A/N: Now we're finally at the part I've been waiting SO LONG to get to!

Mild trigger warning involved for body horror.

Chapter Forty Five

Consciousness came back to her slowly, with a throbbing in her skull and an ache along her spine. Groaning, she tried to move, but something was holding her wrists and ankles together. Confused, Moon tried to open her eyes. Bright light seared into her eyeballs, making her hiss. It took her several minutes to pull herself completely out of the oily blackness of sleep, and listen to her body. A sixth sense told her she was in unfamiliar territory, that she should be wary. Her ears could hear the rustling of the wind in the leaves, the chirping of birds and the buzz of insects. Her nose told her there was a fragrant musk of trees and animals, but it was covered by a stench of smoke and foul-living. A dense heat and humidity pressed against her scales. There was something oddly familiar about this place.

When she dared to slowly peel her eyes open, she had to take a moment to adjust to the light. She lay in a large clearing, the trees had been cut in a massive circular area, but nothing was in it. Moon wondered who on earth would cut down so much and seemingly not use the space? But then she looked at the trees and recognised their familiar shape, heard a howler monkey and knew its call, and somewhere to her right, there was a pungent odour of one her favourite flowers - a flower which only grew in the rainforest.

That was when she heard their thoughts. All around her she could hear the minds of NightWings. They were all in the trees, hidden out of sight in the shadows. Their thoughts crammed into her head all at once, threatening to make her headache so much worse. It's her. She awakens. Traitor! Morrowseer's plan is foolish! This slip of a girl is the key to our victory? She is not one of us. Traitor. Is coming? She shall bring him here? So nervous. Outsider. Unwelcome. A tool and nothing more.

Moon closed her eyes and forced each and every voice into a little raindrop inside her mind. Slowly, the crowd thinned and finally was no more. She could breathe deeply in relief. Opening her eyes again, she sat up. It occurred to her then that the fine silk she'd been wearing last night (was it last night? How long had she been unconscious?) was gone, as was her jewellery - only the diamond earring remained. Controlling her breathing, Moon tried her best not to panic. She was in the rainforest, yes, and among the NightWings, in the exact place she'd never wanted to be. Her limbs were bound, and she was obviously a prisoner.

Tentatively, she reached out her mind as far as she could. Darkstalker? She called to him, but received no response. He was too far away to hear her. But she knew he was coming, it was a truth that resonated in her bones. There was no way he wouldn't have seen her kidnapping in a vision, even if it caught him by surprise or he worried for her, looked into her future, and saw her in this predicament. He would come for her…

She just hoped it wouldn't have to come to that.

And then she heard it, the procession of numbers that heralded one specific person, one mind that she hadn't heard in months. He stepped out of the trees a moment later. Her father. Morrowseer. His stride was purposeful, his expression stoic as usual, but there was something in his eyes… those golden eyes looked bloodshot and tired.

Morrowseer stood over her, the huge breadth of him casting a shadow over her. "Moonwatcher," he said. "You've come home at last."

"We both know this is not my home," she said coldly. Old instincts, ones she had thought were long gone, rose from their grave and tried to compel her to be submissive, to give her father what he wanted, to not incite confrontation. But Moon tried her best to banish those feelings. She was not the same dragonet her father used to bully, she'd grown and she'd trained. She'd discovered herself and she would be damned before she let Morrowseer take that away from her, and she let him know that when she met his gaze. In all his time training her, she had never fully met his gaze. Always so timid and meek before him, almost like a mouse facing a mighty lion.

"And where is your home, exactly? In a decrepit old Kingdom with only an ancient madman for company? Or is it holed up in a mountain with insurgents who broke our family?" Those last words devolved into a clenched growl of barely contained rage.

"You are the only person to blame for breaking our family!" Moon snapped. "You're the one who locked mother away, you're the one who drove me out of here!"

"Your mother-" he stopped, closed his eyes, and took a long deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, his voice was once again restrained, cold, controlled. "Your friends are the ones responsible for her death. They put her in that dangerous situation to give them an opportunity to escape. This is why other tribes can't be trusted, Moonwatcher."

"I blame you," and she poured as much venom and hurt as she could into those words, even as her eyes began to water and her wings began to shake. "If you had just stopped this madness, if you'd not continued this war and just settled for peace… then maybe Mother would still be here!"

"You think me to be unfeeling?" he demanded in a dangerously quiet voice. "You don't think I miss her? You don't think I grieve for her? I loved her."

"Is that why you locked her away for two years?"

"There are rules to our society, Moonwatcher. I cannot hold exceptions to those who break our rules."

"So what about me?" she asked. "I ran away, I helped the enemy. I can hear in the minds of half the dragons around us that they believe me to be a traitor." She raised her voice loud enough so that the shadows amongst the trees would hear her.

"And you can redeem yourself," said her father. He reached out a claw and cut the bindings that tied her wrists and ankles together. She got to her feet slowly, but did not try to run - she knew there would be no point. Morrowseer held out a talon in offering to her. "Just help me, Moonwatcher; help our tribe, and you can finally rejoin us."

"No," was her quick and simple answer. "I will not aid you in committing genocide, father. But we can still be a tribe. Call off the war - there can still be peace. There is an entire kingdom waiting for us, the kingdom of our ancestors, our birthright. We don't need to occupy the rainforest."

"And you think the other tribes will just happily let us slink away without any repercussions?" Her father said in that condescending tone that tried to make Moon feel like the stupidest dragon in the world. "After so much time around them, I wouldn't have thought you to be so naive."

"It'll take time to broker peace, but surely it's better than-"

"And whilst we're vulnerable rebuilding an entire kingdom, will the tribes leave us to recover our strength?" he demanded. "Have they twisted your mind so completely, Moonwatcher, that you cannot comprehend even the simplest of concepts? You are the first NightWing in hundreds of years to be born with powers. You were born of my bloodline. Isn't it obvious that this is what you were made for?"

"They're my powers! I should have the freedom to do with them what I wish!"

"That," he said, pointing a wicked claw at her. "That right there is what I shall never understand. You have a duty to your tribe and you would rather focus on yourself. The rest of us toil and sacrifice for the sake of our society yet you get to be the exception? This petty need for individual freedoms is nothing but pure selfishness."

"I am my own person," she said and stood her ground. "Not your weapon."

"She's right," came a voice. Moon's heart leapt when she saw Blister step out from between the trees. The SandWing queen made no attempt to hide her thoughts from Moon, her mind filled with malice and bloodthirst and ambition. Moon felt her precognition try to drive a vision into her skull, a splitting pain that threatened to overcome her. With all her might she pushed it back down - she could not afford to be distracted now. Blister slithered her way to Morrowseer's side, her smile like that of a crocodile. "She is not our weapon. Merely bait."

Moon frowned, her mind tripping over itself to rearrange all her knowledge. Throughout her entire life, her father had always thought of her as his tool to use to further the tribe's own interests. He even stormed Jade Mountain with the goal being to get her back under his control. And now she wasn't anymore? How? Why? WHat could've possibly changed to-

Panic slammed into her so hard and fast, it felt like a rapid cold had descended upon her, robbing her of warmth and breath. Her heart raced and it felt impossible to breathe. How could she have been so stupid? Of course she wasn't her father's target, not when she was no longer the most powerful piece on the board. Her father had been there when Darkstalker broke free of his earthly prison, he'd seen him save Moon and carry her away, he was aware of the bond their family had over Darkstalker's. She was the bait, because Morrowseer knew that Darkstalker would come to Moon's rescue. Morrowseer had as much control over Darkstalker's magic as she did - all of Pyrrhia would be at his mercy.

"No," she locked eyes with her father and did not care for her dignity as she begged. "No, father, please don't do this!"

"The trap is set," Blister said over her. "The signal was launched not ten minutes ago - he is on his way."

"As I said he would," Morrowseer murmured.

"Father!" Moon grabbed hold of his should, her claws latching onto him in desperation. Morrowseer stared down at where she touched him, as if shocked to see her volunteer this touch. "If you do this, there will never be peace! Not for us, not for the tribe! Don't listen to her, we can still-"

The back of Blister's talon smacked into Moon's face so hard that she was sent spinning on her heel and struck down to the ground. The world spun and her ears rang. Once again, her mind tried to push a vision of warning to her head, of unbearable pain, of her stomach bleeding, of the whisper of death crawling over her. Again, she shoved it away. Shaking her head, Moon tried to climb back to her feet.

She became aware of her father roaring, of his enormous shadow standing over her. When she turned back to face the pair, she saw Morrowseer facing Blister, wings partially spread, his teeth bared in a rare fit of rage. The numbers in his head were gone and all he could think of was outrage at Blister's audacity. "Remember yourself!" he was saying. "I warn you. Another outburst like this again, and you will regret it. Am I understood?"

Blister's expression was entirely too calm for Moon's liking. "Perfectly. Apologies, Morrowseer. The anticipation is getting to me. I shall wait for you." And she slunk off into the trees again.

Morrowseer snorted before folding his wings and regaining his usual composure. He turned back to Moon and helped her to stand once again. When they touched, his thoughts became amplified to Moon, the numbers he usually counted still gone. It allowed her to see into his mind with perfect clarity. She saw in him an unease, a conflict. He was frustrated with her, disappointed, angry. But he was also proud of the way she now carried herself, of her resolve. Determination burned in him, to see this through to find the one thing that would solve all his problems. And amongst it all was the grief that was being held back by a dam, lest it consume him. Moon had known he'd loved her mother when they'd first married, but she hadn't realised that that love had still run deep in him, even during her imprisonment.

And Moon also saw inside her father's mind all the things that could have been - the possibilities churned away in the back of his mind, even when he tried to ignore them. He'd had plans with Oasis to make a safe haven for the NightWings, but she'd died before they'd cemented the deal and her daughters had no clue about it. What might've been had Secretkeeper confided in him about Moon's existence? Could they have been a family? Would mother still be here if everything had been different? He grieved over those possibilities and Moon took a moment to grieve with him. She'd never in her wildest imaginings thought that Morrowseer could feel fear, but now she could see inside him and realised that it was one of the deciding factors behind anything he did. Fear for keeping his dragons safe, fear for having a legacy that would outlive him, fear for his dragonet…

"I won't help you," said Moon. "But I do feel sorry for you."

Morrowseer shook off her talons, offended by her pity. "Very well," he uttered in a cold voice. "If I cannot reach you as a father, then I will use you as a commander."

And as if that were a signal, sets of talons seemed to reach out from between the trees and grabbed hold of Moon. They held her arms, her wings, her tail. She struggled against them, bucking and biting, but someone grabbed hold of her horns and threw her down to the forest floor. Dirt sprayed into her mouth and she tasted blood when she bit her tongue. Moon tried to unleash a blast of fire, but someone clamped her jaws shut.

"Take her through the tunnel to the old island," she heard her father order. "That she get her far enough away where he won't be able to hear her mind and she cannot give him permission. But await word from me to bring her back if I require extra leverage."

Every old nightmare Moon had ever had came crashing into her mind. The old island, the volcano, she was to be taken there - amidst the smoke and ash and death? It made the tiny dragonet inside herself scream and cry out for someone, anyone to stop this! Oh, her father was cunning and cruel, to send her to the place she feared most in this world; a place he could put her in and out of at his whim and away from Darkstalker's aid.

Her father stood over her whilst three other NightWings pinned her down by her wings and tail. Morrowseer's gaze searched over her, something unreadable in his gaze. He bent to inspect her face, and reached a talon out towards her. Moon tried to crane her neck away from him, but he used the movement to grab hold of the diamond earring - the one Darkstalker had gifted her, the one that shielded her thoughts - and ripped it out of her ear.

A twisted sense of Deja-Vu ran down Moon's spine. She recognised this - this was that vision/nightmare she'd witnessed when she'd first met Darkstalker. It was happening, it had tried to warn her, but she hadn't listened!

Morrowseer held up the earring in front of Moon's face; small, bright silver with a diamond centre. His expression turned hard. "Finally," growled out her father, "you will be of use to your tribe."

And then the NightWings above her laughed and began to drag her away. She struggled, she fought. She couldn't let her father do this! She had to warn Darkstalker! She knew what came next in the vision, and had to stop it. Yet all her efforts proved in vain. Her captors quickly became frustrated with her and began to loop chains around her wrists and ankles. Hard, tight iron pinched her scales.

The NightWings were taking her into the deepest depths of the forest, their minds shouting into her that she was a traitor, dirty scum that needed to be taught her place. She was going to stay there forever, the chains binding tighter, and tighter. And all Moon could do was fight and pray.

He'd flown through the night, barely stopped to rest. His body had no need of things like food or water, pure rage sustained him now. Rational thought tried to tunnel into his seething mind, tried to make him think with reason but he willfully shoved it away. This feeling, this situation, it was all familiar ground to him. It felt almost the same as when Father stole Whiteout away: the fury that someone had dared to steal away the dragons he loved, and would then put them in danger if he did not hurry.

If they wanted The Darkstalker, the beast of their nightmares, then they'd succeeded. Morrowseer had taken Moon away from him, put her in danger, and he'd be damned if he'd let anyone or anything get in the way of saving her.

For now he could see what Morrowseer had done to elude him for so long. The clever rat had made calculated guesses on how to avoid the all-seeing vision of Darkstalker's precognition. Darkstalker only ever focused on the handful of futures that were the most likely to occur, and those were dictated by the actions and decisions of other dragons. Morrowseer had been carefully not choosing any actions, always changing his mind, always allowing others to make final decisions. That way, whenever Darkstalker tried to check the futures that involved Morrowseer, he was always thrown off the scent by the drake's indecision.

Trees buckled under the weight of the wind beneath his wings as he soared over them at speed. The sun beat against his back, and Darkstalker tore off the finery he'd been wearing to the ball, leaving the shredded cloth to flutter to the ground. As he neared his destination, he tried to remember that Moon would not like it if he killed her father. But his rage and hate was making it very hard to keep that in mind.

He'd only checked the futures once in order to know where Moon was being taken - he'd seen her awaken in a clearing west of the NightWing village, with her father. That was all the information Darkstalker had needed, so he didn't try to divide his attention further and pulled away from the threads of the future.

Ahead, he saw the break in the trees, the clearing where Moon would be. He let loose a roar that made every bird and bat and insect within 2 miles scatter in fear. He wanted his enemy to know he was here, wanted them to feel fear at his approach. He swooped down onto the clearing, the trees bending back away from him as he beat his wings to land. Morrowseer was waiting for him, standing strong and defiant. Darkstalker could hear the whisper of other minds - terrified NightWings and uneasy SandWings - all around him. But only Morrowseer stood in the clearing. Moon was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she?" Darkstalker demanded.

"Safe," said Morrowseer. He tried to hide his mind behind his numbers tactic but Darkstalker was having none of this nonsense. With all his rage behind him, he smashed his way through Morrowseer's mental defences and sunk his way deep into the other male's mind. He squeezed his thoughts, and Morrowseer grit his teeth against the pain, even bowing his head.

"Don't toy with me," Darkstalker hissed between clenched teeth. "You think you can steal dragons from me and not face the consequences? Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?"

Morrowseer's legs threatened to buckle under the pressure, but he still managed to fix a golden eye onto the larger dragon. "Oh, I know exactly what you are, halfbreed," The insult shocked Darkstalker enough that his control slipped and Morrowseer was able to recover. "To think, the mighty Darkstalker, brought to heel by a simpering girl."

"Says the idiot foolish enough to discard her," Darkstalker shot back. "You lured me here to make a deal? My terms are simple. Give Moon back to me, alive and unharmed or so help me I will turn this entire jungle into a smoking crater." He raised his head and looked into the shadows between the trees, to where the whispering minds of frightened NightWings told him they hid. "Isn't that what you tell your dragonets in the night? That the Darkstalker comes for them to turn their bones inside out? Is that the kind of monster you want me to be?"

"Threats are just empty words without your magic to back them up," said Morrowseer. "Isn't that right?"

Darkstalker glared at him. "I can still kill you in half a dozen ways. Magic or not."

"But you won't," Morrowseer shook his head. "Not when I have this."

And he held up a small silver and diamond earring, a small speck of blood on the hook. Darkstalker recognised it instantly, could feel the enchantment on it, his magic speaking out to him like an invisible mark to claim it as being touched by him. Moon's earring. She'd never taken it off, not once since the night he'd given it to her.

"Now," said Morrowseer. "We can discuss this like adults, or we can do things the hard way."

Darkstalker opened his wings. "If she's not even here then you have nothing I want."

"The hard way it is."

There was a loud whistle as something flew through the air. It hit into the side of Darkstalker's neck but bounced off of his impenetrable scales. He caught the object in one talon and held it up to inspect. It was a little wooden dart with a long metal needle at one end and bright feathers like an arrow at the other. He could smell the different poisons and chemicals inside. From Kinkajou's memories, he knew this to be a sleeping dart made from the poisons of tree-frogs. He crushed the dart between his claws. "Is that supposed to-"

Three dragons launched themselves from the trees. They landed on Darkstalker's neck, his shoulders, his arm. Though he was much larger than they were, their combined weight was still considerable. Darkstalker thrashed and clawed and reared, trying to get them off. Something was coiling around his ankles. He managed to throw one dragon off his neck and then bit into the one on his arm - a SandWing - and toss it aside. But then, the thing around his ankles pulled tight and he tipped forward, slamming into the ground. His bottom jaw smacked into his upper, making his ears ring. For a moment, he was winded. But in those precious few seconds more dragons were leaping onto him, using their weight to pin him down. Darkstalker roared and tried to buck them off. Someone grabbed hold of his right talon and snapped cold metal around his wrist - then the same happened with the left. The dragons all leapt off of him at once, and when Darkstalker tried to stand, he realised he couldn't. His limbs were spread eagled on the floor, his wrists and ankles bound by manacles and huge thick chains that were pulled taut and tethered him to the floor.

That old feeling of claustrophobia crept up Darkstalker's spine. The feeling he hadn't felt since being trapped under the mountain. Unable to move, unable to turn. It made his heart pound and his tail thrash with fear. Panic threatened to take over him - he couldn't go back to that, he couldn't! It was only through sheer force of will that he managed to keep himself in the present, to focus. He couldn't save Moon if he was too busy panicking to save himself.

Someone chuckled, and then Blister was strolling up beside Morrowseer, her black eyes alight with excitement. "I love it when they always pick the path of most resistance."

Furious, Darkstalker unleashed a bolt of fire. Morrowseer and Blister had to leap aside in different directions to avoid being scorched. But then, two dragons jumped onto his head, clamping his jaws shut. One managed to put a foot in his nostril, making it hard to breathe. Vines were being tied around his jaws, pulling tight, pinching his flesh. When the dragons finally got off, their knots were perfect and Darkstalker was sufficiently muzzled.

"All this can be done with easily," Morrowseer came to stand over Darkstalker, golden eyes watching him with a calculated expression. "I will release you and my daughter. But first, you must do something for me. A simple spell. Darkstalker, I give you permission to magically bind yourself to my will. You will do whatever spell I command, exactly as I say, when I say it."

Darkstalker gave as brutal of a snarl as he possibly could with closed jaws. Was this drake mad? As if he would ever sign himself away into slavery like that!

"Surrender yourself to my commands, Darkstalker," the male continued. "You will receive no permission for any other spell. Do this or things will get… difficult."

He glared at his captor, making his answer known in every cell of his cold, hate-filled stare.

Blister stalked down his right side and out of his line of sight. He could hear her stop, and then felt the rake of her claws along the hide of his shoulder. Though there would be no damage, the pain was still there, and Darkstalker growled loudly. Blister chuckled. "So the legends are true - his scales are impervious to damage." She came back around to the front of his head, her smile filled with cruel joy, like a cat toying with a bird. "Let's see if the rest of you is just as fortified…"

She reached for his nose, and before Darkstalker could move away, she sliced a claw in the inside of his nose. Darkstalker cried out at the pain, smelt his own blood, and saw the evidence staining Blister's talon as she retracted it. Her mind was filled with terrible ideas, thoughts that not even vigilance would've had in her wildest imaginings. In that moment, Darkstalker promised to let her suffer the most painful death imaginable. He wanted her to feel every pain that she was now thinking of inflicting upon him.

"You said he is immortal, yes?" she asked Morrowseer, who nodded. "Oh, that's going to make this so much more fun."

The SandWing Queen snapped her claws and several of her SandWings stepped out from between the trees. The NightWings emerged as well on Morrowseer's command. They grabbed hold of Darkstalker's wings and tried to pull them open. He roared mutely, tried to pull them away, but many talons grabbed hold of him and many dragons pushed their weight onto them to hold them down. And then the SandWings pressed their claws to the thin membranes of his wings and began to shred them.

Darkstalker screamed.

The Jade Winglet had flown as hard and as fast as they could on Darkstalker's heels. Whether coincidence or divine intervention, they weren't sure, but the wind seemed to pick up behind them, boosting them along on their journey. They only stopped once to rest, and even then it wasn't for long. When they finally reached the edges of the rainforest, the group was exhausted only the idea that their goal was close at hand keeping them going.

"So," Kinkajou shouted above the wind. "Is there a plan?"

"We find Moon and free her whilst the Darkstalker keeps Morrowseer busy," Winter replied.

"Anybody else find it weird that Morrowseer even wants to pick this fight?" asked Turtle. "I mean, it's like he's not even afraid of him or his magic at all."

"Exactly…" said Qibli deep in thought.

They heard the roaring and the sounds of a struggle. As one, the four of them rose up into the sky as high as they could go before the air became too thin for them to breathe. Soaring on the stronger winds, they were able to see the rainforest far below them - the sky was clear and the summer's day was bright, meaning nothing was there to impair their vision. Below, they saw a break in the trees, a large clearing with a large shape sprawled out across it. Winter was the one who peered down to look, his IceWing long-vision coming in handy.

"They'd got the Darkstalker captured!" he told them. "I don't see Moon anywhere!"

"They won't," Qibli said. "She could give him permission to free himself or anything. If I were Morrowseer, I'd keep her far away from him to prevent communication between them, even mind to mind."

"But that means she could be anywhere!" Kinkajou cried.

Turtle abruptly descended on pigeon flying lazily forty feet below them. Snatching it out of the air snapped its neck instantly. Ripping out a feather or two he swallowed the rest of the bird in one gulp before flying back up to the others. Kinkajou grimaced at the blood on his lips he licked away. Holding the feather, Turtle said something the wind was too loud for the others to hear. And then the feather was pointing somewhere, vibrating side to side in Turtle's grip. "She's this way!" he called and then descended out of the sky.

They flew perhaps three miles further west, the feather leading them straight for the NightWing village. They expected guards to stop them, but were surprised to find the village deserted. It was clear every able-bodied dragon was helping Morrowseer detain Darkstalker and everyone else had gone into hiding in case something went wrong. They heard a shout, and that was when they saw Moon being dragged towards the back of the village by three NightWings.

With a roar, the Winglet descended from above upon their unsuspecting prey. Winter slammed into the first NightWing, Qibli took the second and Kinkajou the third. The scrap was brief. Winter managed to topple over his opponent and roll with him across the ground, kicking him away until he smashed into a tree. Qibli used all his weight to his advantage, managing to hit his opponent on the head at just the right angle and knocking him out almost instantly. Kinkajou went face to face with her enemy, frill rattling and fangs bared. Though her NightWing tried to throw her off, she landed nimbly, spun and spit venom onto his thigh. The NightWing screamed as the venom ate at his scales, and quickly ran away, probably desperate to find a way to wash her venom off.

Turtle landed and immediately went to Moon, whispering a spell that allowed her chains to snap off. She got to her feet, rubbing her sore wrists. Her eyes were bloodshot and there was a hole in one of her ears - an earring was missing.

"You came for me!" Moon gushed and threw her wings around her friends, embracing them fiercely.

"Of course we would," Winter said.

"Did they hurt you, Moony?" Kinkajou asked anxiously.

She shook her head. "No. They wanted me out of the way for when Darkstalker gets here, so they were going to me to the island through the tunnel and-"

"It's lucky we found you when we did," said Qibli. "Morrowseer's trapped Darkstalker, you were the bait to lure him here."

"I know," she said gravely. "Which is why we have to save him."

"What?" said the others in unison. Winter tried to grab hold of Moon before she could walk away. "Moon, now is our chance! We can escape now, whilst the rest of the NightWings are distracted."

"I'm not leaving him," she said fiercely. "My father has something terrible planned. And whatever else you might think of him, Darkstalker is my friend - I won't leave him here!"

She marched, and Qibli had to trot to jump in front of her. "Moon, we've called in for backup. Peril went to the Rebellion. They're on their way here. We can regroup with them and then we'll be in a much better position to help - and be safe whilst we're doing."

Her eyes searched his. "You wouldn't abandon me, not even in the face of true danger and torture. You all loved me enough to still come for me. So don't ask me to abandon him."

She pushed past the SandWing. The others all looked to each other, reluctant. Then, Turtle took a deep breath and strode after her. "I'm coming too. I still don't want him to know about me… but it's the right thing to do."

Winter and Qibli shared a long look, but finally relented. Winter growled. "Fine! But if I die saving the Darkstalker, I am haunting all of you for the rest of eternity!"

"Unless we all die," smirked Qibli, "then we can be together forever."

"Urgh…" the IceWing groaned.

"I'm not coming."

They all turned to find Kinkajou still stood behind them, her scales shifting between blue-sad and green-anxious. Moon turned to face her friend, concerned. "Kinkajou?"

"It's like Winter said, the whole NightWing tribe is distracted right now. I can free the RainWing prisoners whilst no one is here to guard them. And with the rebellion on the way, I can get them to safety. I can do this - I CAN DO THIS." And she puffed up her chest and stretched her frill, as if trying to make herself look bigger and braver than she was.

Moon went to her and took hold of her talons in hers. "Yes, you can do this." she bowed her head and pressed her forehead to Kinkajou's. And though the little RainWing was unaware of it, Moon tried to push into her mind all the pride and love she could feel. "Be safe."

"You too, Moony." Kinkajou nodded before bounding off around a building and out of sight.

Moon turned to her friends. They were about to walk into a warzone, to face the enemy with no guarantee of winning. And though her friends might not want to do this, they were willing to trust in her judgement and to follow her. For that, she could not have loved them more. Taking a steadying breath, Moon fortified her heart and walked into the jaws of war.