It's the moment I have been waiting for; it's been over two years... let's do this together. The song for this chapter is... "BATTERY."
A reddish-brown snout peeked around a corner of the cave system. A small head with frills showed itself to be a female RainWing. Her ears perked up at a sound coming from behind her.
"PSST!" the voice said, gaining her already narrowed attention. "Is there anyone ahead of us, Kinkajou?" Kinkajou looked back at the NightWing, shaking her head.
Kinkajou looked away from the NightWing behind her. "Come on, the coast is clear," she said as she started to make her way down the tunnels once more, with Fatespeeker following her with a scared and bloodied Starflight on her back.
Kinkajou turned back around to look at Fatespeeker, continuing down the tunnels as she did so. "How much farther?" she asked, trying not to show the fear she was feeling.
Fatespeeker, gasping for breath, had to take in a deep breath to get enough air to breathe. "We aren't too far; we just need to get through the barracks..." she said, wincing as she spoke.
Kinkajou gave her a confused look. "The barracks?" she asked. She had never heard of one of those... whatever they were. "What are those?" she asked the female NightWing.
Fatespeeker stopped to catch her breath, with Kinkajou copying her since she didn't know the way and didn't want to go alone. Fatespeeker took another deep breath. "It's a place where a lot of dragons go to sleep..."
A wince formed on Kinkajou's face. "Wouldn't that mean that there are a bunch of grumpy NightWings there?"
Fatespeeker slowly nodded, trying not to moan in annoyance. She shifted against the wall to lean on it, with Starflight still on her back. "We need a plan."
Kinkajou turned an excited color. "We need a distraction!" she exclaimed with a small smile on her face.
"SHHHHH!" Fatespeeker hushed, a talon going to her snout as she frantically looked around to make sure nobody heard her getting excited.
Kinkajou's frills folded down. "Sorry, it's just that I am great at distracting dragons," she said, this time remembering to whisper. Her frills came back up in excitement. "Please let me try?"
Fatespeeker was hesitant. "I guess..." She got off the wall, standing up straight. "The barracks are around the corner. Please be careful."
Kinkajou turned a purple color, a smirk appearing on her face. "Watch and learn." After she said that, the scales on her body started to turn black, with a white dust being cast across her wings. She now looked as close to a NightWing as she could.
She walked around the corner, immediately taking note of the large room that was FILLED with NightWings who were now looking at her.
Kinkajou cleared her throat. "MORROWSEER SAID GET TO THE THRONE ROOM!" she said, trying to sound as important as she could.
All the NightWings panicked, falling on top of each other as they tried to scramble out the door, launching into the air the moment they could.
Kinkajou almost passed out from trying to hold in her laughter, rolling on the floor the moment all the NightWings were gone. "I—I can't—I can't believe that worked!"
Fatespeeker came around the corner, shaking her head. "You haven't seen what Morrowseer does if you don't listen to him..." she said grimly, remembering all the other "Dragonets of Destiny" and "Traitors."
Kinkajou turned green. "Oh, now I feel bad..." she said guiltily, realizing the terror those dragons must have felt.
"Let's go; the exit is just up ahead," Fatespeeker said as she led the way this time, walking through the barracks and out the other side into the oxygen-choked, smoke-filled air.
Fatespeeker looked around outside, not spotting anyone flying around. She turned back to look at Kinkajou. "Let's get out of here," she said, motioning her head down the path ahead of them.
They started walking again down the path, with Fatespeeker leading the way and starting to take rapid deep breaths from all the exertion it took to carry the NightWing.
A smile slowly started to come to Fatespeeker's face. They were almost there.
She froze, and Kinkajou bumped into her as they came around the corner. The exit hole was right there... behind two guards who were eyeballing her.
Kinkajou peeked around her to see what was happening. "What's wro—"
The guard jumped into action the moment he saw the female RainWing. "THE PRISONERS ARE TRYING TO ESCAPE!"
The other guard went to jump at the two escapees but was stopped when something huge hit him to the side, throwing the guard over the edge of the cliff.
The last guard stumbled back, having just watched his comrade thrown by seemingly nothing. "What the—" He turned back to look at the exit.
A large MudWing was standing there with his talons outstretched, rage written on his face as he eyed the other guard.
The guard stumbled, falling to the ground as he tried to back away in fear from the much larger MudWing, panicking and flying off over the same cliff his friend went.
Clay turned to look at Fatespeeker, rage still on his face. Fatespeeker started shuffling nervously at the glare pointed at her, not realizing she had shown Starflight to the MudWing.
Clay gasped, dashing up to the two to grab Starflight off her back but froze, spotting all the wounds over Starflight's corpse-like body. He almost collapsed at the sight, his eyes unable to leave the injuries.
"He is still alive; we are trying to escape with him!" Fatespeeker said before the MudWing could think she was the one who did this.
Clay slowly started to straighten up, walking back over to Fatespeeker. He gently grabbed ahold of Starflight, lifting him off her back and cradling him against his chest as he sat down.
"What did they..." he started whispering. "What did they do to him?" Clay roared in rage.
Kinkajou came out from behind Clay. "They wanted something from him. I don't know what it was, but they never got it," she said frantically.
Tears started running down Clay's face as he tried not to clench his talons around Starflight. "No, not again... not again," he started to cry.
Fatespeeker turned her head, spotting new dragons coming through the portal. Two RainWings, a SkyWing, and a NightWing.
"Clay, where are—" Peril stepped through the portal but stopped when she spotted Clay on the ground, crying and holding a dragon against his chest. She recognized the dragon immediately. "Oh no..."
Carinatus and Deathbringer came through next. Carinatus froze at the sight in front of her; it was like a scene out of a horror scroll. The huge volcanoes spitting lava and smoke seemed made for a villain.
Peril walked up beside the MudWing. "Clay..." she said, trying to get his attention.
"Not again... not again..." Clay continued mumbling as if he were a broken record.
"Clay?" Peril asked, now worried.
"Not again."
Peril started hearing a different tune from the MudWing beside her; his weeping was turning to growling.
"Never again."
The earth started shaking, small pebbles bouncing up and down off the ground.
"NEVER AGAIN!" Clay let go of Starflight, roaring in fury. The earth seemed to roar with him, the earthquake shaking violently.
Peril backed away from the MudWing in shock, hardly recognizing the look on his face, having never seen him this angry before. Every dragon stepped back from him in fear, rocks starting to snake their way up to Clay, slithering up his legs and covering his body.
Clay started walking forward down the same path Fatespeeker had just come from, more and more rocks forming around his body. Now completely covered, more kept coming.
Peril stepped forward to follow Clay, but a black wing cut her off. She looked over to see it was Deathbringer, who said only one word: "Don't."
Peril started to get angry. "What, why?" she said, slowly raising her talons. "Clay obviously needs someone right now!"
Deathbringer shook his head, watching as more and more rocks formed around Clay's stone-covered body. "He is in a state that none of us could ever understand."
Peril gave him a look to continue explaining. Deathbringer nodded. "When I was learning to become an assassin, we were specifically taught not to engage a MudWing when they were like this. It's a 'rage' state," he said, shaking his head. "Usually brought on when one of their siblings is killed."
"But won't he still need our help?" Peril asked, trying not to eye the burns all over Starflight's body, reminding her of so many victims.
A monsoon of rocks started forming around Clay, with even some of the lava getting sucked up.
Deathbringer started to back up even more in fear. "I doubt it..."
More and more rocks piled around Clay, slowly turning into a large stone dragon that continued to gain size as Clay forced it to continue walking forward. The earth trembled with every step Clay took.
Carinatus shook her head, trying to take a deep breath but started choking on the air. "GAK—" Deathbringer saw it. "Try not to take in too deep a breath; the air is not good here." Carinatus started rubbing her now sore neck. "You don't say," she said spitefully.
They all stumbled, trying not to fall as the earth started violently shaking again. The mountain they were on started cracking as if it were about to fall apart. A loud explosion was heard, and this time, the mountain they were on did start falling apart. All the dragons in the group launched into the air. Glory grabbed ahold of Starflight with some of the few vines she brought with her before she flew.
They looked down below them as the huge lava lake came alive as if it were a raging ocean.
Kinkajou, who had already been panicking a while ago, shouted, "WHAT'S GOING ON?"
The world around them seemed to roar, making everyone cover their ears in pain from such a loud noise. Peril opened her eyes and they shot open quickly when she saw an unbelievable sight.
A MASSIVE stone dragon stood, hovering over the mountains in front of it. The stone dragon roared, once more making everyone cover their ears. It lifted one of its huge arms, with lava and stone slowly falling off it as it did.
The stone dragon shot his arm down, causing the mountain to explode, with lava bursting out like a geyser from such a huge force.
Carinatus backed up in the air. "New thought: we are leaving."
Peril jerked her head away from Clay to look at Carinatus. "We can't just leave him here!" The moment she said that, lava from the explosion started raining from the sky.
Carinatus shook her head. "Then you can stay here, but it isn't safe." She turned around, leading the group back through the exit they came from with Starflight in tow.
Peril stayed where she flew. "It will be for me." She flew down on what remained of the path. The newfound heat in the air did not bother her. She stood watching Clay as he continued.
Dragons started pouring out of the remains of the mountains, freezing as they looked straight up to see the large stone dragon looking back down at them, as if looking straight up at their deaths.
"LEAVE!" The stone dragon roared, sounding otherworldly as it gave the order. The dragons frantically flew away, running into each other in the air as they tried to get away as fast as they could.
Peril dodged two younger NightWings as they tried to flee. The two ignored her completely as they made for safety. She stumbled once more as the stone dragon started walking again.
"What is this!" a rage-filled voice said. Peril looked up to see Morrowseer looking at her, his face full of rage.
"You know what is happening!" Peril snarled. Morrowseer tried not to fall as the stone dragon stomped down the next mountain, lava exploding out once more.
"Because of your group, the Night Kingdom—" Morrowseer was cut off as Peril flared out her wings. "Shut up. This is your fault; you were the one who started ALL of this!" she said, pointing at the stone dragon encasing Clay. "You see that?"
Morrowseer begrudgingly turned around just in time to see another mountain crushed to dust, NightWings flying out just before it happened. He turned back to Peril. "He killed our Queen just now..."
Peril cut him off again. "Your fault. You refused to admit that you lost. You tortured possibly one of the most powerful dragons' friends in existence. What were you expecting to happen?"
Morrowseer roared in rage, not noticing that Peril had started to back away from him. But he was not the reason she was backing up. He noticed that Peril was ignoring him, looking up into the air behind him.
He turned around as well, the large stone dragon right behind him with lava dripping down its teeth. It looked right at him.
Morrowseer fell backward from trying to back up so quickly. The stone dragon lifted one of his talons, heat wafting off the lava-filled limbs.
"NEVER AGAIN!" The stone dragon roared, bringing his cave-sized talon down, crushing the area where Morrowseer once stood, sending the whole area into the lava below. Morrowseer was surely dead.
Peril slowly stood up, staring at the stone dragon straight into its orange glowing eyes in a mix of awe and fear. The stone dragon seemed to recognize her, freezing.
Time seemed to stand still as the two looked into each other's eyes. The rumbling earth, the dragons around them screaming in fear, the world around them falling apart as lava rained from the sky—everything... it all didn't matter in that moment.
The stone dragon seemed to break out of its trance, turning back around.
Peril jumped into the air. "Wait, Clay!" Peril shouted out to the stone-encased MudWing. The stone dragon froze, waiting for her to continue.
Seeing that he was listening, she continued, "I don't blame you for being angry, but please... don't kill anyone else..."
A growling sound was heard, as if the world itself was groaning. "Clay! Please! I know if you do this, you will never forgive yourself!" She said, trying to get it across to him.
Clay went to continue forward but stopped dead at what she said next. "Our promise..." she started to cry at the last part. "You... are not a monster."
The stone dragon was frozen for a couple of seconds before starting to convulse, shaking violently. Rocks started cracking off him, the world screaming once more as the stones crumbled.
"CLAY!" Peril screamed as she launched higher into the air, dodging rocks as they fell around her. The stone dragon gave one last cry as it crumbled to dust, Peril spotting Clay falling with the rocks and lava that had once formed the stone dragon.
She dove between two falling boulders and tackled Clay in the air. He was out cold. Peril tried to fly with him in her talons, but he weighed a great deal more than her, making it almost impossible to control her altitude, just being able to drag him through the air.
Peril looked down and saw that they were rapidly falling towards the lava below. "NO!" She started flapping her wings even more but was still unable to gain any height.
They were about to hit the lava until she felt it—the same feeling she got every time she came close to fire, her control taking hold. She rapidly opened her wings as wide as she could, the lava underneath them parting until there was nothing but stone below them.
They hit the bottom, Peril lightly touched down, letting Clay go. She now focused on the lava trying to refill the spot. It was almost completely different from controlling her own flames. When she controlled flames, it was like controlling a part of her own body. This was like trying to push out a gel that continuously tried to encase you.
She clenched her eyes, trying to focus, feeling as if she were being crushed by all the force. Her eyes snapped open at a voice coming from above her. "Need some help?"
She looked up to see another familiar brown face, Reed, smiling down at her. The lava around them started receding like waves in an ocean.
Peril gave a smile back at the MudWing, slowly shaking from how tired she was. Then she collapsed right on top of the MudWing below her. "Clay, we made it... it's over."
It's over.