Wings Of Fire: Fallen Kingdoms (Book 1)

Chapter 10

     Jellyfish knew it would probably start something, but Jasmine should know what was happening.

     She found her in the library, slumped over a book with a blank face. Jasmine only read when she was absolutely beat, and given the pile of books next to the young LeafWing, she was practically dead.

     "Hey," Jellyfish said, leaning around a bookshelf.

     "Hey," Jasmine said. Her voice was hoarse as if she had been crying for days, which she probably did.

     "How are you doing?" Jellyfish sat on the floor beside her and rested her head on the arm of the chair Jasmine was on.

    "Not good," Jasmine said. She put a bookmark in the book she was reading and set it on her lap. She sighed.

     "Do you, uh," Jasmine said. "Know what happened?"

     "Hm?"

     "To Jackpine. I'm sorry, Jasmine, but he was likely murdered." Jellyfish looked up at her, but her face didn't change.

    "Yeah. I thought so," She leaned back into her chair, staring at the miserable gray ceiling of the library. "Do we have any idea who did it?"

     "Yeah, actually," Jellyfish said. Jasmine looked at her sharply.

     "What?" she asked.

     "Well, remember how Fearless's crossbow had been stolen a few months ago? An arrow for that bow was found where he was killed. There might be more found if Fearless does a more thorough search." Jellyfish chose not to tell her about their suspicions about Stratus, since she liked him so much. Once they have better evidence, then maybe.

     "Hm," Jasmine said. "And nobody knows who that was?"

      "Nope,"

      "Well, it's something," Jasmine said. She set her book on the chair arm and strode across to the central table of the library.

     "How do you feel about his murder?" she asked.

     "I'd feel angry if I had the energy to. I feel... empty." Jasmine said. She looked at a fat open book on the table. "Hey, come look at this drawing."

     Jellyfish stood up and went to stand beside Jasmine. With one claw, she pulled the book closer and showed Jellyfish. It was a drawing of dragons that were very strange looking. The biggest dragon in the middle was a strong-looking female with silver and green scales and hints of pale blue here and there. Jellyfish squinted at her. To Jellyfish's surprise, she had four eyes, and it looked like the dragons around her were bowing to her in a worshipful way.

    The strangest part of the drawing was what she was holding. A blue and gold orb was held above her head, glowing and dripping with divinity. It was godlike, and even through the page, Jellyfish felt drawn to it.

    "What in the world?" Jellyfish said.

    "Her name is weird too," Jasmine said, tapping the bottom of the page. "Her name is Otdra."

    "Otdra?" Jellyfish repeated, furrowing her brow. "Is this some religious thing?"

    "Um," Jasmine flipped the cover over so she could read it, with her thumb holding their place. A Complete History of Animus Magic and other Ancient Powers: From Dawn to Dusk.

     "I saw that book here before," Jellyfish said immediately.

     "Are you sure? It doesn't have a stamp in it," Jasmine said, turning to the inside. "See?" She was right, there was no stamp on it, meaning it didn't belong to the library.