The Shifter of Planets (BOOK TWO OF THE SPACEWING PROPHECY)

Chapter 6

Tectonic looked around, shivering with fear. He was safe, outside the palace, near one of the rocky sentinels the king had made. 

But he knew what had attacked him. He looked around at his friends. 

"Guys," he tried to say, but found that no sound came from his mouth. He widened his eyes. 

Moonfire and star vomit, he thought. And by all the snakes... Why me? 

"He's awake," Pisces turned around. "Tectonic, are you okay?" 

"I'm fine, but we're in danger," he tried to say, but once again not a sound escaped his throat. 

"Moonfire and star vomit," Celestial cursed under her breath. "They got his voice." 

"Who's got his voice?" Streak asked. 

"The Mortem Draco, they call themselves. Highly trained guards of the palace. No one has seen them because of a powerful cloaking spell hey use. Only King Boulder has ever seen their true nature. When he dies, it will be his daughter's duty," Rose explained, speaking for almost the first time since they began flying. "And only PlanetWings and SunWings know about them." 

"But... how did they take his voice? Did they rip out his vocal chords? Shouldn't he be dead if that happened?" Twilight asked. 

"Magic," Pisces breathed. "Extremely powerful magic. More than any other wyrm has ever had in their lives. I don't even think they're of the tribes we know." 

"Probably right," Rose said. "They're speed, agility and cloaking powers are beyond any other. I was thinking perhaps they were SpaceWing in origin..."

"Hold on. Has Rose ever met Nebula?" Pisces asked suddenly. 

"Who is Nebula?" Rose asked, tilting her head. 

"How do you know about SpaceWings?" Orbit asked. "What have you been told?" 

"Um... they're just bedtime stories for young wyrmlings, really. Just that there was once an all-powerful race of wyrms called SpaceWings. They called themselves Space Gods, however. But they died out long ago... wait. Is Nebula a SpaceWing?" Rose's eyes widened as large as the moons. 

"Not a SpaceWing, the SpaceWing," Orbit said, grinning. "She's their queen." 

"And maybe she does know something about these Mortem Draco guys. We should call her, right?" Pisces looked slightly uncertain. 

"I think that would be best," Twilight agreed. "Pisces..?"

"Nebula!" she called. "Hey, Nebula! Come here for a second, will you?" 

"Uuk," Orbit cringed. "Super cringey. And no way to address a queen." 

Just then, a grey shape made an arc out of the sky and spiraled down to them. Her polished scales shone, but she didn't appear to be a SpaceWing. 

"Hey," she said, the color in her scales shifting and her posture changing slightly. "You called?" 

Rose's jaw dropped. Her facial expression changed from one of fear to awe. If her head got any bigger, it would be hitting the floor. 

"Your Majesty," she bowed. 

Nebula rolled her eyes with a playful grin. "Rise, you goofball," she smiled. 

Rose sat up. Now was the time for questions. 

"How did you do that? Like, I heard that technically SpaceWings could change their shape, but not that thoroughly. And do you - " Orbit stopped her with a tackle. 

"Hey!" Rose protested. "I was going to ask her about the Mortem Draco!" 

"Oops, sorry," Orbit got off her. "I thought you were going to ask more dumb questions." 

Nebula flung herself back as if she was hit by a boulder. How ironic. 

"Mortem Draco?" she asked, breathing heavily. The ground started shaking. 

"Are you okay?" Pisces asked, reaching out to out her hand on the young queen's shoulder. 

"I-I'm okay," she said, steadying the ground until the tremors stopped completely. "It's just that... but they were just myths..." 

"What??" Orbit pricked her ears up. 

"Legend has it that TimeWings disappeared, except for a highly trained group of assassins, called the Death Dragons. Over time the name gradually developed as young wyrms were born to these trained killers. Eventually they became their own tribe altogether. Really, they're still called DeathWings, but another name for them was Mortem Draco, which is Death Dragon in... some old language or something, general TimeWing weirdness. But we still fear the DeathWings, for they are the only creatures on this moon that could kill us. If King Boulder has them as attack guards, well, let's just say it won't end very well for us..." the queen drifted off, quaking in fear. 

"More moonfire and star vomit?" Celestial offered. 

"A lot more," Twilight replied.