Firestar had always wondered what to believe in the legends about NightWings. Secretive dragons who could read minds? A hidden kingdom that no one could find? A mystery queen, the power to see the future, the way they appeared from the darkness to deliver prophecies that shaped the world...it all kind of sounded like fairy tales, about as likely as a world ruled by scavengers instead dragons.

Besides, Firestar knew Fiercesight, and Fiercesight was many things-long-winded, smart, too serious, sometimes annoying-but despite having magical powers that his tribe is known for he is kind-hearted and was never, ever scary.

But the next evening, when a dragon as black as a bottomless pit loomed out of the shadows of the entrance tunnel, Firestar felt all the rumors about NightWings come crashing into his head like a collapsing rock wall.

Morrowseer was even bigger than Downpour, and five times more terrifying. He spread his jagged, bat-like wings and peered down at the dragonest lined up in front of him. He had silver scales like stars on the underside of his wings, like Fiercesight did, but on him they seemed to glitter from a great distance and cast a cold glow.

He looked like he could easily rip off each of their heads in one bite. Which wasn't what Firestar had expected at all. Were they such a disappointment in the NightWing's eyes already?

Maybe Morrowseer was reading their minds and knew how confused they were about the prophecy. Or maybe he was seeing the future and his visions were all of failure, failure, failure.

Firestar could feel Snow Leopard trembling at his side. He felt the same way, petrified in place, as if he scales were being slowly peeled off, one by one, while the giant NightWing inspected them. He has never felt this way before.

On his other side, Fiercesight was more still than Firestar has ever seen him. Was Morrowseer so terrifying that he mad Fiercesight frozen in fear. Most likely hoping that by not moving, he'd disappear from view and the danger would pass right by.

Firestar could feel Snow Leopard's tail wrap around his own for comfort, which means that Morrowseer saw him. The huge black dragon stared down at the IceWing dragonet for a small eternity. His snout twitched with ripples of disgust. A forked black tongue slipped over his teeth.

Firestar wished his own wings were as vast as the cavern itself so he could hide his friends from Morrowseer. He wished his talons were as huge as the stalagmites and as sharp as the rock shards. He's never wanted anything so much as he wanted to protect his friends from this tall, hissing, scornful, immensely dangerous dragon.

He really, really hoped that Morrowseer wasn't reading his mind right now. 'Think about cows, think about cows, think about delicious fat caws...'

Morrowseer pivoted his head slowly to glare down at Falcon. He lifted one long claw and pointed at Snow Leopard.

"What. Is. THAT?" He said, his voice loaded with enough venom to kill at least twenty dragons in mid-flight.

Fiercesight craned his neck to see over Firestar to look at Snow Leopard, Firestar looked in Snow Leopard's direction as well. He was sitting on his haunches with his tail no longer wrapped around Firestar's, but curled over his talons. His wings were twitched nervously. But he still tried his best to stare calmly back at Morrowseer.

"There was an accident." Falcon said. "We lost the MudWing egg, so we had to get another one somewhere-"

"From the IceWIng!?" Morrowseer interrupted scathingly.

"It was my idea." Downpour said, stepping forward. "I'm the one who brought Snow Leopard's egg here! And it was either Snow Leopard or an egg from the RainWings!"

"And at least we have five dragonets." Said Raptor. "That's what matters."

Morrwseer peered down his long black snout at Snow Leopard. His shifting eyes caused Snow Leopard to let out a tiny squeak and sank a little lower towards the ground. "More like four and a half." He grunted. "IceWings are supposed to be built to handle the icy terrain of their kingdom. Don't you eat? What's wrong with you?"

There was a long, horrible pause while Snow Leopard tried to squeak out an answer.

"He does." Swordfish blurted. "He eats fine. As much as anyone."

"It's not his fault he's small." Fiercesight chimed in, no longer frozen in place.

"HE's a good fighter." Pyramid said, surprising Firestar. "He's as good as any of us."

"Stop talking now." Morrowseer said, and silence dropped over them. His sharp, menacing gaze landed on Firestar.

'THINK ABOUT COWS, THINK ABOUT COWS, THINK ABOUT COWS...!'

The tall NightWing turned to the three guardians. "Something has gone very wrong here."

"Yes!" Swordfish burst in again. "It has, and I can tell you what. We're treated like prisoners! We've never been outside these caves, not once. All we know about this world we're supposed to save is what we've learned in scrolls. We're supposed to be the most important dragonets in the world, but those three treat us like blind salamanders!"

Firestar couldn't believe it. Wasn't he scared of Morrowseer, too?

"Swordfish, hold your tongue." Raptor snapped.

"I will not!" He cried. "Please get us out of here." He said to Morrowseer. "Take us away with you."

'Please DON'T.' Firestar thought. 'I mean. think about cows, think about cows...' Now that he'd seen the NightWing, he's rather stay trapped here.

"Ungrateful lizard!" Downpour growled.

Without warning, Morrowseer lunged at Swordfish. His teeth flashed like bright white lightning, darting towards his neck. 'It really is like the night sky falling on you.' Firestar thought, and then discovered he was moving, too. He flung himself at the NightWing's huge, ridged back before he could stop to think about what he was doing.

His claws sank into the small gaps between the shifting black scales, scrabbling for a hold. His tail thrashed as he tried to balance. Below him he saw Swordfish rolling away and spinning to fight back. His blue talons slashed at Morrowseer's nose and underbelly.

Firestar tried frantically to remember his battle training. He flattened himself along the big dragon's back, snaked his neck forward, and bit down as hard as he could.

'OW!' His jaw exploded with pain, and he reared back. In the black-on-black scales, it was impossible to find a weak spot.

Morrowseer jumped away from Swordfish and shook his whole body violently. Firestar lost his grip and went flying through the air. He landed with a jarred thud, sliding halfway into the river.

As he staggered to his feet, he saw Swordfish and Morrowseer facing each other in battle positions. Morrowseer made a grinding noise deep in his throat. He stepped back and swung his tail around into view.

Clinging to Morrowseer's tail, his teeth firmly planted in the vulnerable spot near the end, was Pyramid. Firestar wished he'd remembered about the spot, which every dragon had, no matter which tribe they were from.

"Ha." Morrowseer rumbled. "That's a surprise." He pried Pyramid loose with his front talons, as if he was just a tiny bloodsucking insect.

"That one will do." Morrowseer said, pointing at Swordfish. None of the big dragons had moved at all as he attacked their charges.

Neither had Snow Leopard.

Neither had Fiercesight.

Firestar staggered up between his NightWing and IceWing friends, the former doing an excellent imitation of a weird-looking icicle. Snow Leopard's eyes were filled with fear while Fiercesight's were filled with suspicion as he started at the older NightWing.

"And that one will do." Morrowseer nodded at Firestar. Downpour snorted.

The NightWing approved of him? Firestar was confused. It was as if Firestar's attack had done any good. Even when Firestar was defending his friends, apparently he couldn't drag out his inner warrior. Couldn't Morrowseer hear Downpour thinking about how Firestar was a disappointment.

"This one..." Morrowseer studied Pyramid, from his barbed-tail to his pale tawny yellow scales bistre brown eyes. "He'll do as well. He's Cactus Flower and Diamondback's son, isn't he?"

"Yes. He was perfect for the prophecy." Raptor replied. "He was their only egg. And the Talons keep their eggs hidden from the three rival queens. Just like the prophecy."

The guardians never talked about where they got the dragonets' eggs, it's also surprising to learn that Pyramid's parents might have been members of the Talons of Peace. Pyramid stared at Raptor hopefully, but he fell silent under Morrowseer's dark eyes.

"As for you," Morrowseer said to Fiercesight. "I assume you used your NightWing powers to figure out that I wasn't going to harm the SeaWing. Perhaps you even had a vision of my visit today. No doubt you already know that I'm going to take you into the next cavern for a private conversation."

Firestar shuddered. A "private conversation" with Morrowseer sounded about as much fun as having his ears roasted. He did not envy Fiercesight as the two NightWings slithered towards the study room. Fiercesight looked back at Firestar with a look that said 'Don't worry, I'll be fine.'. Morrowseer paused in the archway and looked back at the guardians.

"As for the IceWing...we'll talk about him later." He didn't look at Snow Leopard, but everyone else did. He flicked his ears and lowered his head and covered it a bit with wing as Morrowseer's footsteps faded away down the tunnel.

'What does that mean?' Firestar thought worried. What was there to talk about?

"You ungrateful dragonet!" Downpour shot across the cave and struck Swordfish's snout. "Complaining to the first strange dragon you see! Trying to make us look bad! Whining about your life, after all we've given up for you!"

"If you hate this, too, why don't you let us go?" Swordfish shot back.

"This is for your safety." Falcon interjected. His voice was gentler than Downpour's, like always, but Firestar could tell he was angry from the way his long crimson tail lashed on the floor. "That's what all this is for. The Talons of Peace need you to survive long enough to fulfill the prophecy. You have no idea how many dragons would love to get their claws on you five."

"Or what they'd do to you if they did." Raptor growled.

"Our job is to keep you alive." Downpour said. "Two other Talons died while keeping Firestar and Pyramid's eggs safe while they brought them here."

"Great." Swordfish said. "Well, at least it's been a terrific life. Thanks very much."

Downpour made the hissing, about-to-pounce noise. Firestar grabbed Swordfish's tail and tugged him back towards the river.

"We are grateful." Snow Leopard said, jumping in front of Downpour. He stood up on his back legs, not even half the bright blue dragon's size. His light blue ears twitched. "We would much rather be alive then not be alive! We're glad you kept us that way, we really are."

"Come on." Falcon said. He prodded Downpour and Raptor towards their cave. "We need to talk."

"Now he has something to say." Downpour grumbled. "Firestar, Snow Leopard. You two are going to clean up this mess." He pointed at the broken stalagmites.

Swordfish threw himself into the river and sank to the bottom in a stream of furious bubbles, where he curled up with his talons over his head.

"Please, just answer this. Were my parents really Talons?" He asked them.

The three older dragons looked at each other before Raptor spoke. "Yes, they were. And that's all we're telling you for now." The SandWing dragonet then stepped out of the way so they can head into their cave.

It got quiet in the cave. Pyramid and Firestar exchanged glancs, then looked over at Snow Leopard.

The IceWing was once again sitting down, with his tail once again neatly curled around his feet. He looked nervous.

"Are you alright?" Firestar asked. He came around and sat in front of him, studying his face. Pyramid slid up beside Snow Leopard, brushing his blue wings with his own bigger pale tawny yellow ones.

"Yeah." Snow Leopard said. "I mean, we knew Morrowseer was going to react like that when he found out about me."

"Do you know what he was talking about?" Firestar said. Snow Leopard tilted his head at him. "What he meant when he said he'll talk about you with the minders." He insisted. "If he's going to try something because-"

"I'm an IceWing." He said with a shrug. "I'm sorry, I don't know. When I tried to read his mind I was blocked by a prickly mental shield."

"Why didn't you fight Morrowseer when we did?" Pyramis asked. "Then maybe he'd know how brave and fierce you are, like we do."

"Why bother?" Snow Leopard said. "It was obviously a test, and I'd already failed." A few tears fell down from his eyes, his glasses slid down his snout a bit. Hen then pushed his glasses back in place.

"Well, we don't care what the prophecy says or what Morrowseer thinks." Firestar said stoutly. "You're our fifth dragonet. We don't want anyone else."

Snow Leopard gave him a thankful look. "Thanks Fire. I needed to hear that." He yawned again. "I'm going to take a nap."

"Now?" Pyramid said, surprised. "Is that a wise idea?"

Snow Leopard always seemed to have a weird sleep schedule, staying up later then the other dragonets every few nights, sleeping during the day for an hour or so, but Firestar thought that he might be able to stay awake until Morrowseer left. He knew he wouldn't want the big dark dragon to catch him sleeping. He glanced at the tunnel to the study room, worried for Fiercesight.

"I'm tired." Snow Leopard said. "I couldn't sleep a wink last night because I kept having nightmares. I think they were visions about our future though."

Firestar knew that Snow Leopard's visions mainly occurred as dreams and nightmares. They came in handy because they tend to help them figure out how to fulfill the prophecy or when they get a warning about an earthquake. But when it came to nightmares that woke him up, Snow Leopard did his best to try to forget them.

"Wake me up if anything exciting happens!" Snow Leopard said.

The IceWing dragonet then got up and headed into the sleeping cave he shared with Firestar.

The two then got to work cleaning up them mess that was made during the fight with Morrowseer.

"Hey Pyramid." He said. "How do you feel about running away?"

The SandWing turned to look at him with his black-like eyes. "We have to do what the prophecy says."

"But what if the Talons don't understand the prophecy any better than we do? Maybe we need to get out and stop the war our own way."

Pyramid looked at the SkyWing dragonet with understanding in his eyes. "I get what you're saying Firestar. But we have to wait until Snow Leopard is no longer scared of his frost breath. And if we just follow the prophecy, everything will be all right."

Firestar glanced at the soft blue glow coming from his and Snow Leopard's cave. 'Follow the prophecy.' But he couldn't help thinking that a real prophecy would have included Snow Leopard.

What if the prophecy was wrong?