The War of Eternity

Chapter 7

Moonstone's POV

She was done with school, ready to see Starclaw, but as soon as she was about to fly off, Finn caught up to her on the front lawn right as she was about to take off and stopped her. They hadn't spoken to each other the rest of the day after Hawk's comment and it was getting deafening. Her scratches were now bandaged and healing.

"I'm coming with you just to, you know, be a friend." He said it so adorably shyly that she couldn't say no, so she decided to change the subject instead of answering. Considering, if she did, she would probably say something unintelligible like, 'uhhh.'

"You want to be friends?" I asked instead, surprised that Finn, the most popular wolf in school. The queen's nephew, for moon's sake, would want to be her friend.

"Of course! Why would you think I wouldn't?"

"Well, I'm the weird half dragon half wolf that hatched out of an egg. I only have a sliver of a Lunar Stone that I wasn't even born with. I get called to the queen's palace about thirty times a week for private meetings."

She was going to say more, but she was afraid that if she continued she would start to sob. These were all the things she shoved away at the back of her mind so she wouldn't have to think about them for the rest of eternity. Why she was unrooting them all now, she had no idea.

"You're also the most fascinating girl in school with the coolest powers and wings. You're the queen's greatest fighter and an amazing sister to someone who isn't even remotely related to you. You have fought against your own kind just out of loyalty for the wolves who raised you." He said then mumbled shyly, "You're also the most beautiful creature in the forest."

She blushed so hard she guessed her face was as red as a tomato. She had never heard someone besides her sister say such amazing things about her. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that she was actually a cool wolf-dragon to hang out with and get to know.

"Well, then hop on." She said, angling herself so that he could climb on. This felt weird doing it with a different wolf, like a habit being broken. She caught his scent as he almost dove forward onto her head, before settling onto her neck. He smelled strangely of salt and seaweed. She decided to shrug this odd fact off and launched into the sky, flying not as fast as she did with Starclaw so she wouldn't accidentally dislodge him. Starclaw had years of practice holding onto her sleek scales, Finn did not.

Soon, they arrived, and Finn followed her to the infirmary. As they were walking past the beds full of sick or injured wolves, Finn just had to ask.

"So um — why do you always stay by yourself most of the time with your sister? I feel like I have hardly ever seen you around school."

"Because no one else wants to hang out with us besides Alpine. We try to stay in the shadows to avoid any more teasing and bullying that already happens."

"I'm sure that's not true. I have heard from a ton of different wolves that they think you're cool and unique. It's mostly just Aragon and his jerk friends who think that."

"Huh. Well, I would love to meet those wolves, but Aragon isn't the only one who thinks that I'm a freak. A lot of the wolves go out of their way to make sure they don't bump into me in the halls or sit next to me in class. Some even leave 'jokes' in my locker."

"A lot of them are just afraid that Aragon will find out they think you're cool. Trust me. If Aragon says it, then everyone thinks the opposite."

She opened her mouth to say more, but just then, she just spotted a familiar figure on the bed a few beds away. She practically sprinted over to Starclaw with Finn right on her tail.

Starclaw turned around, and when she and her sister made eye contact, her whole face lit up.

"Moonstone!" She said excitedly, "I am so glad you're here, I—"

"What is with your paw? Did something go wrong again?" She interrupted, concerned.

"Well, kind of, but I'm fine. I'm no worse than when I was before it happened," she said, smiling, making Moonstone feel relieved. They hugged until Starclaw pulled away when she saw Finn still watching.

"Sorry Finn, forgot you were here. Why are you here, by the way? Are you and Moonstone like um... together?"Starclaw said, making Moonstone's cheeks feel like lava.

"Starclaw!" She hissed under her breath, glancing over at Finn to see that he had the same stunned reaction that she had. He was blushing as well, which she found odd.

"I'm just curious! Though for the record, you guys would make a pretty good—"

"Shouldn't you rest soon?" Moonstone interrupted, making sure that Starclaw didn't make this visit a whole other realm of awkwardness.

"Nah, I've been resting the whole day. It's good to finally talk to someone other than the healer and her daughter."

"The healer has a daughter?" Moonstone and Finn asked at the same time.

Staclaw smiled, "you know, you guys are so—"

"Don't try and change the subject," Moonstone interrupted her again.

"I'm not," Starclaw insisted. "But yes, she does. Her name is Sage, and her Lunar stone is crazy weird! It glows green and can help her heal wolves!"

"Well, I'm glad your sister is finally back from her school day. With a friend as a bonus," a voice said behind them. Moonstone and Finn both whirled around to find the healer smiling at them a little too sweetly. "Though I'm pretty sure this is all stressing Starclaw out. So, how about we let her rest?"

"But they aren't—" Starclaw tried to object, but the healer was already shooing them out.

Once they were outside, Finn and Moonstone gave each other a look that seemed to say, 'well, that went well.'

"Need a ride home?" Moonstone offered to Finn.

"Sure. Do you know where it is?"

"No, but I've flown over the village many times. I'm sure I can find it as long as you point it out."

Finn smiled, "probably not. But let's go!"

Moonstone helped Finn climb onto her back, then took to the air. She soared high over the village —occasionally scaring wolves into thinking that she was an actual dragon, it was always funny to watch them jump out of the way— swiveling her head from side to side looking for Finn's house.

"There!" Finn said, pointing to a cave by the nearest lake. It was the furthest cave away from the village. She dove and landed in front of the house. The door was lined with fish and was painted ocean blue.

"Your family sure likes the water," Moonstone observed, studying one of the fish.

Finn's back went rigid, "what do you mean by that?"

Moonstone gestured to the fish, "they decorate with fish and ocean blue. Why? What did you think I meant?" She asked, puzzled by his reaction. She had seen a few wolves do that before. Was he hiding something?

"Oh, nothing. I'll see you tomorrow," Finn said, heading inside.

Moonstone turned and flew off.

She only made it about halfway back to the healing center when a darknet was thrown over her. She shrieked and twisted, trying to stay in the air. Black dragons surrounded her and pinned her thrashing limbs to her side.

She tried to yell for help, but they put a muzzle on her, blocking her from biting them.

Eventually, all she could do was watch them carry her away, making her officially a prisoner of the dragons.