Wings of Honor: Saving Grace

Chapter 8: Reinforcing

Shrapnel lashed around us, like a gang of angry hornets.
Everything on my back was alight, stinging with pain white-hot.
My vision blurred from all the tears, but I could hear. I could hear the yelling and screaming.
Then Marvin's tactical analysis kicked it. What was going on? Peril's sizzling scales were still under me; from her squirming, she was in pain but alive. At least three dragons were in the river. My wings felt torn, my back was damp, likely from bleeding.
I was hurt.
I whimpered in agony as I finally relieved my sizzling scales from Peril's. I lay on the ground beside her.
Peril roared her agony as loud as she could, but it wouldn't have even made a scratch in all the chaos all around.
A presence suddenly came galloping into the riverbank beside us, where we were thrown. Peril jumped back, hissing at him, before she recognized Turtle.
"You," he said, shaking his head, "are without question the least stealthy dragon in all of Pyrrhia."
"That wasn't my fault," she snarled, writhing in pain. Nothing had ever managed to hurt her like this. There were tiny teeth eating under her scales! "EVERYTHING HURTS AND I HATE THE WORLD."
"Let's find a safer place to be before someone sees you and connects the dots," Turtle said. "Oh no! Grace!"
I only let out a groan, thankful he finally realized I existed. He held up one of my claws, it was ghost white.
"Are you okay?"
I tried to nod through my tears, getting to my feet. I fought through the shock, adrenaline beginning to numb the pain in leu of morphine. It wouldn't last long, but it would get me to safety.
I followed Turtle as best as I could as he waded into the water until he was covered up to his head, begining swimming upstream, back toward the full-moon festival bridge.
It was utter agony to move, but we did. Peril flailing after him and hoping the smoke would hide her shining copper scales. White filled my vision with every movement. I didn't know how damaged I was, and whether or not I was still okay. I just hoped I would last long enough to find out. Hoping and praying I wouldn't bleed out in the water, letting it cool my blazing hot back.
After what seemed like an eternity swimming, Turtle finally coasted to a stop in clearer air, on the muddy bank of one of the small islands, not too far from where the festival music was still going on. I could still hear it. He pulled himself half onto the shore, wincing, and Peril crawled up into the mud as far away from him as she could.
I half stepped out, half dragged myself onto the bank. I collapsed onto the muddy silt, closing my eyes and hoping that the pain would just leave for a single instant.
"Marvin." I groaned out. "Marvin!" I screamed, choking up.
But I knew he wasn't there. At least... not here in time. I drew in a sharp breath, looking over myself.
Shrapnel, tons of it, from that dragonflame. I had taken the brunt of it, seeing my poor wings torn in hundreds of tiny places. Small, teeth like things, embedded in my back. My underbelly was scorched crisp, sending white flashes with every movement now that I was out of the water.
But then Marvin's training kicked in again. These things were organic, they had to be removed to prevent infection.
Feeling out my pouches, I drew one of the metal tent stakes. I brought it up to my mouth, breathing my blue fire on it until it began to shift colors.
Carefully transitioning the scalding iron to my mouth, grasping it with my teeth, I brought it around to my back.
With a sharp breath, I stuck the sharp end under one of the toothy shrapnel pieces, levering it out of me. The burn, the sting. I wanted to stop, but I couldn't. Marvin wasn't here, I was the only person who could help me.
I levered out every one. Every single one.
My scales morphing and bowing under each thorn, and under the intense heat and pressure needed to dig the damn things out. Some stopped partly in the scales, those were easily pried out. But a few managed to pierce through, barely sticking out where my scales had already begun to heal over, those ones I had to dig underneath my scales, cutting them away before I could pry the thorn out.
It hurt. It hurt so badly. The smooth rod, slick from my saliva and blood. But still, I kept going. I kept pushing. I kept pushing through, until every thorn was removed.
With a sigh, I let the iron bar clang onto the muddy rock ground. I collapsed onto the damp ground in dull soreness.
"Why," Peril growled. "What is HAPPENING."
"It was a dragonflame cactus," Turtle said. He twisted and started to pry at something stuck under his left wing in a small pool of blood. "Like the one that exploded in the history cave at school. I have no idea why anyone would want to buy one now that the war is over."
They didn't want to buy just one, Peril recalled. They wanted to buy thirty. Whatever their reason was, she thought perhaps burning out their eyeballs would make me feel better.
Turtle managed to extract the husk from his scales and held it out for her to see. "It's like a little ball of thorns," he said. "The dragonflame cactus seedpod. You have a couple of them stuck all over you, since it exploded right at your feet. Grace took most of them, but I don't know what to do — I can't pull them out of your scales without getting burned — but we can't leave them — oh ... " He trailed off, staring at her.
"What?" Peril demanded. She was starting to feel a little better, maybe, now that she was out of the water.
"They're burning up," I managed to groan out. "Your scales are burning up the seedpods."
Peril held out one front leg and saw a ball of thorns embedded between her claws, right before it caught fire and shriveled into pitch black ash.
"That's right," she said. "DIE, you little monster plants. May your roots always be thirsty and your seeds all meet a fiery death until you're extinct forever! I HATE you!"
"Yowch," Turtle said. "You don't ever have mild feelings, do you?"
Peril wasn't even sure what a "mild" feeling would feel like. She turned to blink downriver at the pillar of black smoke rising from the distant courtyard.
"Was, um ... did you see if the explosion ... uh ... " Peril trailed off.
I groaned to my feet, the pain dulling enough to walk.
"I don't think anyone was killed," Turtle looked over towards me. "It looked like your body blocked the worst of the fire and caught most of the seedpods. I saw other dragons injured, but nobody like —"
I paused, hanging my head away from them.
"Nobody like Carnelian," Peril finished. She tried to hide the relief in her voice. Although Clay would forgive me for an accident, surely? Even if someone had died? It wouldn't really be my fault, except in the sense that everything was my fault because I am a walking menace to the entire universe.
I shook my head. I was dealing with enough pain, on top of Peril's uncomfortable heat.
"Anyway," Peril said indignantly, "what kind of idiot spreads a bunch of flammable cacti all over the street? Anyone could have set one of those off by accident!"
"Not a SeaWing," Turtle said thoughtfully. "Or an IceWing. Oh, hey, now we know one more thing that can't kill you."
I huffed a little smoke at him.
"They shouldn't be allowed to sell things like that to just anyone," Peril went on, ignoring him. She twitched her tail around to check for any more thorns, but were all gone. Burned away. "Would they sell a sword to any dragon who came along?"
"Um," Turtle said. "Yes?" His smile fell off his face as he winced again. Another ball of thorns was dripping blood down his tail, but he couldn't twist far enough to reach it.
"Turtle, stop."
I limped over.
"I could set it on fire," Peril offered, spreading her claws. "But it might burn you a little bit. I don't know if that would be worse."
"No." I stopped her. "I can pull it out."
"Are-are you sure? You don't look okay Grace."
I held up a claw, it was still covered in blood. My vision a little blurry around the edges, and everything masked behind a layer of fog.
"No," I attempted to shake my head clear, "I can do it."
Walking up to the afflicted Seawing, I surveyed the injury. Being careful to pinch where the brown ended and the green began, I wrenched it out of his tail. Followed by a huge fountain of maroon.
"Ah shit." It held back an artery. Turtle's bleeding out. It needs to be cauterized now!
I turned.
"Peril! I need you to brush against Turte's wound!"
Peril looked at me, wideeyed. "Won't that make things worse?"
"Not if you save his life DAMNIT!"
Turtle thought for a moment, then shuffled a step toward her. "Yes. Do it. If I jump straight into the river after, I'll be fine."
Peril hadn't actually expected him to say yes. Nobody ever let her help with anything. Even Clay usually got sort of flappy and nervous whenever she offered.
"Nevermind that. Just help him!"
She folded her wings back and reached forward tentatively with one claw. Turtle closed his eyes, frozen in place.
Peril's claw lightly brushed the gushing wound. It instantly stopped, but was then engulfed by flames. I saw his scales begin to char over. Flashbacks of Carnilian and Tamarin came over me.
I thrusted Turtle into the water with a flailing splash, and watched over as he swam to the bottom, out of sight.
I tried to control my breathing, blinking away the growing tears in my eyes, swallowing down my fear.
Please be alright. Please be alright. Please be alright.
Peril paced along the bank, trying to squint at him through the shifting, shimmering reflections. He was still a huddled green lump at the bottom of the river for way too long — it made her own lungs ache to wait for him. But he was clearly fine, definitely moving, and fiddling with something that flashed that same white-gray.
Weird.
I breathed a humongous sigh of relief when he finally surfaced, spraying water out of his nose and looking extremely pleased with himself. Peril's eyes went straight to the spot where she'd burned him ... but there was no scorch mark there anymore. His scales looked whole and unblemished all over, as if neither fire nor thorns had ever wounded him. She couldn't even figure out where the seedpods had been.
Uh oh.
"How did you do that?" she demanded. "Water doesn't heal SeaWings that quickly."
"It wasn't that bad," Turtle said with a shrug. "I'm fine. Don't worry."
"I'm not worried, I'm deeply suspicious," Peril clarified. "That's not normal scale behavior right there."
Before I could get a word in, a familiar voice suddenly broke through.
"Grace?"
I swung around at once at the voice, but then recognized the hovering Sandwing.
"Qibli!"
"Turtle!"
Turtle gave a cry of delight when he recognized him as well
"Qibli!" Turtle leaped into the air and nearly bowled him out of the sky. They swooped around each other for a moment, doing cheerful flips in the air and thumping one another's wings. I could do nothing but jump in place, fearing that I would hurt someone that close.
I'd found them! We returned! Rondevu complete!
Not amoment later, a small NightWing came soaring over from the direction of the explosion and Turtle made even more delighted noises at her.
"Moonwatcher!" I screamed, tears truely flooding my eyes now.
"Gracebringer!" She returned. Diving down at me.
I reared up, catching her. We fell down into the dirt, laughing and giggling.
Oh my moons, I thought you were captured.
But I wasn't! I'm here now!
When Marvin found me, and he told me what happened, what you did, and the visions, I told you not to go, but you still did, and I saw you, but you were hurt, but now you're back, and Kinkajou, and Marvin, and, and-
Moon broke down in tears.
"Hey-hey-hey. It's okay now." I picked her up, pulling her in under my wing. "It's okay now. Everyone's okay now."
I struggled back tears myself. I could feel what Moon was going through, the familiar anxiety.
"You're okay. We got everyone here now. It's okay."
After a moment, and a little more of my help, she regained the strength to part our embrace.
"Peril, this is Moon and Qibli," said Turtle, beaming with a smile of the victor.
Peril couldn't remember noticing either of the other dragons before. They looked completely ordinary, not like anyone worth crossing an entire continent to find. Not like dragons who were so much more awesome to be friends with than her.
She noticed Moon also had a glittering silver scale at the corners of each eye, like mine, shaped like teardrops; but she had little furrows in her forehead as though she had a perpetual headache. One that I did my best to try and relieve. Although, admirably, going on a Rambo trip didn't help.
The worst thing was that Peril instantly started sizing up Moon, now that they were comparable sizes.
Now that everyone knew NightWings didn't have powers after all, I am sure Moon would be an easy opponent to take down in the arena. Hypothetically, if there still had been an arena, of course.
The SandWing doesn't look like much of a threat either, apart from that venomous tail. I have been in plenty of fights where her first move was grabbing a SandWing's tail to burn off the barb at the end. As long as Scarlet didn't need her to drag out the fight, most SandWings only took a few minutes to defeat. No doubt this one was pretty dim and correspondingly slow.
"You're wrong about that," Moon suddenly said. I turned to look at her.
What are you doing?
I can't let her go after Qibli like that.
Peril shifted her gaze to the black dragon, who was studying Peril intently. "What?" Peril asked.
"Qibli is probably one of the smartest dragons in Pyrrhia," Moon answered. "I bet he's already figured out five different ways to defeat you right here if he needed to."
Qibli cocked his head and gave Moon a delighted sideways smile. "Only three so far," he said. "But thanks."
Peril blinked at Moon, feeling like little dragonflame cacti were going off inside her head. "Did you — but —"
"Yes," Moon deftly said. "I'm a mind reader. So you should probably stop thinking about how exactly you would kill us if you needed to."
"Was she really?" Turtle said, astonished.
I shook my head. She didn't have to know.
But I can't give her Skyfire, it would burn up. She can't protect herself like Qibli or Turtle.
I sucked in air. Now I understand. That's good. You're okay. I understand,
Peril whipped her head around to glare at Turtle. "You brought me to meet a mind reader?" she said. "And you didn't think that might be worth mentioning sometime before now?"
Was this a test? Maybe this was his plan all along ... maybe he never trusted me, like Scarlet never trusted me, and he wanted to see what Moon would find in my head ...
Turtle shrugged. "It's Moon's secret. It's up to her who she tells."
"I'm not entirely sure why Scarlet's Dancing Monkey of Fiery Doom gets to be on that list, frankly," said Qibli.
"And remind me, you're Thorn's Dancing Monkey of what, exactly?" Peril shot back. "At least I was useful to my queen."
"I told her," Moon interjected, opening one wing pointedly between them before Qibli could lunge at Peril, "because it's the right thing to do, and because there's no way to give her any skyfire, and also because I am hoping that if she knows I'm listening, she'll try to have less disturbing thoughts."
That sounded complicated. Peril wrinkled her snout. How am I supposed to change my thoughts? They just appear in my head. I've never had to worry about them DISTURBING anyone before.
I shook my head again.
"Maybe you should stop listening instead," Peril said.
Moon shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. But don't worry about it too much ... your thoughts are actually really hard to hear. Mostly all I get from your mind is heat and flames and —" She broke off, twitching her wings back awkwardly for a moment. "Anyway, it's not as clear as most minds. You're mostly safe from me."
"Tremendously comforting," Peril said. She tried to fill up her head with more fire, hoping to burn out anything she didn't want Moon to see, although really that was either everything or nothing. Whatever Moon already thought of her, from whatever scraps of thoughts she'd heard, none of the rest would make any difference anyways — either she could stand all of Peril just the way she was, or she'd hate her for a small piece of her as much as for all the rest of it.
I sighed. That was exactly the point.
"Is Kinkajou all right?" Turtle suddenly asked. "Where is she?"
I jumped up, looking at Moon and Qibli.
"And your hostile ice dragon?" Peril added.
"Winter's still at the Ice Kingdom," Moon said towards me. She glanced back at Qibli. "Qibli thinks he's coming back, but I'm not so sure. Kinkajou is ... well, she's recovering, we think. Marvin's been with her, but she still hasn't woken up." She blinked rapidly a couple times. "She would be so excited to see you here," she said to Turtle with a sad smile.
I nodded alongside her, knowing what she was talking about.
"We were attacked by a dragon who's working with Scarlet," Qibli said. He squinted at Peril, then turned to Moon. "What did she think about that? Can you tell if she's working for Scarlet, too?"
"Qibli. I've been with her." I interjected. "She's not with Scarlet. She's told me as much."
"Yeah, I don't think she is," Moon agreed, "... buuuut now she's gone back to fantasizing about ways to kill you."
I rolled my eyes.
"Because that was RUDE," Peril flared. "Poking around inside my brain to find the answer to a question I've already answered over and over. You can go stuff a mountain goat up your nose, SandWing! Horns first! I'm looking for Scarlet to stop her, not help her. Why are there so many stupid dragons who can't see that?"
"Well," Qibli said, "you did help her escape from Burn's stronghold not that long ago."
"That —" Peril sputtered. "That was just — that — but Burn was the bad guy then! I couldn't leave my queen trapped in that place. Nobody would!"
"Your queen?" Qibli challenged. "Isn't Ruby your queen now?"
Exactly: NOW.
Peril drew herself up, glaring at him, knowing full well that Moon (not necessarily I) must be hearing all her fears about Ruby scattering about inside her head. "I don't have to explain myself to you, sand snorter. We are only here to find out what you know about where Scarlet is." She turned her fierce gaze on Moon and the NightWing flinched. I pulled her in,casting a reflection of her glare back at her, not realizing a few red scales grew on my face. "Then I'll take my disturbing thoughts right out of your life forever. Is the plan."
"It's true, we have to find her," Turtle explained. "She attacked Jade Academy!" Moon blinked and Qibli's tail arched reflexively, his talons digging into the mud.
"Easy." I calmly said.
"She did not," Peril said, rolling her eyes at him. "She flew by, threw a decapitated head at us, and flew away again. That wasn't an attack. That was more like a declaration of war. If she ever decides to really attack you, you'll know."
"A decapitated head?" Moon echoed with alarm, spying a few images I accidentally slipped. "Sunny said Scarlet was there making threats ... but she didn't mention a head."
"Was it our fault?" Qibli asked immediately. "She must be furious about us escaping with Hailstorm. What if we enraged her into coming out of hiding?"
"It's okay guys!" No it wasn't. There was still that confirmed Mudwing Death.
"That seems extremely likely," Peril said. "I imagine just meeting you would enrage Queen Scarlet to the point of wanting to kill several dragons."
"Ha ha!" Turtle said, as though Peril were kidding, which she clearly was not. "So where did you encounter Scarlet?"
"In a part of the mountains not far from here, Grace can show you," Moon said. I nodded. "But I'm sure she wouldn't still be there. I don't see how we can help you ... the only way we found her before was because she was using the dreamvisitor and left clues."
Peril's thoughts instantly flared. She hated that dreamvisitor. Scarlet showed up in her dreams ALL THE TIME, and half the time she wasn't even sure if she was real. Whether she was or not, there was always yelling and guilt and ominous remarks about Clay's future.
"I knew they wouldn't be helpful," Peril grumbled to Turtle.
"Well," Turtle said uncertainly, "maybe if you show us on a map where she was, we can at least start searching from there."
Qibli looked up at the sky, where the sun was meandering toward its zenith. Almost high noon. "Sure, but right now we should get back to the clinic. The dragons from Glory are supposed to arrive soon."
I nodded. Standing up to follow Moon.
Peril wondered if he was changing the subject because he didn't trust her. Consider the feeling mutual, SandWing, she thought, eyeing him narrowly.
"The clinic? Where Kinkajou is?" Turtle's face brightened hopefully, then fell as he turned toward Peril. "But Peril can't go into the city."
She spread her gold-veined wings to indicate Remember? Deadly firescales over here? but she also accidentally hit a branch overhead, causing it to burst into flames.
Well that proved her point.
Qibli promptly smacked his tail in the river, sending up a wave that rolled over the branch and Peril, soaking her and dousing the fire.
Peril regarded him coldly, water dripping from her snout.
"Don't feel bad," Moon said to Turtle. "Kinkajou wouldn't know you were there anyway."
Turtle's wings drooped.
That's a great thing to say to him. I slyly remarked.
Moon shot a glare at me.
Peril had a sudden, very strong feeling that there was a right thing to say here. It was written in the slump of his shoulders and the way he poked one claw gloomily at the mud puddle beside him.
Something reassuring about Kinkajou?
No ... something else. Something she didn't want to say, but she saw that she kind of had to, and the others were even leaving an odd moment of quiet in the conversation, waiting for her to say it.
"You should go," she said, forcing it out past the growl in her throat. We all stopped. "I'll just ... wait for you ... out here ... somewhere."
"Really?" Turtle said with an enormous smile. "You don't mind? We'll be back soon."
I bet. After you've all talked in secret about me and what you're going to do next and whether to fly off without me.
"Sure," Peril said, then wondered if that sounded sarcastic, and tried again: "Suuure." OK, that one sounded worse. "I mean, yes. Fine. I want to go hunt in the desert anyway."
"There's a big sandstone arch west of the city, set up high so you can see practically the whole Kingdom of Sand," Moon said. "That's where Qibli and I have been going to wait for Winter, whenever we're not with Kinkajou or in the library. Let's meet back there."
"Winter still has two more days," Qibli said quietly. "We told him we'd wait a week."
"He's not coming," Moon said. "I've seen inside his mind, Qibli. He's so loyal to his family and his tribe ... I don't think anything will change that. Not even Marvin or Grace."
Qibli made a face that Peril couldn't figure out. "Moon, sometimes you're so busy listening to what dragons are thinking, you miss the things they're actually doing. Which can tell you a lot more about what they're really like."
"That ... makes no sense," she said. But he wasn't wrong, but he wasn't entirely right either, I don't think.
"Should I bring Kinkajou something?" Turtle said, hopping from one foot to the other in a way uncharacteristic of him. Peril had never seen him expend even an iota more energy than necessary for whatever he was doing. "Flowers? A fish? No, she doesn't like fish. Um. Kumquats?"
He likes Moon and Qibli, Peril guessed, but he's really here for Kinkajou.
Why did he even want to travel with me in the first place? He could have come here without me. Did he think I'd be useful protection along the way? He didn't need to pretend to be friends with me. Boring green puddle dragon! Hrrmph.
Peril caught Moon's eyes on her and didn't like whatever mysterious emotion was going on in them — sympathy? Pity? Bewilderment? Whatever she was getting from Peril's brain, Qibli was right — it didn't mean Moon knew anything about her, really.
She's very... tortured.
Yeah, I've gathered that much.
I closed my eyes, running through the possible scenarios in my head. Moon stopped me.
No, dont.
What! You don't even know what I'm going to do!
You had that same face on when you told me you would go after Marvin.
And by the way, where is Marvin?
Moon paused. "He's... I don't know.
"You don't know!" I recoiled in disbelief.
"He's made a home in a little crack in the wall. Usually we see him, but only early in the morning and late as night when he comes back. I don't know where he is now."
My breathing started to hasten. What was he doing? What could possibly be on a higher priority than Kinkajou? If Moon didn't know where he was, he's in knows who does!
"Grace. Grace."
I brushed her claw away. "I'll stay with Peril."
"What?" Qibli spun around.
"Yeah. That's my mission." I ran my hand down my face. "I saw a vision, with you and Peril, Turtle."
"Me?" Turtle took a step back.
"Yeah. But now that you're with Moon, Qibli, and Marvin, who's going to protect Peril?"
They all looked at me, then at the figure a ways behind me.
Peril had sat down and started examining her claws, as if she found all these dragons exceedingly boring. It apparently was another trick she'd learned from watching Scarlet, although she had a feeling she wasn't conveying quite the right amount of disdain in the tilt of her wings.
"You aren't serious." Qibli said. But I held firm.
"She's serious." Moon leaned over at him.
"Yeah, I figured that. You'll be okay?" He asked.
"Just so long as you take care of Marvin. I'll be fine." I did my best to smile.
They all nodded. Turtle stepped back up to Qibli.
"You don't need anything," Qibli said to him. "Just having you there would be enough for her. Maybe she'll be able to hear your voice."
"See you soon, Peril! Bye Grace!" Turtle said enthusiastically.
I waved my wing goodbye at them.
"Yeah, maybe," Peril grumbled to the empty air, drowned out by the flapping of their wings as all three of them took off and headed into the city. Their shapes disappeared sporadically behind a few scattered buildings.
We waited a minute, to be sure they wouldn't turn around. Peril then looked me dead in the eye. I was too afraid to see what was on her mind.
She then lifted her head to watch the glowing green shape of her supposed friend flying away from her.