Chapter 6

Inlet

As Nova predicted, the quartet arrived in Inlet the next afternoon, the sun shining brightly overhead and beating against their scales. Tualang saw the town off in the distance. It was full of canals that connected the city to the bay, as well as sturdy-looking houses that seemed to be in good condition.

Put simply, it didn't look as sketchy as he thought it would. He saw a bunch of dragons going about their day on the spacious streets, selling and buying things from rugs to tapestries to toasted grasshoppers to exotic fruit.

It really was surprising. The end of the war two years ago had sparked an insane amount of cultural diffusion between the tribes. SeaWings were buying SandWing goods, SkyWings were travelling to the rainforest, and cities were being built just miles from former battlegrounds

'Ten years ago, if you told any dragon that Pyrrhia would become this in just a few years, you'd be put in an asylum.' Tualang thought to himself as they flew closer to the town.

It definitely wasn't a bad thing to see, however. Absolutely not. The peace in the continent was a refreshing change from the twenty-odd years of war caused by the death of Queen Oasis.

Cities seemed to sprout up almost weekly now. Far off in the east, near the border between the desert and the icy north, the city of Sundown had become one of the largest trading hubs on the continent. Dragons were happy. Thanks in part to the cities and the end of the war, dragons who previously had to fight for food now went to bed with full bellies every night. Gone were the days of eating scraps from an alley. Food was plentiful now that there wasn't much of a demand to keep soldiers fed.

Even the rainforest got in on the action. Caravans shipped fruit out of the forest almost daily. SandWings now had the opportunity to eat grapes. SkyWings were able to enjoy bananas. SeaWings could get cocoa beans almost on demand. In return, the RainWings and NightWings received goods previously inaccessible to them. Some huts were even decorated with jars and pots made from the finest porcelain in the Mud Kingdom.

Tualang smiled to himself. He'd always wanted to buy a vase for his hut but always talked himself out of it. He would never use it for anything but decoration. If he were to get something expensive like that, it would have to have a practical use, like a flower pot.

He took himself out of his thoughts again as they found a rather empty part of town and landed. There were a few shops scattered around this part, but most of them were closed. The only one that was open was a fruit stand with a NightWing shopkeep. Tualang saw only a few customers standing in front of the stand, choosing some fruit. A closer look revealed them as just a small group of dragonets, maybe only two or three years old each. He grinned at the sight before turning his attention back to the rest of his party.

"So, welcome to Inlet." Sol said, spreading her wings in a dramatic fashion. "This is one of the quieter parts of town. Not a lot of business goes on here during the day. However, I have been told that this area livens up a bit after the sun goes down." She gave Tualang a look that he guessed meant 'This would be a good place to start'.

"How do you know all this?" Orion asked, folding his wings against his back as he landed.

The SkyWing rolled her eyes. "Do you have to be suspicious of everything?" She asked, flicking her tail. "Hey, Orion, I think that bug is watching you. Are you going to interrogate it?" Nova snorted in amusement and Tualang had to bite back a chuckle.

Orion frowned at them. "That was a legitimate question, idiot." He growled at Sol, eliciting a growl in return from the crimson SkyWing. "Forgive me for being genuinely curious and invested."

Sol was clearly about to retort but Nova interjected before she had the chance. "Hey, relax. We're all friends here." She paused, glancing at the two dragons she was keeping apart. "At least, some of us are. The rest of us will just have to deal with each other. Understand?" The NightWing directed at both of them.

Nova stepped back and Sol rolled her eyes, standing down and taking a step back. "Fine, whatever." She said and Orion hesitantly nodded in agreement. "The answer to your question, by the way, is something you've known for weeks now." There was a clear bit of annoyance woven into her voice.

"But if I have to reiterate, I've been travelling the continent since I was four years old, learning healing methods from all over. After the war ended, this was once of the places I went. Stayed here for about a month."

The black NightWing sighed and shook his head. "Sorry. It slipped my mind. I didn't know you visited this town before." He did sound genuinely apologetic and Sol gave him a bit of an amused look.

"You're forgiven, don't worry. Besides, there are multiple dragons preventing me from gouging your eyes out and slashing your stomach open right now. Namely, Nova and some of the commoners nearby wouldn't take too kindly to seeing your body in the town square. I'd also probably get arrested." She shrugged, smirking at him. Sol was clearly joking about the killing part, but it still unnerved Tualang a little.

"Right, whatever." Orion said with a shrug, turning his attention back to the town. "So, what do we do? I don't suppose you have a house here we can sleep at?"

Sol laughed and shook her head. "That I do not have. However, there is an inn we can stay at not too far from here. And fortunately for us all, I can pay for a large room for about three weeks. We won't be staying that long, but what I'm trying to say is I've got everything covered in regards to sleeping arrangements."

A look of relief washed over Tualang's face. They had a place to stay, thank the moons. They wouldn't need to go door to door, asking to stay in a stranger's home. "Great!" He exclaimed. "We should head there right now. I'm going to wait until the sun sets to start looking for leads. Some rest after that flight sounds nice."

Orion nodded. "For once, I agree with the RainWing. Even with the rest we got last night, I'm still tired after that flight."

"Same here." Nova chimed in.

Sol shook her head but gave a small chuckle. "Alright, let's go, you pansies. It's this way." She said and started down the street.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. The quartet slept for most of the afternoon and when Tualang was the first to wake up, the sun was already setting.

He blinked and got up with a yawn, staring out of the window. 'Sol did mention that the town square livens up after the sunset.' He reminded himself, looking at the other three dragons, who were all still asleep. 'I should let them rest. I can do this part on my own.'

Without much hesitation, he put his bag back around his neck and tightened the leather straps before stepping out of the room and making his way to the square. Indeed, even from here, he could hear the sounds of dragons talking, laughing, and shouting.

A small grin found its way across his muzzle and he followed the noise, eventually arriving in the large, bustling town square. The voices of merchants and shopkeepers filled his ears.

"Freshest fruit in the continent right here! Get it now!"

"REAL fresh fruit over here! Imported this afternoon!"

"Hey there, RainWing, might I interest you in a necklace?"

"Quality rugs and blankets on sale for today only! Hello? Anyone?"

Tualang blocked out most of the voices and made his way to one of the tents that seemed mostly unoccupied.

"Good evening." Greeted the MudWing shopkeep. "Can I help you?"

"Ah, I'm just looking around, thank you." Tualang said and the MudWing nodded in understanding, turning back around and tending to some of the items on her wall.

Tualang looked around the tent. This place seemed to sell a variety of items, from canteens filled with water to daggers, maps, and even potions. 'The potions are probably a scam.' He found himself thinking, frowning at one of the small, purple bottles. He looked around a bit more before a curved knife caught his eye.

'If I'm going to be travelling through sketchy areas, it might help to have something to defend myself with. These talons couldn't hurt a sloth.'

"Hey, how much for the knife?" Tualang asked, causing the MudWing to look over. Before she could answer, a SandWing with dull gold scales wearing tinted goggles over his eyes and a bandana around his neck snatched it before Tualang could grab it.

"It's off sale." The SandWing said, taking it up to the MudWing and paying for it. "For you, anyway."

Tualang frowned at him as he paid and left the tent. "Okay…" He said to himself before settling on a canteen and taking it to the shopkeep. "I'll just take this, then."

The MudWing nodded and he paid for the canteen before stepping out of the tent. The SandWing that bought the knife was nowhere in sight, but it was possible Tualang just couldn't see him in the swarm of dragons in the town square.

"Tua! There you are!" Nova's voice called and he saw the purple NightWing running over to him. "I've been looking for you for the past hour!"

Had he really been gone for over an hour? 'Wow, time flies in this town.' He thought and gave Nova a nervous smile. "Sorry. I forgot to leave a note."

"Don't be. Sol guessed you'd be out here tonight. Looking for clues, I assume?" She asked, to which he nodded.

"Anything?" She asked.

"Not yet." Tualang sighed. "There was a SandWing who stopped me from buying a knife in there, but that was it. Nothing on my father."

Nova's eyes widened in shock and curiosity. "Why would he stop you from buying a knife?" She asked.

Tualang gave a halfhearted shrug. "I don't know. Maybe he just liked the design…" He said, trailing off as he saw the SandWing off in the distance, glancing around suspiciously before dipping into an alley. "That's him over there." Nova looked in the same direction and saw the flash of pale gold.

"Shall we follow him?" She said with a grin, causing Tualang to look at her in confusion. "Why would we do that?"

Nova shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just curious as to why he's so possessive over a knife. Plus, it gives us something to do other than slog around all evening." She nodded in the direction of the alley the SandWing disappeared in. "Shall we?"

"It's not really our business…" Tualang started before cutting himself off and sighing. "You know what? Why not. Let's go." Nova gave a happy grin and the two of them took off after the SandWing.

Tualang was careful not to alert him of their presence. Him and Nova perched on the rooftops over the alley, just barely peeking their eyes into the alley. Sure enough, the SandWing was there, as well as two SkyWings.

"Right, so I got the knife." The SandWing said, taking it out of a pocket. It was at this moment that Tualang realized he was wearing some sort of harness, dotted with small pouches all over. In addition, he had a crossbow and some sort of baton strapped to the harness as well. "Just as you asked. Pay up."

The SandWing put the knife back in its box and handed it to one of the SkyWings. Seconds later, the other SkyWing gave the dusty gold dragon a small bag filled with what Tualang assumed was gold coins. "Pleasure doing business with you." The first SkyWing said, holding the box.

The SandWing nodded and flicked his tail. "Whatever. We had a deal, SkyWing. You got the knife. If your leader asks where, deny my involvement." He leaned in. "I don't exist. Got it?"

One of the orange dragons shrugged. "Sure." Was all he said. Tualang realized both of them were wearing some sort of bracelet with a black insignia on it.

Seconds later, the three dragons were gone. Tualang blinked and stepped away from the ledge, glancing at Nova. "Well, there's your answer." He said. Nova's eyes widened. "Tua! Look out!" She yelled.

Suddenly, Tualang felt something cold- yet sharp- against his neck. He froze in fear and glanced down, seeing the dull gold scales of the SandWing they were watching.

"Scream," The dragon hissed at both Tualang and Nova, digging the blade against his neck, drawing a little bit of blood. "And you both die."