Wings of Honor: Saving Grace

Chapter 4: Team Up With Turtle

It was a shaky day, and an even more shaky evening.
Word spread like a prairie wildfire. Compounded by the fact the History cave explosion happened less than a week ago, and was thus still fresh on everybody's minds, tens of dragons were still awake through the night. Every time I got close to falling asleep, my own sleepy self would mumble out something, and somehow reopen my mind. So close to sleep, then suddenly jerked awake by hundreds of ethereal voices, all talking over each other and filled with anxiety. My chest would feel like it was wrapped around by the largest snake in the world, preventing new breaths, and slowly squeezing every time I exhale. I kept myself from attracting too much attention, in my little cave.
Moon's and Kinkajou's and Carnelion's cave.
A sharp breath entered my lungs. Forgoing the stinging pain of my injuries. I got up on shaky legs.
Not right now. I'm too anxious to sleep. I'm gonna take a walk around. Maybe that'll clear my nerves.
I looked out down the hall into dark nothingness.
Much of the candles were extinguished, to keep the hall light from seeping underneath the door jams and keeping students awake. Smart, but now I couldn't see much.
Taking a breath, I called up my map of Jade Mountain. I was right outside the Jade Winglet cave... so I should head to the right, then another left, then another right, to get to the great hall.
Somehow, I'm not even sure this map was all mine. More like a hodgepodge of other memories. And somehow, I got a feeling that some of these memory holders... weren't even from here. It was like... it's kind of hard to explain. They are... darn, how do I describe this?
What I did know was that there was suddenly a yell in the night. Right in front of me.
I bounded forward, moving to chamo, totally disregarding my sense of safety. I found Turtle on the floor, and Peril about to smack him.
"Why are you always in the WAY?" she demanded, backpedaling to avoid stepping on his talons.
"Am I?" he said sleepily, lifting his head. "I'm not usually. I don't think. Other dragons go around me or over me pretty well."
"You won't be pleased if I go over you," Peril pointed out. I nodded, nervously. "Why aren't you in your own sleeping cave?"
Turtle shivered a little. "It feels weird in there now that Umber is gone. And all the rest of my winglet, too. I should have gone with them," he mumbled.
"Not if they're all dead now," Peril said sensibly. "If Scarlet has killed them, then staying here was obviously the smart choice."
The logician in me agreed, but my fiends and family that were still here... no, I couldnt leave them.
Turtle sat up fast, causing Peril to tilt her head, trying to read his expression.
Alarmed or horrified? Anxiety? Guilt? All of the above?
"No," Turtle finally protested. "Are you crazy? That would be even worse! What if you're right and they're dead and I could have saved them?"
I shook my head.
They still alive. Marvin's alive. I can still feel them.
"Really? You?" Peril said.
"I do not APPRECIATE your skeptical tone," he said, sounding briefly like the prince he was. "Just because I don't particularly like danger or uncertainty or ... or exercise ... doesn't mean I couldn't be useful in a fight."
I canted my head, a little skeptical myself. Although he did enchant himself so he couldn't get hurt. Turtle became a dragon shield to protect his friends when they pulled out from the Siege of Jade Mountain. He may not be combat effective, but he can keep people alive.
Peril paused, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say without the skeptical tone. "RrrrrrrEEEally?" she tried, infusing the word with as much enthusiastic curiosity as she could. "YOUUUUUUU?"
I cracked from her effort. Turtle burst out laughing.
"You're so weird," he said.
"I'm not the one sleeping in the entrance hall," Peril said. "Asking to get trampled and scorched."
"Well, the other thing is that Tsunami isn't back yet," he admitted. "I'm sort of waiting for her."
"Uh-oh," Peril said. He gave her an anxious look and she added quickly, "I mean, that probably doesn't mean anything. Anything involving decapitation, that is."
"You have this uncanny ability to say whatever is the opposite of comforting," he observed wryly. I shrugged. He was kind of right.
"That wasn't comforting?" she asked. "Um ... how about, I'm sure she's fine because a SeaWing dragonet like her could never possibly catch up with a full-grown SkyWing like Scarlet. Oh, unless it was a trap and Scarlet ambushed her."
I hung my head, trying my best not to die. Turtle wrinkled his snout at her and Peril shifted on her talons. "OK, I know, I heard it that time. But it was a smart thought, wasn't it?"
Ehhhhhhh...
He turned to look out at the stars. "So what do we do?" he asked. "Send more dragons to look for her? What if Scarlet ambushes everyone? We don't know how many dragons she might have working for her. What if this is her plan, and she kills everyone we send after Tsunami?"
If they go and it's an ambush, they'd need someone cool under fire and someone who can detect it.
Someone like Marvin... or...
"Me."
"She can't kill me," Peril pointed out. "I'd like to see her try! Ha!"
Turtle gave her an odd, glittering look. "You're right," he said. "You and me. We should go."
"That's what I - wait, no," she said. "What? She can definitely kill you."
"Maybe not," he said. "Anyway, Tsunami's my sister. And my winglet is out there somewhere -"
"You hope," Peril interjected. I recoiled back. "Er ... I mean, YES, they ARE."
Suddenly, a presence entered my mind.
Turtle also realized, llifting one of his wings to shush her, tilting his head. "Someone's coming," he whispered. "Hide!" He ran over to the enormous gong in the center of the hall and dove behind it.
Startled, Peril twisted around in a circle before she found a shadowy corner where there was an outgrowth of stalagmites to hide behind. She tucked herself into the darkness.
I tucked myself away into another shadowy corner, observing up the hall, where the presence was.
Peril whispered loudly enough to make me wince. "Why are we hiding?"
"SHHHH," Turtle answered.
"Can you PLEASE be quiet for half a second Peril?"
Peril turned to look at me, but I kept my eyes front. I recognized the minds: Clay, Ruby, and Starflight.
Thanks a lot, Turtle. What is with this dragon and the eavesdropping? She was still ticked.
"Ten soldiers should be enough to guard this place," Ruby said. "And with luck we'll be back in three days. I don't want to be away from the Sky Palace for too long. I have ... someone waiting for me."
"Thank you, Queen Ruby." That was Starflight, the NightWing librarian.
"Did your student tell you anything else we should know?" Ruby asked. "Apart from the disturbing news about my mother's new ally?"
"Not much," Clay said with a sigh. "Moon's in Possibility, with Qibli. Sunny is dreamvisiting with Glory now, so she can send someone up to the town to take care of Kinkajou."
I nodded.
"Poor Kinkajou," Starflight said softly.
Yeah.
Uh-oh, Peril thought. I have seen the bouncy little RainWing from a distance, but mostly I'd only heard about her from Clay. If she was hurt, he must be upset. And what had happened to the other missing dragonet, Winter? The IceWing who hated me? I would be all right with him being dead, out of the four dragonets. But Clay wouldn't, of course. He'd feel all responsible and protective and worried. Oh dear, was he all right? I wish I could see his face.
"One last word of warning, although I know you won't listen to me," Ruby said, stopping with a loud swish of her tail. "You cannot trust my mother's creature. She's unpredictable and knows nothing but killing. If you won't banish her, at least don't leave her unguarded for an instant."
Ow. A little offended myself. That's kind of harsh.
"I can trust Peril," Clay said, behind me. Peril felt her entire soul turn into a fireball. "She saved my life."
"Plus she's in love with Clay," Starflight added.
I lost my breath, lucky that it was soundmasked by the wind.
Peril wondered if anyone would notice if she flew over, ripped out his tongue, and vanished into the night sky forever.
"Ack!" Clay said. "Three moons, Starflight! That's not - it's not even - we're - no, no, no. I trust her because there's good in her, and we just need to give her a chance to show it to us."
I covered my mouth. Trying not to choke with laughter.
"She may have a fragment of good in her somewhere," Ruby said doubtfully, "but she'll never be good enough for you." I frowned. "And if he's right, and if she ever thinks you don't love her back, she will set all your friends on fire. That's just the truth."
I looked back at Peril. She was just listening.
"Um," said Starflight. "For the record, I don't like the sound of that at all."
Peril closed her eyes. Was it true? What would happen if Clay didn't love her? Or if he ever tried to send her away? It's a horrible, soul-crushing thought. But I wouldn't really set his friends on fire, would I?
Not all of them anyway.
I frowned, canting my head at her.
No, she told herself severely. None of them. Not even if it's their fault he doesn't love me. Oooorgh, but what if Tsunami convinced him to get rid of me? She might totally do something like that. Then could I set just the tiniest part of her on fire?
No, no, no. Because there's always the chance he might still love me one day, but he definitely won't if there's any friend-burning at all.
"Let's not talk about this," Clay said awkwardly. "Your Majesty, I'll meet you back here at midnight."
Yeah. That would be a good idea. I thought.
"All right, well," she said. "You've been warned."
I spotted her. She swept majestically out of the cave, her tail making quiet, dramatic, swishing noises as it graced the stone floor.
"Should I be worried?" Starflight asked. "Am I going to wake up on fire one day? How worried should I be?"
"Not at all," Clay said. "Peril is not going to set you on fire."
I nodded. He didn't have any burn marks in the future. At least, not before the Siege of Jade Mountain, from that other Skywing.
"I wonder if I have any scrolls about sociopaths," Starflight muttered. I smirked.
"Stop that." Clay stamped one of his feet. "I'm going to ask Sunny to dreamvisit Tsunami and see if she can find her."
"Queen Ruby will never believe Peril has changed," Starflight called after him. There was a pause as Clay's footsteps faded away. "Not sure we will either," he added to himself, and then Peril heard his talons scrape against the rock as he bustled off to the library.
Silence fell across the cavern. The minds faded away behind layers of rock. A long silence, filled with an all too familiar feeling.
Peril curled her claws in and took a deep breath.
"Sorry about that," Turtle said, his voice whispering across the empty space. A couple moments later, his head popped around the parapet of rocks Peril was hiding behind. "I've been doing that all my life and I've never heard anyone say anything about me."
"That's because you're boring and forgettable," Peril snapped back at him.
"I know," he said unexpectedly. "I try to be."
Even I wouldn't have known what to respond to that.
Nevermind. I would just say what Marvin would say: EXACTLY!
"Well, I don't have that option," Peril said, spreading her smoking talons.
"ROAR. This would be a really good time to have a dungeon full of enemies."
"What?" he said. "Why?"
"Because," she said, "when you're mad, it's useful to have dragons around that you can set on fire without getting in trouble."
Me and Turtle rolled our eyes. "Somehow, I don't think Clay and Starflight would be pleased if you set anyone on fire, even their enemies."
"That makes no sense," Peril said. "Everyone wants to see their enemies on fire. Are you telling me your mother never cheered herself up by having someone torch a bunch of bad guys in front of her?"
I shook my head. No. Although it would be nice to see Goldman on fire. I smiled. That would be a nice sight.
"Um, no," said Turtle. "First of all, we're SeaWings, so we don't have fire, remember? Secondly, my mother mostly cheered herself up by writing scrolls about all her problems." I nodded. Similar to Marvin. "And third, she used her prisoners as bargaining chips, not toys."
"Our prisoners were definitely Scarlet's toys," Peril said.
"And so were you, it sounds like."
Peril snorted a burst of flame and he jumped back. "No! I was more than that! I was like a daughter to her!"
"All right, all right," he said. "So what are you going to do about Ruby and Clay and all of that?"
"What can I do?" she said. "You heard Starflight. They'll never trust me with Clay. And they're right: I'm not good enough for him. He's good all the way through, not just in little fragments. I mean, if saving Clay's life wasn't enough, what else is there?"
"I can think of one thing," he said. "I bet it would make everyone forgive you, even Ruby."
"Well," Peril said. I froze. "Yes. I thought of that."
"You have to kill Queen Scarlet," he said. "And I'm coming with you."
Damn.