Darkness Falls ~ Book 1 ~ A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

Chapter 6 ~ Anger

~~~Peregrine~~~

How dare they!

Peregrine smashed her tail onto the sandy ground, causing a mini-tornado to form on impact.

I knew my mother kept secrets from me, but I thought I'd discovered them all. The enraged SkyWing princess glanced around the formerly hidden village. Apparently I misjudged her. This doesn't bode well for my upheaval...but now I know one more secret, at least.

"I can't believe this," Peregrine hissed, lashing her tail.

"For once, I agree," Pantalus replied, her voice filled with fury. "I thought my mother trusted me."

"Look," Shadowhunter announced. "I know you guys are angry about this, but I'm sure our parents had their reasons. And don't worry, we'll confront them once we get back, but for now we'd better check this out. Then we can report back to them properly."

"Hmph," Pantalus grumped, but didn't reply.

Peregrine nodded hesitantly, and then glanced at the hybrid dragon that was leading them to where the hero dragonets were supposed to be. Their guide had introduced herself earlier as Freeze, an IceWing/NightWing hybrid. She hadn't said much more than that, but another of the dragonet guardians' had said that she was a former assassin employed by Darkstalker himself.

At least not everyone in this village is a bumbling idiot, she thought to herself, thinking back to the RainWing named Papaya that had been the first to meet them.

"I will take that as a compliment, I think," Freeze called, glancing over her shoulder with a look of cold amusement. 

Oh, Peregrine realized. She's a mind-reader. 

"Yes, I am. Most dragons don't notice, since my silver scales are hidden by my IceWing side."

Wincing internally, Peregrine didn't answer, and purposely didn't look at Shadowhunter, who was laughing quietly behind her.

"So how many dragonets are you watching? One, two, three?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Freeze paused for a second and shot her another amused glance. "They are around the same age as you, therefor there is no reason to address them as inferiors. And there are over fifteen of them."

"What?" Pantalus gasped. "How is it possible that fifteen dragons, plus you and the other mentors manage to live in a village as small as this?"

"Hah! I have to give Papaya some credit, he did not yet tell you about our underground area," Freeze chuckled.

"You have an underground area?" Scorch piped up. "That would explain it quite easily, then. I was wondering how so many of you, especially any IceWings you may have, survived in the desert heat. Do you have an underground well?"

"Well, not exactly. We have an underground river. " 

Scorch frowned. "How is that possible? To gain access to such a large source of fresh water, you'd have to e either living in an oasis, or..." he trailed off, and then his eyes lit up. "How deep is this underground area anyways?"

"Oh, around a thousand tail-lengths deep," Freeze replied casually, causing Scorch to skid to a halt as if he'd just plowed into an invisible wall.

"WHAT!" he exclaimed. "How is that dragonly possible? It must be the largest, underground structure in the world!"

"It was made by animus magic," the hybrid replied. "And yes, it probably is."

"Okay, I love how you both are having your nice little chat, but can we please move on to more important matters right now?" Shadowhunter asked impatiently. "As much as I feel we need to see all of this, I'd rather do it as quickly as possible."

Freeze nodded smartly, and pulled open a door for them to see into a sparse, beige-walled room with nothing occupying it save for a few duty cots.

"Where's the secret area?" Peregrine asked, searching for some kind of hidden doorway.

"It is not here, I just thought I should you the full tour first. So, here's the fake bedroom," the way Freeze said this made Peregrine think that she was annoyed with them and trying to get back by making them even more impatient.

"Look, you filthy hybrid, we don't have time for this. Take us to the hero descendants or I will cut your throat myself," Pantalus hissed, as blunt as ever. 

Under her breath, Freeze mutter something akin to "I'd like to see you try", but luckily, the angry HiveWing didn't hear. "Very well," she said, louder this time. "This way."

They passed several buildings on their way, and Peregrine couldn't help but marvel at how similar they looked. It must be easy to get lost in a place like this, she thought. Everything looks the same. Just like Darkstalker's palace. 

"Follow me, and please don't touch anything," Freeze ordered them, leading the way into a building identical to all the rest, although she still seemed to recognize what it was easily. The other followed, and Peregrine spotted Pantalus trail her claws against the wall, as if in defiance of Freeze's request.

"So where are they?" Peregrine asked, glancing around. This room looked like any other, with nothing but more dusty cots. 

Freeze muttered something to herself, before pushing on a section of the wall. Nothing happened for a long moment, and then suddenly that section of wall slid into the ground, so quickly that Peregrine almost thought it'd vanished.

"Hello!" Freeze suddenly shouted, startling them all. "Can everyone please come up now? We have visitors who would like to meet you!"

A silence followed her request, and they all waited for something to happen. Nothing did, and Freeze began to look worried. 

"There is always at least one of them in here during hide and seek," she murmured, her voice low. "Maybe they are just not answering."

"Are they normally this rebellious?" Pantalus inquired. "If so, I can go teach whoever is down there a lesson."

"I'll go with you," Panther offered mischievously, her scales rippling to match the surrounding area until she was invisible. A slight scraping sound could be heard as she made her way to the gaping hole, and Pantalus quickly followed, her tail curved upwards like that of a scorpion.

For a long time, nothing happened, and then they could hear the faint sound of a scuffle far below and a minute later, the two reamerged with a dark-blue SeaWing.

"Please don't hurt me!" he begged. "I don't know where the other went!"

Freeze rolled her eyes. "They are not talking about your silly hide and seek game."

"I'm not either! Leaf-cutter and Mirage came and told everyone that a bunch of dragons on Darkstalker's side had invaded the village, and they all went into hiding." He sniffed sadly for a moment, before continuing. "And they left me behind because I said we should wait first."

Peregrine leapt forwards and trapped onto his neck. "Tell me where they went!" she growled.

"I don't know!" the SeaWing replied. "They didn't tell me!"

"Liar!" Peregrine shouted. "TELL ME WHERE THEY WENT!"

"I really don't know!" he yelped, shivering uncontrollably beneath her claws.

She moved forwards to finish him off, but surprisingly, it was Pantalus who stopped her. 

"Don't," the HiveWing hissed. "He can still be useful."

"How?"

"Knock him out first, I don't want him hearing."

Peregrine stepped forwards and raised her tail menacingly, before bringing it down on the SeaWing's head with a loud crack. "Done."

Pantalus nodded approvingly, before her expression melted back into one of cool indifference. "Here's the plan..."