Wings of Fire: A Ruined Dream (Book 4)

Chapter 10

 Stratus couldn't say his scream was very "manly".

At least it wasn't shrill and manic, hopefully, although his friends thought otherwise.

Still. There was an entire mummifed dragon sitting right next to him, its face twisted into pain and angst, its dried up and gnarly jaws still open wide. The lips were pulling back with dehydration, making the teeth jut out at Stratus. Along with the two deep holes where the eyes had been, well, it was a truly terrifying sight.

So Stratus felt that his reaction was more than appropriate.

"Yuck," Jellyfish said, grimancing at the dragon, completely nullifying Stratus's self validation.

"Jeez," Cloudy said, peering at the dragon. "He must've been down here a while."

"Yup, lets keep walking." Rosetta said, staring at the mummy. Stratus looked up at her and squinted. There was something in them other than her usual skeptic attitude. There's anger, as usual, but there's also longing, love, and... guilt?

Does she know this dragon?

"Rosetta," Stratus said, startling her. "Was this Toucan?"

She paused, her eyes flitting around to each of the dragons. She was usually so quick with her answers, barely hesitating to speak her mind. She's deciding whether to be truthful or not, but her silence is telling.

Rosetta let out a sigh. "Yes, this is Toucan. He was obsessed with animus magic, in a cute nerdy way. He loved coming here, and dragging me along."

Stratus was pretty sure he wasn't imagining the slight smile on her lips and the dreamlike haze in her eyes. He suspected that Toucan was more than just a friend to Rosetta.

"He took me here to find Darkstalker's scroll. He didn't make it out." Rosetta said quietly. She fiddled with her claws.

"He was more than a friend, wasn't he?" Jeweldreamer said, glancing at Stratus. Hey, that was my idea.

Jeweldreamer stuck his tongue out at him.

"Yes," Rosetta said at length. "He was Aconi's father, and my husband."

"Oh, Rosetta," Beige said, nudging her wing with his own. "I'm so sorry."

Rosetta sighed. "Yeah," she said awkwardly. "That kind of thing just happens nowadays."

Stratus suspected that there was more to her husbands death. But by the shuddering sighs that Rosetta made, this was not the time to ask.

The whole place was in great shape, despite the carnage on the surface. They made their way down the stairs, passing some of the less cool animus touched objects. There was a self playing chess board, and Stratus watched as a knight merrily took out a rook. There were also singing clamshells, that sang if you said a certain phrase to them (not that the phrase itself was listed), along with a stone statue of a NightWing named Stonemover. After reading the little description plaque, Stratus found it creepy that the statue was Stonemover, because he had enchanted himself to turn into stone.

Eventually, they came down to a little hallway that was tall and ornate, with glass cases that were evenly spaces.

At the very end of the hall, there was a huge glass wall that spanned the entire hallway, with a huge shattered hole in the middle. There was also a broken case, labeled Tiara of Strength.

"Another dragon had followed us here," Rosetta said, following Stratus's gaze. "We didn't know it at first, but after I had stolen the scroll, we were attacked. Toucan sacrificed himself for me and Aconi."