Conquest : A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

13. Shadowbane

'I know where the Shadowbane is.' 

'What?' Sandstorm whirled around to face her mother. 'How do you know that?' 

'I saw it,' said Moon urgently. 'The Guardian showed it to me. On my first quest - the one to stop Darkstalker and Nightmare. Well, Nightmare disguised as the Guardian showed it to me, but I guess that still counts -' 

'Hold up,' breathed Hyacinth, 'you actually know the Guardian?' When Moon nodded, they all looked awed. 'So your enemy was masquerading the Guardian?' piped up Maelstrom, looking impressed. 

Moon nodded again. 

'That's how it works in detective scrolls, and mystery scrolls, too,' he said excitedly. 'Yeah, there always has to be a secret enemy agent in the good dragons' side,' added Falcon, a glint in his eye. 

Sandstorm sighed. 

The only stories Maelstrom absolutely loved were detective stories, and judging by Falcon's reaction, he loved them too. 

'Back to the point,' she interrupted. 'Who is the Guardian?' 'A RainWing - retired Talon of Peace - named Peach,' she said. 

'Cool!' exclaimed Maelstrom. 'The Guardian as an agent for an undercover society working for world peace? Awesome!' The two boys were looking extremely excited now that they knew they were going to be rubbing shoulders with spies - even retired ones. 

Moon smiled. 

'So, where is he now?' asked Ivory. 'Last time I saw him, he was living in an old Talons of Peace hideout under Hawk's Eye Mountain,' she said. 

Sandstorm thought that Maelstrom and Falcon would explode with excitement any time soon. 

'A spy base!' ejaculated Falcon, doing a sort of tap-dance. Maelstrom joined him, giggling like a one-year-old dragonet at a princess-themed party. 

'Just ignore everything the crazy detective-lovers are doing right now,' snapped Ivory, and Sandstorm smirked at her. 

'Don't worry, I've been ignoring them for three years.' 

'What are we still doing here?' shrieked Falcon, now dancing around a tree. 'Let's go!' 

'I guess we can't ignore that,' said Sunbeam, while Mysticdream had been overcome by a laughing fit, somehow amused by the spectacle of the crazy detective-lovers. 

'It's not that far away,' said Ivory, as they took off. 

Sandstorm nodded, before she was yanked off-balance by Maelstrom, who was hurtling through the air with speed unbeknownst to SeaWing-kind since the beginning of time. 

'Stop it!' she yelled at him, but he took no notice of her. 

'Do you even know where Hawk's Eye Mountain is?' asked Ivory coolly, raising her eyebrows. 

That finally stopped the two boys. 'Uh...' They exchanged the same stupid glances that usually meant, we've messed up again, haven't we? 

'Idiots,' muttered the IceWing, shoving them aside and taking the lead herself. 

Laughing, Sandstorm followed her. Maelstrom, pouting, fell into position beside her as Ivory scanned the landscape like a dutiful troop-leader.

Great. Now she was thinking like a crazy detective-lover too.

'Please stop that,' she told Maelstrom, who was whispering conspiratorially to Falcon, no doubt devising a super-secret, super-foolproof plan to not embarrass themselves in front of the Talon of Peace and join the retired agent's spy missions.