Wings of Fire: The Hidden Kingdom | ✔️

~ The Hidden Kingdom: Chapter Eleven ~

Hare was prodded roughly in the side. She groaned and sleepily opened her eyes. Smoketeeth was towering over her.

"Yesterday was stupendously unimpressive," Smoketeeth growled. "Next time you're in that kind of situation. I want to be sure you can fight your way out of it, even without backup. So. Today, battle training."

Hare perked up. This was something she was good at, she'd be able to help.

"Next time?" Viper snapped. "I'm not stupid enough to go through that again."

Smoketeeth hissed at her. "If you would like to take yourself back to the Talons of Peace, too, there's the door." He swept his wing toward the outside.

Viper hesitated, scowling, then ducked her head and stopped arguing.

"Did Morrowseer tell you to do this?" Fatespeaker asked. "Because if he didn't, I think I'd very much prefer not doing this."

Smoketeeth lashed his tail. "That's too bad. You can feel free to take it up with Morrowseer when he returns."

"My throat hurts," Flame said to Smoketeeth without looking at him.

"There's water in the trough down there." Smoketeeth waved at the other end of the dormitory. "Catch up to us as fast as you can."

Hare watched as Flame walked away. When he caught up, he was coughing and scratching his throat. He eyed her with narrowed eyes.

"Are you going to keep watching my every move?" he snarled

"I just wanted to talk to you," Hare replied.

Flame snorted. "I didn't go to the Place of Lost Souls last night, if that's what you're wondering. Nobody summoned me."

"Did you go anywhere else?" Hare asked, remembering her visit to the Place of the Found. It was when she first learned about Oasis, her guardian.

"No," Flame replied simply.

Smoketeeth led them out to the prison-caves side of the mountain, where a few rivers of lava flowed as swiftly as if they'd just erupted yesterday. The biggest was the one that ran in front of the RainWing prison caves. They landed a few lengths away from it, and Hare spotted guards in every cave mouth, bristling with armor and spears and alarm gongs.

"This is really close to the lava," Starflight fretted.

"We live on a volcano," Smoketeeth snapped. "For a genius you're really stupid."

"Let's begin with you two." He flicked his tail at Ochre and Flame. "Try to kill each other and I'll step in when I think it's necessary."

Ochre regarded Flame dubiously. "Try to kill each other?" he said. "With no breakfast?"

Flame flexed his claws. "Fine by me. Any rules?" Hare shot him a look.

"There are no rules on the battlefield," Smoketeeth pointed out.

Flame immediately leaped at Ochre. His claws slashed across the MudWing's nose, leaving a bleeding gash, and then he spun and kicked the MudWing in the chest.

"Ow!" Ochre yelped. He twisted and lunged at Flame, digging his claws into the SkyWing's shoulders. They grappled on the dark, rocky ground, red and brown scales flashing and soon smeared with blood. With the lava river so close, there wasn't a lot of room to maneuver or get out of the way. At one point, a burst of fire from Flame nearly singed Starflight's wing. Hare had to yank her friend out of the way the best she could. Ochre stepped on Viper's foot, earning a ferocious hiss.

"I want to stop!" Ochre cried, furiously flapping his wings.

"You can't stop just because you want to on the battlefield," Smoketeeth growled.