Wings of Fire Legends • The Blue Comet

Chapter Eighteen

Bisque struggled under the weight of the MudWings keeping her submerged in the mud pool. They were taking Prion's words way too seriously, and as soon as she made move to escape, they had pinned her down bodily. She was crushed under their weight with only her head poking out on the bank.

     "Get off me," she growled, but they did not listen. Bisque gnashed her teeth and glared west of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains, where she could see a faint blue glow.

     The Blue Comet.

     Curse Prion for telling them to watch me and keep me from fighting, Bisque snarled to herself. Her wound no longer gave her intense pain and she felt like she could fly far enough to get to the Comet. What was the point of keeping her here?

     "- where is – is that – Bisque! What are you doing? Is she healed?"

     "We don't know," answered one of the MudWings piled on top of her. "We can't check because we're scared she'll fly away if we let her out."

     "I won't do that!" Bisque protested, but she knew as well as they did that her words were an empty promise.

     The dragon who had first spoken came into view, and Bisque recognized him as Jaguar. The RainWing's scales kept being interrupted by angry reds. He addressed the MudWings holding her down: "Let her go. Even if she's not ready, I need her. All of Pyrrhia needs her."

     Bisque sensed at that moment that the three dragons were not concentrating on keeping their balance, so she gathered her strength and surged underneath them, managing to displace them enough to get a second shove in. They let her up and the heavy mud dripped off her scales and wings.

     Jaguar stepped back as Bisque shook herself free. She lifted a talon to wipe the mud off her wound as the MudWings crowded her. "There, see? No more blisters. I'm good to go."

     The lead MudWing – a dragon named Gharial – frowned at Bisque. "That doesn't mean you'll survive another attack in the same area. Your scales aren't covering your back anymore – if you get burned again, nothing is protecting you anymore. Do you understand?"

     She gave a solemn nod. "I had one more chance than most. My gift let me survive to fight another day. I owe it to all the dragons endangered by The Blue Comet to drag it out of the sky." For my sibs, she added. Then, she primed her wings and took to the sky, Jaguar following.

     Flapping now felt looser than ever before. She could feel the absence of her scales because every time she moved her shoulders, the skin bunched and the edges of her remaining scales dug into the flesh. The wind whistled over the uncovered patch of her back and she felt cold, but it was altogether not unpleasant. It would take some time to get used to it.

     Jaguar had a hard time keeping up with her – he had been flying much more than she had over the last day. "I saw it out in the Bay," he explained, panting. "I tried chasing it but it was too fast. I knew that by the time I'd reach SkyWing territory, it'd be long gone."

     "So you went to me," she finished. Jaguar nodded.

     Sure enough, as if to prove his words, the telltale light of The Blue Comet seemed to snake its way further west. It was like watching the moons rise – if she focused on a landmark and compared the Comet's position to it, one moment it would seem to hover next to it, then after a few heartbeats it would appear to be closer to the next mountain.

     This time, however, it was clear that the rising Comet was picking up speed.

     Blue light flared over the mountains, the flaming Comet advancing steadily. Bisque pumped her wings faster, the movement freer now that no scales were shifting between her shoulders. Nevertheless, she kept her eyes trained on The Blue Comet.