Wings of Fire: The Glorious Tower (dead)

Part 6: Ember

To Ember's annoyance, he hadn't woken up first. He was in a lovely dream about flying in the great blue sky with his elder brother, Robin. Which had been rudely interrupted by three girls' voices. Ember could identify them, The soft, high voice of Caribou, the amused and rough voice of Aloha, Andromeda's matter-of-fact tone...

After getting ready and cleaning up camp, they flew off to Beaver Island. Except Dolphin, who swam. Everyone seemed happy. Aloha was a mix of green shades, mainly lime and forest green.

Beaver Island. It was in the shape of an oval. The white sand of the beach had blue and brown dots, and here and there there were even the hybrid colours of MudWing-SeaWing hybrids.

"So, what are we going to do? Wander around and ask dragons if they've seen a giant bronze monument anywhere?" Bighorn asked when they landed.

Caribou rolled her eyes. "No, don't be silly. I have a theory. You see, Beaver Island is a relatively new island."

Ember was confused. "Doesn't look new to me." He said, craning his neck to get a good view of the town. It looked just as old as the SandWing stronghold, as old as any of the many settlements scattered across the Sky Kingdom. Actually, the stronghold had looked ancient. But it certainly looked far older than the RainWings' palace high on their treetops.

Caribou sighed. "Relatively new, you chicken head. Relatively. It rose up some three thousand years ago..." She looked at them as if expecting someone to shout out the answer. When no one did, she continued. "The IceWing scientists think it's because of sea levels, rising and falling, boring science stuff, blah blah blah. But, I think it's the old Haven of Bronze!"

"But didn't the Haven of Bronze collapse? How could it be Beaver Island? Besides, Beaver Island's bigger than the Haven of Bronze probably was." Pointed out Dolphin.

"The Haven of Bronze was enormous, Dolphin! As big and tall as Agate Mountain! Even it's destroyed remains would be at least as much as Beaver Island. A couple of storms, some mud on top of it, and you've gotten this island!" Caribou grinned crazily. Ember wasn't sure if Caribou was completely sane.

"Maybe.." muttered Aloha. Her eyebrows were knit together in concentration. 

"Maybe you're right," said Andromeda. "But wouldn't Beaver Island be destroyed by now? You did say that Frigid woke up again."

Caribou sighed. "Just trust me on this, please?"

"Well, what do you want us to do?" asked Toad.

Caribou smiled. Ember could practically see the gears rotating in her head. "Well, it's actually about something Dolphin has to do."

Dolphin yelped as though she'd been struck by lightning. "Wha- why me?" She pleaded.

Caribou smiled again. Ember realised she felt way better now she had at least one dragon on her side. "You're going to have to swim. Poke around below the island, while some of us search the town for useful clues."

"Sounds like a plan." cut in Bighorn. "We should split up though. Aloha, Andromeda, Toad and Ember could search Beaver town while you and me wait for Dolphin to come back from her little swim."

Caribou nodded. "Let's go!"

They walked to the road. Ember looked around. "Where do we search first?" he asked. "The library?" suggested Aloha. There was an excited gleam in her eyes. "I never thought you were a book dragon." said Toad. "She is." Andromeda said, shooting a warning look at the brown and red dragons. 

Five minutes later, they were in the library. "Look!" exclaimed Toad. "There are so many books! History books, fantasy, mystery..." he trailed off. "History books?" asked Ember, looking at Toad. "Yeah! Maybe there's something about Oeboda!" Toad replied. They got to work searching through the books for any mention of the SeaWing animus.