." Jackal shook her head with a sigh. "Thorn's successors have been quite a disappointment. Now, Six-Claws? That would've been a dragon worthy to lead the Outclaws if he hadn't stayed at the palace. If you ever get tired of him, please send him over!"

Sunny followed the golden band with her eyes. "Are you the leader of the Outclaws now?" she asked. Hopefully, this violent chain of succession was going to be over soon.

Jackal chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh no. I'm far too old for this sort of thing. I'll just let the Outclaws sort themselves out." She cocked her head, staring and Sunny with a snort of disdain. "So you're Thorn's daughter, queen of the SandWings."

"Er, I guess," Sunny answered, suddenly uncomfortable from Jackal's stares. Was she planning to loot Sunny, too? "I mean, I'm Thorn's daughter. Not quite sure if I'm queen anymore."

"Nonsense!" Jackal snorted. "You look nothing like her! Where's that barb? And I see none of her unbreakable will! Her awe-inspiring presence!"

Sunny sighed. Jackal wasn't wrong.

Jackal shook her head. "You're not even defending yourself from me! When she was your age, Thorn would've snapped back, told me how wrong I was in an instant. It's not hard to see that she wasn't the one who raised you. Thoroughly unimpressive!"

"I know," Sunny responded, staring down at the ground. She wanted to argue, but Jackal was right. She wasn't like Thorn. "I'm not my mother. I don't have the strength to hold the throne. I can't fight Aloe. I was far better being a school-teacher than a queen."

"Mhm," Jackal agreed. "You're weak and compassionate. Just like Cheetah said. Would you have killed Preyhunter?"

"Preyhunter?" Sunny asked.

"Yes, Preyhunter," Jackal laughed. "Young NightWing. Bent tail. He kidnapped you before Thorn attacked him. He tried to fight back. Didn't end well for him. If you were in your mother's place, would you have killed him?"

"Me?" Sunny said, slightly alarmed. She remembered him well. She'd been afraid of Thorn when she'd first met her, after she'd killed him. Thorn had explained why — sometimes leaders had to show their claws. "Of course not! I would've tried to figure something out, something that didn't involve violence or death! He was mean and horrible, but if he'd lived, he might have been able to adapt to the rainforest. I wouldn't have been able to kill him. I know. I'm too weak and compassionate to be queen."

"Quite possibly," Jackal yawned. "Queen Thorn was strong and could do what needed to be done to reunite the Sand Kingdom. Queen Oasis was powerful and prideful. A threat to the Sand Kingdom was a threat to her, personally. Her mother was similar, she kept the SandWings in line with her brutal justice. You know as well as I do how Burn and Blister ruled. Do you understand why Blaze was so popular?"

"She was pretty and kind?" Sunny suggested.

"She wasn't one of her sisters," Jackal laughed. "Sure, she let Queen Glacier walk all over her, but she was slightly less murderous than the other two. Now, what happened to all those queens and princesses? Was their strength enough to let them keep the throne?"

"No," Sunny replied. "They all died. But they were still strong enough to hold the throne for at least a little while. They were leaders, all willing to get their claws dirty to keep control. Unlike me."

Jackal shook her head. "Wrong. Oasis died because she was too prideful. Burn died because she was too confident. It had nothing to do with their strength."

"So what does this have to do with me?" Sunny sighed, exasperated. "Is this just a long-winded way to tell me I'm going to die even quicker?"

"The Sand Kingdom's rulers for the past century, even longer, have all been strong and stern, and what has that gotten us?" Jackal laughed. She flicked her tail barb at Cheetah's corpse. "Chaos and violence. Your mother was the right queen at the time, someone to reunite and repair the Sand Kingdom after two decades of war. But maybe the Sand Kingdom needs a weak and compassionate queen right now. A dragon who would've hugged Preyhunter instead of stabbing him through the heart."

Sunny paused for a moment, reflecting on Jackal's words. She wanted Jackal to be right. She really did. She wanted to be a queen who refused to kill, who could end this horrible cycle of violence.

"Tell you what," Jackal suggested. "If you want, you can come with me. I'll train you in stealth, intrigue, and combat, just like I did Thorn. I can't make you into her, but I can help you understand her. And maybe that'll help you understand yourself."

Sunny thought about that for a moment. Right now, she was just hiding while Six-Claws attempted to besiege Aloe in the palace. Maybe this was her chance to do something. Her chance of getting back on the throne. "I'd be grateful."

Jackal grinned. "So you have a little ambition after all? Well come on, let's go. Don't want to be out here when the sun rises. Can't have everyone thinking I'm alive, can we?" The elderly SandWing grabbed ahold of Cheetah's tail, dragging his corpse out of the room.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sunny asked.

"I'm heading back to the Claws of the Clouds," Jackal said. "Much more peaceful there, if a bit cold for a SandWing."

"Can I try and wake Clay up first?" Sunny turned to Clay, trying to shake the snoring MudWing awake once more.

"No," Jackal snorted. "Did I offer to train him?"

Sunny hesitated, staring down at Clay. She didn't want to abandon him again. Not now, not after what happened to Glory.

"This is a one-time offer," Jackal warned impatiently. "You're free not to accept it, but I'm leaving now."

Sunny sighed. "Sorry, Clay," she whispered. She thought for a moment, then put a paw up to her neck, carefully taking her mother's moonstone pendant from her neck. She placed it around Clay's head, and took a step back. This way, at least he'd know she was alright. "I'll come back for you, I promise."

Sunny got up on all fours just as Jackal had finished dragging Cheetah's body to the doorway. Silently, the hybrid queen left the room, without giving so much as a glance behind her.

Chapter 17

Dawn broke as Midnight and Ecru reached the Mud Kingdom, the rains finally coming to an end. The charred remains of the rainforest loomed behind them, and the swamps ahead. Far up against the horizon, on her left, Midnight even thought she could see the spires of Queen Moorhen's palace.

Midnight turned her head back as dawn arrived, light spreading over Pyrrhia. There was no hint of a NightWing following them. Maybe he'd given up? Midnight doubted it. The assassin had tracked them all the way through the Scorpion Den and into the rainforest. He was probably just biding his time, waiting until it was dark again and he could finish Midnight off.

Eventually, the NightWing camps came within sight. Right on the border of the MudWing territory, a small tent city lay sprawled about the swamps. The previous night's rains had soaked the ground, now covered in the kingdom's namesake mud, and many of the tents had been blown apart, pieces of torn fabric lying around the camp. Down below, Midnight could see the figures of dragons wallowing through the mud — mostly NightWings, but with the occasional RainWing, with dull tones of color blending in with the gloomy scenery.

One hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty dragons at most, Midnight thought. Even compared to Crosswinds, this place was tiny. There were over five times as many SandWings in Crosswinds alone than there were NightWings here. She knew that not all the NightWings that had escaped the rainforest were here — some were safe at Jade Mountain, and others were probably hiding with wherever most of the RainWings were — but it was still shocking. Almost everything that was left of the NightWings was right here, all beneath Midnight's eyes.

"You alright?" Ecru asked Midnight. "We've been flying in circles above it."

"Oh, sorry," Midnight replied. Her heart pounded in her throat. She'd always wanted to visit the NightWings or SeaWings, to learn where her parents came from, but now that she had that chance, she was terrified.

"What is it?" Ecru asked softly. "If you don't mind me asking."

Midnight took in a deep breath. "It's just . . . strange. I'm only half-NightWing, and I haven't actually been around more than one NightWing before. I feel like I should be one of them, but they've all lived very different lives than me. The volcanic island, the rainforest, and now this. My only connection to them is through my scales and my mother. What will they think of me? That I'm one of them, or a half-not-NightWing hatched from a traitor?" Midnight sighed. "Maybe I'm thinking about this too much."

"You'll be fine," Ecru reassured Midnight. "They don't hate hybrids. Queen Glory's mate was a NightWing, did you know that? And see all the RainWings? Just relax, and be yourself."

"Yeah," Midnight responded. "Let's go down."

The two landed, mud splashing up to Midnight's already dirt-covered underbelly as she reached the ground. That was right. Mud Kingdom. Maybe they'd be able to visit the Sea Kingdom after this, and she could wash off?

Midnight and Ecru walked into the camp, crowded around by haphazardly placed tents. NightWings and the occasional RainWing stared on silently as they walked inward. Unlike the bustle of the Scorpion Den, this place was eerily silent. No conversation, no shouting. Even Midnight's sense of smell seemed to be dulled here. NightWings covered by so much mud Midnight could've mistaken them for MudWings walked back and forth through the small trails, many carrying food or water with them. Tiny dragonets and elderly dragons peered out from tents, watchful eyes following Midnight and especially Ecru.

"Who are you?"

Midnight looked down to see where the voice had come from. A NightWing dragonet stared back at her with sullen eyes, blocking her path. She stared up at Midnight, clearly expecting an answer.

"Er, I'm Midnight, and this is Ecru," Midnight introduced the two of them. Had the dragonet realized she was a hybrid? Midnight stretched her talons through the mud, feeling it push against her webbing.

The dragonet peered around Midnight, getting a look at Ecru. "Why is she here?" the dragonet asked, more out of confusion than malice. "Why are both of you here?"

"She's with me," Midnight smiled. "There's someone we're looking for here." She reached into her pouch and pulled out the glittering chakram, the dragonet taking a step back as she saw the blade. "Don't worry, we're not here to hurt anyone. Do you know who this belongs to?"

The dragonet frowned, then looked behind her. "You should talk to Deathbringer about it."

"Deathbringer?" Midnight asked, trying not to laugh. "What kind of name is Deathbringer?" A seemingly too obvious name for an assassin.

The dragonet glared at Midnight. "He's our leader. He's been in charge of us since . . ." The dragonet's voice trailed off. Midnight understood what she meant. Since Queen Glory's death.

"Where can we find him?" Ecru said. "We're kind of in a hurry."

"He's running battle training right now," the dragonet sighed. She pointed a talon out. "Go that way until you reach a clearing. It'll be obvious."

Ecru smiled. "Thank you—"

"—Phantom," the dragonet said. "Good luck."

Phantom quickly scurried off, ducking beneath Midnight and Ecru's wings to get beyond them, before disappearing into one of the tents.

"So, off to find 'Deathbringer'," Midnight said, turning in the direction Phantom had suggested. "Looking for a dragon named Deathbringer sounds like a horrible plan."

"Midnight, I think he was Queen Glory's mate," Ecru whispered.

"Oh," Midnight winced. Their king. Oops. She hadn't meant to disrespect him. "Alright, good to know."

The two went off into the camp, in the direction that Phantom had pointed them. Midnight occasionally looked around, getting cautious stares back by the NightWings and RainWings, covered in mud. Many of them had started to grow thin, and a number had injuries. Torn ears, scales scarred from flame or frostbreath, and even some with missing limbs. All of them seemed miserable.

Midnight stared. She couldn't just leave these dragons like this, especially if they were going to have to make the flight to Jade Mountain while being attacked by IceWings. Soul or no soul, if she could find a way to save them, she needed to do it.

Eventually, the tents and cloths parted, revealing a muddy clearing. All around it, NightWings and RainWings were preparing for battles. Bright flashes caught Midnight's eyes from one corner, where dragons were waiting in line for their turn shooting venom or fire at a stone target. Not far from there, multiple pairs of dragons were rolling through the mud, grappling each other and carefully placing their talons around each other's necks to simulate a real fight. RainWings were practicing camouflaging, sometimes against the mud, other times changing their scales to look like less-spikey IceWings. Midnight looked up as a burst of wind hit her snout, two NightWings practicing maneuvering around each other while they shot blasts of smoke.

"On your hindlegs! Talons up!"

Midnight and Ecru turned as they heard the orders barked. A NightWing stood in the mud in front of two lines of dragons, NightWings mixed with RainWings. As soon as they heard his command, they all lifted their forepaws from the ground, placing them in the air.

"Swipe left!" the NightWing in the front ordered. "Swipe right! Bite!"

Midnight frowned. The NightWing looked strangely familiar. He was far from the largest dragon there, but she could tell he was the best trained of all of them, every one of his movements somehow radiating both grace and control.

"I think that's him," Ecru suggested. "Deathbringer."

Deathbringer turned around towards two of the dragons in the line. "Peacock! Clawbiter! Keep your balance! Use those tails of yours!"

"Yessir!" the two dragons, a NightWing and a RainWing, shouted. They tried the motion again, clawing out and biting while on their hindlegs, this time keeping their tails out. Deathbringer nodded approvingly.

Ecru let out a small gasp, and pointed to Deathbringer with a grin. Midnight followed her gaze, seeing what Ecru was so excited about. Clinging to Deathbringer's back was the smallest dragonet Midnight had ever seen. Shades of green and blue-grey seemed to swirl around her scales, sticking out from Deathbringer's dark black. The dragonet turned her head, staring directly at Midnight, and let out a high-pitched squeal.

Deathbringer immediately turned his head, wondering what the dragonet had been alerted to. He sighed as he saw Midnight and Ecru, clearly not all too excited for visitors.

"All of you, five sets of twenty of those! Mix it up occasionally if you want by changing the strike order." he ordered the NightWings and RainWings in a line. "Then fly three circles around the camp, as fast as you can. After that, you can break until I get back."

"One!" the lines of dragons shouted as they rose to their hindlegs again, clawing and biting. "Two!"

As they continued, Deathbringer turned, walking over to the two hybrids. The dragonet scrambled up his scales, causing him to wince a little as her claws dug into his neck, small flecks of white appearing on the dragonet's scales before being washed away in a blur of the blue-grey.

"Your dragonet is adorable," Ecru smiled.

Deathbringer tried to fake a smile, but it quickly ended in a sad sigh. He examined the two hybrids, his expression serious and melancholy. "What is it you want?"

"I'm Midnight, and this is Ecru," Midnight introduced. "We're from Crosswinds. I have something, and I'm wondering if you could identify it for me."

The dragonet suddenly let go of Deathbringer's scales, and Midnight saw him instinctively reach out to catch her. Instead, she spread out her wings, gliding down into the soft mud. The dragonet shook her wings off, her scales now shining a bright gold through the coating of dirt on her. As Midnight reached down to her satchel, the dragonet jumped on her tail.

"Firefly, get off there," Deathbringer sighed.

"Moose!" Firefly shouted back, mud dripping from her tail as a few more colors entered her scales, swirling around in circles.

"It's alright," Midnight said with a smile. "I'll be fine."

Midnight reached down into her satchel, pulling out the silver chakram. Deathbringer immediately tensed up, not so happy about something so sharp being so close to his dragonet.

Midnight handed it over to him. "A NightWing attempted to assassinate me, using one of these," she explained. "I was hoping you might know who this weapon belongs to."

Deathbringer stared down at it, his face contorting into a smile. The NightWing let out a weak laugh, shaking his head. "Of course I know who this belongs to. It's mine."

Midnight suddenly tensed up, spreading out her claws and baring her fangs. Firefly's scales suddenly started pulsing with bright waves of reds and greens.

"Don't worry," Deathbringer quickly told her. "I'm not the one who attacked you. My assassin days are long over."

"You were an assassin?" Ecru asked, slightly surprised. Firefly's scales calmed down again, colors dulling into gentle waves.

Deathbringer nodded. "At one time. I'm surprised you found this. Quickstrike and I were the only two NightWings who were taught how to use these, and this was definitely made back on the NightWing island."

"Quickstrike?" Ecru questioned. "Could be the assassin?"

Deathbringer chuckled. "No. Quickstrike was my mother. She's long dead. Unless she rose from her grave, I'm pretty sure it wasn't her. I doubt she even got a grave."

Firefly started to climb up Midnight, digging her sharp claws in while smearing mud over Midnight's scales.

"Come on, don't claw our guests," Deathbringer said, grabbing Firefly and pulling her from Midnight's back. Her scale color instantly changed, falling back to the blue-grey she'd been before. Small whisps of a lighter-blue started to circle around her scales, creating spiral patterns as they twisted in and out. Deathbringer glanced up at Midnight and Ecru. "Both of you, please come with me to my tent."

Midnight and Ecru followed Deathbringer as he left the small training field, walking with him towards his tent as Firefly climbed over his back.

"Is she a hybrid?" Ecru asked.

Deathbringer nodded, letting out another melancholic sigh. "Yeah. She's Glory and I's little princess. I suppose she's queen now, although Greatness, Jambu, Grandeur, and I are filling in for most of those duties. You're both hybrids, aren't you?"

"Mhm," Midnight replied. "I'm Nightreader's daughter."

"Nightreader?" Deathbringer said, slightly surprised. "I remember her a little, though I wasn't around when she and Stonemover left. Morrowseer sent me after them, you know."

"You were around when she was?" Midnight asked. "Wow, I didn't realize you were that old."

"Well, long story short, I accidentally fell down a hole when trying to find them, and woke up a few years later," Deathbringer replied. "I guess it's just a danger of messing with animus magic. That, and I have perpetual dragonet-face."

Messing with animus magic, Midnight repeated to herself.

"Do you have a lot of hybrids here?" Ecru asked.

"A couple," Deathbringer answered. "Sunflower is somewhere around here, and Toxin is at Jade Mountain. All the younger ones are hidden away in the south. I'm planning on taking the dragonets too young to fly there in a few days."

Deathbringer stopped, and lifted up the ripped cloth of a tent out from the mud, opening it up for the two. "Here we are," he said. "Go in."

Midnight and Ecru entered. Other than mud, there didn't appear to be much inside. A small raised platform of dried mud for Firefly to sleep in. A few weapons on the other side of the tent. Midnight stared as something familiar caught her eyes. A silver chakram.

Midnight walked over to it, pulling the assassin's chakram from her bag, and holding it over Deathbringer's. Other than the mud on Deathbringer's, the two looked almost exactly the same. Same color of metal, same size, same cut in the center.

"Do you have any idea who else could use a weapon like this, and had access to the NightWing craftmanship?" Midnight asked Deathbringer, turning to him.

Deathbringer thought for a moment as Firefly jumped from his back and ran over to Ecru. Ecru put her paw out for the hybrid dragonet to jump on, Firefly's scales turning into a sea of yellow as she grabbed ahold of Ecru, pink starbursts occasionally appearing on them.

"I can't think of any other NightWings who are trained in these, but it's possible your assassin could be self-taught," Deathbringer responded. "Or taught by someone outside the Night Kingdom. I know some SandWings can use these too. But I'm the only NightWing assassin we've had in a while. Do you have any more details about him?"

"I could never get a good look at him," Midnight answered regretfully. "He attacked us first in Crosswinds. Stayed in the shadows while throwing the silver discs at us, almost killing us. We escaped by going into the river. Most of the chakrams he threw were gone by the time we came back to investigate, but this one was in the river. We didn't see him again until we were flying over the rainforest last night, during the storm. He hid until he got close enough to attack me during flight, and tried to throw me against the ground. I got free, but he threw more of the discs at me in the woods. I barely got away."

Deathbringer nodded, considering this. "That sounds a lot like what I'd have done, except I might have added some poison to the blades. Stayed in the shadows, only striking when your opponent doesn't expect it. Retreat and come back another day if I failed. It's the NightWing way. Honestly, it sounds like your assassin was NightWing trained."

Midnight glanced over towards Ecru as she heard a laugh. Ecru and Firefly seemed to be playing a game of 'splash the mud at each other.' Midnight smiled and rolled her eyes.

"We had a dragon named Duskwind disappear from the camp," Deathbringer mused. "I wonder if this could be connected."

"Was Duskwind the assassin type?" Midnight asked.

Deathbringer shook his head and snorted. "Far from it. I figured he got caught by IceWing soldiers, but they don't cross the border." He sighed. "This is the worst time for something like this to happen."

"Queen Moorhen is kicking you out, right?" Midnight replied. "Is there any way you can just ignore her orders? I know she's busy in the north."

Deathbringer shook his head, grimacing. "It wouldn't end up well for us. Queen Blackice is getting restless. If Moorhen decides to send down troops, we'd fight them, and the IceWings would come in to slaughter us regardless of who wins. We have to leave, and don't have many choices. If we go to where the RainWings are hiding, we'll just lead the IceWings too them. Darkstalker's Teeth are all the way across the desert, and we'd be totally open to attack. That leaves crossing the Claws of the Clouds to reach Jade Mountain."

"Will everyone be able to make the flight there?" Ecru asked, looking up from Firefly.

"I don't know," Deathbringer said. "Like I said, we've been trying to get the weakest dragons and the youngest dragonets to the RainWings without being detected, but it's not enough. Travelling will be slow, and the IceWings will attack. We'll be slaughtered."

Ecru and Midnight went silent. Firefly ran back over to Deathbringer, her scales blending into shades of green as she nestled around his paw.

Midnight took in a deep breath, closing her eyes. "I think I can help you."

"Midnight," a concerned Ecru said, looking over to her mate with worry, "you said we would talk about this before you did something."

"It's fine, it's not that," Midnight replied calmly. Midnight reached down into her satchel, pulling out her scroll from it. She'd already lost those parts of her soul. Giving them to Deathbringer wouldn't lose her any more of it. "The scroll is animus-touched," Midnight explained. "It's able to heal dragons, or point you towards whoever you're thinking of. I know it's not a lot, but it's something."

Deathbringer stared down at the scroll, amazed. He'd be able to heal everyone before the flight. Figure out which direction Queen Blackice was coming from. Silver rings started to move around Firefly's scales.

"Thank you so much," Deathbringer whispered, a glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes. "This might save us." He glanced back up at Midnight. Stonemover's niece. "Are you an — sorry, you don't need to tell me. This could be enough."

Ecru flicked her tongue out, deep in thought. "Actually, would you mind doing a favor for us?" she asked.

Midnight turned towards Ecru, unsure of what she was planning.

"Of course," Deathbringer replied. "Although I doubt there's any way I could repay you for this."

"Well, since you're an ex-assassin, maybe you can predict what our assassin is going to do," Ecru suggested.

"Maybe," Deathbringer said. "What are you thinking?"

Ecru smiled. "I think we can lure our assassin out."

Chapter 18

As Aurora phased into Queen Scarlet's throne room, the queen let out a high-pitched screech, placing her wings over her snout as if to protect it from Aurora. The six SkyWing guards in front of her throne turned immediately, holding spears pointed out towards Aurora. Evidently, Scarlet had decided to try and get some extra protection.

Aurora sighed, and lowered her head to the ground, bowing in front of the SkyWing queen. "Your majesty."

Queen Scarlet stared down, peeking out from behind her wing, unsure what Aurora was doing. Her tail carefully curled around the box on her throne, now holding the Eye of Amethyst. "Traitor!" she hissed. "What are you doing here? Do you want to be thrown in the arena?"

Aurora flicked her tongue, knowing how empty Queen Scarlet's threats were. There was nothing she could do to hurt her. She lifted her head, seeing the guards immediately step towards here.

"Your majesty," Aurora grovelled, lowering her head again, holding back a growl. "I apologize for my . . . confusing behavior this morning. I wanted to assure you that I meant you no harm, and had never planned to hurt you, my queen. I was framed for stealing the Eye of Amethyst by someone hoping to drive a wedge between us in order to weaken you to attack."

"You were framed?" Queen Scarlet snarled. "By who?"

"Cyclone, your majesty," Aurora continued. She quenched the small pain of guilt she felt for revealing Cyclone's treachery. Aurora had to tell Queen Scarlet. How else would Scarlet believe her? Cyclone had chosen to interfere, and she would have to face with whatever consequences she got. "You already knew somewhat of her disloyalty, correct? I dealt with her."

Scarlet frowned, starting down at Aurora. Aurora raised her head to meet the queen's remaining eye, the two remaining in locked in eye contact for a moment.

Queen Scarlet suddenly let out a shrill laugh, sneering at Aurora. "What, you think I'm stupid? You blame this on some dragon you know is traitorous, then kill her so she can't speak up? I've done the same thing before! You can't fool me!"

Aurora huffed, trying not to bare her fangs. Why didn't Queen Scarlet understand that if Aurora wanted her dead, she'd have done it already? "I didn't kill her," Aurora grumbled. "She's still alive, on a hill not far from here, unless she escaped already. Your majesty."

"Oh," Queen Scarlet replied. She frowned, considering this for a moment.

"Your oh-so-great majesty, I've done nothing but help you," Aurora continued, gritting her teeth as she said the words. "I stole the Eye of Amethyst in order to save your life. I have even returned to you now. I only wish to serve you, majestic queen of beautiful shining scales."

"Enough with the flattery," Queen Scarlet snorted. "You're no good at it anyways. But you're right. I will consider reinstating your position."

Aurora let out a sigh of relief, finally relaxing. Queen Scarlet was once again on her side. She was still able to fulfill Calamity's instructions.

"However," Queen Scarlet growled, "I will need you to re-prove your loyalty after this incident."

Aurora frowned. This wasn't her fault. How come she had to prove herself again? "What do you want?" she asked, irritated.

Queen Scarlet smiled, light glinting from her gemstones. "I just received news that a rogue SkyWing has been making a bit of a disturbance in my northern territories. I want you to handle the situation for me."

"Can't you just have soldiers stop them?" Aurora sighed. What did Queen Scarlet need her for? Was this just a way of showing off Aurora as Queen Scarlet's new toy?

Queen Scarlet shook her head with a laugh. "Unfortunately, it's a bit of a tricky situation. Someone with your sort of skillset is needed."

Aurora flicked her tail. If she needed to do whatever Queen Scarlet wanted to her to do in order to get back in her favor, she'd do it. On the bright side, she'd be out of the palace, and away from all the dragons here. In particular, away from Queen Scarlet. "Alright."

"I'll have two of my guards join you as an entourage," Queen Scarlet smiled. The guards suddenly looked up at her, all nervous. She scanned them, deciding who would have to go.

"I choose you, and you," Scarlet said, pointing a talon at two. The two guards she picked winced, while the others all relaxed.

"I don't need company," Aurora protested. "They won't be of any help in a fight, and they'll just slow me down."

Queen Scarlet shook her head. "No, no, I insist. They know the Sky Kingdom better than you do."

Aurora flicked her tongue. Queen Scarlet probably just wanted to have dragons to keep an eye on her. In fact, this whole thing was likely just to keep Aurora out of the palace for a while. So much for that peaceful, solitary flight. "Fine," Aurora grumbled.

"Good," Queen Scarlet replied, content with Aurora's begrudging willingness. "Now, off you three go!"

Aurora turned towards one of the walls of the throne room, ready to walk through it and out of the palace. As she neared the edge, she heard a loud growl from Queen Scarlet. Aurora glanced behind her. What was it now?

"Ahem," Queen Scarlet hissed. "Aren't you forgetting two someones?" She gestured towards the two guards she'd chosen to go with Aurora.

Aurora rolled her eyes, glancing over to the two uncomfortable-looking SkyWings. That was right. They couldn't walk through the wall. For a moment, she considered trying to phase the two through, but she doubted Queen Scarlet would like that.

Aurora sighed, and turned towards the door, the two SkyWing guards following her until they reached the open-aired part of the palace. She spread her wings, glancing back at the two nervous SkyWings.

"Stay away from me," she hissed, taking off in a flurry of wind.

The three travelled north, the two SkyWings making sure to keep a long distance behind Aurora, cautiously murmuring to each other while the hybrid stayed ahead. Every so often, Aurora glanced back, grumbling as she saw that the two were still behind her, carefully watching her. She hated this, being kept under Queen Scarlet's eye like a dragonet. Still, she had to regain Queen Scarlet's trust.

The winds around Aurora grew colder as the three flew further into the mountains, sharp cliffs jutting from the side of the stone as they formed a plateau. The dragon settlements seemed to grow thinner and thinner as they flew on, a small village built along the plateau edge the last one Aurora had seen for a while. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Aurora spotted more and more scavengers, often times herding yaks. She even managed to spot a tiny scavenger-sized village. What was it that Calamity had told her about scavengers being as smart as dragons?

Eventually, Aurora heard one of the SkyWings yell something out at her. She slowed down, looking back with a stare which said What is it now?

"We're, um, just about there," one of the SkyWings said quickly as he approached Aurora. "I'll fetch the dragon we're meeting. Stay here please."

Aurora snorted as he flew off, the other SkyWing guard glaring over at him as he flew off, annoyed he left her with Aurora. As he flew out of sight, she glanced over to Aurora, opening her mouth to say something.

"I'm not interested in conversation," Aurora tonelessly said, cutting her off. She sailed down to the plateau, landing in a field of dry grasses as she waited for the guard to return.

Aurora grumbled impatiently. Who knew that being Queen Scarlet's ally would involve so much waiting? Waiting until it was the right time to follow Calamity's orders, whenever the 'right time' was, waiting for whoever this SkyWing was fetching. It had been so much more convenient back in the Crystal Caverns, where Calamity had been able to control how fast time flowed in there relative to the rest of Pyrrhia. He had given Aurora plenty of time to learn how to fight and how to use her enchantment, and afterwards, there hadn't been much waiting between different assignments Calamity had sent her or Crystal on.

Finally, the SkyWing came back, returning with a second SkyWing. The two landed by Aurora and the other guard, the newcomer walking up to Aurora without hesitation. Aurora glanced up at the newcomer, a red and orange SkyWing who met Aurora's gaze with a fierce stare. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the Darkstone, hanging from Aurora's neck.

"You're a hybrid," the newcomer said with a frown, tilting her head left and right as she inspected Aurora, her odd-colored scales clearly giving it away. "You're the dragon Queen Scarlet sent?"

Aurora sighed. "What do you need me to do?"

The SkyWing flicked her tongue. A grin suddenly appeared on her snout, stretching from side to side. She let out a laugh. "Queen Scarlet sent you? Seriously?"

Aurora glared. What was so funny?

The SkyWing shook her head, letting out another snort. "I'm sorry," she laughed. "This is just too much. I should introduce myself. I'm Kite." She tilted her head, as if expecting Aurora to know who she was.

Aurora stared back at Kite. "Okay."

Kite looked Aurora up and down again, letting out another laugh as she did. "You're Crystal and Torrent's dragonet, aren't you? How are they doing?"

Aurora stiffened up as she heard her parents' names, taken slightly aback. This SkyWing knew who they were? "Crystal is . . . dead. Torrent is not."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Kite replied. "They lived with me for a few months. I'm surprised they didn't mention me." She frowned. "But let's get down to business. There's a SkyWing I need you to get rid of." Kite looked to Aurora's left and right, like she was trying to find something. "It's just you? No MudWing or gryphon? No dagger?"

"I can handle whatever it is," Aurora stated. She wasn't particularly interested in meeting her parents' friends. If Kite had been important, Crystal or Calamity would have told Aurora about her.

"Are you sure?" Kite asked. "When your parents came, one of their friends ended up very badly burnt. So far, we haven't had any deaths, but some of my SkyWings have gotten quite injured."

"I'm fine," Aurora growled, tired of all the waiting. If there was going to be a fight, she just wanted it over with.

"Alright," Kite replied. "I suppose Queen Scarlet's champion should be able to take care of something like this. Follow."

"I'm not her champion," Aurora grumbled as Kite took off.

Aurora and the two SkyWing guards followed behind her, travelling along the plateau until they reached what looked like a small statue. The three landed in the grass nearby, and Aurora couldn't help but look over at the statue. A dull marble gryphon. Aurora squinted. It looked oddly familiar. A lot like Griffin himself.

Calamity had made the odd request that she enchant Griffin to do what she wanted. Aurora still wasn't quite sure why. If Calamity needed her to kill Loresearcher, she could have just waited until Torrent hadn't been there, and she could've used her magic freely. But Calamity knew far better than her what to do. If he needed her to do that, then there had to have been a good reason.

"The Feathered Spirit," Kite commented, noticing Aurora looking at the statue. "My great-grandmother told me about him when I was younger. SkyWings used to believe that the world would one day end in fire, and that he'd appear at the end of it, spread his wings, and Pyrrhia would be reborn from his feathers. He rules over the reincarnation of the world, or something like that. No one really worships him anymore though. There was a prediction that the world would end a few hundred years back. Obviously it didn't happen. My great-grandmother told me that some SkyWings thought it predicted Queen Fen's conquest of the Sky Kingdom, but that sounds sort of silly."

"Oh," Aurora snorted. That explains it.

Kite sighed, staring up at the statue. "Well, I suppose you can finally avenge her for me," she said. She pointed across the plateau, to a steep cliff at the base of the mountains. "There's a cave there. That's where she is. Good luck."

Aurora walked over towards the cave, the two guards following her behind from a distance. A small dark entrance, between the mountain-slopes. A nice hiding place for whoever was unlucky enough to be in there. She stepped into the cave, not bothering to try and remain quiet.

The cave was dark, but Aurora's limited nightvision quickly adjusted, revealing a large oblong chamber. Small pools of water were scattered around, Aurora's reflection looking back at her. A lot of the ground was filled with dull rubble, but small shinies poked through it. Aurora swept some of the rubble aside with her tail, seeing gold coins and gemstones buried beneath it.

She frowned. Something seemed weird about this place. Off. She picked up one of the coins with her talons and held it in front of her. As she focused on it, the golden surface started to change to a glimmering silver, before suddenly being overcome by the gold again. Aurora flicked her tongue, squinting at the metal. If she couldn't change it, that meant it was magical. An animus had enchanted it.

Aurora tossed the coin into the rubble, and walked on, further into the caves. Most of the other rooms were just like the first one. Filled with rubble and the remains of treasure. Looted, perhaps? Aurora had thought she understood dragons' obsession with treasure. It was pretty, the way light glinted off of it. The way you could make it into different shapes and cuts, each capturing different aspects of the material and the light on it. Gemstones of a thousand different colors, their internal components forming beautiful lattices that few dragons could ever get to play with. But why did Queen Scarlet hide most of her treasure away when it could be out in the open? What was the point in her having so much gold and diamonds? It would have been more interesting to mix it up with pyrite and zirconia.

Aurora's ears suddenly twitched, and she came back to attention as she heard a movement in the cave beyond her, the sliding of rocks. That was right. She was here to do Queen Scarlet's bidding.

"Stand down," Aurora wearily ordered. She sighed. "In the name of Queen Scarlet, surrender yourself now."

Aurora started to walk forward as she heard a response.

"Don't come closer!" the dragon in the cavern yelled back, almost sobbing. "I don't want to hurt you! Please, just go away!"

Aurora flicked her tail. Something about that voice sounded familiar. One of the dragons she'd met in the palace? No. She remembered this voice. This was someone important.

A wave of heat hit Aurora as she turned the corner, putting up a wing to block it. When the hybrid turned to look into the cave, the dragon looking back at her just as surprised as she was.

"Aurora?" Inferno exclaimed, meeting Aurora's eyes with an expression of shock.

Aurora stared back at the SkyWing. The fireborn who had come down to talk to her when she'd left the Mausoleum. One of the five. What was she doing here?

Aurora's gaze went down to Inferno's paws. One was clenched around something, paw so tight Inferno's own talons were digging into her scales. A purple glint caught her eyes. The second Darkstone. Aurora glanced back up, Inferno's face rigid and contorted, her talons stiff. Something about her seemed different than before.

"Aurora," Inferno whimpered, gritting her teeth like she was struggling to get her words out. She shook her wings, as if trying to get free of something. "Please. Please help me."

Chapter 19

Tiger and Ermine turned with a jolt as the door to their room opened. Ermine tensed up, talons shaking. Had the Empress caught figured out their plan? Were they going to be tortured in horrible ways?

Ermine breathed a sigh of relief as Skytaker walked in. Just Skytaker. The IceWing raised his head, glancing back and forth between Tiger and Skytaker. All three of the dragonets were on edge today. Today was when they were going to try and escape the palace.

"It's your time, Tiger. Talk to him," Skytaker whispered. "We'll wait here."

"Shouldn't we go with her?" Ermine asked.

Skytaker shook their head. "Shh." They pointed a talon to the tapestry of Empress Liliana on the wall, twin eyes staring down at them.

Ermine stared up at her. At any time, she could be listening in to them. The IceWing frowned. Maybe they should've found a way to disable the Obscura. Although if they did, they probably would've found out . . .

"Are we sure about this?" Tiger asked, looking back towards Skytaker and Ermine.

Skytaker quickly nodded, and Ermine sighed, offering a hesitant nod.

"Alright," Tiger replied, turning towards the door, working hard to suppress the green tint over her scales. All she had to do was talk to Mangrove.

"Good luck," Skytaker whispered, as Tiger closed the door behind her.

Tiger looked left and right on the hallway, checking twice for any invisible RainWings. If Skytaker was right, and they probably were, Mangrove would be resting in his room right now. Down in the guards' chambers, one of the floors Skytaker had found. Tiger stepped in front of the door to the moving circular room, entering it and stepping in the middle ring when it arrived.

Tiger quickly checked around the room, feeling her heart rate rise. Why was she so nervous? She was just going down to Mangrove for a chat. She took a deep breath, trying to think of wherever the guards slept, picturing it in her mind. The room started to move. At least she was able to get down there.

When the door opened, Tiger carefully slinked into the hallway. Just like most of the rest, the hallway was furnished with purple and gold, rugs picturing the Empress wherever Tiger stepped. Didn't she get tired of looking at her own snout? Identical doors stood up to her left and right as Tiger quietly walked. Which room had Skytaker said it was? Five down, on the left side.

As Tiger reached for Mangrove's door, she suddenly heard one of the other doorhandles move. She immediately dropped to a corner of the hallway, changing her scales to fit the wallpaper's pattern.

Tiger held her breath as the door opened, a tired looking RainWing stepping out from inside. Tiger tried to keep still — this was far from the ideal hiding spot, and if the RainWing decided to look too closely, there was no way Tiger would remain unspotted. The RainWing slowly turned, gaze passing over Tiger, then turned to the left. Without another word, the guard walked down the hallway, stopping in the gold circle.

As soon as the guard was gone, Tiger let out a quiet breath. She'd almost been caught. She stood up, looking at Mangrove's door. If she was unable to convince him, this would definitely end up with them being caught. How come Tiger was the one who had to talk to him? Skytaker was better at that sort of thing.

She carefully opened up the door, peeking inside. The room itself was small, lit only by the strange ambient light that seemed to permeate the palace from nowhere. A hammock stretched from one end of the room to the other, a violet RainWing lying in it. Mangrove.

Mangrove raised his head. "Who's there?"

Tiger took in another deep breath, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her. She glanced around. No windows, no openings for fresh air. Did the RainWings not get sun-time? "I'm Tiger," she replied. "You're Mangrove, right?"

"Tiger," Mangrove whispered, repeating the name like he was unsure of it. "Yes. I'm Mangrove. Do I have orders?" He raised his head, looking down at Tiger from hammock, eyes dull and glossy. He frowned as he saw who she was. "You're one of the Pyrrhians. I have orders not to talk to you."

"Then I'll do all the talking," Tiger responded. This was going to be difficult. "Do you have orders to keep me from talking?"

Mangrove stayed quiet, unsure what to do.

"I had a question to ask," Tiger continued. Would this work? "Do you know a dragon named Orchid?"

"Orchid?" Mangrove asked, suddenly forgetting that he wasn't supposed to talk to Tiger. "No, I don't know anyone named that." He thought for a moment, the question still on his mind.

Tiger frowned. Was Orchid not here in Antigonia? She looked up towards Mangrove, noticing that a few of the scales on his paws had started to turn a blue-green. He was confused. "Are you sure that's true?" Tiger pressed. "Orchid. You two gathered fruit together."

Mangrove shook his head, the hammock shaking from his paws. "I don't—I don't know her," Mangrove whispered, shaking his head. "I don't know anyone named Orchid." He looked down at his blue-green paws, unsure of himself.

"You do," Tiger said again. "You know Orchid. Think harder, where do you know the name from?"

Mangrove paused for a moment, putting his forepaws on his head as he rolled over on the hammock, more of his scales turning aquamarine. "Orchid?" he asked quietly, confused. He shook his head, then turned to Tiger with a glare. "No! I don't know her! I shouldn't be talk to you, Glory told us the Pyrrhians were dangerous!" He glanced down at his scales. "What did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything," Tiger replied. "I just asked if you knew who Orch—"

"Don't say that name!" Mangrove hissed, jumping from his hammock, staring at Tiger. Tiger took a step back, as Mangrove shook his head again. "My shift is about to start," Mangrove huffed. "I need to go."

He started towards the door, before Tiger interrupted him. This could be their only chance to escape. "Orchid was your mate," Tiger said quietly.

Mangrove turned around, staring at Tiger. The teal scales had risen up to his torso. He opened his mouth, about to say something to Tiger, before turning around, walking off, leaving Tiger behind.

Tiger paused, closing her eyes. That wasn't how she'd expected this to go. But it seemed like she'd gotten through to him, at least a little. Was it enough?

Tiger headed back to the three's room, careful not to disturb any of the other RainWing guards on the way there. At any second, around any corner, she expected the Empress or Glory to jump out and say that Mangrove had told them everything. But they didn't. The palace was silent.

"How did it go?" Skytaker asked as Tiger stepped back through the door.

The RainWing shut it firmly behind her, knowing it wouldn't help if the Empress was listening in with the Obscura. She looked over at Skytaker grimly. "I'm not sure if it was a success or not."

Skytaker frowned. "What happened? Is he going to help us or not?"

"He ran off before I asked him," Tiger replied, "but something strange happened. I mentioned his mate, Orchid, to him, and he said he didn't remember her, but some part of him clearly did. His scales showed it. I think he'd help us if he could remember."

"Have the RainWings been brainwashed somehow?" Ermine gulped. "Is the Empress changing their memories?"

Tiger grimaced. "Maybe," she said. A spell on the entire world. "I have an idea, but I'll explain it later." If the Empress was listening in on them, and Tiger was right, it might make things even worse.

Skytaker nodded, understanding what she meant. The less they talked, the smaller chance they'd be caught. "No matter what, we still need to go forward," they stated. "For Pyrrhia. Now we wait."

The three waited in silence, all tense. Tiger tried to do something normal, like reading one of the books, but she couldn't focus. The words seemed to flow off the page, and she kept reading the same passage over and over again. It wasn't just the three's fate that rested on this plan, it was the fate of Pyrrhia. What if Mangrove tried to talk to the Empress about his strange memories? What if he didn't remember Orchid in time? Even if they escaped, how would they get back to Pyrrhia?

Tiger shook as she felt a talon on her back. She turned to see Skytaker, motioning her with their paw. Ermine was already by the door. It was time.

Nervously, the three walked to the entrance to the moving room, Skytaker standing in the circle to summon the room. As the doors entered, Tiger froze up. Another RainWing, one she didn't recognize, was standing in the center, staring curiously at the three.

"It's fine," Skytaker whispered under their breath. "It means we're on time."

The hybrid walked into the circular room, standing a tail length from the RainWing guard. Tiger and Ermine quickly followed, Tiger trying hard to quench the green in her scales. This was part of the plan. This RainWing was the guard leaving the shift, meaning that Mangrove was alone.

The doors shut, and the room moved. When the doors opened again, Tiger peeked out to see the same hallway she'd visited earlier, where the guards rooms were. Hopefully the next guard wouldn't be back soon.

Skytaker stepped into the center, and the doors shut again. The three remained silent as the room moved down to the entrance. This was it. They were almost out. All they needed to do was to convince Mangrove to let them pass.

Tiger's heart skipped a beat as the doors opened, a whiff of fresh air entering her lungs. The outside! Sunlight dripped down in front of her, only a more few steps. Her scales glittered with golden flakes. She'd never been so excited to see the sun.

As the three stepped out towards the entrance, a RainWing moved in front of them, Mangrove's silhouette blocking the sunlight. "Halt," he growled, holding out a spear. He glanced down at the three dragonets, frowning as he saw Tiger.

"Mangrove," she said quietly, glancing down to his paws. They were still covered in blue-green, like he'd stepped in algae.

"What happened to Orchid?" Mangrove asked warily, his spear shaking. "W-where is she? Why can't I remember?"

"We can help you," Tiger answered, "there's an Orchid back on Pyrrhia, where we come from."

"Do you know how to get there?" Skytaker quickly questioned.

Mangrove shook his head. "You can't," he replied. "Her majesty is the only one who can open a gate."

"Maybe we should just go back," Ermine quietly suggested. "We could try looking around the palace again."

Skytaker shook their head. "We can't," they growled. "There's no way she'd use her magic to let us go back. Maybe there's another way, somewhere in Antigonia. Trustbreaker got to Pyrrhia, right?"

"Mangrove," Tiger said again, staring up at him. "We're going to escape the palace. We need to warn our kingdoms. Our Pyrrhia."

Mangrove shuddered, his scales flashing sea green. "I need to with you," he pleaded. "I need to find Orchid."

Tiger glanced back towards Skytaker and Ermine. Taking Mangrove with them hadn't been part of the plan, but having an Antigonian dragon on their side could be helpful. "Alright," she agreed. "You can come with us. We're going to the mainland."

Mangrove slowly stepped aside, dropping his spear as he let the three pass. Tiger stepped into the sunlight, taking a deep breath of air as her eyes adjusted to it. Her scales felt calmer at once, and she stretched out her wings, letting the sun beat down on as much of her as possible.

"Quickly," Skytaker said, "we're flying this way." They opened their wings up, and took off towards the south of the island.

"Ugh, I haven't flown in months," Ermine grumbled as he followed the hybrid, sunlight glinting from the IceWing's scales.

Tiger followed, Mangrove behind her, the four staying low to the ground as they crossed the volcanic island. Tiger peeked back, giving a glance to the Empress's beautiful palace. Now that she was outside of it, she could see it's location more clearly. The palace was nestled in the center of the volcano's caldera, over a crystal blue lake, lush green hills rising up over it. Her eyes looked up to the top of the palace, where the narrow tower spread out into the huge glass greenhouse. Where Empress Liliana's throne was, where she could be watching them with the Obscura right now.

Tiger turned as the four flew over the island. It really was the NightWing volcanic island. Tiger had only visited once, to get some scrolls, but she recognized parts of it. The ash-laden cliffs where the tunnel to the rainforest had been was as green as the rainforest itself, cliffs leading down to golden beaches. When the four finally set out across the water, the sun glimmered off its crystal-blue surface. Had this been what the NightWing island had looked like when the NightWings first arrived? A paradise as beautiful as the rainforest?

"How far is it to the mainland?" Ermine asked Tiger, interrupting her thoughts.

Tiger turned away from the island, the tip of the palace barely visible. "Only a few hours, if the map is right. Mangrove, do you know?"

Mangrove didn't respond. Tiger turned, to see his head staring down at the water. "Orchid," he muttered quietly. "Orchid, where are you? Orchid, Orchid, Orchid . . ."

"Doesn't seem like he'll be much help," Skytaker commented.

Tiger sighed. "Hopefully the confusion will clear over. I think he's trying to reconcile his memories."

"Oh yeah!" Skytaker said. "You said you had a theory for what happened to him. You gonna share it, now that we're out?"

A warm breeze hit Tiger's scales, sun beating down on them. It was so warm and tropical here, just like in the rainforest. But that wasn't right. They'd been pretty far north on the map. There shouldn't have been warm winds. It didn't make any sort of sense.

"I suggested earlier that the reason the map of Antigonia was so weird was because the Empress put a spell on the entire world," Tiger answered. "Nothing we've seen indicates that the physical rules of Antigonia are any different than Pyrrhia. Under that assumption, for example, the weather here, so far north, should be much colder."

"We haven't seen very much of Antigonia though," Skytaker replied skeptically.

"I saw a fair amount in the Obscura," Tiger rebutted. "And not just the physical world, but the dragons themselves. Mangrove is starting to remember Orchid being his mate. He also doesn't think that Orchid exists. I think he's right. The reason he doesn't remember Orchid is because whatever enchantment the Empress made changed Antigonia so much that Orchid ceased to exist, and never did. But Mangrove still has some memories of the world before the enchantment. It explains why all the books written before the Empress's takeover are unreadable. That history was written over by whatever she did."

Skytaker went silent. The only sounds were the lapping of the waves, the warm wind, and Mangrove's murmurings of Orchid.

"I still think you're wrong," Ermine said quietly, Skytaker and Tiger turning to look at him. "Not about there being a spell on the world. But I don't think Empress Liliana did it." He paused for a moment. "I don't think she's an animus."

"You don't?" Tiger asked, surprised.

Ermine opened his mouth, about to explain what he meant, when Skytaker interrupted him. "Hey, you two, I think I see land!"

"Land?" Tiger asked. The RainWing followed Skytaker's gaze. Sure enough, far in the distance was a line of land.

The line on the horizon grew larger as the four flew on, Mangrove continuing his mutterings to no end. Ermine was the first to spot the dragons waiting for them.

"Um, Tiger, Skytaker," Ermine whimpered, slowing down a tad, "I think those are RainWings?"

Tiger squinted, making out small strangely-colored blotches on the cliffs in front of them. "He's right," she said, a hint of lime running through her scales. Had they been caught? "Skytaker, what should we do? If they haven't seen us yet, we could turn back."

Skytaker stared into the distance, their normally confident expression faded. The hybrid sighed. "No. There's no point. They're waiting for us. The only thing we can do is surrender."

"Oh," Tiger replied. If even Skytaker was giving up, that wasn't good.

As the three got closer, Tiger recognized two of the dragons on the cliffs. Glory and the Empress. They really had been caught. They hadn't been able to make it back to Pyrrhia. If the Empress attacked, no one could stop her.

When they reached the cliffs, the RainWings walked back, giving the four room to land. Glory's tail flicked, her ear-fins a bright orange as she glared up at the dragonets. Empress Liliana just looked up with a disapproving sigh, like the three were her misbehaving dragonets.

"I'm quite disappointed in the three of you," Liliana tsked as the four had landed, shaking her head. "I thought I told you not to leave the palace. You disobeyed me, your empress."

"You're not our empress!" Skytaker spat.

Liliana smiled, flicking her tongue. "We'll see."

"We know you're lying about needing time to take us back to Pyrrhia!" Skytaker growled, baring their fangs. "We're not your guests, we're prisoners."

Liliana let out an exaggerated sigh, tossing a glance to Glory, standing stern and stiff next to her. "I admit it, you're right, but I can't let you interfere, not now. Please dragonets, don't worry. I promise that you won't have to remain prisoners much longer. I'll send you back to your home."

"Is that because you're planning to conquer Pyrrhia?" Ermine asked, looking up at the RainWing empress.

"Not conquer," the Empress replied. "I only plan to free your world from the evils of dragonkind." Her eyes turned to Tiger, so far the RainWing only staring up at her silently. Liliana shivered, like Tiger's stares creeped her out. "What?"

"Do you plan to do to Pyrrhia whatever you did to Antigonia?" Tiger asked hushedly.

Empress Liliana's eyescales furrowed, her expression turning to a grimace. "So you figured it out."

"Tiger?" Skytaker said, gulping. Had the Empress not wanted them learn her secret? What would she do to keep it from being shared?

After a moment, the Empress's smile returned. "So smart. I suppose I shouldn't be at all surprised!"

"Why haven't you done it already?" Tiger questioned. "Are you looking for something in Pyrrhia? Is it in the Sky Kingdom?"

"Quiet," Empress Liliana hissed, glaring at Tiger. She smiled again. "I'll tend to your questions in time, but right now, I have someone else to deal with."

The Empress walked forward, moving around the three dragonets until she was less than a tail length away from Mangrove. She grabbed the RainWing's jaw, lifting it up until the two were eye-to-eye. "Now, what happened to you?"

"Where's Orchid?" Mangrove whispered, his head shaking in Liliana's paws. "Orchid? Where are you?"

"He's a traitor," Glory growled, stepping forward. "I can put him down if you'd like."

Tiger's eyes opened wide. Were they going to kill Mangrove? She gritted her teeth. She'd dragged the RainWing into this, trying to force him to remember. He was innocent. Tiger was about to say something in protest, but Liliana said it first.

"No need," the Empress calmly replied. "He's only a bit confused. Aren't you, Mangrove?"

Mangrove let out a small whimper as she tightened her talons around his jaw. "Please tell me, where is Orchid?" he asked, his voice shaky. "What happened to her? I can't find her."

"No dragon named Orchid has ever existed, sweetie," Liliana said. "Not within your lifetime. Are you thinking of the flower? Do you want some? I can do that."

"No," he squealed, trying to turn his head away from Liliana's grip, talons shaking. "She's real! I remember Orchid, she's my mate. I love her."

Empress Liliana sighed. "You really are in a bad place. Look at your scales! They're all sea-green! This is why I told you not to talk to the Pyrrhians." The Empress stood back on her hind legs, and took her other forepaw, placing it above Mangrove's eyes, between his horns.

The paw on Mangrove's head suddenly started to glow, a white light spreading out from her claws. He whimpered again, his eyes suddenly jolting from side to side. His scales started to change colors, violets and blue-greens shifting to a lime green, the color glowing bright for a moment before fading, finally overcome with a dull grey.

The Empress took her paw away from Mangrove, the white light on it fading. Tiger stared on, shocked. What had she done to him?

Slowly, purple started to seep back into Mangrove's scales, his eyes focusing back on the Empress. His talons stopped shaking, his breath calm. "Your majesty," he said slowly.

Empress Liliana smiled. "Hello, Mangrove. Do you know any dragon named Orchid?" She took her paw from his jaw, letting him step back.

"Orchid?" Mangrove said, thinking about the name for a moment. He shook his head. "No, your majesty. I don't know anyone named Orchid. Who is she?"

Liliana flicked her tongue as Tiger stared back at Mangrove, heart racing. There was no trace of confusion in Mangrove's scales. He'd forgotten her.

"She's no one," Liliana answered. "Glory. Escort these dragonets back to the palace. Make sure Mangrove gets a good night sleep."

Chapter 20

Midnight cautiously stepped through the undergrowth of the rainforest, the dim moons lighting her way. The three had chosen a small section of the rainforest that had been mostly untouched by the fires, most of the wood barely scorched. Here, Deathbringer thought it would be easier for him to hide. Of course, that also meant that it would be easier for the assassin.

Midnight felt Ecru's wing over her, and she took a deep breath.

"You're shaking," Ecru whispered.

Midnight nodded. She was nervous. What if things went wrong? What if Ecru ended up dead? "Yeah, just on edge."

Midnight suddenly shuddered as she saw a blur of black from the treetops above her. She looked up to see Deathbringer's snout looking down from the leaves.

"I think here is probably good," he said. "There's a clearing just beyond those trees. If the assassin wants to stay hidden, he'll probably attack from the other side of it. You'll have a bit over cover where you are."

"Won't he have cover too?" Ecru asked.

"Well, yeah," Deathbringer clucked, "but he won't be expecting an attack from above."

Midnight peered out from beyond the trees. Sure enough, there was a small moonlit clearing in the rainforest before it continued on the other side. That would be all the distance that was between her and the assassin. She pulled out her scroll. The ink arrow pointed directly across the clearing. That's where he'd be coming from.

"Thank you for all your help," Midnight called up.

"It's nothing," Deathbringer grinned. "Stuff like this is what I was hatched to do. NightWings have to help each other out in times like this."

Midnight glanced back down to her scroll. She'd be sad to see it go, but Deathbringer would need it more than her. Midnight started to pace back and forth along the edge of the clearing, staring down at the scroll, watching for any twitches in the arrow. Deathbringer brought his head back into the foliage, the NightWing immediately disappearing into the darkness.

"Are you sure about this?" Ecru asked quietly, following Midnight with her eyes. "It's not too late to turn back."

Midnight sighed, turning back on her path. "I'm sure," she answered, leaves crackling beneath her paws. "This will be our best chance. If we can't stop the assassin now, we'll just have to keep flying. I can't live with that kind of danger."

"Alright," Ecru replied. "We'll win. I know it."

But what if we don't win? Midnight wondered. What if we have to escape again? How desperate would they need to be before Midnight used her magic again? Would she risk trying to stop the assassin directly with her magic, even knowing he could have protections against it? How much of her soul would she need to lose before this was over?

A cloud passed over the largest moon, the colors of the rainforest turning to grey. Midnight kept pacing, maybe a hundred times, even a thousand. The hours went by as the dirt compacted beneath her paws, creating a dense line in the forest floor. Slowly, the arrow started to turn from side to side as she walked down the line, at first, an almost invisible deflection, but steadily growing larger as time went on. Midnight regretted not enchanting the scroll to also show distance.

Finally, Midnight stopped. The arrows tip had moved far enough. "I think he's close," she announced. "Ecru, you should back up."

Ecru complied, nervously taking a few steps back into the forest.

Midnight stared out into the clearing, moving next to a tree. She lifted a wing up, covering her head and neck with it. Deathbringer had told her that's where the assassin would aim, so maybe covering it would help.

Midnight's heart skipped a beat as she heard a rustling out from across the clearing. The assassin? Or Deathbringer? She clutched the enchanted scroll close to her, her only protection against the assassin.

Suddenly, Midnight let out a yell as a disc ripped through her wing, right below her neck. Her heart started to race, blood dripping down her wing, and she took off, running across the line she'd made in her pacing. Trees passed by her as she ran, and she saw another glint of metal fly from across the clearing, right before it hit her right foreleg, causing her to trip and slam her head into the ground.

"Midnight!" Ecru yelled out, running forward to help her.

Midnight put her bleeding wing over her head, trying to cover it again. She turned towards Ecru, seeing the hybrid running towards her. "Ecru, stay back!"

A loud thump sounded from across the clearing, and Ecru glanced over towards it before finally reaching Midnight. A flash of black suddenly leaped out from the trees above them, gliding down into the clearing.

"I got him!" Deathbringer yelled back, lowering his dart gun. "He'll be out for a while."

"Midnight, the scroll," Ecru said. Midnight groaned, trying to pull herself up to her paws. The scroll had been trapped beneath her when she'd fallen.

Ecru put her paws on Midnight, gently lifting her up from the ground. As soon as she saw it, Ecru pulled the scroll out from beneath her, whispering the words needed to activate the healing enchantment as she stared at Midnight.

Midnight's wounds started to close up, and Ecru sighed in relief. "Are you okay?" Ecru asked.

Midnight nodded, wincing as the last of the cuts disappeared. "Yeah. All better now. We did it?"

"We did it," Ecru grinned. "Deathbringer got the assassin."

Midnight smiled, getting up on her paws. This was it. They'd gotten their assassin. They'd won.

"Hey, you two?" Deathbringer called out from across the field, a hint of concern in his voice. "You should probably come over here, I, er, think I know who your assassin is."

"Really?" Ecru said. "That's great!" She helped Midnight up, the two walking across the clearing towards Deathbringer, wings sparkling in the moonlight.

Midnight frowned. Why did Deathbringer sound so worried?

"I'm not sure 'great' is the way I'd put it," Deathbringer responded. He stepped aside as the two approached. "I think this certainly poses more questions than it solves."

Midnight lowered her eyes towards the ground, the assassin gently breathing as he lay still in the undergrowth. When she saw him, she immediately looked up at Deathbringer, then back at the assassin, then at Deathbringer again

"Well, this is certainly . . . odd," Ecru frowned.

Midnight turned back again, barely able to believe her eyes. The assassin's neck caught her gaze. A weapons pouch, exactly like the one she'd seen back in Deathbringer's tent. Far from the only thing that looked exactly the same. Other than a circular tattoo on the assassin's neck, there was no difference, even down to the NightWings' scars.

Midnight had been right. The assassin was Deathbringer.

"And you're sure that he can't escape the chains?" Midnight asked Deathbringer as the three left the tent. Sunlight hit Midnight's weary eyes, causing her to squint as she trod through the mud. The three of them had been up all night, bringing the assassin back to the NightWing camp. Midnight was starting to wonder if the healing scroll could be used as a full night's rest.

"I'm positive," Deathbringer replied. "I don't think I'd be able to escape myself!" He chuckled, shaking his head at the strangeness of the whole situation.

Midnight glanced back towards the tent. How could there be two Deathbringers?

"Is it actually you?" Ecru suggested. "Are you sure you don't have an evil twin or something like that?"

"I'm almost certain I didn't," Deathbringer answered. "I'm pretty sure Quickstrike would've said something." Deathbringer lifted up the weapons pouch that had been hanging from the assassin's neck. "And I found this on him. It's exactly the same as the one I've got back in my tent. A lot of the weapons inside are the same, too."

The three thought about this for a moment. Midnight looked up at a fluffy cloud, one of the moons still visible in the daytime. Who had sent Deathbringer's clone after her, and why?

"Maybe he can shapeshift using animus magic!" Deathbringer exclaimed. He opened up the assassin's pouch, rummaging through it. Was there a small piece of torn scroll in there? "He could have turned himself into me to try and confuse you."

"Maybe," Midnight frowned. "But I'm pretty sure he was already you when I saw him back in the rainforest. It's why I thought you looked familiar."

"Well, he could've changed into me before going after you," Deathbringer replied. "If you're going after an animus, who better to be than the sexiest assassin on Pyrrhia?" He grinned and turned to his side, expecting to be scolded or berated. Instead, he saw nothing but the musky swamp air. He turned back, the smile gone from his snout.

"It's not impossible," Midnight said, considering it. "Ecru, did you sense any animus magic on him?"

"Me?" Ecru asked. "Er, no. Not animus magic. There was something strange about that tattoo though. Hey, let's call him Tattoo Deathbringer, so we don't confuse him with normal Deathbringer!"

Deathbringer stepped into a small puddle, his light pawsteps barely creating a splash. "I don't like this," he huffed, clearly troubled. "How come there are two of me?"

"Hey, what if you got magically split into a good Deathbringer, and an evil Deathbringer?" Ecru suggested. "You're the good Deathbringer, and he's the evil one."

Deathbringer snorted. "Well, I admit, I have been feeling less villainous since I quit assassination. Quite a few ethical problems in that industry, you know? Kingship suits me better. And hey, my name works for both!"

"How long do we have until he wakes up?" Midnight asked Deathbringer. "I want to interrogate him. That's the only way we figure this out, for certain."

"Pretty soon," Deathbringer answered, "but he'll be woozy at first. I don't know how coherent he'll be." Deathbringer considered this for a moment. "Actually, I do. I got hit by a sleeping dart a while back. I was pretty coherent when I woke up. A side effect of all my training, I suppose."

"Then we should probably head back to see him," Midnight replied. "I don't want to keep him wai—"

Before Midnight could finish her sentence, a loud blast of wind blasted her from behind, a great roar piercing her ears. She turned around as mud sprayed up against her scales, tents being blown away as dragons yelled out. A bright blue light had risen up like a pillar from the tent they'd left the assassin in, the sky around them turning neon blue. Midnight looked over at Ecru and Deathbringer, trying to say something, but the roaring drowned out her voice.

As suddenly as it had appeared, the roaring stopped, leaving Midnight's ears ringing. The blue light faded. Midnight jumped as she felt something splash in the mud in front of her. She looked down. A bird had fallen from the sky above them.

Even before her hearing had returned, Midnight started running towards the tent, miraculously still intact. As the ringing stopped, she heard Ecru and Deathbringer's paws behind her. More birds lay dead on the ground, settling in the mud. NightWings and RainWings around them were yelling, unsure and afraid.

Midnight pulled open the flap to the tent. The chains they'd captured the assassin in were lying on the ground, shattered. In the center of the tent, where the assassin had been, there was now a glowing blue disk the size of multiple dragons, the same unnatural color that the sky had turned. The edges were slowly shrinking, crackling with energy.

"Wow," Deathbringer commented, mesmerized by the strange lights, "I didn't know I could do that."

"He escaped," Midnight growled, clenching her talons. Had all this been for nothing? She pulled out her scroll, whispering the words needed to activate the finding enchantment, picturing Tattoo Deathbringer in her head. The arrow started to spin around rapidly, unable to locate him. "All this was for nothing."

Ecru inched closer to the disk, putting a talon close to the edge. Energy crackled, lightning forming a small arc between the blue light and her paw. "Tingly," she frowned. "I think he escaped through here. Maybe we can follow him if we're quick enough."

"What do you mean, through there?" Midnight asked, staring at the disk of lights. "See all the lightning? That thing looks like it wants to kill us."

Deathbringer's eyes opened wide. "It's a portal, like the tunnels Stonemover made!" he exclaimed excitedly.

A portal, Midnight thought. She lifted her scroll up, arrow still spinning. If it was a portal, where was it to?

"If it's a portal, then I'm going in," Midnight announced, stepping up to it. "I'm not giving him up."

Ecru stepped next to Midnight, the two facing the portal together, slowly shrinking. "Then we should go now. I think it's going to disappear soon."

Midnight nodded, giving a worried side-glance to Ecru. "Are you sure you want to join? Whatever is on the other end could be dangerous. My scroll isn't working, so I can't even tell what direction it leads to."

Ecru snorted. "Of course I'm going with you!" she grinned. "I'm not just letting you go in there alone. Also, there's no way I can see a portal and not want to know what's on the other side."

Midnight looked back to Deathbringer, the NightWing still staring at the glowing disk of energy, blue light reflected in his eyes. "Are you coming with us? The assassin is your doppelganger, after all."

Deathbringer shook his head, smiling sadly. "A few years ago, I would've gone in an instant," he sighed. "While I wish I could figure out why there's another me, I have to take care of my kingdom and Firefly. I can't just leave them behind."

Midnight nodded. She understood. Had she not been able to heal Gazelle, she wouldn't have ever left Crosswinds in the first place. She rolled up her enchanted scroll, offering it out to Deathbringer. "Here. You need this more than we do. I told you how to use it, right?"

"Yeah," Deathbringer said, bowing his head as he took it from Midnight. "Thank you so much. Good luck."

"You too," Midnight replied, wincing as the scroll left her talons. The thing that had protected her and Ecru on their journey so far wouldn't be able to protect them any longer. They had to be more careful from here on out. But if it would save the NightWings, Midnight was willing to part with it. She wanted to help others with her magic — this was how she could do it.

"We should go," Ecru whispered. "It's getting smaller."

Midnight gave Deathbringer a wave goodbye, turning back towards the crackling portal, towering above her. She took a deep breath, and placed one of her forepaws over Ecru's, holding her tight. "Together?"

Ecru smiled. "Together."

Then the two stepped into the disk of blinding light, leaving Pyrrhia behind.