Wings of Fire; A Royal Ghost

Chapter 1; Page 7

"The only reason I asked to enrol here at Jade Mountain, is because all I wanted to do is keep an eye on Toucan. He has an act for trouble." Lorikeet paused as she gave a concerned expression towards Torrid, who had pried Aqualon's jaw open, and was inspecting the Icewing's teeth. Lorikeet quickly snorted, giggling.

"No, Sweetheart, I'm married to his Mother, Mistral of the Icewings. He isn't my biological son, so your search for Rainwing qualities will be deemed unsuccessful."

Torrid frowned. "That's slightly disappointing." He stated, letting go of Aqualon's jaw.

Torrid sat beside Lorikeet, who had Petrel and Toucan tucked under each of her wings. Boutu seemed to be fighting over a fish with Tsavorite, and Quietmind was sitting next to a rather nervous looking nightwing, who was an odd purple with sharp spikes clustered at the back of her neck. Torrid turned to Lorikeet, taking a bite from the red apple he was holding.

"I still can't believe that you are, technically, a mother." Torrid stated.

Lorikeet chuckled. "Only for a year or two. Mistral had some. . complications. . with her former partner- an Icewing named Larimar, who was also Mistral's partner in work." Lorikeet paused, pointing a talon in the direction of Quietmind, "That dragon next to your friend there," She started, "That's Coldheart, Larimar's other daughter, as well as Aqualon and Brinicle's half-sister."

Torrid eyed the odd dragon up and down. They were more of a blue than a purple, with a fade of light blue scales along her cheek. "So Larimar already has a different partner?" He questioned.

Lorikeet nodded. "A Nightwing named Lieteller. Her name is, unfortunately, accurate. She cheated on her partner for Larimar, although Larimar was unaware of Lieteller's partner. Poor thing. According to Mistral, he got badly beaten by Clevermind." Lorikeet held back a laugh, resulting in her wrinkling her nose in an amused manner. A grey-blue seawing walked towards them both, Torrid recognising them as Akoya. She looked rather lost as her claws tapped against the stone. She lowered her head to Torrid's eye-level, before suddenly speaking.

"Have you seen Alder?" She snapped, her brows furrowed as she spoke quickly.

"W-Who?" Torrid squeaked, leaning back from Akoya, whose snout was almost touching his.

"Halite's brother." Lorikeet answered, before turning to Akoya. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I don't think anything's wrong," Akoya started, "He promised Halite he'd sit with her- and she said that Alder never breaks a promise. She's really worried about it and we've searched all of Jade Mou-" Akoya was cut off by a rather horrified scream, which seemed to startle several dragons, as well as Akoya and Torrid.

"What was that?" Toucan whispered, turning to Lorikeet.

"I'm not sure, but it sounded like it came from the Main Hall, considering the Echo." Lorikeet frowned.

"Follow me," Ordered Akoya, spreading her wings, "We can go around, instead of weaving through the caves.

Torrid spread his small, although powerful, wings, following close behind Akoya, who flew rather quickly. Lorikeet, Petrel and Toucan flew behind both of them, and were already out of breath. They soon after landed on the stone in front of Jade Mountain's entrance, scurrying inside. Torrid paused in the entranceway, frowning at the sight he saw. A pale green dragon was sitting in the centre of the room with a limp Skywing flopped over in her arms. Blood stained the green dragon's arms, and Torrid could see the many wounds spread along the small Skywing's body. The injured dragon was clearly breathing, which seemed to be a good sign, although the dragon grasping him still seemed sorrowful. Various deep blues danced around the green dragon's body as they sobbed, creating rather pretty, although slightly hypnotic swirls along the green canvas. Lorikeet and Akoya looked at each other, before Lorikeet reached towards the dragon.

"Halite. ." She said slowly, her voice gentle and calm.

Torrid paused. That's not Halite, He thought, Halite isn't a Rainwing, or green, for that matter. And she doesn't seem like one to cry. Torrid eyed the dragon up and down slowly. This green dragon did have matching scars along her neck, the exact same as Halite's, and not to mention the odd spikes that stuck out from behind her ears and the base of her jawline. Her arms were stained with bright blood from the Skywing who layed in her arms. The Skywing's scales were quite similar to that of Vermilion's, Queen Ruby's brother, who Torrid had seen only a few times. Lorikeet stepped towards Halite, her wings spread to show she meant no harm. Halite looked up, tears rolling down the sides of her face. She let out a dangerous hiss, smoke fuming from her mouth as she rose to her feet, picking up the smaller Skywing and cradling him in her arms.

"WHO DID THIS!?" Halite roared, spinning around to face the crowd of dragons who had formed behind her. Bright reds overlapped the pale green and deep blues, and Torrid could tell that this was a sign of anger. She cradled the Skywing close, burying his face in her chest. Torrid followed Petrel, Lorikeet and Akoya as they scurried to the crowd, and Torrid could see the small Skywing's eyes flicker open. Smoke poured from Halite's mouth, and her throat glowed a dangerous orange. Torrid frowned before taking a step closer to Halite, which received a dangerous snarl. Torrid paused, before stepping back to sit beside Lorikeet.

Lorikeet bent her head down to whisper in Torrid's ear, "The dragon she's holding is Alder, just so you know. She cares about him more than anything."

Torrid frowned at the angered dragon, resisting to flinch as she took a menacing step towards the crowd. "What happened to him?" Torrid questioned, whispering back to Lorikeet.

"No idea."

Halite paused, swinging her head to face Beetle, who was sitting next to a cluster of stalactites. "You." Halite hissed, "You knew he was hurt. You're the one who took me to him. So you must be the one who hurt him!" Halite roared, quickly breathing a plume of fire at Beetle. Beetle had very little time to react, but was able to dive out of the way. An Icewing with a brown and black stripe running around his neck pushed through the crowd and jumped in Halite's line of fire, quickly breathing shards of ice towards the angered Skywing. Halite snapped her mouth shut right as the ice got to her, instead making it hit her in the side of the snout. She stumbled back and let out furious roars, flaring her rather large wings. Akoya lunged forward, placing her claws on Halite's back to help her balance. Akoya gently pulled Halite to the ground, as she was standing on her hind legs. Halite hugged Alder to her chest, staining even more of her scales in blood as they shifted to a different shade of pale blue, one which almost matched the ice shards spread along the far wall from the Icewing's attack.