Wings of Fire: The Forgotten World

Chapter 50

By thedragonshifter
Pleiades's PoV

     The next day, Pleiades noticed that Ash was well enough to actually get off of his bed and walk around the tiny room that they all shared. And despite the Emberwing's patient and tolerating attitude, he seemed to grow restless as the minutes and hours of boredom passed. Though, the danger of going outside seemed to increase each day.

    Now, not only did the sun kill the Viperwings who laid a single scale out of the shadow, but also the moon became a deadly death laser. Though so far, it has only effected Viperwings. Shatteredmoon probably doesn't want to kill Ash, Hemlock, and I. He needs us for something, and he needs is alive in order to do it.

     Since the Viperwings had not yet invented something to protect them for the Moonlight (their covers didn't work at night) Velocity was mostly confined to her home now, but it was mostly because her mother forbade her from leaving. But, Pleiades and Hemlock didn't need to listen to her disgruntled grandparents.

     As night fell over the Viper Kingdom, Hemlock and Pleiades came back from a day's worth of hunting with their dinner and dropped their catch in front of Velocity and Ash, who was pacing around the room with his long, graceful tail waving majestically behind him. He didn't seem to be bothered by the giant burn across his back anymore, and didn't seem to mind the small cuts along his arms. They were almost entirely healed anyway.

     "Ssshhhhhh!! Your going to alert my grandparents!" Velocity whispered urgently as she tried to convince him to stop pacing. But Ash merely grunted,"I can't stay locked up in here forever." He growled,"it's nighttime, nobody will see me if I just go for a stroll. And plus, no viperwing's will be out cuz' the moonlight's dangerous now." He said with a stubborn look in his deep, mesmerizing green eyes...

     "I guess, but, what about the non-Viperwings?" Hemlock asked worriedly. But Ash just shrugged his shoulders and stared down at them,"I'm sure I'll be fine." But when Hemlock and Velocity were about to object to his decision, Pleiades stepped forward,"I can walk with you outside if you want. I'm sure it'll look more normal then just one odd, funny looking long-tailed dragon walking alone at night." She suggested before Ash looked uncertainly at Hemlock, who seemed to grow stiff but curtly nodded his head,"fine, but if someone sees you guys, come back straight away. Don't be long!" He called just before her and Ash snuck out into the fresh nigh air.

     As they walked along the soft, grassy ground, Pleiades heard Ash take a long breath, obviously relishing the limited time he had outside. "Thank you for walking with me, Pleiades." Ash suddenly said. She looked at him in surprise and saw that he was smiling at her,"you know, staying cooped up in that tiny building was like being in prison all over again." He sighed and fixed his head away from her and onto the path ahead. She could see His ears flicking nervously from the corner of her eye.

     "I know how you feel." She said, surprised by her own words and ending up laughing along with Ash at them. "Well, I mean, I know that you know how I feel. But I think I know how you feel right now?" She tried, not able to hide the smile that felt so strange to her. "I've had to live under a rock my whole life, literally. And that's pretty close to a prison, right?" Ash tilted his head and grinned,"alright, sure you uncivilized cave-dragon." He joked, almost giving her a friendly shove, but stopping himself just in time.

     She found herself laughing once more at his joke, all of her worries evaporating into the cold night. Though, when she was beside Ash, she felt warmer, for his scales gave off a warmth that she could only identify in one other dragon: Hemlock.

     Her smile faded off to return her face to it's normal glare, and she realized that she really liked both of them. Though, when she was with Ash, she didn't feel like herself. She felt carefree and happy, and she was pretty sure that it was her own mind and not Ash's doing that made her feel that way. But what about Hemlock? He also has a special place in my heart. And if I choose to be with Ash, wouldn't I be betraying him? And after all these things we've done together, I fall for a dragon I've just met... I can't do this to Hemlock. He doesn't deserve to experience any heartbreak.

     She glanced at Ash, who was looked at her with pained eyes. She couldn't tell if it was from his wounds, or from the wounds that she felt in her own heart. She looked at him for a long moment, and a tear threatened to fall from her eye. This isn't fair for Hemlock. I can't be with Ash. Hemlock would be broken if I abandoned him.

     Ash tilted his head to the side as if confused by the emotions he was feeling, but Pleiades shook her head with a suffering breath. "I can't do this." She said quietly. "Please forgive me."

     Pleiades spun and raced back to Velocity's home and threw the door open. She ran through the golden hallways until she reached the door that led to the room where they were all staying in, and opened it. Then, as she spotted Hemlock sitting gloomily in a corner and picking at a bone from their meal, she raced over to him hugged him like a teddy bear before he realized that she had come back.

    "Pleiades-" he gasped breathlessly, but she couldn't stop practically an ocean of tears from falling into his furry shoulder. "I'm s-so s-sorry." She sobbed,"I sh-should have realized- I should have kn-known- I should have b-been w-wiser-" she struggled to get the correct words out of her mouth. She felt as if every worry, problem, sadness, and anger were pouring out of her as if she needed this moment.

     She felt as if this was where she was meant to be: in this place, in this moment, in Hemlock's fluffy arms. And for the first time in her life, she felt as if she would always, without a doubt, have someone that she could lean into and tell all her secrets to, and all of her feelings to, a dragon who would never betray her, even if his own life was at risk... and that dragon was Hemlock.