The Fallen Star

Chapter 4

The group sulked through the trees, Sunny and Starflight taking up the rear, Dune constantly turning around to make sure everyone was there.

"Alright, keep your eyes peeled everyone, we're entering the mud kingdom, and when I was still in the war the mudwings were against the side I was on, so its best if we arent seen..."

"Wait, the mud kingdom?" Clay piped up "Does that mean I can find my family?"

Starflight shook his head "That would only go bad for us, I can tell... we can find Clay's siblings but at the same time we'd lose Dune, Tsunami, and potentially Sunny... so its best we don't." Tsunami scoffed when Starflight said she could die in one of the timelines, Dune looked saddened and Sunny looked horrified.

"What if I went alone?" Clay asked, sounding somewhat hurt.

"Someone would follow you back... our best option is staying on the outskirts and out of sight, there's next to no futures we wander strait through the kingdom and we all make it out alive." Starflight held his head "I'm sorry, Clay, but we cant take this risk..."

Clay sighed and stared at the kingdom through the trees "Alright... I guess..."

Glory rolled her eyes "Clay, cow leg?"

Clay immediately got back into a good and started chewing on the cow leg happily.

"Hey Dune?" Sunny called from the back suddenly, making Starflight jump slightly to which she tried to comfort him and get him less jumpy. "Can you tell us how you know Tho- er- my mother?"

Dune sighed as he kept walking "Well if it will get you to stop asking... I might as well start from the beginning..."

All the dragonets were interested, even Tsunami and Glory who weren't exactly fond of Dune.

He cleared his throat "Back when I was around age 4, when Queen Oasis was still alive, I was stuck into a daycare in the palace where I met my best friend, his name was Six-claws and he had six claws if it wasn't obvious, but we were best friends, almost like brothers neither of us had." he chuckled "I was so carefree and naïve back then... anyways, after Oasis was killed by the scavengers and the princesses went off to make their alliances, Six-claws' family joined Burn's side, so of course, I followed."

"Wait a moment-" Clay cut in "Aren't the mudwings on Burn's side?"

"Back then they weren't, but when Blister and the seawings split off from them, Burn saw it as an opportunity to drag them onto her side. Before that happened we had a battle with icewings, how most of this happened..." he spread his tattered wings and lifted his amputated leg stump "Most of this was icewings, but when Six-claws questioned Burn's orders, she took care of the rest by going after me... while I was unconscious... Six-claws and Kindle, the medic who did her best to fix me up, carried me away from Burn and to the Scorpion den, Six-claws always said that someone in the shadows had convinced him to leave Burn... I always thought he was talking nonsence, but anyways, back to the story, thats where we joined the outclaws, a group of runaway sandwings who wanted nothing to do with the war, led by your mother, Thorn. Soon she expected an egg... with... well, he's not important..."

Sunny tilted her head at him but he kept talking. "Like I said, Thorn was expecting an egg, you, and to avoid any issue, she hid it in the desert, only me and Six-claws knew... she trusted us..." he seemed to be tearing up a bit "And I broke that trust for the sake of a prophecy..."

Everyone had gone silent until Sunny walked up to him "You did the right thing... I would have wanted you to take me for the prophecy anyways..."

"Wow..." Tsunami mumbled "I would not have expected you, of all dragons, to cry in front of us..."

"Its uh... its rough being so far from home... giving everything up... but this is for the sake of ending the war..." Dune sighed.

"Never thought I'd feel sorry for you..." Glory said, sounding not sarcastic for once.

"I hate to put this elaborate backstory to rest like this..." Starflight mumbled just loud enough for everyone to hear as he rubbed his head "but I think we have company..." He pointed somewhere in the trees before falling to his knees in pain, Sunny rushed over and tried to help him up as a dark nightwing landed in front of them.

"Hello Dune... hate to interrupt but I'm going to need these five..." he spoke eerily.

"No you aren't, it is my duty to protect them!  And how do you know my name?" Dune growled as he gently moved the dragonets behind him.

"Well, I was sent to find you by Morrowseer, said to kill you and the rainwing and bring back the other four, but I'd  rather not kill anyone... especially not someone as beautiful as that rainwing..." he chuckled, earning a angered hiss and bright red scales with a slight hint of pink from Glory.

"What do you mean Morrowseer sent you? Who even are you?"

"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself..." he pulled out a couple of chakrams and spun them around on his talons "My name is Deathbringer..."