Just stories I came up with

Kailani 10

Chapter 10

"Huh?" Kailani, oh so intelligently, responded.

"The law dictates that those born with odd abilities -to summarize- are to be killed. My mother broke this law with Peril. I'm sure you've noticed. Yet the law also includes those born between the Skywing tribe and any other. Normally we would leave it alone if they stay out of our territory, but you grew up here. So by law I should kill you here." Ruby opened the scroll, her nail trailing down the papyrus, the backs of her claw trailing to prevent tearing. "I suppose my mother has rubbed off on me. However, I won't kill or harm you. I want to make a deal."

"A deal?" Kailani scoffed, "what tell me I should be dead only to trade sparrow for a minnow?"

Ruby's eyes snapped to the dragonet and she crept forward. The princess's head tilted, and she dragged her paw from the table and creeped forward, her claws clacking softly. "That."

"What?" Kailani shrank back. Her wings came up on reflex, still unchained she dimly registered.

The Princess Regent stopped her advance forward. "Who did you live with?"

"My, my parents." Kailani covered the slip quickly.

"No, you interact with others." Ruby asserted. She turned back to the table, reaching underneath it the red skywing grabbed the chains for wings. "Carnelien," the Acting-Queen called.

With the grace of a falcon an orange skywing flitted down. "My queen."

'Well, that allegiance was quick.' Kailani thought dryly. 'It's been what, a week?'

"You will tell me the truth or I will bind your wings and carry out you and your parents' punishment as the law dictates." Ruby explained, Carnelien crept around Kailani's side.

"So essentially tell me or I kill you and your family. Comforting." Kailani summarized, glancing at the warrior prowling around her. "Fine."

Ruby hesitated then straightened back up. "Oh," the princess breathed.

"What's 'oh'?"

"Well, Mother always made this out to be harder and I sort of wanted to see what it was like." Ruby explained with a shrug, slumping to sit on her haunches. The dragonet soldier twitched her tail, grumpily.

"I don't trust this dragonet."

"Well, I do." Kailani imputed. "And you probably shouldn't tell this dragonet that."

"Right, sorry." Ruby said in reflex.

"Or apologize. Do you not have any self confidence? You should apologize to prisoners, or dragons outside your tribe, or traitors." Kailani paused and shrugged. "Really just anyone who could know me. You have to keep the 'queenly image' up."

"Sor-Sure." Ruby amended. Kailani held back an eyeroll.

"So, how am I to get out of here?" Kailani asked.

"By giving me information," Ruby retorted, slipping back into her queenly persona, authority slipping back into her posture.

"Right." Kailani shrugged, "you aren't going to kill everyone I know once I tell you right?"

"Not unless necessary."

'Best you're gonna get so far and I'm impatient, just answer already.'

"Siblings, I have four. I'm the oldest." Kailani shrugged. Ruby stared at the dragonet blankly.

"No Talons or anything?"

"No, my parents don't like them," Kailani rolled her eyes. Both the other Skywings snorted derisively. Kailani shrugged at the incredulous stares.

"There's a waterfall, and the mountains, that you can use to disappear, how you manage to get out is up to you, so long as it doesn't lead back to me. Aella will be the only one guarding you as you go back, the first two minutes of the walk would be easiest to escape with. Patrols will be changing then."

"All you have are timings?" Kailani pressed her wings against her side to keep from yelling at the Princess Regent.

"Anything else would be too easy to trace, even this is extremely risky, you may go." Ruby turned back to her shelf, "Kailani, come up with a good reason you were brought out just in case."

"That should be your job." Kailani growled quietly.

Oh, don't give her too much slack, it's my fault, nothing I've thought of works quite well. I'll fix it in revisions

'Don't even get me started on you and we will talk about whatever revisions are.'

Don't bet on it

"It is not my family on the line, this is the one and only chance I will give you." Ruby nodded to the wall behind the hybrid dragonet. Carnelian pressed the rock and the door slid open, Kailani's gills flattening in discomfort at the sound.

"Is Aella in on this?" Kailani asked.

"Yes."

Kailani closed her eyes and shoved her anger down, her skin under her scales seemed to drop a few degrees and when she opened her eyes everything seemed muted as her anger was trapped under the glass.

Kailani's claws clicked down the tunnel. "Be careful!" Ruby called out hastily. Kailani refrained from rolling her eyes and the tunnel door behind her clicked closed.

Kailani lit up her stripes and saw other tunnels branching off. Kailani looked down them. None of them showed a way out and these weren't her tunnels. Warnings of heading off into unknown tunnels rang in her ears. Flattening them, Kailani headed down the tunnel.

Once Kailani got home, she would be free.

Kailani spent the rest of the time walking the tunnels running through scenario after scenario. From her brief fly around the palace Kailani knew some of the forest in the mountains. She hadn't seen the waterfall but that seemed like a bad place to head.

Easy landmarks could be bad in broad daylight. While Kailani couldn't see in pitch black like most seawings, she could see pretty well in near darkness.

And it was with this reasoning that the dragonet attacked Aella and shot toward her tunnels.

Kailani dove into the forest. Her wings were smaller than a skywings, -even a dragonet her age but her speed was nothing to scoff at- and in confusion the Skywings let her go.

Her red top scales giving her free passage.

Kailani grinned as she ducked into her tunnels.

Strong wingbeats shook the air behind her. "Eagle! Cut her off!"

The air behind her shook less as the Skywing left the group. Kailani grinned as the tunnels narrowed. The Dragonet ducked into the tunnels, spinning as the wind twisted with her spine-spikes and wings.

Kailani crashed into another Skywing. He groaned as he got up.

"Anil?" Kailani asked.

Anil shook his head and placed a talon to his mouth. He looked around. "Head down the tunnel, I'll hold them off."

Kailani opened her wings to take flight. She angled her head back, her long neck twisting. "Hey," The dragon turned to Kailani's voice, "thanks."

Anil nodded and the both of them took off in opposite directions.

FINALLY  IT'S DONE! I was fully ready to not actually update. BUT the chapters here~