Wings of Fire; The Assassin

Chapter 17

Diamondback was still looking at the scroll when Bubble came back to his senses. The once peaceful and lovely beach from his home, and the soft waves lapping on the silky sand, was now an atmosphere of dread, stone walls, and rough, sharp, wicked rocks just waiting to poke or stab you at any second.

"Diamondback, we have to keep going, we need to get to our year" Bubble urged. Bubble slightly nudged his shoulder, and Diamondback jumped slightly. Diamondback gave Bubble a fierce scowl, and Bubble flinched back. He nearly ran out of the cave right there as he raised his poisonous tail. Diamondback hissed at Bubble, and Bubble closed his eyes and looked away.

"Sorry," Diamondback said looking down at his front talons. Bubble nodded, trying to show that he was fine, but deep down, he was still slightly traumatized that a dragon this close could look like they could kill him so easily. Diamondback looked back up at the scroll, pausing for a second to look at the names one more time. He then continued to unroll the scroll until they came to the most recent year of students.

The list was long over the years as groups of the Pantalan dragons participated in their school. Bubble could see the name of one LeafWing that stood out.

LeafWing: Cyprus

The name sounded familiar. Somehow. Bubble never knew any Pantalan dragons. He was always so sheltered at home, where life was safe and simple, other than the occasional storm. Even then, they weren't that strong.

Oh! I remember going through the biography section of the library. The name appeared on one of the scrolls! Something about being an artist or something. STOP! You need to FOCUS Bubble!

"Ok, so we know that there was a red tail, which automatically eliminates any NightWings, IceWings, SandWings, and SeaWings. We know that there are a few MudWing SkyWings, so they are suspects, but other than that, any other MudWings are fine."

Bubble thought for a moment, keeping track of who is safe, and who is a suspect. Well... Trying. His mind was all cluttered with what Spray would call, "useless and boring history junk that no sane dragon would care about other than you." Somehow as he heard himself think that, he heard it in Spray's voice. He took offense from his own thought.

"Wait, why RainWings too?" Bubble asked.

RainWings were some of the most gentle souls that Bubble knew. Especially his mother, who panicked when his father was about to put a spider Bubble was freaking out about (because it was going to eat him) outside. He wasn't even going to kill it. He was just picking it up to put outside.

"Because, RainWings are able to change their scales, and if they were angry when you saw them, then they might have red scales."

"Ok. I understand," Bubble said, still not entirely convinced, "Let's make a list of everyone who might be the assassin, and we can eliminate them as we get more clues."

Bubble and Diamondback were so busy talking, and thinking that they totally forgot that Prince Boris was also in the room. Boris stood up from his bed, spines rattling together like icicles.

"Wait. What do you mean assassin?" Boris asked worry and accusation in his voice.

Bubble and Diamondback looked over at Boris who was looking with an ice-solid expression. His whip-thin tail slid across the floor, clattering as the spikes on his tail rattled on the stone floor. Bubble could hear the strapping of Boris' claws against the floor, and it sent chills up his wings to his wingtips. Bubble felt his gut twisting and turning because he didn't want anyone to start a panic.

"Boris, you heard nothing! Go back to your scroll" Diamondback hissed with a warning tone. His coiled tail was now pointing closer to Boris, ready to strike.

The IceWing merely stepped off his fur-covered bed and walked toward the SandWing and the SeaWing, and looked down his snout at them.

"I know very well what I heard. IceWings have impeachable hearing, so I heard every word of that conversation."

Diamondback was about to say something when Bubble held him back. He did not want one of his clawmate hurting another. Bubble could tell by the look on Diamondback's face that he didn't want to hurt Boris either.

"Can I trust you with this information?" Bubble asked cautiously. He knew that he can only tell dragons he trusts, and he did not want anyone causing school-wide panic. Last time that happened, according to his parents at least... He just could only describe it as BAD! Boris nodded, slowly (which worried Bubble) and sat down waiting for Bubble to tell him.

Bubble sighed, "I overheard an assassination plan, and the only identifying feature was a red tail."

Boris just looked at Bubble with no expression on his face, and Bubble felt like he was talking to a statue.

"I think I know who to check out first," Boris said, then sweeping out of the cave, leaving only a cold breeze to follow, blowing softly on the edges of the scroll.

"Why did you tell him? How do we know we can trust him!" Diamondback loudly whispered into Bubble's ear.

Bubble thought for a moment, trying to figure out why he did trust Boris. From his mother's stories, Boris' father sounded a lot like an entitled, smug, annoying IceWing Prince. Bubble also heard from the stories that he was caring and compassionate. His mother always said that he was trustworthy when it really counted. He was always there for his friends. There was a chance that Boris could be like that too.

"Because, on one talon, we know he is not the assassin, and he might have some more clues that could be useful."

Diamondback did not look convinced, but he didn't make any arguments, so Bubble just took that as a "fine. Sure."

Diamondback looked over at Bubble and sighed.

"Fine. Sure."

Bubble nearly fell into a laughing fit right then and there. Diamondback repeated exactly what Bubble thought he was going to say.

They both stood up, and Bubble started to walk out of the cave. He looked over at Diamondback who was carefully rolling the scroll back up. He carefully placed it on his bed. They ran after the IceWing Prince, who was just about to turn the corner down the hall.