Wings of Fire - The LostWing Chronicles, Book 1 - The Awoken

Chapter 10

Anadrom curled up on her bed and stared at the wall opposite her in deep melancholy, gently tracing it with one of her claws. The stone certainly seemed harder than usual, and she was unable to chip any away, so her protection spell on the mountain itself seemed to have worked. Did everyone fear her because she was an animus, or because they heard skewed rumors about what she had done in the Kingdom of the Sea? If I keep only doing good things, they'll have to trust me eventually. But they won't let me in the beginning - they'll see it as the Darkstalker handing out gifts all over again. I don't want to just amass a following like he did, though - I actually want to make Pyrrhia a better place.

Ocotillo and Eelgrass were whispering to each other in the center of the cave, and then slowly made their way over to her. She turned as Ocotillo sat down beside her, blinking into his yellow eyes. He coughed nervously, then slowly said, "Anadrom, I'm so sorry. About all of this, to be sure, but - er - more about what I did to you."

This was not what she had expected at all - was he upset that she'd endangered Queen Coral to save him? How could he be, after everything he had done for Eelgrass?

"When you first - er - told us about your powers," her father continued, and she was startled to see a single tear falling down his snout, pale against his tan scales, "you needed our support more than anything. The first things you did were so responsible - er - and kind. Your brilliant Informaband, healing my ear - it - it was all great. But I was frightened of what it all meant regardless, and I failed you. If you had felt more accepted by us, you wouldn't - er - have gone off into the deeps, and that blackmailing Estuary would - er - never have caught you in her trap. Then you sacrificed everything for me in the Kingdom of the Sea, even your own soul with your enchantments, which was -"

He broke off for a moment, then continued, more tears running across his face now. "And I - I believed what they were saying about you while you were imprisoned. That you had tried to betray the tribe and take the throne for yourself. And you were doing it all to save me. Anadrom, I'm so sorry. I'm a terrible dragon, and I - I - I don't deserve to be your father."

Eelgrass chimed in somberly. "And you're an amazing dragonet, Anadrom. You don't deserve any of this distrust. We know that you only want to make things better, to bring Pyrrhia into a new age of peace and happiness. You still can, and you still will. I'll always know that to be true."

This was exactly what she had wanted to hear from them, to know that what she had done was right. She hugged them tightly, her love for them driving off her gloom. "Ocotillo, don't say that about yourself, please. You and Eelgrass are the best parents I could ever wish for." It was entirely true. Her scales were lighting up again, but this time in a softer light that somehow held an odd beauty about it, like the way newly-hatched MudWing siblings looked at each other.

They remained that way for a while, and then exhaustion from the long journey and their rampant emotions drove them to their sleeping platforms. Sunny had brought in a basket of camel-hair rugs and seashells, which they respectively spread across their beds before lying down and falling into mostly peaceful slumber.

When Anadrom awoke, Ocotillo and Eelgrass had left, probably to testify about her before the council Winter had demanded. The room about her appeared to be entirely empty, but there was an odd feeling to the corridor beyond, as if someone was watching her. "Who's there?" she called out nervously, sitting up on her bed. There was silence for a moment, then the sound of talons against stone, and a SkyWing burst into the room.

Her scales were coppery-gold, an unusual color, and wavered with heat similar to the way water did next to geothermal vents. Her wings were outstretched at the moment, with her wingspan nearly filling the small cave as she stared at Anadrom with sparkling blue eyes. This was unmistakably Peril, the former mass-murderer under the reign of Queen Scarlet who had eventually helped Queen Ruby take the throne instead.