The Night and Sky Collide (Partly Quinter)

Chapter 10: When Scrolls Go Boom

 It was Moon. She was clutching her head, while on her knees, screaming. "No! Arghh!" She cried in pain. Winter was helping her, holding her, making sure she was alright. Stargazer looked over at Qibli. She saw a blank look on his face. It was the most emotionless expression Stargazer ever saw Qibli make. It was quite unsettling too. She turned back to look over at Moon. "DON'T GO IN THERE!" She yelled, still clutching her head tightly, "IT'S DANGEROUS!" Tears swelled up in her eyes. She was in true pain. "What's she on about?" Skyfire asked worriedly, looking at Stargazer, then to Moon, then back at her. "How should I know?" Stargazer responded. She moved closer to the door of the library. "No! Please! Don't go in there!" Moon pleaded again. She was definitely hiding something. Stargazer didn't like having to take off her mindset wall, but now was a good time to find answers. She took a deep breath, and let her internal wall fall.

It was flames. Death. Screams of agony. Pain. Darkness. It was nothing Stargazer could imagine. Dragons burning, dragons dying. Agony. WHAT IS THIS?! Stargazer's mind was trying to stay calm, but her heart was racing. Is this?... No.. A.. A Vision? She couldn't be for sure, but it seemed most likely. Suddenly, she heard a scream that sounded like Skyfire. No. This is just a vision. This isn't happening. Her internal wall burst up again, the vision disappearing. But.. It might only be a possible future, right? Or it could just be a thought of some other dragon, if Moon can read minds at all.

She didn't want to believe it. She wanted to deny it. She took another step backwards. She was basically now inside the library. "PLEASE! JUST LISTEN TO ME! DON'T GO INSIDE THE LIBRARY! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" Moon screamed her heart out. Tears flooded her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. Qibli seemed to be the calmest dragon here. He looked as if.. He didn't believe her. And Stargazer was right. He turned around and walked into the library. For a split second, she thought she saw a wicked smile on Moon's face when she saw Qibli walk into the library. And then..

A huge explosion boomed. Flames licked the library floor. Skyfire yelled, backing away from the fire. Qibli! Stargazer couldn't just let Qibli die without having her ship sail yet! She ran in after Qibli. The flames hit her scales like 100 scorpion tail barbs stinging her at once, but she didn't care. There's more dragons in here! Stargazer realized. She ran around. There were some dragonets huddled up near a corner of bookshelves. She hurried over to them, and placed her wings around them. Most of them had fear in their faces. She guided them outside the door. She stuck her head out of the now-burning door frame, and shoved the dragonets outside. That's when she noticed Moon and Winter, just looking... Staring at the flames. While Skyfire.. Wait.. Where was Skyfire?! She wasn't there! Skyfire! That mountain-brain! She just had to hope for a while that she was okay.

There weren't many dragons in the library at the time of the explosion, so that was a relief. She helped librarian out the library before running back in to find Skyfire and Qibli. She kept mostly calm while running through the flames, but there were parts of her mind that panicked like crazy. There were big black burns that trailed all across her back and wings and tail. The sores hurt like crazy, but she couldn't leave Skyfire and Qibli there by themselves. Suddenly, she saw pale scales and copper scales. She ran towards the blur of scales in front of her. As she ran, she accidently ran right into Skyfire's wing. "Skyfire! Is Qibli with you?! Are you okay!?" She said all at once, that she almost forgot there were flames all over the place. "Better question: WHY THE HECK ARE YOU RUNNING THROUGH A BURNING DOWN LIBRARY?! YES KNOW TO COME HELP US BUT, LOOK AT YOURSELF HAVE SOME CONSCIOUS?!". Skyfire scolded. Stargazer made a sheepish face. She looked down to the floor and realized Qibli was laying there, his wings pushed against his body. At least they're alive. Her mind felt like a ton of weight was lifted off it.

Suddenly, the door of the library crashed down into flames. They were trapped. "WHAT DO WE DO, WHAT DO WE DO, STARGAZER WHAT DO WE DO!?" Skyfire went into panic overload. Stargazer could feel her heart thumping. She looked over at Skyfire and realized something. There wasn't a single burn on her scales. No burns, no blisters, no spores. Was... Were her scales fire-resistant? "Skyfire! Use your wings to cover me and Qibli!" She yelled. She sounded ridiculous, but she didn't care. Skyfire gave her a confused look, but obediently did it. The flames climbed onto Skyfire's scales, but did no harm. Stargazer slid a wing onto Qibli's back, checking his burns.

It was bad. There were many burns all over Qibli. He was breathing.. Barely. There was a stalagmite that stabbed through his tail that bleeded horribly. The flames grew huge, but then... The abrupt icy cold feeling made her feel shocked. What? She thought, puzzled. Then realization hit her. Frostbreath. Winter! Winter hadn't totally given up on them yet. The flames died down. The burns cooled down by the cold temperature of the used-to-be-library. "Winter!" Skyfire cried in relief. The chilly Icewing ran over to them, worry contorted his face. He seemed to be specifically more concerned about Qibli, which he probably should. He was more injured than Skyfire and Stargazer. "Is he alright?" Winter said worriedly, lifting Skyfire's wing up from Qibli. His sand coloured scales had been covered in deep burns and cuts. Winter picked up Qibli and carried him from his back. Stargazer stood up, even though her legs felt wobbly. "Let's get to the infirmary," Winter commanded. "Qibli and Stargazer need their wounds treated." Skyfire seemed to scowl at Winter. "What took you so long to help?!" She complained. "You let Stargazer get hurt so she could help YOUR, ahem, 'best friend'!" Skyfire let her anger out. Winter ignored her. Stargazer realized Moon was following them, and an expression of deep hatred had changed her face. Why Moon? Why do you seem so different? What changed you?.. Those were questions that Stargazer couldn't find answers to. She heaved herself to follow Winter to the firmary. The burns on her back ached. For a moment, she thought Qibli was lucky to be on Winter's back. The coolness that emitted from Winter's scales would cool the burns on Qibli.

They reached the infirmary, and Winter lay Qibli down in one of the cots. Stargazer curled up into a ball on her own cot. She let the unconsciousness take her over. The last thing she saw was the nurse coming over to Qibli's cot.