Conquest : A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

7. Winglet

Sandstorm blinked rapidly as Qibli squeezed her in a hug so tight she couldn't breathe. 

'Qibli - let - me - go!' she choked out. 'I was so worried!' Qibli's voice was relieved, strained and furious all at the same time. 'First Moon, then you - do you have any idea of how I felt?' Guiltily, Sandstorm slipped out of his embrace. 

Her eyes wouldn't meet his. 'I'm sorry,' she mumbled. 'But I wanted to do something.' 'Maelstrom told me about your fight,' Qibli said gently, putting his talons under her snout and tilting it upwards. 

Traitor. 

Sandstorm made to glare at her best friend, who was standing around twenty or thirty tail-lengths away, but then remembered that he wasn't talking to her. 

Too many fights, too many unspoken words, too much anger, and no apologies. 

She sighed, turning her eyes away from the forlorn dark blue figure standing with his head bent. Qibli noticed the action. 'Have you two quarrelled?' he asked softly, meeting Sandstorm's dark gaze evenly. 

She shrugged. 'Maybe.' 'You should make up with him, Sandstorm,' said Qibli seriously. 'You aren't yourself without him.' And then he hugged her again and walked away, leaving his daughter standing there looking after him in shock. 

You aren't yourself without him. 

Her gaze went back to the dark blue shape. His sister and brother had joined him. Iris's light blue eyes gleamed in the sunlight when she looked up and met Sandstorm's gaze. Sandstorm broke eye-contact first. 

Iris looked back at her younger brother and whispered soft words in his ears. Sandstorm desperately wished she could hear what Iris was saying, but she was too far away for her to even make out her snout movement. 

However, a moment later, Maelstrom looked up. Bright green eyes met bright dark eyes. Again, Sandstorm looked away first. Her sadness, loneliness and guilt weighed heavily on her heart and she turned her back to the three royal siblings, walking towards the school. 

She'd been away for what...a day and a half? Two days? Yet no one seemed to have taken note of her disappearance. Dragons seemed quiet and subdued, and hurried quickly through the corridors, fear barely concealed in their eyes. 

More than one anxious parent turned up to discharge their dragonet from the school, and the Heads of School looked tired, worn-out and anxiety-ridden. The only good thing was that Fox seemed to have kept her promise. 

As Sandstorm was being escorted back to school, she spotted a patrol of fifteen SkyWings heading off in the opposite direction, led by a very familiar lanky, rose-coloured grouchytail. She snorted despite herself. 

Grouchytail? 

She hadn't used that word since she was one. 

She sighed again. Trust Rosewood to sucker up to Fox and lead her quest patrol. He would definitely make her search living hell. Sandstorm pushed her way through a huddled trio of RainWings and resignedly trudged down to the History cave. 

She was the first one present. Apart from her, only Webs was there, muttering to himself as he shifted through the thick, dusty tomes on his shelves. He looked up when she approached. 'Hello, Sandstorm,' he said tiredly, and then went right back to organising his stuff. 

She didn't bother to reply and plunked herself down ia seat in the farthest corner of the class. That was her favourite seat and Maelstrom usually sat next to her. 

But this time, when he came in, he proceeded to the front of the class and sat there stiffly, not acknowledging her. The Silver Winglet walked in along with the rest of the Emerald Winglet. Iris sat next to her brother.