~Fathom
Fathom hoped he didn't survive one massacre just to live to see another one. He and Indigo had flown to an island along the coast of the Rainforest Kingdom, but Fathom feared it wasn't far enough. If Darkstalker didn't fall for the trick—if they failed—then he would go after him. He would know that Fathom was the only dragon who could've done that.
It was weeks after Fathom left the Night Kingdom. Indigo had declared that she wouldn't leave his side, but that's exactly what Fathom feared. What if Darkstalker came, and then killed Indigo? There had to be a reason why she was trapped.
Fathom was pacing restlessly as Indigo watched him, amused. "What are you so worried about? We wouldn't have come here if it wasn't secure." She said, pointing to the leafy canopy of leaves. "We would've gone back to the queen, and the other SeaWings."
"And then tell her that we failed to stop a second massacre?" Fathom replied. "No. No, no, no, no, no. She's probably already dead. Darkstalker probably killed her for information that she couldn't give." He started pacing faster.
"Fathom, stop." Indigo said, standing up. She moved one of her wings to block his path. "In my personal opinion, I think that Darkstalker was never destined to be good." She paused, then added, "Besides, for all you know, Clearsight actually succeeded in trapping Darkstalker."
"For all we know, Clearsight is dead and Darkstalker is the one who killed her!" Fathom countered, flinging his wings into the air. He didn't truly believe that Darkstalker would harm Clearsight, but it was possible. Too possible. He began pacing again, walking around Indigo's outstretched wing.
Suddenly there was a the sound of talons hitting the forest floor, not far from them. This is it, Fathom thought. He found us.
But the black dragon that emerged from the forest wasn't Darkstalker. Fathom recognized her easily. "Clearsight!" He said.
"Finally," Fathom heard Indigo mutter. "He was about to pace so much he created a path."
Fathom ignored her, instead focusing on Clearsight. She looked tired and confused, like she had spent days trying to figure something out. Fathom used his wing to guide her closer to the center of the clearing. "Did you defeat him?" Fathom asked. "Did my spell work? Please tell me that I can stop worrying."
"Yes," Indigo said, "please tell him to stop."
"Well…" Clearsight said. She closed her eyes for a few minutes, then opened them again. "He's not defeated. I…don't know how to explain. Darkstalker…when he came to me at Agate Mountain, he said he saw a future that I never saw. Now we're in a timeline that never existed in the first place, and I haven't had any time to study it. It took me longer to find you two than the others—Listener, her parents, and my parents. You chose at a good spot." Indigo seemed to burst with pride at this comment, and Fathom shook his head and smiled at her.
When he turned back to Clearsight, her eyes were dark and she was staring at something that no one else could see, far off in the distance. "Are there still futures were he's bad?"
Clearsight nodded. "They're a little brighter, though. I can't see any where he kills dragons for fun. He's living in a cave by the beach." She said. "The queen said that you could come back if you want—but you couldn't live in the palace. You can live with Darkstalker until we find a way to convince her otherwise. The queen doesn't think she can trust any of us." She looked at Indigo. "And Darkstalker wants to personally apologize to you, Indigo, and explain. I don't think it's a good reason, but I know that he was doing the wrong thing for the right reason. He just wanted us to be happy—he just did it in forms that didn't seem helpful at the time. I've forgiven him for my earrings—I have forgiven him for everything. We just have to hope that we can convince him to never do those things again."
"You know what I think?" Indigo said. "I personally think that you're opinion is biased, because he's your soulmate." She walked over to Fathom and nudged him. "But I'm not leaving Prince Fathom alone with a possibly killer dragon."
"He hasn't killed anyone yet," Clearsight pointed out. "He sent Arctic home. When I came back to rest before finding you two, the queen had announced that the war is over. Darkstalker still hasn't killed anyone yet. He can still be good, I know he can."
"Well, then, Clearsight," Fathom said. "How about we have a flight where we aren't heading to watch Arctic be controlled by Darkstalker?"
Clearsight nodded, and began to stand up. Suddenly she said, "Do you have his scroll? He told me that when I found you, I could destroy it."
"But then he'd get his powers back." Indigo pointed out. "And he could be even more dangerous if he could only think enchantments." A shiver ran down Fathom's spine. He was pretty sure that how Albatross killed the previous SeaWing queen, his own sister. When Darkstalker became evil, Fathom didn't want to be killed that way.
"He said that he would listen more." Clearsight argued. "We might actually be able to convince him not to rely on magic."
"If anything goes wrong," Indigo began. "Can I have permission to personally make him drown?" She looked as if she was already fantasizing it, which disturbed Fathom a little bit. But Indigo had reasons to want to kill Darkstalker; he had trapped her, after all.
Clearsight spread her wings, ready to start flying. She sighed. "Yes, or at least make up stop moving so then we can put the bracelet on him." She said. "Fathom, please get his scroll. When we get back, he can destroy it or whatever, and then we can forget everything he wrote in there. The bracelet is in a locked box, and I have the key." The gestured to a shiny key hanging on the end of a string necklace.
Fathom nodded, and ran to get the scroll.
Maybe things could be better after all?