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

Part 2: Chapter 15 & 16

(3rd Pov Starflight)

"Two doors past the library," Fatespeaker muttered. "Something about a council chamber." She paused at an intersection, looking down both tunnels and pressing her claws together.

"I think I remember where the council chamber is," Starflight said. He'd been trying to create a map of the fortress in his head they left the dormitory. "That way, if I'm right." He pointed.
"Then we go this way," she said. "I think we'll pass the library this way."

"Library," Starflight echoed, finally hearing what Deathbringer had said. "There's a library! Fatespeaker! Have you seen it? How many scrolls do they have?"
"Like a million," she said.
"A million!" Starflight felt momentarily faint, thinking of a million scrolls he'd never read. It would be just like his dream.

"That wasn't a real guess," Fatespeaker said, stopping to give him an amused grin. "I just meant 'lots',' really. I didn't try to count them."
"Lots is exciting, too," Starflight said. He felt a little silly getting excited over scrolls. But there had never been enough of them under the mountain. He'd read the same ones over and over and over again. Something new . . . something with more answers, more of the information he needed . . . that would be great.

Stormcaller's scrolls were all right. They usually have any words and had images, but those weren't drawn the best, either.
Starflight shuttered, remembering something about one of the scrolls. He quickly brushed the memorie away. He couldn't risk any NightWings possibly hearing his thoughts.

"Here it is," Fatespeaker said, pausing at a tall archway.
Starflight peered inside, his heart pounding. The room was cavernous, even bigger than the council chamber. Instead of coals lying open in the wall niches, here the light came from fire that was carefully trapped in metal globes and kept away from the scrolls. Square nooks were carved out of the wall, all the way up to the ceiling, and in each square there were between three and six scrolls, neatly rolled and labeled and organized - organized! - with a mark next to the square and a large scroll rolled out on a main table as a catalog. He could see how it worked at first glance and his talons ached to rush inside and start reading.

"You are so cute," Fatespeaker said. "Look at your face - it's like someone just opened up a giant treasure box and it's all for you."
That was exactly how Starflight felt, looking at all these scrolls. He took a tentative step inside and Fatespeaker immediately grabbed his tail.
"Oh, no you don't," she said. "We find the queen first. You can come back and moon over the scrolls tomorrow."
"If Morrowseer lets me," Starflight said wistfully.

Fatespeaker dragged him away from the library and stopped two doors down, in front of a round stone room that was completely empty, with no windows and no furniture and only one niche for glowing coals. The wall opposite to the door was a strange stone studded with diamond-shaped holes no bigger than ladybugs.

"I did see this room," Fatespeaker said. "I just didn't guess it was the throne room. Shouldn't a throne room have a throne in it? Even if no one plans to sit on it?"
"Maybe there's a throne behind the screen," Starflight suggested.

"Hmm," she said. "Still seems like it shouldn't get to be called a throne room, then." She stalked up to the lattice wall and pressed one eye to one of the holes.
"Fatespeaker!" Starflight said, shocked. "We're not supposed to try and look at her!"

"Don't panic," she said. "It's all dark back there anyway." She tilted her head and tried another hole lower down. "Maybe there's something glowing, but it looks like fire. I can't see the queen. Do you think she's there?" She rapped on the screen. "Hello? Your Majesty?"
Silence from the wall.

"Queen Battlewinner?" Fatespeaker tried again. "We really need to talk to you. it's us, the dragonets from the prophecy."
"Well, the two NightWing options," Starflight amended.
"Hello?" Fatespeaker said.
Nothing. Fatespeaker knocked and kicked the wall a few times, but there was no response.