Wings of Fire #1: Sahara's Destiny

Chapter 11

Who found us? Was it Pearl? Sahara fretted. The MudWing that had burst into the room collapsed onto the wooden floor. He had deep wounds all over his body that were dripping blood.

Ivy dragged him into another room hidden by two curtains while Salamander gazed out the hut, his face turning into a horrified expression. Sahara leaned to the side and saw dragons made of dark red and black smoke with pure yellow eyes attacking any dragon in sight. Some were SkyWings, SeaWings, and NightWings.

Then, she saw Pearl flying around, looking into buildings. Salamander closed the curtains by the entrance and hurried back to them. He whispered into Stargazer's ear and shuddered. Stargazer growled and flexed his talons. He glanced at Sahara and took in a deep breath. "Keep her out of sight." he told Salamander and Polar. "Since Pearl is after her we need to keep her hidden." Sahara stepped out of her moss bed and shook herself.

"I need to find Fennec." she said.

Sahara ran for the door, but Stargazer flared his wings, blocking her. "No." he said sternly. "You have to stay here. We'll check on her and tell you how she is." He, Ivy, and Sunbeam flew out and Sahara growled in frustration.

Fennec could be in danger too; she needed to go and find her. Polar and Salamander walked her to a hidden room underneath the hut's floor. The cellar was lit with torches and stone columns separated it into different tunnels. They walked down one of the tunnels and it led to a rounded - off dead end. A small campfire was lit in the middle and they sat around it. Sahara curled up and tucked her head in her wings. She was nervous. . . and she had every reason to be. Just seeing the look on the wounded MudWing's face made her shiver from nose to tail. Now she knew Pearl wasn't kidding when she said she'd kill her. Because, there she was, looking through every building, hoping to find Sahara. What's gonna happen if she does find me?

Suddenly, they heard banging and hissing coming from above them. They could hear dragons tearing things up as Pearl's voice screamed orders at them. Then, the trap door they had went through made a loud crashing noise, implying it hit the floor and soon they could hear claws scrapping the stone floor. Polar and Salamander exchanged glances and got up. They narrowed their eyes as Pearl walked in. Polar hissed and lashed her tail while Salamander growled and flexed his talons. Pearl gave them an unimpressed look and rolled her eyes.

"Always hissing and growling." she grimaced. "Can you ever really just come and attack me?"

Two smoke dragons appeared on both sides of Pearl and one was a SkyWing while the other was a SandWing. Both of them glared and hissed between their teeth.

"Now, now," Pearl waved a talon at the smoke dragons. "Don't attack them just yet. I want to talk to them." The dragons took a step back and nodded their heads.

Sahara lifted her head up to watch their exchange. They were never able to give her a direct answer, so she was curious if they'd tell Pearl the truth as well.

"What do you want?" Polar demanded.

"I wanna talk," Pearl replied. "That's all."

Salamander let out a small sigh and relaxed. The IceWing hissed, but she said nothing.

"So, I have a question for you." The SeaWing pointed towards Polar, which took her by surprise. "You. You were the one that made those shackles. You hated me the most. Why? What have I done to you personally?"

Polar lashed her tail and her once furious expression was replaced with a partially worried one. "Me, personally?" she said. "I didn't hate you, personally. We all came to an agreement. We all believed you were beyond the ability to help you."