Wings of the Crystal : The Lost City

:: Chapter 6 ::

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   Cactus had traveled out onto her Balcony, looking down at the busy streets from her apartment.
        She tried to ignore her previous thoughts. As Cactus gripped the curved black railing, she glanced down at the busy streets, the most "busy" part of town.
        The Part of Vengeance(her town name) that was always to crowded.
       Where some Dragonets her age through rocks at her windows.
       While Cactus was inside thinking on how much she changed.
          Happy to. . .ordinary? A grumpy old, PLAIN Dragonet?
   But she was so glad that her great- grandfather (of course, an animus) enchanted her to be able to walk on any surface like grass, dirt, stone, etc.
      Busy lights flickered on and off as the now Quiet, Brick Shops closer, and upon the sky was the sun blistering off the town windows and building tops. It hid between the slopes of Mt. Thorn, it's shadowy figure gazing down on the grass hills behind it. Dark purple and black with tiny white spots streaked the sky. The night was. . . Forever.
          A little Dragonet crying to its mother, with its arms wrapped around her leg and her fathers wing wrapped around the mother. "Please, don't go!"
The next battle. .
It must be tonight.
We're planning a secret attack?
My parents. . .
Cactus swung around and carried herself into the apartment, the cold wisps floating in the air as she breathed. She rushed downstairs cold to see her parents hugging Bobcat.
    "Cactus!" Said her father. "There you are!" He came sprinting down the corridor. Egypt followed behind. You could tell she was nervous, eyes watery and sharp with nervousness. The same nervousness Soldiers always had, if they were going to die or not.
     "I want to go with you," Said Cactus, slightly panting. "To the battle."
      "You can't, Your not aloud to fight! You know that, Darling." Snake Protested.
       "I want to watch, not fight!" Said Cactus eagerly.
And then kill someone after, Cactus Thought, with a weight of guilt on her shoulders.
   "And remember, last week? You promised Me that I could." Cactus explained, desperate.
     Snakes head shifted to Egypt, tenseness in his shoulders. Egypt shrugged and rubbed her talons together, a bit cold as well.
     Snake sighed, with a heavy heap of wordiness on his face. "F-fine." Snake murmured. Cactus's head lifted up and she smiled.
     "Don't get too excited," said her mother as her father walked past Cactus, Urging Bobcat to follow back to her room. He whispered slightly "fix the room temperature while your at it."
     Her mother compressed with the wall and squeezed through the space of Cactus, being Weary of any run against her scales. Cactus turned around to follow her mother, emotions mixed together, flying like ghosts recklessly inside her mind.

Orange flames Lapped at the cold air, throwing sparks up into the night sky. The firelight flickered across a wasteland of rough grass behind a river, making silhouettes of the group of NightWings huddled there.
    A pair of Hazel eyes appeared off the firelight of the candles placed around the ragged battlefield. An Owl roared past in front of the huddle, in that moment it rose into the sky. It filled the air with echoing calls.
     At the edge of the wasteland battlefield, with rocks hat turned silver off of the moons glint, a SandWing moved, its eyes glinting in the shadows. Pointed ears twitched, then flattened against the noise. SandWings followed, including Cactus's family. They carried their wings and head low and licked their teeth of the bitter air.
     "What if the NightWings see us?" Hissed one of the SandWings. Snake snapped to silence the SandWing. "They won't. As long as you keep your snouts shut and heads down." He answered. As he trailed towards the hill with rocks as a small wall the firelight of the candles lit up his row of black shaped diamond scales. He held his long tail up, sending a message of courage to his soldiers.
     But the other SandWings crouched low agains the grass, trembling. This was a strange place. The noise of the crows and owls didn't mix with the whispers or trees and the NightWings greedy growls.
     "Snake?" A small soldier said,, her claws grasping the dirt. She flicked her tail uneasily. "Why are we battling here?"
      The gold and black SandWing turned to the soldier. Cactus's eyes didn't stay steadyC her head rising to listen better.
        "Because the RainWings want peace. They don't want wars anymore. Perhaps there could be peace here."
         "Peace? Here?" Egypt whispered in disbelief. She hovered and crawled over to Cactus. "With rugged grass and weird candles everywhere? Cactus won't be safe!"
           "But we weren't safe at their territory," growled another voice. Widow pushed his way forward, limping heavily on a twisted talon. He held Snakes And Cactus's brown gaze. "We couldn't protect her from secret bush attacks," he spat. "Not even if all the bushes were cleared!"
       Anxious whispers and hissed rose from many of the soldiers as they remembered the terrible battle that had been planned a secret by the NightWings for some months now. An older warrior wailed, "ColdEye and his s soldiers may still be planning a secret attack!"
       The cry alerted one of the NightWings in the huddle. She stood unsteadily and stared towards the shadows. It seemed to warn the others. At once the SandWings fell silent, crouching lower; even snake lowered his tail. The NightWing shouted into the Darkness and flung something towards them.
      The cactus ball flew over their heads and landed in rough rocks and dirt left behind the talons of SandWings.  It exploded in a burst of thorn-sharp pieces on the trail behind.
     Cactus flinched as a needle grazed her shoulder, but she stayed silent, curling her tail around her trembling body. The needle burnt into ash and blew off with the rough wind.
       "Keep down," hissed snake.
  The NightWing spat on the ground, then sat back down. Whispers and growls and sinister looks haunted the field from the silver and black dragons murmuring to each other.
      The SandWings waited for a few moments before Snake stood once more.
      Cactus too, stood, wincing at the new pain in her shoulder. It felt like millions of Fire ants crawling up her body, wishing to devour her in their fiery bites.
       "Father, where should I stay when you are in battle? And how? I can't touch anything here."
      Snake stretched his neck and pointed to the slope hidden with bushes, guarding it as well with whispering trees behind it. "There," he said. "I know it's not well for you to stay in, but it's only to keep you safe."
       He turned to two large soldiers. "Venom, Dingo," he ordered. "Take Cactus to that slope of bushes and trees. Keep her safe."
        "There?" Spat Cactus, as Dingo and Venom bounded away. "That's worse than sitting in a small room with IceWings!"
       "Hush!" Hissed her father. "It's better than nothing!"
      Cactus scowled and dipped her head, then sighed and turned to hide behind the small emerald green bushes.
      She crouched down, grind the tall circled row of bushes, from a distance to not touch its spiky leaves. The lean shapes of Dingo and Venom watch from in front of the bushes, fully standing. Cautiously,  the SandWing army trailed across the wasteland after Snake. He led them down, closer to the huddle of NightWings, crowding a small light source. Snake stepped forward, lifting his chin. Cactus narrowed her eyes but said nothing.
    With one flick of his tail, the SandWing army charged at the NightWings. Their tails lifted high, teeth's baring, and claws ripping off the dead piles of rough grass.
      One NightWing, pitch black, only with the white dots on his scales and the design of a Skull(not a real skull, just white on face makes a skull form) on his face, not even flinching, only big red eyes glaring down at the army.
      SandWings leaped over a large white can, perhaps a tank of water, and lifted off to look like giant bats, waving their claws frantically to grab the scales of a Black dragon.
      But it didn't last for long, before the SandWings fell back and haunched, curling their bodies to a halt and eyes widening.
     While the other NightWings didn't attack, but helplessly ran around as a distraction.
     The pitch black NightWing stood up on its back claws, growing more every minute. Before his Massive wings opened and covered the moons light, only his glittering eyes and dark face to replace it. A large, heavy roar came out of the trees.
      Cactus shivered. Her fire-sand scales were shivering end on end, afraid of what might come ahead.
It was their plan to do this the whole time.
As a distraction.
And the army is charging from behind me.