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

Chapter 13

"What?" Anadrom cried, staring at the SandWing and hoping against all else that he was lying. I can't be trusted with that sort of power, not in the least. What I already had was bad enough. I don't want to be the most powerful entity in the entire sun-system, I don't want any power at all! But the Informaband still works; that spell didn't change any enchantments I had already cast at all. Then as long as I wear it, which will be for as long as I live, I can't do anything evil or murderous. This - I'm exactly the wrong dragonet for all of this. I'm too nervous, too gloomy, and not nearly clever enough to be the hero that everything says I'll have to be. She couldn't think of a word else to say, so she just slumped dejectedly in the grass, her scales fading back to normal as her emotions washed away into a gentle state of hopelessness.

"I'm sorry," Qibli said sincerely, looking quite uncomfortable. "You didn't particularly strike me as the type of dragon who would want more power, or really any power at all, but this is the only way Pyrrhia can be safe!" He sounded eerily like Nocturne, and Anadrom had to remind herself that the daughter of Queen Glory was not her enemy. She was manipulative and uncaring in regards to Anadrom, certainly, but she was just focused on keeping all of dragonkind safe. I'm being selfish again, aren't I. What I want or would prefer doesn't matter here - I'll have to give up everything I know about myself to keep everyone else safe. Will I be the same at the end of all of this? Am I the same now as I was a few months ago in the Kingdom of the Sea?

"I'll do what I have to," she murmured dismally, shivering at the words. "Qibli, you're right, Pyrrhia itself comes first. Just - I'll do whatever I have to do to myself, but I'll never hurt another dragon. I can't and I won't, even if Pyrrhia falls because of it. I - er - didn't want this."

"You'll never have to hurt anyone," Moonwatcher promised, standing up and lowering her talons from her head. "We'll make certain of it, Anadrom. And you didn't do anything remotely evil in any of the visions I just had, if that helps. Speaking of which, I really need to fall asleep right now to forget them all. It was - what happened to Winter and Solstice and Qibli, but with so many dragons that I didn't know. Dozens of horrible deaths, all under shadows and collapsing moons." She shivered, and Anadrom thought about how entirely horrible it must be to be riddled with visions of the worst possible futures all of the time.

Turtle seemed to be thinking along the same lines, for he moved over to lay a wing on the NightWing. "I'm sorry to have coerced you into telling us all that, Moon," he said quietly. "Do you need us to help with anything? It can't be pleasant to have that many dark futures running through your mind - are you feeling alright?"

"It wasn't anything I haven't experienced before," Moonwatcher said, which Anadrom believed was a lie. "I don't need you all worrying about me - we should focus on saving Pyrrhia for now. I know that none of what I'm seeing will happen because we'll all stop it. You're included in that, Anadrom. I'm in the presence of heroes, whose names will be forever remembered for their valiant acts in the time to come. I do need some time to analyze what I've seen, but I'll still make my night shift at the library tonight."

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the poetic and inspiring writer," Turtle replied with a quiet laugh. "We'll all check in later, Moon. Remember that we're here for you if you need to talk about anything before then."

They all quietly left the NightWing in peace and worried about her for a moment in the hall outside of her cave. "Turtle," Winter commanded to break the silence, "Come with me. We'll tell the others about all of this and provide them with Informabands to protect them. Anadrom, Qibli'll lead you to your new cave, which is up to his discretion." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Feel free to join my human relations class with the rest of your winglet." With that he and Turtle turned and quickly ran down the tunnel towards the office of the head of school.