Always - Moonbli

19. Disguises and Traps

Moonwatcher

Moon blinked at the collection of maps, notes and diagrams littering Cobalt's personal space. 

The former SeaWing guard looked up warily as she approached, and then relaxed, recognising Moon. She turned her attention back to a particularly complicated-looking chart in which a full representation of Hawk's Eye Mountain was neatly printed. 

In barely a day's time, Cobalt had collected and organised a veritable mine of information on Nightmare's weaknesses and on all of Hawk's Eye Mountain's hidden alcoves, secret bases and hidey-holes ever created. 

They were following a hunch Qibli found out during his interrogation of Eagle - Nightmare's unusual excursions on full-moon nights to the very mountain Cobalt was so closely scrutinising. 

After their escape from Nightmare's base, both Eagle and Cobalt were completely dedicated to the dragonets' cause, and had proved to be extremely valuable allies, knowing almost all of her secrets. 

Eagle, especially, had really warmed to the dragonets, after Nightfrost suggested that she go and rescue his brother. He was the first volunteer to go and release the real Peach from his magical trance. Turtle and Moon went with him. 

They had found Peach in a floating golden bubble a few feet off the ground, his scales a tranquil silver - quite different from the bright orange-pink they had been used to - and with no jewelry at all. 

Turtle managed to break the spell and the true Peach proved to be pleasant and kind, though a little inclined to be jumpy - who wouldn't be, if they were imprisoned by a two-thousand-year-old sociopath? He decided to temporarily shift to the same base Prince Fin had taken the other former prisoners to. 

Meanwhile, Cobalt had scouted around the base. She told them she had a shrewd idea that Nightmare would probably bring Darkstalker here, to Hawk's Eye Mountain, just to talk privately with him, for no dragon followed her when she came here alone. 

According to Cobalt, many believed she was raising an army of ghosts, and the rest who didn't believe in ghosts simply were too scared to try and sneak behind her in case they turned into one. 

That was convenient for the dragonets' plans. Moon had also found an old library in Peach's Talons hideout. She researched more on how the Jewel of Deception worked. The little diamond sat there, looking harmless. 

Deceptively harmless. 

To the rest of the dragon community, it looked like a potential source of gold - quite useless otherwise, and definitely not a dangerous weapon unless you planned to chuck it down someone's throat. 

But Moon and the others knew better. 

Apparently, according to Whatsit or Weapon: Unusually Deadly Devices in Dragon History (quite an unreliable source, but Moon was desperate), the Jewel of Deception only worked in the talons of a dragon brave and good, with a heart of gold and a strong, unshakeable desire to defeat his or her enemy for a righteous cause. 

In The Most Dangerous Foes of Pyrrhia's Past (more trustworthy and believable; Moon had seen quite a few scrolls used by the Dragonets of Destiny in Jade Mountain Academy written by the same author), it stated that the dragon who wished to use the Jewel on her opponent must place the Jewel on the mentioned dragon's forehead, right in the centre of the temples.

 The Jewel would then absorb the victim's soul and trap the dragon inside it for as long as the dragon who commanded the Jewel wished. After reading that, Moon kept her head as high and far away as possible from the little diamond.