Wings of Fire; Claws of Betrayal (EDITING)

CHAPTER TWO

Blue shivered. The sound of his name sent a shiver from the tip of his snout down to the end of her tail. She tried not to turn the colour white to show her uneasiness, and stayed in her usual RainWing colours.

"Deathwish?" Elk repeated, a shiver rippling down his body. "Urghh. The sound of that name gives me the heebie-jeebies. What are you, an assassin or something?"

"Right you are, SandWing," Deathwish rumbled from down on the ground. "By the way, I was taught it was bad-mannered to stay in the sky whilst having a conversation. Come down on the ground and say hello."

Blue was even more wary of him now that he had admitted to them that he was an assassin. NightWings were rarely spotted away from their mystery land. If Deathwish was way out here, didn't that mean he was on a mission to kill someone?

Gleam shot Deathwish an unfriendly, suspicious look, then lightly flapped down to land in front of him. Blue was suddenly reminded that they had Gleam's anger-powers, so if Deathwish tried anything, then he'd be suffocated by Gleam's force. 

Blue followed Gleam, feeling more relaxed now that she'd remembered her friend's unusual psychic abilities. Elk floated down with her, and soon the two were on either sides of Gleam, standing defiantly in front of the NightWing.

"What do you want, NightWing?" Gleam growled.

"I'm lost," Deathwish said out right. Blue was startled. 

"What, so you're just going to tell some random strangers that you've just ran in to that your lost?" Elk exclaimed. "I thought you were a NightWing."

"The least I'd expect from one of your dragons is to just admit something like that in front of random dragons from different tribes," Blue agreed.

"Hey, come on. Can't you just show me where to go?" Deathwish said indignantly. "I'll just stick around for a couple hours at most until you lead me to my destination. That's all I'm asking."

"Hmm," Gleam growled. Blue, Gleam and Elk gathered in a huddle not far off from Deathwish to discuss what to do next.

"I don't know. I'm getting really sketchy vibes off him," Elk whispered.

"Me too. Since when does a NightWing just talk to random strangers passing by and admit they don't know where to go?" Blue said.

"But maybe he really is lost," Gleam pointed out. "And maybe he's lonely and just wants company. I say we help him."

"Can't we just give him directions instead?" Blue demanded. "We're on our own journey, remember. Just point him in the direction he needs to go, and we can continue to the rainforest. We're less than a day's journey."

Elk nodded his head in agreement.

"Listen. Maybe he's just testing us, and if we pass the test he'll tell the NightWings. Then we'll have a possible alliance with the most powerful tribe," Gleam said. "I say we show him. His destination can't be far, after all."

"Fine," Blue growled. "But don't say me and Elk didn't warn you."

Gleam nodded, then they turned around. Deathwish was sitting patiently, watching a passing butterfly.

Gleam cleared her throat, and Deathwish turned his gaze to her. "The decision's been made," Gleam announced. "We'll take you to show where you have to go, but only that. Don't ask for any other favours."

Deathwish's eyes gleamed. "Thank you," he said happily.

"So where do you want to go?" Blue asked grumpily.

Deathwish pointed with a claw behind them. "Sky Kingdom."

"But that's back the way we came!" Blue exclaimed. Where he wanted to go was a day's journey away!

Gleam shot Blue a glare. "We said we'd help him, remember?" she hissed at her quietly, then turned to Deathwish again. "Alright. Let's go."

Elk groaned. The four dragons lifted into the air, then they swung around and flew back towards the Sky Kingdom.

~~~

It was evening by the time the four had reached the caves where Gleam, Elk and Blue had slept in last night, which meant they had officially erased their progress that day. Blue sighed bad-temperedly as they flew into the same cave the three had spent the night before.

Deathwish huddled in the corner of the cave, trying to get as small as possible so that the others could fit in. Fitting three dragons in one small cave had been hard - fitting four was a nightmare.

Blue had trouble sleeping due to the cramped position she was forced to be in, and when she did fall asleep she slept uncomfortably. However she managed to sleep away the night.

"Blue? Blue!" 

She was awoken by shaking talons on her shoulders. Blue had missed her suntime yesterday, so she was extra tired today. She swiped the claws away. "Tell that Deathwish to be more respectful to the dragons that are taking time out of their days to give him directions!" she snapped. "I'll be ready when I'm awake."

"Blue wake UP!"

"What is it!" she spat, opening her eyes and glaring at Elk. His face was unusually troubled, and she was immediately worried.

"It's Gleam and Deathwish," he said, panic clear in his voice.

"What's wrong?" Blue asked worriedly.

"They're gone."