The Story of Artemis- Wings of Fire

Chapter 6

Artemis was thrilled she'd get to be in the Rainforest.

She'd be staying with Mamba until they left for Jade Mountain tomorrow, according to the Rainwing. The sun was bright in the sky, a few clouds skirted here and there. But mostly, it was a clear morning. She still had half a day to explore the Rainforest, and Mamba was excited about showing her everything.

Artemis didn't understand half of the things her friend exclaimed, but she enjoyed the company. Mamba had already shown her everything by midday.

The Rainwing had finally decided to let them rest and have a snack. So they flew to a large platform, where fruits of every kind were scattered in bunches on the platform and trees. Artemis had grown up eating berries, and the occasional pig, cow, and mountain goat. So she didn't really mind what she was given as long as it was edible and wasn't completely crazy. But when Mamba dropped a fuzzy purple fruit into her talons, she was bewildered.

"What...what is this?" She asked quizzically, poking it with an outstretched claw. It was very fragrant, reminding her of a flower filled cavern she used to visit. She looked to her friend for an answer, but Mamba was too was busy scarfing down blueberries.

Artemis snorted at this, tossing the purple fruit to the side. Is there anything I've tried before, and probably won't kill me? She thought. She picked up a few safe-looking star shaped fruits and popped them into her mouth. Artemis then sat down, satisfied, curling her tail around her legs.

"Hurry up, Mamba!" She called to her friend as Mamba looked up from a separate platform, wiping blueberry juice from her snout. She suddenly cracked up at her blue talons, jumping down and waltzing over to Artemis's side. She put a wing over her back, giggling.

"Inside joke." She said, and giggled again.

Inside joke? Artemis thought, but Mamba had already grabbed her wrist and was lifting her into the air. She spread her wings and followed, beating them slightly unevenly with Mamba's.

"So where are we going now?" She asked. The Rainwing was leading her deeper into the rainforest, if it were possible.

"You'll see!" Was all she said.

Not much of an answer. Artemis thought. She had learned to expect that.

Mamba had brought her to a cluster of huts. Each was covered with emerald green leaves and an assortment of flowers, with thatch roof tied with strong lives of rope and vines. They all had wide crescent-shaped panels jutting from the side, presumably for a Rainwing to bask on. Vines connected all of them to each other and the ground, including the small wooden plank walkways to and from each hut. Small baubles with glittering luminescent bugs hung from the walls. Mamba became very excited, diving to one of the smaller huts.

"This is my place!" She exclaimed, spreading a blueberry blue wing to a white flower speckled hut. Artemis stared in wonder, tilting her head to admire the handiwork.

"Wow. The weaving of those vines is incredible. How did you get the flowers there? And the thatch, how does it withstand all the rain?" She could've gone on for hours about how intricate everything was, but Mamba stopped her by dragging her inside. Artemis squawked in surprise, and she stumbled in front of three Rainwings.

Two males and a female. The two males gaped at her in surprise, their scales flaring lily green dotted with white. The female gave a startled jump, her scales shifting to pure black and pulsating green. Mamba elbowed her way inside the hut, nearly tripping over Artemis. Mamba laughed.

One of the males, a little bigger than Mamba, growled and changed his scale color to a menacing red.

"Who is this, Mamba?" He bared his fangs.