Author's Note: Well, here it is, a behemoth of a chapter and second longest of the series so far! I hope it was worth the wait, there was a whole week where I felt quite unmotivated and I worry that some parts of the chapter might not be as good, I don't know, could just be worrying over nothing, but still.
— Chapter 14 —
Qibli
Things had turned out to be slightly chaotic back at the Sand Palace.
Within admittedly short notice, several soldiers had been armed and placed in formations, troops being prepared to leave when given the signal, which should be rather soon if all things went as Qibli expected them to.
And some arguments ensued next to Queen Thorn's tent, not heated arguing exactly, but more like friends trying to convince the other to not do something that could go extremely wrong.
"I understand your wish to be there and see it happen, but it is far too dangerous to risk the queen during such a course of action.," Six-Claws stated calmly at Thorn, who was sitting in front of him. Qibli meanwhile stood more to the side and Sunny close to her mother.
"The only reason that we're taking the offensive now, is because I neglected the Scorpion's Den and basically let Vulture do whatever in there these last six months, I have not been active enough on maintaining the kingdom's safety," Thorn replied.
"Because you knew that focusing outwards was important, we all just came off from a terrible war, and you made sure to mend things with the other kingdoms as soon as you could to prevent more conflict," Six-Claws replied.
"Would having you in the front lines give off a message and give some good moral support? Sure. But it could also mean someone like… My mother, or any other of their assassins could kill the Queen, and even with the Eye of Onyx, and we just left the chaos that was not having an actual ruler," Qibli added.
Thorn grumbled to herself for a moment until Sunny gave her a hug, making the queen calm down now.
"Will you be careful? These dragons already sound very spooky from all I've heard. I'm very sure that you could still deliver justice here after it's all done!" Sunny said.
Thorn finally complied and accepted on staying here while the operation took place, much to Qibli's relief, and then the meeting was adjourned as everyone left the room.
They went on to check the army, seeing that several dragons were already equipped and prepared to go the moment an order was issued. And Qibli saw plenty of scarred, battle ready dragons, almost all veterans from the recent war with only a few more recent additions.
As this happened, Qibli felt as if something was speaking right at his mind, so he moved over to an emptier spot and pulled out one of the two stones he'd enchanted earlier.
Qibli, I'm in that courtyard you mentioned, I see where he's being held and there's two guards, I'll make sure I can do something and then talk to you again when I get him out," Pineapple's mental voice informed.
Alright, that's great, keep me informed whenever something happens.
The thoughts stopped coming, and he gave an affirmative gesture at Thorn, writing down on a scroll: He found Oracle, will get him out soon.
Qibli couldn't wait for the Mirror to not be an issue anymore so he won't need to constantly write anything actually important on a scroll.
And speaking of scrolls, he'd been extremely careful with the actually magical one. Knowing that bringing it over anywhere close to an active battlefield while his grandfather is aware of its existence would be a dumb thing to do. So obviously without telling anyone he'd gone ghost mode earlier to sneak into the heavily guarded royal treasury and placed the pouch within a pile of other treasures on an alcove, and then he had left.
After a few minutes, some hurried thoughts appeared in his mind.
Oracle's not looking well, he seems very damaged and one of his wings is twisted so he can't fly.
Qibli could almost feel as his own heart sank upon hearing these words. Oh no, trying to imagine Oracle being in such a horrible situation was extremely hard. He's received damage during battles, like that horrible venom, but to actually visualize possible scenes with his grandfather torturing the small and nervous yet cheerful dragon was just impossible.
He held back these thoughts and focused only on the current situation, Oracle needed his help and fast after all.
Can you give the stone to Oracle so we can talk? I must check on him.
The next few minutes were spent on talking to Oracle, feeling relief when hearing his thoughts directed to him, while at the same time feeling plenty of anger directed to Vulture, but he didn't show it, he had to keep calm right now to help him.
Alright… Let's do it… I'll see you later in person. Oracle ended up saying.
I'll tell Thorn and we'll be on our way soon, try to hide now and look for a good time to start sneaking around.
They finished talking, and Qibli immediately headed over to Thorn, who must have realized herself what was going on and was waiting on his report, so he quickly wrote down some decisive words.
They cannot just leave, we'll need to make the distraction and fight so they escape.
Flying close to the front of a giant group of Sandwings felt new to Qibli, he'd followed after other Outclaws during his life, but being next to Six-Claws who was leading the legion towards the Scorpion's Den, all of this to both save his friend and stop his grandfather, was something he couldn't have ever expected before.
So far no more messages appeared in his mind yet, which he hoped meant that Oracle and Pineapple were doing fine and lying in wait for the distraction to take place. And Qibli felt confident enough about this endeavor, Vulture's organization was extremely dangerous, and he knew very well just how threatening some of his higher ranked members like Cobra could be. But there was no way that they could actually take on a whole royal legion head-on and so he assumed they'd obviously require traps, stealthy kills and guerilla tactics instead.
As they were nearing the Scorpion's Den, the army had started to spread around and encircle it to cover as much ground as possible and warn if there's anything, or if someone might be going over one of these directions.
The group approaching from the front was met by a few guards that came out of the walled-off city while holding their weapons, expressions uncertain and looking warily.
"What do you want?" One of them asked in a gruff voice, not respecting at all their presence.
"Official business from Queen Thorn, she wants all citizens to evacuate as soon as possible for there will be a fight here," Six-Claws replied.
"The queen is mad! Is she waging war against her own city?" Another one of the dragons snarled with gritted teeth.
"Watch your words," Six-Claws warned. "And no, she does not want war against her own kingdom, but she wants to get rid of the biggest threat to its safety and you know who it is."
The first gruff dragon looked shocked by that as his eyes widened slightly, and the second one appeared unamused and was glaring in a very fierce manner to Six-Claws.
"Your queen was already treading a very thin line, but outright messing now with our business means that you choose death," that one hissed and suddenly pulled out a dagger that he threw within the next second at Six-Claws, the Sandwing quickly moving to the side on the air while at the same time trying to block it if it does land.
The dagger hit at the middle of a leg, Six-Claws grunting in pain and almost falling off the air. And then several soldiers immediately began to swarm at the dragon who threw the dagger, the attacker holding a spear and managing to injure one of the soldiers despite the numbers advantage before being quickly thrown down to the ground and pinned.
Six-Claws landed on the ground with a pained huff, and a few healers quickly appeared from the lines and began to examine the wound, seeing that the dagger was clearly poisoned, but thanks to not hitting anywhere close to any vital spots they believed it could be fixed soon enough.
The general glared at the other guard who had just stayed back when his partner attacked, this guard quickly dropped the spear he was holding and raised his talons to the air.
"Don't look at me! I ain't got anything to do with him, didn't even know he was with these guys!" He quickly said.
"In that case, go into the city and spread word that they'll need to temporarily leave, the queen doesn't want any civilians to be hurt in the possible crossfire," Six-Claws huffed, and after seeing his partner being taken down in literal seconds just before, that must have convinced this dragon to simply comply, going into the city alongside a few soldiers.
Qibli moved closer to Six-Claws, checking his leg. "How are you feeling? If it's too bad then you probably should hang back during the confrontation."
"I think I'll manage well enough, trust me on this, I can take plenty more," Six-Claws assured calmly.
Several dragons were starting to come out of the main entrance of the Den after a while, regular citizens, visitors, merchants and many kinds of shady dragons stepping outside with grumpy, annoyed or scared expressions.
"What are you royals planning? Shut down the city? Are we all out?"
"You were just like us before and lived here too, what in the three moons is this?"
"My merchandise is gonna be ruined and my stall will break down! This is stupid!"
Dragons kept complaining as they were brought outside, plenty of insults and angry looks thrown their way, but at least no one was truly dumb enough to try outright attacking in front of the Sandwing army at least. And a few very loyal warriors had put themselves close to Six-Claws to serve as cover.
Some scouts came down eventually and informed them how the Scorpion's Den appeared mostly empty, with almost nobody besides some quick shapes that they weren't able to catch for longer than one second.
"Alright, seems like it's time, be careful and I wish for the best outcome," Qibli said, taking a more serious tone by now as he gave Six-Claws a nod, who repeated the gesture as the army began to go inside through the main entrance and around by flying over the walls.
And Qibli had to keep low, he's the one that can communicate with Pineapple and Oracle without his grandfather even knowing about these details, so it was considered more important for him to be able to confirm with them and guide if needed.
After most of the army entered the city while leaving behind some squads to make sure the outside's fine, Qibli turned on his invisibility and flew straight above to get a good look at the possible battlefield, as long as he didn't get into the fighting, he could scout just fine.
The troops were slowly moving down the streets of the city, weapons raised and they looked cautious at their surroundings, everyone aware that Vulture could make up 10 different types of ambush at least.
They were all told by Qibli about the precise location of the alley leading to Vulture's compound, so they knew about the final goal at the end of the path, while the problem certainly will be to even get inside.
Everything remained calm for the first two minutes, until suddenly, dragons were quickly starting to fall to the ground.
Qibli's eyes widened as he saw a squad let out a surprised yell, another one quickly went down in pain, and Qibli was able to see what was going on. Darts fired with extremely deadly accuracy, likely coated with poison and meeting their target on very important spots like the chest or the head to make quick work of them in a matter of a few minutes.
Still, Thorn's soldiers had a clear advantage in numbers, and after the first poisonous barrage they quickly ran the way the darts came from, forcing a talonful of cloaked dragons to jump out in the open and back off while holding out their weapons.
Another squad was approaching to help against the cloaked dragons, but as they were approaching, part of the ground below suddenly opened to reveal a hole from which a dozen of dragons appeared as the hole closed behind them, surrounding the royal soldiers from both sides in an ambush. Vulture's dragons closed in and several deaths happened within a few seconds from both sides.
After seeing this kind of trap, Qibli quickly phased through the ground to get below the city, and as he reached underground he of course could not see anything at first, but after flying for a moment he found himself within a dimly lit tunnel system.
Cloaked dragons were walking all over in silence and without saying a word, with groups waiting at different spots below what looked like trapdoors, and based on their design they could only be opened from below.
An underground? I don't think grandfather had this while we were still here or he would've used it. He must have made a lot of preparations these last months.
He decided to help by quickly going in and out of the underground, while flying as fast as he could, seeing where every trapdoor in sight was placed within the streets and alleyways of the city.
Qibli left the underground after some time and flew back outside the Den, turning visible as he approached one of the other generals.
"I require a map of the Scorpion's Den, I've found out that there's a whole tunnel system underground, and I need to pinpoint where its entrances are," Qibli requested.
To say the general got startled when he just appeared like that out of nowhere would be underselling it, she literally jumped a few feet in the air and instinctively grasped her weapon before seeing it's him. And with some relief she quickly ordered a map.
A big part of the army had entered the city by now, of course not everyone could get into the streets because there'd be no space, but at least they could be airborne and help from above by throwing spears and fire.
Qibli was working as fast as he could the moment the map was brought to him. It was a rather detailed one of the city, made for plans and such. So he was able to quickly encircle all the ambush spots he had managed to spot and then he gave the map to the general, who gave a quick read before calling over several troops to get a read on this.
He turned invisible again and made sure to step away from any planning over there, in case Vulture just happens to be spying on him right now, so he wouldn't end up hearing beforehand of whatever plans they make.
After some deliberating, another group was sent straight for one of the inner edges of the city where one of the trapdoors were located, stepping loudly and walking past it, But the moment it opened behind them for a back attack, they did a sharp turn and blasted with fire the first dragon at the front, then one of the soldiers leaped and kept the trapdoor open by holding its side, thus letting the rest quickly go inside.
And upon seeing this, more dragons from Thorn's side began to head over for the open trapdoor to enter. Qibli went underground once more and saw how this tactic had taken the cloaked dragons off guard, forcing them to back away and now needing to face their far superior numbers in close quarters, Vulture's group being overwhelmed and many were stabbed by spears and tail barbs.
The "Talons of Power" were starting to retreat into a tunnel at the back, the dragons at the front fighting back to keep the soldiers at bay while the rest entered the tunnel. These frontal fighters went down, but as Thorn's soldiers ran for the tunnel, it suddenly began to shake and crumble, and the pathway suddenly went down and was now blocked off. Clearly they at least prepared for this possibility.
He went through the blocked off tunnel, seeing that it connected into a lower basement at the Compound, and dragons were running upstairs and towards a door, likely to get new orders and enact another plan.
But as he was about to follow them, he got suddenly taken off guard by the sound of a powerful explosion going off, immediately followed by a lot of screaming upstairs.
What in the world just happened!? Did something go off in here? We did not bring any explosives.
Qibli began to fly up and through the ceiling, ending once more in the halls of the compound, where dragons were quickly running and orders were issued at a quick pace to try settling down the chaos.
He suddenly felt new thoughts emerging within his mind and he held the stone now.
Qibli… I caused an… Explosion and maybe you saw something from outside, things have to be hectic in here and maybe a wall is open now…
The Sandwing was shocked upon hearing this. Oracle did it? Such a surprising plan coming from him, and yet a very good one too. But that wasn't everything.
Please come get us soon, please… I can't stand this any longer, it's too much. Oracle's voice spoke in the saddest tone imaginable to his mind.
Qibli was shocked upon hearing these words, Oracle just sounded broken, his mental voice utterly defeated. And yet he did not sound that way last time they talked to each other, after he was taken out of his confinement, so something else must have been the cause.
He had a strong guess not even two seconds later, considering the way his voice sounded when talking about the explosion, he guessed that something must have also gone terribly wrong with it.
Dragonflame is an incredibly powerful type of explosion, I've seen that during the History Classroom incident, so if there was anyone in the middle of it… Oh, Oracle…
He directed his thoughts towards the stone and Oracle after another second. Hang in there, we'll get you very soon, I'll see where exactly it happened to guide the others to this new entry point.
He flew through the halls at a quick pace, following the cloaked dragons who must be running towards the scene of impact, and soon enough he saw how part of the ceiling had fallen off and blocked some of the path, which was quickly being cleared, but he just went through the rubble.
And the moment he did that, Qibli literally couldn't see anything at all besides black smoke, and now he felt more thankful than ever for the breathing part in the earring's spell, otherwise this would be more than enough to just choke him. The smell remained terrible though.
Qibli couldn't really fan the air to blow some of the smoke away, considering he isn't even physical at the moment, so all he could do was move forward and approach the constant sounds of crackling fire, which was also already covering some parts of the hallway, but there was a big red glow through the smoke that signaled where it started.
He finally reached the room where the explosion happened, and it was absolutely impossible what the room might've been used for before it went kaboom. Everything was either ruined or already melted down and there was practically no visibility with how much smoke was in the room.
But at least something was helping with that, the front wall of the room was completely broken down in pieces, leaving a massive hole into the destroyed room. And the walls at the sides weren't faring too well either, looking burned and with some spots also being broken. And the smoke was able to leave the room at a very slow pace thanks to these openings.
He flew through the front wall and then upwards, seeing where exactly the opening was located, and he was able to assert it was at the East of the compound, near one of the city's walls.
So from there, he flew to the center of the city, where he saw that the battle was dwindling due to Vulture's troops either going down or having to run away to regroup. So the next big step would be to take the attack into Vulture's own lair and bring them all down to the count, considering that he searched for a few minutes until he spotted Six-Claws taking down some cloaked dragons with the aid of other soldiers.
It was evident how much of a massacre the battle of the Scorpion's Den had been in general, with corpses and dying dragons scattered all over the streets in a bloody display that's somehow never seen before in this cruel city.
Qibli revealed himself to them the moment that battle stopped to talk. "Did you hear or see anything exploding in the distance?"
"Well, I'm rather sure that I saw smoke rising just some minutes ago," Six-Claws replied.
"Yup, that's our much easier ticket inside right there. A room in the compound blew up and one of its walls went down, so that's going to be much easier than knocking on his front door," Qibli explained.
Six-Claws gave him a nod, and quickly started to call and gather around whatever troops were available and close by after Qibli explained where exactly to go, and after doing so he turned invisible once more to follow and possibly help more by scouting.
Big part of the legion followed Six-Claws to the eastern side of the city until they reached the blasted-off wall. The fires were still present but at least part of the smoke was gone and allowed to actually look inside, spotting three cloaked dragons carrying large buckets filled with water to throw at the fires.
They spotted Thorn's troops and quickly backed away, dropping the water buckets and two of them drew their swords while the other ran back into the hallway to give a warning.
It was both dumb and commendable for these two to stand back and fight off this whole group together. To nobody's surprise they were quickly taken down and some of the bulkier dragons entered and threw what was left of water at the fires so the rest could get in with slightly less trouble.
Several dozens of dragons were flooding into the compound now, Six-Claws's troops showing caution as anyone could jump them from anywhere, especially with the smoke concealing possible attackers if they were even able to breathe in this environment.
Qibli began to move on ahead in an expanding semi circle as he phased through walls to check the connected rooms and hallways, peering attently at every single one, with the knowledge that someone could be hidden and ready to strike, like…
He stopped for a moment as he thought about it. Neither when he and Oracle first explored the compound, nor when he went around by himself, did any of them see his mother, Cobra, possibly the deadliest assassin in the kingdom.
And now that they were directly in the Compound, with plenty of rooms, hallways and enclosed spaces, she could easily set up something to kill someone like Six-Claws. So he had to find her if she was around, and fast.
He moved across the rooms, checking up and down, going beneath the floor and above the ceiling to be as thorough as possible, and eventually that's when he found yet another secret spot.
Going through the ceiling, he found himself in a very large attic of sorts, it was dimly illuminated, and by bringing his head to the floor he saw it was directly above multiple different rooms and one of the hallways.
And there she was, his mother, Cobra, looking as deadly and breathtaking as ever. She was holding a chakram on one of her talons, right by her side was a bag containing more of these deadly tools alongside other kinds. She was staring at the ground, seemingly listening while another talon pressed on the floor slightly and tilted it in part, showing the hallway beneath.
He immediately understood the purpose of this room, and it was a rather clever design. Whoever is positioned here could easily move parts of the floor to have immediate access to many different rooms, which works for catching any targets beneath, or for a quick escape.
Seeing her made his chest feel heavy, he hadn't seen her for years ever since he was given to Thorn. And through all these years he'd held hope deeper down that his mother might actually have loved him at all.
But after hearing from Oracle just a few days ago about how she was helping on a plan to trick him just to kill Thorn, from that moment onwards it felt clear to Qibli just how wrong he'd been for years, at the end of the day, Cobra clearly did not care.
It's literally over, nearly your entire group has gone down, and yet you'll try to get some last kills? Qibli thought. Grandfather likely ordered to at least take down the important generals at least, no one here would outright surrender.
Qibli quickly thought, clearly he should go back and warn the troops about Cobra's whereabouts, but just doing that could still lead to several deaths caused by just herself, her throws always lethal.
So instead he approached in his invisible state, getting closer to the bag filled with deadly weapons. He knew this would be an extremely risky play, but it was all about just being fast enough for the act.
He hovered a talon over the bag so that when he turned visible it'd be right on touching range, and then he thought of the magic words to momentarily turn off the invisibility and actually touch it.
However, Cobra must have noticed something, a shift in the air, or a sudden nearby smell, or maybe a slight sound as he touched the bag, whatever it was, she reacted. With a quick turn of her body and the talon holding the chakram, she slashed on a semicircle towards his direction.
He just barely managed to even think the words to turn invisible in time, disappearing alongside the bag on his claw tips as he quickly backed away from his mother, who had stood up quickly as her eyes darted all over, tail already poised to attack.
Qibli made a quick dip through the floor and threw away the bag of weapons and then thought for a moment longer, he could now go back to inform everyone else, but his mother without a doubt will defend herself and then she would be killed.
It was clear that it would be for the best, and he knew that his mother was planning to trick him all along, and yet he couldn't bear the thought of that happening without him even getting the chance to at least truly try talking.
He went back to the attic, moving to the opposite extreme to give himself time if a chakram was suddenly thrown his way, and then he re-appeared.
"Mom?" Qibli said with uncertainty.
Cobra immediately turned, and her chakram just barely did not leave her talons with the way it looked she was about to just throw it. Her eyes were examining him without any emotion he was hoping for..
"It's you," she spat. "I was told of your earlier escapades with the Nightwing, but couldn't truly believe that you would ever do anything, let alone ruin everything."
Not the most promising way to start, and his mother just called him useless, but maybe this can still be fixed, just change things with the right words.
"What are you doing?" He questioned, and saw Cobra arch an eyebrow at him so he corrected himself. "What are you hoping to accomplish? In case you haven't looked outside, grandfather is losing. What will killing more do for you?"
"Your grandfather has often said he considered you one of the smarter dragons, but maybe now not so much if you think everything is just that simple," his mother snarled.
Qibli was taken off guard by that response, did Vulture still think that he had a chance of winning? How?
"Even if there's more to it, this organization lost too many numbers to grow back up anytime soon, grandfather's power took a big hit, so you don't have to stay here with him," Qibli tried to argue.
Cobra scoffed at that, her eyes never losing their dangerous glitter. "I'm actually able to think long term for my survival. And being on the wrong side of your queen is preferable to being on Vulture's wrong side," and then her gaze hardened more. "Speaking of, it appears you ignored my final lesson."
"What?" Qibli asked, actually not expecting these words.
"The day you finally left, I told you two things: every dragon looks out for themselves, and survival is the main priority! Your intent here is childish and obvious, you think you're going to "help" me, that you started talking instead of taking that opening to attack shows it," she said with a snarl.
"And then you refused your grandfather! You're on the wrong side, and you can't bet on Thorn remaining queen forever, her successor could very well become your enemy and you won't survive," she finished.
Oh, she's talking about Onyx. Oracle mentioned that Onyx would have kidnapped Ostrich to bait me here, and then she'd challenge Thorn due to her bloodline. So my mother believes in that outcome, and being against grandfather would mean being against this future queen. Qibli immediately reasoned.
"I can tell you're giving it some thought, maybe you're not a completely lost cause," Cobra mentioned, still staring at him.
And why is she mentioning this? Literally just to lecture me right now of all times? She called me out on seemingly not doing the best thing for my own survival and such… Is it because she cares about me making it out alive?
Qibli could feel his own heart rate quickening as he thought of that. Is his mother giving him a warning out of care? Worry? Was that it? Or is he just being delusional as he sadly already considered himself other times?
At the same time, his mother's tone was sounding similar to the one she used when starting to talk about business.
Cobra huffed. "If you are not going to say anything, then I will say this. If you are truly giving it enough, perhaps it's not too late for you yet. Go to your grandfather and tell him everything useful you gathered in that head of yours, and you should be spared."
And that's when Qibli felt his heart sink. Of course, it couldn't have truly been feeling worried for him, right? It was a way to put him on edge and think, a final attempt at getting him to betray his queen.
"I will not be doing that."
Cobra glared at him, and she didn't even look disappointed in her son, just looking with irritation.
"It seems after these years, you remain as just an annoyance," she stated, before launching the chakram at him with a quick twist of her talons at an incredible speed.
He literally had less than a second to react, as he both quickly moved his body sideways to hopefully prevent getting hit in any vital spot, and also thought of the magic words to turn invisible.
Luckily the spell took effect when the chakram was literally an inch away from touching him, so the sharp disc barely missed and phased through him instead.
He flapped his wings to not fall through the floor and made a quick dive for the weapon as it hit the wall behind him, but Cobra must have expected him to try taking away her tools as she suddenly launched a quick torrent of fire from her mouth that way when he had just re-appeared next to the disc to pick it up, but seeing the fire he had to disappear again and it actually singed his tail.
And right after he'd vanished again, Cobra had darted forward to retrieve her only weapon at the moment, holding it on her talons and looking all around the room with her sharp eyes.
Now this I can't do, she's the greatest assassin in the whole kingdom, even with a single one of these discs she could kill me.
She tried to kill me.
Qibli grimaced at the thought and tried to not think too hard about it, but of course failed when trying that.
Would she expect me to try confronting her head on now? Maybe she thinks I am just dumb enough to try that. Well, I'll go for another plan, no big fight with my mom.
He went down to the room where the bag had fallen over after he threw it, and snatched a disc for himself. With his invisibility and mobility he might just be able to temporarily disable his mother so she could be captured and prevent an outright confrontation with the soldiers that could lead to her actual death.
He flew once more into this hidden attic, and appeared first about six steps in front of his mother while already thinking of the words to vanish. Her reaction was instantaneous as she sliced forward with her weapon right as he disappeared again, second he took to dive forward and below her legs as he quickly placed the sharpened edges against one of her hind legs, drawing blood and making the limb recoil.
Even then she barely made much of a reaction besides a short grunt as she quickly breathed down a quick line of fire underneath herself, which was exactly what he wanted.
He disappeared, quickly went through Cobra as he held the disc in a throwing posture, then he appeared right above her and did two things at the same time: he threw the chakram back the very second he appeared towards her tail and near the barb, which jerked back.
And while hovering right above her, he had placed his own tail barb right against the back of her neck as it lightly touched her scales, causing the greatest assassin… To freeze.
Both knew perfectly well that this short confrontation was over, and that after so few steps there was already a checkmate.
Cobra did not move, after all it would be contradictory for someone that speaks so highly of survival, and the fact that Qibli hadn't stabbed her yet clearly showed that she might still have a chance to live.
"As things stand, you can't move your tail at me faster than I can just press mine on you, so first of all, drop the weapon," Qibli said in his most serious voice.
Her talons twitched slightly before she opened them and the disc landed on the ground with a short metallic clank.
"And now you will stand still as we wait for the others to arrive and have you restrained," he followed.
"You'll come to regret betraying your family's side," Cobra grumbled but didn't say any other words for the time being. Not moving or speaking when he started to call out the troops that he heard below, nor when a dozen soldiers flew into the secret room and surrounded her.
Her tail barb had the slightest of twitches as she was approached with bindings and restraints, But likely due to nobody very significant like Six-Claws outright getting closer to her for Cobra to try one more hit, she did not throw her life away like that.
And speaking of, Six-Claws called him over after his mother was fully restrained, tail immobilized as well, so he was able to get off.
"I was worried about where you might have run off to after you stopped appearing for a while. The queen won't be happy about this as you weren't really supposed to fight," he reprimanded him calmly.
Qibli felt some shame upon the thought of once more doing something that Thorn will very much dislike, but he held his gaze.
"I knew that if she were able to act freely, many on our side would be dead, and as she fought back she would be dead as well," he admitted, making Six-Claws nod slightly at his words.
"I imagined something along the lines when I saw you here with Cobra of all dragons, and I understand. But just hope that this victory may counter the queen's anger," he said before turning his head to Cobra.
"Where is Vulture? He has not made his own presence known, and after seeing this room I can only assume that there's plenty more of secrets," he tried to interrogate.
Cobra kept her mouth shut, so Six-Claws repeated himself again but she still did not answer. And what's more she decided to turn her head to the right and just looked down.
"Grandfather is gone?" Qibli asked with worry, imagining that he still kept the mirror with himself, they needed it.
"We're still searching, but we have gone through so many rooms and there's no signs of him," Six-Claws answered by shaking his head.
Qibli tried to look hopeful at his mother, if there's a dragon that might know of Vulture's escape plans, that should be her, and yet she just stubbornly kept looking down in the same direction…
He had a sudden thought and then decided to follow her gaze, she was just looking at the floor of this attic of course, but was that all?
"I'll do a quick search around, see if I find any secrets," he suddenly announced.
"Qibli, and in case you do find a secret, you don't plan to take matters in your own talons again, right?" Six-Claws asked.
"Of course not, the moment I see something I'll come back straight to you," he promised with honesty and turned invisible once more.
Qibli dived straight down through the floor and headed right, going across the base ground level and then one more floor while keeping the same direction.
And after a few moments he actually found something, he was currently hovering inside of a long tunnel with a low ceiling, on the ground he was able to spot very recent talonprints, and he was certain that he saw a very small flicker of light in the distance. Without a doubt he must have found Vulture's hidden escape route.
He quickly flew straight up to see where the entrance connected, and he saw that it was connected to one of the basements, the tunnel leading to a trapdoor that blended with the ground, and it was then also covered by a fancy carpet on a corner.
Without losing any time he flew back up to the base level where he saw many of Thorn's soldiers converging around the hallways, which showed the scale of the fighting as there was blood covering the fine walls, and bodies scattered over the halls and nearby rooms, black cloaks turned red.
"I found where Vulture has gone to," he immediately announced upon re-appearing. "Down the basement right below us, below a large blue carpet and through a trapdoor, it's a tight tunnel and it must lead far into the desert."
That's all they needed, after he said these words, several dragons were quickly starting to run down to the specified target, everyone wanting Vulture to finally be captured.
And then for just a moment, Qibli thought he felt Cobra gazing his way, but when he looked back she was just looking forward while standing as upright as she could.
After all this, he took a deep breath, they… Did it. Without a doubt a big majority of Vulture's militia had been brought down with just a few being captured. Cobra was restrained and if things worked out then his grandfather might be taken as well, or at least his escape should receive unexpected complications.
Feeling a mix of victory and tiredness, accumulated from the total mental toil across the day, he started walking past some of Thorn's troops as he walked his way to the courtyard, bringing out the enchanted stone.
Oracle? He called out softly with his mind. It's over, the Talons of Power from the prophecy were brought down, and grandfather is being currently chased. If you two are still in the courtyard then know that I am making my way there.
Qibli…! Oracle's thoughts replied with what could only be considered hope.
He reached the ruined down hallway, it wasn't as obstructed as it was earlier so he managed to walk across and step outside and reach the courtyard as he looked around.
Qibli saw something shifting and moving on the ground at some distance away from him, and like a veil being removed, Oracle suddenly appeared on the ground and stood up as fast as he could, his expression looking teary eyed and he was sniffling, but there was one of his quite adorable smiles in his expression as well as he ran closer.
Oracle looked terrible and he didn't even need to see him walk with a small limp to notice. In several places there were cuts against his black scales from which blood leaked, his face and legs looked very battered, and one of his wings was in an unnatural position.
But for now he had to shove these thoughts to the back of his mind as Oracle had literally leaped at his neck for a sudden hug, his body twitching as he pressed his head against his neck while letting out tears.
Qibli returned the hug, letting Oracle unwind as much as he would need, and hoping his friend may be able to recover from such a terrible experience.
"T-Thank you…! It… It was all so terrifying and… Horrible… I don't think I could bear spending another hour here… Thank you…" Oracle said with absolute gratefulness mixed with a deep sadness.
"I get it, and you won't have to, we're going back to the palace, we'll get you all patched up, and then I'll try to convince Thorn to give you absolute control over next day's meals," Qibli assured, and as he hoped, Oracle let out a little giggle.
"Y-Yeah…! Sounds great, I-I really would like that…"