Wings of Fire: The Shifting Sands

Chapter 8: Sunwatcher

Sunwatcher was woken by the sound of clinking metal and a door swinging wide open.

Darkthought stood there, grinning nonchalantly, with Amber impatiently eyeing the halls behind him. A nervous SandWing stood behind them, worrying his talons, occasionally glancing up at a taller guard, who was tapping her foot impatiently. 

"Hey," said Darkthought, stepping into the cell. 

"Let's GOOO." Amber grumbled behind him. "There'll be guards at any second." She pricked up her ears and glared fiercely down the other side of the hall. 

 "I agree," said the taller, female guard. "Cactus guards this place well."  Darkthought nodded and hurried over to Sunwatcher's chains, unlocking them. A moment later, Sandstorm was stretching his wings, released as well. 

 A shout echoed from down the hall, followed by the sound of running away. The taller guard shot off, hissing.

 "Darn," said the shorter guard. "He'll probably raise the alarm. Hopefully Kangaroo can stop him before he does."

 "Now we really  have to go," said Amber. 

 "Alright, alright," said Darkthought. He beckoned for Sunwatcher and Sandstorm to follow him, and the NightWing and Amber disappeared down the hall. "Come on!" called Amber. 

  Wait, signed Sandstorm. He cast a disapproving look at the disappearing dark red tail of Amber. Is she safe? 

Sunwatcher had no idea. Amber was dangerous, but Darkthought seemed to like her... in fact, it seemed that he liked her a lot. That was strange. But this was now or never. Trust a potentially psychopathic dragon... or live out the rest of their lives in a SandWing prison. 

  I don't know, he signed back. But this is our only chance. Sandstorm nodded, as if he had guessed Sunwatcher would say that. He followed Darkthought and Amber out of the cell, with the shorter guard slithering behind them. 

 "I'm Tarantula," he said, cheerfully.

 "Why are you helping us?" asked Sunwatcher warily. It made no sense, although he felt a little guilty about asking. 

 Tarantula shrugged. "Me and Kangaroo, we felt bad about what we did to you. Decided to help. O'course, that means Cactus is out for our blood. But we have an escape route. Figured we may as well make up for our wrongs." He tilted his head as they pattered down the hall.

 Sunwatcher smiled. Tarantula was a little eccentric, but he seemed sorry for what he had done. "Well, thank you," he said finally. "And don't worry, all is forgiven." 

 Tarantula grinned really wide then. He nodded and hurried to catch up with the taller guard, Kangaroo. When he got there, she twined his tail around his and they both smiled. Sunwatcher guessed that neither of them would have escaped without the other.

Amber paused at the prisoner's belongings room, where she grabbed a gold and ruby necklace and a scrap of scroll. Sunwatcher wondered what that was, and Darkthought also seemed to examine it. Is it enchanted? Sunwatcher thought. What spell?

 "Hurry up," snapped Kangaroo. "It won't be long until someone notices that you escaped."

"I agree," Sunwatcher offered. "The guards patrol every fifteen minutes." Darkthought tilted his head at him, thinking.

Suddenly a cry of pain snapped them all to attention. Tarantula was pinned the the ground, and Cactus was on top of him, grinning. Or scowling. It was a little difficult to tell. His curved claws were expertly wrapped around the main artery in the guard's throat. 

 "Tarantula!" cried Kangaroo. Smoke poured from her snout, and her claws gripped the sandstone floor. "Let him go," 

 Darkthought tensed. Amber hissed with the fire-is-coming noise. Sandstorm bared his teeth. Sunwatcher stood there, frozen with horror. "Well hello, friends," Cactus snarled. 

Then he grabbed Tarantula's horns, twisted, and with a horrible snap, the guard's lifeless body dropped to the floor.