Darkness Falls ~ Book 1 ~ A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

Chapter 5 ~ Lies

~~~Mirage~~~

Mirage huffed in annoyance.

"I can't believe I fell for that," she muttered, although she wasn't angry.

"I know, I can't either! But you did!" Leaf-cutter grinned at her, before motioning to the building. "Shall we go find the others?" 

"Sure," Mirage replied, following him into the darkness. It was times like these that she wished she'd inherited her mother's love for closed-in spaces, like libraries, instead of her father's natural claustrophobia. 

Leaf-cutter suddenly paused, and she almost ran into him. "What is it?" she whispered. "Do you sense someone?"

"Yes..." the other hybrid murmured. "But...they're not inside. I mean, I do sense dragons in the city, but...there are more, and they're flying outside. Right above us, in fact."

Mirage shrugged. "They're probably just the mentors."

"No, that's not it. They're too small. In fact, I think those are the mentors flying out to see them right now." Leaf-cutter shuddered. "Let's go see what's going on. I want to hear them, if possible."

The two of them left the building and stepped out into the open, causing Mirage to breathe a sigh of relief. But it only lasted a moment, before she realized wha t Leaf-cutter had been talking about.

Roughly ten dragons were flying in circles above them, their beating wings making the dusty ground rise up and form mini-tornadoes. 

"Who are they?" Mirage hissed, frowning. 

Leaf-cutter shrugged, his expression one of bemused suspicion. "I don't know. But look! There go the mentors!"

Sure enough, all twelve of their mentors were flying over to meet the newcomers. When the two groups met, a NightWing peeled away from the rest, and said something to the mentors, who in turn pointed at a patch of bare ground a few buildings down.

All twenty-two dragons swooped down to land on the patch, therefor taking them out of Mirage's line of sight. 

"Come on," she said to Leaf-cutter. "Let's go find out who they are."

"You want to go up and introduce yourself?" he asked incredulously. "Are you crazy? We don't even know who they are!"

"Well the mentors seem to trust them," Mirage replied, although she seemed less sure now.

"Let's just watch from a distance for now," Leaf-cutter suggested. "We can engage them later."

"Fine," she replied, bounding off towards the mysterious dragons. Leaf-cutter followed at a more cautious pace, ducking behind buildings even though they were still several blocks off.

When they did arrive at their destination, Mirage and Leaf-cutter hid behind a stack of empty wooden crates stacked in piles between two boxy buildings. 

"Is that...a HiveWing?" the SilkWing/HiveWing hybrid gasped. "But...she doesn't seem to be mind-controlled."

"Maybe she escaped, like you did," Mirage whispered back. "Now shush for a moment while I read their minds." She reached out with her consciousness and connected with the HiveWing. Instantly a loud, angry voice filled her head.

-a hidden city. Mother will never stand for this! Darkstalker is going to pay! A pleased feeling emanated from her, and Mirage felt confused. She seemed to dislike Darkstalker, but she also respected him a lot, in a way that made Mirage feel like she knew him somehow.

"I can't tell if they're on our side or not," Mirage reported quietly. "Give me a moment to try again." This time she latched onto the thoughts of the NightWing who seemed to be the leader.

It appears Father has more secrets than I give him credit for. But this is smart. Let them grow up secluded, with their trust in the wrong dragons...yes, I can see how this will help us.

Mirage shivered. Was the NightWing talking about them? Sure, they'd grown up in a secluded place, but surely the mentors weren't the wrong dragons to trust...right?

"I can hear them now," Leaf-cutter whispered, breaking her reverie. "They're talking about the structure of the village."

Sure, enough, the mentors were outlining were everything was. 

"Why are they doing this?" Mirage hissed back. "I'm not sure if I trust those newcomers."

"I don't either, and...oh no," Leaf-cutter began standing up, as if he were going to walk over to them, but Mirage pulled him back down.

"What is it?" she asked, worried.

"It's...Imperial, I think. He's heading this way."

"Oh no." Mirage twisted around, trying to catch a glimpse of him to no avail. "Wait...there he is!" She pointed at a lean shape that raced overhead on rapidly beating wings, causing dust to bellow upwards and make the duo hiding below start coughing.

When they finally recovered, she glanced upwards again just in time to see half of the mentors lift off to follow him, shouting angrily as they did.

"What is Imperial thinking?" Mirage wondered aloud, watching as the SilkWing and his pursuers became tiny black dots on the horizon.

"I think he was watching too, but he wasn't moving enough for me to detect him. I wonder what made him run off like that..." Leaf-cutter trailed off, muttering to himself.

"So sorry for the interference. We've never had such impudence amongst our protégés before," a voice apologized, and Mirage realized that the remaining mentors and the newcomers had moved closer, allowing her to hear them. "It will be dealt with shortly."

"Good to know. Now, our parents sent us here to view the border, and it appears this must be a part of it. Do you mind if we check out your prisoners?" The last words spoken by the lead NightWing jarred Mirage to her very core. What did she mean by prisoners?

"Did she just say what I think she did?" Leaf-cutter asked, his face a mask of worry. 

"Yes, she did. Apparently we...put our trust in the wrong dragons," Mirage replied, wincing.

"We have to tell the others!" he whispered, backing up.

"Okay."

A/N

What do you think? Did anyone expect that? If so, please comment. And don't worry, there are many more secrets to be revealed!