The War's Prophecy

WE FOUND IT!

Battle training was somehow going well. The ten of them were in a group lesson. "The others can make their own plans for fighting, but I have a plan for Hawk." Equinox nodded. They each split into groups. Widow and Frostblood matched Mephitic. CocoaDust, Iceseeker, and Scorpio were matched against Riptide. Lily and Cove fought Jaguar. Goldfeather, Juniper, and Equinox fought Hawk.

Widow had no fancy abilities, but she had strategy. She whispered something to Frostblood, and she nodded. Widow jumped onto Mephitic and hit him in just the right spot on his arm, the spot that if you hit it, it would hurt and be all tingly. Mephitic tensed. A little bit of whitish-orange flicked along his arm. He laughed. "That's your best attempt?" He shot a jet of venom at Frostblood. She ducked and rolled under it. He slashed at her arm, where she had literally one failure tally. Abruptly, Frostblood blew her frostbreath at his legs, then at the ground, trapping Mephitic in place. He smacked the ice with his tail, and it cracked a little bit. Frostblood froze his tail down as well and reinforced the rest of it. "Okay, what now?" Mephitic asked with an annoying sneer. Frostblood jumped onto his back. The impact and weight of two dragonets knocked him down. Frostblood froze Mephitic's wings down. Widow pretended to snap his neck. "Well done," Mephitic said.

Iceseeker, Scorpio, and CocoaDust spent about two seconds planning. That group was known for playing it spontaneous. CocoaDust grabbed Riptide's head and pulled it close to his own, masking it in the enchanted shadows. Riptide slashed at his claws, but his grip stayed strong. Scorpio barreled into Riptide's side. They rolled for a bit, one on top of the other. It eventually ended with Riptide on top. He reached for Scorpio's horn, but Scorpio grabbed his arm and twisted it until the bone inside snapped. Riptide roared in pain. Juniper looked over at them. "Scorpio! That was not necessary!"

"I don't care!"

"I don't care if you don't care!"

"Whatever!" Scorpio proceeded. Riptide was standing on Scorpio's tail, pinning it. Iceseeker showed up behind and dug his serrated claws into Riptide's ankle. His footing stumbled, and Scorpio managed to free his tail. He looped it around Riptide's neck and gently poked his neck with his tail, but it twitched and went a bit far. Iceseeker leaped onto Riptide's back, grabbed his neck, and fake-strangled him. Riptide collapsed, but it was mostly from the sting on his neck and his broken arm. "You win," he croaked.

Lily and Cove were fighting Jaguar. They, too, spent about five seconds strategizing. Lily camouflaged herself and wrapped her wings around Cove. They moved somewhere by a stalactite. Cove could see Lily better than anyone because of how she saw colors. Lily pointed to Cove, then to Cove's tail, then to Jaguar's talons and ankles. Then she pointed to herself, and gestured a pinning pose. Then Lily pointed to Cove again, then to Jaguar's head. Cove nodded. She was also really good at understanding what Lily was trying to say. Cove quickly ran over to Jaguar and smacked her hard in the side with her tail. Then she whacked her in the "spots" on her arms and legs. Jaguar lost her balance. Cove had her right where she wanted her. She jumped onto Jaguar's back, and Jaguar collapsed from the weight. Lily ran over, still camouflaged, and hopped onto Jaguar, pinning her. Cove hit Jaguar hard on the head, knocking her out. Lily shot some venom, and it landed on the ground. But they were supposed to pretend to kill their opponents. "High five!" Cove said. They hit each other's talons.

Goldfeather, Juniper and Equinox were a more Plan-and-Go group. Juniper made a makeshift dome for planning privacy. "Alright. Goldfeather, this is where your silk comes in handy. Immobilize Hawk with that. Just, please don't burn her. Equinox, you need to get her in the right spot. I found a pitcher plant somewhere. Do you catch my drift?" Everyone nodded. Then Equinox stopped Juniper from lowering the dome. "Wait- what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Standard battle until she's in the right spot? I'll mark where the pitcher plant is." Juniper lowered the dome and grew a small shrub where the pitcher plant was. Equinox and Hawk grappled, Equinox slowly leading her in the right direction. She tackled Hawk, and messed with her footing by smacking all her legs. Slowly but surely, they got to the right spot. Goldfeather appeared out of nowhere and stuck all of Hawk's appendages down with her sticky type of silk. Juniper opened out her leafspeak. "I could use your help," she said to the pitcher plant. She sent energy into it, letting it grow. She quickly grew the pitcher plant right where Hawk was standing. It swallowed Hawk whole. Juniper heard something crack and looked over to Riptide to see Scorpio breaking his arm.

"Scorpio! That was not necessary!"

"I don't care!"

"I don't care if you don't care!"

"Whatever!"

Juniper scoffed. Once all the guardians were down, Mephitic made the ending bird call. "The session is over!" Equinox(whose arm was covered in blood, thank you very much, Hawk) walked over to Mephitic and melted the ice pinning him down. Frostblood dragged an unconscious Jaguar out of the cave. CocoaDust dragged Riptide(who still would not stand up) out. Juniper negotiated with the pitcher plant to let Hawk go. "I officially hate you three." Hawk grumbled. They all left the training cave. Hawk reluctantly washed the slime off of herself in the river, then dragged Jaguar to the guardians' cave. Juniper went to grab the brightsting cactus. Mephitic nearly set himself on fire trying to warm up his arms and legs and wings. Juniper squirted some cactus juice on Riptide's sting while giving Scorpio a long lecture about unnecessary aggression(which Scorpio fell asleep about halfway through). The guardians went to have one of their "grownup talks." Everyone else went to do things. Equinox and Juniper were the only dragons left in the cave. Equinox went back to her favorite topic. "Any ideas where the exit might be?"

"I could ask the ivy," Juniper offered. She reached her leafspeak into the cave walls. "Do you know where the exit is?" The plants whispered to each other. Eventually, one simply said, "Door..."

Eh