A Drop of Magic (A Wings of Fire Fanfiction)

Chapter Fourteen

Droplet hurried down the tunnel on the other side of the cave, whispering "see" as she went to let her invisibility fade away. The passage led deeper into the dungeon, winding downwards in a lazy spiral. 

The first few cells were empty. Just caves set into the wall, separated from the tunnel by bars and metal doors. The torches sent flickering shadows dancing across the packed dirt walls, turning every patch of darkness into a dragon about to pounce. Droplet was terrified, jumping at every hint of movement created by the flickering light, freezing at the echo of her own footsteps. 

Stay focused. If I mess up now, all of the SeaWings and I are in trouble. Not to mention the rest of Pyrrhia. 

She almost passed the first occupied cell, doubling back at the sound of breathing. What she had thought was just shadows and torchlight turned out to be the RainWing dragonet, curled at the back wall of the little cave, her scales glum shades of grey and green. 

"Hello." Droplet whispered, pulling the key from her pouch. "Are you awake?" 

Slowly, the RainWing lifted her head and peered at Droplet. She blinked, waves of blue-green confusion rippling across her scales. 

"My name is Droplet. I'm going to get you out of here." Droplet said, fitting the key in the lock on the door and pulling it open. The RainWing sat up, her eyes wide. Droplet approached her slowly, holding out the key. "Can I do the band on your snout?" 

The RainWing hesitated, then nodded. Droplet took her snout and carefully inserted the key, turning it with a faint click. She pulled the clasps apart and the band fell off the RainWing's snout. 

"Oh my gosh, thank you." The RainWing squealed, flapping her wings as waves of gold washed across her scales. Excitement, if Droplet remembered her RainWing colour chart correctly. "My name's Lilac. It's nice to meet you. What are you doing here? Also how are you here? This place is pretty much top security, from what I could see." 

"Shh." Droplet hissed. "I'm being stealthy. I need to be quick, if I'm going to get everyone out of here. How many dragons are there, do you know?" 

Lilac scrunched up her snout, thinking. "I've only been here a few days, but I think not too many. The idea is they're stealing away few enough dragons so as not to arouse suspicion, and most have just joined up with that SandWing out there. What's up with that, by the way?" 

"It's a long story." 

"This seems like a long job. You can explain on the way." Lilac said, beaming at Droplet. "It's so good to be able to talk again! Will you do my wings?" 

She turned so Droplet could see the clasps on each wing that would prevent her from flying. Droplet nodded and quickly unlocked them, catching each clasp and setting them gently on the ground. 

"Thanks. Now what do we do?" Lilac asked in a whisper that was only marginally softer than a shrieking hippo. 

"First, quiet down a bit." Droplet hissed, a little surprised by the word 'we'. She had assumed the dragons she freed would flee as soon as they could, not stay and help her. But she would take all the help she could get. "We're going to free all of the dragons imprisoned here, and then we're going to fly out of here and warn the queens what they're planning." 

"Sounds like a plan." Lilac said, nodding. "Come on." 

She led the way down the tunnel, her scales fading to a rippling brown-grey that camouflaged well with the packed dirt walls of the tunnel. 

The next cell held a SkyWing, and Lilac explained the situation while Droplet set about freeing him. 

"You can get out of here if you like." Droplet said when she was done. The SkyWing stood in the tunnel, his wings taking up most of the space. "We're going to free the rest of the dragons here." 

The SkyWing growled. "I'll wait up there and keep watch. Be quick, though. If the SandWing's guards find out about this, I'm going to fight my way out, not back in to get you two." 

Droplet nodded, and the SkyWing turned and swept back down the tunnel. She noticed a wistful expression on Lilac's face. 

"You can go too, if you like." Droplet offered. "You have camouflage scales, so you can probably sneak out without anyone noticing. I'd understand." 

Lilac blinked, and shook herself. "No way, I'm staying. I'm one of queen Glory's best scouts. I'm not leaving here just to run away." 

"Suit yourself." Droplet said, but once Lilac wasn't looking, she allowed herself a small smile. 

Together, they made their way through cell after cell, sending the freed dragons down the tunnel to wait in the cave with the SkyWing. 

"I think that's the last one." Lilac said as they watched a MudWing's tail disappear down the tunnel. 

"What about the humans? They must be kept somewhere down here." Droplet pointed out. 

"True. Let's look around." Lilac agreed. The tunnel turned sharply, opening into a small cave filled with weapon racks and chains and unlit torches. 

"There." Lilac said, rushing over to a cage at the back. Inside, seven humans were trapped. Most slumped against each other on the floor, but two seemed to be trying to escape. One stood on the other's shoulders to reach the lock, and was poking at it with some sort of small metal rod. 

"Excuse me." Lilac said slowly, like she was talking to a one year old dragonet. "Do any of you speak dragon?" 

The humans made panicked squeaks, and the two trying to reach the keyhole stumbled and fell, tumbling on top of each other in a heap of limbs and claw-less paws. 

"We are going to get you out of here." Lilac said even more slowly. 

"I don't think they can understand you, no matter how slow you talk." Droplet said, and Lilac tilted her head. 

"I guess not. How do we get them out of here, then?" 

"Um..." Droplet glanced at a small stack of carrots. "You don't think we could lure them out, do you?" 

Lilac followed her gaze and shrugged. "I think they may be smarter than that, but if they're hungry, I'd say it's worth a shot." 

A few minutes later, the cage was unlocked and Droplet and Lilac were unsuccessfully trying to lure them down the tunnel. 

"We're helping you, humans!" Lilac growled, which only seemed to make them more panicked. They ran around the cave on their odd little legs, squeaking and chirping to each other. One grabbed an unlit torch and brandished it at the dragons, squeaking loudly. 

"Okay, we don't have time for this." Lilac said, grabbing a sac from the floor. She pounced on one of the humans and stuffed it inside. "Sorry! I'll let you out soon, promise." 

"Shouldn't we try to communicate with them?" Droplet asked, wincing as Lilac grabbed another human and tossed it in her sac. 

"They're too panicked." Lilac said, shifting her grip on the sac. "And we don't have much time. We need to be quick, and I think this is the best way to get them out of here. It's not like we're hurting them, and it's much better than being eaten by those dragons out there." 

Droplet sighed, relenting, and picked up a sac. Together, she and Lilac made quick work of the scavengers, and soon they each had a writhing, squeaking bundle. 

"Shh." Lilac hissed at her sac, frowning. "Okay, I don't think we're going to get out of here stealthily. We'll just have to be quick." 

Droplet nodded, shifting her grip on her sac. "Let's go."