King of The Dragons (Wings of Fire X Monster Hunter)

Part 1: Chapter 3 & 4

(3rd Pov Starflight)

Deathbringer shot up and out of the way as lava splashed all around the. Starflight didn't move fast enough, and a bright orange droplet splattered on his foot. Burning pain flared through him, and he thought he might faint.
Then a shape surged out of the lava - Vengeance, screaming and trying to escape as he was boiled alive.

Deathbringer's talons yanked Starflight into the air just in time. Lava sprayed in all directions as the dying dragon flared his wings.
"DON'T DO THIS! SAVE ME!" Vengeance bellowed.

The guards stepped forward with expressionless faces. They were wearing a sort of armor, including helmets and thick plates over their underbellies, and they were all carrying wicked pronged spears like the one Glory had brought back to the rainforest.

It was these spears they used to shove Vengeance back under the lava, and to hold him there until the thrashing stopped and the dark shape of the scarred dragon finally sank all the way below the bright gold-red surface and disappeared.

After a long moment, Starflight remembered to breathe again. He glanced at Deathbringer, hovering in the air beside him. There was an unusually somber look on the assassin's face, as if he'd just seen a glimpse of his possible future, and not in a magical prophetic vision sort of way.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Deathbringer said at last, bowing toward the hidden queen.
"Don't, Deathbringer," Greatness said, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat and looked away. "We're not done with you." She addressed the guards. "Take him to the dungeon. We'll investigate the charges and then Her Majesty will decide what to do."

Deathbringer flew down to the guards and allowed them to push him out the door, only glancing back once to meet Starflight's eyes with a look Starflight couldn't decode.
'Maybe he expects me to have mind-reading abilities. Maybe he's trying to send to a message. If so - sorry, Deathbringer. You picked the wrong dragon.' 

Greatness rubbed the ridges above her eyes, looking tired. "All right, we need a break. If it's your turn to eat this week, go do that now, and we'll reconvene tonight." She glanced around the room, leaned toward the screen again, and added, "The queen says to return at dusk with possible defensive  and offensive ideas, Morrowseer, see if you can claw dome more information out of that dragonet before then. Legendseeker will accompany you."

Morrowseer dipped his head, flexing his talons. Starflight hoped uneasily that she meant "claw" in a metaphorical way.
Legendseeker nodded his head and made a few talon movements, saying something Starflight could not understand.

The NightWings began to disperse, most of them through holes in the ceiling. Morrowseer jerked his head, and Starflight reluctantly followed him back into the tunnel with Legendseeker not far behind him.

The mention of eating had reminded him of how hungry he was, although he couldn't really worry about food when he wasn't even sure if he was a prisoner or a spy or just a failure, And after what had happened to Vengeance, Starflight was pretty nervous about what the NightWings might do with a failure.

Morrowseer's wings billowed like thunderclouds as he stormed ahead of Starflight. Soon Starflight realized that they weren't going back to the dormitory - Morrowseer had taken a turn somewhere, and now Starflight could see dim grey light up ahead.

They emerged onto a shelf of rock that jutted from the side of the fortress. Below them was a weird landscape of rocks that looked like giant lumpy grey-black dragon scales with a fiery orange glowing underneath, filling in the cracks. 'A lava field,' Starflight thought.

He remembered a little about volcanoes from one of the scrolls he'd studied back under the mountain, what felt like a lifetime ago. But there weren't any active volcanoes on the mainland of Pyrrhia, so he hadn't memorized it like the other scrolls. It never occurred to him that the NightWings, who's written most of the the scrolls, might have firsthand knowledge; might, in fact, be living on one.