"Kink?" Night called worriedly. But Kinkajou was already too far ahead to hear her. Night tensed up and turned around to face whoever was there. Nobody was there. Night gulped and planted herself against the cave wall so she could see dragons coming from both directions.
Usually she would know if someone was following her, because she would hear them. But there weren't any thoughts she could hear. This only happened once, when she had to trust her instincts.
She remembered the night and the fear, her beating heart. Night was hunting that night. Her mother was always telling her to be careful.
"Stay quiet. Don't anyone see you. If they do, don't let them follow you. Lose them in the dark. You have practised in the dark more than any other Nightwing," Sharpclaws had said. She had grabbed Night's shoulders and met Night's eyes.
"Please. I just don't want you to get hurt," Sharpclaws shivered, fidgeting with her claws. Night nodded quickly.
"Don't worry Mother. I will be careful," Night promised. She wasn't planning on doing crazy things anyway. The forest around them was terrifying, especially with Sharpclaws' warnings. Night turned and crouched, running across the grass, her ears pricked up.
A boar! Night had thought, awed. It was huge, with a dark, chestnut-like coloured fur. It was nibbling on some weeds. Night launched at it. The boar only had time to register Night was there before Night killed it swiftly.
"Crunch! Snap!" Night turned around and froze, her ears lifting up, expecting to hear someone's thoughts. That was what her mother had taught. But there wasn't a single thought. Were they…blocking their thoughts?
I need to get out of here. Night had realised. She didn't feel right. She felt a prickly, nauseous feeling. Night crouched again and bolted out of there.
She spotted a shape of a dragon sneaking up to where she was. Night shivered. Her life could have ended that day. Her mother was so relieved after hearing about that, that she didn't care that Night didn't bring any food home.
Night felt that same feeling. She wished she had her mother to run to.
Where are Kinkajou and Qibli? Night wondered worriedly. Her heart beat faster than a cheetah. Night took a deep breath and turned to go in the direction Kinkajou had gone, when she was knocked off her talons. Night fell to the stone floor, wincing. A dragon stood over her, with an evil smile.
"Finally," the dragon said, sounding satisfied. Night recognised her as the skywing who almost burned Qibli to death. She ducked under the Skywing's slashing talon and dashed through the hallways. Why couldn't she hear the Skywing?
"Let's introduce ourselves first," the Skywing smiled, spreading her wings to block Night from escaping. Night lifted her head up to meet the Skywing's eyes.
"I'm Crimson. I know, I really am," Crimson said, and letting out an amused snort. Night's only response was a shiver.
"I'm, I'm, I'm Night, Nightlight," Night stammered, looking down. She could practically hear Crimson roll her eyes.
"Oh, you are a mumbler. You know, I hate mumblers," Crimson said, smiling at Night's terrified face. She went on, giving Night time to find an escape route.
She will hate me forever for this. Night thought, gulped. She suddenly launched sideways through a small gap, accidentally slicing some of Crimson's membrane. She roared and turned to grab Night, but she slipped through Crimson's grasp.
"Help!" Night cried, running towards Qibli's sleeping cave. Qibli, Kinkajou and Turtle were in it. Qibli looked worried, listening intently to Kinkajou, who looked like she was about to cry. Turtle had a wing around her, trying to look calm. Night bursted in.
She felt tears rushing down her cheeks as she tried to explain everything, before she just bursted into tears, falling down to the floor and covering her face.
Qibli rushed to her, wrapping his wings around her, muffling her sobs and whispering reassuring words to Night. Kinkajou ran to the cave entrance, trying to spot suspicious dragons. Turtle just froze.
Why am I so scared? Is it because she could have killed me? Night wondered, leaning into Qibli and wiping her tears away. Her heart beat slowed to normal speed and she felt safer, here with her friends, Qibli and Kinkajou. Maybe, that is real friendship. Trust and safety.
Of course, nobody can have peace from an attack forever.
"Ack!" Kinkajou cried, jumping back as Crimson bursted in, smoke rising from her nostrils. Night could see the blood dripping from Crimson's wing. Crimson glared at Night, causing Qibli to stiffen, standing tall and glaring back.
"Well, hello again. I guess these are your friends. You care about them, right?" Crimson smiled, spreading her wings. Night stood taller and met Crimson's eyes.
"If you touch a scale on them, you will regret it," Night hissed. Crimson chuckled. She took a step towards Night and lashed her tail.
"Ooo, now you're being protective. Well, unfortunately, you cannot stop me," Crimson said. Night hissed and took a step towards Crimson.
"Night, don't," Qibli whispered, gently grabbing one of her talons, but Night pulled away. Crimson lunged at Night, but Night ducked, letting Crimson over her. Crimson growled in frustration and turned to lunge again, when Qibli attacked and stabbed his tail towards Crimson's heart, but she just grabbed it in time and threw him against the wall.
Night roared and flames bursted out of her mouth and caught Crimson's face. She shrieked and zoomed out the room towards the underground lake. Night winced and felt Qibli brush her wing lightly.
"You had to…thank you," Qibli whispered. Night gave him a grateful look and saw his face turn to openly horrified.
"LOOK OUT!" Qibli screamed, jumping towards her. Night turned to see frost breath flying towards her! Luckily, because of Qibli's warning, Night was able to duck and dodge the frost breath. Night met eyes with a seething Icewing. The Icewing lunged towards Night and held her down.
"Don't even bother trying to escape. I have better grip and techniques than Crimson," The Icewing said calmly and let out a snort, "I really don't know why she's in this group."
"Why are you attacking me?" Night asked shakily. There really was no use trying to escape. Plus, Qibli, Kinkajou and Turtle were already pinned down on the ground.
"Stop talking or say goodbye to one of your friends. The Sandwing, perhaps?" The Icewing hissed. Night shut her mouth quickly and nodded. A Nightwing walked up to her and poked her face. Night winced. He had sharp claws.
"This is the daughter of that Nightwing…Sharpclaws?" The Nightwing asked sceptically. Night let out a gasp. Her mother?
"Nightwing, you will be very useful, but we thought, so you would listen to us, we decided to kidnap your mother," Another voice explained. A Rainwing and a Sandwing popped up. Night noticed that the Rainwing said that, and she seemed to be the leader of the group.
"So, wave goodbye to you friends. You won't see them in a while," The Rainwing said smoothly, before the Sandwing grabbed a huge plank of wood and knocked Night out cold.