Chapter Fifty Three

Dawn had come, and with its light it transformed the cloud-littered sky into a haze of reds and oranges like a fire blazing across the sky. And it was on this dawn that a pair of dark wings slipped through the mountains north of the talon peninsula and made their way south to the castle built into the side of Border Mountain. Flying quick and low and quiet, they went by virtually undetected, and if any eyes did happen to spot them, no one thought twice about it. After all, what was there to question about a NightWing inside the Night Kingdom?

Straight to the castle he flew, to a balcony he knew of too well. Perhaps it would've been better to wait for instructions, wait to be told a meeting place - but he was so excited with the success of the mission, he wanted to report straight away. Surely he'd get a second pay - and a tip! He could practically taste the gold that was coming!

Landing onto the balcony the NightWing assassin stalked into the rooms. He could already hear Sirocco fumbling about inside, so merely coughed to make his presence known. As predicted, Sirocco was doing his best to scoff down food. There was no sign of the old drake - probably that was why Sirocco was stuffing his face when he couldn't be reprimanded for it.

"Whell?" Sirocco asked through a mouthful of roasted turkey. "Vow'd it goo?"

"Like I'd come back if the job weren't done," the NightWing grinned. "Caught 'em by the wall, just like the old lizard said. Got their prickly queen nice and good - stabbed straight through a kidney."

Sirocco swallowed and gave him a look. "But she's dead, yeah? Ya saw 'er go down?"

"Well," the NightWing shrugged. "I was surrounded by almost a dozen IceWings. The only way they let me go was because they were too focused on tryin' to rescue their precious queen."

"Idiot," Sirocco growled. "Grandfather won't be 'appy you didn't confirm she's dead!"

"Relax, the poison's in 'er blood. If she's lasted this long, then she won't survive till the end o' the day. Besides, I thought the main objective was to get 'em all mad at the big NightWing anyway. I did that."

"Maybe, but grandfather-"

"Can eat my tail! I did what I was paid!" the NightWing snapped and then held out his talon, palm up, demanding. "Now you put me right again, and gimme my pay! Can't wait to get out o' this dump and back to actual civilisation."

Sirocco growled again, but did as he was told. He went to an ornate blue painted box with gold plated edges sat on a low table in the centre of the living quarters. When he lifted the lid with a slight creak, the NightWing assassin could smell a hint of jasmine incense. It reminded him of home. Sirocco reached into the box and pulled out an amulet: a large ruby on a gold plate dangling from a thin and flimsy-looking gold chain. Sirocco slipped it over the NightWing's head, and it settled snugly against his collarbone.

"Ya know what to do," Sirocco said. "Same as before, just in reverse."

The NightWing closed his eyes and thought hard about his true form. His dusty scales, his big wings, his large feet - one claw missing on his left talon. A rush of warmth ran across his hide, a tingle that made him want to shake it off. When he opened his eyes, he was once again back to his usual SandWing self - oh how he'd missed it!

The door to the chambers opened and the assassin was surprised to see Vulture stood there. He looked tired - the old drake never usually liked to show anything but perfect professionalism. As soon as those cold black eyes focused on him, Vulture froze.

The assassin grinned, taking the Amulet off and tossing it back to Sirocco. "Good news, boss! The mission went-"

Vulture lunged at him with speed that one wouldn't have thought him capable of in his old age! His claws sank into the assassin's neck, grabbing hold of his windpipe. The assassin tried to fight back, the only scream escaping him a mere wet gurgle as his throat filled with blood. With one swift yank, Vulture ripped out the bloody mass of flesh, leaving the corpse to stumble and fall to the ground, twitching and gurgling as his blood seeped onto the floor.

"Sand and snakes!" Sirocco cursed. "Grandfather, wh-"

Vulture spun and with the same bloodied hand covered in gore, backhanded Sirocco across the face, leaving a wet crimson streak. "Did he tell you anything?" the old SandWing demanded.

"Yeah," Sirocco nodded, confused. "He said the-"

"Shut up." he hissed quietly. "If you had even one brain cell it would've told you not to listen to a word he said. Did it not even occur to you that our only defence against mind-readers is ignorance?!"

Sirocco slunk back, afraid of being hit again. "I… I didn't think-"

"Of course you didn't think, you're an imbecile." Vulture flicked the dripping blood off his talon and then pointed at the corpse. "Now get rid of that. And you don't come near this castle until I send for you. Stay out with the patrols, make sure the drakes are staying in line, I don't care. You are not to go near any of the NightWings so that your moronic brain can scream what you know. You will not give away my plan when I am so close!"

Bowing his head, Sirocco quickly put the Amulet of Concealment back in its box before hurrying to clear up the mess. Vulture took one deep breath and then another. One thing at a time, he told himself. One thing at a time…

Two days later, as the pleasant late summer afternoon wound down to evening, all across Pyrrhia, every Queen of all the tribes abruptly received a mysterious letter. And there was no mistaking that it was magical in nature, for it appeared out of thin air right into the palm of their talon. Many were taken by surprise, but after their initial shock all of them were intrigued. The letter looked rather ordinary, despite its magical entrance. A soft creamy envelope with a red wax seal of a crescent moon and single star, the paper inside thick and faintly smelling of lavender. The penmanship was a neat yet flourishing scrawl in a black ink that when shifted into the right light would shimmer a deep red.

Every queen was made even more curious by the contents of the letter written within:

To all the Queens of Pyrrhia,

I write to you from the newly re-established sovereign Kingdom of Night, and hope this letter finds each of you in good health and good spirits now that our beloved continent has finally reached an end to this long and terrible war that has ravaged all of our kingdoms. So many dragons lost their lives in this conflict that honestly should've been settled many years ago. What shame our ancestors must feel, that all seven tribes were dragged into this dispute between three sisters.

But the question of blame is no longer relevant, as now the war is over and we can hope to all finally put our minds towards a lasting peace. I realise that many of us hold deep scars inflicted by others, and those scars have bred resentment. As an advisor to the NightWing royal council, I fully understand and accept the role the NightWings have played in all this. We are not without fault, and it has come to my understanding that to mould a better world for tomorrow, we NightWings must be the first to reach out and offer the first step towards the betterment of all. So I am proposing that we arrange a gathering in the SandWing palace, to welcome Queen Blaze into her new role and for each of us to settle our differences and work towards a new era for Pyrrhia. I know that many of you do not trust me, the Darkstalker of legend that you have heard so much about. But you can all be assured of my power. My magic, and my ability to see into our future will allow me to mediate on this assembly and guide us towards a new path.

I shall be at the SandWing fortress in 5 nights, when two of three crescent moons are in the sky. All those who attend are guaranteed my friendship and help in the trying times that are looming before us. And for those who abstain, they will have shown their unwillingness to commit to progress and might find that decision highly regrettable. It is time for the old ways - the ways of Scarlet, of Blister, of Morrowseer - to die. And those of us left must stand together in solidarity and bring retribution upon those who would stand against us and our allies.

Should you wish to announce your intention to attend this assembly, simply tap the wax seal upon your envelope three times. I will know your answer.

Your obedient friend, Darkstalker of the NightWings

Many reactions were felt once the letter was done. Blaze felt elated, felt she was finally being vindicated as a Queen and of course had the opportunity to throw a party. Hers was the first affirmative reply. Ruby, having been taught all her life to fear animus magic or other genetic abnormalities, was at first wary. And yet she and her tribe felt a kinship with the letter's message of moving towards peace rather than further harm, and so also replied yes. Coral, on the other talon, had an initial reaction to refuse, as she was still sleepless and stressed to the point of breaking with worry about the whereabouts of her daughter, Anemone. But at the bottom of her letter in particular was a very simple message: I know where your daughter is. As soon as she read those words, the SeaWing queen confirmed her attendance immediately. Glory also accepted but more so out of anger than interest - for she was set on the course of garnering repatriations from the NightWings for all that they had done to her tribe and her kingdom. Moorhen weighed her options but ultimately agreed as she knew that most other queens would attend and she did not want to be isolated further. Glacier, almost completely recovered, had at first thought this letter to be a joke, a cruel prank, but later came to realise that it might possibly be a trap. The way she saw it, the situation could go one of two ways: either the Darkstalker knew his attempt on her life had failed and this was a second trap to try to lure her to her doom, OR the Darkstalker suspected she would refuse and so planned to use this "assembly" to rally the other tribes against hers.

She touched the earring that had saved her life, the earring that Crystal swore would also protect them from all of Darkstalker's powers. That feeling of helplessness as she lay dying still haunted her nightmares. This was a plot, she knew that for certain, and if she wanted to outfox this monstrous fox and his tribe of murderers and war mongers, she needed to think carefully. And so she left her letter untouched… for now.

"Oooooooooh pond-scum," Tsunami muttered.

Starflight's brow knotted. "You always have such a wonderful range of vocabulary."

The SeaWing rolled her eyes. "What else can I say to this," she waved the letter around, making the paper flap loudly for him to hear, even though he was right next to her. She had found it sat innocently in the middle of the table in the war-room, already opened when she'd arrived.

Across the table, Peril and Moon sat - the NightWing looking like she was about to be sick. Peril was nodding thoughtfully. "I gotta agree with Starflight - I don't know what you're so worked up about. He's said he wants peace."

"That is not what I was saying," Starflight grumbled. "This is very clearly a threat, but for what? I don't know."

"Do you think he plans to get all the Queens in one place and kill them all?" Tsunami asked.

Moon scoffed, but she sounded so tired. "He wouldn't do that. 'A new era for Pyrrhia' those are Vulture's words. He's played a talon in all this, I'm sure of it."

"And even if it were a plan that outlandish," Starflight said, "we would still need to attend."

Tsunami's face contorted as if he had just said the stupidest thing. "What? Why?"

"Because we are the Dragons of Destiny. We played a key role in this war, and many of the Queens will be expecting us there, to be the true mediators. If we don't attend, that will send a message that we are no longer the dragons to look to for leadership."

"I might like to not have the entire continent looking to us for leadership for once in my life."

"And when Darkstalker or Vulture or whoever makes their final move to try and take over the continent? Will you like having to play catch up to get all the queens to listen to us all over again?"

Tsunami sighed. "I guess I see your point."

Starflight patted his talon around on the table until his claws brushed the envelope the letter had come in. He felt his way around it until he found the wax seal on the back. With a claw he tapped it three times. The envelope seemed to shimmer and the burst into heatless blue-green flames. WHOOM! The flames quickly consumed the envelope in a flash before just as quickly vanishing into nothing. The envelope was gone and not even ash had been left behind.

"There," said Starflight. "As frustrating as it might seem, we must play along with this game. Darkstalker has already proven he's one step ahead of us."

"It's worse than that," came a voice.

They all turned to find Winter in the entryway to the war-room, his face bleak, a piece of paper crumpled in one talon. With a piece of Skyfire wrapped by a leather cord around his ankle, his left ear was once again missing. Moon took a step towards him, brows raised in concern. "Winter? What's wrong?"

"Qibli is gone," he said in an empty voice.

Peril squawked, a flash of fire erupting between her teeth. "Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

"He must've seen the Darkstalker's letter first. He wrote me this note and left before anyone could stop him."

Moon again stepped closer and reached out with a wing to brush against his. "What does the note say, Winter?"

The prince's eyes glistened for a moment as he straightened out the piece of parchment and read it allowed: "Winter, by the time you read this, I'll be gone. I'm sorry to do this and please don't follow me like I know you're gonna want to. I found a letter by Darkstalker, it's in the War-Room, I left it out for Sunny and the others to find. The Darkstalker is holding a meeting of the Queens and it's bad news. My grandfather's got his claws in him. I know it. The letter mentioned 'retribution to the enemies of Darkstalker and his allies', I think this means my Grandfather is going to come after Thorn - she was always his biggest rival in the Scorpion Den. I can't let that happen, Winter. Just like you couldn't when Glacier was attacked. If Thorn is in danger, I have to go to her. You guys will be fine without me - you always are. Again, I'm sorry. Qibli."

Silence enveloped the chamber for a long moment after Winter finished reading. All of them had their own thoughts. Some bleak, others confused.

"That's it then," Peril broke the silence first, her voice unusually quiet for her. "If Qibli doesn't think we have a chance enough to stick around, then what could the rest of us do?"

"Did he even take a communication shell?" Moon asked.

Winter shook his head, there was an angry sadness in his eyes. "No. He just up and left. Not even the courage to say anything face to face. How could he do that? Just leave us without a backwards thought?"

"He's scared-"

"And I'm not?" Between his serrated talons, Winter began to crumple and shred the note into a thousand pieces. He touched the space where his ear used to be, and there was something vulnerable in his expression. "We could be all that stands between that monster and the end of the world, and he chose to divide us! If he was scared, why didn't he talk to Sunny? Or to me? Or any of us?! I just… I don't understand…"

Before Moon could respond, Tsunami spoke, "Well, to be fair to him, this letter makes me wanna go talk to my mother too, warn her not to go if I could. But then again, that would mean she'd be isolated out of this assembly and the rest of the tribe could gang up on her."

"Very clever," murmured Starflight thoughtfully. "Darkstalker made a club that they all have to be in for the sake of their own survival. He practically advertised his own power to those who join him."

"Makes him sound more like a King than an advisor," Tsunami scoffed.

"No," Moon said firmly. "This isn't him. Darkstalker knows that what he did two thousand years ago was wrong. Something's happened, someone's putting words in his mouth."

"Oooooor he was just waiting for you to leave before he revealed his true colours. Now he doesn't have you there to tell him off, he can be as bad as he likes."

"That's not true!" Moon rebutted hotly.

"I agree," said Peril. When everyone looked at her, surprised, she shrugged her giant wings. "What? This feels more like a set-up to me. Like something Scarlet would do: an invisible test so she could see if you were still loyal."

Moon contemplated that for a moment. Maybe that was true, but if so then who was this test for? The Queens? Her?

"Test or not," said Tsunami, "it seems highly suspicious that we're going to have all the queens in one space with an immortal animus who has already committed regicide once before. I'm not saying he's planning a mass murder, but shouldn't we have a contingency plan just in case?"

"For once, I agree with you," said Starflight. "Maybe Turtle could-"

The SeaWing held up a claw. "One: I am not putting my brother anywhere near a battle of magics with Darkstalker. Two: if Darkstalker is half as smart as everyone here thinks he is, then he would've already protected himself from other animus magic. He lost to a SeaWing once before, you can bet he wouldn't fall for that mistake again."

Winter shifted so that he could look down at his makeshift anklet. "Then the only thing that could give us a chance is Skyfire. It blocks magic entirely, and turns animus dragons mortal. Turtle said that he can't cast any spells when he touches it, and all other spells on you are cancelled out for as long as you're in contact with it."

"So we try and get a piece on Darkstalker?" Peril asked.

"That won't work," Moon shook her head. "Skyfire makes us unable to read your thoughts, but it doesn't make you entirely invisible. It's like… a cold hum that rebuffs us. A shield we cannot penetrate. He'd know you were coming from that alone. And he will not let Skyfire anywhere near him."

She thought back to the night they'd found the comet, seeing his spells come undone, the scars that had appeared across his body. He'd been so panicked when he realised he was mortal - that he could bleed. She knew that if anyone came at him, intending to force him to wear Skyfire, he would not be so gentle in his handling of that individual. When it came to Skyfire, it'd been one of the few times that Moon had seen him truly afraid.

"So do we try and give all the Queens Skyfire for protection?" suggested Tsunami.

Starflight tapped his chin with a claw. "From what I remember, you only found about eight shards - is that right, Winter? All of them no bigger than a pebble? I doubt we could break those down into enough pieces to give to everyone."

"So let's find more!"

Peril snorted. "What, you plan to search the entire continent for strange black pebbles? It was a miracle they even found those pieces."

"Actually," Moon tried to bite her tongue on the words but they just burst out of her mouth. She felt stuck. She'd promised Darkstalker she would never tell anyone - she'd given her word, she couldn't go back on it. But… wouldn't it be good to give everyone some insurance should the worst come to happen? "I know… where there might be… more Skyfire… Darkstalker and I might've found the comet it came from."

"You mean he has it?" Winter looked as if the worst scenario had just been realised.

She spoke hesitantly, trying to say as little as possible whilst also being truthful - attempting to appease both divides within her heart. "No. Darkstalker didn't want it. It had crashed into the lost city when it fell from the sky. So he threw it into the sea."

"Where no one but SeaWings could get to it…" Tsunami murmured thoughtfully.

"We could drag it up," said Peril. "I could forge a weapon out of it."

"And do what with it?" Moon asked in alarm. "You can't kill him, he's done nothing wrong - nothing about any of this has proven he's guilty of anything. Yes, he's done bad things in the past but he's paid for those crimes - two thousand years trapped under the earth, is that not punishment enough?"

"Bad things?" Winter echoed, outraged. "Moon, his crimes changed Pyrrhia forever because of what he did! And with that kind of power that he has now, if he goes bad then who could stop him?"

"So we should punish him for things he might do?" she whirled on Starflight and Tsunami, her palms on the table so that she could stand taller. "You keep talking about building a better Pyrrhia - doesn't that start with innocent until proven guilty?"

Peril also stood, looking like she wanted to open her wings but refrained from doing so. "I agree. I don't like it when dragons shut me out because I might burn their things. And doing things like that shows me they deserved to have their things burned anyway."

"You already have the earrings and have the means to make more of them. So why bother with this?" continued Moon, "Promise me that if we use the Skyfire, then it will only be for defence, not to attack. Promise!"

Starflight was the first to make that promise. Tsunami narrowed her eyes and sat in silence for a long moment, thinking. Then finally she nodded and made her promise. Winter didn't answer either for a while, not even when Moon gave him a long look.

"I promise…" he said finally. "But then I want you to at least consider wearing an earring of your own. If Darkstalker is planning on using magic at this assembly, I want you prepared to defend yourself against his tricks."

The others seemed to agree with this but Moon hesitated. It felt wrong to intentionally cut herself off from Darkstalker, from his thoughts and dreams and emotions, somewhat permanently. Had it only been a few days ago that they'd been in the garden marvelling at the blue roses, and her mind had been dancing to the music inside his head? All that would no longer be possible so long as she wore this earring. Wouldn't that be a betrayal to Darkstalker? But then again, hadn't she already betrayed him enough with all these secrets she was telling here? In the end, she accepted but intended only to use it if it was strictly necessary. The Assembly was five days away. She had time to get to the bottom of all this and prove Darkstalker's innocence.

Tsunami and Starflight later told Clay and Sunny what'd happened and all they had learned. Clay's initial thought as soon as he'd heard that Moon was to be given a magical earring or might even have a piece of Skyfire, was to go to their medicine store room and start rummaging around. That was how Sunny found him, going through box after jar after pouch looking for something particular.

"Remind me why you're looking for this again?" she asked, frowning at the mess he was making.

"Remember that Turtle told us Moon got hurt back in the rainforest," Clay said with a grunt, trying not to bump his head on the underside of the desk he was bent under. "Blister stabbed her and she nearly died if not for Darkstalker saving her with his magic. Well, considering that Winter loses his ear every time he touches Skyfire again, but it's always at different stages of healing, that must mean that when the magic goes the body must be taking into account the time that has passed and making itself heal naturally underneath the spell."

Sunny's eyes went wide and she hopped from foot to foot. "Oh! I get it! So if Moon touches Skyfire, she's going to still be affected by Blister's poison and-"

"Could die all over again," Clay finished with a smile. "Buuuuuut if we get her the cactus flower and give her treatments for the next few days-"

"It'll help her body fight the poison so that when the magic comes off, she'll be fine!" She turned and grabbed a jar off the shelf by the doorway. "Here, this is it!"

Clay tried to sit up so fast he accidentally banged his snout on the desk. Rubbing his nose, he pouted in her direction. "You couldn't've said that a little sooner?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I just wanted to get to the bottom of why you needed it first. It's a clever idea."

"Thanks. I know I don't get many of those."

With a dry look, she thumped him with her tail. "I mean it. You really can be clever, Clay. This makes me think that when we open our school, you should be teaching anatomy and healing. You always liked to take care of us. You'll be great as a teacher."

He smiled warmly. "I hope so. It'll be great to have everyone here not because of a war. And then I can bring my sibs, and Tsunami could invite Anemone and Auklet."

"I think all of Turtle's brothers would take up an entire class by themselves," Sunny chuckled.

"Yeah, and then Sixclaws will let Ostrich come and then-" he stopped, face falling. He looked to Sunny, concerned. "I'm sorry. Have you heard anything from your mother?"

She sighed. "No. She doesn't usually sleep until midnight - I'll try and reach her with the dream visitor then."

"Did Qibli not even tell you?"

"No." Her eyes grew hard and cold like ice, a very un-Sunny like expression that made Clay's insides squirm with distress. "It's like he didn't even think I would care enough."

"I'm sure that's not the case, Sunny. You know Qibli, he just… um… he-he thinks that he's the only one who can solve anything."

"That drake thinks he's so smart but never stops to actually think," she huffed. "Doesn't he know I'm worried about my mother? Doesn't he want me to help make her safe? Three moons, does nobody think I can help with anything?"

"That's not true," said Clay, a little hurt. "Sunny, we all think-"

"Don't. You all do it. You all look at me like I'm too small to help, like I'm the one that always needs protecting. And I know it's because you love me - I love you all too. But sometimes I wish someone would take me seriously."

Clay was silent for a moment. He'd had no idea that Sunny felt this way. Was that wrong of him? He'd just always protected Sunny because that was what he did - it was second nature to him to protect all of his adoptive siblings. He hadn't even considered that it could've come across as condescending.

Slowly, so as to give Sunny time to pull away if she wanted, he reached out and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry. You, Sunny, are probably the bravest dragon I know. You're the heart of our group and I don't think anything could take that away. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel any less than that."

It didn't take long for the little SandWing to wrap her arms as far around Clay as she could. "Clay, you are the best Bigwings in the world. And I'm sorry for being prickly."

He chuckled. "That's okay. You've had a lot on your mind." He pulled back and took the jar from her. "Just be sure to direct all your anger out on Qibli. Tell Thorn to really kick his tail."