Wings of Fire: The Forgotten World

Chapter 24

By thedragonshifter
Pleiades's PoV

     "We should stay here for a little while..." Pleiades could hear Hemlock's tired voice say in between yawns,"and think about what we will do next." She could here the two dragons around her rustling around on the fluffy sand as they moved around the shady area they had found. Yesterday, Pleiades had followed the fast footsteps of Velocity as they hurried out of the Sun Kingdom's Red Sands Desert, making their way towards the Spiral Kingdom. On the way, Pleiades could remember the them being ambushed by a small group of Sunwings that demanded their money; however, Hemlock had taken care of them very quickly. And as they continued walking, Pleiades had smelled the fresh scent of life on the breeze.

     Now, she lay curled into a ball on the cold sand. The air was cold as well, yet it was also moist with morning mist and fog. Even though there was still sand underneath her, Pleiades could tell that they were very near the Spiral Kingdom's rain forest. She had never seen a Rainforest up close before, But Pleiades could remember seeing the tiny green smudge that disappeared with the curve of the earth from the mouth of her cave. Though, it wasn't like she would ever see one anyway.

     Just thinking about her sight made her lift her talons and gently touch the area where her eyes should be. She did this so often now that I wasn't a surprise when instead of smooth scales, she felt torn flesh. It's like I expect to wake up and be able to see again, but I know it'll never happen. She sighed, flopping her head back down onto the sand. She felt as if a part of her was missing, like a piece of her soul had been sucked out of her through the gashes in her face. What do other dragons think of me... When they see an angry, poison filled dragon with half a face? They must think that I'm a... She huffed a cloud of poison out of her nose like a dragon who could breathe fire huffs a cloud of smoke, and drew her mind away from the topic, letting her mind wander.

     Just like the dream that she had the night before the last one, Pleiades' dream had been filled with her what she had seen, or different versions of it, before she had been blinded. Though instead of Sunwings who had tortured her, it had been a dragon with green and purple scales with a striped pattern on its wings. The dragon had also, strangely enough, been wearing a small crown decorated with emeralds in the shape of a lizard. But, she didn't know what dragon it was.

     The scratches of her face burned as she remembered her dream last night, bringing her attention back to the outside world. She turned her head away from the sounds of Velocity and Hemlock, trying her best to hide the pain in her face. I don't want them to think that I'm weak. I endure any pain inflicted upon me. After a few moments of sitting with her face in the sand and grinding her teeth to stop her from growling, Pleaides began to beg the stars that they not infect the scratches.

      Pleiades continued to lay in silence, listening to Hemlock and Velocity as they started to argue about who knows what. But from what she could pick up, they were quarreling about if they should venture out of their cave to find food or not. Hemlock apparently wanted to stay in the cave for a bit longer so that they wouldn't be caught by any Sprialwing guards, but Velocity was starving and wanted to find food for them.

     The argument continued for quite a while, and as the shouting persisted Pleiades's anger grew, making the spines on her back rise like swords. Then, she whirled around and glared an eye-less glare in their direction. "Won't you guys just please SHUT UP! IF YOU WANT TO FIND FOOD, FIND FOOD. IF YOU WANT TO STAY IN THE CAVE, STAY IN THE DUMB CAVE. JUST DON'T SIT THERE LIKE HATCHLINGS FIGHTING OVER A PIECE OF FRUIT!" She roared, her tail lashing in a wide arc before she turned away from them and plopped back down in a fuming heap.

     The cave was silent. So silent in fact that any dragon could hear a needle drop. But it was broken when she could hear the sound of talons thump on the soft sand as who Pleiades suspected was Velocity exited the cave. But after that, the quiet continued, and Pleiades could swear that she felt eyes boring into her back.  "Pleiades, I-" she could hear Hemlock say in the beginning of a sentence; however, he was interrupted when a two more dragons suddenly walked into the cave, for the sound of talons multiplied.

     "Velocity, who's this?" Hemlock asked suspiciously. "I'm Sunnyheart, the Sunnyheart, the one and only... Sunnyheart." The new dragon announced before Velocity could explain. There was another shuffling of talons as Pleiades could smell another dragon enter the tiny cave. This time, the dragon was a male, and his voice was very similar to that of Sunnyheart's,"yah yah, the Sunnyheart." He sighed in disapproval at the younger Sunnyheart,"don't mind my sister, she's a coconut head. I'm Fig, nice to meet you."

     Fig's voice was much calmer then Sunnyheart's, who was way more bouncy and excited. "So, what are you all doing out here?" Fig asked curiously, his harmless voice giving nothing away. Though, just by hearing him, Pleiades could tell that there was more to this dragon then what the others could see and what she could hear.

     Hemlock was not ready to give anything away though. "Why do you wanna know?" He asked, his voice guarded. She could hear one of the dragons shuffle his or her talons on the soft sand, then Fig's voice answered,"well, it is a little strange how a Cloudwing, a Viperwing, and a Sunwing are camping out on the outskirts of Spiralwing territory." He said matter of factly,"and it's only fair if you at least tell me, son of the head Spiralwing army general, why you are invading upon our lands."

     Hemlock finally gave in to Fig, who turned around to exit the cave. "We can talk while we walk to our palace, it's no use camping out in the rainforest when there is a perfectly nice place to stay in our friendly kingdom." Pleiades could hear scales sliding on the sand before she heard Hemlock call her name. And, with a sigh, Pleiades lifted her hidden face out of the sand, and allowed Hemlock to guide her out of the cave.