Wings of fire: A Legend of Time (fan fiction)

Chapter thirteen- Where to Start?

Chapter thirteen- Where to start?

Up ahead, a sea of black dragons were piled into a clearing.

"Well, I'd rather not go any further. So, here we are! When you need to come back, it's that way," said Perfection, pointing the way they'd come from.

"Alright, thank you so much!" Scorch waved as she turned and flew back towards the village.

"There are so many," said Marble, staring into the blackness ahead. "How will we ever find a pearl?" 

"I don't know. But we should fly lower, or land if we must. We don't want to be seen, right?" Said Scorch.

"Right," agreed Marble. They circled down, landing in the tree tops. It was a struggle to get through them, since they were so tightly woven together. But eventually, they were both on the mossy forest floor. Bushy plants grew everywhere, mushrooms grew on tree stumps. Dead and decaying leaves lay in heaps on the ground. It wasn't too fun trying to navigate through the dense jungle vegetation, but eventually they were hiding in a bush on the edge of the clearing.

Thin, black dragons were huddled in groups. Some were yelling about RainWings, and how they should have attacked them sooner and taken the Rainforest kingdom for themselves.

"Where should we go?" Scorch asked.

"I don't know. Oh, and don't forget that some NightWings can read minds, so try not to think about us being here," Marble joked.

"Right. Hold on a sec while I turn off my mind,"Scorch replied sarcastically. Marble smirked in the shadows. She knew NightWings could not read minds, and if they ever did, it was centuries ago. Sroch apparently did not know this, because she saw him staring very hard at a leaf on the ground, his eyes glazed over, undoubtedly trying to clear his mind.

After a moment, she began to circle around the clearing, gesturing for Scorch to follow. The two dragons slunk through the vegetation, trying to get an idea of where to start. It was mid afternoon, and some of the Nightwings were heading off in pairs, probably to go hunting. The group began shrinking, as more and more dragons went off into the jungle.

"Where's Artica?" Scorch asked suddenly, and Marble jumped slightly.

"She should be following us, I think. She was earlier. Right, Artica?" said Marble.

Right on queue, Artica materialized out of the shadows.

"Three moons, Artica...you just about gave me a heart attack," Scorch breathed. Marble tried to pretend she hadn't jumped too. 

"Shhh, Scorch! We don't want the NightWings to hear us!" Whispered Artica, grinning. Scorch seemed to remember their supposed mind-reading powers and once again glazed over his eyes.  

The three dragons snuck through the shadows, listening for anything. But they had no idea where to start.

Marble stopped. She thought she'd heard something. Artica and Scorch stopped, too. Artica mouthed "what?" but Marble shook her head. She rotated her ears all around. Marble listened carefully. Then she heard three sets of heavy footsteps coming from behind them.

"Down!" she mouthed, diving into the the brush. The other two followed suit and dove into the nearest bush. Next she heard voices.

"It's embarrassing, that's what it is!" Muttered a scratchy voice. Three huge shadows came out from behind a tree. Scorch's eyes, she saw glinting slightly from the shadows, were intensely glazed over. She would have laughed, had they not been hiding from three huge NightWings.

"RainWings, in charge of Nightwings! What was Greatness thinking when she agreed to give the throne to a RAINWING of all creatures?!" Shouted the same voice.

"Oh, come on! It's not that bad! At least we still get to live in the rainforest," said a second voice.

"Ya, and besides. What would you have done in her scales?" Remarked a third voice, sounding annoyed.

"I would have said 'No way on this planet will we EVER accept a RainWing as our queen!'" Yelled the scratchy voice.

"Oh, you would have, wouldn't you? And left your entire tribe to boil alive in the lava? Sure, of course that's a brilliant idea, Smudge!" Said the annoyed voice, dripping with sarcasm.

The scratchy voice said nothing. Then the footsteps got quieter and quieter, until they disappeared. The three dragons waited in silence until they were sure the Nightwings had gone.

"Some support the RainWing queen, and some don't," said Scorch. "Interesting."

They continued their circle around the clearing, which was larger than they had thought. Eventually, they came to a large tree, with several huge and thick branches. On the highest branch, perched a NightWing. She wore a necklace of diamonds, and she was watching over the rest of the tribe. Beside her, perched a Rainwing who wore a crown of flowers on her head. Marble guessed they were Greatness ( from what the three Nightwings they'd encountered earlier had said) and Queen Glory. They were whispering about something, but Marble couldn't hear what.

They watched them for a long time, and the sun began to set. Then...

"The Pearl!"Scorch exclaimed suddenly in an excited whisper, pointing to Greatness's wrist. Sure enough, chained around her wrist was a silver bracelet. On the bracelet, was the biggest, shiniest pearl Marble had ever seen.

"The Queens Pearl," whispered Marble. "That has to be it."

"Now we just have to wait until she's alone, so that we can get it from her," said Scorch.

"Ya, but we don't know how long that will be, unfortunately. Hopefully soon," said Marble.

And then, Marble had a very sudden feeling that something was watching them. She turned around, but saw nothing but creepy shadows, cast from bushes and trees as the sun fell lower in the sky.

I'm sure it's nothing, she reassured herself. She shrugged uneasily, and kept an eye out in case. But the feeling did not go away.

"I'll be right back..." Marble whispered distractedly in Scorch's ear. "I'm gonna go check something." Scorch nodded. 

She carefully picked her way through the vegetation, opening her eyes against the dark. All she saw was shadows. it was impossible to tell a bush from a crouching attacker. 

Then, quickly and without warning, the shadows seemed to reach out to her and she was being wrapped into them, pulled into the dense jungle.

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