The Hybrid's Hope (Fanfiction)

The Hybrid's Hope is a fanfiction taking place a few years after the events of book 15, Flames of Hope. I'll be posting chapters when I remember to, and there will be a book two, called The Dark Legacy which will be posted when when I've finished posting The Hybrid's Hope, though it may be unfinished at that time. This was a team effort, written by me (PythontheSea-Rain-Hybrid) and my friend (Starscatter-the-AbyssWing!) 
DO NOT: Claim characters as your own! Claim the Fanfic as your own! DO NOT EDIT THIS PAGE IN ANY WAY! 
Thank ya! 
Warning!!!!! Chance of mature content! Reader discretion is advised. 
Without further ado, let's jump into the prologue, which is in our antagonist's POV! 
= Prologue =
Basilisk was shocked. Me? An Animus? She thought. A few moments passed, and a wicked grin slowly spread on her face. I will be unstoppable! She thought triumphantly. 
I will find my father and my brother, and they will be sorry for abandoning April Showers and I. Basilisk got up. With her new found power she could do anything she wanted! Basilisk stared at the deformed, ugly, and absolutely useless tail barb on the end of her tail. She grabbed a leaf from a tree nearby and gazed at it for a moment. Basilisk gathered her thoughts and whispered to the leaf.
“I enchant this leaf to remove my SandWing tail barb once it is damaged by RainWing venom, and to erase everyone’s memories of the tail barb.” Basilisk set the leaf down for a second, looked at the disgusting tail barb, and dripped her venom onto the leaf. The leaf shot out of her talons and circled her tail barb. Slowly the leaf grew bigger and bigger until it covered the tail barb completely. The now larger leaf clung to the tail barb, her venom spreading across the leaf. 
Suddenly pain shot from her tail. Basilisk gasped, clapping her talons over her mouth. After a few moments, Basilisk turned to look at the end of her tail. The leaf was peeling away from her tail, black and wilted. Basilisk carefully peeled the rest of the leaf away, and her tail had a small scar on the end, where the ugly tail barb had once been.
“Woah.” Basilisk whispered. 
She smiled. “This is . . .” Her talon clenched. “Perfect.”
Basilisk turned and flew back to the RainWing village. Her mother, April Showers, spotted her. She waved, her scales turning a rose pink as Basilisk got closer. 
“Hi April Showers.” Basilisk said, landing beside her mother. 
Canary slipped out of the treetops, landing on the platform beside them. 
Basilisk curled her tail around the railing, and both of the RainWings stared at her tail, looking confused. They both shook their heads, and then the confusion was gone and they looked like nothing had happened. 
The enchantment worked.  She thought, her thoughts blasting into celebration. She looked up at the sun, which was peaking through the treetops. “Sun time!” She said, launching into the air and through the canopy to a platform. I am unstoppable now. I will find them. They will be sorry. She thought as she settled down for sun time.
Her eyes closed as her mind drifted to thoughts of revenge.
=== Chapter 1 ===
The wind howled as sand whipped around Anaconda. He was flying low through a sandstorm, to the Scorpion Den. He had grown up there when Queen Thorn was leading there. He snarled as a stray tumbleweed smacked into his face. Anaconda beat his wings harder to gain altitude and fly above the sand. He sighed. The sky was mostly cloudy, but a sliver of the sun was peeking through the clouds.
He spotted a dot on the horizon and recognised the Scorpion Den. He slipped into a glide as he left the sandstorm behind him. 
“Anaconda!” A SandWing guard below called, raising a talon. “Where were you?”
“Oh, just hunting a bit, Cacti.” Anaconda called back, landing and holding up a few lizards.
Cacti smirked. “Uhuh. What about flying through the sandstorm?”
Anaconda rolled his eyes with a hiss. “It was in my way.”
Cacti held back a laugh and let him pass, with a sidelong glance at him. “Stay out of trouble.”
Anaconda let out a short bark of laughter. “Oh, I would never.” Anaconda replied as he passed. 
Inside the Scorpion Den was exactly as he remembered it. Stalls here and there with dragons selling different things and yelling over each other. 
“Want some salted camel meat?” A vendor called, waving at Anaconda as he passed. He was promptly ignored as Anaconda continued to walk farther into the heart of the Scorpion Den. A few dragons attempted to give him their cards, but Anaconda hissed at them, swatting their talons away from his face. 
As he neared the oasis, he paused. 
“Anaconda?” A voice called.
He turned. A tall rainwing stood behind him. “I was looking for you!”
“Who . . ?” Anaconda started. “Excuse me?”
The RainWing laughed lightly. “I know a relative of yours, and was sent to find you.” He grinned. “I’m Canary.” He turned a brilliant yellow with spots of brown, pink, blue, and orange. 
Anaconda grabbed Canary and hurried into an alleyway. “You can’t stand out here, okay? You’ll draw too much attention. Now try to look like a regular SandWing, and let’s get out of here.” Anaconda hissed. 
Canary blinked. “So you’ll come back to the Rainforest? I’m so glad—”
“No.” Anaconda snapped. “I’m no RainWing.”
Canary looked surprised. “What?”
Anaconda hissed, raising his tail barb and baring his teeth. “I said, I’m. No. RainWing.”
Canary flinched and took a step back, his scales fading to the sandy color of Anaconda’s scales. “Right. Not a RainWing.” He peeped, his frills pressed against his head.
Anaconda flicked his tail and stormed out of the alleyway, heading for a different way out of the Scorpion Den.
He stomped past a snake vendor, and the SandWing eyed him strangely. Anaconda noticed this and shot a glare at the SandWing. 
As he reached the outskirts of the Den, he threw a lizard into his jaws and chomped angrily. Canary was hurrying after him and made a face as Anaconda ate the lizard. 
“Excuse me?” Canary said.
Anaconda whipped around and glared. “What?”
“Um, well . . .” Canary stuttered, red and blue outlining his wings. “I was wondering if you would consider meeting your relatives—I can bring them here, you don’t have to go . . .” He started rambling, his claws fidgeting with the sand under his talons.
Anaconda cut him off with a snarl. “Don’t you dare bring any more RainWings here, or I swear, I will stomp on your tail.” 
As he said this, they exited the Scorpion Den.
“Ahaha . . . ahaha. You’re serious.” Canary peeped. 
“Of course I’m serious!” Anaconda snapped, shoving him into the sand. “Let’s get moving.” Anaconda growled.
Canary nodded quickly, turning an eye-scorching shade of pale green and blue. “Uhuh. Wait, let’s?” Canary asked, hints of bright pink flashing on his scales. 
Anaconda hissed, raising his tail barb again. “Don’t patronize me, or I won’t go.” Anaconda snapped, as Canary quickly switched his scales back to his SandWing disguise. Anaconda roughly pulled Canary back to his talons and shoved him forward. 
“Let’s GO already.” He hissed. The sun had set now, and Anaconda wanted to get moving as quickly as possible. 
“Um, uh, yeah, right. Going.” Canary launched into the air with a celebratory clap, sending sand flying in all directions.
Anaconda growled and took off after him, his tail barb slicing through the sand sent flying from Canary.
“We’re going to the rainforest!” Canary sang under his breath, looking back to see Anaconda glowering at him. 
----
When they reached the rainforest, Canary chirped with glee, as if he was a bird. 
“How do you live here?” Anaconda huffed, pulling a wing free from tangling vines. Canary didn’t respond, just let out a whistle. 
Anaconda grunted as they traveled through the rainforest. Eventually, they reached the Rain-Night village as the sun started to rise over the canopy.
It was a beautiful place, with dragons bustling about, and birds singing in the trees. The coconut-husk roofs of the houses were dripping with dew, and the reed-woven walls were a brilliant green.
Anaconda huffed. Why did I agree to this?
Canary grinned and waved at a bright orange dragon. “Hey Clementine! I found him!”
The orange dragon sat up with an annoyed expression. “I’m surprised you didn’t die.” She yawned and lay back down.
“Who’s that?” Anaconda asked dryly.
“Clementine was a NightWing prisoner in the great war. She’s always in a bad mood.” Canary flashed pink and yellow as a dragonet swooped into his arms.
“Aww, hello Radiance.” He smiled at the dragonet.
“Dawdaw!” Radiance peeped. “I want to play!”
Anaconda glared at the whining dragonet, and she turned a deep blue and neon green. 
Canary looked at Anaconda with a, Stop scaring my kid look.
Anaconda sighed. “Are we going? Or can I go back to the Scorpion Den while you fawn over your dragonet?”
Canary rolled his eyes and Radiance jumped away. “Okay, okay. Come on, I’ll show you to your mother.”
Anaconda stopped mid-wingbeat. “My what?”
Canary cocked his head. “Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you. We’re going to see your mother.”
Anaconda breathed a plume of smoke. “Are. You. Kidding?” He growled. “You said relative.”
Canary nodded, and swooped onto a balcony. “She is your relative.”
“I don’t know her! What am I supposed to say?” Anaconda hissed. “This was a horrible idea.” He turned as if to leave, but Canary caught his wing.
“Oh, come on. You’ve come this far. You’re lucky we found her—we don’t usually keep track of who’s related to who.” 
Anaconda growled. Because you’re too lazy. He thought irritably. “Lucky me.” He said, rolling his eyes. 
Canary ignored this comment and launched off, dragging Anaconda after him. They flew through the rainforest, Canary easily making his way between the trees. Anaconda found it easier to get through this part of the rainforest, though he guessed Canary was trying to help him by picking a different path. 
After a few minutes of navigating through the trees, Canary landed on a platform on the outskirts of the village. A small hut sat in front of them. The small hut looked a bit run-down. Canary let out a bird-like whistle and a blue-ish RainWing head poked out of the run-down hut. 
“What do you want-” The RainWing stopped. She stepped out of the den. Her wingspan looked like shining dewdrops had landed on her wings and implanted their beauty into her wingspan. 
“Who are you?” The RainWing demanded, looking straight at Anaconda. 
“This is-OW!” Canary exclaimed as Anaconda stomped on his tail. 
“Who. Are. You?” The RainWing repeated, glaring at Anaconda. 
Anaconda looked unimpressed. “I’m Anaconda.” He said flatly. “Who are you?” 
The RainWing looked a little annoyed. “I’m April Showers.” She growled, turning to go back into the hut. Canary jumped in front of her. 
“Get out of my way, Canary!” April Showers snapped. Canary didn’t budge. He whispered something to her, and April Showers reluctantly turned around.
Anaconda stared at her as she observed him with intense scrutiny.
“Anaconda, right?” She growled, her face slightly softening.
“Indeed.” He hissed. Why did I even agree to come here? He thought to himself
“I didn’t think . . .” She trailed off, staring at the area behind his horns. “Wow.”
Anaconda lashed his tail. “What is your problem? I can’t believe I even came—”
April Showers interrupted him. “Was your father’s name Viper?”
Anaconda couldn’t help himself. His tail raised above his head and his RainWing frills flared open. He hissed at her, “How do you know that name?”
April Showers turned a pale shade of blue. “I . . . Where is he?”
Anaconda bared his teeth. “He was murdered six years ago.”
She faded to a pale green and almost white-blue. “Really?”
Anaconda stood down. “Yes. Why would a lazy RainWing care about my—about Viper?”
April Showers took Anaconda’s talons in her’s. “I’m so sorry.” Tears filled her eyes. “I thought . . . he said he would come back with you.”
Anaconda pulled away. “What are you talking about?” He hissed.
“He never came back.” She whispered, turning away. “I’m so sorry.”
Canary stepped off the platform and flew into a tree a little ways away, turning an awkward shade of yellow and orange.
Anaconda observed April Showers. Do I know this dragon? He thought to himself, shooting a quick glance at Canary. Canary shrugged and faded to the background. Anaconda scowled and waited, his tail swishing back and forth behind him. 
After a bit April Showers looked  over her shoulder to see Anaconda pacing behind her. Her scales had turned a blue-gray.
Anaconda stopped in his tracks. About time. He thought to himself. 
“Look, Anaconda.” She said. “I don’t know how to put this but . . .”
“You are my mother, aren’t you?” Anaconda said, more dryly then he meant. 
April Showers suddenly embraced him with her wings. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Viper said he would bring you back to the Rainforest. I was so busy, I just thought he had taken you away.”
Anaconda tried to pull away, but April Showers grabbed his talons. “Please, let me make up for all of the years apart. Please, Anaconda, let me—”
“NO!” Anaconda wrenched away. “You can’t make me a RainWing. I am a SandWing!”
“Please, son. You can stay here with me, where you can be accepted for who you are. I have so much to teach you—”
Anaconda swiped his tail barb close to April Showers wing. A little too close.
She roared as the poison started spreading. Canary–now a shade of pale orange and red—plowed past Anaconda, and screamed for help.
Anaconda backed away slowly as April Showers turned a deathly white and pale green, with blue-gray spots on her tail
“Please!” She yelled, trying to get to Anaconda. “Son, I’m sorry!”
Anaconda was still stunned as blue, dark blue, dark green, pale green, and orange RainWings poured onto the balcony, shoving Anaconda off. He hovered for a moment, then took off into the trees.
=== Chapter 2 ===
Anaconda flew out of the rainforest. He was not, under any circumstances, becoming a RainWing. Though he did feel a little bad for hurting his mother, even if he barely knew her. I never needed her. He thought to himself. I had Queen Thorn. She was all I needed.  His father, Viper, had been one of her Outclaws, so when he was murdered, Queen Thorn had taken him in. 
A day later, he reached the Scorpion Den. Cacti instantly saw him. 
“Anaconda!” He called. “Where have you been this time?” 
Anaconda landed next to Cacti. “None of your business.” He snapped. Cacti frowned for a moment, then stepped back, allowing him into the Den. 
Anaconda marched through the Scorpion Den. He soon found himself somewhere he thought he’d never return to. 
It was the place he had lived in before Viper had been murdered. It still sat empty, even after six years. Anaconda slowly opened the door. 
It looked exactly the same as when he’d last seen the home. Quite a bit dustier, yes, but other than that, it was the same. 
He looked around the main room and kitchen before heading deeper into the home. He came into a room that was all too familiar to him. My room. He thought. A small toy lay untouched on the floor. Anaconda picked it up. He remembered playing with this toy nearly every day of his dragonet-hood. It was a toy SandWing. He knew he had others of the other tribes somewhere, as he had played with them all together in mock-battles. Anaconda set down the toy and stepped out of the room.
A dusty knife sat on the table. It was rusted and small, but was tipped with a dry purple substance.
Anaconda poked back into his room and sifted through the dusty toy box.
His breath caught as he felt a folded paper in the bottom.
It’s still here. He thought, removing it.
It had messy writing on it, and said,
Dear Viper.
I hope you receive this. I think about you every day. I never stop thinking about you, and my dragonet. Have you decided on a name? When are you coming back? Please come soon. Love you.
—A.S.
Anaconda gasped. When he had swiped it from his father years ago, he never guessed who it was from. Anaconda closed his eyes, and he was taken back to that day.
A dusty yellow dragonet, around a year old, squeaked pitifully as a larger, meaner-looking dragon bared his teeth.
A dusty yellow dragonet, around a year old, squeaked pitifully as a larger, meaner-looking dragon bared his teeth.
“Anaconda! Why is water everywhere?!” He demanded angrily.
“Sorry.” Anaconda mumbled.
“WHY?” He swiped his tail across the air.
“Oi spilt it.” Anaconda fumbled. “I wanned aw drink.”
“Didn’t I tell you to save some until I got home?” Viper snarled. “Didn't I?
“Yes.” Anaconda meeped.
“Go to your room. Looks like I’ll have to clean up your mess again.” Viper ordered.
“Yessir.” Anaconda peeped.
He turned tail and dashed into his room, tears in his eyes.
“Stupid dragonet!” Viper raged. “I should’ve gotten rid of him a long time ago.”
Anaconda sighed. Father gets like that when he visits the Dizzy Dreamer before he comes home. 
The Dizzy Dreamer was the tavern not two blocks from their home, and Viper visited occasionally, usually having too much to drink.
“ANACONDA!” Viper hollered, poking his head in Anaconda’s room. “Why is your room a mess?”
“I wa’ playing Sea versus Sand.” Anaconda smiled slightly. “Sand always wins.”
Viper bared his teeth. “Pick them up now.” He softened slightly. “Please.”
Anaconda huffed, and resolved to get back at his father. He didn’t want Viper to go to the Dizzy Dreamer ever again.
A few hours later, Anaconda tip-toed from his room. 
Viper was fast asleep on the kitchen table, a knife clenched in his talons.
Anaconda quietly pushed open the door, noticing a leaf envelope sitting on the front step. Silently, he snatched it from the steps, quietly closing the door again. Placing it in his mouth, he silently ran back to his room.
After he was safely in his quarters, he ripped open the envelope.
A folded letter lay inside, and, not being able to read, Anaconda promptly stuffed it in the bottom of his dragon toy drawer.
Anaconda smirked proudly, thinking, That’ll teach him. He’ll never get rid o’ me! I’ll make him proud and be the best thief ever. And when he forgives me, I’ll show him the letter. 
Anaconda sighed. He looked at the letter in his talons. Memories floated around in his head. He got up and shook his head, slipping the letter into a pouch on his shoulder. He quickly exited his home, heading for the Oasis. 
Unfortunately, when he stepped out of the door, there was a SandWing standing there. Anaconda jumped. This dragon looked almost exactly like Viper. 
“Who are you?” He hissed. The dragon stared blankly at him. 
“Who do you think I am?” The dragon snapped. She grabbed him and pulled him inside the house. She quickly locked the door behind her. Suddenly, her scales seemed to cascade off her, replaced with emerald-green and gold, with spots of dark red. A RainWing! He thought angrily. She turned to look at him. 
“WHY WOULD YOU DO TH-” She started to roar but Anaconda grabbed her snout and clamped it shut. “Shhh!” He hissed. She glared at him. After a moment, he let go. 
“Why are you here? I told Canary to keep RainWings away from the Scorpion Den!” He hissed. 
“I wasn’t sent by Canary, idiot.” She snapped. “And you are technically a RainWing too.” Fury blazed in Anaconda’s eyes like a lit bonfire. 
“I AM NOT A RAINWING!” He roared furiously, forgetting that he himself had told her to be quiet just moments before.
“YOU ARE TOO!” She roared back. Anaconda leaped at her. “I’M NOT A RAINWING!” He roared as he barreled into her. The RainWing quickly dodged, but he at least landed on her tail. She hissed in pain and leaped at him. 
At that moment, Anaconda did something he’d never done before. He opened his mouth like a snake, and a black liquid shot from his fangs. The RainWing’s eyes widened in shock and fear. It splattered across her chest. 
She roared in agony, and crumpled to the ground. She slowly picked herself up and sat there for a moment. She opened her mouth and let her own venom drip onto her chest. The venom from Anaconda dissipated, but there was still a ring of black on her chest. 
She winced and slowly got up. Anaconda was frozen in place, shocked.
“See?” She said, “RainWing.” Anaconda hissed dangerously. He spat a small flame at her in warning. 
“Who are you?” He demanded. The RainWing rolled her eyes.
“Anaconda, who do you think I am?” She hissed, her scales a beautiful green like the trees at the Oasis. 
“You are most definitely not April Showers.” He said. She shook her head. “No, I am not April Showers.” She suddenly became a blur as she rushed at him and pinned him to the wall, her talons at his throat. 
“Why would you hurt her?” She hissed intensely. Anaconda stiffened. “It was an accident, you lizard-brain.” He snapped. The RainWing gripped his neck. He breathed as deeply as he could, but it wasn’t much because of her tight grip. 
“Who am I, Anaconda?” She demanded. Without letting him answer, she tightened her grip again. “I’m your sister.” She hissed. Anaconda took one more breath and then decisively went limp. Surprised, his sister dropped him. 
Instantly he was up again and this time, she was pinned to the wall. He was letting her breathe easily, but definitely ready to change that in a moment's notice. 
“You stole my father.” She hissed.
“I did no such thing.” He said. “At least I got an honorable parent instead of a lazy RainWing.” 
His sister hissed. “April Showers is not a lazy RainWing.” 
Anaconda ignored this comment. 
Suddenly, he froze. His ear twitched as there were talon steps outside. “Quickly!” He hissed, letting go of his sister’s neck and grabbing her wrist. 
He dragged her along to his room, where he quickly opened the window. There was a small platform, and he hurried on, turning to his right and leaping to one identical slightly above him. 
An eerie thumping noise came from inside the home.
“What in Pyrria happened in here?” A muffled voice came.
“No idea.” Another one said. 
Anaconda turned to the now emerald RainWing. “Who are you?” he demanded.
“My name is Basilisk. No thanks to Father.” Basilisk hissed.
Anaconda stomped on her tail. “Go. Away. I don’t need you or anyone.”
Basilisk turned an angry orange and black. “I don’t need you either. I hate you. You stole father’s attention for six whole years. I just need to know where he is.”
Anaconda blinked in surprise. “You don’t know?” He asked.
“Know what?” She demanded, her frills spreading. 
“Father—Viper is dead. Assassinated.” The words stung on Anaconda’s tongue.
“By who?!” Basilisk exclaimed, at Anaconda’s throat again.
Anaconda struggled to breathe. “I . . . don’t know!” he choked out. 
Basilisk let go, and her scales faded to a dark blue, and blue-gray. “Why?”
Anaconda spread his wings. “He owed a debt and didn’t pay it back. He used the money for food for me.” Anaconda jumped into the air and flew into the sand outside the Scorpion Den.
“Wait!” Basilisk tackled Anaconda out of the sky and they tumbled into the dunes. “Wait, tell me something.”
“What?” Anaconda demanded.
“Why did Viper not come back to the Rainforest?” Basilisk asked, a dark green spot appearing on her head.
“I don’t know.” Anaconda said simply.
“Yes you do!” Basilisk growled. “Why?”
Anaconda turned and held his tail up. “Fine. He said he needed to finish things up before he could give me a ‘better life’”
Basilisk suddenly turned dark purple and green. “What?”
“I said—”
“I heard you.” Basilisk whimpered. “So he did want to come back.”
SandWings don’t belong in the Rainforest anyway, but Viper really thought it would be better for me. Anaconda thought to himself. 
“At least Queen Thorn took me in when he died.” Anaconda said quietly. Basilisk looked at him strangely. “The Queen took you in?” Anaconda nodded.
“She wasn’t Queen of the SandWings then, but she was basically Queen of the Scorpion Den. Viper was one of her Outclaws.” Anaconda explained. Basilisk hissed. 
“Outclaws?” She growled.
“I know what you’re thinking. They’re basically the guardians of the Scorpion Den, keeping as much peace as possible throughout the Den.” Anaconda gestured for her to follow him. 
When Anaconda stopped, they were at the main entrance to the Scorpion Den. Two SandWings stood guard on either side. Basilisk had disguised herself as a SandWing again, which Anaconda had to admit she was pretty good at. 
Anaconda gestured to Cacti, who always seemed to be on guard here. Anaconda strode forward, with Basilisk in tow. 
“Anaconda!” Cacti called as he spotted him.
“Hey Cacti.” Anaconda said as he got closer. “Who’s this?” Cacti asked, looking at Basilisk. 
“A friend.” Anaconda replied. “She’s visiting. Would you care to tell her more about the Outclaws and the Scorpion Den?” 
“Of course I’ll tell her!” Cacti said, beaming. After Anaconda had introduced the two, he sat back as Cacti started to explain what he knew, answering Basilisk’s questions. 
I wonder who killed Father. Anaconda thought. He had never known just who Father had owed a debt to, but he knew he had owed a debt to someone. 
But who? Who could it be? Anaconda wondered. He was quickly lost in his own thoughts, but was pulled back into reality by Cacti. 
“Anaconda? Anaconda! Helloooooo?” 
Anaconda looked up. “What?” He said, nearly snapping at Cacti but holding himself back, as Cacti had basically done them a favor just now, explaining things to Basilisk. 
“I’ve finished explaining all the things!” Cacti said cheerfully. I swear he's the happiest dragon in the Scorpion Den. Anaconda thought. 
Basilisk sighed as Anaconda pulled her aside. “What?” She hissed.
“Now will you leave me alone?” Anaconda demanded.
Suddenly, huge wingbeats sent sand flying in all directions. Twelve SkyWings landed just a few feet from the two siblings.
“Hello!” Cacti called. “What is your business here?”
The leader stepped up. He was an almost black red, with dapples of orange and dark ruby. He snorted a plume of flame at the sand. “My business is none of your business,” He snapped. “Go stick your nostrils in a sand dune.” He moved as if to enter, but two guards with spears blocked his path.
“I said,” Cacti repeated, stepping in front of him, all cheerfulness gone from his voice. “What is your business here?”
The SkyWing glared at him. “My name is Commander Ashen. I’m here on business looking for a fugitive. This is my battalion.”
Cacti nodded slowly. “What fugitive? If we agree to let you keep your weapons, we must escort you.”
Ashen glared harshly. Two Skywings with spears stepped up to his side. “I’m looking for a RainWing.” 
Cacti covered a laugh as a snort. “A RainWing?” He smirked. “What did they do, kill Scarlet? Oh wait, that was a ‘Dragonet of Destiny.’” 
Ashen suddenly smacked the guards away with his huge wings, sending Cacti flying into the sand a few yards away.
Before Anaconda knew what he was doing, he leapt in front of the SkyWing commander and raised his tail barb. “You’ve assaulted the guards at the Scorpion Den.” He hissed furiously as the dragons inside the Scorpion Den all looked over, listening. “I suggest you stand down.”
Ashen bared his teeth. “You really want to fight me, dragonet?”
“I’m no dragonet!” Anaconda roared. “NOW GET OUT!”
Multiple other dragons running stands grabbed weapons and stood by Anaconda, who bared his teeth threateningly, with his tail barb still raised. 
Commander Ashen narrowed his eyes. “You’ll regret this, SandWing.” He backed away slowly, then turned and flew away.
Anaconda hissed after him. I won’t regret this, he’ll regret ever getting mixed up with the Outclaws and the rest of the Scorpion Den. Anaconda thought fiercely. 
Basilisk stepped up next to him. “Well that was entertaining.” She said. Anaconda turned to her with a glare. “Entertaining?” He hissed. As soon as Commander Ashen had said he was looking for a RainWing, his mind had brought up his sister as a suspect. 
Anaconda gestured for Basilisk to follow him, and they flew out into the desert in silence. 
=== Chapter 3 ===
Anaconda landed in the middle of the desert, Basilisk just behind him. Anaconda whirled around. “Why was Commander Ashen looking for a RainWing?” He demanded. “What did you do?” Basilisk said nothing. “What. Did. You. DO?” He snarled. A smug look appeared on Basilisk’s face. Anaconda hissed, his tail barb swishing through the sand behind him. Basilisk grinned in an unnerving way, which sent a shiver through him from horns to his tail.
“What did I do?” She asked. “I only killed Commander Ashen’s sister, who happened to be rather close to Queen Ruby.” She hissed, looking very proud of herself. 
“Why did you? . . how . . . what!?” Anaconda was at a loss for words. Basilisk grinned. “What do you think, brother?” She hissed. “How could I possibly kill Commander Ashen’s sister?” Anaconda scowled. 
“Get out of here, and don’t you dare ever come back to the Kingdom of Sand, or I will turn you in.” Anaconda snarled, taking a threatening step towards her. Basilisk snorted, looking unconcerned. 
“Alright, fine, brother.” She said smoothly. “I’ll go, but I won’t promise that I’ll never come back.” Her voice was sickly-sweet.  Anaconda felt a chill run up his spine. 
“Go before I change my mind.” Anaconda snapped. Basilisk rolled her eyes and leaped majestically into the air, her scales shimmering until she vanished against the clear blue sky.  Anaconda had a bad feeling about his sister. 
She’s definitely hiding something . . . Anaconda thought. He pushed his thoughts on his sister and flew back to the Scorpion Den. He landed at the entrance and saw Cacti, who looked shaken. 
“Are you okay Cacti?” Anaconda asked as he walked over. Cacti nodded. 
“Just a little winded.” He said, shaking sand off of himself. Anaconda nodded and entered the Scorpion Den. He headed towards the Oasis, and soon found himself there. He sat down at the edge of the water and got lost in his thoughts. Suddenly he remembered something. 
“Yes sir!” Two-year-old Anaconda squealed cheerfully. Viper had asked him to go deliver a letter to Thorn, and Anaconda was thrilled. He darted back into the Scorpion Den, as Viper was on guard duty at the entrance. He raced through the Scorpion Den to the Oasis, dodging dragons nimbly without losing speed. 
He skidded to a stop when he heard a friendly voice call his name. 
“Anaconda!” 
He whirled around to find the speaker and came face-to-face with his best friend. 
“Cacti!” He exclaimed. Cacti grinned. “What are you doing over here, Anaconda?” Cacti asked warmly. “Delivering a letter to Thorn for my father.” Anaconda replied proudly, puffing out his chest with pride. Cacti smiled. 
“Do you want me to go with you when you deliver the letter?” Cacti asked. 
Anaconda nodded eagerly. Not only did he want his best friend to be there just for the fun of it, he had also been a little- well, a lot- nervous about talking to the great leader of the Scorpion Den by himself.
Together, Cacti and Anaconda went to see Thorn.
Anaconda sighed. Good times. When he was care-free. When Viper was still alive.
Anaconda sighed. Good times. When he was care-free. When Viper was still alive.
He got up and lifted off from the edge of the water and flew out of the Scorpion Den, heading towards Thorn’s palace. He didn’t exactly know why he was, but he felt he should, and so he did. 
The large stronghold loomed into sight, the strong walls that Burn had built around it during the War of SandWing Succession still standing. In place of the dragon heads Burn had liked to display, guards sat atop the walls instead. 
Anaconda landed by the entrance and saw two guards. He approached confidently. 
As he approached, one of the guards called to him. 
“What is your business here?” The guard asked in a commanding and intimidating voice that was not to be disobeyed. 
“I have come to deliver a message to Her Majesty, Queen Thorn.” Anaconda replied in an equally intimidating voice. The guards looked unimpressed. 
“What sort of message?” The guard hissed, looking at Anaconda suspiciously. 
“Information she might need.” Anaconda snapped. Both guards looked unconvinced. 
“Who are you?” The other guard asked. 
“Anaconda of the Outclaws. From the Scorpion Den where Queen Thorn ruled before she ruled the tribe. Surely you’ve heard of them.” Anaconda replied, his tail swishing through the sand behind him. The guards shot glances at each other. 
After a quick discussion between the two, one of the guards entered the stronghold. A few minutes later, the guard returned, had a quick discussion with the other guard, and turned to look at him. 
“You may proceed.” The guard said, definitely not looking happy about it. Anaconda nodded and entered the Stronghold. Two more guards inside escorted him to a large white tent, which stood by the largest oasis in the stronghold. 
It was very much like the tent Queen Thorn had in the Scorpion Den. 
“Your Majesty?” One of the guards called. 
“Come in!” Thorn’s cheerful voice replied from inside the tent. 
Anaconda followed the guards into the tent. Thorn sat majestically on a small throne inside, the Eye of Onyx gleaming from its place on Thorn’s neck. Thorn spotted Anaconda and her face lit up. 
“Anaconda!” She exclaimed, climbing off her throne to stand in front of him. 
Anaconda bowed. “Nice to see you again, Your Majesty.” He said with a smile. 
“No need for formalities, Anaconda.” Thorn said warmly. “How’s the Scorpion Den?” She asked. Anaconda stood.
“The Scorpion Den is well, though there was recently a scuffle with a large patrol of SkyWings there.”
Thorn instantly looked concerned. “Scuffle? What sort of scuffle?”
“Commander Ashen of the SkyWings was looking for a RainWing there, and knocked the Outclaws on duty from the entrance. Of course, the rest of the Scorpion Den and I wouldn’t stand such rudeness to our Outclaws and we shooed him away . . . for now. I have no doubt he’ll be back.” Anaconda said. “But that’s not entirely the reason I came here.”
The guards had left the tent, and Thorn had started pacing as he’d explained what had happened. She stopped pacing as soon as he said that wasn’t entirely the reason he’d come. 
“Then what is your reason for coming here?” Thorn asked.
Anaconda took a deep breath. “Well, apparently the RainWing he was looking for had killed his sister, who was close to Queen Ruby.” Anaconda paused, and after a moment, he continued. “And… that RainWing turns out to be my sister.” 
Thorn looked shocked. “Your… sister?” 
“Yes, Queen Thorn.” Anaconda said. Thorn frowned. “But you said that Ashen was looking for a RainWing. You’re not a RainWing, Anaconda.” 
Anaconda sighed and spread his RainWing frills so Thorn could see. Thorn’s eyes widened in surprise. Anaconda then showed her what else he could do. Soon his scales had shifted to match hers, the only difference being size and his RainWing frills.
Thorn gasped in surprise. 
“And there’s one more part.” Anaconda said, his scales shifting back to his own colors. He carefully grabbed a large leaf and let venom drip onto the leaf. There was a hissing sound as the leaf blackened and fell apart in his talons. Thorn stared at the leaf. 
“Woah.” She whispered. 
Anaconda sighed. “That’s the problematic part. Apparently, she has to be my sister because our venom can cancel each other's.”
Thorn nodded slowly. “I see. Then . . . she should be in custody for murder?”
Anaconda sighed again. “Yes. But . . .”
“You don’t expect me to have a murderer on the loose, do you?” Thorn asked, her voice suddenly agitated.
“No! Of course not! Er, Your Majesty. But . . . she’s my sister. I have to find her myself.” Anaconda said slowly. 
Thorn examined him. “Fine.” She said finally. “But if you need help, you know where to find me.” Her serious stare turned into a smile.
Anaconda nodded gravely. “I’ll see you . . . around.” He turned around to leave and looked back. “Oh, and I did warn her to never come back to the Kingdom of Sand.” With that, he bowed and whisked out of the tent, and exited the stronghold. 
The wind howled fiercely outside, and sand blew everywhere. Anaconda sighed. He carefully launched himself into the air and flew into the sandstorm. He gained altitude as quickly as he could, flying above the swirling sand. He slipped into a glide, watching the swirling sand below him. He heard a hiss in his ear and he looked over and saw nothing. 
He felt a shiver run down his spine as he turned and flew faster. There was a roar behind him and he felt a weight land full-force onto his back. Anaconda roared with surprise and fury as he plummeted into the sandstorm. Anaconda desperately pumped his wings, trying to regain altitude as sand whipped at his face. The weight suddenly vanished and pushed Anaconda towards the dunes below. 
Anaconda listened as hard as he could, falling backwards. He heard wingbeats and shot venom in the direction of the wingbeats. There was a shriek and scales popped into view as his venom hit the dragon’s wing, quickly eating a hole through the dragon’s wingspan. Anaconda flipped back over as the other dragon plummeted into the sand. 
Anaconda slammed full-force into the dunes. Anaconda gasped, and sand rushed into his mouth. Anaconda tried to get up and failed, falling back into the dunes. He coughed out the sand in his mouth and tried to see his attacker through the swirling sand. 
Squinting, he spotted a dragon lying in the sand. Slowly Anaconda made his way over to the dragon. The dragon’s scales gleamed white against the growing black spot on the dragon’s wing. 
A RainWing. He realized. Anaconda shuffled closer. The RainWing’s face was twisted with pain. 
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Anaconda roared.
The Rainwing gasped and their eyes rolled back in their head. 
“Oh come on, scavenger brain,” Anaconda thundered. “You tried to KILL ME?”
The Rainwing flashed dark blue and red, regaining consciousness as the venom ate away at their wing. The dragon roared and swiped at Anaconda, their yellow eyes boring into his own.
“I never did anything to you!” He roared, dodging.
The Rainwing turned green and black, growing ever more aggressive as their bone was eaten away by venom.
“AH!” Anaconda leapt back and crashed into the dune as the Rainwing shot venom over his head.
He stared at his assailer. They looked like any other rainwing, except for a new slice in their chest and an emerald earring in their left frill.
Anaconda leapt forward and ripped the earring out.
The Rainwing cried out and fell limp onto the sand.
Anaconda yelped as the Rainwing shifted back to his normal colors—It was Canary. His wing was eaten to the bone by the venom, and it was already in his bloodstream.
“Canary? Wake up!” He urged, patting the RainWing’s face.
He barely opened his eyes, sputtering, “A-Anaconda? Were . . . am . . . I?” Before his muscles relaxed—dead.
Anaconda touched his cooling scales as they drifted into a peaceful canary yellow, gold, and lavender—his normal colors.
“Canary?” Anaconda breathed. He fingered the earring, a shining emerald encased in gold lattice—he recognised it as Basilisk's.
“Basilisk . . .” He hissed, his tail swiping through the air. “What did you do?”
His frills flared up in anger and he clawed at the sand, thinking, I never should have helped her. She’s a lying . . . he stopped. If this earring . . . did something to Canary, she must have gotten it from an Amunis. Strange. Maybe she found it?
He snarled and gathered up Canary’s limp body. He flew for a while, and decided on a burial near the Rainforest.
=== Chapter 4 ===
After Anaconda had buried Canary, he flew back to the desert. I have to do something about this. I can’t let Basilisk wreak havoc on Pyrrhia. He thought fiercely. There must be a way to stop her. He honestly felt bad for killing Canary, even though he hadn’t known it was Canary and he’d done so in self-defense. Poor Canary. That thought came up through the cycle of thoughts his brain was currently repeating.
How do I stop Basilisk?
Poor Canary.
What do I do now? 
Do I tell Queen Thorn? Or someone else?
I want to tell Cacti but I don’t know what he’d think, since he did talk to her and teach her about the Outclaws.
The Outclaws! She knows how they work now! Rattlesnakes and vipers, why didn’t I think of that?
Of course you didn’t think of it, Basilisk seemed entirely normal then!
Anaconda interrupted his thoughts with an internal scream, but that only quieted them for a few moments. He quieted his thoughts with another. 
I must tell Queen Thorn. Basilisk is a threat who needs to be dealt with. But how? He wondered. I’m sure Queen Thorn will think of a way. He thought, answering his own question. 
A few hours later he reached the desert. Everything seemed peaceful, despite the danger that Anaconda knew was lurking. 
A dark shape caught his eye. Anaconda hissed quietly and shifted his scales to match the sand below as he glided lower. Basilisk’s attack had left him on edge, and he wasn’t taking any chances. He frowned, noticing that the strange’ dragon’s wing beats were… strange. Stranger still were the dragon’s wings themselves. Anaconda was perplexed. 
What’s with that dragon’s wings? He thought. As if the dragon had somehow heard his thoughts, the dragon looked down. Anaconda quickly dived into the sand, letting the sand swallow his body and he carefully poked his head out of the sand.
The black dragon landed a few tail-lengths from where he’d been standing. The black dragon had four wings. 
WHAT? He thought, shocked. How can a dragon have more than two wings? The black dragon pressed her temples. She muttered something, but Anaconda couldn’t hear, as the sand around him had settled quite annoyingly in his ears. Alarmingly, the strange dragon turned to look in his direction. 
“I know you’re there.” She called. Her wings were quite the spectacle, see-through, yes, but they shimmered in a mystifying way. Her dark scales had little sparks of silver that went from her tail-tip all the way to her head, where they circled a silver teardrop scale. Anaconda was awed by the beauty of it all. It only got more interesting when it came to her eyes. Her eyes were a blazing amber, like someone had yanked a meteor shower from the sky and stuffed it into this dragon’s eyes. 
The black dragon strode forward and nearly stepped on his muzzle. Before she could, Anaconda burst out of the sand, quickly pinning her to the sand. The dragon shrieked in surprise. “Woah!” She gasped. “Calm down, alright? Geez.” 
Anaconda raised his tail barb and slowly let her go. As soon as she was free, she jumped back from him, brushing the sand off her scales. “Attacking random dragons isn’t what I thought SandWings did.” She noted. 
Can’t trust anyone. Basilisk might have sent more to get me. I’m might be the only one who can stop her at this point. Has this dragon been sent to get me too? Like Canary? An image of the poor RainWing flashed through his mind. She may not be enchanted but she could be out to get me. Based on how she holds herself up she probably would strike with her front talons and teeth first, with her back legs pushing her off strongly to surprise me. Anaconda’s thoughts whirled around quickly, and he could barely process them himself before they vanished again.
The strange dragon shook herself as her confusion from before faded, replaced with an understanding in her eyes that Anaconda didn’t understand. 
“Who are you?” Anaconda hissed. The dragon didn’t look remotely concerned.
“I’m Meteorgaze.” She replied. 
Makes sense, I guess. He thought, looking at her eyes.
“Why are you here?” He demanded.
Meteorgaze rolled her eyes, seemingly exasperated. “Three moons, calm down. I wasn’t sent by Basilisk, whoever that is.” Anaconda went still. How does she know that? He wondered. 
“Because I’m a mindreader, of course!” Meteorgaze said with a laugh. 
A mindreader? Three moons! He thought before realizing she could probably hear that. Stay out of my HEAD, weird dragon. He thought fiercely at her. 
“Hey, I’m not that weird!” She protested.
“Then what’s with those extra wings? Looks like they came off a dragonfly or something. Did an animus dragon enchant you?” Anaconda snapped. He was most definitely not going to trust this dragon.
“Because I’m a hybrid, of course! Haven’t you seen the Pantalan dragons?” 
Anaconda narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t actually seen one, but he’d heard of the team of dragons from the tribes that the seven queens of the tribes had sent over to the other continent. He also was under no circumstances admitting he hadn’t seen one.
“Only NightWings have mind reading powers, and they lost those a long time ago.” Anaconda snarled. Or so we thought, apparently there’s one at Jade Mountain Academy, who delivered two prophecies. 
“Well,” Meteorgaze said, “I did mention being a hybrid. HiveWing-NightWing, by the way. That’s why I can read minds. Quite tiring, honestly.”
Anaconda snorted. “Sure. But that doesn’t explain why you’re here in the Kingdom of the Sand.”
Meteorgaze smiled at him with a knowing look. “Really?”
“Really what?” Anaconda growled.
“You think my eyes are pretty.” She smirked and turned with a swish of her tail. “Anyway, I’m here visiting a friend, you probably know them.”
“Who.” Anaconda demanded harshly.
“Mmm. Her name is . . . Thorn, was it?” She smiled. “You do know her!”
“STOP DOING THAT!” Anaconda roared, blasting flames into the sand by her talons.
Meteorgaze flinched and looked scared. “What the . . .”
“What the what?” Anaconda asked, trying to be a little less harsh.
“You . . .” She stared at him. “Never mind.” She hovered in the air for a moment before saying, “You should really find some other Hybrids to hang out with, grumpy-face.” she winked a fiery eye and flew away.
Anaconda twitched his tail with irritation and sighed. “I’m no Rainwing.”  He told himself. “I’m just . . . just a Sandwing.” In his heart he knew he was lying to himself.
“Wait!” He called after Meteorgaze. “Bring me to these . . . hybrid friends of yours.” 
Meteorgaze glanced over her shoulder at him, then turned back with a flick of her tail, as if inviting him. Anaconda leaped up into the air and flew after her, quickly catching up.
“So, Anaconda, you want friends?” She asked.
“Not particularly, but I’m willing to try.” He grumbled.
Meteorgaze nodded slowly. “I see.”
Are you in my head? He thought fiercely.
Meteorgaze stifled a smile and cocked her head. “Anyway, do you have anything against a tribe that I should know?”
Anaconda paused for a moment, then said, “Not really. Unless you count Rainwings, but it’s not their fault.” Just don’t you dare call me one. Anaconda thought pointedly.
Meteorgaze nodded slowly, and touched down in front of the stronghold. She smiled. “I’ll be right back, I’m delivering messages.”
“Messages?” Anaconda queried.
“I fly messages from Pantala to Pyrria. I’m a messenger.” She winked and disappeared into the stronghold.
Anaconda sat in the sand until she returned.
“You’re still here, grump-face!” She exclaimed.
“You came back, flame-eye-weird-four-winged-dragon.” he replied dryly.
Meteorgaze stared at him, and burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” He asked.
“Nobody ever teases me,” She sputtered. 
He arched an eyebrow.
“They think I’m scary. Y’know, stories about Darkstalker and Queen Wasp. They assume I’m the worst of both worlds.” She sighed and led him into the sky.
“Why?” He asked, thinking, Well that’s fair. She could be completely evil. Reading minds is an invasion of privacy, PLUS she’s sort of a HiveWing. Ish.
Meteorgaze flinched.
“Oh, um, sorry, I guess.” He muttered. “I just don’t trust you.”
“Well neither do I, frankly.” Meteorgaze snapped. “I’m not an idiot.” She sighed. “Sorry. I just . . .” She turned a smile his way. “I’m not used to someone I can actually read.” 
“Ahem, please clarify,” He said, annoyed, with an edge of a threat in his tone.
Meteorgaze’s smile disappeared. “All my friends have a rock called skyfire that keeps me from reading their minds.”
I KNEW IT! He shouted mentally. SHE IS AN ANIMUS! She must have enchanted the rocks to keep the user’s thoughts secret. I definitely shouldn’t trust her now. 
Meteorgaze rolled her eyes. “I’m not an animus.”
“Prove it.” He said, glowering.
“Skyfire comes from meteors. It’s from the sky.” She grabbed his wing. “I enchant this dragon to dive into the sand headfirst.”
Anaconda stared at her.
“See?” She said, raising an eyebrow at him, as if to silently say, I told you so. “Not an animus.”
He sighed, and asked, “Where are we going?”
Meteorgaze smirked. “The Kingdom of Sky.” Anaconda frowned.
“Why are we going there?” He asked, remembering Commander Ashen and what his sister had done. 
Meteorgaze looked into a black pouch hanging around her neck, Anaconda hadn’t even noticed it against her dark scales. It had multiple messages to and from a variety of dragons. He couldn’t help but notice one that read: 
To: Moonwatcher
Anaconda squashed down his silent resentment. Not now, think about that later. He thought, before instantly glancing at Meteorgaze. You heard absolutely NOTHING, okay? He thought towards her, though Meteorgaze didn’t seem to notice, or was plain ignoring him. 
Meteorgaze caught an updraft as they soared high into the sky.
Pheeeeew! 
She yelped and dipped down as a bolt of black flew over her head and hit Anaconda’s horn.
“AH!” Anaconda fell a few feet, but quickly regained his altitude.
He reached up and pried the black thing from his horn. It looked like a tranquilizer dart, but with eerie black liquid inside and a silver insignia on it.
“Duck!” Meteorgaze cried.
A Nightwing zoomed overhead, breathing a blast of flame.
Anaconda whirled about and spouted a blast of his own fire, narrowly missing the purple-gray Nightwing.
Meteorgaze yelped as another Nightwing came from beneath her, this one with obsidian blue scales and a malicious gaze.
Claws raked against scales, and blood spurted from her side, sending her whirling towards the sandy ground.
Anaconda yelled, “I’m warning you, leave and I’ll let you live!”
“Never!” the blue dragon screamed. He was younger than the other, and he swept through the air towards Anaconda.
“LAST CHANCE!” Anaconda roared, catching Meteorgaze and narrowing his eyes.
The purple Nightwing caught the other one. “Let’s go. He’s a hybrid, remember?” She hissed.
“But—” The blue one protested.
“No! Shut up, Tidepuller. Ashen said he was dangerous. We need reinforcements.” The purple dragon hissed, pulling Tidepuller away. 
“What was that about?” Meteorgaze asked, awkwardly removing herself from Anaconda’s arms.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” Anaconda growled. “Come on, it’s getting late.”
----
Meteorgaze warmed herself as she sat by the fire, wincing as Anaconda patched her wound.
“Are you okay?” He asked gruffly.
“Sure. I mean, yeah, I’m fine.” She replied absentmindedly.
Anaconda finished, and looked up into the starry sky. “Where did you hatch?”
Meteorgaze followed his gaze and looked into the sky. “I hatched on Pantala, in between Beetle Lake and Testete Hive.” She replied.
Anaconda nodded. “I hatched in the Rainforest. Lived in the Scorpion Den my whole life.”
The Nightwing–Hivewing turned and examined him. “Who is Basilisk?”
Anaconda bit back a retort and said, “My sister. She’s conspiring against me—to either kill me . . . or something else. She’s a Sandwing–Rainwing Hybrid, like me.”
“I-In your mind, she looks like a regular Rainwing, except for the sail on her back.” She said timidly.
“Yeah.” Anaconda said, trying to shut off his thoughts. “I think she’s conspiring with an animus.”
Meteorgaze blinked rapidly. “An animus? I’ve never met one.”
Anaconda laughed starkly. “You’re lucky. I’ve only met one—his name was Stonemover. He was turned to stone by his own magic. My father, Viper, brought me to see what corruption could do to a dragon.” Anaconda mentally stomped on his own tail. Why am I telling her this? He wondered. She’s just . . . a random dragon! Ugh!
Meteorgaze flinched and curled up in the dirt. “Goodnight, Anaconda.” she muttered.
He sighed as she closed her blazing eyes. Great, He thought. I’ve made another enemy.
----“Almost there!” Meteorgaze cheered as her wings buzzed unceasingly.
Anaconda nodded. “I can see the mountains.”
Meteorgaze flew low over the ever rockier sand. She twirled in a loop, and suddenly stopped near a river.
“What are we waiting for?” Anaconda grumbled.
“Nothing, grump-face! Follow me.” She landed, and started trekking through the trees on foot. Anaconda was about to speak up as they stopped at the entrance to a cave, but screeched to a stop.
“Is this it?” he asked.
Meteorgaze nodded. “Yep.” She picked up a dry branch and blew a spark of flame onto the end. It lit, and she pranced into the cave.
Anaconda grumbled, but followed, inwardly resenting the damp atmosphere. She led him deep into the cave, then stopped as light spilled into a huge round room.
Ledges were carved into the walls, with shelves for scrolls adorning the gray stone. A river ran through, and stalactites dripped into the bubbling, swirling, deep-navy water. 
Next to the water, a dragon sat. She was brilliant melon yellow, with brown speckles and khaki tips to her neck scales. She looked like a Hivewing—with iridescent, pink and baby blue see-through wings. What confused Anaconda was her head. She had antennae close to her horns, as well as Rainwing frills. Her eyes were brilliant sky blue that seemed to bore into Anaconda’s. She had blue veils draped around her tail, connected with a silver chain, plus a single circular gold disk in her left ear and a black stone earring in her right.
“Hello, Meteorgaze. I see you brought a friend.” She said in a smooth, too–nice voice.
“What . . . are you?” Anaconda asked rudely.
“My name is Allure. I am a hybrid, like you.” She said, sweeping towards him with graceful gestures, seemingly not noticing that he was being rude.
“Not like any I’ve ever seen,” he grumbled , raising his tail barb slightly.
Allure smiled. “I’m a multi-tribe hybrid—in slang it’s called a tribrid. My grandmother was a Hivewing, my father was a Silkwing, and my mother was a Rainwing.”
Anaconda hissed, “Great,” very sarcastically. He brushed past her and swooped onto a ledge, where Meteorgaze followed.
“So . . .” Allure called. “Rapid and Goldfinch said they would come. Pondskimmer and Fir haven’t sent word.” 
Meteorgaze nodded thoughtfully. “At least Rapid and Goldfinch are.” She said.
Anaconda snorted to himself. Remind me why I decided to follow her again? He thought to himself. Because you’re either a scavenger-brain, or you like her, or you want to try and get lost in a crowd so Basilisk might have a harder time finding you. He responded to his own thoughts. His head snapped up to the sky when he heard wingbeats.
Two dragons with large wingspans were flying towards them. SkyWings? He thought, before noticing that one looked a bit more like a MudWing. He also realized that the second had a set of smaller wings below the main pair. 
More Pantalan hybrids? Why are there so many now? Anaconda wondered, tightening his RainWing frills to make them less noticeable. 
Suddenly a thought struck him. What if hanging out with other hybrids is what Basilisk is expecting? He thought worriedly. No, it doesn’t matter where I hide. If she has an animus on her side then they can just find me with magic. I’ll never be safe as long as she’s alive. Anaconda shuddered. I have to kill Basilisk, don’t I?
“Sounds like it.” Meteorgaze interjected. Anaconda jumped.
“Please don’t read my mind.” He said uncomfortably. “It’s really unsettling, you know.” Meteorgaze stared at him for a moment.
“I suppose it would be.” She after thinking for a moment. 
There was a “whoosh” and the hybrids that had been flying towards them landed by Allure. Meteorgaze jumped up. 
“Rapid! Goldfinch!” She exclaimed as she raced over.
“Woah! Calm down! No need to attack us with your hugs, Meteorgaze.” The SkyWing hybrid with four wings joked. 
“Sorry Goldfinch, I’m just so happy to see you again!” Meteorgaze replied with a smile. 
The other hybrid, who Anaconda guessed was Rapid, laughed, his voice rather deep. Anaconda studied them curiously, as another part of his brain plotted a way to escape if needed. He most definitely didn’t trust them, at least not yet. 
Goldfinch spotted Anaconda and looked at him with a curious look. 
“Who’s he?” She asked, but before anyone could respond, Anaconda interrupted. 
He stood, spreading his wings slightly. “My name is Anaconda.” He answered, his voice sounding snake-like. 
Goldfinch tilted her head. She muttered something, but Anaconda didn’t hear it, and folded his wings again, sitting down. He held himself majestically, but not in a I-think-I’m-better-than-all-of-you way.
Goldfinch took a step closer to him. 
“What kind of hybrid are you?” She asked.
Anaconda hissed. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He snapped, smoke coming from his nostrils. Goldfinch took a step back.
Unapproachable. He thought. That’s what she thinks of me. I can tell. Though honestly I’m seeing myself that way right now. 
Meteorgaze looked at him with an unreadable gaze.
Should I be getting close to these other hybrids? He wondered. What should I do in general? Should I go to Queen Ruby and tell her about Basilisk and how I know her? Commander Ashen hates me, I’m sure. But the NightWings said that Ashen had told them I was dangerous. How would Ashen know? He doesn’t know that Basilisk is my sister, does he? I need answers. But how do I get those? Surely Ashen doesn’t think I’m dangerous because I confronted him after he hurt the other Outclaws? 
Anaconda pulled himself from his thoughts. Am I trying to give away everything that’s happening to me? Meteorgaze is without a doubt listening.
Meteorgaze looked at her talons a little guiltily. Anaconda sighed to himself. He looked up as Allure spoke.
“So, what’s your story, Anaconda?” She asked. Anaconda looked at her suspiciously. “Why do you ask?” He retorted defensively. Allure grinned. 
“Because you’re new! We already know each others’ stories, but we haven’t heard yours yet!” Allure explained with a grin. Meteorgaze opened her mouth, as if to say something. Don’t even think about it. Anaconda growled at her in his thoughts. Meteorgaze closed her mouth again. 
“Well I don’t know your stories either. I don’t even know if I can trust you guys yet.” Anaconda said flatly, and Allure rolled her eyes, her stupid smile still plastered on her face. Is she even capable of not smiling? He thought sarcastically. 
He noticed that Goldfinch looked slightly hurt, but Rapid didn’t seem to mind. How are these dragons so trusting? He wondered. Well, they didn’t grow up in the Scorpion Den. You could hardly trust anyone there. 
Meteorgaze looked at him sympathetically. 
Didn’t I tell you to stay out of my head? He thought at Meteorgaze. She nodded reluctantly. Well then stay out. You’re not welcome in this mind. He thought it like an order, his entire will behind the statement. 
Suddenly Meteorgaze looked confused. 
“How did you do that?” She asked him aloud. “Do what?” He snapped. Meteorgaze stared at him. “That- that’s so strange. Suddenly your mind is as blank as anyone with skyfire. Well, actually, it’s like your mind isn’t there.” 
Anaconda felt a chill run down his spine. “What do you mean by that?” He demanded uneasily. 
Meteorgaze stared at him. “With skyfire, all I hear is a quiet fuzz. With you, there’s just… nothing.” 
Anaconda frowned. All he had done was think something at her, with his willpower behind his thoughts. Had that changed something?
=== Chapter 5 ===
Goldfinch, Rapid, Allure, and Meteorgaze were all staring at him. Anaconda stared right back. So are my thoughts safe now? He thought to himself. Meteorgaze didn’t react, so he repeated the sentence aloud. 
“I believe so,” Meteorgaze replied. “Literally nothing is what I’m getting. Try thinking specifically about me and see what changes.” 
“Okay.” Anaconda said, and thought, Meteorgaze is rather interesting. 
“Nothing.” Meteorgaze said, looking baffled. 
Goldfinch stared at him, baffled. 
Anaconda’s head snapped up to look at the sky when he heard wingbeats. 
“Camel-farts!” He exclaimed as he recognised the NightWings from before. “The NightWings are back, Meteorgaze!” He took a defensive position, tail barb raised, before he remembered the darts. 
“Take cover!” He roared at the other hybrids as a buzzing sound whipped by his ear. Meteorgaze was a blur as she fled into the trees, Allure and Rapid close behind her. Anaconda grabbed Goldfinch and dashed into the forest after Meteorgaze and the others. 
The NightWings dived down, a patrol of SkyWings just behind them. 
“After them!” The purple NightWing cried, as Anaconda and the other hybrids dashed through the forest. The SkyWings hurried after them on foot, flying would be too difficult for them in the forest. The two NightWings easily passed the SkyWings as they pursued Anaconda. 
Anaconda broke away from the other hybrids and ran in a different direction. They’ll be safer without me. He thought, and his scales shifted to the darkest color he could manage, as he darted through the forest. He suddenly stopped and scrambled up a tree. They won’t get the other hybrids. Not on my watch. He roared, trying to get all the SkyWings’ attention. His wish was granted, as the SkyWings came running toward the sound of his roar, the NightWings in the lead. 
As the group of dragons came under his tree, they looked around in confusion. Anaconda smiled from his tree branch. There was a hissing sound, and the dragons looked up. But it was too late. A blast of flame shot from Anaconda’s mouth, straight into the faces of the dragons below. 
He leaped down, landing squarely on the smaller NightWing. Tidepuller, if he remembered correctly. The SkyWings were screaming, burns all over their faces and wings as they tried to protect their faces from Anaconda’s flames. The other NightWing had dodged the flames, and now leaped at Anaconda. 
Anaconda reared up to meet her with a roar. The purple-ish NightWing slammed into him, and Anaconda staggered backwards. He swung his wing, hitting the NightWing in the face. He turned and shot more fire at the NightWing. The SkyWings slammed into Anaconda’s back, knocking him over. There was a roar, and Goldfinch charged into his view, Meteorgaze, Allure, and Rapid just behind her. Anaconda felt relieved, but also a little angry. No, you’re supposed to be running! He thought as the other hybrids pulled the SkyWings off him. He jumped up with a grateful glance at Goldfinch, and leaped back into the battle.
The small blue NightWing, Tidepuller, was grappling with Allure, while Meteorgaze and Rapid were attacking the SkyWings. Anaconda whirled around, spotting the purple NightWing. Anaconda hissed and leaped at her.
The Nightwing barrel-rolled out of the way and shot a stream of fire at him.
Using his wing to block the searing flames, he gathered up Tidepuller and placed his claws on the blue scales.
“Not a step closer or I’ll kill him!” Anaconda roared. The purple NightWing froze.
The SkyWings looked at the purple one for a command—but suddenly, Goldfinch slammed one to the ground, stabbing him with something on the end of her tail, and the SkyWing roared and blasted fire at her.
She dropped to the ground as Rapid smashed his head into the soft soil. “Leave, now.” The Mudwing growled ferociously. The SkyWing hissed, but the other hybrids stood behind Rapid and hissed threateningly, except for Allure, who smiled in a concerning way. Anaconda held Tidepuller tightly, but not too tight, he didn’t want him to die, but clearly the purple NightWing cared about this one, so Anaconda needed to make her believe he would do what he said.
The SkyWings backed away, hissing, but the hybrids flared their wings, and smoke rose from Meteorgaze’s nostrils. Smoke also rose from Rapid’s nostrils, and Goldfinch hissed, raising her tail. The SkyWings growled, but turned and ran when the hybrids stepped forward threateningly. 
The hybrids turned to Anaconda and surrounded the purple NightWing. 
“Who are you?” Anaconda hissed at the NightWing. 
“Plumflight.” The purple NightWing hissed defiantly. “Give me Tidepuller and we can go our separate ways.” 
Anaconda let out a bark of laughter. “No, Plumflight. Do you really think we’ll believe that? You’ll be back in time to come murder us again.”
“Who said we came here to murder you?” Plumflight snapped. Anaconda snorted. “Well, why did you come after us?” Anaconda demanded. Tidepuller spoke up. 
“We came to murder you.” He said matter-of-a-factly. Plumflight shot a glare at Tidepuller. 
“Who hired you?” Anaconda demanded. They can’t be assassins, they’re not trying to be sneaky. Are they bounty hunters? He pushed his thoughts towards Meteorgaze, hoping she could hear those. Meteorgaze looked surprised for a moment, then nodded in agreement. 
“Who hired me is not your business.” Plumflight snapped. Anaconda bared his teeth and hissed at her, shooting a pointed glance at Tidepuller. 
Plumflight opened her mouth, then closed it again. 
“She was hired by Commander Ashen.” Meteorgaze answered. “She’s really annoyed with us and worried about Tidepuller. Plumflight and Tidepuller are bounty hunters, as you expected, Anaconda.” Anaconda smiled. Plumflight looked shocked. 
“She’s also pretty terrified now, considering what happened with Canary.” Anaconda froze. “How does she know that?” He hissed, his voice dripping with venom. 
Meteorgaze flinched. “She- she was watching, that’s when she was going to strike, but Canary got there first.” Anaconda felt a chill run down his spine. She was watching me the entire time? He thought to himself. 
Anaconda unintentionally tightened his grip on Tidepuller, and the dragonet gasped for air.
“Don’t kill him!” Allure said sarcastically. “We would be so devastated.”
Anaconda smiled in spite of himself, thinking, I kind of like how this dragon thinks.
“Do you know a dragon named Basilisk?” Meteorgaze asked.
“Yes.” Plumflight said. “Now let. Him. Go.”
Anaconda didn’t budge.
Plumflight leapt forward, smashing into Anaconda and wrenching Tidepuller away. She opened her mouth, and a blast of fire surged at Anaconda.
He roared and tumbled back as the fire splashed against his chest.
Goldfinch sliced her claws through the air and blood spurted from Plumflight’s nose. She roared and turned, dragging Tidepuller into the air.
Rapid scowled at the dragons. “Stupid Nightwings. Trying to attack us.”
Anaconda groaned and gingerly touched his burnt underscales.
“Come on,” Goldfinch said, not looking Anaconda in the eyes. “Let’s get back to the cave.”
----
“So,” Allure said, lazily. “You’re part Rainwing.”
Anaconda growled. “Yes.” He snapped after a moment.
Allure smashed a few herbs with a pestle and mortar, then gingerly rubbed the spread on the burn. “Interesting,” She said softly.
“Why?” Anaconda growled, cringing.
“Because I’m part Rainwing, so I know what it is like.” She said, observing Anaconda’s frills.
“You have no idea what it is like to be a hybrid in the Scorpion Den.” He snapped, sparks flying from his nostrils as Allure wrapped a bandage around him.
Allure stepped away. “I’m done,” She said sweetly. “You might want to wash off your talons in the river though, it will help with the minor burns.
Anaconda nodded seriously and gingerly swooped over to the river. He yelped as Rapid emerged, his head poking out from the water.
“Rattlesnakes and vipers,” Anaconda muttered, dipping his talons in the water.
“What? Where?” Rapid looked around quizzically. “Rattlesnakes?”
Anaconda sighed, thinking, Typical MudWing. “Not actual rattlesnakes, scavenger-brain.” Anaconda said.
Meteorgaze looked down at them from a ledge, poking her nose over a scroll. “Don’t be rude, Anaconda.” She scolded. 
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Anaconda hissed. None of them know the trials of life in the Scorpion Den. They all have perfect little lives without the toughness of the Scorpion Den.
Rapid emerged from the water, and Anaconda recoiled. Under his wing, was a huge scar running from his shoulder to the base of his tail.
“What happened?” He said, not all-to rudely.
Rapid laughed quietly. “My mom happened. She was a MudWing—and absolutely despised my father after a fight they had. She lashed out and . . .” He trailed off. “Yeah.” 
Anaconda stared at the ugly scar. “Oh.” He muttered. “Um . . .”
He turned and pointed at his shoulder. A large burn mark twisted and melted his scales all the way to the tip of his talons.
“That was from a fight with a Skywing.” He explained. “Got in an escalating argument about me being a Skywing or a Mudwing.”
Anaconda suddenly felt remorse. He had a worse dragonethood than I did.
Goldfinch walked over, her four wings folded over her shimmering crimson and gold scales. “Hello.” she said. “Comparing scars?”
Anaconda shook his head. “No. Rapid was telling me his story.”
“Ah,” Goldfinch said, sitting. “Mind if I join in?”
Anaconda swallowed a bitter comment and said, “Fine.”
Goldfinch nodded. “Good. I grew up in the Kingdom of Sky, in the mountains. I had an . . . interesting time there. My father died shortly after I hatched, and my mother was always busy trying to keep us fed.” Her eyes darkened. “Skywings captured my mother and brought her to Queen Ruby, thinking she was a Hivewing spy. She was convicted and sent to prison. I grew up alone for most of my dragonethood.”
Anaconda was surprised. “Really?
Goldfinch nodded. “It wasn’t great.”
Allure sauntered over. “I’m going to get a cow,” She said matter-of-factly. “Are you hungry?”
“I thought RainWings and SilkWings were herbivores,” Anaconda grumbled bitterly.
“I’m not, are you?” She snapped.
“No, I’m not.” He replied harshly.
Meteorgaze landed in between them. “Knock it off!” She scolded. “Either get along or leave!”
Anaconda sighed and turned. “Fine.” He swooped onto a ledge and curled up.
Allure muttered something, then flew out of the cave.
“Icecap, Polar, Tundra,” Meteorgaze muttered, counting messages. “Starflight, Messageseeker, Turtleshell—”
“Moonwatcher?” Anaconda growled.
Meteorgaze blinked. “What’s wrong with that?”
“The Nightwing dragonet who delivered two prophecies and can read minds?” He snapped. “What does that message say?”
“It’s not my business to snoop in my client’s informati—”
“Help!” Allure fell through the hole  in the cave’s roof, bleeding. “Ice—Icewings!” She sputtered before falling into the river, where Rapid hauled her out.
“IceWings?” Anaconda roared, leaping to his feet. “This far from their territory?”
“In there!” A shrewd, all-to-recogniseable voice snapped outside the cave. “Get the hybrids!”
Rapid sent a torrent of fire through the hole. 
After it dissipated, two icy-white dragons flew through the hole.
“RAINWINGS!” Anaconda roared. 
The first one changed into a green and red color, descending on Anaconda. 
“Basilisk?!” Anaconda exclaimed, rolling to the side.
Basilisk smiled slyly and fingered one of the black tubes that the Nightwings tried to use on him.
She whispered something and the dart flew forward, lodging itself in Anaconda’s neck.
“Augh!” Anaconda ripped it out—but not before the black liquid emptied itself into his veins.
Basilisk leapt onto him and yelled, “Mamba! I’ve got him! Let’s get out of here!”
‘Mamba’, a completely black RainWing, de-cloaked and grabbed Anaconda’s wing.
“Let . . . me go!” Anaconda roared, struggling in vain as he lost all feeling in his legs.
The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Basilisk’s sinister smile.
=== Chapter 6 ===
Anaconda groaned as he woke on the floor of a cold stone cell.
All of his muscles were sore. He opened his eyes and looked into the darkness.
He pulled himself to his feet, which were clamped together by chains.
Anaconda observed his surroundings—nothing of interest except for a note on the ground. He growled as he saw his tail barb was in some sort of metal box, keeping him from using it.
Anaconda picked up the note and read: 
Hello Anaconda.
		I’ve brought you to a . . . friend of mine that collects oddities.
		You got me a good price.
I’ll come back to deal with you once I have time.
		—Your lovely sister, Basilisk.
Anaconda roared with rage and torched the note in a bout of flames. He wrenched at his chains and let out a not-so-nice curse.
Then he had an idea. I’ll just use my venom to cut the chains!
He opened his mouth as wide as he could and dripped venom onto the chains.
The metal hissed as the acid ate away at it.
Anacona pulled, and the chains snapped. He smiled in triumph and started on the tail-box.
Tap-tap-tap-tap . . .
Footsteps were heard down the hall.
Anaconda quickly lay down to hide the broken chains.
A strange-looking Nightwing stared in at him. He was black, but with silver scales dotted all around his body, and not under his wings. He also had blurred yellow spots around him. He had fierce red eyes and his talons and fangs were stained with blood. His wings were slightly torn, and had holes through them—almost like they were caused by Rainwing venom. He also had fragments of ice seeming to grow from the tip of his tail, and a burn mark on his face, which ran from his nose to his left horn.
“Who are you and why are you holding me prisoner?” Anaconda demanded with a snarl.
The Nightwing smiled maniacally. “My name is Afterglow.” he said in a crackly voice.
“Afterglow? What kind of deformed pile of skeletal remains are you?” He said as insultingly as he could.
“At least I’m a pure-blooded dragon,” he said. “Descended from the first Nightwing Queen herself.”
“Oh, so that makes you better than everyone?” Anaconda snapped.
“Try me, Rainwing.” Afterglow replied with a smile.
“DON’T CALL ME A RAINWING!” Anaconda thundered, trying to shoot fire at him through the bars. Instead, a strange, hot venom shot out. Afterglow slid to the side in the blink of an eye, and the strange mixture fell to the floor.
Afterglow smirked. “I only keep monsters here. I guess you passed the test.” 
“So you’re Burn two–point–oh?” He snapped. “Keeping dragons that had no say of their heritage in a prison?”
Afterglow smiled. “Yes. I pride myself on this collection.”
Anaconda launched himself at the bars and roared, “LET ME OUT YOU DIRT-SNIFFING SCAVENGER BRAIN!”
Afterglow reared up and blasted Anaconda with a stream of yellow fire.
Anaconda groaned and fell to the ground.
The strange Nightwing turned with a flick of his tail and said, “Be good and I won’t kill you.”
“Wait!” Anaconda rasped.
Afterglow paused.
“What are you?” He asked. “You don’t look like a Nightwing.”
“It’s a genetic deformity,” Afterglow sneered. “Just like you.” He whisked out of sighed and tapped back down the hall.
Anaconda groaned.
As silence claimed the cell, he closed his eyes and drifted off into a painful sleep.
----Anaconda was awoken when dragons started shouting. 
“Oh my GOSH, shut up already!” One dragon shouted. 
“YOU shut up!” A feminine voice screeched.
The other voice replied, “No way! You need to—”
“ALL OF YOU NEED TO SHUT UP!” Another voice roared, and the hallway fell silent. The speaker was a glowing red dragon in the cell across from Anaconda. She was slim, and glowed like a raging bonfire. Her scales were a rusty orange, but her underscales were like lava, a mix of yellow, orange, red, and a few specks of dark crimson. Neon blue scales outlined her underscales, and she had huge wings that faded from gray-black to eye-burning yellow. Glowing scales like embers shone under her wings, almost like somebody had captured fireflies and stuck them to her wings.
Anaconda stared at her. Woah. He thought, as she noticed him. 
“It’s a new dragon!” She called, and a chorus of annoyed groans echoed from the other dragons. 
“You say that almost every day.” One dragon called. 
“I’m serious! There’s a new dragon!” The dragon across from him shouted back. “Come on, new dragon! Tell us who you are!” She was more serious than Meteorgaze, but had a slightly kinder face than Goldfinch.
Anaconda frowned. Alright, fine. He thought. He stood up, even though the other dragons couldn’t see him. He took a breath, thinking, I’m probably going to be here for a while, might as well make some allies. 
“Uh, hi.” He called. “I’m Anaconda.” 
There were murmurs from the other dragons. “So Everblaze was right for once?” The dragon with a feminine voice called. 
Everblaze. Anaconda thought to himself. So that’s this blazing dragon’s name.
“Why don’t we introduce ourselves?” Everblaze suggested. 
Anaconda rolled his eyes. “I can only see Everblaze.” 
“Well I’m Thunderclap.” the feminine voice called. “I’m a Sandwing. Uh, well, technically I have some Icewing in my genes, but that’s why Afterglow captured me. He said my colors were weird so . . . yeah.”
Anaconda nodded. Good. Another Sandwing. He thought. Someone here I can trust. Maybe.
“And I’m Everblaze. A Firescales Skywing.” Everblaze said, her voice suddenly dripping with hate as she continued. “I was betrayed by my mate and was captured. He’s an idiot. A scavenger-brained animus, that’s for sure. I’m surprised he hasn’t burned the world down by now.” She added dryly. “And I’m with egg.”
Anaconda looked at her with sympathy, but she didn’t seem to notice. 
“I’m Forethought.” Another voice called. “I’m a NightWing, but for some reason I’ve got white all over my scales.” 
“I’m Lalamity.” Another voice called. “Like Calamity but with an ‘l’ instead of a ‘c’. I’m a hybrid, sadly.” She said bitterly. “I’m half Skywing, half Nightwing. I have very vague future-sight.” 
“And I’m Pilot.” Another dragon said. “I’m an Icewing.” He sighed. “An Icewing with purple scales and no wings.”
Anaconda blinked. “No wings?”
“Yep.” Pilot called. “Great, I know.”
Anaconda thought for a moment. There must be some way to get us out of here. Anaconda sat down again. Suddenly an idea struck him. 
Animus dragons can do anything except raise a dragon from the dead. If one of us is an animus dragon- His thoughts were interrupted by a bombardment of questions. 
“What’s your story Anaconda?”
“Yea, what’s your story?”
“What was your dragonethood like?”
“What kind of dragon are you to end up here?”
Anaconda sighed.
“Shut up if you want to hear my story.” He barked, and the other dragons went silent.
“I hatched in the Rainforest, but my father took me to the Scorpion Den at a young age. I grew up there, and my father was assassinated when I was four. Queen Thorn, who at the time ruled there, took me in and kept me safe. I became one of her Outclaws and learned to defend myself. Recently,” Anaconda stopped and sighed. “Recently, I met my mother, and my sister. My sister apparently killed someone, and a patrol of SkyWings appeared at the Scorpion Den, because they didn’t like that. I told my sister to stay out of the Kingdom of Sand, but I don’t think she’ll be doing that, and I warned Queen Thorn. Then I met a Hive/Night hybrid who can read minds, met her friends, and got chased by two more NightWings and a patrol of SkyWings with them, and then my sister showed up and shot something at me. Now I’m here.” Anaconda sighed. 
Rattlesnakes and vipers, I’ve been through so much now that I think about it. 
He sighed. Should I have told them all that?
He sat down and looked around the barren cell. There was a small window on one wall. He looked out the window and saw  mountains outside. Just plain, gray, rocky mountains. He sighed once more.
Anaconda looked over at Everblaze and asked, “Why do you have that thing on your face?”
Everblaze rolled her eyes. “It’s a muzzle, to keep me from torching Afterglow’s face off.”
He titled his head. “How do you eat?”
Everblaze let her wings slump to the floor. “He’ll starve me for days and then unlock it when he’s sure I’m too weak to use my fire.” Her face turned remorseful. “Not good. I hope my dragonet is still alive.”
Anaconda nodded, remembering her telling him about being with egg. “So your mate just left you?”
She nodded. “Yes. His name is Mirage.”
“Oh.” Was all Anaconda could think to say. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”
“Three days.” Everblaze replied.
“No wonder she's so skinny!” Anaconda muttered to himself, then raised his voice so the others could hear his next sentence. “That awful dung-beetle.”
Everblaze turned and curled up in the corner. 
“Guys,” Lalamity hissed. “He’s coming.”
Everyone fell silent as Afterglow strutted down the hall, with another dragon at his heels. The other dragon was a Hivewing, with mostly brown-ish scales on his legs, and yellow scales, surrounded by black scales, fading to amber as it went down his tail. His wings looked as if they were made of gold, and Anaconda stared at his wings in curiosity, but when the HiveWing glanced at him, Anaconda glared at him. The HiveWing also wore a monocle and had a gold chain wrapped around his horns.
“This is one hall of your collection?” The Hivewing asked snootily.
Afterglow nodded. “Yes.”
“What is this strange Nightwing?” He exclaimed, appalled.
“She has . . . an interesting color deficiency in her scales that makes them white,” Afterglow rasped. “I have no idea of her lineage, as I cannot seem to find anyone that knows who she is.”
Afterglow and the Hivewing walked up to Anaconda and Everblaze.
“A firescales dragon?!” The Hivewing gasped, clutching his chest.
“Yes.” Afterglow said with a smirk. “She’s my prized piece. And she is with an egg.”
The Hivewing pulled out a sack from a satchel. “I will pay three hundred pounds of gold for the dragonet.”
“More,” Afterglow ordered. “It’s a hybrid. A Sky-Sand.”
The Hivewing blinked. “Extraordinary.”
“NO!” Anaconda roared. “You can’t barter for her dragonet!” 
Afterglow smirked. “And what will you do about it?”
Anaconda narrowed his eyes. “I’ll kill your customer.”
Afterglow tilted his head and cracked his knuckles. Suddenly, he launched at the bars, spewing fire at Anaconda and grabbing him by the neck. Afterglow pulled him to the bars and started choking him.
“Never defy me, Rainwing.” He hissed, slashing his claws across Anaconda’s snout and throwing him to the ground. I’m not a RainWing. He thought furiously.
Anaconda gasped for air and sputtered, blood spilling onto the cold ground.
“One thousand pounds for the Dragonet and that hybrid,” The Hivewing stated, pointing at Anaconda.
Afterglow smiled. “Deal. Although another customer of mine won’t be too happy.”
Anaconda glowered, knowing he meant Basilisk.
----“Oh my gosh!”
Anaconda awoke in the middle of the night to see Everblaze huddled in the corner of the cell.
“What’s wrong?” He demanded.
“N-nothing’s wrong,” She said, tears evaporating as they fell from her eyes. “It’s just so perfect.”
“What is?”
Everblaze folded up her wings to reveal a large, flaming red and yellow egg.
Anaconda blinked. “That’s . . . wonderful.” A sense of dread iced his veins. “But . . . now that HiveWing will be back.”
Everblaze shook her head defiantly. “Not until it hatches. And I’ll never let him take it.”
Anaconda bit his lip, but nodded. “Okay then.” He said uneasily. “But how are you going to stop him?” 
Smoke poured from Everblaze’s snout. “They will never take my egg under my watch.” She hissed.
Anaconda nodded slowly. “Alright.” 
The next day, the HiveWing was back. Afterglow wasn’t with him yet, and, according to the HiveWing, was dealing with another customer. 
“Who are you?” Anaconda hissed. 
The HiveWing looked at him. 
“I’m Chalcid. I try to make as much money so I can free you poor dragons. Afterglow is… strange. Not safe to be around by far.” 
Anaconda stared at him. “Everblaze isn't gonna let you have her egg.” He said flatly. Chalcid sighed. He turned to Everblaze.
“Would you rather your dragonet grow up free, or in this place?” Chalcid demanded. Everblaze glared at him. “This is my dragonet. I go where it goes.” 
Chalcid sighed again. “Then we’ll have to break you out.”
Everblaze stared at him incredulously. “And how are you going to do that?” She asked. Chalcid thought for a moment. 
“When Afterglow goes in, try to knock him out. Then we’ll imprison him and possibly lock him up here in one of his own prisons—or bring him to trial with Queen Glory.” 
Anaconda stared at him. “Why- oh, right.” Anaconda thought for a moment. “I say we imprison him here and then bring Queen Glory so he has no chance of escape.” Chalcid nodded thoughtfully. 
“Good plan. We’ll do that.” Chalcid agreed. 
Anaconda could hear talonsteps approaching. “Get ready.” He hissed quietly. Everblaze nodded. Chalcid sat down, looking at one of the other dragons. 
Afterglow strode in, and Anaconda hissed. Afterglow ignored him and greeted Chalcid. 
Anaconda’s claws itched with anticipation. Okay, here we go. He thought. He sat quietly as Chalcid and Afterglow discussed. Anaconda tensed as Afterglow strode towards Everblaze’s cell. 
Everblaze was sitting in the back corner with her back to the entrance, her wings folded over her blazing egg. 
Afterglow grabbed a strange armor off the wall and entered the cell. The armor covered Afterglow, making it look like a metal dragon was moving towards Everblaze instead of an actual dragon. 
Everblaze hissed as Afterglow approached. He pushed her out of the way with his armored wing and took hold of her egg. 
Before he could pick it up and walk out,  Everblaze leaped at Afterglow. A burning hatred burned in Everblaze’s eyes as she tore off the helmet to his armor and whacked him hard on the head. Afterglow crumpled to the ground in an armored heap. 
Everblaze quickly scooped up her egg and exited the cell. Chalcid stepped in and removed the armor, then grabbed the keys and unlocked the cells. Chalcid then turned again and locked the cell that Everblaze had once resided in. 
Anaconda stepped out of his cell. Once Chalcid was finished locking up Afterglow, Anaconda snatched the keys from his talons and unlocked the others. 
Anaconda was rather surprised at how the others looked, as he’d only actually been able to see Everblaze. 
Forethought was a black NightWing, with her wings being a bright white and switching to black in the edges. 
Pilot was truly missing his wings, but he didn’t seem to mind. 
Lalamity was very fierce looking, like Everblaze, except she looked a lot stronger and was much more intimidating, with a tall, agile stature with obvious strength. 
Lalamity stared at Anaconda intensely. 
“You.” She said, “Much is to come.” Something changed in her eyes, and her voice deepened to an ominous growl.  
“The sun will go dark, the ones from the darkest corners must bring salvation, or the world will be lost in turmoil and chaos.” Lalamity blinked, and her eyes were normal again. 
Anaconda blinked too. “What was that?” He asked with confusion. 
Lalamity stared at him. “What was what?” She demanded. 
Anaconda looked at the others, who were all staring too. 
Forethought was the first to speak. “Sounded like a prophecy to me.” She said. 
Oh goodness, please no. He thought. 
“Certainty sounded like a prophecy.” Chalcid agreed. 
“What?” Lalamity demanded. “What sounded like a prophecy?” 
Chalcid repeated what she’d said to her. Lalamity sighed. “Ugh, that does sound like a stupid prophecy. You’re telling me I said that?” Lalamity sighed. 
“Don’t ask me what it means, I don’t know.” She hissed. Wasn’t going to, but okay. Anaconda thought. 
Everblaze scowled at Lalamity. “Shut up with the prophecy and let’s get out of here.”
Anaconda nodded. “Pilot, will you watch Afterglow while we’re gone?”
Pilot nodded. “Of course!”
A feminine voice called to them. 
“Hey, what about me?” Pilot looked at Anaconda then hurried off after grabbing the keys from him. 
“Sorry Thunderclap!” He called as he hurried over. Anaconda turned and followed the others. 
Forethought looked down the hall and muttered something, then followed Chalcid out of the fortress.
Forethought gasped as they exited into the cool night air.
“It’s . . . the Kingdom of Night.” She whispered.
Anaconda looked at her strangely. “How do you know that?”
“I . . .” Forethought trailed off. Her eyes darkened. “I can’t tell you.”
Chalcid whipped around and stared at her. “If we can’t trust each other we aren’t going to get far.” He said.
Forethought opened and closed her mouth, obviously scared. Suddenly, in tears, she launched into the air and swooped off the mountain.
Everblaze snarled as she cradled her egg. “Let her go.” She said. “She’s obviously having trouble with something.”
Anaconda went to follow her, but Everblaze extended a flaming wing to block him. “Come on,” She said. “Let’s get out of here.”
=== Chapter 7 ===
“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” A shrill voice called.
Anaconda looked behind him just in time to see Goldfinch leaping from the mountain and landing in front of him.
“GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU CRAZY PSYCHOPATH DRAGONS!” She screamed, breathing fire at Everblaze.
“Woah, woah!” Anaconda pulled her back from being torched by Everblaze’s fire.
“They kidnapped you!” She roared, trying to tackle Lalamity.
The Skywing Nightwing hybrid smacked her to the ground with a wing and arched an eyebrow. 
“No, we’re escaping.” Anaconda explained. “Thanks, I guess?”
Goldfinch narrowed her eyes. “Then why are you escaping with a FLAMING DRAGON AND A WEIRD LOOKING SKYWING?!”
“You’re a weird looking Skywing too, if I’m not mistaken.” Lalamity growled.
Goldfinch blinked. “Hmph.”
“Finally,” Anaconda muttered. “Can we hide out at the cave for a while?”
Goldfinch’s scowl formed into a smile. “Sure. Fir and Pondskimmer finally got here, so they’d be glad to meet you.” She stuck out her talon. “The name’s Goldfinch.”
Everblaze sighed a plume of fire. “Well, can we GO NOW?!”
----Anaconda swooped low and planted his claws into the soft soil.
Goldfinch followed, walking past him and into the cave. Everblaze stopped as everyone else walked past her. She touched the stone hesitantly, ducking under swaying branches.
“What’s wrong?” Anaconda asked.
She blinked rapidly. “N-nothing.” She walked gingerly into the cave, and Anaconda followed. 
Everblaze was cradling her blazing egg. Anaconda noticed that there were a few cracks. Everblaze was frowning worriedly. 
“Uh, I think something’s wrong,” Anaconda pointed out.
“Yeah, super helpful,” She growled, shifting uneasily. “Maybe when we go get Queen Glory we can bring the RainWing healers too.” Anaconda suggested. 
Everblaze glared at him. “How are they going to help a dragonet they can’t touch?” She demanded. 
Anaconda cringed. “Sorry.” He felt like smacking himself in the face. Of course. How could I forget the dragonet is a firescales too?
As Everblaze curled her wings around the egg again, the egg rattled.
“Oh no,” She whispered. “It shouldn’t be hatching yet.” 
“Well, what do we do?” Anaconda asked. Everblaze shrugged. “I don’t know!” She replied, her voice cracking with worry.
A green-ish IceWing appeared. “You could see if you could find MudWing healers.” He suggested. Goldfinch appeared by his side. 
“This is Fir.” She said, and Fir dipped his head in greeting. 
Anaconda could see a small SeaWing with strange antennae standing behind Goldfinch and Fir.
Goldfinch turned to the SeaWing. “This is Pondskimmer.” She said, and the SeaWing made a small smile. She had scales like deep rippling water, and wings like an aurora borealis.
“What could Mudwings do?” She whispered. “Most aren’t fireproof either.”
Anaconda blinked. Fireproof! “What about Mirage?”
“NO!” Everblaze roared. “He’s an idiot! He wouldn’t be able to help at all!” Tears evaporated in steam as they sizzled against her scales.
Allure’s forehead creased in worry. “I can try to help, but I doubt I’ll be able to do anything.”
“Can’t we get a sedative?” Everblaze worried.
Anaconda paced as she tried to figure something out. He growled and picked up a flat rock. If only I could see where any-dragon was at any time. He thought,  It would make things so much easier.
Suddenly, the rock’s surface bubbled like water, and a map of Pyrrhia appeared, with a dot in the Kingdom of Mud. Strange. He mentally growled. I wonder if Basilisk left this here . . . maybe she’s working with Mirage! His eyes widened. “Rapid! I think I know where Mirage is!”
----Anaconda dove down at top speed towards the empty marsh. “There!” He said, spreading his wings and gliding lower. Goldfinch flew beside him and noticed the SandWing too. 
Anaconda and Goldfinch landed, Rapid close behind them. They approached the dark SandWing. The SandWing’s head shot up and he spotted them.
“Who are you?” The SandWing asked. 
“That’s not important right now.” Rapid rumbled.
“Mirage, you need to come with us.” Anaconda said.
“Why should I?” Mirage hissed. Anaconda scowled. Goldfinch snarled at him. 
“Because Everblaze needs your help.” Goldfinch snapped, taking a threatening step closer. 
“Everblaze?” Mirage asked. 
“Yes, scavenger-brain,” Anaconda growled. “You left her with an egg and that egg needs help.”
Mirage blinked. “An . . . egg?” Goldfinch charged at him, skidding to a stop inches away from his face. “You didn’t know she was with egg?” Goldfinch hissed, smoke rising from her nostrils. Mirage shook his head. “No.”
Anaconda stepped in. “Well, we need you to come back, okay? So come with us.”
Mirage frowned. “Fine.” Mirage said after a moment. They took off, and headed off towards the cave. 
“How did you find me anyway?” Mirage asked. 
“Well I was wondering how we could, and this random rock bubbled and showed me a map of Pyrrhia.” Anaconda told him. 
Mirage missed a wing beat and nearly fell out of the sky. “WHAT?!?” He exclaimed. Anaconda stared at him in confusion. Mirage grabbed his head with his talons and started to mutter. 
“What is it?” Anaconda demanded uneasily. Mirage looked up at him. “You really don’t know?” He asked, and Anaconda shook his head. What is he babbling about? Why can’t he just tell me? Anaconda thought with annoyance. Mirage was staring at him like he’d told him that setting fire to a Dragonflame cactus was a great idea.
Mirage took a few moments to gain his composure. “Y-you’re-” Mirage stammered. 
“You’re an animus.” 
Now it was Anaconda’s turn to nearly fall out of the sky. 
“What?” Anaconda sputtered. “That’s ridiculous!” Mirage stared at him seriously. But animus magic is genetic. Who could I have gotten it from? If I’m an animus, Basilisk could be too. 
“CAMEL-FARTS!” Anaconda shouted, a little unnecessarily. Goldfinch, Rapid, and Mirage looked at him strangely. 
“What?” Goldfinch asked. 
“Mirage says I’m an animus. If I am, then Basilisk could be too.” Instead of conspiring with an animus, she might be the animus. 
Goldfinch stared at him. “Who’s Basilisk?” 
“The dragon that kidnapped me.” Anaconda replied. “And my sister.” His words dripped with venom.
They flew on in silence, and reached the cave by dark. Anaconda led the way into the cave, followed by Goldfinch, Mirage, and Rapid. Everblaze was like her own torch, providing a fiery glow. 
Meteorgaze, Allure, Pondskimmer, and Fir noticed them. Chalcid was talking in a calm tone to Everblaze, while Forethought and Lalamity were talking in a corner. 
Allure bounded over. “Hello, are you Mirage?” Allure asked, poking Mirage in the chest with a talon.
Everblaze heard her and her head snapped up, fury blazing in her eyes. Mirage spotted Everblaze, but pretended not to notice her. Rapid was talking to Fir, and Meteorgaze strode over to Anaconda. 
“You found him. Good.” She said, and Anaconda nodded. Hey, Meteorgaze . . . Anaconda thought, mentally pushing his thoughts towards her. She looked at him with a curious look. “What is it?” She asked. Remember how you said you’d never met an animus dragon? 
“Yes…?” Meteorgaze replied. 
You have.
“What?” 
You met me, and apparently I’m an animus. I think that’s how you suddenly couldn’t read my mind. 
Meteorgaze looked shocked. “Well… I guess it makes sense.” 
That’s bad. 
“Why?” 
Because Basilisk might be one too.
Meteorgaze’s eyes widened. She shut her mouth as Mirage stepped over to Everblaze.
“WHY YOU LITTLE DUST LICKING INTESTINE SPEWING BALL OF RATS!” She screeched, eyes burning with hatred.
Mirage calmly ducked a blow and sighed, eyes closed. “Look, Everblaze—”
“I’VE LOOKED ENOUGH AT YOUR LIE SPITTING FACE!” She roared, tears falling from her eyes. 
Mirage blinked. “You think I . . .” He trailed off. “I never wanted to leave you.”
Everblaze’s breath caught. “I’ve had enough of your lies,” She spat. “If you're going to help, then just do it.” She led him to where the egg sat in a circle of stones. Mirage started to say something, but apparently decided not to. 
As Mirage talked softly to Everblaze, Anaconda turned to Goldfinch and Meteorgaze. “Guys,” He said quietly. “I need to make sure this is true. Do you have something I can, like, enchant or something?”
Goldfinch opened her necklace clasp and a tarantula crawled onto her talon. “Here,” She said. “Do whatever you want with him, just please don’t kill him.”
“You have a pet spider?” Anaconda asked incredulously.
“Really,” Meteorgaze interrupted in a hiss. “This is not the time.”
Anaconda nodded and stared at the spider. “I . . . um . . .”
“You need to sound confident or it might not work,” Goldfinch pointed out.
“Right,” Anaconda replied. “I . . . I enchant this spider to protect the dragon touching it from breaking any bones.”
Meteorgaze face-palmed. “Seriously? Now one of us has to break a bone.”
“Sorry!” Anaconda hissed. “I couldn’t think of anything else!”
Goldfinch scooped up the spider and put it in her locket. “Stomp on my tail as hard as you can,” She said, cringing. 
Anaconda sighed, and jumped with all his might onto Goldfinch’s tail.
“OW—” Goldfinch clamped her mouth shut and her eyes watered. She looked back and waved her tail around. “No broken bones.”
“Let’s try something else,” Meteorgaze said. “Because that could be flawed.” She scooped up a handful of rocks and dumped them into Anaconda’s talons. “Pick one that strikes your fancy and try something else.”
Anaconda nodded and picked a round gray pebble with silver spots on it. He thought for a minute, then said, “I enchant this stone to protect the user from wounds.”
“That’s awfully unspecific,” Meteorgaze groaned. Anaconda sighed. “But it might work, and if it does, it’ll be useful.” Especially if I fight Basilisk. “If it doesn’t work, it’ll be a waste of time.” And a waste of my soul if I’m actually an Animus. He thought darkly.
“Okay, go punch Everblaze or something,” Goldfinch suggested.
“Absolutely not.” Anaconda said. “It protects from wounds, not death. And if I punch Everblaze I’ll certainly be dead.” Anaconda smiled.  
Meteorgaze suddenly swiped at him with her claws.
“AAH!” Anaconda clutched his arm as pain shot through his shoulder.
Goldfinch pried his talons off and gasped. “Woah.”
Anaconda looked down. No blood? He thought. That felt like it should've drawn at least a little—He stopped. Woah. I’m actually an Animus. His eyes widened.
“This is bad,” He muttered, pacing. “I already used who-knows-how-many enchantments! I’m already LOSING MY SOUL!”
Goldfinch stopped him. “Woah there. Just . . . I dunno, enchant something to protect your soul or something.” 
Anaconda frowned. “That never seems to work. I don’t think you can protect your soul from animus magic.”
Meteorgaze rolled her eyes. “It won’t hurt to try. Come on, let’s tell everyone.”
“WHAT?!?” Anaconda exploded. “No way! That would be incredibly dangerous.”
Goldfinch cocked her head. “Why?”
“Because if they leak information to the wrong dragon, I could be dead in a matter of minutes!” Anaconda snapped, his Scorpion Den instincts bubbling up. “And then I could lose the element of surprise when I have to defeat Basilisk.”
“I think you're forgetting—you’re an Animus. You can literally do anything except bring dragons back from the dead. ANYTHING.” Meteorgaze said, waving her talons in front of Anaconda’s face.
He smacked her talons away and said, “No. And if you tell anyone I’ll come and kill you myself,” He growled harshly.
She blinked as he swept away.
That was probably a bit too much. Anaconda thought regretfully. But I really don’t want her telling everyone. 
He sighed. I can’t do anything right. He thought with frustration. 
“STOP STALLING AND TELL ME WHY YOU LEFT!” Everblaze roared. Anaconda glanced over and saw Everblaze pinning Mirage to the ground. 
Mirage gasped. 
“It would help if you could let me breathe.” Mirage croaked. 
“Fine.” Everblaze hissed and loosened her grip. Mirage took a moment to catch his breath while Everblaze glared at him. 
“Now why did you leave?” Everblaze demanded. 
“I left for you.” Mirage said. Everblaze snorted. “For me? Yeah right.” 
“But I did!” Mirage protested. 
“Lie to me again and I’ll stuff a flaming toad down your throat. Now tell me. Why. Did. You. LEAVE?!?”
Mirage took a step back, his muscles tense. He doesn’t think he can convince Everblaze. Anaconda thought. 
“Everblaze, I left because I was losing my mind!” he growled.
Everblaze stopped.
“It was almost a year after we became mates—a few days before I left. I kept enchanting different things as a gift for you . . . but none of them seemed right. So I kept doing it, but then something came over me, some sort of realization. This voice echoes echoes in my head and told me to kill you before you told anyone that I was mad. I knew I had to stop, but I believed it was too late. So I ran. I ran as far away from you as possible in hopes that you’d be safe from me. I’ve regretted the decision since, so I did what no other Animus has ever done before.” Mirage took a deep breath. What did he do? Anaconda wondered.
“I enchanted my animus magic.” Mirage said. “I enchanted it to go away, so I could no longer cast spells, in hopes of saving my soul.”
Everblaze released him and clutched her head in her talons. 
“I’m so sorry.” Mirage and Everblaze said in unison. Tears, happy ones this time, fell from both dragons’ eyes. Mirage stepped forward and wrapped his wings around Everblaze in a hug. 
Lalamity interrupted the sweet moment. 
“While this is sweet and everything,” Lalamity hissed, “We have work to do, and a prophecy to figure out.”
“Prophecy?” Meteorgaze, Fir, Pondskimmer, Allure, Goldfinch, and Mirage asked. 
Anaconda sighed. “Yes.” 
Everblaze nodded. “The sun will go dark, the ones from the darkest corners must bring salvation, or the world will be lost in turmoil and chaos.” 
“What in the three moons is that supposed to mean?!?” Goldfinch demanded. 
Lalamity rolled her eyes. “I have NO idea. But can we figure it out?”
“The sun will go dark?” Goldfinch muttered. “How can the sun go dark?”
Allure frowned. “Maybe something blocking out the sun? Like a huge swarm of dragons?”
Anaconda sighed again. “Maybe, but it would have to be a—” his eyes widened. “An attack force! From Pantala!” He exclaimed. “They might come and raid Pyrrhia—”
Meteorgaze stomped on his tail. “They won’t, scavenger-brain. Only Wasp would do something like that.”
Everblaze and Mirage ignored them and talked softly over the egg.
“Uh, guys?” Pondskimmer called in her melodic voice. “I sense danger.”
Allure turned quickly. “If she feels it, she’s never wrong. Everyone get into the river and hide!” She ordered.
Pondskimmer, Rapid, Fir, Allure and Meteorgaze jumped into the river and disappeared. Anaconda grabbed Goldfinch and hid in a crevice. 
Mirage pulled something out, and touched Everblaze and the egg. They all disappeared.
Tap tap tap tap. 
Anaconda held his breath as he saw Allure and Meteorgaze come up for a breath, then disappear again.
A strange dragon walked into the cave. She had emerald scales and wings shaped like leaves. She had minty green wings and dapples of olive and dark brown scales. Her eyes shone like the sun when the light hit them, showing them to be a brilliant orange.
She smirked and called, “Come on in. It’s empty. We'll camp here tonight.”
Hidden in the crevice, Anaconda hissed, sounding exactly like a snake. The strange dragon frowned as more dragons came in behind her and heard Anaconda’s hissing. 
One dragon looked like the first, except this dragon had spikes like an IceWing.
The next dragon looked sort of like Goldfinch, with wings a bit more like Meteorgaze’s.
The dragon who came in after looked like Meteorgaze, but without the NightWing features.
Coming in last was a SkyWing. Anaconda’s hissing grew louder as the other hybrids joined in. 
The strangers shuffled uneasily. 
“I guess there’s a lot of snakes in here.” The first dragon said. 
“Maybe we shouldn’t stay here, Tigerlily.” The SkyWing said to the first dragon, clearly nervous. 
The others shifted, also getting nervous. One of the other strange dragons, the one with wings like Allure’s and Meteorgaze’s, poked around, and then yelped in surprise as he bumped into an invisible Everblaze. 
He caught fire immediately, his scales flaming angrily.
“Ahhh!” The dragon screeched as Everblaze roared, popping into view. The other dragons screeched in terror and ran out. Anaconda, Everblaze, Goldfinch, and Allure leaped after them. 
Before the dragons could get far, Goldfinch and Everblaze had stopped them. Anaconda followed with Allure close behind. The dragon who looked like Goldfinch hissed, standing tall with a fierce expression. 
“Who are you?” Everblaze hissed, Meteorgaze and Rapid coming out of the cave. Pondskimmer and Fir came out behind them, Pondskimmer keeping her distance from the strangers. 
“I’m Tigerlily, as you might have heard.” The first dragon said.
“I’m Falcon.” The fierce dragon who looked sort of like Goldfinch said. 
“I’m Juniper.” The strange IceWing-ish dragon said.
“I’m Crios,” The strange dragon with wings like Allure’s and Meteorgaze’s said, “And this is Flicker.” He said, gesturing to the SkyWing. 
Suddenly a feminine voice called from above. “Anaconda! Everblaze! Lalamity!” The voice called.
Anaconda looked up and saw a SandWing with some IceWing features. Is that Thunderclap? He wondered. 
“Thunderclap!” Lalamity called. Thunderclap glided down to land beside Lalamity. 
“Where’s Pilot?” Everblaze asked. 
“He’s still watching- um-” Thunderclap started, but trailed off. 
“Watching what?” Allure asked. 
“Afterglow’s dead body.” Meteorgaze interjected. “Whoever that is.” 
Thunderclap stared at her. Allure jumped in. “Yea, Meteorgaze can read minds, anyways, who’s Afterglow?”
“Our old captor.” Thunderclap, Everblaze, and Lalamity said together. 
“Oh.” Allure said. 
“Yeah.” Anaconda replied. 
“Ummm… what?” Crios asked. 
“He’s dead.” Thunderclap said. “Somehow.”
=== Chapter 8 ===
The group headed back inside the cave while the group explained to the newcomers what was happening.
Tigerlily glared at everyone–especially Mirage—except for Anaconda, whom she smiled at charmingly.
Everblaze hissed as Crios looked at her egg. “Get them out of here,” She demanded. “Now.”
Rapid growled at Flicker as she swiped at Meteorgaze and hissed, “Get out of my head you little worm!”
“We’ll kick them out.” Anaconda ordered. “Sound good?”
Lalamity rolled her eyes. “If they want to stay for the night, we should let them.”
Fir stared at Juniper with wonder in his eyes. “Sure,” He muttered. “Sounds good.”
Juniper smiled a little crazily. “Good.” She hissed in an icy voice that dripped with . . . was it happiness? Or insanity?
Anaconda sighed. “Fine.” He glared at Tigerlily. “But I don’t trust them.”
Don’t tell them about the prophecy, He thought at Meteorgaze.
Fir cocked his head and asked, “Are you and Icewing Leafwing hybrid too?” 
Juniper nodded. “Yes.” She suddenly stomped on her tail and grinned. “I am. Where did you grow up?”
Goldfinch rolled her eyes. “This cave just gets more and more crowded.”
“I know,” Anaconda grumbled. 
“Ahem,” Tigerlily cleared her throat. “We don’t mean to . . . intrude. We’ll leave if you wish.” She glanced at Juniper. “She’s kinda . . .” She shrugged. “We’re working on it, right?”
Juniper smiled softly. “Trying. Falcon too.”
Fir furrowed his brow. “Working on what?”
“Oh, just some mental issues, trauma, that sort of thing.” Tigerlily yawned. “We’re quite the group.”
“I can see that,” Anaconda hissed.
Falcon smiled. “I’m fine. No issues here.”
Meteorgaze shifted away from Falcon with a horrified look on her face.
What? Anaconda pushed his thoughts at her. What’s wrong?
She shook her head.
Flicker sighed and said, “So . . . can we stay or not? I don’t want miss fire-eyes rummaging around in my brain.”
“What the heck?!” Meteorgaze exclaimed. “I do not look like a big mosquito!”
“I said stop doing that,” Flicker growled.
“I AM NOT A LARGE HOUSEFLY, TIGERLILY!” Meteorgaze roared. “Geez!”
Anaconda sighed and hissed, “Make yourselves comfortable. We’ll be keeping an eye on you. Juniper, Tigerlily and Falcon especially.” He jumped onto a ledge with a flap of his wings.
“And, Juniper, Tigerlily, Falcon, Crios, and Flicker, don’t yell at Meteorgaze. She’s not trying to read your minds, she just hears it, okay? Also, you’d better be nice or you’ll be out of here faster than you can say scavenger-brain.” Anaconda hissed.
“Right,” Flicker growled. “Sure.”
Meteorgaze swooped up to Anaconda’s platform. “These dragons are messed up.” She hissed. “Like, seriously. Cra-zy.”
Anaconda tilted his head. “Juniper seems nice enough.”
“She’s completely crazy. I swear. And Falcon . . . just don’t ask.” She shivered. “These dragons are dangerous.”
Anaconda nodded. “I agree.”
Rapid talked with Falcon as Flicker and Crios stayed in a corner.
Allure joined Meteorgaze and Anaconda, saying, “I have a bad feeling about Tigerlily. She’s been giving me the side-eye since she saw me.” Allure swallowed hard. “And Falcon. He’s scaring me.”
Anaconda stood. “I think I should have a talk with that dragon.”
Meteorgaze caught him. “Don’t. He’s a murderer.”
“Murderer or not, he shouldn’t be scaring Allure. Or anyone for that matter.” He wrenched away and hopped off the ledge. 
Maybe I can help them somehow. Anaconda thought, opening his mind to Meteorgaze, as he didn’t really care if she listened to this or not. 
If no one else can, an animus could. Anaconda kept his mind open, and saw Meteorgaze in the corner of his eyes looking at him. 
“That could work, but is that a good idea?” She asked, and the cave fell silent, and Anaconda could guess that every dragon was wondering whose thoughts she’d read. But Anaconda knew. 
An animus can do anything except contradict death, so I don’t see why not. Anaconda thought, looking at Meteorgaze. 
“True.” She replied. “But still, is it a good idea?” 
I’ve hardly used it, I’m sure I have enough soul to help these dragons and still have some for my battle with Basilisk. 
“Hey, we don’t even know if you will battle Basilisk.” 
It is very likely. 
“Yes, but still.” 
Every dragon in the cave was staring at them. Tigerlily, Falcon, Flicker, and Juniper were all glaring at Meteorgaze. 
Pondskimmer, Fir, Goldfinch, Everblaze, Lalamity, and Rapid didn’t seem to mind though. 
“What are you staring at?” Anaconda hissed at the newer dragons. 
“You’re just letting her intrude your thoughts?” Falcon growled.
“Yes, it lets me talk to her without you guys interrupting too much.” Anaconda snapped. “And maybe, just maybe, what I’m thinking of doing might help you. Of course, you’d better be nice if you want to be helped, because I’m not helping you if you hurt my friends.” Anaconda growled threateningly. Friends? He thought to himself. Since when do I have friends other than Cacti?
Tigerlily smiled sweetly, in a way that was practically annoying. Tigerlily turned to her group and spoke in a low voice to them. 
So, Meteorgaze. Is it a good idea? Anaconda thought, and Meteorgaze frowned thoughtfully, getting up and sitting next to him. 
“In theory, yes.” Meteorgaze replied. 
Should we get Goldfinch’s opinion? 
“Maybe.”
We should get Mirage’s opinion. He was an animus, and he knows I’m one too, so he could help there.
“Alright, let’s go talk to him.” Meteorgaze agreed, and together they got up and went to talk to Mirage.
Mirage was talking to Everblaze, and both of them looked up when Anaconda and Meteorgaze came over. 
“Hey, Anaconda, Meteorgaze.” Mirage said, greeting them. “What’s up?”
“Can we have a private conversation with you, Mirage?” Meteorgaze asked.
“Sure.” Mirage replied, a bit of confusion in his voice. 
Meteorgaze led them to a quiet corner of the cave, where they were out of earshot of the other dragons.
“What is it-?” Mirage asked.
“Shhhh!” Meteorgaze interrupted.
“I have an idea on how we can help the new dragons.” Anaconda whispered.
“How?” Mirage whispered back.
“By using animus magic.” Meteorgaze replied, also whispering. 
“Animus magic? Is that a good idea?” Mirage asked. “That’s what we’re wondering, and we’re also wondering what it would take out of Anaconda if he were to heal them with animus magic.” Meteorgaze explained. 
“Hmmm…” Mirage mused. “It could be done, obviously, so the question is how much it would take out of him?” 
“Yes.” Anaconda responded. This is my soul we’re talking about. We’ve got to take it seriously. 
“Well, I think it would take around ten percent of his soul?” Mirage said after a moment of calculating. “But we don’t know exactly how much each spell takes out of your soul, so that complicates things, but I believe he’ll still have plenty of his soul left.” 
“Okay, good.” Anaconda replied, getting up and leaving the cave. 
Heading into the dark forest, Anaconda searched around, not entirely sure what he was looking for.  
He heard a noise, like gentle whispers.
He peeked around a tree and saw three huddling scavengers, terrified.
“Oh hello there,” Anaconda muttered, picking one up.
The other scavengers shrieked and started poking at him with long sticks.
Anaconda arched an eyebrow as they continued poking. He flicked them away and set the scavenger down. Weird creatures, he thought. Very strange.
He continued into the forest until he found a strange clearing. 
The clearing glowed with a strange light, and Anaconda saw fireflies floating around the clearing. Anaconda knew they weren’t the source of the strange light, as the light was persistent and brighter than the fireflies’ light. 
There was a snap, and Anaconda heard voices. He quickly scrambled up a tree as two dragons walked into the clearing. 
“Seems like we’re the first ones here.” The first dragon said. Anaconda flinched. He knew that voice. It was Basilisk. 
This close to our cave?!? Anaconda thought in horror. 
“Yes, it would seem so.” The other dragon said. 
“Well, we’ll just wait here until the others arrive then.” Basilisk hissed with a wicked smile. Anaconda shuddered. 
“Too bad I had to kill Afterglow,” Basilisk said cheerfully. “He could’ve been more of a help to me. What a shame.” 
Basilisk killed Afterglow? Anaconda thought, surprised for a moment. Of course she did. We escaped, and Afterglow failed to stop us. She’s dangerous and ruthless. 
Basilisk looked at her talons smugly. “So we just need Falcon and Bonfire, then?”
The other dragon shifted uncomfortably. “Ummm… Bonfire backed out.”
“WHAT?!?” Basilisk roared furiously. 
Suddenly Basilisk’s head shot up and she launched into the tree and tackled Anaconda, both of them falling out of the tree.
Anaconda swiped with his talons and sliced at Basilisk’s face. She roared and venom launched through Anaconda’s wing webbing.
He screeched with pain and stole a glance at the other dragon.
METEORGAZE! He thought in a panic, trying to send his thoughts as far as possible. HELP!
Anaconda was able to get his own venom on his wingspan in a quick moment when Basilisk was reeling away from him. 
Anaconda roared and launched himself at Basilisk. 
Suddenly he seemed to hit an invisible wall. He couldn’t move. 
Basilisk hissed with amusement, her injuries fading away. Anaconda’s were too, and he remembered the rock he’d enchanted a bit ago. 
Basilisk must be an animus too. He thought with dread. He tried to move, but nothing happened. She’s taken over my body. I’ll have to enchant myself out of this. Anaconda took a deep breath, rage burning in his eyes. 
Closing his eyes, Anaconda went limp. 
I enchant Anaconda the SandWing RainWing hybrid to be immune to Basilisk the RainWing’s enchantments when the future dictates that he is still needed and needs to live for the good of all dragons! 
Suddenly it seemed as if time had slowed. Basilisk’s wicked grin faded to shock and fury as Anaconda tumbled to the ground. 
Suddenly Everblaze burst out of the woods, barreling straight into Basilisk. Meteorgaze and Goldfinch came in close behind, followed by Rapid, Allure, Tigerlily, and Crios. 
The other mysterious dragon who had been with Basilisk had vanished. Anaconda turned to Meteorgaze.
See if you can find Falcon’s mind. He was supposed to be here, to meet with Basilisk. 
Meteorgaze’s eyes widened, then she closed her eyes, concentrating. 
Basilisk was screeching, and suddenly Everblaze was thrown backwards and into a tree, which erupted into flames. 
There was a roar from above and Anaconda looked up to see a glowing SkyWing diving towards them. 
Basilisk hissed in anger, apparently recognising the SkyWing.
The clearing fell quiet as the SkyWing landed. 
“Bonfire.” Basilisk hissed in a sickly-sweet voice. “How nice of you to join us.” 
“Indeed.” The SkyWing, Bonfire, growled. 
Bonfire was an interesting SkyWing, with glowing veins going through her wingspan, with an image of fire on the underside, with the glowing veins adding to the effect. She looked very serious, and had very sharp claws, and whip-thin tail. She had a rich, smooth voice with a no-nonsense tone, and held herself very regally, making her even more intimidating than before.
Anaconda was not one to be intimidated often, but Bonfire was the most intimidating dragon Anaconda had ever seen. 
Everblaze had gotten up and was facing Bonfire, smoke gathering around her face. 
The two firescale dragons faced each other, neither one moving. Bonfire was larger in size, compared to Everblaze, and Anaconda knew this could serve as an advantage to her if they were to fight. 
“Bonfire, have you changed your mind?” Basilisk interjected. 
Bonfire’s head snapped around to look at Basilisk. 
“No.” She snapped. “I don't want anything to deal with you anymore.” 
Basilisk looked disappointed. 
“I’m disappointed in you, Bonfire.” Basilisk said. “I really don’t want to kill your precious Evergreen.” 
Bonfire stiffened. “You wouldn’t dare.” She hissed. 
“I would dare.” Basilisk replied. Meteorgaze bit her lip, as Bonfire shook her head again. 
“She intends on doing so.” Meteorgaze told Bonfire. Bonfire looked at Meteorgaze. “How would you know that?” Bonfire growled. 
“I can read minds.” Meteorgaze replied simply, turning to look at Basilisk. Basilisk strode forward, stopping in front of Anaconda. 
“Well, hello, brother.” Basilisk snarled. “How nice to see you again.” 
“Yes, how nice to see you again, Basilisk.” Anaconda replied in a kind of calm that held great danger.
“Did you really have to choose Canary, of all the RainWings?” Anaconda roared suddenly. “He had a dragonet to care for!”
Basilisk scoffed. “Tsk. Like I care.” She turned to Bonfire. “Kill the other firescales dragon or Evergreen dies.”
Bonfire flinched. “I . . .”
“DO IT!” Basilisk roared.
Meteorgaze ran forward and tackled Basilisk. “Stop!” She cried.
Basilisk smirked and Meteorgaze started choking. 
Anaconda hissed and sliced open Basilisk’s side. He quickly thought, Meteorgaze will now be immune to Basilisk’s magic!
Meteorgaze gasped for air.
Bonfire roared and reluctantly tackled Everblaze, tears falling from her eyes. 
Everblaze rolled out of the way just in time, setting a branch on fire and throwing it at Bonfire. The other firescales dragon blocked with her wing and attacked again.
Everblaze roared in agony as Bonfire cut open her wing webbing.
Anaconda jumped forward and pinned Basilisk to the ground. “You should die for what you’ve done!” He growled. As he thrust his claws toward her throat, she suddenly disappeared, with a hiss of, “Bonfire, if you don’t kill her I’ll come for Evergreen next . . .”
Bonfire screeched and ripped open Everblaze’s stomach.
Blood pooled everywhere as Everblaze staggered and fell. She breathed a plume of fire and fell limp.
Anaconda dashed to her side, and without thinking lay his talons on her scales.
I enchant this dragon to be healed of her wounds! He thought frantically, ignoring the burning pain.
Everblaze’s breathing returned and the wound sealed.
“NO!” Bonfire roared. “Don’t make me kill you again!”
She knocked Anaconda aside, sending him—on fire—into a bush. She stood over Everblaze with tears in her eyes and prepared to snap her neck.
Everblaze roared in fury and smacked Bonfire off her, cutting open her tail and wrenching open the wound.
Bonfire, streaming blood, jumped back and with a swift movement, tore a chunk of Everblaze’s shoulder clean off with her teeth.
Everblaze screamed and smacked her aside with her wing. She ducked under a blow, weakening by the second.
Bonfire grabbed Everblaze’s head and sliced her talons across her eyes.
Suddenly, Mirage came into the clearing in a roaring ball of fury. He smacked Bonfire away from Everblaze and cut her side with his tail barb.
She screamed and dashed away as Everblaze fell in a heap.
Tigerlily and her gang ran into the clearing next. She ordered dragons around, and nimbly got up next to Bonfire with a potion in her hand. 
“Stay still you flaming dust bunny,” She growled, dropping some of the green liquid into the barb wound.
Bonfire groaned and clutched her side. “Get away from me and let me kill that other . . .” She  tottered and fell unconscious to the ground.
“Did you kill her?” Mirage asked hopefully.
“No. I healed that nasty swipe you gave her. She’s unconscious—” Tigerlily stared at Everblaze. She wasn’t moving.
Mirage shook Everblaze hastily. “Come on!” He cried. “Please wake up!”
Anaconda dragged himself from the bush and walked over to Everblaze. “Is she . . ?”
Mirage frantically checked her pulse.  His eyes widened. “She’s . . . she’s dead.”
=== Chapter 9 ===
“NO!” Mirage collapsed onto Everblaze. “No, no no!”
He pounded on the ground with his fist as Everblaze’s fiery glow dwindled.
Mirage turned in fury and launched at Bonfire. Just before he could slice open her neck, Tigerlily threw him back.
Anaconda caught him by the wing. “Stop,” He ordered. “It’s not her fault.” He lied. Except it is her fault, in a way. 
“She deserves to die!” Mirage roared. “Let me go, RainWing!”
Anaconda struggled to keep himself from unleashing a torrent of insults. “Stop, or I’ll make you,” He growled.
Mirage wrenched from his grip and threw himself in a blind rage at Bonfire.
Meteorgaze caught him before he could do any damage. “Calm down,” Meteorgaze demanded. “I can still feel her there!”
Anaconda paused. “How?”
He walked over to Everblaze’s glow was still there, but it was faint. He paused and thought, I really shouldn’t use my magic. 
“Maybe Basilisk enchanted her to look dead so Mirage would try to kill us all?” Meteorgaze supplied.
Anaconda nodded. “It’s possible, but . . . I don’t know how she’d recover from that.” He grimaced at her face and shoulder wounds.
Meteorgaze took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Can you hear her? Anaconda asked mentally. Is she alive?
Meteorgaze looked shocked. “It’s like she’s asleep. But . . . she’s aware of it. She’s trying to wake up, but can’t.” 
“So a coma?” Anaconda asked. 
“Basically.”
Mirage clutched his head in his hands. “Why would I kill you all?” He murmured.
Anaconda looked at him. “Because maybe you’ve lost more of your soul than you think.”
Mirage glared at him. “You’re one to talk, you performed around ten enchantments! Don’t think I didn’t notice!” He pulled out what resembled a small globe, but had golden rings around it. “This glows every time any-dragon uses magic. You could have half your soul left!”
Anaconda glared. “Why don’t we discuss this back at the cave?”
Mirage bit back tears and scooped up Everblaze.
Falcon swiped his tail through the grass and glared at Allure, who had entered with the other hybrids.
“Silkwing,” He drawled. “You’re part Silkwing, aren’t you?”
Allure nodded. “Yes. I'm Hivewing, Rainwing, Silkwing.”
“Your kind murdered someone close to me.” Falcon’s voice dripped with menace and venom.
Meteorgaze’s eyes widened. “You . . . oh no.” She rubbed her head then screamed, “You killed them all! How could you?!”
Falcon turned on her. “You’re in my head, aren’t you?” He glared and poised himself to strike.
Anaconda jumped between them and shoved them apart. “Falcon, go back to the cave. Meteorgaze, we need to talk.”
Falcon glared and Tigerlily led them away.
“What did you see?” Anaconda demanded. “I need to know.”
Meteorgaze’s flaming eyes watered with tears. “He . . . he killed so many HiveWings! He went with the LeafWings to kill all of the HiveWings. They didn’t succeed, but . . .” She trailed off, then started again. “He killed so many of them.”
Anaconda was startled. “Really?”
She nodded. “I-I-I’m so sorry!” She wailed. “It’s so awful!” She buried her face in Anaconda’s wing.
He fidgeted, trying to console her. “What do you think I can do to help?”
“Bring him to justice,” Meteorgaze breathed. “He doesn't deserve help.”
Anaconda nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”
----Anaconda walked quietly into the cave, hoping to not be noticed. 
Oh, well that failed. 
All the heads in the cave turned.
Fir and Rapid leaned together and whispered while Allure, Goldfinch, and Tigerlily talked quietly.
“What’s wrong?” Anaconda asked.
Goldfinch cleared her throat. “Mirage.” Goldfinch muttered. “He’s . . .” She cocked her head. “He needs some help.”
Meteorgaze sighed. “You’re telling me. I can hear all of it.”
Anaconda nodded. “Yeah, something’s definitely up with him.”
Mirage was sitting at the riverbank staring into the river with a blank expression and glassy eyes. 
“He certainly wasn’t like that before.” Anaconda muttered uncomfortably. 
Meteorgaze and Goldfinch nodded in agreement. 
“We’ll keep an eye on him I guess.” Goldfinch said, shooting a pointed look at Meteorgaze. It was true, Meteorgaze could easily keep tabs on Mirage just through his thoughts. 
Meteorgaze bit her lip but nodded reluctantly. 
She doesn’t want to spy on Mirage like that, but it’s necessary. Anaconda observed. He sighed. He jumped as Tigerlily shouted.
“Hey!” Tigerlily barked. “Juniper, shut up!”
Juniper growled. “I want to stay!” She snapped. 
“No, you don’t!” Tigerlily hissed. “Come on, we’re leaving!”
“NO!” Juniper roared. “You can’t make me!” Fir walked over questioningly. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“This stupid scavenger-brain doesn’t want to leave.” Tigerlily growled. 
“I’M NOT LEAVING!” Juniper roared as loud as she could. 
“WHY?!” Tigerlily shouted.
Juniper’s voice changed. “Our salvation lies here.” She growled in a deep voice. Tigerlily blinked with surprise. “What?”
“Our salvation lies here.” Juniper growled again, her gaze flicking to Anaconda. They stared at each other in a moment of awkward silence. 
“Salvation.” Juniper said stoutly, not taking her gaze off Anaconda. Is she saying I’m the salvation of the prophecy? He wondered. Everyone in the cave was staring at him now. Anaconda shifted uncomfortably. 
“Juniper, are you saying he’s the salvation in the prophecy?” Meteorgaze asked. 
“What prophecy?” Tigerlily asked. Anaconda started to say something, then realized what this meant. How does Juniper know the prophecy? Does she see the same future Lalamity does? No, Juniper doesn’t see the future. 
“The sun will go dark, the ones from the darkest corners must bring salvation, or the world will be lost in turmoil and chaos.” Lalamity and Juniper said in unison. Lalamity blinked and stared at Juniper, who was repeating the prophecy again under her breath. 
Fir glanced from Juniper to Anaconda. “Are you sure?” 
Juniper’s head snapped up to look at Fir. She pointed to Anaconda. “Salvation.” She said fiercely. Fir stared at her for a moment, then backed away, as if retreating. 
“Salvation? Me?” Anaconda asked. 
Juniper locked her intense stare on Anaconda. “Salvation. You.” She stated insistently. 
Falcon suddenly sprang forward and latched onto Anaconda. He threw him into the roof, and smacked him onto the ground with his tail.
“What are you doing!?” Anaconda roared, dodging a blow.
Falcon narrowed his eyes. “Prophecies are for the weak. By killing you, Juniper will come with us and the prophecy won’t come to pass.”
“You want turmoil and chaos?” Anaconda spat at him. 
Falcon grinned. “All the better for dragons like me.” Before he could spring again, Goldfinch roared in fury and knocked him over with a bash to the shoulder.
She blasted fire at him and sliced her tail stinger across his snout. He wobbled, and fell to the ground.
Anaconda blinked. “T-Thanks.” He stammered, shaken.
Goldfinch nodded gravely. “Idiot.”
Juniper walked up to Falcon and stared at him. “You . . .” She snorted and shook her head. Suddenly Juniper roared with fury. “You tried to kill our salvation?!?” She screeched, fury blazing in her eyes. She didn’t move to attack, but she was quivering with anger. Tigerlily, who had stood in shock, now moved towards Falcon. 
“We can’t have you here if you’re going to hurt us.” Tigerlily growled. “Get out.”
“What?” Falcon snorted scornfully. “You don’t mean that.” 
“I mean it.” Tigerlily snapped, in a voice that said, ‘Try me’. 
Falcon snorted again, this time with a hint of disbelief. Tigerlily glared at him. Even though she was smaller than Falcon, he was clearly a bit intimidated. 
“Fine.” Falcon said after a moment. He turned to leave, but then looked back at Tigerlily. “You know what this means?” He asked her threateningly. Tigerlily nodded grimly.
“Go!” She snarled. Falcon lifted his head high and left the cave. A few moments passed as everyone stood in silence and shock.
“What does it mean?” Allure asked, breaking the silence. 
Flicker shuddered with dread, clearly knowing. Crios stood beside her watching Falcon’s form lift off into the sky. 
Crios put his wing around Flicker. “It means he’s going to get revenge.” He said softly. 
Anaconda felt a chill run down his spine. 
Uneasiness spread through the hybrids as the information sank in. Flicker huddled closer to Crios for comfort as Goldfinch stepped closer to Anaconda. 
“This is bad.” Goldfinch whispered to Anaconda. No kidding. Anaconda thought, nodding grimly. Meteorgaze stepped up on Anaconda’s other side. 
“We’ll have to be on guard from now on.” Meteorgaze said. 
“We already are on guard.” Anaconda pointed out. Just another enemy to add to our list. He thought, slightly annoyed. Couldn’t he have one dragon who wouldn’t betray him? He sighed, exhausted. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d slept. He got up and went to the darkest corner of the cave he could find, and laid down. 
He closed his eyes and drifted into sleep. 
A familiar figure appeared in his dreams. “Basilisk!” He snarled. 
Basilisk stood shrouded in a dark mist. Her wicked grin gleamed, her amber eyes practically glowing in the darkness. 
She flicked her eyes from Anaconda’s eyes to the ugly burns on his claws. She smirked.
“Hello, little brother.” She reached her claws out and brushed his frills.
Anaconda lunged at her and swiped his tail barb across her chest.
She just smiled. “You can’t hurt me.”
“I can try,” Anaconda snarled, pointlessly breathing fire at her.
She laughed. “Well done, brother.” She pondered him for a moment. “You know, with what I’m using to invade your dreams, I could make you sleep forever.” She walked around him, and her scales shifted to emerald. “Honestly, did you really think I wouldn’t be able to enchant you? I’m impenetrable to any blocking magic now.” She sneered. She snapped her talons and suddenly, Goldfinch and Meteorgaze appeared, both chained to the ground.
“I can hurt them now,” Basilisk hissed. “Who would you rather see die?”
“No . . .” Anaconda growled. “This is a dream. They’re not real.”
“Anaconda!” Goldfinch shrieked. “Please! Help Meteorgaze! I’ll be fine!”
Basilisk strutted over to Goldfinch and yanked the necklace from her neck. “I’ll be taking that.” She growled.
Anaconda ran at her, but passed straight through her.
Basilisk swiped her talons across Goldfinch’s side, and blood spilled to the ground. She screamed and tried to jump at Basilisk as she threw Anaconda to the ground.
Meteorgaze suddenly yelled, “EVERBLAZE! HELP!”
A whoosh sounded, and a fiery form descended on Basilisk.
Basilisk shrieked in surprise and fury as Everblaze barreled into Basilisk. Anaconda blinked. Since when is she awake? He thought to himself. There was a sharp pain in his side, and Anaconda yelped, and was pulled out of the dream and into chaos. 
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