Wings of Fire: Pyrrhia High (GLORYBRINGER)

CHAPTER 18 - MAGICAL DEATH SPIT

GLORY'S POV

Glory blinked. A random text had just come in from Sunny. She glanced at her phone sharply as she and Kinkajou crouched on the ledge of the volcano, a lava pool swirling just below them dangerously.

Sunny: Can you ask Scarlet before you kill her why she lied to Peril? She isn't Peril's biological grandmother.

Glory stared at it. Surely that was impossible? Either she'd read it wrong or Sunny had gone mad. Of course Scarlet was Peril's grandmother....wasn't she?

But Scarlet hates Peril so much. She apparently killed Kestrel, her supposed daughter....or is Kestrel not Peril's mother either? I don't know what to think anymore.

"We need a way to fire the venom at Scarlet," Kinkajou muttered. She hunted through a small backpack she had carefully. "Let's see, have I got anything here we can use?....antiseptic, Band-Aids, water, snacks, straws, my iPad...."

"Straws?" Glory stared at Kinkajou incredulously. "You brought straws on a mission like this? Like the kind of straws you drink milkshakes from?"

"Bringing straws is ESSENTIAL when you're going on a rescue mission at a volcano, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW," Kinkajou retorted crossly. "And also PERFECTLY NORMAL."

Glory rolled her eyes, then frowned. A thought struck her. Ridiculous but possible. Anything was possible now. She had just seen Deathbringer kill people. Peril was apparently not Scarlet's granddaughter and Kinkajou had some venom Grandeur had given her.

Deathbringer. I nearly forgot. How could we ever be together when he's an evil heartless murderer? He killed all those people! I could never forgive him for that. He really is an assassin after all.

"I have an idea," Glory said reluctantly. A stupid one, but whatever. "What if we put the venom on the end of the straws then blow it at Scarlet that way? It's worth a shot."

Kinkajou's brow furrowed. "Straws are plastic. Not exactly biological. I guess we can give it a try. But we'll be basically spitting magical death venom at Scarlet. Isn't that a tiny bit crazy?"

"No it isn't!" Glory said impatiently. Then she added rather irritatingly, "Don't be crazy, Kinkajou."

Kinkajou rolled her eyes and turned away, picking out the straws and examining them. Glory looked around at their surroundings, trying to decide what to do. They were crouched on a ledge near the fortress up the side of the tall volcano. It had been an exhausting and terrifying climb, but it would be worth it. Glory desperately wanted Scarlet dead as much as Peril did.

I hate Scarlet! Glory thought viciously. She's caused all this trouble! And didn't Peril say she killed someone too? Argh, two of my friends are murderers.

"Right," Kinkajou said busily. "We have to get to a safe spot in the fortress first. Sure would be good if you had one of Grandeur's high-tech camouflage cloaks right now," she added with a mischievous grin.

"Kinkajou, those are her apparently top secret inventions..." Glory groaned. "You stole them, didn't you?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say stole," Kinkajou said breezily. "Maybe...hmmm....borrowed? Without permission. Possibly permanently! Anyway, does it matter?"

"I guess not," Glory sniffed. She held put her hand. "Alright, fine. Give me a cloak."

Kinkajou held put a cloak of light material that seemed to change colour constantly, changing to match the background. Glory wrapped it around her and immediately, even as she was still tying the strings around her neck and pulling up the hood, the cloak was changing colour to blend into the dark ash-grey rock behind her.