Wings of Fire; Claws of Betrayal (EDITING)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

So this whole time, Blue thought, staring up at the dark, looming mountain in front of her, we were running around in the Night Kingdom, looking for answers as to where Gleam is, when really we only had to travel a couple feet from our cave to look in this one?

Now that Blue really took a look at this mountain that looked ordinary to the eye, she realised that there was something that made it stick out. She shivered every couple minutes, the powerful energy radiating off the surface made her talons thrum with energy.

"Can't believe we wasted all those days going to the Rainforest Kingdom and exploring the Night Kingdom when all we had to do is come here," Elk said, echoing Blue's own thoughts.

"What do you think we have to do to meet with the Talons? Some magic code?" Blue wondered, walking closer to the mountain.

"Not another step if you want to live."

Blue froze. Who was that? she thought.

"We are not her to harm anybody. We wish to speak to a RainWing named Papaya," Elk said from behind Blue. Blue winced. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to speak yet - after all, we have no idea who we are talking to.

A scrawny, battle-scarred SandWing appeared from the shadows. "Who's askin'?" she demanded.

"I'm Blue, and this is Elk," Blue responded.

The SandWing peered at Elk. "Elk, the medic's apprentice, yes?" she said.

"I used to be," Elk replied nervously, probably wondering which response would keep him alive the longest.

"What is your business with this... Papaya?" the SandWing asked, turning to Blue.

"Well... you see, he's my father and I-"

The SandWing suddenly lunged for Blue and slammed her against the ground. She yelped in pain, struggling against the SandWing's strong grip.

"Blue!" Elk shrieked, but couldn't do anything to stop the SandWing.

"Liar!" the SandWing bellowed. "RainWings don't know who their parents are! What do you want, really?"

"He's my father, I'm telling you!" Blue shouted. "My mother knew exactly which egg was mine, and when I hatched she took me into her care and told me who my father was!"

The SandWing snarled in her face. "Well, guess what, fruit-eater, nobody here-" suddenly she groaned and her eyes rolled back into her head and she flopped onto Blue.

Elk was standing behind her with his poisonous tail barb in the air.

Blue wrestled the SandWing off her and stood up. "I would say thank you if you'd actually thought what you were going to do through," she snapped, glaring at him.

"What did I do wrong this time?" Elk demanded, his tail flopping against the ground.

"Hmm, I don't know, maybe the fact that you've literally just knocked out our only chance to find Gleam?" Blue said, trying to keep her anger under control.

Elk turned away. "It's fine. We'll find someone else to ask about Papaya."

Blue hissed in rage, barely holding herself back from attacking Elk.

But then she saw something out of the corner of her eye - a flicker of movement in the shadows of the mountain. Blue snapped her head towards it and saw a SeaWing charging towards a boulder wedged into the mountain.

"Hey! Wait!" Blue called and ran towards her.

The SeaWing threw her a scared look, then looked back at the mountain. She grabbed onto an oddly-shaped rock beside the boulder and tugged on it. Blue realised it was a lever. She stopped and watched in amazement as the boulder suddenly began to roll sideways with a loud scraping sound, opening an entrance to secret cave.

From behind her, Elk barged her roughly and almost made her fall flat onto her face. "Why did you stop? Run! The cave is going to seal off!"

Blue shook herself and ran after Elk. The SeaWing darted into the cave, and the boulder slowly began to slide back into its original position.

"No!" Blue gasped. Using her wings to lend her some more speed, she outran even Elk, who gave her a shocked look as she flew past. The boulder was inches from its resting position, and, with a final burst of energy, Blue barely made it into the cave.

She lay, gasping, as the small chink of light disappeared, throwing her into complete darkness. "Elk?" she whispered. Her blood ran cold when she realised that Elk hadn't made it through with her.

We're separated. Again, Blue thought, swallowing her fear as she looked around.

"H-hello?" Blue called into the dark.

Suddenly something heavy slammed into her side, so hard it knocked the breath out of her. She fell onto the ground, and the dragon stood above her, holding a dagger against her neck. "Who are you?" he demanded. "And how did you find the Talons of Peace?" he shoved the weapon closer to her wind pipe.

Suddenly, all the words dried in Blue's mouth. She felt paralyzed with fear. I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, she thought, dazed. But then she realised that was such an Elk way to think, so she got rid of those thoughts immediately and cleared her throat, trying to seem brave when really she felt about as dauntless as a mouse about to get swallowed by a snake.

Before she could speak, another dragon interrupted. "Garnet, put that dagger down, right now. We're the Talons of Peace, which means we're against violence and fighting."

"Way to keep our identities a secret, Rodent," grumbled another voice. "For all we know, she could be a spy, trying to learn who and where the Talons of Peace are."

"Or," piped up another, "maybe she's going to kill us all!"

"I'm not going to do any of that," Blue interjected before they decided to kill her after all. "Really, all I'm here is to talk to Papaya the RainWing."

Blue was sure that, in the dark, a look of shock flitted against the dragon called Garnet's face. But it cleared before she could be sure. "And what is your business with him?" he growled.

Blue glared at him. "A matter that I will only discuss with him," she snapped back.

The dragoness Blue thought was the one called Rodent came forwards. "Honey, I think you've come to the wrong place. There is no dragon in the Talons of Peace named Papaya, and there certainly aren't any RainWings, that's for sure."

Blue's heart sank. "Oh." she said defeatedly, feeling her shoulders slump. Wrong again. Again, again.

Rodent gave her a sympathetic glance - she was a stocky, large sand-yellow SandWing with a hoop dangling from one ear and a scar running down the length of her face. She cleared her throat and said, "Garnet, I believe this is your cue to get off the RainWing and let her go."

Garnet started and climbed off her. Blue stood up and brushed dust off her scales. "Bye, then. Thanks for your help anyway."

"Pleasure," Rodent responded. But as Blue turned, someone grabbed her tail and dragged her backwards.

"Hey!" Blue shouted. Her captor swung her around, and Blue discovered it was Garnet. Her eyes widened. "Help!" she yelled, but Garnet had dragged her into a completely different cave.

"Shut up," Garnet hissed. "I'm not going to hurt you. You wanted to speak to Papaya, right?"

"Yes," Blue said cautiously. "You know him?"

Garnet didn't respond. Suddenly the SkyWing's scales began to melt off his body, and he begun to shrink in size. Blue stared at him, jaws agape, as his bulky form slimmed, his tail curled inwards and two long fangs began to grow out from his normal sharp teeth. His scales were now pale yellow and sage green, his eyes blue and ruffs rippling in rainbow colours.

"What would you like to discuss?" Papaya asked, a smile on his face.