It was impossible to ignore all the explosions.

Carnelian hugged her little brother, Condor, in a little nook. The two of them had been lost in one of the battles of the war. They didn't know where they were, they just knew they weren't anywhere close to home. Condor was just a one-year-old dragonet then, three years younger than Carnelian.

"Carnelian?" Condor asked. "When will it be over? I'm tired of the war."

"Soon," Carnelian whispered. "But I have to go."

"But I want you to stay!" Condor whined.

"Stay hidden, Condor," Carnelian whispered. "Don't let them find you."

And Carnelian left the cave, concealing her little brother carefully.

She knew she had to fight. It was her dream to be the General one day. She guarded against Blaze's forces as best as she could. SandWings and IceWings were fighting her kin, and slowly winning.

Then she saw the SandWing coming towards her. He was holding something, but she wasn't sure what it was. A cactus? Probably not the best weapon. As the SandWing charged at her, Carnelian shot a long burst of flame in his face. He screamed and flung himself at Condor's hiding place. He held the cactus up to his burning face.

And then the explosion happened.

It felt like life turned slow. It felt like Carnelian was living in a nightmare. She tried to run, but her muscles stayed put, forcing her to watch the scene.

"No," Carnelian whispered.

"Condor."

Distract yourself, Carnelian thought. She had been sitting by the history cave (Boring class, really) by herself for ten minutes now. Was it time to start? She hadn't heard any gongs.

Well, it never hurt to be early.

As Carnelian walked towards the entrance of the history cave, she remembered how much Winter acted like her late brother. Whiny, grumpy, but had an obsession with scavengers. She laughed to herself despite the absurd coincidence. She took a seat at her desk and something bumped her foot. She looked around, but saw nobody except for Tamarin (Kinkajou's life and soul) cowering in a corner.

"Something's burning," Tamarin whispered in a timid voice. Carnelian slowly looked down under her desk.

A burning rope— a fuse.

In horror, Carnelian leapt up from her desk and followed the rope, which was burning faster and faster. When she saw what it led to, her heart froze.

The cactus.

The same type of cactus that had killed her brother.

Instantly Carnelian attempted stepping on the flame to put it out, which was a mistake. She zipped her talon back and watched helplessly as the flame grew closer and closer.

"Tamarin," Carnelian said, her blood ice cold. "Get out of here right now."

Hearing this, Tamarin rushed for the door but stumbled over a stray scroll. Carnelian looked at the cactus and realised that she had approximately seven seconds to defuse it.

One.

Carnelian picked up the cactus and ran for the cave exit.

Two.

Three.

"BOMB!" Carnelian yelled. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Four.

Dragonets all around her cleared the area.

Five.

Carnelian flung the cactus into the center of the clearance. Hopefully it was clear enough so that nobody would get hurt.

Six.

"Let me go, Moon!" Winter shouted, pushing his way through the crowd as Carnelian's eyes widened. Sure enough, Moonwatcher was dragging him back, pleading him not to go to the history cave.

"WINTER!" Carnelian yelled, leaping to push him out of the way.

Seven.