Wings of Fire: Nighthawk

Chapter 31: Burn

"Fuckin hell mate, fuck!" Nighthawk growled. "Great, fantastic. We need to hide, or something." He paced around, thinking over his options. Burn was coming, fast. There was little time to prepare anything, and his mind was racing. How could she have known they were there? Deathbringer wasn't gone that long, he couldn't have said anything, unless..

"You could do with a little bit less swearing, I think."

"Did anyone see you?" Nighthawk asked, a little irritated. First they failed to save Lobster, now the dragon who had lobster was after them. Not the ideal rescue plan.

"No, I wasn't spotted. I'm more careful than that."

"Hm.." Nighthawk growled. Burn was about halfway there. It could've been the spyglass, but that was a low possibility. He sighed. "Right. We need to move."

"Of course. I found somewhere we could hide. Cover our tracks." Deathbringer said calmly. He then proceeded down the hill. Nighthawk followed, but stayed cautious and smoothed out their tracks with his tail. He knew if Burn got to him, it wouldn't end well. Soon enough, they found a small shadowy area to hide in. It was a little wet and swampy, but it was perfect. They huddled down into the mud to stay concealed. Using sticks, leaves, branches and anything the two could find, they were perfectly hidden.

Overhead, Burn flapped with her sandwings. It seemed like they were spreading out and searching everything and everywhere. Nighthawk watched closely as several mudwings joined, keeping a sharp eye on everyone above them. Some of the brown dragons trudged through the swamp, searching.

"What are we looking for?" Asked a sandwing

"Whoever was making that flashing signal!" Burn growled. "Find them and bring them to me, because I know you mudwings aren't intelligent enough to know how to do that." She hissed.

'Ouch' Nighthawk thought. He buried himself further in the muck, absolutely hating it with every scale in his body. A sandwing landed near them, searching the ground. As it got closer to them, Nighthawk and Deathbringer held perfectly still. It passed as the dragons kept searching. Hopefully the mud would mask their scents.

"Queen Burn! We found the remains of a campfire and some fresh prey bones!" One sandwing said.

"Great! Use your nose and sniff him out!" Burn yelled with an angry hiss. "You can't hide forever!" She landed on the ground with a thud, starting to walk around. Nighthawk watched her closely, still hiding. He stayed completely still, keeping his breathing incredibly slow. Burn walked past them, sniffing the air. Eventually she passed.

"Your majesty?" A mudwing asked while walking over. "I'm having my dragons search the mud, it might just be mudwings." He suggested. The clouds above had started to gray, which meant it was possibly about to rain. This might prove useful.

"If they were mudwings, they wouldn't be hiding." Burn growled. "Don't question me, just FIND THEM." She snapped. Everyone searched for about what felt like an eternity, until a furious roar erupted from Burn.

"Screw this, you're all worthless." She hissed. "I have better things to do. Let's get home! Can't wait to stuff this seawing!" She grinned and picked up Lobster. Nighthawk watched as Burn slashed his face with muddy claws, making the poor seawing groan with pain. After the sandwings left and flew off, Nighthawk lifted himself out of the mud.

"Time to follow them.." He huffed.

"I'll come with you."

"Hah, if you want. We gotta move quick, stay close enough not to be able to see em, and fast enough not to be seen."

"I know, you say that like I haven't done any covert jobs before." Deathbringer stood and brushed some of the mud off. "I will never understand how mudwings enjoy this."

"Neither will I. So mucky, gonna have to bathe for a while to get all this out, might need a new cloak."

"Oh now, how tragic."

"Hmph. Let's get going." Nighthawk and Deathbringer lifted into the sky, flying after Burn. It indeed had started to rain. The land below got quite foggy rather rapidly. As they flew, he caught sight of a group of sandwings. It was beginning to get darker.

"Gettin dark, innit?" Nighthawk shrugged. "Good cover."

"Always." Deathbringer flapped beside him. "What's with the funny accent?"

"What funny accent?"

"Your accent, is that a natural thing or is it a gimmick?"

"What?" Nighthawk grumbled slightly. "It's not a bloody gimmick." He snorted.

"And you say those weird words, Innit, Bloody, haha." Deathbringer mocked him. "Never heard other dragons talk like that. Well maybe one or two, but yours is potent, haha." He teased.

"Whatever, we need to focus." Nighthawk said sternly. The only thing that really mattered was saving his friend. Out of nowhere, something big crashed into him and he was thrown off balance. As he looked up, he saw a burly mudwing trying to knock him out of the sky. Letting out a furious roar, he shot towards it and slashed his claws down the dragon's chest. He reached for his crossbow that hung loosely from his chest. His opponent shot after him in another attack, but a blast if fire hit him in the face.

"Shoot him!" Deathbringer yelled as smoke came from his jaws and nose. Nighthawk reached the weapon up and fired, hitting the mudwing in the neck. The dragon crashed towards the surface, landing with a crunch. "Alright, we gotta move!" He yelled. "More are coming!"

"How the hell did they see us in this fog?" Nighthawk yelled, flapping as fast as he could towards the sandwings. The fog seemed to be getting denser by the minute. He couldn't see where he was going, so he slowed down before landing. Flying in such weather was an enormous hazard. "Deathbringer?" He called. The assasin was gone. "Deathbri- ngh-" A talon slammed into his head, causing him to fall down in the mud. He hissed and moved back, staring Burn in the face as he looked up.

"Burn.." His instincts told him to roll, so he did. After getting clear of her, he fired his crossbow towards her. The bolt stuck in her shoulder, but the sandwing just laughed and hissed.

"Well that's a new feeling.." Burn growled. "Knock him out, take him with us. I knew something was off, just didn't expect to see the infamous Nighthawk. Two trophies for my tower."

"Now hold-" Nighthawk started, but something heavy struck the back of his head and he was out cold.