Wings of Fire; The Creed

Chapter 22

With the remaining energy she had left, she made her way as quickly as possible to the Visitors Hut. She found her friends all inside, huddled together (except Boris who was sitting nearby, but not touching any of them) on top of Diamondback, who looked like he was miserable.

He quickly jumped up after Starburst bolted in, still covered in blood and mud, launching his sister and Bubble across the room. Boris jumped up and caught Artemis before she fell, and Bubble rolled over and hit a wall. Artemis gave Boris a shy smile, and Bubble gave Boris a quick, suspicious glare before looking over and yelping when he spotted what Starburst looked like.

"Starburst!" Boris said in shock. "What are you doing here? What happened?"

"I need your help, please."

She looked over at Artemis, who was giving Starburst a hurt look. Starburst remembered yelling at her clawmates and winced.

They are probably thinking about how horrible of a dragon I am. Do they think I'm a waste of scales? All I've tried was to show how much I don't care, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to want them to like me. I guess it's too late now.

"I-I know I was horrible to you all, and... I don't expect you to want to help me, but if I don't get help, I think we will be in more danger." She looked down and away from her clawmates. "I know we aren't friends anymore, but I am begging you. If not for me, please help the Queen."

Diamondback took a step toward her, and Starburst half expected him to stab her with his tail for hurting his sister, but instead, he paused and then hugged her. He was careful to avoid her cuts, which she was relieved about.

"You will always be our friend, even if you are a sand-snorting jerk sometimes."

Artemis then ran up and hugged her too, less cautious than her brother, and accidentally bumped into a few of Starburst's cuts, getting some of Starburst's blood on her scales.

"I need your help looking for a RainWing named Harpy. She is working with Alpine. She will be covered in cuts like me, which means she cannot turn fully invisible, because the blood will give her away."

They all nodded and ran out the door, leaping into the air, but Artemis stayed back for a second. She nervously shifted on her talons and coiled her tail inward to keep her barb safely away.

"I-I'm sorry, for..." she started, but Starburst cut her off.

"No. You don't need to apologize. I just... I don't have the best relationship with my father, and seeing him reminded me of that, and I took it out on you. I am sorry Artemis. I... I really hope we can be friends again."

Artemis smiled at her and encouragingly brushed wings with her, before she finally jumped into the storm and hovered next to the rest of the group. Starburst looked up at them, who were all struggling in the storm, but still willing to go. She let her scales turn yellow and pink (which looked more like purple) and she smiled.

She jumped up into the storm, feeling a new resolve, and led them into the forest. They followed her through the trees, all keeping an eye out for any clues, when Diamondback came up next to her, "What are we looking for exactly?"

He looked over at him, rain covering most of his facial details, "We are looking for anything that might have come off her, whether it be blood, or a scale, or a bit of cloth. Anything."

He nodded and fell back to the rest of the group. She knew that she should follow the same direction that she last saw Harpy going in, but something deep inside her gave her a headache, the same thing that warned her of the knife, and told her to go to her left. Starburst took a sudden turn, throwing the group off for a second before they adjusted to follow her.

Diamondback yelled over the wind from behind her, "Why did we turn? Where are we going?"

She looked over her shoulder, "I'm not sure, but I have a feeling we will find something important there."

Boris rolled his eyes, "How comforting..."

They continued flying, finding bits of clues here and there. There was a bunch of blood and the trees in the direction they flew, concerning Starburst.

Boris called up ahead solemnly, "Wow. Harpy must have been bleeding pretty badly."

"She wasn't that hurt when she ran. I think..." Starburst trailed off. She was finding it harder and harder to breathe as the seconds ticked by. "I think this is someone else's blood."

Boris looked around him, looking anxious. Diamondback shuddered loudly, and Bubble, who was being quieter than he usually was, whimpered quietly.

"Wait! What's that?" Artemis asked, pointing off to the side slightly. She slowly approached where she was pointing, everyone else following.

Starburst found herself in the same clearing she was in earlier, the Moon Globe Tree on one end of the clearing. The guard's body was still lying in the place where it fell, the mud slick with their blood.

Artemis gasped, looking horrified at the gashes and cuts that were still slightly oozing blood. Starburst felt guilty, looking down at her claws, which were still covered in his blood.

"Who- What- Is this Harpy?" Bubble stammered.

Starburst shook her head, "No."

Diamondback noticed Starburst looking at her bloody claws, and the guilt that she could not mash down.

"Was... Did you kill him?" Diamondback asked. He looked from her claws to his neck, and back to her claws again.

"I did," she admitted. "But he was trying to kill me first."

Diamondback whistled, "I'm impressed. He had to be like... twice your size, and this looks like it did the job pretty swift and painless."

Starburst wasn't sure how to respond, though she did feel a bit of pride (take that! She was NOT weak! HA HA!). She was NOT used to compliments, let alone such gruesome ones.

"But wait... Where did... He was wearing a hood, just like Alpine did. With a golden emblem and everything!" Starburst said, pointing at the body.

They all looked at each other, and Bubble reached gently for his neck pouch. He brushed his claws lightly against it, which made Starburst even more curious.

"What? What is it?" She asked. Maybe it was something she could use to find Firefly!

"Oh, well..." Artemis started but then was interrupted by a loud cracking sound from above them. 

Harpy jumped down, the trailing end of the hood flapping in the rush of wind, and the top part of the hood dangling around her neck. She was carrying something along her back. Unfortunately, it was hidden again by the hood when she landed.

"Harpy," Starburst hissed. Boris growled, cool air forming little clouds in the warm air. Diamondback crouched, flexing his claws and raising his poisonous tail. Bubble stepped in front of Artemis, who looked worried, and had her tail uncoiled, but not ready to fight. Bubble didn't look much more ready to fight than Artemis, but at least he looked determined to make sure nothing bad happened to her.

Starburst internally rolled her eyes at him. He was WAY too obvious, but she didn't have time for this, so she decided to ignore it for now.

"Harpy! What do you have?" Starburst growled.

Harpy smirked and pulled the thing off her back. At first, it just looked like a lump of red mud and other random things, but at closer inspection, she spotted the lump moving.

Itwas Firefly. She was alive. ALIVE