Flying For Freedom

Chapter Sixteen (Breaking the Rules)

I go towards Bluescold and Pridestone. They're sitting under the weeping tree, a spot they often seem to be at. I realize that I'm there all the time too.

"So he didn't let you two go either."

"Yeah. He said that he couldn't let another he loves go. It's just a search. It's not like we're going to war." Bluescold sounds angry, and desperate for something no one can give her.

"You're right." Pridestone startles us by saying that Redburn was wrong. "It doesn't make sense why he wouldn't let us go. He's not going to let us go. Either we don't go, or we disobey."

"We're going to. You promised him you wouldn't go. I didn't promise anything."

"That is kind of mean, though. Bending his words so they don't apply to you. It's almost like cheating." She looks at me.

"It's my mother who's lost. I should be going out there. If you don't want to go, don't. I'm going." I sigh, and look at Pridestone.

"We all know none of us are going to stay here. Let's just make a plan to sneak out." Pridestone keeps us calm.

"What sort of plan do we need? We just have to sneak away and join the group." Bluescold's words make Pridestone sigh, as if we are both clueless as to how this works.

"So they can send us right back?"

"You're right," she admits. "We have to make a plan."

"We'll keep it simple and straightforward. We make sure we know exactly where they're going, then we follow them after dark." My words solve all but one problem.

"How will we figure out where they're going?"

"I'll take care of that. There is an advantage to having your father be the leader of everyone. I can find out." The two pegasi start working out how to do this. I have to tell them. If we're going to follow Stormbreaker, they need to know the danger.

"Guys. There's something you should know." The two fall silent, alarmed by my serious words.

"Tell us." I finally bring myself to say what I've so desperately needed to get off my soul. I'm not rid of it yet, but now there's someone to tell, to give the pain away. I know it's selfish. They deserve to know anyway. It is very important.

"Stormbreaker is a traitor." Pridestone gasps. Bluescold just looks at me, waiting for an explanation. I give it to her.

"The attack when I first came here. It was caused by him." I pause. Suddenly, Pridestone speaks.

"Then you're accusing him of killing Slytail, my mother. You're saying that he killed my mom."

"Yes. She must have seen him using the monsters. I'm sorry." Pridestone looks angry.

"I don't believe you. He was a hero that day."

"That would be an excellent way to make him not look suspicious. He could have easily beaten the monsters if they trusted him." Bluescold looks like she's finally realized everything. It's the second time, now, that she's heard of his treachery for the first time.

"Go on." She spurs me to stay more.

"He set the fire. He tried to kill me with it, but then used it to blame me. It would be the perfect way to get rid of me. He could have gotten to me, alone and defenseless, and killed me." Pridestone looks like he's starting to believe me.

"What else did he do?"

"He fought hard with Redburn to get rid of me. Redburn didn't let him, though." I get ready to continue.

"That's not all, is it?" Bluescold looks like she's expecting more.

"No, it's not. He put a Sand Slither in my resting area. It nearly killed me." Bluescold gasps.

"You told me that before. Didn't you?" I nod. "That horrendous pegasus. He doesn't deserve to be one of us."

"What are you talking about, Bluescold?"

"I'm saying that he wiped my mind. I watched him admit to all of this, and he took away my memory of it." Pridestone still looks confused, so I decide to make it clear for him.

"I told Bluescold about my suspicions, and we followed him into the forest to make sure he wasn't doing anything bad. He talked to someone, we don't know who. Wait! Bluescold, you must have seen who he was talking to." She shakes her head.

"I'm sorry. The only memories I'm getting are what you told me. If you didn't see it, we don't know who it was."

"He is no relative to me. Not anymore." I want to shush him, he's practically shouting.

"You only have to deal with him for a few more hours. We'll find a way to find Morningdew and reveal his treachery."

"We better." Bluescold understands why I told him that, and makes it clear what he needs to do. It is not grumble around and get mad.

"Pridestone. All we need is for you to tolerate him for four hours. You can spend them with me. We need you not to go storming up to him, or we'll all be in danger."

"Okay. But then, we stop him. He's taken everything, and is planning to take even more." Bluescold nods, and I follow suit.

We see the search party preparing food.

"We need to get some of that. Without it, we'll starve." We get closer, making sure no one but them is around.

"Pridestone and I will distract them. Bluescold, gather as much as you can without making it obvious." I walk up to the group.

"Maybe we can get some answers while we're at it," Pridestone whispers quietly.

"We want to learn how a search works. We thought that there's no one better to ask than you, the search party." Bluescold's behind them gathering food.

Keep talking, she mouths.

"What do you want to know?" Firefly will keep our conversation.

"What kind of food do you pack?"

"We pack a variety of foods. All of it is very dry, so it will last for a long time." Stormbreaker starts to turn around, so I direct a question at him. It's risky, but I must.

"Is it hard to lead a patrol?" Stormbreaker turns back around.

"No. Because I was voted as the leader, most of my patrol trusts me." Firefly turns around and sees Bluescold run into the forest. No one else sees. I look at Firefly in desperation, pleading for her to not tell everyone.

I won't tell. Again with the mouthing words.

"Thank you." I say it for Firefly, even though the others assume that it was to them. We leave. It would be dangerous for anyone to grow suspicious of us.

Finally, the group leaves and everyone heads to bed. The two pegasi and I wait till Redburn is asleep. Pridestone got to stay the night in Redburn's den because his guardians were gone. We sneak out and get the food ready. Soon, we've found their trail.

"There's no going back now."

"Like we were ever going to want to." We follow Stormbreaker and the group, prepared for anything that would happen next. We will find Morningdew, and stop Stormbreaker. Bluescold will be reunited with her mom and I will no longer be threatened by an evil stronger than any before. Only Chaos, the evil dragon as ancient as Flame, is worse from what I've seen. There may be another worse force out there. If there is, I haven't seen it yet. I have been lucky so far, maybe it will stay that way.