Wings of Fire: The Glorious Tower (dead)

Part 3: Andromeda

Andromeda sat stiffly, on one side of the courtroom doors. Her best friend, Aloha, scrambled up the stairs and offered Andromeda a sheepish grin. Andromeda sighed internally. She waved at Aloha and watched her as she got into position. Andromeda gave Aloha half her sleeping darts, and went back to how she had originally sat. 

The past two hours had been BORING. Nobles and important dragons went in and out of the courtroom, but nothing interesting had happened. YET. "You know," Aloha started, "It's very hard to call you that icky long name of yours."

Andromeda felt a bit offended by this, and she showed it. "My name isn't ICKY! It's beautiful and regal!"

Aloha gave the sort of sigh you would give to a toddler, who can't understand that two plus two equals four.

"I think you would be better off if you had a nickname. How about... Andy?"

Andromeda shook her head. "Too normal."

"Roro?"

"No way."

"Med?"

Andromeda froze. "Med... does sound good."

"That's that, then!" Aloha grinned.

A commotion had started, outside in the halls. Andromeda heard bumping and crashes and occasional "sorry"s and "coming through"s. She hissed, startled. She looked over at Aloha. The RainWing had already got her fangs out, and had her sleeping darts at the ready. She positioned her sleeping darts at the front of the stairs, and called up the fire that burned deep inside her. Usually, using fire in the rainforest was a big no-no. But, Andromeda thought, watching a big brown MudWing clamber up the stairs, I think the Queen will let me this time.

"STOP!" The MudWing yelled, holding his talons up to show he was harmless. Aloha immediately put her dart down, but her fangs were still out.

"State your business NOW." Andromeda snarled, smoke pouring out of her nostrils.

The MudWing nodded warily, slowly moving to the side so that the staircase wasn't blocked by his bulky form. Several more dragons scrambled up the stairs. A SeaWing, a Sandwing, a SkyWing and an... an IceWing? 

Andromeda growled, tightening her grip on the sleeping dart. The IceWing wasn't as startled as Andromeda herself, but she was still pretty surprised. The IceWing took a deep breath, steadying herself, as she swayed on the light wooden floor. Then she looked up at Andromeda. Studying her. Andromeda looked right back at her and she had a fierce expression on her face. The IceWing was mainly a snowy blue, and her head, back, and tail spikes had a purple tinge to them.

"Wait." She said, holding her hands up like the MudWing had done before. "Please, don't fire. My name is Caribou." Andromeda was surprised. 

Caribou? That name sounded familiar... Oh, right. She had been present at that party Queen Thorn had thrown after the war ended. It had taken a lot of Andromeda's willpower not to rush at the IceWings and attack them. From the looks they had had at the celebration party, she had guessed it was pretty hard for them  not to do the same. That Caribou had been a simple guard. 

But now, there was no hostility on the IceWing's face. Just worry, and she also looked a bit... pleading. Andromeda felt kind of good holding power over the IceWing, but she knew this had to be important. Why else would this weird-looking quintet of dragons journey all the way to the rainforest?

Andromeda didn't have a good feeling about this group, but that was probably just because of the IceWing. She sighed and lowered her sleeping dart. "What is your business here? Also, didn't you meet any patrol guards on the way here?"