Wings of Fire: Dawn of The Stars

Chapter 6

Catfish shrieked with pain as he was engulfed in flames. Amber cried out to him and reached out towards him. She winced as the fire burned her talon at the edge. Everything was happening so fast, Sapphire couldn't process it all. In the quick of time, a dark shape in the shadows zoomed across towards Catfish and tied him up. Catfish was covered in scorch marks. Sapphire started towards him, but the shape and Catfish were gone. Futureseer gasped and stumbled back. Amber started crying. Sapphire was in shock. What happened? What or who did that to Catfish? Whatever it was, it was gone along with Catfish. What had happened? Sapphire just watched as her best friend got hurt and vanished from sight. She couldn't process any emotion. It just happened so quickly.
     Sapphire stared at the spot where Catfish was last at and roared, "CATFISH!" Droplets of water fell to the ground and Sapphire realized she was crying. Her legs decided not to work as she stumbled and fell to the ground beside Amber. Futureseer's face was an expression across terrified and questioning. He came over and brushed Sapphire with his wing.
     "WHO WAS THAT? WHO DID THAT TO CATFISH?" Sapphire screamed at the top of her lungs. Futureseer winced, but pushed himself back to calm Sapphire. Amber was crying, mumbling Catfish's name as Sapphire's vision was blurred in tears.
     "It's going to be alright," he said calmly to Sapphire. Sapphire clawed at his underbelly, as Futureseer flinched, but didn't move closer or father from her.
     "NOTHING IS ALRIGHT! Who took Catfish? WHO HURT HIM," Sapphire shouted. He looked at her and hugged her.
     "It's going to be alright. We'll find him and figure out who did that to him. Just calm down," he said. Sapphire looked at him as tears stopped pouring out.
Maybe I did overreact, Sapphire thought.
NO YOU DIDN'T! YOU HAVE TO SAVE CATFISH! Another part of her bit back.
     Sapphire looked down and saw the slightly bleeding scratch she had given to Futureseer. She felt horrible, as guilt was engulfing her. How could she do that to her own friend? She looked at the ground refusing to look at Futureseer in the eyes. Sapphire reached into her pouch that was draped along her neck and pulled out the jar of salt plants.
     "Here," she said shoving the salt plant into Futureseer's talons.
     "How did you get this?" Futureseer asked, looking down at the salt plant.
     "Doesn't matter. Quickly, rub it," Sapphire said.
     "Well, first I have to dry this off," Futureseer said. He got up and to Sapphire surprise, he walked just perfectly fine. Amber walked up to them and paused. She then looked at Futureseer and helped him walk over to his den even though he told her he was fine. Sapphire opened the door for them and went inside herself. Futureseer laid on a soft blanket that was on the floor and positioned himself comfortably. Amber ran around and looked at Sapphire.
     "Aren't you going to help me find a towel?" Amber asked. Sapphire lifted her head and nodded. She hadn't explored much of Futureseer's den before. It had another cave on the right side in the center cave, a small tunnel on the left layered with red carpet, and in the center cave, had three windows in the front and one in the back. The ceiling had black carpet attached to it and small white petals that acted like stars. Amber ran over to the right cave which turned out to be the kitchen. She searched through drawers and growled loudly when she couldn't find a towel. Sapphire walked over to the small tunnel and went further into it. It led to a small garden that was planted with carrots, potatoes, and berries. Sapphire looked around and spotted a few gardening tools along with a towel. She ran over to it and grabbed the towel into her talons and ran back to the center cave.
     "I have it!" she exclaimed. Amber bursted out with joy and took it from her. She washed it in the sink and started wringing it. Amber flew over to Futureseer and pressed the towel onto his underbelly. The orange dragon had a focused expression on her face. She took off the towel and reached for the jar of salt plants.
     "I rub it on him, right?" Amber asked hesitantly.
     "Yes," Sapphire told her. Amber started gently rubbing it on Futureseer.
Amber cares so much for strangers. It's so weird. She saved that IceWing dragonet and now she's helping Futureseer.
     The green and purple plant started oozing a liquid onto Futureseer. Amber muttered something and stood back. She turned Futureseer over (with a lot of struggle) and wrapped the blanket around him.
     "It'll take him about two days to recover based on how it worked for me," Sapphire said. She looked down at Futureseer worried. She was a bit glad that it was just a scratch and not a cobra bite, but she was still filled with guilt with even the thought of the scratch she gave him. Futureseer closed his eyes tiredly.
     "You guys can sleep over here. And besides, it's not that bad of a scratch. I'll be good and ready in no time! And we'll have plenty of time to save Catfish," Futureseer said reassuringly. Sapphire smiled and paused suddenly.
Catfish. Sapphire had managed to forget about him for a whole five minutes. Futureseer reached out his talon and patted Sapphire's shoulder. He pointed to a large carpet and pillow. It was big enough for Amber and Sapphire to squeeze between each other for the night. Sapphire sidled onto the bed and positioned herself as Amber laid on it between Sapphire's front talons and tail. Sapphire closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

     As the blank darkness faded away from Sapphire's view of vision, everything came back into sight. To her surprise, Sapphire wasn't sleeping in her soft wooden bed and instead of a blanket of seaweed covering her, it was a soft square of cloth. Sapphire threw off her blanket and looked around remembering that she had stayed over at Futureseer's. She scanned the area to look for Futureseer when she saw he was not on the soft green blanket he slept on the night before.
     "You're awake, Sapphire," came a voice from behind her. Sapphire jumped and nearly fell over onto the stone floor. She turned around as the black dragonet stood next to the orange one. Futureseer beamed at her and Amber ran up towards Sapphire.
     "Sapphire!" Amber exclaimed. "You're awake!"
     "Futureseer!" Sapphire began. "You're alright? I thought it would take longer for you to heal." Futureseer looked embarrassed and walked up toward Sapphire.
     "Well. It actually didn't need the salt plant to heal. And, not to offend you, but your claws aren't that strong." He stuttered on the last sentence and quickly turned around. Sapphire's jaw dropped and felt stupid. Of course he wouldn't have needed the salt plant, it was just a scratch, not a cobra bite or any venom. Not fire or frost breath. Sapphire closed her mouth, feeling like an idiot. She started towards Futureseer, but something in her mind tugged on her. Something, important.
     "Catfish!" Sapphire blurted out as soon as the thought hit her. "We have to save Catfish! He's in trouble. Futureseer, did you see who attacked Catfish?" Sapphire ran in front of him her tail bumping into all the little fidgets on the ground.
     "I think she was a — a NightWing." Futureseer shuddered and creased his eyebrows.
     "Who is she?" Sapphire demanded. "Do you know her?"
     "She's — a dragon not to be messed with. Her name is. . . . Deathseeker," Futureseer said. He pulled his wings back as if he was having an unsettling memory. "Our best assassin in the war. She usually hunts outside the Night Kingdom and she captures SeaWings for her prisoners. Deathseeker and I, erm, have an unusual relationship." Futureseer looked at Sapphire with a "she's terrifying" face or "don't ask me any more questions" face.
     "What are they going to do with him?" Sapphire asked.
     "I hope Catfish is alright!" Amber blurted out. She jumped up on Sapphire's back and made her fall.
     "Whenever the tribe catches prisoners of war, they ask for information. Where are the SeaWings' hideout? When is it safe to attack them? Once they get all their information, they — kill their prisoners," Futureseer said cautiously. "But don't worry! We can save him in time!" He added quickly.
     "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go rescue Catfish!" Sapphire exclaimed getting up and pushing Amber off.
     "Rescue mission!" Amber yelled out. "Sapphire, Futureseer made you breakfast. We already ate ours," Amber said, pointing to a plate on the table. Sapphire thanked Futureseer and went to eat the large roasted tuna. Sapphire never preferred cooked fish, but it still tasted great.
     After eating her breakfast, she decided to wander around for a bit. Sapphire went into the kitchen and poked her nose into one of the cabinets. Futureseer did say "Feel free to explore!" earlier. Sapphire rummaged through the cabinets and stopped when she found a tiny wooden carving of a rose. She carefully grabbed it and held it in her claws for a moment. Something urged Sapphire to put it in her pouch. She dropped it in carefully not wanting to damage it with the other stuff.
     She saw the dagger that Jellyfish had given her the other day. Sapphire tucked it in deeper and moved it away from the wooden rose. Futureseer probably wouldn't mind if Sapphire took it. She wanted to tell him though anyway.
     Sapphire ran out the kitchen and met up with Futureseer and Amber, who was fiddling with a small item in her claws. Amber somehow put it away even though she wasn't wearing a pouch or anything like that. Sapphire joined them and they walked out of the cave. The bright morning sun hanged above them shining through the treetops. Futureseer lifted off without saying a word and Sapphire followed, then Amber.
     "We're going to the Night Kingdom, right?" Sapphire asked. Futureseer hovered and flew back to her.
     "Yes," Futureseer responded. "Now, there's no time. Let's hurry."
Catfish, here we come, Sapphire thought. And the three dragons flew off.