Always - Moonbli

3. Scrolls and Magic

Moonwatcher

Moon slunk around the back of the court, trying hard not to get noticed by Darkstalker, either in his mind or in his line of sight. He was too busy distributing his new spells among the NightWings, however, and she thankfully slipped past without getting flagged down. Moon hurried across the mouldy stone with a scroll in her claws. She crossed over to a dilapidated building and went in, furtively checking if anyone was inside. The building was some kind of hall. It was spacious, but of a basic design, with a single lengthy room, and decorated with a dirty chandelier and ripped, crumbled claw-woven tapestries. It seemed to be deserted, anyhow, so she pushed aside the fading tapestry of a haughty NightWing wearing a diamond crown and disappeared into the secret corridor behind.

Moon had discovered this only a day ago, when she leaned onto the tapestry and accidentally fell through. She had an aching head for hours after that. Her claws clattered on stone as she dragged herself through the cramped, musty tunnel. Her head almost touched the ceiling, but it was wide enough for two dragons to fit comfortably. Torches in inky-black scoces flickered on either side, heatless and forever-burning flames. Over everything was a fine layer of dust. Finally, she burst out onto a spacious balcony, hidden from prying eyes in a corner of the roof of the school. It overlooked the Great Diamond and it was her favourite spot in the entire Night Kingdom.

Previously Moon had dragged in cushions and rugs, and had cleaned up the place the best she could. Meaning she dusted all the cobwebs, flushed out all the insects and cleared away the moss and vines. And now it looked pretty good, considering that it was two thousand years old. She chose a fluffy black pillow and curled up on it, unrolling the scroll. It was heavy, long and faded, literally falling apart in her black claws. The title shone faintly in jet-black ink:

Animus Magic.

She read through half of it, gently handling the old, crumbling parchment. It was mostly about the most famous animus dragons that existed since the Scorching and what they did to help their tribe, or what they did to destruct it and it was the same scroll she'd read to Darkstalker just before she found out who he was. She had skimmed over the most part of it, but there was some that she had missed in her shock of finding out her magical mind-friend was the most dangerous dragon in the history of the world.

She paused at Darkstalker's section and quickly scanned through it until she focused on the part where Clearsight and Fathom betrayed him. Moon reasoned that if she could find the actual spell they used she could make it a bit more permanent with her winglet's help.

The true spell is unknown, but it is widely believed that Clearsight came to her senses when Darkstalker made his father disembowel himself in front of her and she fled the scene. Terrified, she seemed to have sought out Prince Fathom and begged him to help her. Already wary of Darkstalker because of the Royal SeaWing Massacre, Fathom immediately agreed and they formulated a spell. The spell seemed to have roughly been to enchant Darkstalker to sleep forever, but it had a flaw - it was confined to an object. If the object was ever broken, then Darsktalker would awake.

He did, Moon thought grimly. Well, this was no use. She continued reading. It was a whole load of blather about the other animi after Darkstalker, and she had just decided to give up when she heard a scream.

It was bloodcurling, ear-shattering and high-pitched, piercing through the night air. Moon jumped to her claws, the scroll forgotten and rolling away on the ground. She fled back into the corridor and burst out into the Great Diamond, breathless and terrified. A few months back, she would've curled up into a ball, with her talons over her ears, and hid. But now she had changed, and she wanted to investigate.

Darkstalker wasn't there.

She stopped to catch her breath, looking around. Where could he have gone? The other NightWings had looked up, startled, but now continued with their work, only stopping to shoot Moonwatcher a suspicious look. She whirled around, searching for any clue about where he had gone or where the scream came from.

Moon decided it had issued from the royal palace and flew there as quickly as she could. She had touched down outside the entrance when Darkstalker's voice roared, 'FATHOM!' A blaze of heat and flames blasted over her head and she ducked, shocked. Fathom? Moon peeked in to see a midnight-blue figure, almost black, quietly vanish in a swirl of stars. Moon caught bright green eyes and a kind snout, along with silver teardrop scales beside her eyes. Who -? Moon was utterly confused. What's going on?

Her eyes focused in the darkness. She caught little bits of light here and there, glinting off a pattern of silver stars on the ceiling. Soon the room came into clear sight. Moon saw blue-grey-pink scales, like the inside of a seashell, and pale, large blue eyes. It can't be, she thought uncertainly. The SeaWing princess was kicked out for doing a spell on me. How is she back here, and in front of Darkstalker himself? She puzzled over Anemone for a moment, before turning her attention to a black figure flopped over on the ground. Stonemover? she thought, with another jolt of surprise. Then she looked at Darkstalker, and her heart almost stopped.

Kinkajou was lying unconscious at his talons.

And Turtle shimmered into sight.

NO. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING. KINKAJOU DEAD, NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. Moon whipped around, stunned, as Anemone caught something brown and vanished. WHAT IS GOING ON?! She frantically backed away when Darsktalker glanced her way and she fled outside. When she managed to regain some composure, she slowly peered in.

Darkstalker was standing in front of his throne, wearing a cruel expression and a crown of twisted bones. He said something to Turtle she didn't process, and her poor friend nodded before hurriedly scribbling something on a slate. Why, she had no idea. Then Darkstalker magicked chains around his snout and floated him out of the room after making Stonemover disappear.

Moon checked if the coast was clear and hurried inside. Kinkajou, whispered her frantic mind. She ran to the RainWing's side and tested her pulse. Kinkajou was white as a sheet and shivering violently. Her moss-green eyes were closed and she was curled in the foetal position. To Moon's intense relief, she felt steady heartbeat. Kinkajou was alive.

A few moments later, she sat up groggily, lifting a talon to her forehead. A bit of colour shimmered into her scales and she opened her eyes. 'Moon?' 'I told you to be careful!' cried Moon, angry, happy and sad at the same time. 'Yes, well, this wasn't my fault. Oh no, there's a NightWing guard!' A second later, the blue and red colour that was on Kinkajou's scales vanished and she was gone.

Moon spun around. A tall, strong NightWing stood there, frowning. 'Oh, it's you,' she said disapprovingly, as if Moon was a disgusting piece of filth stuck between her claws. 'You better be careful, dragonet. One day, I'm going to catch you in your act. Come along before anyone thinks I've been hanging out with you.' The unfriendly NightWing swept out and Moon had no choice but follow her.

Halfway across the Great Diamond, Moon rushed back to her secret balcony. She grabbed the scroll and a random rug and dashed back out. Moon flew hurriedly to the dungeons just as Darkstalker was coming out. She slunk behind a wall so he wouldn't see her and then she crept out. A pair of keys were hanging on a sheath Darkstalker had around his waist.

Moon sidled up next to him, unnoticed. For some strange reason, he didn't seem to hear her mind. She reached out for the keys. Closer... closer... closer - 'Moon?'