Wings of Honor: Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 21: Saving Sora

Everything slowed.
I heard Moon shriek, a terrible noise that vibrated every bone in my body. She was sure the rock spear would impale the IceWing through the head or neck. The raindrops all vanished in a scream of terror from everyone in the cave.
Then she'll be dead, dead, dead! Sang one voice in the rising chaos in Moon's head.
But Icicle twisted out of the way at the last moment, and the stalactite shattered against the ground. Riddling the area with chunks of stony splinters,
There was a frozen minute of shock. Then I realized I was about on top of them
Oh, that's interesting. Darkstalker mused. In most of the futures I saw, that worked and she died. This changes ... many things.
Me and Moon didn't have time to respond to that; the whole cave erupted into chaos.
"Icicle!" Winter shouted. He spread his wings and sprang toward her, fighting past the dragons who were all stampeding the other way. Icicle was staring at the spot where it had fallen, her heart pounding. Even above everyone else, I could hear her fury and disbelief clearly.
Who DARED attack me? NIGHTWING!
I rolled away from her attempt to slash me.
"It wasn't me! Are you okay Icicle?"
I pinned her down, I was larger than her.
"By all the moons," Clay cried, runnning up. "How did that happen? Are you all right?"
"No!" Icicle roared, lashing her tail. I quickly got off her. "Someone tried to kill me!"
The niece of Queen Glacier! Qibli thought, and then reprimanded himself. Not the time, Qibli.
"What?" Clay and I looked up at the other stalactites in the alcove. "But — no — surely that was an accident. How — and who —"
"That was no accident." Winter said, pointing grimly at the spot where the fallen stalactite had hung. Claw marks were clear on the rock. Someone had scraped painstakingly through the spire until it had been barely suspended, ready to fall at the lightest touch.
"Sabotage." I whispered.
"But who —" Clay said again, searching his brain. She's unfriendly, but not bad enough to kill...
"I'll tell you what else," Icicle spat. "That bomb yesterday was probably meant for me, too. I'm the target." My eyes widened, the pieces all fell into place. "Someone was trying to kill me, and I'm going to find whoever it is and turn them into a glittering ice statue, which I will then beat to smithereens with my tail."
The thought alone sent a cold front up my spine that made me flinch.
Icicle was the target all along? Qibli and Moon exchanged looks with me. If she was right, what did that mean? Qibli's brain was rapidly organizing the students into possible categories of IceWing enemies — but Moon had an awful, awful sinking feeling that she already knew who this pointed to. Marvin had already come to the same conclusion
"You can't do that, and that's impossible anyway," Clay said again. "No one could have known who'd be in the cave when the cactus exploded. We think it was set to happen before class started — so there was no guarantee that you'd be in there then. If it was an assassination attempt against you, wouldn't they have made sure you were there?"
"I was supposed to be." Icicle hissed. "I'd planned to go early because I needed one of the scrolls. Just by luck, I decided to go by the underground lake first. Otherwise, I would have been in the history cave and I would now be dead."
"So who knew that?" Winter asked. "That would narrow it down. Did you tell anyone you were planning to go early?" Icicle snapped her jaw shut and stared at him and Clay, her pale blue eyes glittering.
Only one dragon, she thought. I only told one dragon that. So I know exactly who to kill.
A freezing shiver rattled down Moon's spine. The whole world realized it at the same time.
It's always the quiet ones.
Sora.
Moon turned and bolted out of the cave. I have to find her first.
I chased after her, barely on her tail. She didn't know exactly what she was going to do, but she had very clearly seen what Icicle planned for her clawmate, and both of us knew we couldn't let that happen.
Even though Sora hurt Tamarin, Carnelian, and Bigtail. Even though she could have killed any of us. Didn't she care? What about Umber? She must have delayed him.... She would never hurt him.
Sora, where are you?
Moon raced through the tunnels, checking the library first. Starflight was in there, alone. He lifted his head, startled, as she sprinted through, but she didn't stop. She didn't have time to explain or ask for help; she knew Icicle would be on Sora's trail any second.
"No time! Emergency!" I only shouted to him.
I followed her into the Great Hall, where she stopped to catch her breath and reached out with her mind. The music cave? The underground lake? The art cave? What was Sora thinking about?
An image of Tamarin came through. Sora had gone back to the infirmary.
Moon whirled and dashed toward that corridor, as did I. At the mouth of the tunnel, she collided hard with a small brown dragon, and for a confused moment she thought she'd found Sora already.
"You're not safe —" she started to gasp, and then realized it wasn't Sora she ran into. It was Umber.
"I'm not? What?" He said, confused.
"Sorry, not you, I have to —" She stepped around him.
"Wait," Umber said. "What's wrong?"
"Moon, you have to tell him." We both turned and saw Qibli hurrying across the Great Hall. He'd seen us run; he knew that she'd figured it out, and one of the three guesses in his head was even right.
But if I tell Umber what his sister did, it'll destroy him, she thought. If he even believes me.
I knew Qibli hadn't been there, she would have kept running — she would have dealt with Sora herself. In his mind, though, she found a lightning-fast list of reasons to tell Umber that she would never have thought of herself. He wasn't consciously sending them to her, but they were all there on the surface as he struggled with what to do.
He may not understand, but he'll want to protect her. He can do that better than you can. You need someone to help you if you're planning to stand in Icicle's way. He needs to know the truth about her, the way you'd want to know if someone in your family did this. He's good and loyal; he's the only one who can help her. And if Sora is still dangerous, he may also be the only one who can stop her.
Moon met Qibli's eyes. He was right about all of that. "Umber," she said, "I'm sorry, I have to tell you something awful."
"Oh, no," Umber said. His face twisted and it was almost like his heart spoke rather than his mind. Sora? Marsh? Clay?
"We know who set the bomb yesterday," Qibli said.
"And she just tried to kill Icicle," Moon said.
Umber took a step back, shaking his head. "No. It's not true." But he saw the pieces falling into place and knew it was. Pheasant thought this would be too much for her. But I thought she was stronger than this — I thought we were all better now.
The burden of soldiers started seeping through Marvin to me. The whole world seemed to crush me.
"It was Sora," Moon said gently. "And Icicle knows it, too. We have to get to her before Icicle finds her, or she's dead."
He didn't argue anymore. He didn't ask how they knew. He just turned and ran, and we followed.
Up the winding stone tunnel, claws scraping against the rock, wings pulled in, tails hitting the walls as we ran.
Why? Why would she do this? Umber kept thinking, over and over in a jagged rhythm.
Moon didn't know. Of all the things she'd learned and all the thoughts she'd read, and she'd still missed it. I missed it. Quiet Sora had taught herself to bury her thoughts so she couldn't even hear them herself. So many things scared her that the only way to deal with them was to push them under and stop them from entering her brain in the first place. Whatever she felt about Icicle, it was hidden under all the mud, buried deep along with her nightmares and memories of the war. Buried... until bursting point. Once she saw Icicle. Marvin was right to be suspicious.
They burst into the healing cave, me and Marvin right behind them. Sora was crouched by Tamarin's bedside, crying. Kinkajou was not there — but she just left, Moon realized. Sora asked her to leave — so she could apologize to Tamarin. The blind RainWing was still unconscious, wrapped in bandages from wings to tail.
Sora looked up and saw it in our eyes. "I'm sorry, Umber," she sobbed, collapsing forward. "I didn't mean for anyone else to get hurt."
"Oh, Sora," Umber said. He went over and put his wings around her. "Sora. Sora, I love you anyway. But why did you do it?"
She covered her face with her claws. "Don't you know who she is?" Her words came in gasps, between hiccups and sobs.
I couldn't ignore or escape the flood of images from Sora's mind. Moon felt them like a waterfall, pounding along her wings; a waterfall she could suddenly see, over an open plain with rivers running through it to the ocean. A battle was raging. Brown dragons and white dragons grappled in the air, trading fire and frostbreath, roaring with fury and pain and rage.
And there was little Sora, darting through the melee. Her face was set grimly, a war face; behind her, Marsh was close on her tail, his features wracked with fear. A pair of IceWings lashed out at them with their serrated claws and Sora just managed to pull Marsh out of the way in time. They swooped around to try again.
"Reed!" Sora cried out. "Help us!"
A big MudWing dove toward them, swatting IceWings aside with his tail as he flew. But another MudWing got there first — a thin brown female that Moon had seen in Sora and Clay's relatives before. She slashed one IceWing through the neck, a spirt of blue blood, and then twisted to set the other IceWing on fire. He flapped away, shrieking and batting at the flames along his wings.
"Thank you, Crane." Marsh called back with relief.
Their sister turned to smile at Marsh and Sora. And then an IceWing plummeted out of the sky, out of nowhere but seen from a mile away, seized Crane in her talons, and slit her throat.
"No!" Sora screamed with a voice that brought tears to my and Marvin's eyes.
The IceWing turned to give her a malicious, triumphant grin.
It was Icicle.
The memory faded, but the destroyed feeling hung heavily on my chest. I shook, finding it hard to breath.
"She killed Crane," Sora sobbed into Umber's shoulder. "I saw her. I saw her. She's the one who killed our sister."
"Sora, how can you be sure?" he asked, pulling her close. "It was a terrible battle. There were a hundred IceWings there, and we were all fighting for our lives. Your memory could be playing tricks on you." She could be finding the enemy of her nightmares in the first IceWing face she saw here. Umber thought. Or else, if she's right, we have the worst luck in the world. Ending up in the same cave as Crane's murderer? I would have lost my mind, too.
So would I. Marvin admitted.
Moon didn't think that was true. Umber's mind was a lot more resilient than Sora's. She could see that — and now she could also see that she was not as much like Sora as she'd thought. Perhaps they were both shy, but Sora was also fragile — too fragile for the awful things she'd been through. Too fragile for war.
For war I've seen. Marvin's tone struck fear in me.
I'm afraid there may be awful things ahead for you, too, little Moon. Darkstalker whispered.
But I'm not fragile. Moon said, which was true. I won't be fragile. I refuse.
I think you're right about that. He at least agreed.
"I'm sure it was her," Sora said. "I'm not crazy, Umber. I got a scroll to look up IceWing physiognomy; I made sure she'd been on the front lines. I couldn't ask more specific questions without making her suspicious. But I knew what she did, and I couldn't let her live."
"The war is over, Sora," Umber protested.
"This had nothing to do with the war," she softly said.
"But what about everyone else?" Qibli asked. "Didn't you care if the rest of us died?"
"You nearly killed three dragons." My heart broke through, tears blurring my vision.
Sora couldn't meet my eyes. "I thought she'd be the only one in there. I've never used a dragonflame cactus before — I expected it to go off sooner. And she should have been in there. I can't believe I failed twice." She gave Tamarin an anguished look. "And then the other two dragons — and poor Tamarin — but it's just collateral damage, isn't it, Umber? We learned about that from the SkyWing generals."
He shook his head, unable to speak. Marvin did as well.
War isn't hell. Hell punishes evildoers. War punishes everybody.
"And then everyone was looking at me," Sora whispered. "Everyone was thinking about me and how awful I am and how much they hate me. They could see right through me, I know they could."
"No, Sora." I said, Moon backed me up.
"they weren't, truly. Dragons think mostly about themselves. Everyone is so worried about what other dragons think of them, they hardly stop to decide what they think of everyone else. Believe me, no one is thinking about you as much as you think they are." She'd finally realized how reassuring that was. All her self-doubt and nerves and feeling like an outsider — once she paid attention to what she could hear around her, it turned out those were the things that made her the most normal. It turned out that was how everyone felt. "And certainly no one is thinking about you as much as you are thinking about you."
"Except maybe Icicle," Qibli said abruptly. "Who is coming to kill you right now." Moon jumped; she'd almost forgotten about that.
"We need to get you to Sunny and Tsunami so you can confess and they can keep you safe." I finished his thought, already starting for the door, looking down the hallway.
"We can't!" Umber cried. "I'm sorry, but if we do that, Sora ends up dead. Either Icicle will find a way to kill her, or Queen Ruby will demand an eye for an eye for Carnelian."
I shivered.
He's right, Darkstalker muttered. Handing her over leads to very few paths where Sora is alive two months from now. But otherwise you're letting a killer go free.
You hinted at this once, didn't you? Moon thought, remembering. Send a friend to her death, or help a killer escape. You meant Sora.
"We'll leave now," Umber said. "I'll go with her. I'll keep her safe." And keep everyone else safe from her, his mind finished the thought.
"But then you'll be a fugitive, too," Sora said. "And what about Marsh?"
"Clay will get him back to Reed and Pheasant," Umber said. He turned to Qibli and me. "Please tell Clay everything — tell him we're sorry — I know he'll understand. But if we involve him, the queens will shut down the school. We have to leave without saying good-bye." Umber blinked back tears.
I nodded to her.
Should we stop them? Qibli was thinking. What's the right thing to do? What would Thorn do? Sora's not well and I don't want her to be killed — but she did kill Carnelian and Bigtail — and tried to kill Icicle. But she needs to be taken care of — and where does the cycle end? If Icicle kills Sora, wouldn't Umber or Marsh be justified in killing her? And then wouldn't Winter want to kill them? Isn't the whole point that the war is supposed to be over? Replacing it with a series of vengeance killings is not going to make the world any better or safer.
But then we heard Icicle's thoughts, coming closer and closer. Sora saw the panic rapidly flowing onto my face.
She made up her mind. "Go," Moon said, stepping toward the window, an opening just big enough for Sora to squeeze through.
"As fast and as far as you can. Godspeed and God's bless." I choked my words.
"Thank you," Sora whispered. She squeezed Umber's talons and darted toward the window. At the edge, she turned to look back at Moon. "It was self-defense, too. Beware of Icicle, Moon. She talks about killing all the time, even in her sleep."
"What does she say?" Moon asked.
"Our very first night here," Sora said, "when I still wasn't sure — I was almost sure it was her, but I thought I must be mad, and I couldn't let myself sleep because what if she did the same thing to me that she did to Crane? And then in her sleep, she muttered, 'Killing is easy enough.' That's when I knew. She's a murderer and she won't stop until someone does what I failed to do."
An icy breeze blew over me, making me shiver. Why does that sound familiar?
"Let's go, Sora," Umber said sadly.
Qibli stepped forward and twined his tail around Umber's for a moment. I felt Umber's longing and heartbreak and loyalty like a physical pain in my chest. My heart broke ten times over. Marvin had experienced this before, which only made it worse. Umber leaned forward to give Qibli a quick hug, and then Moon, and finaly me, before he scrambled up after his sister.
Not a moment later, they were gone, two small shapes winging away into the dark clouds. A single tear ran down my face, falling onto the dark stone below me.
Moon turned to Qibli, realization dawning on her.
"Icicle is the one conspiring with Queen Scarlet," she said.
Killing is easy enough. Moon had heard those exact words in the first dreamvisitor conversation. That's why I recognized it.
Then I noticed that the violent blizzard of Icicle's mind had veered off; she wasn't thinking about just Sora anymore. She was thinking about the caves where Sunny, Clay, Tsunami, and Starflight lived.
"We have to go, NOW." I said, eyes wide. "Icicle may not get to kill Sora, but that's not her only target today."