Wings of Fire • Dragon of Warriors [3]

Chapter Twenty

Part Three – Fairness

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Turns out the rest of the bay was deserted just like they had assumed it would be. Most caves were in a state of disarray but as far as Quickclaws could gather from the other's reports, the extent of the damage was minimal. It seemed as if the SkyWings got bored halfway through and decided it was a waste of their time to check every single cave.

     This meant that not all of the Inventory Hall was ransacked, not every home was ripped apart. Most importantly, however, most of the Infirmary's supplies were salvageable.

     Lightningtail, out of all of the dragons, was the most surprised that Murrefeather and Stratusstream had been left behind. Not because they were brave enough to do it, but because she knew Stratusstream. She had stared at the old dragon as she cackled with laughter. Even Brisktail had seemed shocked when they'd met in the Library. Quickclaws himself didn't recognize her and felt as if he was missing part of an inside joke.

     "Quickclaws! Bring this bundle over here and we can move them out to the front of the school!" Lightningtail shouted at him, disrupting his thoughts. Quickclaws looked up from his knot-tying and looked over his shoulder.

     He and his friends – plus Stratusstream – were packing up the contents of the Library. Lightningtail was standing at the exit with a bundle of scrolls balancing on her back, tied together with coarse strings and an elk hide wrapped around it all. She grinned at him and Quickclaws nodded, turning back to his pile and finishing the knots, wrapping it up and hoisting it onto his back.

     "Don't forget these," Stratusstream said, plopping another bundle of scrolls on his back. Quickclaws grunted with the extra weight but bunched his wings around the load so they wouldn't slip off.

     "Hey, go easy on him!" Lightningtail argued.

     "Nonsense, he's young and fit and it shouldn't be a problem. Now, scram!" the dragoness chirped light-heartedly, shooing them away. Thunderclap chuckled from across the room where he was loading fish into a net.

     Quickclaws smiled and hobbled over to Lightningtail. Balancing the stacks was hard. She rolled her eyes at Stratusstream but followed Quickclaws out of the Library and into the tunnel.

     "So," Quickclaws eventually asked when they were far enough away that their conversation couldn't be heard, "Who is Stratusstream?"

     "Some mysterious know-it-all who refuses to be helpful in any way," Lightningtail huffed. "She was the one who got some omen about my hatching and foretold I would save the tribe, or something. All that stuff that happened with the SeaWings, remember?"

      "Yeah," Quickclaws agreed, "Those were fun times. Say, do you know how Brisktail seems to know her?"

     Silence for a bit, then she nodded. "Maybe. Remember when Rainwind and I came to visit you, Brisktail, and Thunderclap in your room in the Infirmary?"

     "I do," Quickclaws said. He smiled to himself. Waking up to Lightningtail by his side was a warm memory.

     "Well, do you remember how she barged in, looked out the window and said some mysterious riddle about 'a dragon whose secrets are hard to keep'? That was Brisktail. The secret was that he was an animus."

     "... She was in the room?" Quickclaws asked.

     "What, you don't remember?" she said, clearly dumbfounded. Lightningtail stopped walking and stared at him.