𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐚 | 𝐐𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

Chapter 13 - Part Three: The Darkness Of Dragons

3rd person POV (Skua)

A talon lightly tapped on Skua's shoulder, motioning for her to come up to the surface. Skua stuck her snout out enough for her to mutter, "Leave me alone, sand-snorter."

Qibli shook his head, "If only it were that easy..."

Skua bristled, she didn't know if she wanted to throttle him or dive into his open arms. She blew a nonfatal plume of icy breath into his face, he snorted a swell of smoke. Skua giggled causing Qibli to smile, "Stop it." She ordered, "I'm supposed to be mad at you!" She swatted at his snout.

Qibli smirked, he perched himself onto Carnelian's old rock ledge, out of Skua's reach. "Well, be mad at me all you want. But Moon has an update."

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Skua's 1st person POV

"What is it?" I yelled, barging into Moon's cave. Moon motioned for me and Qibli to take a seat. I looked around, no one was there but the two of us plus Moon. "Why did you only call for me and Qibli?" I amended.

Moon sighed, rubbing her temples. "Because I heard something and I thought you two would be the only ones who could help me." Moon shifted her gaze, her eyes landing on each of them in turn. Skua let her talons tell Moon to go on. "Well, I didn't hear." She shook her head, "I can't hear some dragons- including you, Skua. I don't know why I can hear them though, I mean, there's Onyx- she's blank. Peril- sometimes a thought will slip through but it's mostly fire. And Turtle- he's as blank as both Onyx and Skua."

I wrinkled my nose, "Turtle?"

Qibli seemed confused, "Do you know how to shield your thoughts?" Qibli asked me at the same time. I shook my head, spikes clanking.

"We ought to find out more about Onyx and Peril because I know for sure Turtle didn't do it." I said. "I know Peril is also out of the question since those bombs were Dragonflame Cactus, they would've exploded on contact with Peril's firescales."

"It might be Onyx, I don't know much about her."

Moon pondered this, "It may not be either of them. If it is, I wouldn't hear them, that's all."

I nodded, "Alright, let's see if anyone thinks anything suspicious at the assembly, and if not, we'll focus on those three."

"Assembly?" Moon asked, confused.

Qibli handed her a slate, "Skua and I were just on our way there. Poor Sunny is so upset." Two gongs reverberated through the halls, "Come on!" Qibli called, he slipped around the corner and I followed my pale grey-blueish tail dragging along the floor.

Qibli moved quickly, but it was easy enough to keep pace with him. "Who did it? The answer is in the motive; that's what Thorn would say. So why? The Outclaws never used anything like bombs because Thorn didn't want collateral damage." I nodded in agreement.

"And we SeaWings don't use bombs either as there would be no way for us to set them off without lighting a bonfire. Targeted killing if necessary, open challenges if possible. But blowing up innocent dragonets- it's the coward's choice."

 Qibli looked out into the distance, lost in thought. "Were they trying to kill someone in particular, or as many dragons as possible? And did they succeed?"

I shook my head, spikes tinkleing. "I don't know, but killing Tamarin makes no sense; she had to be an accident. Yet Carnelian and Bigtail- weren't the ideal model of friendly. Plus they seemed like they could've made enemies fast."

Qibli turned to me, I could practically see the gears in his head rolling. "Or... one enemy." I thought back to the first day we arrived, but Moon seemed to make the connection faster.

"Pike? I didn't think of that." OK, maybe she read his mind because her guess was a bit too fast. "Oh- I-I'm sorry, I couldn't help but hear it." She looked down at her talons, sighed, brushing my wing to hers for a little support.

"Well I suppose it'll make for a faster conversation." Qibli glanced at me, "But we still have to talk out loud because someone is immune to Miss Mindreader." He snorted, I laughed.

"It isn't my fault. But, Moon's right, after years of knowing Pike I can tell he's angry on the inside."

Qibli's face contorted with sarcasm, "How surprising. He's so mellow on the outside." I cackled again.

"Pike fought with Carnelian and Bigtail. I can't think of anyone else who might want them both dead." Qibli said.

"But how could Pike know who'd be in the history cave?" I pondered. Qibli let out a disgruntled sigh as another gong sounded.

Moon thought for a moment before she erupted. "Oh! Pike nearly died in the Summer Palace attack. He must know about the Dragonflame Cactus bombs-"

QIbli cut her off, "Cactus bombs?" I rubbed the scars on my chest, they suddenly ached from the mentioning of the SkyWing attack.

"They are bombs that ignite once they come in contact with fire. The SkyWings used them to attack my mother's Summer Palace. There is a theory that the SkyWings knew Blister was there and they hoped to kill her but they failed, obviously. Although, there was a battle that raged outside the ruins once the Palace was in shambles. There was a SeaWing death count of two hundred ninety-seven soldiers and sixty-three civilians that died that day. I was lucky enough to only get out with these scars." I said, the memories cutting through the scars, reopening a wound that hadn't yet fully healed.

Moon gasped, her hand on her mouth. Qibli gave me a sympathetic (Or a SIMPing look - Kae) look. Another gong sounded, "Come on, let's go scan for possibly murderous dragons." I tried to say in an uplifting tone.

We stepped into the great hall, and moons above were there a lot of dragons! Many of them looked nervous, others downright terrified. I couldn't keep up with the hustle and bustle of all the horror-struck dragonets so I focused on my sister. She looked so angry, not that she wasn't all the time, but she also looked.... anguished. 

Hey y'all. I know I've said this before but, man have I never thought this book would blow up, and know instead of keeping it one book, I'm making a series! Well, I hoped you liked this chapter. But also, I have so many loyal and wonderful readers but I want to know why I never get to meet any of you amazing people! Come! Follow me; leave a comment. Join my army of WSS FanWings. I love you all so much but it pains me not to be able to interact with you guys.

But I hope you all have an amazing day/night. Remember, to eat and drink because you don't want to end up like Gill.

Yours sincerely,

Kae