An Assassin's Choice {Wings Of Fire Fanfic/AU}

Chapter 82: Safely Unsafe

     Feather blinked, still appearing shocked, before breaking the silence by asking, "H-how old is he..?"

    "He's 'bout one and a half years old, darling," Sparrow replied, wrapping her wing around the wingless dragonet.

    "What's his name?" RedRunner piped up, twining his tail with Feather's. Feather silently squeezed his tail with hers, a calming gesture.

    "Well, after the.. incident.. we decided to name him as another reminder to be very careful-" Sparrow began cautiously.

    "We named him.. Lostwings," Charcoal finished proudly. RedRunner was taken aback. He could see the shock and sympathy on his fiancée's face as well. How could that poor dragonet's parents name him after something as traumatic as.. well.. losing his wings?!

    "That's horrible..." Feather murmured. RedRunner nudged her with his wing to get his attention. She glanced up at him, her eyes glassy from welling tears.

    "I know this is bad..." he whispered in her ear, "but we probably shouldn't dwell on it.. for.. for your brother's sake... Why don't we tell them about.. our egg?" he offered.

     She nodded in agreement. "They'll probably take the news better if we tell them before it hatches." They exchanged a nod before looking back up at her parents.

    "Well.. on the subject of dragonets..." RedRunner began, rubbing the back of his neck over the bright-red armor. "We are proud to announce that you two.. are grandparents to our egg..." Feather continued. The older dragons froze, the only movement coming from Lostwings as he tried to straggle out of his parents' grip.

    "You're telling me.. that you two..."

    "You two had an egg and DIDN'T TELL US?!" Sparrow shrieked with excitement, cutting her husband off. She ran over to them and wrapped them both in a tight hug. "Oh, congratulations Feather, RedRunner!"

     RedRunner hugged her back awkwardly.

    "Well.. where is it..?" Charcoal asked, staring at the couple expectantly. The couple exchanged a glance.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

     As the last trace of sunlight faded from the sky, and the stars began to make their presence known, RedRunner and Feather were soaring back to the Sky Palace.

     Feather's parents had insisted that the couple should bring their egg, as they "wanted to see their future grandchild".

     However, on their way back to the Palace, RedRunner couldn't help feeling uneasy. It seemed.. quieter than usual. Normally, there would be SkyWings and SandWings flying all over the place, but the Kingdom seemed deserted.

     The feeling didn't get any better once they landed in the Palace. There was no one. It was as if the Palace was a ghost town.

     A chilly breeze that must have been stifled by the many dragons that used to roam the halls blew past them. RedRunner shivered as anxiety and the cold pricked his fireless scales.

     Feather and RedRunner walked down the hallway nervously, looking all around for any trace that any dragons were still here.

    "There..." Feather whispered, pointing to behind one of the white pillars. Scrunched up and making a weak whimpering noise, was a reddish-maroon dragonet. They scurried over to her hiding spot, beginning to try to comfort her.

    "Hey, it's okay little one..!" RedRunner began. "What happened?" The dragonet looked up at them with a terrified expression.

    "Y-you aren't c-crazy..?" she sniffled, wiping tears from her cheeks.

    "Crazy?" Feather inquired softly.

    "Y-yeah.. the- the NightWing... she came.. and then everyone were suddenly attacking each other..." she explained, wide eyed. "And then everyone were doing everything she said. I thought she was gonna to get me for sures 'cause I'ma Princess.. but then they all left, but I was still scared..."

     RedRunner and Feather stared at her, shocked. Then, one thought popped into both of their minds at once: If everyone had left with the NightWing, then that meant... Their heads snapped up and they stared at each other in fear as they both whispered in unison, "The egg..."