Conquest : A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

19. Assistance

Sandstorm kept looking back at where Maelstrom had disappeared. 

The water was smooth and dark blue, waves rippling across its surface. It looked very much like the surface of a gemstone. 'He'll be fine,' assured Falcon, noticing her anxious backward glances. 

Falcon had been a childhood friend of hers; they'd been in the same Winglet from the start. Falcon, Maelstrom, Mysticdream and herself were the only ones from the original Emerald Winglet. 

Blueberry, the previous RainWing, had left because he had a family emergency - his father had passed away. That was only last year, and she hadn't seen Blueberry since. Destiny had been their NightWing friend. 

She was friendly and sweet. But she left because she'd completed her studies - she'd joined school early and had been shifted to the Emerald Winglet. That was two years back, and Mysticdream had joined. 

Ivory was also a new student - the original IceWing of their group was a short, chubby, unusually easy-going dragon named Titanium. He left at the end of last year because his parents thought it would be better for him if he joined a private school in the Ice Kingdom. 

Sandstorm sighed, thinking of all her old friends.

 She'd seen Destiny more than once after Destiny left school - the NightWing had become a Diplomat and had come several times to the Sand Kingdom, where Sandstorm, accompanying her father, would catch glimpses of her and sometimes even talk to her. 

But she hadn't seen Titanium and Blueberry ever since they left. 

'Do you ever wonder about them?' asked Sandstorm suddenly, as they landed on the beach of the island which held the newly repaired Summer Palace, absolutely exhausted. 'What?' asked Falcon, startled out of his reverie. 

'Titanium. And Blueberry. I know Destiny became a Diplomat; I see her often.' 'I stayed in contact with Blueberry,' said Falcon slowly. 

'He's fine. He didn't come back to school because he was helping his family build their new house. His father passed away, but he's coping well.' 'That's good to hear,' said Sandstorm, stretching out on the soft sand. 

Cherry and Tide were relaxing too, stretching out their wings gingerly and easing the cramps in their muscles. Ivory was lying just in front of the sea, apparently enjoying the feel of the cool sparkling waves. 

'Do you think Queen Tsunami will be happy to see us?' asked Sandstorm lazily. 

Ivory frowned. 

'If we tell her we let her son go on a quest that has a ninety-five percent chance of either death or failure, she won't be happy. If we rephrase what I just said, we may leave the Sea Kingdom alive and not criminals.' 

Sandstorm glowered at the ice dragon. 'I know that much,' she snapped. 'We need a good cover story. Tsunami won't believe that we came all the way to her just to hand over two random miscreants we found along the way.' 

Falcon frowned. 'What's wrong with telling her the truth? After all, we do need some allies to back us up if there's a war.' 

Sandstorm narrowed her eyes. 'Perhaps. But if we tell her the truth, we'll have to tell her about Maelstrom. We can't just say he's with Moon and the others; she'll ask why he didn't want to meet her. If we tell her he's gone alone to look for the Runes of Fortune...' she trailed off, feeling annoyed at herself and at the rest of the world. 

Ivory peered at the waves and ran her talons through the surf. 'Maybe -' she began, but Sandstorm never got to hear what she wanted to say. 

At that moment, several SeaWing soldiers appeared out of nowhere.