Wings Of Fire; The Fate Begins: The Dragonet Prophecy

Chapter 7: The Escape Begins...And Fails?

"We hate this," Tsunami and Aria called softly. "We hate this a lot."

"We hate this a lot too," Starflight and Glaze said softly.

"And we hate this a lot three," Bubble, Ember, and Caribbean said.

"I don't like it either," said Glory's voice.

"Shhhh," Brightglide scolded from the riverbank. Clay could stood in the shallows, shivering as the icy water washed over his talons. He wished that he knew what he was getting into. He really, really wished that he didn't have to go alone.

But he had to do this. He glanced at the corner of the cave where Glory had disappeared.

"Are we sure that this is the only way?" Sunny asked, splashing the river with her tail. "I bet I could think of some more ideas with a little more time."

"We don't have any more time," Clay said.

"Follow the current," Brightglide said to Clay. "Don't leave the river. If it goes out into the world, the current should take you there."

'If,' Clay thought.

"Stop and rest anytime you find a place to breathe," Brightglide went on. "If you can't find a place where the water surfaces, don't panic or you'll run out of air faster."

Clay felt like he was already panicking. When he thought about swimming into the inky blackness, with no idea if he'd ever breathe again, his whole body tightened with fear.

He felt the brush of wing tips next to his and turned. The river eddied around the blurry outline of Glory beside him.

"Go hide," he whispered.

"Thank you, Clay," she said. "I'll never admit I said this, but...I want you to know that I would have never made it through the last six years without the ten of you."

"Same here," Clay said. Growing up under the mountain without Glory, Sunny, Tsunami, Starflight, Glaze, Aria, Bubble, Ember, Caribbean, and Brightglide would have been too miserable to bear.

"Me too," Brightglide said.

Sunny nodded. She twined her tail in Glory's and touched one of Clay's talons.

"Good luck," Glory said. She stepped out of the river and melted back into the shadows.

"Be really, really careful, Clay," Tsunami and Aria said. Their chains were taut around their legs and necks as they leaned toward them. "Come back if you have to. Don't keep going if it's too dangerous."

"Don't you dare die," Sunny added, flinging her forearms around his neck and beating his wings with hers.

"You all stay safe too," Clay said. He took a deep breath, then another. "I'll be rolling away that boulder before you know it." He couldn't delay any longer. He nodded to his friends and Caribbean dove in the river and then he dove after her.

Swimming helped warmed him a little, but his scales still felt crusted with ice by the time he'd made down the tunnel to the battle cave, following Caribbean. He swam to the far wall, where the rock sloped down into the water. He floated for a moment, feeling the current tugging him. Then he inhaled and dove down.

By the flickering light of the torches above and with Caribbean's signal, he could see a patch of wall that was darker than the rest. Tsunami and Aria were right; this hole was smaller than the one to the guardians' cave. Well, it was flatter, but wider, too, more like a snarling dragon mouth, complete with sharp outcroppings like teeth. He couldn't see anything but darkness on the other side.

Then Caribbean lit up her glow-in-the dark stripes. It was light enough to see in the hole, but it was still hard to tell if it goes anywhere.

Clay reached one forearm into the whole and felt nothing but emptiness. Dark water rushed passed him.