Wings of Fire: Rogue Power

Chapter 14

The next day when I wake up at home, I hear Jackals voice. 

I jump out of bed, tripping over my tail to get out the door. I haven't gotten to see him since he left last month. And Harpy is the only one receiving his letters. I had been to busy to read them with her. 

"Jackal!" I yell out in excitement when he comes into view. He was talking to Harpy at the desk, but in moments I tackle him to the ground. 

Instead of the happy expression I had seen in my visions, he scowls up at me, shoving me off roughly and shaking his wings and tail vigorously, sand dusting up around him. Confusion settles over me as I sift through my thoughts. This was a possibility, but it was such a small one I didn't even consider it. Odd.

"Jackal?" I can't help but feel confused. Wasn't he in the war to take away his anger? Why was he being like this?

"Jackal is a bit tired from his flight. He needs a bit to relax" Harpy cuts in before Jackal can answer, and he grumbles instead, pushing past me roughly and heading down to his room.

I wait till his talons steps fade before tilting my head at her questionably. She just shrugs, and looks down to the scroll she was reading absentmindedly.

Odd.

This is all... Odd.

Why isn't this in her visions at all? Even now, it looks different in her head than what she's actually seeing. We're her visions... not seeing this? We're they... failing her?

No. There was something wrong. Something must be messing with them. Maybe it has something to do with Thysan. He isn't visible in her futures, so maybe he talked to Jackal and made him mad. That had to be it. 

"I'm going out" I give no further explanation to Harpy as I walk out and launch myself into the air nervously. Looking at my pale golden wings under the bright sunlight, I remember how different I really look. 

If Thysan saw my true scales, would he still like me? Or trust me? The answer is no. One look at my purple scales and he would be gone in a heartbeat. Well, ok, he wouldn't do that. But all trust would be gone. 

It didn't matter though. After she finished painting for him, she and Jackal could leave here, be in their own scales again for a bit. They only had a year or two until the war was over, so they didn't need to stay close to it anymore. Besides, she wanted to ask Jackal about the old night kingdom. He mentioned it when they first met, and from what she learned about nightwings from the library in the scorpion den, the night kingdom currently is a secret, and their old home is long lost. 

Maybe it would be a good place for her to live. For both of them. An entire empty kingdom for her and Void to explore safely. It sounded nice. She could sense it, in a way, in the futures. But it was unclear, and fuzzy. Another effect of Thysan's she suspected. Another reason to leave here. 

She lands gracefully In front of Thysan's home, tail curling nervously. I was about to enter the curtain door when I hear voices arguing inside. 

I'm not the dragon who likes to eavesdrop, but, hearing Thysan's voice also yelling, I decide this is an exception.

I whisper to my ring, watching the red fill it as my scales fade slightly. I quickly walk through the curtains, barely flapping them so as not to draw any attention.

Not that they would notice anyway from the way they're yelling currently.

Seeing the owners of the voices finally, I'm shocked to see Thysan's outraged face glowering down at a crouching, but determined looking Sandwing, wearing a black cloak. It also looks like he has tattoos of some kind all over his tail.

"I told you and your cult before, I don't trade items like that anymore. Not after that last time" 

He spits out the word cult like it's a pile of dead fish left to rot in the sun for weeks. I've never seen him this angry, and quite honestly, it's terrifying. But the hooded dragon doesn't even flinch.

"That's why we need things like that though! They're essential to help keep incidents from occuring! Look, this is the only item we need, after, we promise to stay out of your business completely. Vulture swears by it" 

Thysan pauses. He shakes his wings out for a moment, his eye patterns once again dazzling my eyes. I haven't gotten to see them much since that first time we met. He was a bit shy about them, and hated showing them. 

"You mean it? He won't interfer ever again?" 

"Yes! We swear!" The hooded dragon gives a sight bow to Thysan before looking up at him hopefully. 

Thysan relaxes, even sitting back and giving a small smile. 

"What is he trading in return for this item?" 

"Another enchanted object of course. But it's not here. Tomorrow at dawn, be at our normal meeting place to discuss with him further. It's definitely worth your time" 

"I'll be there" Thysan responds, gesturing towards the door. The hooded dragon leaves swiftly, and I feel the air from his fast escape over my scales. This was not what I expected to see today at all. 

I sneak out the curtain carefully, and wait a minute or two before returning myself to normal.

Entering the curtain, I see Thysan's disappeared. Not surprising really. 

I take my regular route to the painting room, thinking over what I saw. I definitely heard the word 'enchanted'. Which means Thysan's not just trading normal things, but Animus touched objects. 

This was bad. If what I saw it true, then he must know about the earring he's wearing. He said it was his first treasure. Maybe that's why he finds them now, because he found one by accident. 

I should feel more upset, or worried. But I don't. Actually, I feel better than before. Maybe this means, if he knew about my true self, he wouldn't be so mad. Maybe he would be happy about it. 

With a much lighter feeling in my heart and talon steps, I forget all about why I came here.

An hour later Thysan finally notices my arrival. Mostly because I left the door to the room open slightly.

"Bastet?" He questions through the crack, breaking my concentration. 

"Yep. I'm here" 

A long pause ensues before he answers. 

"Can you... come with me for a bit? I have something I need to do and ide rather not be alone" I'm taken aback by his request. 

Normally, Thysan just has me talk with him around the building, mostly the gardens. I never noticed before how secretive he was about me. Like he didn't want anyone to know I was there.

"Of course! Ide love too! Need a break from all these paint fumes anyway" 

Stepping out from the paint infested room to his handsome face, I recall the anger expressed there before. Hopefully I'll never be the object of that anger.

"Here" he shyly hands me something.

It's a necklace with a golden chain, and on the end is a pale moonstone, shaped like a crescent.

"It's beautiful!" Looking at the precious stone in awe, I gently lift it over my head to let it hang on my neck. Thysan's eyes flash with an emotion I don't recognize, but it quickly fades. 

"It's nothing. Come on, let's go before anyone notices I'm gone" I wonder about his last words, but follow him quickly down the stairs and out the curtain. 

Winging our way to an unknown destination, I finally remember Jackal.