A bit of a late upload again. Sorry all. I think moving forward, I'm going to designate Saturday as my upload day of the week, just so I have a bit more time. As to answer a question in the reviews, the reason I have not been able to contact an artist on deviant art, and missed a week, was because I was and am in the middle of transitioning jobs. I had gotten fed up with the management of my old job and am now currently looking for a new one. So, that's been eating up some of my time, but I still want to give time to this story. This is the point where I am taking the bare minimum of the original plot, and throwing the rest right out the window. Get ready for some off the rails stuff starting next chapter. I hope you all enjoy this one though, and I'll see about trying to get that picture commissioned. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire.

"Normal speech"

"Thoughts/whispers"

"?"

Wither's gaze didn't move, not even acknowledging Morrowseer as he stepped forward, tenderly lifting a talon to look at the injury on Clay's head, the tension in his stance relaxing as he realized it was just a shallow cut. He trailed a talon along the bruises that lined Clay's skull, remaining silent.

Starflight on the other hand was looking to Clay, his expression a mix of worry and horror at the sight of his friend beaten and bloody, turning to stare at Morrowseer. "... Why? Why would you hurt him like this!? He didn't do anything to you or the Nightwings!"

Morrowseer scoffed at Starflight. "Because he was available. Be grateful he was there... or you would have suffered that fate." He turned his gaze to Wither, a smug smirk returning to his face as Wither looked over the injury.

Wither took a deep breath. "... I see you didn't take my promise to you seriously." His voice was hard and cold, any mirth or snarky attitude completely absent, to the point that Starflight shivered, despite the heat of the lava below.

Wither turned around, no emotion showing in his eyes as he and Morrowseer's gazes locked with each other, Wither's eyes boring into Morrowseer in a way that made the Smug expression on the Nightwing falter. There was no anger, no hatred. Instead... It was worse. Morrowseer gave an involuntary shiver as he felt like an apex predator just locked him in their sights. Before Wither spoke again. "There is always a price to pay for arrogance, Morrowseer... and it is steep for those who try to play god."

Morrowseer frowned, looking confused as Wither sighed. "Right. That's a term you wouldn't know. It's meaning was lost a very long time ago... then I'll explain it in this way." His eyes narrowed, all but one of the bloody stars in his eyes being covered in black, the last remaining one at the center, where his pupils would be. "You are playing with the lives of other dragons, as if you are above consequence. But believe me... There is a debt that you owe this world for your schemes and machinations... and that debt will be paid in blood."

Morrowseer tried to glare back, but with the shadows of the room, with how intense Wither's stare was... He looked down to see that his talons were trembling, as a feeling stabbed his heart. All he could think was that he needed to run. That something was going to kill him. "Am I... Afraid? No! This... This will not stand!" Morrowseer shook his head to ward off the sinking feeling in his chest, resorting to anger in trying to match Wither's glare. "And you are in a position to judge? Now... Will you cooperate willingly, or will we have to force you?"

Wither kept staring for a long moment, remaining still as the other bloody stars in his eyes slowly returned, before taking a deep breath. "... Fine. But if they are touched again... In ANY way that hurts them..."

The council watched in confusion as Wither slowly showed off taking the bracelet off of his talon, before slowly walking towards Morrowseer, his body growing larger. It kept growing even as Members of the Council gasped in shock, Morrowseer's confidence faltering further and further until Wither towered over him, glaring down as a deep growl rumbled through the entire chamber. Wither leaned down to stare straight into the Prophet's eyes, his voice so deep and loud that it caused stalactites and stalagmites within the chamber to shake. "... I will tear you limb from limb, starting with your talons, and ending with your wings. Am I clear?"

Morrowseer couldn't stop himself from taking a step back from the imposing figure before him, that sinking feeling in his heart from before stabbing him once again, but He did not back down. Morrowseer stayed his ground, betrayed by the fact that his talons were noticeably trembling as Wither growled, before refastening the Bracelet, returning to the normal size of an adult dragon.

Starflight frowned lightly, looking to Morrowseer. "What are you trying to use him for? You promised you wouldn't hurt the others."

Morrowseer scoffed, trying to keep his talons from shaking. "Silence, Starflight. This is beyond yo-"

"Starflight?" A voice rang out from the cavern behind them, Farsight standing in the corridor with Mastermind beside her. She walked forward, her eyes fixed on Starflight as the dragonet looked a bit confused. Every whispering conversation screeched to a halt, the room becoming silent besides the sound of the bubbling lava below.

She slowly walked forward, ignoring the dumbfounded looks on every other Nightwing until she was in front of Starflight, gently touching his face with her talons. "Starflight... What a beautiful name... I... I'm so happy to be able to meet you." Tears started rolling down her face as she held his face, gently rubbing over his snout with her talons. "You're more beautiful than I had imagined."

Starflight looked... incredibly confused. "Um... Thank you? Who are you?"

Farsight smiled, giving a tearful smile. "... Starflight... To think I had a son rather than another daughter."

Starflight blinked, tilting his head, before it all clicked, staring at Farsight incredulously. "M-Mom?"

Glory paced furiously inside of the Queen's hut... Well, her hut now. She was frantically thinking, pacing back and forth so much that the floor was covered in marks and scratches from her talons. "What do I do? What can we do? Clay and Starflight... How do we help them and Wither... Oh, moons, this is so messed up."

She was interrupted as Sunny tapped on the doorway, walking in to let her tail lie on top of Glory's. "Hey... How are you holding up?"

Glory sighed. "... I don't know... First Wither got caught and I couldn't do anything to help him... and now Starflight and Clay..."

Sunny looked up to her, before recoiling a little in shock, seeing Glory trying to fight back tears that slowly started running down her face as glory continued. "I... I feel so useless... That I can't do anything to protect you all."

Sunny looked at her friend in concern, before leaning against her, her warm scales pressing against Glory's side. "... I'm worried too... But I know they'll be alright. Wither is there somewhere, and He's been there to protect us ever since we met him... I'm sure he's making the Nightwings think twice about hurting Clay or Starflight."

Glory swallowed, wiping her face to get rid of the tears as she smiled. "Yeah..." She leaned into sunny, frowning lightly. "... I'm sorry that I can't do much more... and that you have to go through all this."

Sunny blinked, tilting her head up at Glory in confusion. "What do you mean be that?"

Glory smiled, flipping her tail to be on top of Sunny's. "... The rest of us have always seen you as the little sister of our misfit group... You're probably the most kind hearted of us all... And... I guess I'm sorry that you have to deal with as well. Losing two members of our... family. I... I'm scared sunny... More scared than I thought I would be." Stripes of purple and blue bled into her scales, covering her face like a sort of mask for her normal colors. "... Ever since Wither started getting me to be more... open about my feelings, I've felt happier... but also more sad than I've ever been before. I feel... Vulnerable."

Sunny took a minute, closing her eyes as she began to think of what to say. It was obvious this was something that worried Glory a lot. She contemplated for a long moment, before nodding as she opened her emerald green eyes. "... But we now know you better because you've opened up to us. We know how you actually feel... We've always known you were as stubborn as Tsunami, but... It helps us to know how you actually feel, because we know how to help. I don't think you're vulnerable for letting out your emotions... The way I see it, it shows just how brave you are for letting that be seen."

Glory looked to Sunny in astonishment as Sunny smiled up to her, continuing. "I might be the smallest of us, but... Don't forget that I believe in us. All of us. You, Tsunami, Clay, Starflight... Moon and Wither. I believe all of us can do something to stop this war... That we can end the killing and make this world a better place for all dragons."

Glory remained silent for a long moment, just staring at the Sandwing, before chuckling softly. "... It figures you'd be the one to settle all my worries... Alright... Any ideas on how we can get into the Night kingdom for a rescue mission? And... preferably without killing?"

Sunny hummed a bit, starting to think when another knock came from the doorway, Moonwatcher poking her head in. "Hey. Um... I-If it's alright... I-I think I have an idea, but it will be risky."

Glory blinked, before nodding. "Alright. What's your idea?"

Moon swallowed, walking in. "... I can go. I can cover my eye scales in soot and... I can go into the Night kingdom."

Wither stared at Farsight for a long moment, watching her caress Starflight's face. "... Celeste... Perhaps there is hope for your tribe. This mother truly loves her child. And Nemesis... The council needs to realize how scared their tribe really is."

Morrowseer growled in annoyance. "Enough." He motioned as the two guards who were there came towards Farsight.

The Nightwing mother hissed in fury as she held onto Starflight tightly. "You took away my dragonet once. I refuse to lose him again!" She bore her fangs at the guards, who had their spears pointed at her. They began approaching her until wither slammed a Talon into the ground, causing cracks to spider along the rock platform, making the Guards freeze.

Wither glared at them, and then Morrowseer. "This is enough. I have almost run out of patience for your meddling, prophet." He steeled his gaze. "Release Clay from his bindings. And allow a mother to be reunited with her child. I'm beginning to wonder if Nightwings only ever ruin whatever they touch at this point, and if you still seek to do harm to any of these dragons here... There will be bloodshed."

Morrowseer growled ferociously, his anger reaching a boiling point as he bared his teeth, still shaky talons scraping across stone floor until Mastermind interjected. "Well, If this is all settled and Wither is going to be using his power, perhaps it would be best to move this back to my Lab... and I would request the Mudwing as well. I've never been able to examine a Mudwing hatched from a Blood red egg, so It might help with the Queen's request that I am working on."

Greatness was watching all of this, a bit miffed that the council had been uninvolved for any of this, before hearing her mother's whisper. "Interesting... I will allow it, my head scientist. Observe them for now... Learn their weakness. Then... We can strike."

Greatness shivered lightly, before giving a respectful nod to Mastermind. "The queen has determined to accept your proposal, Mastermind. Get them ready fo-"

"I will not allow that!" An angry, vengeful voice rang out coming from a scarred Nightwing that trudged forward angrily. Half of his face looked like it had been melted off, while a bandaged covered over the eye that hadn't been burned, the Dragon feeling the ground as it became obvious he was blind.

The blind dragon growled out in fury. "I remember this scent! The same sent as one of the intruders that freed the Rainwing prisoner!" He turned his head to growl at the source of his anger: Clay. "This one aided in attacking the Guards that were with me and took away my sight!"

Clay, still unconscious, groaned lightly, before muttering. "My head hurts... No, I want a hippo... and a chicken..." Wither couldn't help but give a slight chuckle. Even in this dire situation, the Mudwing dreamed of food.

Greatness sighed. "Vengeance. You are out of turn."

Vengeance growled loudly. "Or should it be known that another culprit of the attack on my person was your pet, Deathbringer!?"

Deathbringer was pushed out of a corner in the shadows at spear point, the Nightwing assassin still holding his ever present smile. "Careful. You could poke someone's eye out with those." He smirked at Vengeance growled even louder.

Vengeance turned, directing a hand wildly towards where he thought the Council was. "This traitor aided in the escape of a prisoner, along with this dragon chained before you all! He is a traitor to our cause, and both of them must be punished, no matter what our puppet of a princess says!"

This was met with growls all around, Greatness glaring down at the blind Nightwing as Deathbringer actually winced a little. "Ooh. That was a bad idea, Vengeance. Insulting the princess? Pity."

Vengeance shook with rage. It was obvious that he would glare if he could, before he turned towards Deathbringer's voice. "Silence, Traitor! You betrayed our tribe by aiding the Rainwing escape! I heard your voce, just after that cursed Rainwing took my only eye!"

Greatness coughed to gain attention. "While this might pend further investigation, You have still talked out of line, and you have directly Insulted both myself and the queen. Remain silent, or we will have to enact punishment. The mudwing will go with Mastermind. The queen has already spoken."

Vengeance growled loudly, before roaring out. "If you won't kill him, I will!" He lunged for Clay with his talons outstretched, flapping his wings to batter away the two closest guards, the pointed tips of his claws aiming for Clay's throat. He was only a few feet away when he was suddenly pinned to the ground hard, his head and body slamming into the stone.

Wither had thrown off the bracelet, returning to his in a flash, his front talon pinning the upper body of Vengeance. Wither's talons stabbed into Vengeance's chest and sides, drawing blood as Wither growled loudly, his voice causing the room to shake. "Try to touch him, and you will die."

Glory and Sunny looked at Moonwatcher incredulously, both surprised but also worried at the suggestion. Sunny was the first to snap back into reality. "Moon... You might get hurt if you try to go there. They... They might kill you."

Moonwatcher flinched, before nodding. "I know... But... My first friends ever are in trouble... I need to do something to help."

Glory and Sunny stared at her for a long minute, until a small cough came from outside, all three dragons looking to see Heliconia standing there, holding something. "Um... Sorry if I'm interrupting, but your friend Wither... He left this with Pineapple... We thought you might want it." She held out a familiar grey scaled satchel. Wither's Satchel.

Glory nodded, taking it from Heliconia, looking it over. "... Maybe Wither had something we could use? He said he had an animus friend. Maybe he has more animus touched items?"

Sunny frowned for a long moment, before sighing. "... As dirty as it feels to go through his stuff... Maybe we should see if anything in it can help us."

Moon tilted her head lightly as they set the bag down, before opening the top, starting to pull things out. The first item was Wither's instrument, something between a harp and some sort of long string instrument, Glory looking in surprise as she pulled out a bow to go with it. She set them aside, before pulling out the only other contents of the bags. A strange, intricately made locket, the design one None of the dragonets had ever seen before that was about the size of a coconut, and some sort of object they had certainly never seen. It was square in shape, bounded with stings and leather, with sheets of paper inside of it.

Moon looked it over. "I think my mom told me about this sort of thing. It's called a... book. Instead of a scroll that you roll out, you flip the pages to read more of what's inside."

Glory nodded, looking it over. It was fairly thick, but the smell is what confused here. It smelled... old. Very old. She carefully pried open the cover, finding the cover page with words written on it. The penmanship was fluid and flowing, showing grace and care in the words.

'To whomever is reading this, there are three possibilities that come to mind in how you obtained this book.

One: You stole it from me. If so, then please return it, or I will hunt you down, and our encounter will most likely end in the loss of a limb or two.

Two: You found this buried while I was away. If this is the case, Return this to where you found it. There is nothing of worth in this book.

Or three: I have died, and I have given this book to you. If this is the case... Be aware of my warning of this book.

This book is both a personal record of my own observations and changes to the world over the course of my very long life. To any dragon who reads this in'

The next spot had do many times where the word had been written over that it was near impossible to read, the words 'Present time' Written in fine small print underneath.

'Then be warned that this book may very well change your perception of the world as you know it. This record holds all of the changes and evolutions of the tribes until the day when I stop writing this or die. Know that if you read any further, the way you have seen this world will change forever, and there will be no going back.'

Glory and Sunny looked at each other, concern etched into their expressions. Sunny was the first to break the silence. "Did... Wither write this? Or did he steal it? Or... Was the dragon who wrote this a close friend of his?"

Moonwatcher was looking at the locket, finding a button on top, before yelping as it popped open, accidentally dropping it just as Glory flipped the page. The locket landed just under the title of the page.

'Wither's guide to the ancient tribes of Pyrrhia.'

'In loving memory of Celeste'

In the locket was a picture that had been carefully drawn out, using inks of colors that the dragonets had never seen before. black and blue painted a beautiful scene of the moon over a mountain range of greys and whites, while in the center of the picture was a dragon. Her scales were as black as night, with white glittering ink dotting her body and wings, the dragon in the picture smiling at the Dragonets.

Sunny gasped, looking at the picture. "This... This must be Celeste... Wither's partner..."

Moon stared at the picture in shock. "Wither... Was in love with a Nightwing?"

Vengeance roared in defiance, struggling and clawing at Wither to try and break free, but all he did was create sparks as his talons scrapped against Wither's stone scales. Wither's grip held firm, even as the pinned dragon scrabbled for some sort of way to squirm out, Claws flashing out to try and strike anything in reach.

Wither breathed slowly, rumbling through the entire room as the massive dragon looked vengeance over. " Stop struggling. You have broken the laws of your own tribe, speaking treason against your council. Granted, I could care less. But the moment you attack a dragon in my charge, you answer to me."

Vengeance barked a laugh. "The princess is no leader! She is a spineless coward who only follows her mother! I refuse to serve a puppet who won't end a threat to our tribe! I will kill that Mudwing worm if it's the last thing I do! Him and all Dragonets who have failed in this moon cursed prophecy!"

Wither stared at him, the black of his eyes beginning to bleed out of them, red cracks appearing in them as his lips curled into a smirk. "You wish to throw yourself into death so quickly... Fine." He took a raspy breath, the black miasma of his respira leaking out through his teeth, dissipating in the air.

Starflight realized what Wither was about to do, breaking away from Farsight to stand between Wither and Vengeance. "Wither, stop!" He stared up at Wither, seeing the anger and rage in Wither's eyes, the red cracks making his eyes look bloodshot. "Wither, if you do this, you'll be going against everything you promised us. We promised no more bloodshed. Please... Please stop. Don't kill him like this."

Wither glared at Starflight for a split second, before realizing what was happening. He froze, retracting his deadly breath weapon. He started taking deep breaths, the cracks in his eyes slowly disappearing as he looked at Vengeance. "I... I was almost ready to kill him... I-I cold blood... I... What is..." "Fool. You should have killed the worm when you had the chance." He swallowed, nodding to Starflight. "... Thank you, Starflight. I... almost lost myself there."

Starflight gave Wither a smile, before roaring in pain as Vengeance slashed the back of Starflight's neck, drawing blood as his talons sunk into the nightwing dragonet's scales. "Die worm!"

It all happened so fast. Wither didn't even realize what he had done until it had already happened. His talon moved on its own, throwing Vengeance as hard as he could away from Starflight. The blind Nightwing flew across the chamber, before hitting a jagged edge of one of the council platforms head first. A sickening crack echoed through the room. All was silent. The only noise being the sound of fluid evaporating as it hit the lava below.

Vengeance's body hung on the sharp corner of the platform, the stone pierced through his throat and spine, his blood dripping down into the lava below. Wither, Starflight, Greatness, even Morrowseer, stared in shock at the impaled body of the Nightwing. The stone then gave way to the weight of the body, cracked from the impact. Both the edge and Vengeance's body fell, landing and sinking into the lava below, the room filling with the smell of burning scales.

Glory gently picked up the locket, looking over the picture of the black dragon. "... I'm... not sure if she's a nightwing. The silver scales. They're white, not silver."

Sunny blinked, looking over the picture, tracing the white scaled. "... you're right. This picture is... almost realistic, so... Why are the white?"

Glory placed the locket down, turning another page, starting to read out loud the words written.

'If you have gone this far into the book, this means who ever reads this besides myself wants to know the truth of the ancient times of Pyrrhia. Just know, the tribes of ancient times were far different that whatever the tribes are now, having undergone many changes, evolutions, and cultural divergences. Out of all the tribe, to the current time, the tribe least changed is the Nightwing tribe, in terms of evolution, having only undergone change in the dragons themselves once. As such this will be my first entry, as my partner was of this first tribe.

Starwing Tribe. (Current name: Nightwing Tribe.)

These dragons were revered due to their mysterious nature and origin. A tribe of dragons with black scales and ivory white dotted in their bodies in the shapes of constellations. No one knows exactly how the Starwing tribe started, but what was known before their origin was faded into lost history, is that Starwings were revered and respected philosophers and astrologists, some among them being seen as prophets due to their ability to read the stars. Many believed the superstition that the stars held the world's fate, written amongst them, and several prophecies gleamed from these readings did come true, as with the separation of princess marsh and princess Scorch. See the description for Flamewing tribe for more information.

This tribe was once a loving, peaceful tribe, until the year 1958 after the scorching, where a Starwing dragonet hatched beneath the light of the brightest night, with scales of silver. A dragon who could read the minds of other, and see the future. Several decades passed, and this dragon went on to have dragonets of his own, only those born under the light of full moons replicating his power. After several generations, nearly one hundred years after this dragon was born, ninety percent of the tribe had become what is now called Nightwings. They thus changed their tribe's name to Nightwing, in appreciation to the gifts of both the stars and the moons. This power unfortunately led to downfall of Astrology, the last great Starwing astrologer being... my own partner. Celeste.

Ever since the powers of the Nightwings took hold, corruption began settling in their tribe. As the proverb from a great Starwing philosopher went, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Some of the Nightwings are becoming arrogant, claiming to be heralds of prophecy instead of prophets who would warn of coming disaster. I pray my Celeste will know peace one day, that her tribe will be humbled and set down a brighter path.'

Glory took a deep breath, looking over the entry. "... It's... almost sad to see that something that would do so much good... would cause the Nightwings to become how they are now..."

Moonwatcher was shaking, reading over the origin of her powers over and over again, especially about warning of disaster. "... We need to save Wither and the others now more than ever."

Sunny nods. "... Are you really sure about going in alone, Moonwatcher?"

Moonwatcher looked to Sunny, a new confidence burning in her eyes. "Yes... I will prove to Wither that my powers can be used for good. I want to prove that Celeste can be proud of her tribe."

Sunny smiled, before looking at the book again. "The only thing that confuses me is how Wither could have possibly written this. There's no way he was alive that many thousands of years go."

Glory stopped, looking over the book one last time. "... He was. When I listened in on him talking with Queen Glacier... She said they had a record of him from two thousand years ago... Wither... I don't even want to know how long he's been alive... But... It makes it worse, knowing that he... lost Celest that many thousands of years ago."

Sunny frowned, looking to the picture of celeste one last time. "... I can't even imagine that sort of pain... Especially knowing that she had been murdered."

Moon and Glory both stared at Sunny in shock. "What!?"

Sunny nodded, staring at the floor with a sad expression, small tears welling in her eyes. "It was when Wither taught Starflight about astrology... He said that Celeste was murdered."

Moon and Glory looked to each other, before Moon nodded. "All the more reason we need to get him back here."

Sunny smiled to the Nightwing dragonet. "You're a brave dragon, Moonwatcher... Just... promise me you'll be safe."

Moon nodded, smiling. "I promise... Now. Let's go save our friends!"

There you all have it. The plot is getting a bit more intense, and I hope I did a good job on portraying the characters well enough. And I did want to make this scene a little... darker, since I have plans for completely deviating from the events of book five, so I hope you all look forward to that and enjoy what I've made so far. As always, Leave a review if you enjoyed/have constructive criticism. Always looking to improve. And I will get around to asking about that commission. See you all next week.