The Seer of Stars (BOOK ONE OF THE SPACEWING PROPHECY)

Chapter 6

Pisces woke up to sunlight and bright golden walls. Everything was golden. 

"W-what?" she rubbed her eyes, looking around in bewilderment. 

Then she remembered. A wave of the events of yesterday hit her like a tsunami. 

"Ah!" she yelped in surprise. "I wonder were my friends are..." she peeked outside her door. A palace guard stood watch. She quickly shut the door and went back into her room to think. 

Should I go outside and search for my friends or just wait for them to find me? she wondered. 

She opened the door again. The floor was made of marble, and golden footprints sat in it every tail length. There were gems and jewels of every color lining the golden walls, and it hurt to look at the scene too long. 

The guard by her door walked to her and began to follow her. 

"Where are you going?" he asked, his golden armor encrusted with jewels shining in the light of the gold and diamond chandeliers on the ceiling. Was everything here gold?

"To find my friends; of course," she smiled warily. "And also to find something to eat. I haven't eaten in days." she wondered if this guard had seen through her disguise. Did he know that she wasn't really a PlanetWing? 

"Your... friends," he echoed the word as if it was foreign to him. "Follow me," he lead her down the hallway to - oh my moons! - another door. She peeked inside, and there was Streak, pacing around inside. 

"What's your name?" Pisces asked her guard. 

He hesitated a moment. 

"You can tell me," Pisces smiled. 

"...Blaze," he replied uncertainly. "Nothing like the Pyrrhian legends," he promised quickly when he saw Pisces's shocked face. "I'm not stupid, but I'm not exactly beautiful, either." Pisces wasn't so sure about him not being beautiful, as he was well muscled and his armor was nearly as bright as his golden scales. But she didn't say anything.

Instead she said, "Well. Thanks, Blaze." She walked into the room to greet Streak, but she was sure that out of the corner of her eyes she saw Blaze break his emotionless guard face and smile, only for a split second. But then the smile was gone, and so was he. 

"Pisces!" Streak exclaimed, looking up from whatever she was doing. 

"You are Pisces, right?" she asked nervously. Pisces grinned and nodded. "Wow! The camouflage is so good!" 

"I know," Pisces smiled. "Tell me, do you know where Twilight, Orbit, Tectonic and Celestial are? I can't even seem to locate my own room again, let alone four other wyrms." 

"I heard them walk past with a guard. They were talking about getting something to eat. I'm not sure where Tectonic and Celestial are, though," she added quickly. 

"Well then," Pisces smiled. "I guess we're going to eat!" 

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They found another guard to take them to the dining hall, where about fifteen wyrms sat, eating food. Pisces's eyes instantly identified the white-and-brown PlanetWing and orange-tan SunWing who were eating a little bit more rabidly than the others. 

"There," Pisces pointed to them. 

"This paint is really high quality," Orbit commented. "It hasn't even begun to flake off yet." She looked around, blinked, then added, "Everything here is so bright. And shiny. I think I'm going to go blind. My eyes hurt."

"Mm-hm," Twilight agreed through a mouthful of cow. 

"Where are Celestial and Tectonic?" Streak asked. 

"I dunno," Orbit said at the same time Twilight said "Intensive Care." 

Pisces sighed and decided she would try some of the food. There was a whole buffet set up, and she was starving half to death. She grabbed a tray and piled it with pigs. They were spiced and roasted, and the best thing she ever had. Or maybe food just tasted batter when you're hungry. Or maybe it was a mix of both. Probably. 

Whatever it was, Pisces loved it, and when they set off to find Celestial and Tectonic, she grabbed a few more for the road. "Where's Urgent Care?" Orbit asked around the palace. So did Pisces. And Streak. And Twilight. Everyone answered like this: 

"Oh. You can't go there right now, didn't you know? Visiting hours are later in the day." But, finally, they found a guard who sighed and said "You really want to meet someone there,don't you? Down the hall, once to the right, the directly past the column and then a sharp left. You should find it there. It's hard to miss." 

"Thank you!" Streak cried, bounding down the hallway with Pisces in hot pursuit. They followed the guards instructions and found themselves in a hallway that appeared to be made of completely marble, instead of gold. It was a lot less of an eyesore, but the diamond lamps on the ceiling still bounced off all the white, and it was very bright in there. 

There was only one door, at the end of the hallway, and above it in big, gold letters - guess you aren't gonna get away from gold that easily - it read "URGENT CARE". Streak ran over to the door. 

"Be careful," Twilight warned. "Whoever's in there might not want visitors right now." Streak looked from him, to the door, then back to him, then to the door again, shrugged, and opened it. 

Inside there was a line of beds against each wall. Each one had an injured wyrm lying in it. On the farthest bed, there was a wyrm with the worst injuries of all; Pisces could see that now, with her next to all of these others. There was a doctor and a PlanetWing hovering over her, one with a look of concentration and determination, the other fear and worry. 

The wyrm lying on the bed was Celestial.