Wings of Fire: Dragonbite

Returned

Boto was still there, sitting next to Doom's still form, when Changbai barged in, a crumpled sheet of paper clenched in one talon as his tail lashed from side to side. 
"What happened to her?" His blue tongue flicked in and out like a snake's and his generally calm voice was harsh with panic. Changbai stepped closer to Doom's crumpled form, shoving Boto out of the way. The Icewing's scales were frigid and sharp as glass.  "Who did this to her?"
"Does it matter?" The Rainwing hissed, pushing back to Doom's side. "She's okay now."
Changbai snorted, his claws clenching angrily. "She doesn't look okay." He craned his long neck, wings curved protectively over her as he searched for wounds that weren't there. His whip this tail lashed back and forth. "What happened to her!?!?"
Boto's scales itched, trying to shift to blend into the background, but he forced them to stay the same color. Yellow seemed to calm him - the pale yellow of the desert sands. "You care about her, don't you?"
Changbai froze, wings stiffening. "What if I do?" His deep voice was soft and he was blushing a deep blue. "I'm not the only one."
Boto kept his scales even. Finally he whispered, "Darkstalker. Darkstalker's the one who did this to her."
Absolute terror marked his friend's face and he flinched. If he'd been a Rainwing Boto knew he'd be sickly green with fear. "He's dead."
"No. He's been sleeping, but he's not dead." Boto tipped his head towards Doomsayer. "She told me before . . ."
"Before what, you sorry excuse for a dragon!?"
". . . Before he took control of her." The Icewing shuddered, inadvertently taking a step away from Doom. Boto took the oportunity to step closer to her, brushing his wingtip against hers. "It's my fault this happened, but I got her free."
"What did you do?"
"I found the earring." Stripes of angry copper flashed on his scales, but he let them stay. "The moons-forsaken monster didn't know they still existed and it drove him over the edge."
"But what . . . How did he control her? I thought his powers were gone - otherwise he'd be walking about right now, killing everyone who stood in his way."
"I think . . ." Boto's mind raced, searching for an explanation. "I think it might be part of the mind reading. If you know someone's secrets you can manipulate their actions. Is it really such a jump to think that a mind reader could do that without the middleman?" Oh, that would've been useful in the desert.
"But why her?"
"Because-" he shook his head, shrugging. I won't betray her trust. "I haven't got a clue."
Changbai looked as if he didn't quite believe him, but didn't say anything. He was too busy staring at Doom.
Boto turned quickly, heart racing as he heard her shift. Her pale purple eyes were half open and she lifted her head woozily. "Boto." She smiled crookedly, holding back a yawn. "You're okay." He rested a talon on her shoulder, freezing as her tail wound around his.
When his throat relaxed he said, "We were worried about you."
"We?" She blinked slowly, gazing around the room for a minute before her eyes focused on the Icewing. "Oh. Hello Changbai." She rested her head back on her crossed arms, closing her eyes and yawning. "I think I'm gonna rest a bit more . . ."
She fell quickly asleep and Boto found himself grinning like a fool. Carefully he withdrew his hand, but her tail was too tightly wound around his to extract. He left it like that.
Then he saw Changbai's broken expression. "I-" What could he say: I'm sorry? But he wasn't. Not really.
"It's okay." He shook his wings out, the sorrow clearing from his eyes, quick as blinking. "She made her choice, and I can't be mad about that. You got there before I did, and I think you love her more anyway." Changbai shrugged. "She's amazing, but I know that there's someone else out there for me. And . . . We wouldn't want another Darkstalker, would we?" He gave a rueful grin, shadowed by the memory of what had happened to Doom.
"No. I guess not." Boto stepped fowards, embracing Changbai. "Thank you, friend. Thank you."

A/N:
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Shout out to BlackWolfsBane. Thank you for finding me on Instagram and inspiring me to write more of this story. This chapter's kind of short, but I'm going to try writing more soon. Thank you so much
~GingerFlame