Wings of Fire; The Assassin

Chapter 29

After the SkyWing was over the horizon everyone turned to look at the "newly" animus dragon. Bubble shifted uncomfortably and backed up slowly.

The knife was still floating in the air, so Boris walked over and took it. He studied the knife closely, while everyone else was looking at him accusingly. Diamondback looked so angry, that Bubble was starting to think he might actually be killed by him, even after he helped save the SandWing's sister.

"Why didn't you tell me you had animus magic! Bubble!" Diamondback roared at him.

Bubble and Artemis winced. Bubble looked over at Artemis and saw her face. She looked sorry for Bubble, and there was a hint of something else, but it was unreadable for Bubble. He has never seen it before.

"I-I-I didn't... I don't know," Bubble said. He was fearful to say anything in front of the enraged SandWing.

"What do you mean you don't know! You should have a very good reason!"

Artemis put her talon softly on Diamondback's shoulder.

"He should have his privacy for his gift, just as well as any of us here."

Diamondback sighed softly and calmed down. Bubble still backed away just in case he started to act up again. To Bubble's surprise, Diamondback started to cry. He sat where he was and hung his head down. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and Bubble felt sorry for the SandWing.

After a while, everyone calmed down enough to talk. Starburst finally spoke up and asked, "So why didn't you tell us that you had magic?"

"Because I didn't want anyone using me. If you guys didn't know, every time you use magic, you lose a bit of your soul."

Everyone gasped and looked at the SeaWing. Bubble knew the effects of a damaged soul very well.

"If I damage my soul too much, I will go insane and start killing lots of dragons. My ancestors found out the hard way. During a party, an animus killed everyone there except for three survivors. I don't ever want to do that. Not to anyone."

Artemis hugged Bubble, and started to cry again. Starburst changed into the unreadable multi-color party again, and Boris just looked like normal, but Bubble could tell he was tense.

"I have almost never used my magic because I don't want to hurt anyone I care about."

To Bubble's surprise, Diamondback came over to him and hugged him. Bubble knew how tense everyone must be feeling, considering that he just used his magic.

Hours passed, and they just stayed there. They were starting to calm down, so they headed back to the mountain.

"So... should we follow the assassin, or just leave them behind?" Boris asked.

Bubble absolutely did not want to follow someone who has a really big chance of killing all of them. Bubble knew that he would much rather prefer staying in the safer mountain and hide in a cave the entire time, but wherever his friends go, he will follow. He needs to make sure to protect his friends from danger.

They were arriving at the base of the mountain when Artemis collapsed. She was falling out of the air without warning. Without time to think, Bubble and Diamondback were diving down to catch the fall in NightWing.

"Come on! Come ON!" Bubble said to himself. Only a few feet off the ground, Bubble managed to dive below Artemis and caught her. Bubble didn't have the strength to keep flying with the NightWing on his back, so he crash-landed on the ground, and ran into a tree.

The tree cracked under the stress, and Bubble's body was sore. Everyone landed and ran over to them. Diamondback held her body and checked if she was breathing. To everyone's relief, she was. She was starting to regain consciousness, and she opened her eyes.