The AR (Alternate Reality) of The Dragonets of Destiny, Book 1: The Dragonets Prophecy

By: Freezerburn The SkyWing
== Author's note ==
Just saying, this was the second story I've ever written, so please don't yell at me for my style of writing. I also wanted to say, this is basically my own version of the story of the dragonets of destiny's story. Me and my friends wanted to write something like this, and here it is. I will try and type up more when I can, but for now, this is what we've accomplished. On top of that note, there are some of our OC in this too, so not everyone will be canon characters. 
This story has been discontinued, and will be rewritten. 
== Prologue; Kestrel's POV ==
“You can’t take my egg, Scarlet!” I screamed.
“HAHAHA! Do you really think you can fight me, and win?” Queen Scarlet said smugly
I can’t let her get this egg. Who knows what she might do? The prophecy. It asks for an egg the color of the core of flames. If Scarlet gets her talons on this egg, this war could go on for a century!
I need to get out here, I thought
“What will it be, Kestrel? Your queen demands the egg. Or would you rather return to being my champion?!” Queen Scarlet yelled in fury.
“I choose or.” I said mockingly.
Smoke began to rise from Scarlet’s nostrils. I can’t just hand the egg over, the Talons need this egg.
But did it have to be mine? Well, I guess being a mother of a prophecy dragonet is better than being the champion of an arena for blood and death under the talons of the worst queen possible, I thought.
“Well Kestrel, I’m awaiting your response. Your egg will not go with you.” Queen Scarlet snarled.
“I refuse to follow orders from a queen that could care less about how her subjects feel! You only want to see me suffer and kill more dragons for your entertainment!” I yelled fiercely
Did I seriously just say that? That’s going to get me killed for sure, I thought
I started to back up. Although I knew it would only buy me a few more seconds before Scarlet does something brutal. Scarlet began to walk forward, snarling, with more smoke rising from her nostrils.
I need to get out of here, but can I make it to the cave in time and make sure Scarlet doesn't know where we are hiding? I thought with a twinge of fear
Then, I decided to run. I turned around and started to run. The egg, in the palm of my front talons. I knew I wouldn’t be able to fly at full speed or run for that matter with a dragon egg in my talons.
I hope the other guardians are having a better time with gathering these prophecy eggs, I thought as I ran
I felt it. I felt Queen Scarlet’s talons slash dangerously close to my tail. Then, I felt a burning pain go across my back talons and tail. Scarlet had blown a burst of flames at me. I fell but made sure the egg was safe.
Running won’t get me away from her. I need to try to fend her off, I thought with a stab of fear that the egg might get crushed
“Alright then Queen Scarlet. You want me that badly, huh?” I said pushing back the fear of dying
“It’s about time you decided. What do you think you can do? For one, you have an egg with you. Do you really think you can beat me?” Queen Scarlet laughed
“I don’t care if I win or not!” I yelled
As long as I can buy some time to get out of here, I thought arching my eyebrows
“This is going to be oh so thrilling.” Queen Scarlet said smugly
Queen Scarlet darted at me with surprising speed. I jumped to the side but not fast enough. She slashed one of my wings. I yelped with pain, landing hard on my talons as blood began to pour out of my newly formed wound.
I have to run. I need to run. I can’t win, I thought terrified
Queen Scarlet jumped at me again. This time, I reacted differently. As much as I hated fighting, I had to do something. I ducked and slashed at the SkyWing Queen’s underbelly. Her blood splattered on me. Queen Scarlet yelped with pain and slide into a rock. I tried to stand up and make a run, but I wasn’t fast enough.
Queen Scarlet got up faster than I had expected. She darted at me again, miss my heart, but got one of my eyes. Her talons slashed through my eyelid and I felt it skim my eye. The pain felt like a spear made of IceWing claws. Blood was fountaining out of my eye. I clutch my eye, trying to keep the blood from pouring out. My vision was starting to get blurry. I didn’t know how much my vision would be affected by this. Despite the pain, I took matters into my own talons. I grabbed Queen Scarlet's talons and kicked her hard in the underbelly. As she flew into a few other SkyWings, I turned around, and flew away. As much as my wing hurt I knew I had to escape.
“I WILL KILL YOU, KESTREL!!! AND YOU’D BETTER REMEMBER IT!!!” I heard Queen Scarlet scream
I pushed back the temptation to yell back, but I decided to keep my breath for flying. I eventually made it to the cave. I saw Webs waiting at the entrance. I almost fell out of the sky, but luckily my front talons weren't burned by Scarlet, so I landed without crashing. I gave the egg to Webs whom had an expression of pure terror and distress. My talons couldn't support my weight and I fell, breathing heavily. Webs looked at me, then left to put the egg with the others.
Hvitur returned with the RainWing egg, looked at me and yelp with terror. Asha came in at the speed of a SkyWing flying at full speed, curious of why he screamed.
“THREE MOONS!!! Dune! Come here right now!” Asha called loudly
Ow…. I wish you hadn’t yelled Asha, I thought with pain
Dune came rushing in, and yelped with fear. I stood up the best I could. Then, I looked at my talons and realized that it was covered in my own blood. Dune ran over to me and helped me get into our sleeping cave. He had put one of his wings on me, so then there would be less weight on my talons.
“Kestrel….. What… Happened?” he asked
“Scarlet happened.” I explained, “I was being foolish. I shouldn’t have tried to fight her. But I knew I had to do something. I couldn’t let her see me as a coward. Or else she would've done something worse. Then again, she would’ve tried to kill me anyways after disobeying her orders.”
“I….I wish I was there for you. So then, you wouldn’t have to fight her alone.” Dune said guiltily
Hmmm. Quite strange…. He usually isn’t like this…. Ah right…. I know why he reacted like this. I hate doing it but, I remember reading his mind along with all the other guardians.  Webs and Dune….. Seem to have a crush on me. I hope I can act normal enough to get around that, I thought
We entered the cave and he signaled me to lie down. So I did and winced at the pain of my scorched back talons. He inspected my wounds, and he ran one of his front talons gently on my scorched back talons. I winced and he seemed to notice and stopped. Then, he looked at my wing and my eye. Blood was still coming out of my eye, and that seemed to concern Dune.
Dune. His expression….. He’s… Concerned…. I’m not surprised, I thought
Asha then came in along with Webs and Hvitur. They walked over to me, but I couldn’t tell if they’d come in, until they came closer to me.
Wow… And SkyWings are supposed to have great eyesight. Some SkyWing I am, I thought then laughed at my own joke
“What happened?” Webs asked
Dune stood up and walked up to Webs.
“Come with me. We’ll watch the eggs and I’ll tell you about what happened to her.” Dune said bitterly
Webs looked surprised, but followed Dune into the dragonets’ hatching room anyway. That’s when Hvitur and Asha came up to me.
“It’s alright. We’ll tend your wounds.” Hvitur said reassuringly
“You’ll feel better. Once we tend your wounds, you’ll be able to fight again.” Asha said, “Oh whoops! I’m sorry!”
“It’s ok. I know it’s hard to remember that I don’t like fighting when Pyrrhia’s been at war for 18 years now.” I said friendly
“Right! We need to await the dragonets’ to hatch!” Hvitur said with a lot of courage
“And then they will stop the war! As well as stop the fighting and killing” Asha said sincerely
“Of course. Speaking of which, has the NightWing egg been delivered yet?” I asked with curiosity
“No not ye-” Asha said
“The NightWing egg? Ah yes, it’s right here.”  interrupted a dark voice
We all turned our heads and saw a large NightWing standing at the doorway of the cave.
“Morrowseer…..” I said in a voice of pure ice
“Ah. So you know me. Here’s your NightWing egg. Although I feel the NightWings should take care of him, but I guess the others didn’t agree.” Morrowseer said with a sigh
Pompous-worm faced blob of turd, I thought coldly
“Ah, yes. You don’t want us to “corrupt” your superiorness, correct?” I said smugly
“Hey!” Morrowseer said spreading his wings,“We NightWings are very powerful. You shouldn’t mess with us.”
“Oh sure!” I said rolling my eyes, “Then tell me, NightWing. What am I thinking about?!”
“You shut your snout SkyWing!” Morrowseer said agitated
“What happened, Morrowseer? Did I strike a nerve?” I said smugly, “Are you afraid? The all-powerful NightWings, fearful of a few comebacks?”
Morrowseer looked at me. He looked very mad. I kept my position. I was not going to let him get the best of me.
Maybe I should read his mind. He doesn’t know that I’m born with NightWing abilities. I was born with what Scarlet would call a “curse” to be able to read minds. I wish Mother was still alive…….. She killed them when I was only 2 months old. I though with a stab of sadness, Then I was left with my sister. My sister….
“You know, if you NightWings are so powerful, why is it that you hide from the problem instead of facing it? Is it because your tribe is afraid? Or is it something else?” I said mockingly
“I’ll deal with you later SkyWing. You’d better remember me.” Morrowseer growled spreading his wings again, “You’ll learn to fear and bow down to us.”
Morrowseer turned around and left the room, muttering something under his breath. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to read his mind for a few seconds.
Stupid SkyWing. Why does she not understand our power and superiority! She had better be different the next time we meet, Morrowseer’s thoughts rang
Urh…. That does not feel good. Stupid NightWing. “Oh, I’m a NightWing. You must fear me and bow down at my talons!” We’ll see about that NightWing. You don’t know what I’m capable of, I thought angrily
I opened my mouth slightly and used my tongue to feel the two fangs folded at the roof of my mouth.
You’ll see someday Morrowseer, I thought arching my eyebrows
“Are you feeling alright, Kestrel?” Asha asked
“I’m fine. I just can’t stand NightWings.” I growled
“Ok we were just wondering.” Hvitur said with a relieved sigh
I looked up at the ceiling of the cave. Then, met Asha’s eyes.
“Thank you for helping me.” I said smiling
“I was just doing what I felt was right.” Asha responded, returning the smile
Hvitur walked to the entranced and looked out. He looked left, right and up. Then, he returned to room and walked to my left side.
“Yeah, I don’t like NightWings either. They’re just so… Oh I’m so much better than you. I hate it.” Hvitur said arching his eyebrows
I couldn’t help but giggle at his way of mocking the NightWings. He seemed to have noticed and smiled. I smiled back at him. I had a thought, what was it Morrowseer wanted to do to me when he came back? Does he want to fight me? Or does he want to harm to dragonets? Whatever he wants to do, I won’t let him harm the dragonets. Even if it costs me my life.
“I can’t wait until this war is over.” Hvitur said, “I will never return to the Ice Kingdom though. It’s not the best place to live in.  They’re not enough-”
“Dragons like us?” Asha filled in
“Yes. It’s like you read my mind. Even if I could reclaim my spot in the first circle.” Hvitur replied with a smile
“These dragonets will stop the war. The fighting will hopefully stop, and there’s no way I’m going back to Sky Kingdom. I like it here with the Talons of Peace.” I said cheerfully
“So we wait. We wait for the dragonets to hatch.” Asha said with courage
“Right. I guess I’m on battle training, huh?” I asked
“Sorry ‘bout that. We know you don’t like it but-” Hvitur said
“It’s alright.” I interrupted before he went into detail
I really don’t want to go genocidal. I don’t want to accidentally kill you guys, I thought guiltily
“Hopefully the training I give them will go well. What I’m afraid of is, what if Scarlet finds us?” I asked feeling a twinge of fear
“Then we’ll move caves.” Asha said reassuringly
“I hope.” I said
I hope that she doesn’t find us. If she does, we’ll have to run away with the dragonets. Focus Kestrel! We need them. Protect them, that’s all that matters now, I thought
=== 2 years later ===
Hvitur's POV
“Oh moons. Tsunami! There’s some fish for everyone.” I said trying not to sound mad, “You need to share with the other dragonets.”
“Alright!” Tsunami yelled
Oh three moons….. How did this happen? They’re only two. This is going to go really well, I though with a sigh, I wonder how Kestrel’s doing.
“Um, Hvitur? a small voice asked
I looked down and saw that it was Sunny. She was the youngest out of the group. She is their LittleWings and the most agile. She is able to  slip away from attacks because of her small size. She is also quite strange looking as well whom we try not to mention.
“Yes Sunny?” I said
“Why is Kestrel different? Like she’s not as rough at night.” Sunny said, her talons shaking
Oh moons…. I knew one of them would notice eventually. Should I tell her? I thought fearfully
“Uh…. Just uh…. Um... Come with me Sunny…”  I said hesitantly
“Uh…. Ok Hvitur….” Sunny said still shaking
I took Sunny with me into our sleeping room. I saw Kestrel lying down on a rock. Her head was resting on her front talons, and her eyes were closed. When we came in, she opened her eyes, revealing her blood red eye. Then, she turned her head, and looked at Sunny, then met my eyes. She beckoned us to come in.
“So is it time already?” Kestrel asked as we walked over to her
“Well not exactly. Sunny was curious and well I guess, we could tell her.” I said nervously
“I guess we could tell her. Sunny, I need you to not tell anyone this, ok.” Kestrel said, looking Sunny in the eyes
“Ok. I swear I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” Sunny said sitting up straight looking trustworthy
“Ok. I am under mind control by a dragon named Morrowseer. He barged in one night, and me and the other Guardians tried to fend him off, but we failed. Morrowseer grabbed me, and put clamps on my snout and talons. Then he did something, and before I knew it, I was under his control the next morning. But during the night, I'm myself. Normal, and not under his control.” Kestrel explained, “But I’m also an animus,” She hesitated then added, “And so is Peril.”
“Woah. You… You mean…..” Sunny stammered
“Yes Sunny. Don’t worry, I won’t go crazy, and I’ll tell Peril tomorrow, in private. But, I’m ok.” Kestrel said smiling
“Ok. Thanks for telling me Kestrel.” Sunny said feeling a bit more confident
“Basically Kestrel is different from us, but not to much. Just remember not to tell anyone, ok?” I said trying not to sound mad
“I wouldn’t dare tell anyone.” Sunny said sounding very confident
I looked at Sunny, then at Kestrel. I gave her a look that meant “what about the other different part of you?” She looked at me with a surprised expression. Sunny looked very confused.
Oh moons. I should have talked this out before, I thought feeling stupid
“Hvitur, why does Kestrel look surprised?” Sunny said confused
Oh, what is wrong with you Hvitur? I thought
“Um…. Uh...... I…… Uh…..” I stammered
“It’s alright Hvitur.” Kestrel said
I looked at her and realized she had one of her front talons on my back. I looked up and met her eyes. The look she was giving me. The look that said “it’s alright you can tell her.” I opened and closed my mouth, not knowing what to say.
“I….Uh….” I stammered still to surprised by what is happening
“Shh.” Kestrel said putting one talon in front of my snout, “It’s alright. It’s alright. I’m right here, just calm down.”
My brain didn’t know how to process this. Her talons, warmer than a regular SkyWing, but not hot enough to burn. My heart was pounding so hard, I felt like it would beat out of my chest. I looked at Sunny, and Kestrel lowered her talon, and I felt her talon lift off of my back.
I wouldn’t have mind if you kept your talon on me, I thought
“Sunny, you know how Peril is constantly on fire?” I asked
“Yes, I do, but what does that have to do with Kestrel?” Sunny asked jumping over her words as she put the pieces together.
“Yes Sunny. I was born with a little too much fire. My scales only light on fire when in extreme pain, so I can’t control it. My sister was fine, just her fire wasn’t as powerful.” Kestrel said tripping over the words my sister
“Oh…. That is interesting." Sunny responded, scratching her ear
Kestrel nodded, fiddling with the necklace around her neck. Her necklace was a pendant. In the centre, was opal encased in gold, with a silver chain.
“Has Kestrel enchanted anything?” Sunny asked
Kestrel smiled.
“She has.” I said, then saw Sunny horrified expression, “Don’t worry. They were small enchantments.”
“Ok, I was just kinda scared that she might go……” Sunny said
“Crazy?” Kestrel filled in
I hit Kestrel lightly with one wing. She looked at me, then smiled. I felt as though my smile may have looked a bit goofy, but I didn’t try to fix it.
“So, Sunny please remember not to tell anyone, ok?” I said sounding serious
“Ok Hvitur, I promise.” Sunny said
Sunny left the room. Leaving me alone with Kestrel. Asha, Webs and Dune were in the other cave, taking care of the dragonets. I looked at Kestrel, whom hasn’t let go of her necklace.
“I know you miss her.” I said putting one wing on her
“She gave this to me as her parting gift. Why did she give herself in? She saved me from Scarlet. She was only 4 and I was 3. She gave herself in.” Kestrel said sadly. “We were orphans because Scarlat had brutally murdered our mother right in front of us. We only had each other, since our father had tried to murder us, ultimately forcing mother to kill him.”
She looked up and then, met my eyes and smiled. I smiled back, but knew it must have looked strange. That’s when we felt the floor rumbling. Kestrel smile slowly faded into a face of pure anger.
“Quickly! Go out and help the others out!” Kestrel yelled, “It’s Scarlet. She found us.”
I left immediately, and I heard her slowly get up. Her back talons were horribly burned by Scarlet before, so now, she moves a little bit more slowly. Even with that defect, she’s still able to fight well. She just can’t put a lot pressure on her back talons.
When I exited the cave, I got a face full of flames. I fell back, rubbing my singed snout. I was blinking back the pain. Then, I saw Kestrel dart out of the cave and seize a SkyWing by his neck. Then threw him to the ground.
“Asha! Get the dragonets out of here! Webs! Make sure the dragonets get out safely! Dune! Make sure every dragonet gets out!” Kestrel yelled
Asha immediately started gathering the dragonets. Webs got ready to fight and Dune tackled a SkyWing that was about to pounce on Kestrel.
“Thanks Dune!” Kestrel thanked
Dune smiled awkwardly. Kestrel slammed an orange SkyWing into the wall. I stood up and walked out the doorway. A blood red SkyWing jumped at me and I slashed across his chest and he jumped back yelping in pain. He looked at me frowning with all his teeth. Then he put on a burst of speed and jumped at me with his talons outstretched, smoke fuming from his mouth.
I thought it was the end until, Kestrel crashed into the SkyWing and he barreled into another one behind him. She looked at me panting. I noticed that she was bleeding from neck. A long slash went across the right side of her neck. She looked at me and gave me a toothy smile.
Then the same blood red SkyWing tackled Kestrel to the ground. He jumped toward her pinning her down with his front talons. Without thinking, I called up the freezing death breath and blew it into the SkyWings face. I miss his face but got under his wing. He screamed with pain and I grabbed his shoulders and smashed him through a wall.
I pushed him into the other room. I looked behind me and realized that Kestrel had gotten up.
“Thank you, Hvitur.” Kestrel said still panting
“Your welcome, Kestrel.” I responded
Kestrel walked up to me brushed my wing, looked at me in the eyes, then left to the room with the dragonets. I was frozen(get it?) for a few seconds. I snapped back into consciousness, and followed her.
“Are the dragonets all set to leave?” Kestrel asked
“Yes, Kestrel. They are ready to go.” Webs said
Kestrel nodded. Then, we heard a thump. I recognized the sound. It was the sound of a large dragon landing. I looked back and realized that it wasn’t just any dragon. It was Queen Scarlet of The SkyWings. I noticed that Kestrel had a face of pure rage and anger. She was growling and her eye was glowing  a blue similar to Peril’s eyes.
“Webs, Asha, get the dragonets out of here. Dune, go get a head start on going to our new cave.”Kestrel said without looking at them, “Hvitur, stay and make sure that every dragonet gets out of here.”
“Are you sure?” I asked feeling worried
“Yes. I’ll hold her off. You help them.” Kestrel said
Then she darted forward in Scarlet’s direction. All I heard afterwards were screams of pain and yelling of vicious words. I followed what Kestrel had told me and made sure each dragonet made it through the secret escape tunnel.
“Hvitur? Where’s my mother?” a voice asked me
“Huh?” I looked down and saw Peril, “She’ll be back. Just go in the tunnel and get ready to fly. We’re moving caves.”
“Ok. I’ll tell them. I’ll tell the rest of the dragonets.” Peril said
Then, she advanced onwards in the tunnel. I waited a few minutes, waiting to see if Kestrel would come, but when she didn’t, I went in the tunnel myself. I exited and got ready to fly right away. Webs, Asha, and the dragonets were already flying. They were hovering in the air. Dune was on the ground and got a running(get it?) head start.
“Where’s Kestrel?” Webs asked
“She’s holding off the SkyWings to let us escape. We need to go now, alright?” I said sounding very leader like
“Ok. Come one now everyone! You heard Hvitur! Follow us, everyone!” Webs said beginning to fly in the direction of the backup cave. Each dragonet began to follow him, along with Asha whom wasn’t to far behind.
“Wait! Where’s Fang?!” Peril screamed stopping to hover, “Fang! Fang!! FANG!!!”
Oh moons, I thought feeling guilty for not being able to check if each dragonet was accounted for
“It’s ok, Peril. Kestrel will protect her. Your Mother will protect your sister.” I said reassuringly
“Urr. Ok. I hope-” Peril said
“Uh… Peril? Are you coming?” asked a small MudWing flying up to us
It was Clay, who was the first hatched dragonet. So then, he is their BigWings and will protect them with the best of his abilities. Also, according to Kestrel and her few visits in Clay’s mind, he seems to have a large crush on Peril. No wonder he cares so much more about her.
“Huh? Oh. Yeah. I’m coming.” Peril said
Clay began to fly looking behind him to make sure Peril was following him. She hesitated then, followed him. How adorable. He cares so much about her. I wonder if she returns the love. If she does, she sure does know how to hide it.
I hope I’m right. I hope Kestrel can protect her. I would hate to see Peril sad. Sad not just from the lost of her sister, but from the potentially lose of her mother, I thought feeling very scared about what might happen to Kestrel  
I waited for everyone to leave. Then, waited to see if Kestrel would come back, but she didn’t, so I followed the others. We flew in the opposite direction to try and fool them into thinking our new cave was over in this direction. We turned around and flew right into the entrance of our new cave.
Dune was already there with a rock there to use as a door. We came in and I risked a look behind us, but I saw no one behind me. So we were fine. For now. Dune began to roll the rock into place but I put one of my front talons on his shoulder.
“Wait a minute, Dune. Let’s just leave the cave open for a few days.” I said kindly, “Just so then if Kestrel comes back, she can come in.”
“Alright then, Hvitur. I’ll leave it open. Just so then she can come in.” Dune said with a sigh with hints of fire in it
I nodded, and Dune left. I looked out the entrance of the cave. All I saw was fire, and fleeing SkyWings. I was starting to get worried. Our new cave was on a higher level(get it?). It was far enough so then Scarlet wouldn’t be able to see us enter, but close enough to still be able to see the old cave.
I hope she’s alright. I hope she doesn’t get too badly injured, I thought with an extreme amount of fear, But more importantly, I hope she doesn’t die.
=== Few weeks later ===
Peril's POV
Oh come on! It’s been weeks! She has yet to come home! I thought enraged and sad
It’s been weeks since we moved caves. I feel horrible! I did nothing to make sure my sister made it through with us. Not only that, but I don’t know if my mother is alive or not. I’ve been sitting at the cave entrance since we moved caves. Clay would come and wait with me. He would put one wing on me since he was the only one who could touch me.
“I know you miss her, Peril” a voice said from behind me
Who is it? I wonder. It doesn’t sound like any of the other dragonets. Maybe it’s one of the other guardians, I thought wonderingly
I turned my head and realized that it was one of the guardians. It was Asha. She was checking on me just as much as Clay.
“Yeah. I guess. I do miss her a lot. Do you think she’s still alive?” I said frowning “I mean, we haven’t seen her in weeks, and neither have any of us seen my sister either.”
“It’s alright Peril. She’ll come back, and with your sister too.” Asha said smiling
I smiled back, but my smiled slowly faded as the sun began to set. I liked the feeling of the sun on my scales. My frowned slowly intensified when I didn’t see the shape of an adult SkyWing and a young SkyWing dragonet not pop up on the horizon.
“Peril.” Asha said looking at me in the eyes, “I know you’re sad but, the sun has set and the moons are rising. I think you should get to bed, ok?”
“Alright, Asha. I’ll head to bed.” I said sighing
I walked to the sleeping cave and met the other dragonets. Clay came to me first. Sunny looked at me then at Starflight, whom was gnawing on a bone. Tsunami was glaring at me and I tried to make myself as small as possible.
Clay noticed and glared at Tsunami. She stopped glaring and just looked mad. Glory was sleeping, her breathing was smooth and even. She was definitely in deep sleep. Clay beckoned me into the cave, and presented me a small spot near the fire. Close enough to feel similar to the sun.
“Here Peril. I saved this spot for you.” Clay said
“Thanks Clay. I really appreciate it.” I said smiling at him
He smiled while blushing. I lied down on the spot he saved me. It was warm. Warm just like my mother’s wings. Me and my sister would sleep under our mother’s wing, because our scales would just counter each other.
Clay set himself down next to me. He lay down, and nudged me with his snout. Then, he set his head down on his front talons, and began to fall asleep. I did the same. I looked into the fire for a few minutes, until my eyelids just couldn’t stay open any longer. My eyes closed and I eventually went into deep sleep.
Kestrel’s POV (For this small bit)
“Urh…. Almost…. There….” I muttered under my breath
Scarlet beat me pretty badly. I was holding my neck tightly. Scarlet had slashed my throat, and I had to hold it shut to keep the blood in. There it was! The new cave. I see the entrance. I’m losing strength. I can’t keep flying, but I need to make it there. I feel so guilty. I let Scarlet take her. What did I do to give Scarlet the chance to take Fang?
Oh no. My strength is fading. I’m going to Uhhh.
 Everything was fading into darkness. I felt the pain of my scales scraping against the hard stone floor. I saw the distant fire in the dragonets room. Then, all went dark.
Peril’s POV
The next day, I woke up. I looked around and realized that every dragonet was still asleep. I looked out the entrance of our cave and saw… I saw a large adult SkyWing, covered in bleeding slashes, and jagged wounds. I inhaled sharply when I walked closer to the dragon. It was my mother, but there was no sign of Fang anywhere.
“Mother!” I cried
I ran over to her and noticed the large puddle of blood that came from a slash across her throat. One of her talons was in a loosened position around her throat. As if she was holding on to it. I realized that there was also blood coming out of my mother’s mouth.
I nudged her shoulder with my snout, stepping into the puddle of blood.. I could feel an empty feeling inside me. Then, I saw steam forming at my eyes and realized that I was crying, but my scales would evaporate the tears the minute they exited my eye. I jumped over my mother and tried nudging her from there. I put my front talons on her neck. Her scales were cold. Colder than a usual SkyWing. Her scales were as cold as Hvitur’s.
“Peril? Why are you- Kestrel!” Hvitur exclaimed
Hvitur ran up to Kestrel and I had to jump back to avoid touching him. My eyes were wide as moons from what I was looking at. My mother in the worst condition I’ve ever seen her in.  Then, I heard movement from behind me.
The other dragonets were waking up. Sunny and Clay were standing up. Clay saw me in tears, and ran over to me immediately. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard.
“Peril! What is wrong?! Tell me! What’s wrong!” Clay yelled in my face
“My mother… Kestrel…” I said through tears, “Might be dead.”
Clay let go of my shoulders, and stared at me blankly. I turned my head and walked towards my mother. Hvitur was sitting on his haunches, inspecting my mother. Lifting her wing and checking the underside of them. He looked worried.
I tried putting my front talons on my mother’s back. Then put my wings and chest on her to try and share my heat with her. I saw Sunny walk over and did the same. Clay went back into our sleeping cave and grabbed a few branches. He put them near my mother’s underbelly. Then, he set them ablaze.
I could feel her scales warming up and her breathing becoming deeper. She was getting warmer for sure. Hvitur left and went to get the other guardians. I watched him leave with cold blue eyes.
That’s when I heard my mother moan. She moved the slightest bit and I saw smoke shoot out of her nostrils. My joy rose like my heart did when I saw Fang for the first time. My eyes widened and I walked up to my mother’s head.
I nudged her with my snout, and I saw her eye slowly open. I smiled and my mother smiled weakly at me. I saw Sunny move a few steps away from my mother, and I realized that blood was still coming out of her mouth. Kestrel slowly got up, but staggered forward and fell. I held her up the best I could, then Clay came over to help me.
Hvitur, along with the other guardians came in. Dune and Webs came over to her first and took Kestrel’s wings. They put her wings on their backs and helped her walk into the guardians cave.
I watched as they took her away from me, and Hvitur and Asha clean up the blood that my mother’s wounds left on the floor. When Dune and Webs left, I saw Clay walk over to me. He smiled and I smiled back. I waited then realized that Fang wasn’t here. I felt sad but, I was still happy about the fact that my mother was still alive.
I’ll  get you back Fang. I promise, I thought hopefully
== Part 1: Under The Mountain ==
4 years later
Clay's POV
Am I the right dragon for this? I thought
I never felt like the right dragon for this great destiny save the world thing. I felt a lot more confident protecting the other dragonets. 
“FIGHT!” my opponent yelled
Red talons swiped by my snout, and I rolled to the side. Then, I felt flames burst at my face. I jumped back rubbing my snout with pain. I saw movement and remembered that I asked Peril to watch me battle train. I wanted to try and impress her, but I’m not doing so well.
“Come on! Fight!” my opponent yelled
I saw another burst of flames shoot at me. I rolled to the side, and ran to Peril’s stalagmite. I smiled at her and she smiled back. Her smiled slowly faded and she jerked her head in front of me. I looked and realized that Kestrel was walking my way. 
Kestrel. She’s friendly at night, but in the morning, she’s grumpy and rough. It’s as if there are two dragons inside her. I felt the fear run down my spine as Kestrel advanced towards me.
“Well? Are you going to fight or not?” Kestrel hissed
Smoke was rising from Kestrel’s nostrils, and her right eye was glowing blue. I backed up against the wall a full wingspan away from Peril. It made me a bit sad to leave her, I liked the heat produced by her scales. 
I was distracted, and didn’t notice Kestrel lunge at me. She pinned me down with her talons. She held me by my neck, and I felt the strange scars on the palm of her talons. 
Why does she have scars on her palms? I thought through the pain
“Why didn’t you attack back? You need to attack or dodge when someone lunged at you!” Kestrel yelled at me
I heard a roar. It was Tsunami’s roar for sure. Kestrel’s ears twitched, but didn’t loosen her grip what so ever. I saw smoke begin rise from Kestrel’s tail, then saw Tsunami jump at Kestrel’s tail. Then Kestrel spread her wings and all I heard next was a yelp of pain whom I guessed was Tsunami. Since Kestel only winced, through her smile that looked very demonic and, her right eye (which is usually blood red) was glowing a color identical to Peril’s.
“Nice try Tsunami, but you should know that I’m not that easy to fool.” Kestrel said letting go of me, “ Next time, take and remember my advice, MudWing.”
Kestrel rubbed her front talons together, glared at Tsunami, then left. I realized that Kestrel’s right eye slowly fading back to blood red. I slowly got up and Tsunami walked over to me. I smiled, but my smile slowly faded as I saw Peril follow her mother into the guardians’ sleeping room.
I realized before she left, I saw her give me a sad smile. I felt crushed by my crush. If only I could gather the courage to tell her that I love her. Except, she has her battle training later during the day and whenever I ask her to come and watch me battle train. She does come, and keeps silent, but still gives me signals. Even if not, whenever battle training has finished, Peril walks up to me, smiles, then follows her mother.
Except, this time she didn’t walk up to me. She just smiled, then left. Maybe because Tsunami was here. I hope she doesn’t get hurt. Even if Kestrel was her mother. Then I saw her some back into the battle training room. My hope rose as fast as the steam on Peril’s scales.
“Peril…. I thought you were going with your mother.” Tsunami hissed
I didn’t like Tsunami’s tone. So I hit her lightly with one of my wings. She glared at me, and I glared back.
“I was, but she looked unhappy, and by that, I mean sad.” Peril said, “So I decided to let her be. Hvitur walked over and started comforting her.”
“Oh. Ok Peril. Uh… Are you hungry, Peril?” I asked not knowing what to say
“Yeah. I guess.” Peril responded, “Tsunami. What about you?”
“Sure… I’ll eat with you guys.” Tsunami said bitterly, “Let’s get some fish. I call sitting in the pool of water!” 
“I’ll get the others.” Peril said walking off to the dragonets’ room
“And I’ll get the food.” I said feeling accomplished
Maybe she likes me back. I wonder if I can get enough courage to tell her, I thought hopefully
I walked over to the storage room, and grabbed a few fish for each dragonet. Then, I walked over to the dragonets’ room. I saw Peril’s ear twitch, and I wondered why. So I decided to walk over to her. She looked at me and smiled. Then, I decided to walk back into the battle training room.
Tsunami was already sitting in the small amount of water we had. I set down the fish in the middle of the room. Then decided to move them a bit to the side. Sunny came over and put firewood in the middle of the room. 
Peril came over along with the other dragonets. Glory came in first, and set herself one full wingspan away from Tsunami. Starflight came in next, staring at the fish, then set himself down next to Sunny. Peril was walking towards the firewood.
“What are you doing, Peril?” Starflight asked, tilting his head to the side.
Peril looked at Starflight with her blue eyes and, continued towards the pile of firewood. She then put her front talons right in the centre of the pile, and I noticed that Peril had a demonic smile similar to Kestrel's. Her eyes were also glowing red, and there was red smoke rising from where Peril’s right would be.
She lifted her talons from the pile of firewood. She stepped back and sat down, still looking demonic.  Peril looked at the firewood as it bursted into flames. The light from the fire only made her look more than a possessed dragon.
Same as Kestrel. Why do look demonic sometimes? I wondered worryingly
“Uh… Peril…. Are you ok?” I asked her, worried she might go insane
She didn’t respond, and I got even more worried. She was staring blankly at the fire. Her mouth was slightly open, and her eyes were a paler blue. I realized that the other dragonets were staring at her, even Tsunami stopped eating. 
I was way to worried. So I decided to walk over to her. I tapped her on the shoulder. She didn’t react at all. I reeled back my talon. Then, I walked in front of her, and waved my talons in front of her snout. She didn’t react. I was so worried, that my wings were shaking. I saw Sunny get up and Starflight desperately tried to grab her and pull her back.
Sunny walked to me, and she put one of her front talons one one of my own. I looked down and she smiled. I smiled back, then I looked back at Peril whom was still in this frozen state. I flinched back, my eyes widening to the size of the three moons. Peril’s eyes were practically white.
“Clay.” Sunny said, with slight hints of distress, “Try and grab her shoulders and shake her hard.”
I reacted immediately. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her as hard as I could. I stopped shaking her, and realized that I grabbed her shoulders to hard. Her shoulders had claw marks that were bleeding pretty badly. I looked at my talons and realized they had her blood on the ends of my claws.
"Quickly! Someone get Kestrel!” Sunny screamed
I looked around, then ran into the guardians room. Webs, and Dune looked at me with an expression that seemed to be a mix of astonished and angry.
“Kestrel, we need you right now,” I said between breaths, “Peril. Eyes. White. Help!”
Kestrel reacted instantly. She got up fast, winced from the pain of her back talons, and ran out the entrance of the cave. I exited the cave as well. When I got out, Kestrel was already in front of Peril.
Kestrel grabbed Peril’s shoulders and shook her hard. Peril didn’t react. I walked over to them, as Kestrel began to breath heavily. Webs and Dune walked in, and Kestrel turned her head and looked at them.
“Dune!” Kestrel yelled, “Throw me something!”
Throw her something? What is she thinking? I thought
Dune reacted quickly. He grabbed a round rock, that was in the shape of an egg, and he threw it at Kestrel with a lot of force. She caught it in her right talon. Then, Tsunami stood up.
“What are you planning Kestrel?” Tsunami demanded
Kestrel looked at Tsunami, putting the rock in her left talon. Kestrel slowly turned her head, and cupped the rock in her front talons. She held it up to her forehead, and closed her eyes. Then, she began to mutter something to quiet to hear.
There was a small glow from Kestrel’s front talons. She opened her eyes, and her expression changed to concerned. Sunny put one of her front talons on Kestrel’s back. Kestrel nodded, and Sunny smiled.
What? Do they know something we don’t? I thought curiously
Kestrel pressed the rock against Peril’s chest, right where her heart was. After holding it there for a few seconds, Kestrel took the rock off. Then, her expression, changed from calm to fear.
She grabbed Peril’s shoulders and shook her again. This time, Peril reacted. She shook her head, her eyes wide as moons, breathing heavily. Peril put one of her front talons on her heart, feeling it beat hard. 
Kestrel took Peril’s front talon off of her chest, and wrapped her wings around Peril. I saw Peril’s eyes slowly change back to blue and then she closed them. She leaned into her mother, smiling.
“How is that possible?” Starflight asked, “Peril was completely frozen before, but when Kestrel did that thing, Peril was brought back just as easily as ever!”
Sunny shrank a bit and started shifting her talons. Glory looked at her confused, and Starflight looked… concerned. As for Tsunami, she looked angry. Peril opened her eyes, and reeled back to look up at her mother.
“Mother.” Peril said, “What happened?”
“Uh… Peril…” Kestrel stammered, “Meet me in the guardians cave after you eat, ok?”
“Um…” Peril said, her eyes widening, “Ok, mother.”
Kestrel unwrapped her wings, smiled and left to the exit of the cave. Dune walked over to her. I thought we were going to see how they open the door, but Webs blocked our view. When Webs left, all we saw was Kestrel leave and Dune push the boulder back into place.
Where is Kestrel going? I thought wonderingly
I heard my stomach growl, and I shuffled my talons embarrassingly. I looked at Peril whom was lying down with her eyes closed. I assumed she was hungry, so I grabbed some fish for her. I grabbed 12 fish and walked over to her. She opened her eyes and looked up at me, then smiled.
I smiled back, and set down 6 for her. Peril grabbed a fish and ate it in three bites. She always ate things fast, if she didn’t, it would burn into a pile of ashes before she could eat it. Peril always ate more, due to having to eat in large chunks.
We finished dinner. Glory, Sunny, and Starflight had left to the sleeping room to sleep, leaving me alone with Peril. She was playing with a pile of ashes left by some burnt up fish bones. She looked depressed, so I tried to figure out what was wrong.
“Uh… Peril?” I asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Oh!” She said startled, “Um… Nothing. Nothings wrong.”
“Peril.” I said looking at her in the eyes, “I know something's wrong. Don’t lie to me.”
“Alright.” She said sighing, “Something is wrong.”
“What is it Peril?” I asked, “Please. Please tell me.”
“Well. You know how my mother just left.” Peril said
“Yes.” I responded, “Does it have something to do with your mom?”
“Yes. Yes it does.” Peril said dipping her head, “She said that she would be back, but, it’s been so long since she’s left.”
“But, why does she need to come home?”
“She said she would explain something to me, and my curiosity about what’s wrong with me is as hot as the core of a fire.”
“I know but-” I cut myself off not knowing how to finish the sentence. So instead I said, “She’ll be back Peril. We just have to wait, and I will wait with you. No matter how long it takes.”
Peril smiled at me, and I smiled back. Then, we heard the sound of a dragon landing. Then, we heard someone banging on the boulder that blocks our entrance. We both looked at the boulder, as Dune and Webs walked in. Webs spread his wings, and I heard Dune move the boulder. Webs lowered his wings, and I saw Peril's eyes go wide. When I saw who walked in, I understood why.
Kestrel walked in and Peril got up, then ran to her mother. Kestrel opened her wings, and hugged Peril. 
"Where did you go?" Peril asked
"I went out to scout the area." Kestrel responded, "To make sure we were safe."
"Oh." Peril said, "Well, I'm glad you came back."
Kestrel smiled then unwrapped her wings. Peril stepped back and looked up at her mother. I noticed that Kestrel didn't have any wounds, which I found a bit strange.
"Mother?" Peril asked, "Are you going to tell me what happen earlier today?"
"Oh yes." Kestrel responded, "Peril, come on into the guardians' room then follow me."
"Clay," Webs' voice said
I looked in his direction, and I stood up.
"I would suggest going to bed, Clay." Webs told me
I nodded, and began to walk in the direction of our cave. I looked at Peril, and she smiled at me. Then gave me a "I'll tell you later" look. I nodded and continued to the dragonets' room. Glory walked up to me.
"What took you so long?" Glory asked me
"I was waiting for Kestrel to come back." I responded
"Oh. She's back?" Glory asked tilting her head
"Yes, she is," I responded, "Why do you ask?" 
"I asked because, Kestrel only ever does battle training with me at night."
"Oh. So you're the other dragonet that had night time battle training."
"Yeah. Me and Peril are what Asha calls, battle training buddies."
I felt weird after she said that she was Peril's battle training buddy, but I tried not to show that I felt that way. Glory looked at me in a concerned. I looked at her, then she shook her head.
"Oh three moons! I need to go! It's time for battle training!" Glory said surprised
Kestrel and Peril walked in and Glory walked over to them. Peril smiled at Glory and she smiled back. I felt strange again, but tried to push it back. Peril nodded and Glory nodded back. They all walked out of our room. Kestrel waited then looked at me. 
"Clay. I know you care about them, but I would suggest going to sleep, alright?" Kestrel said
"Ok. I'll go to sleep." I responded looking down at my talons
Kestrel smiled at me then left our room. I on the other talon, left to the same spot I slept in for many years. Peril would usually be next to me, but she's battle training, so I can't really have her next to me. I closed my eyes, and slowly drifted off.
The next morning, I woke up and saw the other dragonets awake. Peril wasn’t here, but Glory was. She was awake and staring out the entranceway. I got up and walked out into the central cave. 
When I walked out, saw Peril and Kestrel walk out of the Guardians’ cave. She smiled when she saw me. I smiled back while blushing. Kestrel hugged Peril, then left back into the Guardians’ cave. The other dragonets came in after a few minutes. We were happy to all be together again. The rest of day was pretty normal.
Kestrel was rough, Dune was commanding, Webs was out getting fish and scrolls. Asha was friendly and gave me advice about being a BigWings. Hvitur gave us hiding tips. Then we had our time in the study cave. We study about the war, and past events. 
The moons were rising and we were still in the study cave, when we heard the large boulder roll back into place. We ran over to the central cave. We saw Kestrel and Dune there. I guessed that Dune had moved the boulder and Kestrel had left to scout the area again.
They walked into the Guardians’ cave and we stood there watching. 
“Hey Sunny.” Tsunami said, “Can you put the scrolls in the sleeping cave?”
“Yeah sure.” Sunny responded, “Peril, come on. You can help me put away the stone tablets.”
“Sure.” Peril agreed
They left the room, and Tsunami signal us to get moving. Starflight and Glory went first. Glory’s scales were already shifting to match her surroundings. Then me and Tsunami left and dove into the water. We made sure that we didn’t splash or else we might have given the Guardians an idea of what we’re doing.
Tsunami swam faster than I could,  so she made it to the small crack before I did. Whenever we got to this spot, I was always afraid that I might get stuck, but luckily, I never did. Me and Tsunami always to the river way, since we were the only ones who could stay underwater long enough to spy on the Guardians.
I met up with Tsunami and we stuck out ears out of the water. Listening for what the Guardians were saying. I could see the fire in the middle of the room. I could also see the blurry forms of Webs, Kestrel, Hvitur, Dune, and Asha.
“What?!” I heard Kestrel voice yelled, “Since when did he say he was coming?!”
“He just told me.” Webs said, putting his front talons up, “I left, talked to him, and he told me he was coming to see the dragonets tomorrow.”
Who are they talking about? I thought
“He wants to see the dragonets?” Dune asked
“Yes, he wants to see them.” Webs responded
“What? He only delivered the prophecy and Starflight’s egg.” Asha said standing up, “He never said anything about coming here at all!”
Oh! I know who their talking about. The deliverer of the Prophecy; Morrowseer, I thought
“Well, he is the one that delivered the prophecy, so I guess he wants to make sure it goes right.” Webs said tapping his front talons together
“He isn’t going to like them.” Dune said shaking his head
“What do you mean by that?’ Hvitur asked curiously
“I mean the dragonets.” Dune said, flicking his tail, “Sunny is different looking than any normal SandWing, and Peril is…..”
“Ok. I understand that, but it’s not their fault that they look different.” Kestrel said moving her front talons around
“Yes, that is true.” Asha admitted, “But, how will he react to the dragonets being different from what his expectations were?”
What will happen if we don’t meet his expectations? If Morrowseer even tries to hurt my friends, then would I attack him to defend them? Tsunami would for sure. I thought
“Well if he dares attack them, then I’ll attack him back.” Kestrel said, baring her teeth
“You’re right! We’re not just going to keep the dragonets alive!” Asha said standing up
“Right! These dragonets are crucial to Pyhrria’s one chance at peace!” Hvitur exclaimed, flicking his tail making the spikes at the end rattle
“If Morrowseer wants a fight. Then we’ll give him a fight!” Dune said, stamping one of his talons
“Right! It’s one dragon against five!” Webs said, “Even if he has great NightWing powers, Kestrel has something more powerful.”
What? Something more powerful? What could she be hiding? I thought with a stab of fear by what it could be
I tapped Tsunami, trying to tell her that we should leave. She looked at me and I did a signal with my tail, trying to say “we should go”. She looked at me, then back to the surface. 
“But the real question is, are you willing to fight him, Kestrel?” Hvitur asked, sounding very serious, “Since you don’t like fighting and all.”
“I’ll be fine. Fighting him will hopefully end in the least amount of bloodshed possible.” Kestrel said waving one talon around, “And plus, I would fight anyone to protect the dragonets. Fight any battle, even if it cost me my life.”
What?! I thought astonished
I looked at Tsunami and she looked at me. Both our expressions of pure shock. She dove underwater, and swam towards the exit. I followed him. I swam as fast as I could. I got through the crevice a whole lot faster this time. I saw Tsunami’s tail exit the water, and I left the water slowly, so then it wouldn’t splash.
We met up with the Starflight and Glory. Their expression were in shock as well. They looked at us and we looked back. Starflight’s tail was twitching, and Glory’s ruff was a color, I guessed meant shock.
I flicked my tail in the direction of our sleeping cave, and they all nodded. 
“Did...Did we hear that right?” Starflight asked
“I think we did hear that right.” Glory said, her scales turning blue, meaning she was curious
“If Kestrel saying she would die for us is what you guys are talking about, then yes.” I said feeling weird about ever hearing Kestrel say that about them
Tsunami didn’t say anything. I found it quite strange, even though she a small burn scar on his jaw from when she tried to bite Kestrel, but it for some reason burned her. I guess she holds a grudge or something. None of us talked for the rest of the walk.
We got to our room and I noticed that the fire was burning. Sunny was sleeping in her small area, and Peril was near the fire. Both of them were fast asleep. Glory went to her stalagmite and Starflight settled himself next to Sunny. Tsunami lay down next to the stalagmite that Glory was sleeping on. 
I looked at each one one of my friends, then settled myself next to Peril. I saw her ear twitch and it surprised me. Then her expression went from calm to pain. I got worried and put one of my wings on her back. Her expression of pain intensified and after awhile, she snapped awake. It surprised me, and she was breathing heavily and her eyes were extremely wide.
“Peril.” I said looking at her in the eyes
She turned her head and looked at me. Peril slowly returned to normal, and she smiled at me. Then, rested her head on her front talons and slowly drifted back into deep sleep. I rested my head on front talons, and began to drift off as well. Afraid of what Morrowseer might do to my friends.
You know, I was never super afraid of NightWings. Read minds, pop out of nowhere, foretell the future business always seemed like fairy tale stuff to me. Starflight was a NightWing, but he only ever had very small visions every now and then, but we always thought it was just his imagination. Except, his visions would most of the time come true, which then he would be like “SEE?! I TOLD YOU IT WOULD HAPPEN! I TOLD YOU SO!”
It got really annoying, but Asha told me that he was just being a NightWing. Even if Starflight had powers, he wasn’t scary. He was just being himself, I couldn’t blame him. Despite that, his fighting skills are very flawed. He would rather hide from the problem and let us deal with it, instead of fighting it himself, although he does try to fight it,mbut ends up hiding.
Even if I didn’t find NightWings scary, Starflight was the only NightWing I ever met, and Starflight is anything but scary. I felt like NightWings were just like any other dragon, no matter what the scrolls say. Except, this evening, we were called into the central cave, and Kestrel seemed a lot madder than usual. 
Kestrel’s usually the one that calls us to the central cave for lectures or something, but this time, Webs called us. We entered and were met with a dragon the color of a bottomless pit. I felt all of the rumors about NightWings come crashing down on me. All the jokes that I made about NightWings melted like my courage when I saw Morrowseer for the first time.
Morrowseer was much bigger than Kestrel, and 10 times more terrifying. He spread his large batlike wings and peered down at us. He had silver scales like stars on the underside of his wings, like Starflight did, but on Morrowseer, they seem to glitter from a great distance and casted a cold, sinister glow.
He looked like he could easily rip each one of our heads off in one swipe of his talons. He also looked like he already hated the five prophesied dragonets. Which wasn’t what I wanted. Disappointment at first sight wasn’t a good thing.
Maybe Morrowseer was reading our minds and knew how confused and scared we were about what change we needed in this large world. Or maybe he was seeing the future and all his visions were of failure, failure, FAILURE.
I could feel Sunny trembling at my side and I wondered if I was shaking as well. I felt the same way, petrified in place, as if my scales were slowly turning into stone, while this giant NightWing inspected us.
On my other side, Starflight was as still as I’ve ever seen him. Starflight usually freezes in place when he was frightened. It was as if, he hoped if he were to stand still, the danger would just pass right by. 
I could see Glory sitting next to Starflight, her tail curled around her talons. When Morrowseer saw her, he stared at her for a small eternity. I saw his ears twitched and his forked black tongue slip over his teeth. 
Morrowseer tore his glare away from Glory and went to look at Peril. My tail twitched as he glared at Peril. He stared at Peril, and I saw her expression She wasn’t scared, her expression was….. Anger. Her eyebrows were arched, as she looked up at the giant NightWing in front of her. Morrowseer seem to not like the fact that she was glaring back at him like that.
I wish that my own wings were as vast as the cavern itself so then, I could hide my friends from Morrowseer. I wish that my talons were as huge as stalagmites and as sharp as ice shards. I wish I was big enough to be brave and brave enough to be big. I’ve never wanted anything more than the safety of my friends. Now I want to protect my friends from this tall scornful, immensely dangerous dragon.
I really really hoped that Morrowseer wasn’t reading my mind right now. 
Think about cows. Think about cows. Think about fat delicious cows. I thought, trying to fool Morrowseer
Morrowseer slowly turned his head to glare down at Kestrel, whom was sitting near Glory. He got up and stared down his snout at her. I saw Peril’s glare follow him as he walked towards her mother. Peril’s eyes were wide and her right eye had a slight crimson colored fire on it.
“What. Is. Wrong. With these two!?” Morrowseer yelled, while pointing at Peril and Sunny
I saw Peril arch her neck as he said that, and the crimson flame on her eye intensify. It was a prominent flame now. Sunny shrank a little. Tsunami didn’t look happy either. I knew Tsunami didn’t like Peril very much, but I knew that hearing a stranger say something like that to someone she’s lived her whole life with, would get her mad. I also noticed that Kestrel’s right eye was in a similar state to Peril’s, except her’s was a blue fire color. Then, Starflight took a step back.
“What is wrong with?!” Kestrel yelled, standing up, “How dumb are you NightWings?!”
“Excuse me?!” Morrowseer growled, turning to glare at Kestrel, whom didn’t move from her spot
“And plus it’s not Sunny’s fault she was born that way! Her egg fit all the descriptions in the prophecy!” Dune yelled, flicking his tail
I saw the surprised expressions on my friends faces. Tsunami’s eyes were wide, the tip of Glory’s tail was curiosity blue, Starflight’s jaw was slightly open, Sunny didn’t look surprised at all, instead she looked angered. Which that confused me. As for Peril, she had her eyes open wide with fear, and I knew why. She was probably afraid of her mother getting injured right in front of her.
“You NightWings spend so much time on this secret home of yours, that you don’t know the basic defects that could happen to a dragonet when they’re still in an egg!” Kestrel yelled, “You NightWings claim to be so all-knowing, when you don’t even know what can happen to a SkyWing dragonet, when there are two of them in one egg!”
“And Sunny, was born the way she was! We can’t change any of that! Fate chose how Sunny was going to be born!” Dune yelled, baring his teeth
We were all surprised by what was happening. Kestrel yelling at a NightWing, not afraid of him reading her mind or anything. Although, it seemed like Morrowseer wasn’t very happy about what Kestrel had said to him. I wondered if he read something from Kestrel’s mind or from one of the other Guardians’ minds that made him even more mad.
“I told you not to act like this the next time we met, SkyWing.” Morrowseer snarled
They know each other? I thought arching my eyebrows
“Really? Well I guess I may have missed that.” Kestrel said
Morrowseer was growling so loud, that the IceWings could hear it. Kestrel walked forward four steps, close enough that her wings were almost touching Morrowseer’s. Then again Kestrel is a SkyWing, so her wings are larger than Morrowseer’s wings, and in reality, she was about one quarter wingspan away from Morrowseer.
“You are quite the SkyWing to say something like that to a NightWing.” Morrowseer said, breathing out smoke
“Hey!” Tsunami blurted out, “You can’t just waltz in here, insult one of our friends, and call us failure just by seeing us!”
“Yeah!” Sunny yelled out, all her fear disappearing, “So what if me and Peril are different looking! You can’t change how destiny chooses how who looks like what!”
Morrowseer looked really angry now. He turned his glare to Tsunami, growling. He took a few steps back. Then, he lunged at her. Tsunami backed up, her claws up. I tried to jump in and save her, but Kestrel barrelled into Morrowseer slamming him into a wall. 
“You never said anything about hurting the dragonets, you poor excuse for a dragon!” Kestrel yelled
Morrowseer got up, lunged at Kestrel, and seized her throat. He pinned her to the ground, breathing smoke into her face. Dune, Webs, and Hvitur began to walk towards her, but stopped when she moved her head in a certain way that I thought meant “don’t come any closer”. Then, Morrowseer dug his claws into Kestrel’s neck, as she winced at the pain. Peril took a few steps back, then opened her mouth, flaring her wings, watching the blood pour out of Kestrel’s puncture wounds.
She backed up so then she wouldn’t burn anyone. I thought, backing up to put one wing on her back, It must be hard to watch your own mother get injured right in front of you.
“What are you going to do now, SkyWing?” Morrowseer hissed
“What am I going to do?” Kestrel responded tilting her head, “Something that I might regret.”
“What?” Morrowseer said, his wings opening a bit
Kestrel opened her mouth, and I thought she was going to blow fire into his face, but instead two fangs popped out of the roof of her mouth. Then black liquid shot out of them, and landed on the left side of Morrowseer’s neck.
Morrowseer screamed with pain, as the black liquid began to melt his scales. Morrowseer let go of Kestrel, ran to the wall, still screaming with pain. He began to claw close to the area on his neck that was melting, and we were sitting there. Watching it happen. I thought we would all have a surprised looks, but Sunny, Glory, and Peril, didn’t seem surprised or shocked at all. They just looked…. Calm. I was just surprised. I didn’t know what was happening. Glory had fangs very similar to the ones that Kestrel had, so could she be part RainWing?
“I warned you, didn’t I?” Kestrel said, getting up
“I’ll be back, SkyWing….” Morrowseer snarled, walking to the archway, “Open the door, I’ll come back and talk to the NightWing.”
Kestrel snorted, and Dune walked over and pushed the boulder. Morrowseer walked out the archway, his footsteps fading. Then, Dune pushed the boulder back into place. Kestrel lifted one front talon up to her neck, and winced at the pain. Peril walked up to her and hugged her mother, then pushed away. Kestrel smiled back down at her, and moved her wings in a way which I assumed meant “come in our cave. I have something worth mentioning” since, that’s what the other Guardians did. 
Webs, Dune, Hvitur, and Asha left to the Guardians’ room. Kestrel brushed Peril’s wing, twinned her tail with her, then left. Tsunami waited for Kestrel to go out of earshot, then dove into the water pool with a soundless splash. I followed her as Glory, Starflight, Peril, and Sunny walked into our sleeping cave. 
As their footsteps faded, I jumped into the river as well. I saw her tail just disappear into the crevice. I stopped treading in place, and began to back up until my hind talons touched a underwater stone pillar. I scrunched up, and pushed off of it with all my strength. I slipped through the crevice without breaking it, or making any noise.
Well. Now I know how to get through there without making much noise, I thought swimming towards our spying spot
I saw Tsunami already listening, so I swam up to her and started listening as well. Tsunami looked at me, and smiled. I smile back then, I heard Dune voice.
“So what is it that you wanted tell us?” Dune asked
“Well. Morrowseer said that he would be back to talk to Starflight.” Kestrel said, “What if he injures him?”
I felt Tsunami’s tail twitch. She probably was shocked by that, but also afraid of the fact that Morrowseer was coming back. I was afraid of Morrowseer coming back as well. I was afraid of him hurting one of my friends, and I knew that if Morrowseer attacks us again, Kestrel would probably jump in and defend us.
If Kestrel got hurt, Peril would blow up. She might go and attack Morrowseer herself. Even if Morrowseer couldn’t grab her, he could still attack her, as much as he might not know that he’ll get burned. 
Push that aside and focus Clay! I thought angrily at myself
“If he injures him, we will make sure he doesn’t leave this cave.” Hvitur said in a voice of ice daggers
“Oh gosh. I don’t think we need to get violent here.” Asha said, tapping her talons on the stone floor
“She has a point.” Webs said, “But, if it comes to that, then-”
“We’ll make sure he gets a piece of our minds.” Hvitur said lashing his tail, making his tail spikes rattle
“Right. Maybe one of us should go with Morrowseer. Just to be safe.” Kestrel suggested
“That’s a great idea.” Asha agreed, “But who do we chose?”
“I’ll go.” Hvitur said, “I mean, if he attacks, at least my talons will damage him pretty badly, and if he know enough about IceWings, my frostbreath will hurt a lot with that venom wound.”
“He has his ways of defence, so I guess it would work.” Kestrel admitted, “But I’ll stand outside, or would you rather have it so then I go in with you?”
“I think it would be better if you go in with me." Hvitur said, with a slight blush, "Since with you in there, Morrowseer would have to think twice about attacking."
Kestrel smiled, and we decided to leave. We swam out of the tunnel and I used my technique to get through. I got through the crevice fast and easy. I jumped out of the water and saw Tsunami running into our room, so I followed her. We entered our room, and my friends looked at us surprised.
“Clay? Tsunami? What’s happening?” Peril asked us, her tail twitching
“Well, we were just….” I said, nervously not knowing how to end the sentence
“Taking a swim.” Tsunami filled in, walking to her sleeping spot
“Oh… We were worried. That’s all.” Sunny said, letting out a relieved sigh
“Well, come on guys we should consider going to sleep.” Peril said, walking up to me, “We’ll never know what might happen tomorrow.”
“Right. We should sleep.” I said trying not to sound frightened
We walked into our room, Peril walking next to me the whole way. Each one of us settled in our regular spots. The fire was lit, and we all closed our eyes, drifting off. Dreaming about the end of this war, and how we’re going to save Pyrrhia.
The next day was strange. Morrowseer returned as promised, and took Starflight away from us. Hvitur stay close to Morrowseer when he took Starflight into some other cave, Kestrel following them. Hvitur entered the cave with Morrowseer, and Kestrel entered as well but, not all the way. She sat near the entrance, and gave us and apologetic look, then entered and pushed a boulder in front of the entrance. Blocking anyone from entering, or hearing anything they were talking about.
Webs and Asha walked up to us, but none of us noticed, until Webs flashed his bioluminescent strips. We all looked at them, tilting our heads. They smiled back at us.
“We know you guys are curious, but.” Webs started
“They need to… Uh…. Talk in privacy.” Asha finished
We all nodded, and left to our sleeping room. When we entered, Sunny went to her own platform, and lied down. Tsunami, slammed hier tail on the ground and, scared the moons out of Sunny. 
“What did you do that for?” Sunny said, holding one of her front talons over her heart
I noticed that Tsunami’s gills were pulsing. Something that only ever happens when she’s mad. Glory’s ruff and ears were red, showing that she was mad. Peril walked past me and I noticed her scales gave off a cold wind instead of a hot air. I walked up next to her, and put one wing on her back.
Her scales are cold as ice. I thought, trying to share my heat with her
“Hey, Peril. Are you ok?” I asked, as Peril stopped walking, eyes wide as moons
“I’m…. I’m ok.” She responded, her eyes returning to normal
“Are you sure? You’re colder than usual.” I said, putting one talon on her chest
I could feel her heart beating as fast as I eat could a cow. Peril slowly closed her eyes, and walked into the battle training room. I watched her walk away, her tail dragging on the ground, and head drooping. 
I walked into the battle training room, and saw her sitting in a corner, looking down at her talons, while steam rose from her eyes.
She’s crying. I thought, walking up to her
I stood there for a moment, then decided to walk over to her. I saw her pupil look at me, but she didn’t turn her head. I put one wing on her back, trying to share some of my heat with her. 
Peril leaned into me, her eyes closing. I wrapped my other wing around her.
“Peril. What’s wrong?” I asked
“I’m just worried.” She responded, straightening up, “I’m worried that Morrowseer might hurt them.”
“Them?” I asked, my eyes widening
“Them. Starflight, Hvitur and Mother. I don’t want anything bad to happen.” She responded, wiping her tears
“I'm worried too. Morrowseer doesn’t seem like friendliest dragon.” I said, as she got up
“Thanks, Clay. I appreciate the fact that you helped me get through this.” Peril said looking me in the eyes
“No problem Peril.” I replied
Then a large crash caught our attention. The sound of roaring from near the Guardians' room echoed in the battle training cave. The other dragonets came in running, expression of pure terror on their faces.
“What’s happening?” Sunny asked, astonished
“Something bad, that’s what.” Glory said, glancing at Tsunami
“Ya think?!” Tsunami exclaimed, “Let’s go!”
Tsunami was right, and I saw Peril nod. I nodded. I lead my friends into the Guardians’ room, making sure they were behind me, so then they could be safe from whatever happened.
We walked into the room, only to see Morrowseer pinning Kestrel to the ground. Instantly, Peril arched her brow, and looked like she was going to pounce on Morrowseer.
Just before she could lift off, I blocked her with my wing. She halted, and looked at me. I felt a stab of guilt, but knew I had to do it or else Peril would have a chance of dying.
Kestrel was snapping her jaws at Morrowseer, but he was holding his head far out of her jaws range. We couldn’t see the other Guardians anywhere, which worried me. I had the feeling that Morrowseer had done something to them.
“Idiotic SkyWing!” Morrowseer growled,
Morrowseer grabbed the spot where Kestrel’s wing met her shoulder, and in one quick movement, he dislocated her wing. She screamed with agony, and collapsed to the ground, her eyes going white.
I tried to put one wing around Peril, but I wasn’t fast enough. She had already lunged at Morrowseer, her claws outstretched. She shot a short burst of blue fire at him. The burst hit Morrowseer dead on the chest, he staggered back, and grabbed Peril and slammed her into the wall.
Morrowseer then started to blow on his talons. I ran and picked up Peril, wrapping my wings around her, feeling her heart beat on my chest. Then out of nowhere, Hvitur came out of the cave where Morrowseer was talking with Starflight, and  slashed vigorously at Morrowseer’s chest. Red blood covered Hvitur’s front talons, and arms.
Suddenly, Morrowseer grabbed Hvitur’s front talons and ran him into a wall. Hvitur made a small screech of pain and collapsed to the ground. Then out of nowhere, Webs, and Asha bursted out of a pile of rocks. 
Webs hit Morrowseer in the head with his powerful tail, and Morrowseer staggered back, shaking his head in pain. Morrowseer swung his head around and blew fire at Webs, scorching him. Webs fell to the ground, motionless.
Asha roared a jet of flames at Morrowseer, burning the wounds that Hvitur gave him. Morrowseer roared with agony, and slashed Asha right across, her face. Asha backed up, and Morrowseer rammed her into a stalagmite, shattering it.
Morrowseer then turned to us, glaring at Sunny. She glared back, and smoke began rising from her nostrils. I spread one of my wings, covering Sunny, as Morrowseer shot a burst of flames in her direction.
Where’s Dune? I thought, And Starflight. Oh. Um. Think about cows.
I saw a slight bit of movement in the same pile of rocks that Webs and Asha bursted out of. A pale gold head popped out, and it seemed like Morrowseer didn’t notice.
Dune glared at Morrowseer, but didn’t walk towards him. I saw more movement, and realized that Starflight was exiting the cave that he was taken to. Starflight saw Dune, but didn’t take note of him and focused on Morrowseer.
Starflight grabbed a shard from one of the broken stalagmites, and stabbed the vulnerable spot on Morrowseer’s tail. Morrowseer stood up on his hind legs, and roared with pain, then turning to glare at Starflight.
Starflight glared back at him, smoke rising from his nostrils. Were they talking to each other? Or was Morrowseer, reading threats from Starflight’s mind? Morrowseer began growling and Starflight hit him across the face with his tail, then darted to us. 
Sunny stood next to him and they both glared at Morrowseer. Morrowseer took a step towards us, and Sunny suddenly lunged at Morrowser’s wing, ripping his membrane. She shot a burst of fire at his talons, when they reached to grab her. Morrowseer then slammed Sunny against the ceiling. 
I heard the sound of something cracking and hoped that she was ok. Morrowseer lowered his wing and Sunny came tumbling off. Her eyes were closed, and she hit the ground without any kind of movement. 
Starflight ran to her, picking her up before Morrowseer could roast her. He came back to us, growling at Morrowseer. Sunny lay limply in Starflight’s forelegs, he looked down at her, and started to frown.
I could tell he was sad about not being able to protect her. I knew how he felt, I should have stop Peril from getting hurt. Tsunami and Glory both look like they were ready to fight but, instead, they sat down.
“Why are you doing this?” Tsunami asked, coldly
Morrowseer only started growling, and Glory opened her mouth revealing her venom spitting fangs. He flinched back, remembering the pain. Tsunami flashed the spots on his neck and tail. I didn’t remember what it meant, and Morrowseer looked irritated.
“We await your answer.” Glory said, closing her mouth
“Are you asking me?” Morrowseer said, spreading his wings
Glory snorted, and  Morrowseer started growling.
“Morrowseer. Let them be.” Dune said
Morrowseer turned around to glare at Dune, “What do you think you can do?” Morrowseer snarled, “A crippled SandWing fighting an all-powerful NightWing.”
Dune glared at Morrowseer with his dark eyes, then sat down, rubbing his foreleg stub. Tsunami’s gills were pulsing, and she lashed her tail, catching Morrowseer’s attention.
Tsunami kept glaring at Morrowseer, and he stare down his snout at him. She stood up, baring her teeth at him. Morrowseer looked annoyed, and brought one of his talons up. Tsunami flinched back, and bit down hard on his talon.
Morrowseer roared with pain, and slammed Tsunami into a wall. She let go, her eyes closed with pain. She opened her eyes, getting up, panting. Glory looked at Morrowseer, then Tsunami, and back.
She arched her neck, opening her mouth. Glory shot out some venom, but Morrowseer saw it coming, and jumped out of the way. Morrowseer didn’t attack Glory, instead, he slashed Tsunami across her left eye.
She screamed with pain, and I realized that Morrowseer didn’t scar her eye. He removed it. Tsunami was clutching his eye, keeping too much blood from pouring out. Glory turned entirely red with spirals of orange. She shot more venom at Morrowseer. Most of the droplets missed, but I saw 3 hit his foreleg.
Morrowseer yelped with pain, “Enough!” He yelled, “You dragonets are just as annoying as these Guardians.” He walked to the front doorway, “Open the door SandWing.”
Dune walked over to the boulder, and pushed it out of the way. Morrowseer left, smoke rising from his nostrils. Dune pushed the boulder back into place, and walked over to us.
He inspected all of us, then left to help the others Guardians, whom most have come back into consciousness. Webs had dove into the small pool of water, cooling of his scales.
Asha was dusting herself off, while rubbing her back. Hvitur got up, clutching his chest. He walked over to Kestrel whom had gotten up as well. One of her talons reached for her dislocated wing, but she flinched back, wincing with pain. Hvitur put one wing on her back, and she smiled at him.
“Peril. It’s ok. You don’t need to worry,” I whispered, close to Peril’s ear, “Kestrel’s ok.” Her ear twitched, and her talons shift a little. I smiled, and bumped her nose with my own.
Glory helped Tsunami get up, whom looked like she wanted to pass out. Glory, and Tsunami, with Glory’s help, walked over to us. Tsunami smiled at me and I lightly hit her with my tail.
“You alright?” I asked her
“Yeah. Just feel like passing out.” Tsunami said, with a shrug
I lightly hit her again with my tail, and she just smiled. Peril’s front talons started twitching, and she slowly opened her eyes. I smiled, and she looked confused.
“Woah, what happen-” she started, but whatever she said after that, I didn’t hear it, because I gave her a fierce hug. I let loosened my group on her and she bumped my nose with her own.
I started blushing, and I put her down. She smiled at me, and started rubbing her back in pain. 
“You ok?” I asked her, rubbing her back with my own talon
“Just in a little pain.” She said, wincing with pain, “Ok. Maybe a little broken.”
I smiled, and she smiled back. Starflight came over to us, Sunny still unconscious in his talons. Sunny’s talons started twitching, and one of her wings hit Starflight’s snout.
Her eyes slowly opened, and she looked up at Starflight, whom was rubbing his snout. He put her down, and she looked at him curiously.
“What happened?” she asked
“Um… You kinda hit me with you wing.” He said, smiling
She cupped her snout, eyes widening, “Oh. Whoops, Sorry.” 
“Ah, it’s ok.” He responded
She smiled, and he hit her lightly with his wing. Sunny’s smiled faded, and she rubbed her chest, wincing with pain.
“You a little broken?” Peril asked, half joking, half serious
Sunny nodded, and Peril shifted her talons awkwardly. I knew what she was thinking, and I grabbed her talons. I shook my head, and she shrugged.
“Well all of us are here, some are broken and others are fine.” I said, letting go of Peril’s talons, “And uh… Tsunami. What are we going to do with your…”
Oh three moons. What do I say? She doesn’t have an eye, I thought, 
“With my none existent eye?” she filled in,
I shrugged, and I saw the corner of her mouth perk up. The Guardians walked over to us, as Webs got out of the water. He still looked burned, but after awhile, his scales would be darker due to the burns.
“Well. That was painful.” Asha said, rubbing her back,
I walked over to her and brushed her wing with my own. She smiled at me, and wrapped her wing around me.
“It was very painful.” Webs said, 
The other Guardians nodded, and I saw Sunny, Peril and Tsunami nod as well. I inspected all the Guardians. Hvitur had small scratches on his forelegs, and a bump on his back. Asha had a bump on her back, and a few scratches. Webs, was horribly burned, and Kestrel’s wing was heavily dislocated.
Peril walked over to her mother and grabbed her mother’s shoulder and wing, then let go. Glory’s ruff suddenly turned blue, and she walked away, making Tsunami stagger forward. 
She came back with two pieces of cloth in her front talons. Glory walked over to Tsunami, brushing her face, making her wince with pain. She took one piece of cloth, dipped it in water, and whipped the blood from her eye.
Glory then put the bloody cloth down, then wrapped the clean cloth around her ‘none existent eye’, tying it around her horn. The cloth covered most of the left side of her face, and the bioluminescent spots.
She ran her claws over the cloth, “I feel so blind right now.”
“Well. Better than having it exposed.” She said, poking her
“You dragonets alright?” Kestrel asked
Everyone nodded, “Well. More or less.” I said, shrugging. Hvitur was standing next to Kestrel, still inspecting her wing. He grabbed her wing, and the spot where it was supposed to be. Then in a quick move of his talons, relocated her wing to where it was meant to be.
Kestrel screamed in pain, hitting Hvitur right under his eye, leaving a burn mark. She pulled through the pain, and cupped her snout, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Whoops. Sorry.” She said, “You just did it so suddenly.”
“It’s alright.” Hvitur said, rubbing the burn wound, “I probably should have told you.”
They’re so cute together. I thought, looking at Peril, Wonder if she likes me back.
 “Ok. We know the day has been interesting, but I think you guys should go to bed.” Dune said, dusting himself off
We all nodded and walked to our sleeping room. Peril hugged her mother, and followed me. She looked better but had that part of her that was still in pain. Everyone lay down, and I saw the Guardians go back to their own room. Soon after I heard them falling asleep.
“Hey Clay, “Tsunami said, making me jump, “Do you think you can find a way to escape?”
“Wait. Why me?” I asked, “You’re the one that can breath underwater.”
“I know but, with this eye patch,” she said pointing at the cloth covering her eye, “I won’t be able to swim very well, since it would get soggy.”
I sighed, "But why would we need to escape?"
"with Morrowseer coming in, the Guardians couldn't take us outside."
“Alright. I’ll find a way out, but how will I know to find you guys to let you out?”
She thought for a bit. 
“We could light a fire. Like right below the small window in the history cave.” I suggested
She nodded while shrugging, and I headed to the water pool. I hesitated, looking back at Tsunami. “You sure about this?” 
She nodded, “Good luck Clay, and don't you dare die.” I smiled at her and was about to dive into the water, but stopped.
"Tell Peril that I went out for a swim, ok?" I said, an image of Peril's tear filled face appearing in my head
Tsunami nodded and I dove into the cold water. Swimming warmed me up the slightest bit, but  the heat of a fire didn’t feel the same as the sun. My body temperature overall was pretty cold.
Swimming for a bit, then letting the current push me along. I just let the current push me along, then slammed into a wall. I backed up and realized it was the same kind of crevice from the Guardians cave. I remember Tsunami telling me about this crevice. She had told me it was smaller than the one to the Guardians cave. 
I raised one of my talons, and felt a gap. I swam up, and took a few breaths, then dove down. I tried finding a pillar and found one. I went back and took a deep breath, then dove back down.
Scrunching up against the pillar, I bursted with all my strength, bursting through the crevice.
No turning back now. I thought, the current pulling me along again
I felt a sharp pain in my side, and saw blood rush by my eyes. I pushed it aside, and spread my arms out and felt rocky walls. The river was narrow here and the current was a bit stronger. I started to kick faster, clawing the water with my talons.
I didn’t know how long I swam for, but after awhile, my chest started to hurt. I never tried holding my breath for an hour, we only knew because of the scrolls we read.
I could hear my own heartbeat, and had horrific thoughts about drowning here, and none of my friends knowing I did. Me never being able to see them again, and…. And…. Never being able to tell Peril how I feel.
Don’t panic. I scolded myself
Lifting my head, trying to find a breathing spot, only to have my head scrape against solid rock, but. It seemed like the tunnel was slanting upwards. I spread my wings and the tunnel was definitely getting wider.
Kicking faster, the walls and the rocks above me disappeared. I raised my head and didn’t feel rocks and realized the current had slowed down as well, like I swam into an open space. I flapped my wings, rising up and up through the dark water, lashing my tail to drive myself forward. I was deeper than I had realized, far below the surface. Then I saw glowing dots above me.
Stars? I thought, Am I really already outside?
I bursted out of the water and started to breath. Oxygen going in and out of my lungs. I thought I was outside, but heard the sound of my breathing, echoing off the rock walls around me. 
I spread my wings over the surface of the water, to stay up float. The current was still going sluggishly somewhere below my talons. All was dark around me except for those points of light overhead.
Glowworms.
I was still under the mountain, in a cave full of thousands of glowworms. The eerie little insects pulsed with a greenish light. Glowing tendrils hung from several of them, like a shimmer curtain far above me, and around me in the pool’s reflection. By the dim light, I could sort of see the arch of the walls.
I wasn’t outside, but at least I was breathing. The water was so cold, that I couldn’t feel the tip of my tail, and outer ridge of my wings. I tried breathing out a burst of fire into the air, but I was too cold, and only shot up a small flicker of flame. It was more than I could bear myself to duck back underwater. I finally took another deep breath and dove back down.
For a horrendous moment, I had thought I had lost the current. I had no idea where I had come in. I had no idea if the river even left this cave. What if this wide, quiet pool, was the end? Could I make it back to my friends, fighting the strong current the whole way?
As I floated there, thinking about the consequences, I realized there was something carrying me along. It was weaker, but the current was there. I spread my wings wide and stretched my tail down, to let myself drift like a leaf until I was sure which direction it went.
On the far side of the cave, in the dim light of the glowworms, I found a passageway where the river left the pool. The ceiling was still far above me, so I could swim and breath for a while longer.
I beat my wings to push myself forward through the water. It was peaceful and creepy at the same time, with all those star-worms glowing overhead like a million silver eyes. But it was much preferable to solid rock, complete darkness and no air.
After a while, the current picked up again. My wings brushed against the rock walls, making me bring my wings close to my body. As the walls got closer, fewer glowworms appeared and farther in between. The darkness felt like it was pressing me, like Kestrel’s talons crushing me during battle training. And then I heard roaring.
My ears perked up. Was it dragons? My first thought was that I was hearing Kestrel roar in fury as she found out I was gone, or because of what happened with Morrowseer. But I was too far away to hear it.
Then I started to worry. What would Kestrel do when she found out that I was missing? Would she punish the others? Especially Tsunami, half blind and still trying to get used to it? No. She wouldn’t. Not in front of Peril.
Peril. I thought, gloomily
I was so distracted worrying about my friends, that it took me a moment to realize that the roaring was getting louder. Suddenly I bashed into a boulder sticking out of the river. Reeling with agony, I spun in the water, flailing for a hold on something.
I crashed into another rock, bounced off, and slammed into yet another. The river was going fast, so fast, that I couldn’t stop myself. I was being dragged toward the roaring at top speed.
With a jarring shock, I hit a spur of stone and dug my talons into it. The rushing water, whipped past me, seizing my tail, and wings, with icy desperate claws. I fought my way out of the river until, I stoop gasping on bare rock.
I swepped my tail around, trying to figure out how big the rock I was standing on was. It was big. It stretched farther than he reach. I edged forward until I was sure I was standing on the bank of the river. A slope beside me rose away from the water.
I could feel a small trickle of stream bubbling down the slope, joining the river below.  I dropped my head, trying to think. Now that I was out of the ice cold water, the frozen feeling had penetrated deep. It frosted around my bones.
I coughed, hoping to summon fire, but it was no use. Some dragons had fire from within them at all times,; a SkyWing, or a NightWing could blast flames anytime. SeaWings and IceWings could never breath fire, but one could breath underwater, while the other could breath deadly frostbreath. But dragons like MudWings, needed the right conditions; warmth most of all.
My mind deviated back to Peril. She had too much fire, and couldn’t stop it from spreading across her scales. Kestrel painful words about not being able to breath fire properly clawed at my mind. I shook my head vigorously, trying to shake off the memories.
I shall find a way, I thought
I scavenged through my memory, to try and figure out what the roaring was. I clawed through memories, from the times the Guardians would take us outside. My eyes snapped open.
Waterfall. I thought
I had never been close to waterfalls, only ever seen them from a distance. And I didn’t feel like experiencing one in the dark. Even if I could fly over it, without my sight, I’d be sure to run into something and crash. But couldn’t I leave the river… could I?
I set one talon in the little stream, and was surprised that it was warmer than the river. Where did it come from? Surely it came from above. Surely from the surface. 
I inhaled, hoping to catch the scent of the outside, but there was only the faint smell of something rotten.
I set my jaw. The stream had to lead somewhere. Somewhere not over a waterfall. I spread my wings to feel the cave walls and slowly crept up the stream, slipping every now and then on the slick stone.
Soon I felt a ledge ahead of me. I climbed over it and splashed into a deeper pool. The rotten smell was much worse up here. I tried to wade forward, and the water crept up my legs. I heard movement, and felt the water ripple around my talons. 
“Hello?” I asked, nervously.
I continued walking around, and heard more movement around me. Something else was here. Someone was here. Suddenly I felt a stinging pain slice through the scales on my back.
“You can’t save them…” A voice hissed
Cold talons wrapped around my throat, and threw me to the ground. The talons held me down, and I thought I was going to drown, but the talons let go. I saw a flash of purple and silver but it quickly disappeared. The other dragon was gone. I quickly raised my head out of the water, gasping for air.
Questions raced through me head. Who was that? Do they know about my friends? Why couldn’t I save them? I stood up and fell backwards, and something slimy caught on my wings and a similar ragged pain went through the open wounds. I quickly pulled my wings close to my body, the stickiness coming along with it. It felt like Dune’s tail stabbing me in a million places, dissolving my scales from the inside out.
I let out an agonized yell, and tried to stumble back down the slope to the river. I heard someone snicker in the background of my yell. I lost the feeling of the stream under my claws.
I was stumbling blind over bare rocks, my open wound on my back, being stabbed by shards. Frantic escape of pain, I lunged toward the sound of the waterfall. My head collided with something hard that knocked me to the cave floor. 
I failed them, I thought as I lost consciousness, I can’t save them.
This story has been discontinued, and will be rewritten.Category:FanfictionsCategory:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)