Wings of Fire; The Assassin

Chapter 24

"Wait. What do you mean, 'It's a bad one?' Do you mean... like 'end of the world' bad?" Bubble asked with concern. He did not need the end of the world if he couldn't even tell another dragon how he felt. He was also too busy trying to stop an assassin. Could the end of the world wait until there is a real hero available? Like Diamondback, or Boris, or Starburst, or... ANYONE!

Artemis nodded, which worried Bubble even more. Just what he needed. Another problem. Maybe he could go hide in a clam or cave and wait until the end of the world is over.

Artemis looked back at the mountain and said, "I think it has something to do with your investigation. I have read about groups who want anarchy, but these scrolls were old, so I thought that was a past thing. But ever since you asked for my help, I have had that reoccurring vision. I don't think it is finished though. I'm only getting parts of it."

So... she is going to help him after all? He had mixed emotions of worry and gratefulness. He felt like he should say no to protect her too, like Spray, but after seeing her like that, he did not want to hurt Artemis the same way. He will make it up to Spray eventually. Someday. If he can find her after all of this mess.

Bubble looked back at the mountain, and started to get up, "I should be getting back."

The dragons lifted off the ground and flew toward the school. They landed in the Great Hall, and they quickly rushed to their sleeping caves. When Bubble arrived in his cave, Diamondback was already awake and looking at him with a suspicious and sly look.

"So. Where were you last night?" he asked mischievously, slightly smiling, "And another question. Do you know where my sister was, too?"

"I was down by the lake, with... um..." Bubble said, nervous to say anything in front of Artemis' brother. He wanted to make a good impression. He did not need another impossible obstacle for him to get over to get to Artemis,

"Artemis?" Diamondback said, almost like a joke. Bubble guessed that Diamondback had an idea about whether Bubble liked Artemis, but Bubble would say NOTHING.

"Yes. She woke me up when I was having a nightmare last night, and so did she, so we decided to get some fresh air."

Diamondback nodded, but not in recognition, but more like he wasn't listening. They talked for a little, while they were waiting for Boris to wake up. After a few minutes, Boris finally woke up and stretched.

That day they had more classes, so they decided to try to find Alpine in one of their classes, and they followed them after classes.

First up was history class, which again was torture. He knew that he was only there for a little while, but it felt like a million years. Next was healing, which was a new addition from when his parents were here. It was not so bad, a little boring, but they did tell us how they would've died from the venom of the dragon bite viper if they weren't saved.

"I didn't think snakes could be that deadly. Why don't we just get rid of them in total?" one of the Gold Winglet dragonets asked. That is a good question. Why didn't they get rid of them? Then they would not have to worry about being bitten in the desert.

Clay looked over at the student and smiled kindly.

"Because we can't seem to find the Dragonbite Viper dens. We could kill all of the ones that are in the open, but that would only be a few. If we used animus magic, that could cause harm to another dragon's soul. That would not be good."

The whole class went, "Oooooooooh," then everyone started laughing because of it. Clay laughed too, but not as much as the students.

The last class was the most fun out of all of them because they could choose which class they got to go to. Diamondback went to the Music Cave, Boris and Starburst just disappeared somewhere, Artemis and Bubble went to the Art Cave, Copperhead went to the Prey Center, and the SkyWing princess went for a fly.

The walk to the Art Cave was mostly silent other than the few echoes of other students in other parts of the school. It was kind of uncomfortable, but at least he could see Artemis. During the walk there he kept sneaking glances at her. She walked with both confidence and timidness at the same time, which Bubble didn't even know was possible, but she pulled it off perfectly. Artemis looked over at Bubble at one point, and he blushed.

"Wh-Why are you staring at me?" Artemis asked cautiously, shrinking ever so slightly.

Bubble was surprised, and struggled to respond, "Oh! I don- Becau- I was? Sorry." Bubble lowered his head closed to the floor, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"N-no. It's fine. I was just worried that there was something wrong," said, doing the same thing.

They continued walking down the halls until they arrived at the entrance.

"I'll be right back. I'm just going to get some materials for something I am going to make."

Artemis, who was now farther ahead than him, looked back at him. Bubble blushed as he stared into her eyes.

"O-Okay. I'll be here," Artemis replied nervously. She hesitated a little but continued down to the Art Room.

Bubble stood there, watching her as she disappeared behind one of the walls. Bubble continued down the hall. He watched as some other students ran down the halls to other classes.

Bubble arrived at the Great Hall, where there were a few students walking back and forth from the tunnels that spill from it. Bubble jumped out of the entrance into a nice and strong breeze.

Bubble decided to gather some wood and make some wood dragon carvings, just like the ones in his house. First, he gathered some driftwood from the lake and some normal dry wood from the forest nearby. When he came back to the cave, he saw Artemis painting on a canvas, but it was facing away from the entrance, so he couldn't see what it looked like.

After a few hours, he finished making one dragon figure for each of his friends. Bubble grabbed a box from a corner in the room, and he packed all of them up in it, except for two of them. Bubble looked over at Artemis and walked over to her.

"I, um... I have something for you," Bubble said as he showed her one of the carved dragons, which was shaped like a NightWing.

She gasped softly and picked it up. Artemis looked carefully at the entire dragon in awe.

"It's beautiful," Artemis said softly, then she looked up at Bubble blushing.

So are you, Bubble thought. Just then, he saw Alpine run by. He flashed by, but Bubble still recognized the blood-red scales.

He quickly made a plan and hurried over to Artemis, who seemed to notice Bubble's tension. He looked into her eyes and hesitated. If his plan failed, he would end up leaving all of this behind. He would have his friend hate him forever, and he would put his Clawmates in extra danger, but if he didn't do it, he would be missing an opportunity to help someone, if not more.

I am not missing this opportunity. I just need to be careful and make sure my plan works.

Bubble quickly placed down the box of carvings in the corner of the room. He glanced back over at Artemis, who was looking at him with worry.

He gave her a reassuring nod, then ran to the exit, and took a few steps into the tunnel leading to the hallways.