Welcome back, one and all, to the new installment of the series, "Wings of Darkness"! As always, listen to some of your favorite music, bang your head, and enjoy the fic.

The Dragonets stood together as they always did... but this time... it was different. They were ragged, torn, bloodied... beaten. The world shivered as if it had been beaten as well. Even the stars above were wronged... two of the three moons were gone.

Clay, though he was beyond injured, stood in front of the dragonets, his wings held out in a feeble attempt to shield them... from the large shadow in front of them that stared at them with a crazed, maniacal look on its face.

The world trembled even more as the shadow stepped forward. Clay's muscles tensed, his wings trembling not only from exhaustion but also from trying to hide the fear he felt.

"Soon, little dragons..." the shadow whispered, pausing before leaping at them. "YOU WILL BE MINE!"

Starflight shot out of bed, gasping as he lightly hyperventilated from the panic. He sat there for a while, grasping his chest as his heart almost felt like it was about to beat out of it. His breathing eventually calmed, and his head fell back onto the bed.

He could feel the warm sunshine through the window of his sleeping cave... but yet, he saw nothing.

Starflight sighed, getting out of bed and opening the door to his room. He stepped out and down the hall that made up his friends' home inside Jade Mountain. He could hear his friends waking up as well as their thoughts. A smile crept onto his face as he felt his talons step onto the smoother floor of the main room, memories flooding back from the last three years.

All the Dragonets, now adults, had pledged their lives to keep the world at peace—helping officiate every meeting, hunting down criminals, and just keeping the peace altogether.

Icicle and Winter had gone straight to the Sky Kingdom after the war to try and find out what happened to their older brother, Hailstorm. Unfortunately, what they did find only made them more confused, discovering that he wasn't dead, but nobody knew what had happened to him—not even Scarlet's old advisors who survived her before her demise.

Icicle was actually out right now with Crane in the Sky Kingdom, looking for more clues on their break.

The last couple of years for the IceWing siblings had been... well, eventful, to say the least. After the war ended, Queen Glacier decided to keep Winter with the dragonets, which infuriated his parents. What really pissed them off was when Icicle decided to stay with them as well. Winter often joined Icicle on her searches, but he was almost always training with Qibli when they weren't doing something for the group.

It's actually kind of funny—those two are almost polar opposites, but they've become such close friends. They often team up for missions. The progress they've made with each other and their powers is... staggering. It wouldn't surprise him at all if, in the next couple of years, they became the most powerful.

And their teamwork...

Starflight shivered as he slowly found one of the chairs in the main room and sat down. Last year, Qibli and Winter decided to test how strong they were by challenging Clay to a one-on-two... They had to stop early, almost bringing down the whole mountain during their sparring match.

Starflight smiled again as he thought of the MudWing. He'd caught him last week practicing proposing to Peril. After the war ended, the two of them only grew closer. When they weren't busy running around Pyrrhia, Clay would watch Peril practice her new hobby, or they'd go hunting together.

Peril had found a hobby in glass-making and sculpting. Her firescales and skillful control of fire made her a natural at it.

Starflight winced as he heard yelling down the halls. "Wake up, squid-for-brains!" Poor Riptide. He felt bad for any dragon who happened to fall for Tsunami of all dragons. Riptide and Tsunami had started dating last year, with Riptide claiming, "He was into that..."

Speaking of "being into that," Deathbringer and Glory were obviously dating, though they never admitted it to anyone. When Clay figured it out, he almost strangled Deathbringer—Peril had to stop him. Deathbringer and Glory were currently in the rainforest, visiting Glory's mom.

Sunny was also out and about with a couple of the MudWing sibs. A rumor had come up about Vulture, so they followed the lead to try and capture him... again.

Vulture had been a pain in their side since the war ended. No matter how close they came to pinning him down, he always managed to escape—like he was always one talon ahead.

Moon, Kinkajou, and Sora were occupying the Scorpion Den for the week, making sure Vulture didn't show up there now that Thorn and Stonemover were no longer around as King and Queen.

Moon and Kinkajou had officially joined the group a couple of months ago. The NightWings were making a fuss that the Dragonets of Destiny didn't have a real voice for them in the group. So, Carinatus placed Moon in to make the NightWings happy... little did they know she did have some bias.

Kinkajou decided to join as well, refusing to leave her "best friend," wanting to stick with her. Starflight didn't mind; he owed her for helping him out of the volcano.

Kinkajou and Moon were practically already part of the group anyway, visiting them all the time. Giving them their powers was funny though...

It took weeks, but Moon and Kinkajou eventually decided on the powers they wanted. Both wanted something unique.

Moon decided on something new altogether: being able to pick up objects with just her mind, which was funny to watch her learn.

Kinkajou, being the absolute prankster she was, took a page out of Sunny's book. She made it so that when she turned invisible with her camouflage, she couldn't be touched, and solid objects would pass right through her. This led to... way too many pranks.

The three—Moon, Kinkajou, and Sora—seemed to get along great, forming a dynamic trio.

Starflight's head turned toward one of the other halls as he heard sounds of activity. He stood up and walked into the library he had requested, the smile on his face growing wider.

And then there was—

"Good morning, Starflight," Fatespeaker greeted with a happy tone.

Fatespeaker had stayed with him up till now, helping him along his journey with the handicap he decided to keep. "Morning, Fatespeaker," he greeted back happily.

Starflight saw through Fatespeaker's mind that she was looking up from a scroll at him. A green piece of cloth covered his eyes, hiding his surely scarred face.

After waking up from the volcano, a new power had emerged in him that he never knew he had. At first, he thought his mind was playing tricks, trying to make phantom images using other people's thoughts. But now he could control it at will, seeing through other dragons' eyes as if they were his own, which he was grateful for.

He never used the power without asking, though, as it would be a great breach of others' privacy. Fatespeaker had given him permission to do it anytime he wanted, as long as she wasn't doing something private.

Starflight went over and sat down not too far from her with a sigh, noticing another presence in the room as he did.

"Morning, Turtle."

"Morning, Starflight," the SeaWing greeted back, his eyes not leaving the scroll he was reading.

Then there were the two royal SeaWing siblings. They went back and forth all the time between the Sea Kingdom and Jade Mountain. Turtle was currently studying in the library, wanting to write his own scrolls someday.

Anemone was back in the Sea Kingdom, visiting her mom and dad for the week. She stated that if she didn't visit soon, her mother would get really annoying.

Both siblings were officially in the group, helping when they could...

This was home...

Starflight leaned back, enjoying the silence and the scroll Fatespeaker was reading. That was until his ears perked up when he heard thunder outside the cave. He turned to Fatespeaker. "They've already started training for the day?"

Fatespeaker laughed, nodding her head. "I don't know how they do it."

Fatespeaker was the only one in the group without powers. She had been offered powers but politely declined, saying she never felt like she needed them.

The mountain lightly shook with another loud crack of thunder, making Starflight sigh. "They're going hard again..."

Fatespeaker nodded, dodging some of the pebbles that fell from the stone ceiling of the cave.

"They always do," she said, giggling. "It wouldn't be Winter and Qibli if they didn't."