"We meet again, Cinder."
It couldn't be.
"IR," Cinder growled.
Ronin cackled, but it wasn't his voice; it was IR's. "Indeed. Did you really think you could get rid of me? Haven't you learned? Cures don't work, you idiot."
Cinder turned to Angel. "Angel, run! Get somewhere safe!"
The hybrid nodded, taking off as fast as her little wings could take her.
IR laughed. "That won't save her. Nothing will. Not even you, Cinder."
"Oh, but what about me?" There was a thump of talons behind Cinder, and she turned to see her little brother with another SkyWing. "Soot? What the hell are you doing here?"
"Well, you seem to be in quite a predicament."
"I don't want y'er help," she growled.
"Well, this is touching, and I'd hate to interrupt," IR spoke.
"Can it, Virus," Cinder growled. She pinned his head to the floor. "You!" She turned to Soot. "If you really wanna help, get outta here."
"Just hear him out, will you?" the other SkyWing spoke. They were a dark brown with a dark golden underbelly and pink splotches all over their scales. They had one eye that was a burnt orange, and the other gold.
"I dunno who in Pyrhhia you are, but if you associate y'erself with Soot, I don't want y'er help either."
The SkyWing stalked forward. They weren't nearly as big as Cinder; in fact, they were quite scrawny for a SkyWing. "Listen here. You may think just because every other dragon fears you that you can just do what you want. Well, news flash, Cinder. Yeah, I know y'er name. You don't scare me one bit."
Cinder smirked. "Wow, Soot, you got a bodyguard. That's adorable."
Soot walked up to the SkyWing. "Eagle, calm down. We can discuss this peacefully."
"Yeah, peacefully," Cinder mocked. "Now I got a virus to deal with." She turned back to IR, who was squirming under her grasp.
She didn't really have a plan. How else was she supposed to help him?
"Have you thought of..killing him?" Soot asked.
Cinder turned to Soot with an angry glare. "I ain't a monster, Soot. I ain't you."
Soot gasped. He stepped back, growing silent.
"Now you know how I felt," Cinder said. She remembered when Soot said that to her. That was years ago now. It was strange to think about how old she was now.
She shook her head. Back to the task at hand.
She turned back to IR. How do I save him without killing him?
The SkyWing, Eagle, approached Cinder and IR. "Can I..try something?"
Cinder looked at Eagle. "Fine. If you kill him, I'll kill you. Got that?"
Eagle nodded. They then placed a talon on IR's head. IR tried to snap at them, but could barely move due to Cinder's grasp. Eagle took a deep breath, closed their eyes, and whispered to themselves. They backed away, sitting and flicking their tail.
IR's eyes then went wide. "What's happening? Why do I feel myself..slipping..away..?" The dragon then went limp.
Cinder turned to Eagle. "What did you do?" she growled.
Eagle didn't answer. They only nodded to Ronin. Cinder looked back and saw that Ronin's scales started to return to the red and yellow Cinder was used to seeing. She let go of Ronin and sat close to him. The RainWing soon opened his eyes, which were bright blue, with a red tint. "Cinder?"
Cinder smiled, hugging Ronin tight. "Ronin..thank the moons."
Ronin smiled, returning the hug. "I'm so glad you're alive."
"Same to you." She pulled away, still keeping her talons on Ronin's shoulders. "Now don't ever die again. Got that?"
Ronin smiled. "No promises."
Cinder pulled him back in for another hug. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Cin."
Soot cleared his throat. "Still here."
Cinder pulled away from Ronin and looked back at Soot. "What do you want?"
"I wanna help you."
"Ha! As if!"
"Well didn't they just save his life?" Soot flicked his tail to Eagle, who had moved back next to Soot.
"They did, not you."
"But why would they do that if they weren't a good dragon?"
"Y'er point being?"
"They wouldn't be with me right now if I was such a bad dragon."
Cinder huffed. "Whatever. We're just tryna look for the others."
"Hmm. Well, all we know is that they escaped," Soot said.
"Yeah. Skyblaze was not happy," Eagle added. Soot slapped them lightly with his tail.
Cinder raised a brow. "What do you mean by that?"
"She almost beat the life outta Soot."
"Eagle, shut up!" Soot whispered through his teeth.
"Why? Ain't you her favorite dragon, like, ever?"
"If only you knew, Cinder. But that's not the point. We'll help you find the others, on one condition."
"That is?" Cinder asked.
"You kill Skyblaze," Eagle said.
"Eagle, no!" Soot corrected.
Eagle grinned. "Eagle, yes."
Cinder laughed. "I like you, strange one. We have a deal."
"That's not- ugh, fine!" Soot huffed.
Angel ran out from a nearby tree, hugging Ronin. "Ronin! You're back!"
"I am," Ronin laughed.
"Well, we got our crew, let's go." Angel hopped on Cinder's back, and soon everyone was airborne.
"Where to, Cin?" Soot asked.
"Don't you dare ever call me that," Cinder growled.
"Oh, but y'er son can?"
"You wanna be helpful? Shut up."
Soot sighed. "Whatever. Where to?"
"Let's head to the rainforest. That would make the most sense." The others nodded, and they took off, Cinder and Ronin leading the way.
YOU ARE READING
Cinder: In No Way, a Hero || Book 3
Ficción General|| BOOK 3 || Cinder and Angel reunited, but where are the others? Has IR returned? Has Skyblaze gotten to them? Were they even alive? Cinder was willing to find any way to know, which leads to an unexpected alliance, disturbing secrets finally shar...
