Chapter 2

Shore

Shore glanced at the others as they ate the fish from the underground lake. Gemini was giving a lecture on why we have the fish. Shore rolled his eyes.

"Let them eat," he said to Gemini.

"Don't you think it's important to know how we have this much plentiful fish?" she retorted back.

"We all know how we have it," Dawn groaned. "The Guardians brought a bunch of fish and left them here to populate the lake."

"Exactly. We don't need to learn it again," Depth agreed to Dawn.

"Just eat," Shore prompted them before they could start arguing.

Gemini gave a 'hmf' and went back to her fish. Nettle stood up and stretched moving away from the others.

"Nettle everything ok?" Shore asked him.

"Yeah. I figured I'd go to sleep. I'm quite tired." he yawned.

"Alright." Shore nodded his head.

Nettle walked off as the others finished their food. They sat around playing, reading and swimming in the lake.

Gemini sat next to Shore. "When do you think the Guardians will be back?" she asked him.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "They never leave for long though. Sooner or later they should be back, right?"

Gemini nodded her head. "Right. They wouldn't leave us alone for too long. Who knows what trouble we could cause."

Shore gave an amused snort. He looked over to see Depth and Dawn interlocked as they practiced fighting. Depth rolled underneath Dawn as Dawn tried to claw at his underbelly. Depth was underneath her and kicked up with his hind legs. Dawn was swept off her feet and lost her balance. Depth got up and held her down with a victorious smile.

"Alright you big rock, get off me." She wriggled free.

"Nice work you two," Shore called to them. Depth looked pleased at the complement. "How about you and me, Depth? Willing to try and beat me?"

Depth jumped up. "Really?"

"Yeah," Shore got up and walked over to Depth. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Depth replied, getting into a fighting pose.

Shore stood there not moving, waiting for Depth to make the first move. Depth lept towards Shore. Shore swiftly moved to the side and pushed Depth away. Depth caught himself and went for another attack. Depth tried to slam his tail into Shore as Shore jumped onto his back. Depth was able to get Shore off.

"Having fun yet," Shore breathed evenly.

Depth snorted. He launched himself at Shore again this time going to the right of him. Shore jumped to the left as Depth was about to grab hold of him. Depth crashed down onto the stone floor with a gasp. Shore pounced on him, holding him down.

"Excellent moves, Depth," he mused. "But you're not fast enough." He got off him. "You need to work on your speed."

Depth sat up panting. "I'm trying. Seawings aren't known for speed."

Shore looked at Depth. "You're not a full seawing." He walked away leaving Depth sitting and thinking.

Gemini sat where she was originally sitting looking at a scroll. He walked past her towards the corridor that led through the caves. It didn't lead anywhere but it was quiet. He walked down the corridor hearing the slight drips from stalagmites. He saw bioluminescent mushrooms sprouting in little crevices where water had somehow gotten in.

He paused as he passed the opening of the cave. The guardians had left through here just a few weeks ago. He could lie to the rest of them but not to himself. The guardians weren't coming back. They were alone in the cave.

Shore woke up to see Nebula poking his snout. "Wake up." she ushered him away. "Someones here. Shore. Don't make me bite your tail!"

He huffed. "I'm awake." He sat up groaning. "What do you mean by ' someone's' here?"

"Someone is at the entrance. I don't think it's the Guardians." Her voice was high pitched. "Whoever it is, they don't know how to get in. What do we do?"

He stood up, now full alert. "Get the others. Tell them to hide in the furthest cave away from the entrance."

"But what about you?" Nebula said in a panic. "We can't leave you."

"I have to see whoever it is. It might be the guardians." he tried to convince her.

Nebula faltered a little. "Alright. I'll get the others."

Nebula ran ahead of him as he made his way towards the entrance. He turned down the long corridor that led to the opening. He strutted up the boulder trying not to show fear. He heard talons behind him. He turned in one swift motion.

"Nebula, I told you to hide them," he gestured to the others.

"Don't blame her," Gemini came up to him. "She told us what was happening. We're here to help."

"I can't let you help," he shook his head. "I can't afford it if one of you were hurt, or worse."

Gemini put a wing on his shoulder. "You won't lose us."

Shore inhaled a shaky breath. "Alright. Let's open it." Shore walked to the boulder hearing claws scrabbling against it. He heard growls from beyond as well. He carefully reached for the lever hidden next to the boulder. He pulled it down and backed up. The boulder started moving slowly. Dust started blowing up as the boulder let air through the cave. He was next to the others, covering his eyes, as a dragon entered. More came after it. After they had all filed in two lines they stood silent.

A red dragon with a crown came in. Ruby's embedded in her shoulders and wings sparkled in the little light that was in the cave. The crown twisted up around her horns. A billow of smoke wrapped around the golden strands around her horns.

She let out a hiss as she slithered to the six of them. "What do we have here?"

Shore spread his wings to protect the others.

"Cute," she hissed again.

"Who are you?" Shore growled. "Why are you here?"

"Hmm," she tapped the stone with a claw. "You don't know who I am, you say."

"Leave. Before we bite your tails off," Gemini snarled.

"Oh," The skywing smiled wickedly. "You would talk to a Queen like that, would you?"

"Oh no," Shore gasped.

"Oh yes," she hissed. "I am Ember. Queen of the Skywings. And now, you are my prisoners."