Wings of Fire • Dragon of Warriors [3]

Chapter Nineteen

Quickclaws hovered in spot for a moment, trying to process the information. Home is right here? What kind of luck is that?

     He resisted the urge to fly to the bay, no matter how drawn he felt to it. He needed to tell Speedscar so that they could be on their way. Maybe his mentor would get distracted by the new goal and let Lightningtail and the others stay.

     Quickclaws angled his wings into a 'V' to land back on the track. He ran the rest of the way back to the groove he had dug in the snow, at which point he wove his way through the path he had stomped through the trees. He slowed as he neared their temporary camp and caught sight of the sleeping dragons. Stepping over Darkwing's tail and Thunderclap's wing, Quickclaws eventually made it to Speedscar without disturbing any dragon. He gently shook Speedscar's shoulder, hoping his mentor wouldn't be too angry about waking him up.

     "Speedscar," he whispered, "Speedscar!" he hissed louder.

     "What," his mentor grumbled, opening a single eye. "Oh, it's you. Good morning. What was so important that you had to wake me up for it?" he replied sarcastically.

     "I know where the bay is," Quickclaws said.

     "We all know where the bay is," Speedscar said, this time actually grumpy. "Three points off northwest, about a league or so away."

     "More like a few dragonlengths! I went to find a quiet spot to train and I stumbled upon the apprentice track – the bay is right under our noses!" Quickclaws told him excitedly.

     "Why didn't you lead with that!?" Speedscar replied, rolling into an upright position immediately. "Then I would have known you were serious."

      "Hey-" Quickclaws protested, cut off by Speedscar pulling him in with his wings and rubbing his knuckles on his forehead.

     "I'm just messing with ya," his mentor growled playfully, eventually dropping him. They grinned at each other for a moment before Speedscar turned away and clapped his talons loudly. "Rise and shine!" he called. "It's time to head out! That includes you three," Speedscar said, pointing at Lightningtail – who was sitting up groggily – her brother, and Rainwind.

     "Yay for us," Lightningtail mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "Huh. I'm normally an early bird but this night must have been an exception... I'm so tired... morning, Quickclaws."

     "Morning. Maybe you just liked the company," Quickclaws teased, then his face went hot at Lightningtail's response of "Maybe."

     Morningcloud, Darkwing and Stormscale were up and awake the fastest, Thunderclap needing further coercing from Lightningtail. Eventually, everyone was ready and Speedscar nodded to Quickclaws to lead the way.

     He set off in the direction he had taken in the morning, making his way back to the gap in the trees. They emerged into the early morning sunlight, causing a deer that was crossing the track to startle and race away. Quickclaws' stomach rumbled at the sight, Speedscar laughing and patting his wing with a talon. Embarrassed, Quickclaws turned the attention back to his mentor.

     "So, I thought we could either fly from here or continue walking to keep the cover of the trees in case there are SkyWings there," he explained.

     "We'll walk," Speedscar confirmed and nodded to his left. "I see you already went that way."

     Quickclaws led them down the path, slowing down as they neared the end – or rather, the beginning – of the track. The woven arch of branches came into view, the cliffs of their home stretching out towards the sea. Quickclaws slowed down as they neared. He didn't want them to be seen immediately if anyone was here. After all, they had no clue if the bay was overrun by SkyWings or Windwhipper himself.