|| TAIGA || Wings of fire [Reader insert]!FEM

Chapter ten

    

          Taiga was blown backward, slamming into the cave wall behind her. She wasn’t sure if she lost consciousness for a moment or if her eyes were full of smoke. She couldn’t hear anything. She could see Kinkajou screaming at the edge of the flames, but there was no sound. Everything was coming through loud and clear inside her head.

    Taiga blinked at the billowing black smoke that was pouring out of the
history cave. A burning scroll rolled out, stopping just before her talons.
Shards of glass from the broken light globes were scattered all over the floor.

     Winter ran after Moon and Qibli was coming toward her. Turtle was pressed to the tunnel wall beyond them; behind him, two dragons were approaching. Only a few
seconds had passed.

     " Moon! " Winter skidded to a stop in front of her, reaching for her
shoulders and then pulling back as she flinched away. " What was that? "

    " We have to get her out of here, " Qibli said, sliding his wing under one of
Taiga’s and helping her up. " The smoke - " He broke off in a fit of coughing.

   " But Tamarin - Carnelian - " Moon gasped.

" What do we do? " Kinkajou yelled. " What do we do? "

    Qibli and Taiga staggered a few steps forward and the two approaching
dragons came into focus: Sora and Umber.
Sora's eyes were filled with fear and as wide as one of the three moons.

    " I’m going to get help! " Umber shouted. He tore off up the tunnel.

" Is anyone hurt? " Sora squeaked. " Where’s Icicle? "

  " She’s all right, she wasn’t inside, " Moon said.

    She twisted around, but she couldn’t see Sora’s clawmate anymore. Even through the thick smoke,
Icicle’s gleaming white scales should have been visible, but there was no sign
of the IceWing where Taiga had seen her before the blast.

   " At least two dragons were in there, " Winter said. Taiga felt sick. Tamarin. Carnelian.

     " Stand clear, " a voice shouted, footsteps thumping toward them. Taiga
flinched back against Qibli. She didn’t stop to look at them; she ran straight into the burning cave.

  " Three moons, " Kinkajou whispered frantically, clutching her talons
together.

      A minute later, Peril’s smoking wings appeared, and she backed out of
the cave, dragging someone behind her. She pulled the burned dragonet level
with Taiga and the others, then laid her on the stone floor and ran back into
the cave.

    Kinkajou gasped and buried her face in her talons.

   " Oh, no, " Taiga said softly. She let go of Qibli and crouched beside the
body. She could see patches of unburnt red scales, but so much of Carnelian
was burned that she looked more like a NightWing than a SkyWing.

   " Maybe I can - " Taiga hesitated, then crouched and breathed a small
amount of frostbreath on Carnelian’s neck. The scales stopped smoking, but
stayed black. She shook her head in frustration. ' That could make it worse. I
don’t know, ' She worried. Taiga couldn’t tell if Carnelian was even still breathing or not.

    Taiga’s heart jumped as she heard more dragons running toward them;
she could hear that one of them was a desperately worried Clay. He stopped
briefly beside Carnelian, and looked across at Sora.

  " How many are still in there? " he asked.
Sora opened and closed her mouth, unable to speak.

  " We don’t know for sure, " Kinkajou jumped in. " At least Tamarin. Peril
went back in, too. "