𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄: The dragonet of two tribes | ✔️

In the sky kingdom

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✩A/n✩

IceMoon reared up on her back legs and ran her talons along the walls. "Look for something that'll move the boulder," she said.  Clay breathed another burst of fire at the border on his side. It looked like ordinary flat stone with a few fissures running from the ceiling to the floor. He scraped his claws through the cracks. Nothing happened except his feet tingled painfully. He tried sniffing around the boulder, then shoved it, but it wouldn't move any more than it had on the other side." I hope Starflight's right," he said, pushing away the sinking feeling in his stomach. "I hope we really can open it from this site."We can," IceMoon said fiercely. "It'll be a lever or something . . ." She backed away a few steps, peering up at the top of the boulder."Or magic," Clay said. "What if it's a magic word? Or some kind of talisman we don't have?"

IceMoon stared at the boulder, frowning, then shook her head. "They'd need an animus dragon to enchant it, and who even knows if those ever existed in the first place."The only thing Clay remembered about the lesson on magic and animus dragons was that they had power over objects. He recalled that because starlight spent the rest of the day sticking his nose in the air and insisting that NightWings were far more potent than any mythical animus dragons." So why do the NightWings live somewhere mysterious where no one can find them?" Clay had asked.

"Easy," Starflight had said loftily. "We have all these special powers, and we don't want to make regular dragons feel inferior." But, even though they are, his expression is implied. Clay snorted. "Special powers like what?" he'd asked."You know," Starflight had answered, irritated. "Telepathy?Precognition? Invisibility? Hello?" "You don't have invisibility," Clay had argued. "I mean, you're a black dragon. You're just hard to see in the shadows. That's not a power. I'd be invisible, too, if I were lying in a mud puddle."Yeah, well," Starflight had said, "we can appear out of nowhere in the dark of night! Swooping down as if the sky has just fallen on you!" He spread his wings majestically.

"Still not a power," Clay had said. "That's just you guys being creepy."It is not creepy!" Starflight had cried, his voice rising. "It is magnificent and imposing!" He'd stopped and taken a deep breath. "Besides, we're the only ones with visions of the future."Well, I say until the NightWings come down off the clouds, all we have is rumors and a mumbo-jumbo prophecy that could mean anything." Then Clay had draped his nose off the rim of the ledge and peered across at Starflight. "I mean, it's not like you've got any special mind powers other than being too smart."

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Now Clay scraped at the floor under the boulder. He missed Starflight. More than that, he was worried about him. How had Kestrel reacted when she couldn't find Clay, IceMoon, or Glory? She wouldn't hurt Starflight or Sunny or Tsunami ... would she? Suddenly his claws caught on something. He flattened himself to the stone floor and peered underneath the boulder. A long, sturdy stick was jammed under the rock, holding it in place. Here," he whispered to IceMoon. He wrapped his paws around the shaft and tried to yank it free. After a few tries, he realized it wouldn't come loose, but it did move from side to side. He tried sliding it sideways, and the boulder began to roll. He stopped quickly and looked at IceMoon."What if Webs and Dune are waiting for us?" Clay asked."They can't stop us, not all five of us — not if we all fight. The only way they kept us in was by blocking the way out. Once it's open ... we'll all be free." the ice/night wing hybrid let out a long breath.

"All right," Clay said, gritting his teeth. "Let's do this."He shoved the stick as hard as he could. The boulder slowly rolled aside with a soft scraping sound. The central cave came into view, and a shiver ran along Clay's tail at how strange it looked from the outside. A sad slight shape was huddled by the river, trailing her talons in the water. She turned as the boulder moved, and her gray-green eyes went wide."Shhh," IceMoon hissed quietly, bounding across the cave toward her. Sunny leaped up at the exact moment and threw her wings open. She pressed her front paws to her snout, beaming. Tsunami came straight after. 

"You did it!" she whispered. Clay glanced at the tunnel that led to the guardians' cave. Even if IceMoon was right that Webs and Dune couldn't stop them, he didn't want to stick around and find out. "Where are the others?" he asked quietly."I'll get Starflight," Sunny said, heading for the study cave. "Glory — I don't know." She glanced up at the stalactites. Clay felt a stab of worry. WasGlory all right? What if something had happened to her while she was camouflaged — would she have stayed invisible? What if she had fallen off a stalagmite or flown into an outcropping and hurt herself? What if —"Right here," a voice whispered. Soft wings brushed him, and glory's long shape shimmered into view. Her scales shifted from gray and black to a warm golden orange flecked with dark blue.

"You're all right," Clay said. To his relief, he twined his tail around hers without thinking. She tensed, but she didn't pull away immediately like she usually would. Instead, she nudged him with her elegant snout. "Of course I am," she said. "I would have been fine on my own, you know."Perhaps she felt his wings droop because she added, "But thank you for doing insanely dangerous things for me anyway." "Anytime," iceMoon chimed happily. Glory stepped back and nodded at where Starflight was staggering out of the tunnel from the study cave."Kestrel was pretty furious," she said. "I just had to listen to her from my hiding place. Those two got the brunt of it."Clay started forward, but IceMoon and Sunny were already on either side of Starflight. He thought Starflight was limping for a horrible moment —that he'd been beaten or burned or injured by Kestrel. Then he realized that Starflight was moving oddly because he was carrying a giant stack of scrolls on his back.

"Oh, no, you don't," IceMoon said, pulling it away from him. "We don't need these. And you've already read them all a thousand times." But, on the other hand, we might need them," Starflight protested, yanking it back. "They'll tell us what's safe to eat and all the different tribal customs and how to fly in bad weather and —" You can tell us all those things," Clay said. "You're going to anyway."But what if I forget something important?" Starflight fretted."Ha. You'd be a lot more likable if you ever did forget anything," Tsunami said. "The only important thing is getting out of here right now," Tsunami said. "Before Webs and Dune wake up."And before Kestrel comes back," Glory added."What thrilling news. Is kestrel part of this? I've been looking for her for a long time."The six dragonets whirled around. Queen Scarlet was standing in the entranceway. Behind her, the tunnel was blocked by a row of SkyWings in different shades of flame — all of the large, all of them breathing small spurts of fire, and all of them angry. But none of them looked as mad as the queen of the SkyWings.

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