The Sky Lands: Cursed

Chapter 9: Midnight

  She couldn't sleep. Even if she tried, there was no way to sleep. As the dim light of the lanterns gently illuminated the other dragons in the room, thoughts filled Amber's mind, echoing around. Fears danced and planets of reasons why she should be scared circled slowly, then quickly. 

  Every dragon had an inner clock. Amber knew midnight would be soon. The legends were wrong. It was the midnight of the first full moon after one's tenth birthday that would allow one to become Cursed. 

  Amber dreaded knowing. 

  Coral was fast asleep. But her tail was flicking back and forth. Faith slept with Hope, even though there was an extra bed. Opal slept in a tiny bed Tourmaline had bought in, like a dog bed. Amber was surprised her little sister was so peaceful in a dog bed.

  Amber remembered unpacking her things once more. She remembered how just earlier that day, she'd been looking at her single jewel box, that now lay next to her. She silently opened it. One piece of quartz. One piece of topaz. One piece of opal. One piece of amethyst. One piece of garnet. 

  Each held a piece of Amber. 

  The first four were obvious. Her siblings and mother. Then the last piece was for her father, Garnet. He said to hold it with her when she was scared. Amber was packing her stuff once more earlier and had left the box out. She needed it. 

  Her inner clock told her the time. It was so close! Why couldn't it have just happened already?!

  "Amber?" Borealis said, pushing himself up, Amber closed her eyes. Coral stirred beside her. Amber didn't hear her move again. Borealis spoke again. "Um, Amber. Your necklace is glowing."

  Amber bolted up, her eyes wide. She didn't have to look down to see the orange glow of her necklace. It was enough to wake the rest up. They stared in awe at the glittering jewel. It shone brighter than the lanterns had, filling the room and warming Amber. The light danced around as if teasing someone. Amber held up her necklace to the lanterns, and the light reflected off the glass.

  And then, the light died. 

  Tourmaline was down before the light died. She wrapped her giant wings around Amber and Amber felt a single teardrop fall onto her. 

  It'd happened so fast. One second she was lying in bed, the next everyone was awake, watching her every move. 

  "Try it?" Tourmaline whispered. She released Amber from her embrace. As she stepped back, Amber closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could. She imagined the same swirling white lines that had unfolded around her great-grandmother. Then she opened her eyes. 

  Nothing. 

  Absolutely nothing had changed. Amber even raised on wing to her eye to check. She held up her front talons. They were normal, and she only had dragon scales. 

  "It's alright, Amber," Tourmaline said, her calm voice soothing Amber. "No one gets it on their first try. I got it on my eighth!" She said with a laugh. 

  "No one gets anything right on the first try. Especially not dragons." Coral said, running her tail-tip along Amber's back. Amber nodded and closed her eyes once more. She focused as hard as she could, and finally, she opened them. 

  Amber could see more. She could see parts of the bed behind her. She could see her little sister tucked behind Tourmaline's leg. She felt lower, and she couldn't feel her front talons. Amber lifted a wing to her eye. No scales. 

  Feathers. There were feathers. Amber looked down. She was covered in feathers. Orange-red, glossy, and beautiful, even Faith stared in awe at her. 

  "You must have a phoenix name. In case someone asks. Mine is Wind Rider," Tourmaline said, the swirling white lines unfolding around her. Tourmaline- no, Wind Rider now stood in front of Amber and her friends.

  Amber closed her eyes once more and thought for a moment. "Sky Scorcher," She said slowly. Faith nodded. 

  "Alright, enough mooning about her. Go back, Amb- Sky Scorcher." Tourmaline said, returning to her dragon state. Amber did the same as she had to transform, and Opal shook and laughed as her older sister transformed back. 

  "You all need a plan to get out of here. Amber, what do you think?" Tourmaline asked. Amber thought quickly, and an idea popped into her head easily. 

  "Alright. Coral, can you enter your necklace with more than one dragon?" Amber asked. 

  "Yes, I can bring in up to nine others. There's like, an entire mountain in there! But I need to be in there, too." Coral said, nodding. 

  "Okay. Faith, Hope, and Opal, you are going to go inside Coral's necklace with her, so you don't get caught. Borealis, do you think you can transform into Coral?" In response to Amber's question, Borealis shifted and became a mirror image of Coral, without the necklace. "Okay, Coral and you three, get in the necklace."

  Coral held out a talon, and Faith raised her wing to touch it. She winced as Coral grabbed her wing, but held out her own talon for Hope, who slipped her wing into her older sister's claws. She reached out her talon, and, hugging Tourmaline, she grabbed Hope and Coral's talons with her front talons. All four of them touched their bags. Coral closed her eyes, and in a half-second, all four and the bags were gone and the coral necklace dropped to the floor. 

  Borealis-Coral slipped the necklace over his neck. Shimmerwings stepped over to Amber and said, "What about us?"

  "We're flying naturally. If you want, you can go invisible so it's less suspicious." Amber said. Shimmerwings nodded but her scales stayed the same.

  "Goodbye, Amber," Tourmaline said. "May you fly free, and be in peace."

  "Before I go, last night you said Hope was watching me. But she doesn't go to our school." Amber said. 

  Tourmaline's eyes twinkled. "There are more places than one to watch dragons."

 "Now, all you have to do is get out of the Sky Lands. Fly north. Then you must go to the Ice Lands-" A knock on the main door interrupted Tourmaline. "You three. You must go, now. In Amber's room, there is a secret passage. Pull down the lantern. Take it and run. As soon as you are far, the rest can come out. Go!"

  Amber didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed her bags, and with Shimmerwings and Borealis-Coral at her side, she raced up to her room. She shut the door silently as Tourmaline opened the door downstairs. She yanked on the lantern, and the rocks at the end of the bedroom began to fall sideways. The three of them ran, and on the inside of the long, winding tunnel ahead, there was a single lever. 

  Amber reached for it. But the voice downstairs stopped her. "They aren't here! Go to Ms. Bell's den. She's their favorite teacher." Tourmaline said. 

  May you fly free and in peace, Tourmaline, Amber thought as she yanked down the lever. Behind the three of them, the door rumbled slightly, and the stone wall returned to the way it was before. 

  "What do we do now?" Shimmerwings asked. Amber stared down the long tunnel. 

  "What Tourmaline wanted us to do," Amber said. "Run."

Sorry for the short chapter once again, but I hope you enjoyed it! It was a little too rushed for me, but I wanted to get this out nevertheless,  so I'm publishing it! Enjoy!

AQ: PhoenixHowell747 asked: How do dragons get Curse of the Skies? Is it random or genetic?
Ivy: Genetic, most of the time. It can be random though.