Conquest : A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

18. Quests

Sandstorm and Maelstrom together headed towards their friends.

'How did it go?' asked Moon anxiously, looking straight at Maelstrom. He made a show of inspecting himself. 'All body parts in place, no symptoms of death, no broken heart - yeah, I think I handled it pretty great.'

She laughed and Sandstorm managed a small smile. 

Sunbeam hurriedly ran up to them. 'Maelstrom,' she said quickly, 'I think I have an idea for what to do with out friends here.' She jerked her snout in the Mutineers' direction. 

'When you head off to the Sea Kingdom,' she said, lowering her voice, 'you can take Falcon and Hyacinth with you. No - wait - listen!' she said quickly, when Maelstrom tried to interrupt. 'I know you want to go alone, but -'

'Then why can't I come?' asked Sandstorm indignantly. Sunbeam sighed and rolled her eyes. 'Wait! You can also take these two with you. When you're in the Sea Kingdom you can hand them over to Queen Tsunami. And then you can continue on your quest.'

'I can go instead of Hyacinth!' snapped Sandstorm. Sunbeam shrugged. 'Sure. It doesn't matter anyway.' Feeling a little bit better, Sandstorm stretched, looking up at the now dark-blue sky.

Her friends' eyes glowed in the darkness - blue, green, yellow. They were all watching her, waiting to see what she would do. Nudging Maelstrom, she said, 'We should sleep.' He nodded agreement and followed her.

Sandstorm and Maelstrom together headed to an open ledge. Their friends joined them, curling up and falling asleep. 

This time Ivory had volunteered to stay guard. Sandstorm tried to persuade her not to, but once Ivory made up her mind, it was very difficult to make her change it - almost impossible. 

'Do you think she'll be okay?' asked Maelstrom, staring at the lone ice-blue figure perched on a wide platform much higher than theirs. Sandstorm thought of Blizzard, and the note, and the hurt and anger Ivory must be feeling. 

'Yes. If only...' she paused, not knowing how to frame what she was going to say. 'If only some dragons wouldn't lie and be such backstabbing twits,' she said finally. 

Confused, Maelstrom looked at her, but she didn't explain. She only laid her snout on her front talons and closed her eyes. Maelstrom turned onto his back and his soft snoring a few moments later told her that he, too, had fallen asleep. 

She couldn't. 

She lay awake but with her eyes closed, thinking of the plan for tomorrow. She couldn't accept that she might lose Maelstrom. It was too much for her. Deciding she would figure out a way to tag on with him on his quest later, she slipped into unconsciousness. 

Moon's gentle talons roused her the next morning. 

Her mother whispered, 'It's not dawn yet, but you have to leave. Now.' Sandstorm blearily stretched and looked around. Falcon had relived Ivory of guard duty, and she was sleeping peacefully a few tail-lengths away from Sandstorm. 

He grinned at Sandstorm, an unusual gesture for a SkyWing, and then went back to scanning the horizon. 

Maelstrom was awake and pacing, his eyes focused on the ground. Worried, Sandstorm started towards him, but when he looked up, she saw his gaze was strangely calm and contained. He wasn't panicking, he wasn't afraid - he looked concentrated and resigned to his mission, even if it meant dying. 

'Maelstrom?' she asked softly, and he gave her his famous smirk. 'Missed me, didn't you?' he asked cockily, and she smacked him. 'No, quite the opposite, in fact. I couldn't sleep with all your snoring.' His smirk died away instantly and she smiled smugly.