𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄: The dragonet of two tribes | ✔️

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 40

✎ CHAPTER FORTY ✎
HE BELONGS TO THE US

Clay didn't know anything about MudWing life, troop formations, or even how to hunt in a swamp. So how could he lead them into battle? It would never be like their closeness with Reed, no matter how hard they tried. There was only one way to protect his siblings, he realized. If he was their bigwings, he had to leave them — and leave Reed as their bigwings, the way he'd always been. Then, he would keep them safe better than Clay ever, and their sibs would not be forced to choose between them.

Glory was looking at him, too. Clay shook his head. "No," he said to his brothers and sisters. "Reed is your bigwings. You trust him, and you need him. I couldn't replace him, even if I tried."

His brother raised his head, pride warring with disbelief on his face. The other dragonets looked relieved and sad at the same time. "Besides," Glory said, "he can't stay with you. He's our bigwings." She brushed Clay's wings with hers. He was glad he couldn't change colors like her, or he felt like he might have turned crimson from nose to tail. "Are you sure?" Reed said to Clay. "You could still join us, bigwings or not. There's more fighting ahead, and we could always use another strong dragon at our side."

Clay was tempted. He wanted to know his brothers and sisters, and it would be so easy to slip into this life and become a warrior, with no prophecies to worry about and no angry SandWing queens hunting him. But he remembered the charred corpses on the battlefield, and he thought about his friends and how they'd try to go on without him. "I'm afraid I have a destiny," he said ruefully. "We're going to try to stop the war."

Umber's eyes went wide. "Like the prophecy?" he breathed. "That's you?"

Pheasant looked at Glory doubtfully.

"That's us," Clay said, touching Glory's talon.

"Apparently," Glory added. "More or less." "We'll try, anyway," Clay said. "But maybe after that, I could come back once the war is over?"

"You're one of us," Reed said. "You can come back anytime."

"I hope you do," Umber said. The others nodded.

Clay looked from face to face, wondering how many of his brothers and sisters would survive the next battle. Finally, he asked if he could stop the war in time to save them all.

✍︎

"So what now, bigwings?" Glory asked, clawing up a pheasant for herself. "I'm never going to get tired of calling you that." "We'll be like the MudWings," Clay said proudly. "We stick together. No matter what happens. We're a team, and we look after one another. This means the first thing we have to do is find Starflight and IceMoon. The NightWings can't just take them away. Their one of us, and we'll search the whole world until we find them. It's time for us to get our friends ba —" He stopped as a heavy thump shook the ground, and wings flapped to a stop behind him. The others were staring over his shoulder.

"That better not be who I think it is," said Clay.

"Found them," Glory said gleefully.

Clay turned around. IceMoon and Starflight stood blinking in the waving grass just outside the trees. The sunlight picked up purple and deep blue glints in both of their black scales. Up in the sky, the black bulk of Morrowseer was winging away.

"Oh, bye!" Tsunami shouted after him. "Thanks for everything! You've been SO HELPFUL!"

Sunny flung herself at Starflight with a cry of joy. "You found us!" She batted his wings with hers. "I hoped you would." He returned her hug, smiling shyly at her. IceMoon smiled at them, then walked over to Clay the Mudwing, running into her open wings. "I missed you!" he exclaimed, spreading his wings over her sides and back. "I missed you too," she admitted. "Morrowseer saw you were flying up from the marshes," Starflight said, breaking their hug. "He said to tell you some other dragon could have spotted you, too, and we should be more careful."

"Well, great," Tsunami said. "That's such useful advice. Glad he's so concerned, now that we've managed to save ourselves about a hundred times and everything. Any other survival tips? Or prophecy-fulfilling suggestions?" Starflight ducked his head, looking uncomfortable. IceMoon walked over to him and laid a wing over him. "I'm sorry he took us," she said. "I wanted him to bring us back right away, but he wouldn't. He said they couldn't afford to lose any NightWings, even —" she swallowed. "Even peculiar little ones and hybrids" "What the heck does that mean?" Clay asked.

"Starflight's not peculiar!" Sunny said. "I'm the one that's peculiar and little. and it doesn't matter if you're a hybrid!" "Well, he is a bit," Glory said. "But we don't mind the either of you" Tsunami looked thoughtful. "Couldn't afford to lose any NightWings or hybrids?" he echoed. "Is there something wrong with them? Did you notice?" "No." Starflight glanced up at the sky. "He didn't take us to the secret NightWing kingdom if that's what you're wondering. We didn't even meet any of the dragons he'd brought with him. We just stayed up in the mountain peaks, waiting. I guess he wanted to see what would happen to you guys."

"Not that he would do anything about it," Glory muttered.

"So he doesn't care what we do next?" Clay asked. "He's not making us go back to the Talons of Peace?" "I'm not sure he's delighted with the Talons of Peace right now," IceMoon said.

"Then we can do whatever we want," Clay said. "I say we visit Tsunami's mother, who," he said to Starflight, "is the queen of the SeaWings, according to Kestrel."

"Seriously?" IceMoon said, staring at Tsunami. "Like in the scroll? Coral's supposed to be a great queen. Not crazy like Scarlet." Tsunami looked uncharacteristically nervous. "Do you think she'll be happy to meet me? What if she's like Clay's mother — no offense, Clay."

"I know she'll be happy to see you," Starflight said. "Don't you remember what it said in The Royal Lineage of the SeaWings, from the Scorching to the Present?"

All five dragonets groaned.

"Remind me why we wanted him back?" Glory asked Clay.

"This is important and fascinating!" Starflight said, stomping his feet. "Listen! Queen Coral doesn't have an heir. Not a single one of her female dragonets have lived to adulthood. Rumor has it there's a curse on her hatchings. That's why she'll be glad to meet Tsunami — you're the lost heir to the Kingdom of the Sea. And —" he looked at IceMoon, who sighed and shook her head. Not now. Not now, my dear friend, she said. Tsunami puffed out her chest. "Me? Really?"

"Oh my gosh! Tsunami! You could be the queen of the SeaWings one day!" Sunny cried.

Tsunami grinned. "Wouldn't that be great? I've always thought I'd be a good queen."

"Boy, I don't know," Glory said. "I mean, if you want to be queen one day, you'll have to be bossy, controlling, full of yourself ... oh, wait."

Tsunami whacked her lightly with her tail. "Behave, or I'll have you beheaded," she lifted her snout. "So let's go find the SeaWings," Clay said. "They're not on Burn's side, are they?"

Starflight heaved one of his long-suffering sighs. "No, Clay. They're allied with Blister, the middle sister, of whom the scrolls say —"

Glory, Tsunami, and Clay all tackled him at once. Sunny and IceMoon tried to come to his rescue, and the six of them ended up scuffling in the grass, laughing. Finally, IceMoon caught a glimpse of the sky, blue and gold and empty of dragons, for now. She still didn't know how they would fulfill the prophecy and end the war. She didn't know how the other dragonets' families would react to them. She knew Burn was hunting them, and probably other dangerous dragons soon would be.

But she knew what she was here to do, and that was protecting her friends, no matter what she'd known it from hatching, even if she hadn't understood it. She didn't have to worry about finding her monster or being something she wasn't anymore. Morrowseer had said that she wasn't meant to be a monster, just a princess. She ould have to be enough for the prophecy just the way she was.

Big Heroic Destiny, she thought, here I come. 

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