𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐚 | 𝐐𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

Chapter 17

Qibli seemed to figure it out the same time as I did because he sprang up and raced out of the prey center.

I followed him, with a life-or-death drive. My blue tail disappeared from the the entrance before I heard Moon's talons scrambling to catch up.

I raced through the hall, Qibli to my front and Moonwatcher in my peripheral. I was half-flying half-sprinting down the corridors to who knows where. "Sora is in the healers' wing!" Moon called. Thank the Great Sea Dragon that Moon can read minds, otherwise we'd be on a wild goose chase, finding that MudWing. I thought hurriedly.

I finally saw the sign that signaled the healers' wing when a reddish dragon slammed into me and grunted, "Sorry, Umber, but Sora isn't safe!" I yelped to the MudWing.

Umber clutched his head, his right talon up to signify I needed to slow down. "Wait. What's wrong?"

"Skua, we have to tell him." Qibli said, putting a warm talon on my shoulder.

Qibli's right... But if I told Umber what Sora did, it'd destroy him. And that's only if he believes me. But on the other talon, he may not understand but with Icicle out for vengeance he'll want to protect Sora no matter what she did.

Umber may as well be the only one who can help her- and stop her.

I gulped, "Umber, I've got to tell you something awful."

"No," Umber shook his head in denial.

I shifted my sea-like gaze to the Qibli. "We- we know who set the bomb. Who killed Carnelian and Bigtail. And who injured me and Tamarin." I sighed slightly, I felt so guilty for having to tell poor Umber all this. "And she just tried to kill Icicle."

"No. It's not true." Umber's voice was a pleading whisper behind his talon.

Qibli finished for me. He could see I was on the verge of tears. "It was Sora, Umber. And we have to her before Icicle finds her, or your sister will die." Umber seemed to understand because he followed when Qibli and I took off. Moon was trailing like a silent shadow of us.

We rushed to the infirmary where we found Sora standing over the limp form of a healing Tamarin. "Sora?" Umber called to alert his sister of our presences.

Sora's voice wavered with hints of tears that went unshed. "I'm so sorry, Umber. I didn't mean for anyone else to get hurt." Umber quickly crossed the room to envelop his sister in a hug.

"Oh, Sora. Sora. Sora, I love you anyway. But why did you do it?"

Sora was crying now. "Umber, don't you know who she is?"

Qibli wrapped his wing around me protectively. He was the one who saved me from the fire and now here we were, standing in the same room as the criminal who sparked the flame. I felt my knees wobble slightly, at some point they almost gave out entirely had it not been for the defensive wall I was engulfed in.

"Icicle killed Crane." Sora cried from inside her brother's embrace. "I saw her. I saw her. Icicle killed our sister."

"Sora, how can you be sure? There were a hundred IceWings there, and we were all fighting for our lives." Umber reasoned.

Sora sniffed. "I looked up IceWing physiognomy. I asked if she was on the frontlines. It was her." She insisted.

Qibli flared his wings, releasing me from his grasp. He looked ready to explode, "What about everyone else, Sora? Didn't you care if the rest of us died?" He demanded. I placed a talon on his shoulder as I entwined my tail with his.

"Qibli, please-" I said but was rudely interrupted.

Sora's voice was little more than a meek squeak, "I thought she'd be the only one! She should have been there! It should have gone off sooner. But then the other two dragons- And Skua- And poor Tamarin-" Sora's voice sounded like she regretted it all. Her eyes trail to meet mine, it was like she was silently pleading for my forgiveness. She looked away again, "Then everyone was looking at me. Thinking about how much they hate me. They could see right through me, I know it."

Moon finally piped up, "No, Sora. Truly. Dragons think mostly about themselves." Moon's green eyes grew wide. "Believe me, no one is thinking about you as much as you think they are."

"Icicle is coming right now. We need to get Sora to Sunny and Tsunami." Qibli told Umber.

Umber shook his small head, "We can't. Either Icicle will kill Sora, or Queen Ruby will demand revenge for Carnelian." He turned to me, "We'll leave now. I'll keep her safe. And keep everyone safe from her."

Sora looked up at her brother, "But, Umber, then you'd be a fugitive, too. What about Marsh?"

"I'll make sure Clay takes care of him." I said to Sora.

Umber stood up, Sora dipped her brown head low. "Please tell Clay everything- tell him we're sorry. But if we involve him, the queens will shut down the school. We have to leave without saying goodbye."

I felt tears prick at my eyelids, "Of course."

Moon tapped my shoulder. "Icicle is getting closer." She whispered to me.

I gulped before pointing to the window, "Icicle is upon us. Go. Through the window. As fast as you can. We'll cover for you."

"Skua. Thank you." Umber whispered in a small voice.

Sora turned at the last second. "Beware of Icicle, Skua. She talks about killing all the time, even in her sleep. On our very first night here- in her sleep, Icicle muttered 'killing is easy enough.' That's when I knew. She's a murderer. She'll never stop."

Umber ushered his sister out the window, he turned to Qibli. "I wish-"

"Me too. Stay safe, Umber. I hope we meet again." Qibli looked so genuinely calm it sent a rush of relief through me. Umber smiled at us before spinning around and leaping off of the window ledge.

After a moment Moon yelped, "Guys, we have a problem."

"What is it, Moon?" I asked.

"We have to hurry. Icicle is the one conspiring with Queen Scarlet- and Sora's not the only dragon she's promised to kill today."

{1082 words}

Dun, dun, duuuuuuun.

Well not really, I'm guessing that if you're reading this you've already read WoF like sixteen times over.

But I'm so excited to write the next chapter. I really love this story and am sad for it to end (as I've been saying) but I'm really happy I could share my work with you all. And I think we'll be done with this book in like two more chapters.

Love you guys!

Kae