Fire and Ice

Chapter Six

 The sun was in the center of the sky by the time Opal finally reached the middle courtyard. It was a lot less crowded and very difficult to blend in but he managed. He heard a familiar voice and quickly turned to the owner of the paint stand he'd been standing in front of.

He listened carefully to the voices of the dragons behind him. "Condor, you're being such a dragonet about this! It's just a scratch!" CosmoStealer growled. "Well you wouldn't be saying that if you'd been stabbed in the eye with sandwing venom!" Condor hissed back.

"Erm, can I help you sir?" A Tall, reddish MudWing rumbled from behind the counter. Opal cleared his throat and made his voice sound lower. "I need some..erm..black and uh, pink paint..sir.." Opal replied shakily.

The MudWing raised a brow but found two paint cans anyways. He set them on the counter lightly and held out a claw. "What's the occasion?" The MudWing carried on cheerfully. "I don't usually get customers during this time of year."

"A..uh..a school project..for um..my..uh...for my students. They, heh, they uh.. Sure do love..to..paint..?" Opal stuttered. The MudWing laughed, thankfully. "It's true! Those little dragonets sure love to get their claws all dirty, don't they?" he beamed happily.

Opal nodded, grabbed the paint cans, and began to turn when the MudWing chuckled again. "That'll be one silver!" he called, still smiling.

"Oh, uh, ohh um.." Opal stuttered pretending to check any pockets or pouches. "Ha! So sorry, sir! Hold on..one moment..um.." he frantically checked everywhere before remembering how he'd gotten the cloak.

The only thing he had was the note he'd received after Dryas disappeared. "Oh moons forsaken- it seems like I've forgotten my silvers! Agh! Foolish me! My mistake sir, I am so so sorry!" He said, setting the cans back down on the counter.

The Mudwing looked very disappointed. "Wait! Just take them! I don't mind, it's only two cans, right? Just take em'! For the dragonets, right? Right?" The MudWing spluttered, tossing the paint cans back at Opal.

Jeez. This guy is desperate..but free paint I guess. I can use this. He nodded a silent thanks to the MudWing and cautiously snuck into an empty alley right by the inner courtyard. He opened the cans and dipped two claws in the black paint. Opal traced them along the lower line of his snout. He shuddered, the paint felt weird on his scales. Slimy and wet, he almost vomited.

Then he caught a glimpse of a small dragon walking into the courtyard surrounded by four large, strong looking guards. She had slick black scales like a nightwing but frills and wavy horns and pink speckles splattered around her body. Her wings were curved, pink on the inside with lime green spots.

She gave a small, happy nod to each guard and then lifted into the air and soared to the top of the bell tower. The whole town seemed to go silent as she lifted into the air, all eyes watching her soar to the top of the tower. She landed, looking just as cheerful, as if she were used to it.

Opal watched as and listened as the town began to talk and move again. It was odd how they'd stopped in unison, perhaps an enchantment? And who was this new dragon? A guard perhaps? Is she guarding the prisoners? Is that where Dryas is?

He began to step out of the darkness when four large shadows dashed across the ground, cast by four strong dragons soaring above the street. The head was a SkyWing with yellow stripes and four wings. Followed by an IceWing with dark eyes and a barbed tail and a green SeaWing with purple and orange spots and splatters. And at the back was a NightWing with a red underbelly and red eyes.

The battalion scanned the ground, concentrated. They must have been searching for the escaped prisoners. Opal pressed himself against the wall until the battalion passed. He peeked out, watching as they soared over the town, scanning the area. It wasn't safe to go out unprotected, he'd surely get seen and caught with or without a hood.