Wings of Fire: The Hidden Kingdom | ✔️

~ The Hidden Kingdom: Chapter Eight ~

Flames lit up the cave and the five dragonets were tossed back into the storm.

"No!" Hare screeched. Before anyone could stop her, she shot away to the cave. The NightWings were shooting flames in all directions, setting everything ablaze.

"Stop!" she cried, pushing past the black dragons. "Please, stop!"

A NightWing pushed her back as she tried to make her way past him. "You need to leave."

"You can't kill them!" Hare protested. Inside the SkyWings were shrieking in pain. Their scales were melting in awful ways and the scent was dreadful. Hare felt ill. "Please!"

"It's just a handful of SkyWings," another NightWing said, pushing her further away. "Why should you care?"

"My friend's mother is in there!" Hare gave the NightWing a rough shove and raced forward. Through all the blazing chaos, she was able to recognize the orange scales that belonged to Fire. Hare raced into the burning cave, avoiding the flames. Fire was crying out in agony as her scales melted in horrible ways.

"It's okay," Hare said quietly. "I'm going to get you out of here."

Hare pulled the burning dragon away, slower than she would have liked. She managed to get her out of the cave and onto the cliffside. Starflight was arguing with Smoketeeth as the NightWings began to clear out, leaving only a burning mess.

The rain put out the flames on Fire's body, but her burns were nasty and still deadly. On top of that, she was wheezing from the amount of smoke she had inhaled.

"It's okay," Hare repeated, crouching down beside Fire. "We'll find you help."

Fire looked at her with dull eyes. Hare felt her head spin as she realized the life was slowly draining from them. "Hare?"

"Yes, yes, it's me." Hare grabbed Fire's talon in hers and gently squeezed.

Fire smiled at her weakly. "Alder's friend, right?" Hare nodded. Fire gave a small chuckle. "Well, I wasn't expecting to see you again."

Hare looked around. "There has to be some way to get you to a healer, or somewhere with the proper herbs to heal you."

Fire weakly grasped Hare's talon. "Hare, I'm not going to make it. I appreciate you trying to help, I really do, but it's my time to go."

"No," Hare choked out. "No, I'll save you. I'll find something."

"You can't always be a hero." Fire let out a racking cough that shook her whole body. "Hare, I need to tell you something, something you need to tell Alder if you see him again. I can't bring this secret with me to the afterlife, Alder deserves to know."

Hare drew in a shaky breath. "What is it?"

Fire hesitated before speaking. "Alder is not my son."

Hare just stared at her in silence. "Not your- What do you mean?"

"We're still family," Fire went on. "Alder still carries my blood, but he is not my son. Alder is my nephew, my sister is his mother."

Hare held her breath. "Cloud?"

Fire gave a very weak nod.

"But why pretend?" Hare asked quietly. "Why not tell Alder that Cloud is his mother?"

"She will tell you all the answers you want," Fire wheezed. "I don't-"

Fire let out a final wheezing breath, then went completely limp. Hare squeezed her talon tighter. "No," she choked. She couldn't tell if it was tears or rain falling down the sides of her face. A few moments passed before her sadness turned into anger. She whirled around to face Smoketeeth. "You killed her!" she shrieked. "How could you? These SkyWings did nothing. How could you kill her?"