The SkyWing Animus

~Chapter 3~

Wildfire's P.O.V.

"I wish I could shield myself from Moon's mind-reading," Snowstorm sighed after the lesson. "Do you think anyone can do that?"

"Yeah- do you see the armband Turtle is wearing?" Wildfire asked, pointing her claw to the SeaWing. "In it, there are three black rocks- two now, since Turtle gave Northstar one of them called skyfire. If a dragon is wearing or touching skyfire, Moon can't read their minds."

Snowstorm looked impressed. "How did you know that?"

"I overheard it," Wildfire said. "I wonder if Turtle can use his animus-touched bowl to make more skyfire, enough for everyone at Jade Mountain. Then all our thoughts would be private."

"That WOULD be cool," Snowstorm said. "No pun intended. But if everyone had skyfire, Moon wouldn't see the bad things they were planning. Like, what if someone was plotting murder and they had skyfire? They might get away with murder if Moon didn't see it in their thoughts. We're lucky that last time it happened, nobody knew about the skyfire. Speaking of which, when can I get a pair? And isn't the new dragon so cool?"

"Has anyone told you you talk a lot?" Wildfire laughed.

"My parents do all the time," Snowstorm replied, returning his smile.

Just then, Northstar ran to them. "H-hey guys..." she said uneasily. He's still shocked about an actual mind reader in his winglet, Wildfire thought. Poor dragon.

Northstar swallowed. "D- did you guys see where the SeaWings went?" she asked, fidgeting with her claws.

"To the prey center, like everyone else," the IceWing answered. "Hey, maybe we'll see you there!"

"Maybe," Northstar said, looking like that was the last thing she wanted. She was gone before Wildfire could say anything else.

"Huh," Snowstorm said. "I wonder why she wants to see the SeaWings."

"Probably because they're from the same tribe," Wildfire shrugged. "Well, kind of, anyways."

They continued talking as they walked into the prey center. Wildfire's clawmates were already there- Wildfire and Snowstorm were the last to arrive.

"Hey, guys!" Amber called cheerfully. "You were a bit late!"

"I have my excuses," Wildfire said wryly.

"Lunch! Finally!" crowed Snowstorm. He dug his claws in the nearest chicken and promptly slit its throat.

Moonwatcher was looking at her very strangely, though. Like she just took a dragon egg and threw it off a cliff.

What's her deal?

Did she read Wildfire's mind and find her secret? No, if she did, she would confront her straightaway.

Unless.

Unless she had a vision about Wildfire, glimpsed a future where she lost her soul.

Did she?

Wildfire looked down at her claws. How many spells had she cast? How much of her soul had she lost?

How much of it was left?

"Wildfire," Snowstorm said. Snowstorm sounded slightly concerned. "Aren't you hungry?"

"I am," Wildfire lied. "I was thinking, um, that I wanted to hunt outside. See you soon!"

She ran outside before Snowstorm could ask any questions.

The sky was clear and blue. Leaping into the sky, Wildfire soared towards the clouds. They felt damp and wet against Wildfire's scales.

In the sky, among the clouds, Wildfire felt so free. She let her worries melt like a snowflake in the desert. She knew that soon enough, they would come back, but right now, they were as distant as the moons.

Oh, wait, she had to hunt. Wildfire somehow managed to forget about that. She sighed. She did NOT want to go hunting, but the thought of lying to her clawmates- to Snowstorm- stopped her.

I'll make it quick.

She eyed the landscape, but instead of finding a stray goat, she spotted Northstar.

The SeaWing-IceWing hybrid looked extremely nervous. She scanned the sky, and Wildfire, on impulse not to be seen, dove back into the clouds. She was glad to be a SkyWing, with eagle-sharp eyes, so she could see exactly what was going on.

Northstar took a deep breath and suddenly-

wasn't.

there.

What happened? Wildfire scanned the landscape in bewilderment. Where did she go?

Had her eyes tricked her?

Did she hallucinate Northstar turning invisible?

Was Northstar even there?

Am I going insane?

Wildfire rubbed her amber eyes. I can always cast a spell to find out what's going on.

But what if she had hallucinated Northstar? Casting a spell would be a waste of soul and magic.

Do not worry about this! she ordered her brain. Dragons cannot turn invisible. Other than RainWings, of course. You are just hallucinating. It is simply something you ate.

Speaking of eating- she still needed to hunt.

She caught a mountain goat and brought it back to the prey center, shaking the invisible dragon out of her mind.