Wings of Fire: Possibility

Chapter 12

P I R A N H A

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The tribe hadn't even been at the new camp for a full day, but halfway through the trip Commander Orchid sent two dragons to see if anything had changed, and to see if Tetra was still tied up.

Piranha didn't know they tied her up until he had already left. They were very careful not to let him see her in that state, but one of the villagers was talking a little too loud about it, and Piranha's heart shattered into pieces. Why are they being so terrible to her?

Until Orchid found out what was going on at the other camp, Piranha wouldn't be able to leave the tribe's side, so he was stuck being miserable. Night tried to cheer him up by telling him about the different creatures and plants that the new camp would have, since she'd been on an expedition there before, but it didn't really help much.

They only flew for a few more hours until the Commander guided the group to a plains clearing, and ordered the cargo carriers to unpack and put up the tents. Everyone else was ordered to gather food, which was rehearsed beforehand, so no one would get poisoned.

Piranha begrudgingly picked large blueberries from a dry bush with Night, not saying a word as she babbled away about how delicious these berries were. Irritated, Night poked at him with her claw, but Piranha was too distracted by a dizzy looking dragon flying towards them. He narrowed his eyes and noticed it was one of the expedition dragons, Soldier Salamander.

He looked quite beaten up. His nose was bleeding and he had a black eye. He was covered in bruises and scratches, and he was bleeding quite badly from one ear. He landed in front of the two dragons, his terrified green scales showing brightly through all the blood.

"Three moons Salamander!" Night exclaimed, reaching for her saddlebag and pulling out first aid supplies. "What in Pantala happened to you? Where's Jamba?"

"The... Deepwings..." Salamander muttered. He looked like he was in shock. Piranha got under his wing, wincing from touching the fresh blood from his wounds. "Come on, the camp isn't far." he said, lifting him up to help him walk. Night got on his other side and the three dragons slowly made their way back to camp.

Commander Orchid was in the clearing, overseeing the tent construction, but was startled by a shriek coming from the entrance. She roared as she saw Salamander's horrid state, and rushed to the dragons to help lift him up.

Without saying anything except a grunt, two soldiers ran to replace Piranha and Night's positions and raced him to the new first aid tent. Piranha sat down on the ground, exhausted, though he couldn't clock out just yet.

"What happened?" Orchid snapped, making Piranha jump. Night stepped in front of him to let him rest. "Soldier Salamander flew up to us looking like that. We don't know where Jamba is. We think he's in shock."

Orchid growled at this, but nodded and dismissed the dragonets, and versed to the first aid tent. Night picked up Piranha and dragged him to one of the villager tents. Piranha collapsed on the cot, exhausted and distressed.

"Tetra warned us, and Orchid didn't listen." he mumbled and Night laid down next to him. "We have to get out of here."

Orchid let herself into their tent a few hours later, and Piranha woke with a start. The Commander hadn't ever looked that stressed out before.

"Soldier Salamander died from blood loss," she said, her voice strained with pain. "Shortly after he got into the cot he fell asleep, but we couldn't wake him back up."