Hybrid Wings: The Prophecy

NOTE: While the dragon is my own original design, the sunset background is not 
Part of the Diamond Wings series. 
It is year four at Jade Mountain, and three year old Auburn couldn't be more unwilling. To leave her parents, the two dragons she's comfortable with is a difficult task for such a shy dragonet, and to make matters worse, she has to share a STUPID CAVE. ALL. THE. TIME. 
As Auburn settles in with her new winglet, something starts making students disappear out of nowhere in the middle of the night without a trace. Can Auburn and her new friends solve this deadly mystery before they're next? 
This will be a series of five short novellas. I will be updating the progress every Thursday for the foreseeable future. I will let you know here if changes are to be made. Expect edits and a few minor name and plot changes, as I’ve just picked this project back up after two years. I am currently in the middle of Chapter 7, so if you want to read this when it is fully complete, check back in a month or so. Enjoy the story! 
== Diamond Wings: The Prophecy ==
I am Tsunami, Head of School here at Jade Mountain Academy. Now that the school has been open for four years, we are adding five new winglets to our curriculum! The Diamond Winglet, the Prismarine Winglet, the Iron Winglet, Emerald Winglet, and Crystal Winglet. Winglet assignments are below. May you all have the power of Wings of Fire! 
New Winglets
Diamond Winglet 
Teacher: Sunny    
IceWing: Esker
MudWing: Crocodile
NightWing: Silver-eyes
RainWing: Jewelscales
SandWing: Sunrise
SeaWing: Delta
SkyWing: Auburn
Prismarine Winglet
Teacher: Webs
IceWing: Iceberg
MudWing: Copper
NightWing: Swiftclaws
RainWing: Swingvine
SandWing: Cactus
SeaWing: Hurricane
SkyWing: Peak
Iron Winglet
IceWing: Frost
MudWing: Swamp
NightWing: Rainhunter 
RainWing: Suncast
SandWing: Burrow
SeaWing: Gull
SkyWing: Falcon
Emerald Winglet
IceWing: Ridge
MudWing: Brackish
NightWing: Allseer
RainWing: Camo
SandWing: Buzzard
SeaWing: Spout
SkyWing: Windsoar
Crystal Winglet
IceWing: Spikeline
MudWing: Bog
NightWing: Moonbeam
RainWing: Sunstreak
SandWing: Rattlesnake
SeaWing: Trout
SkyWing: Magma
== The Diamond Prophecy ==
Watch the waves of vision
Watch the one who listens
Watch the one whose claws are traitors
Watch the dragonet with incombustible scales
The four relics will be sought 
An amulet of sapphire
An armband studded with amber
And the tears of sun and moon
The secret of the relic
Lies below the surface of the tribes
Bring the wings of the angelic
Or Pyrrhia will die
== Prologue ==
“It’s time to head back!” called Clay.
Clay took off into the air and was followed by the students from his hunting party. The sun was just beginning to set below the horizon, and half of one moon was visible on the other side of the sky. The familiar shape of Jade Mountain Academy was flickering with firelight, visible through the windows. There were a few dragons in the prey center, getting a late-night snack. Clay spotted Tsunami and Sunny going to make sure that everyone was in their sleeping caves. He smiled as his wings powered Clay closer to Jade Mountain, his friends, and of course, Peril, and their egg. A couple of months ago, Peril had come to Clay screaming that she had found something AMAZING. And it was; AMAZING. She ran back to their cave, and in the corner was a small autumn red egg. Clay had wrapped his wings around Peril in his excitement. A new dragonet. HIS dragonet, nonetheless. It was due to hatch in a few days from now, and Clay could hardly contain his excitement. In a rush of wings, Clay and his students landed in the entrance cave. He sent his students off to their cave. Thrush, a SkyWing, said that he liked hunting and wanted to do it again. Clay smiled and thanked him, and Thrush left. But as soon as Thrush left, Peril came charging into the cave and grabbed Clay’s arm. “Come on!” she practically shouted. “This is a BIG MOMENTOUS OCCASION.”
“Peril, what is it?” asked Clay as Peril dragged him down the hall. “and shh, you’ll wake the whole academy!” 
Peril turned to him, her eyes shining. “Our egg.”
And that was all she needed to say. “What!?” Clay cried with joy. “Our egg is HATCHING?”
Clay picked Peril up in the air and whirled her around, the both of them whooping with joy. Tsunami and Sunny poked their heads around the corner. “What’s all this conundrum about?” Tsunami demanded.
But Clay and Peril ignored her as they raced down the halls to their cave. As clay entered, he could see that Peril was right! A small spiderweb of tiny cracks was spreading across the tiny red egg. Clay heard more talons approaching them from the tunnel. He looked over and saw Tsunami and Sunny, watching with awe as the crack spread across the egg. Suddenly, a tiny snout poked out from the shell. Suddenly, a tiny snout poked out from the shell. The tiny red-orange dragonet scrambled out of her egg, squawking gleefully. "Ma Da!" she piped. "Flooble yip!"
"Hi, little one," said Clay, crouching closer.
"Aw Clay," said Sunny from the cave entrance."She's so cute! What will you name her?"
"What about Auburn?" said Peril. She was backed as far as she could, so she wouldn't hurt the dragonet.
"Auburn," Clay echoed. "I like that."
"Then Auburn it is!" sang Peril.
Auburn giggled and danced away. Then she slipped and fell on Peril's leg. But got up from her mother's firescales unhurt. "Woopsies," she said.
Tsunami gasped. "She did-she just-"
"-touched my firescales," said Peril wonderingly."Our dragonet is fireproof."
== Chapter 1 ==
“Are you ready, Auburn?” asked Mother.
No. Auburn thought. “Why do I have to go to school?” she asked instead.
“We have put it on hold for three years,” Mother said sternly. “Now that there is an opening, we can’t miss this opportunity to enroll you.” 
Auburn sighed. “Can’t we put it on hold for one more year?” she wheedled. “I don’t want to! Other dragons will think I’m dumb and I’ll be lonely and because I’m a hybrid I’ll be excluded!”
Peril sighed and put a wing around her daughter. “No, you won’t, there’s quite a few hybrids here at Jade Mountain.”
Auburn sighed dramatically and drooped to the floor. Auburn became aware of heavy talons thumping towards them. “Daddy!” she cried happily. 
“How are you doing?” Clay asked, putting his wing around her shoulder “Are you ready to head inside?” 
Auburn looked down sadly. She shook her head. “That’s okay,” said Clay gently. “Do you want me to go in with you?” 
Auburn nodded. “Can Mother come too?” she asked hopefully. 
Peril shook her head sadly. “I can check on you later. I don’t want to burn anyone.” 
“That’s OK,” said Auburn. Auburn ran over to her mother.
“Have a good time,” said Peril, wrapping her wings around her daughter.
She released her, and Auburn scampered over her father. Clay put a wing around her, and led Auburn into the school. Whatever happens, she promised herself. I’ll try to stay out of it.
== Chapter 2 ==
Auburn and Clay stepped into the main entrance cave. Auburn’s eyes adjusted to the dim light. A large colorful banner read, ‘Welcome new students and returning students to Jade Mountain!’ 
Clay led Auburn to a thin NightWing handing out scrolls. “Hello!” she said to Auburn loudly. “Welcome to the Jade Mountain Academy! My name is Fatespeaker!”
“H-hi,” Auburn stammered. “I’m A-Auburn.”
“Nice to meet you Auburn!” said Fatespeaker jovially. She scanned the scroll, muttering, “Auburn, Auburn, Auburn, AHA!”
Auburn jumped, startled. Fatespeaker grinned. “Head down the left side until you come to a slope going downward. Take the small path down, and your cave is the first on the right. You’ll LOVE your clawmates.” 
“U-um okay,” Auburn backed up into Clay, shaking. “Th-thankyoubye!” Auburn yelped quickly, and darted down the left cave. 
She found the slope Fatespeaker had told her about, and ran so fast she practically slid down the path. Auburn sprinted into her cave and collapsed on its floor, breathing heavily. She looked around the cave. It looked big enough to comfortably fit five dragons, let alone one. In the corner, there was a small hole, big enough for Auburn to fit her head into above a rock ledge bed. She walked over to it and peeked down. The window had a view of a large underground lake, and above it, a skylight with a clear view of the sky. Auburn turned back into her cave. There were two scroll racks by the door, one filled and one empty. There were four places to sleep; a rock ledge, a hammock, a small pool, and a leaf mat. Auburn thought she would sleep on the rock ledge. She started towards it when two dragons walked into her cave; a RainWing and a NightWing. “That’s amazing, Jewelscales, you are sooo funny!” the NightWing exclaimed.
“I know, I’m a genius,” Jewelscales said solemnly.
The two dragonets erupted with giggles. Once they regained control of themselves, the NightWing noticed Auburn in the corner by the window. “Whoa!” she yelped. “You totally blend in with the wall! Like, like, like, a RainWing using camouflage!” The Nightwing was all black, but Auburn caught hints of violet and royal blue in her scales. Her eyes were a pale emerald green, like silver and a pair of silver scales shaped like teardrops dotted the corner of each of her eyes. 
“Oh, hi!” said Jewelscales. “Sorry, didn’t see you there!” The other dragon was white, but the white also had undertones of pearl pink, aquamarine, ruby red, and periwinkle. Her back was a gradient of all pastel colors, starting at red near her horns and ending at purple on her tail. But she was clearly named for her wings. Her wings were a startling black like obsidian, and a spray of rainbow freckles dotted them like diamonds, lapis, rubies and emeralds, sort of like a nightwing’s star scales. A black forked tongue occasionally flitted in and out of her mouth. She wore one accessory, a small sapphire sphere on a silver chain around her neck
The NightWing bounded over to me. “Hi!” she said. “I’m Silvereyes, and that’s my best friend Jewelscales! What’s your name?”
"I-I'm Auburn," she stammered.
Silver-eyes studied her for a moment, then something seemed to click inside her brain. "Oh!" she said. "You're Clay and Peril's daughter!"
Auburn nodded sulkily. “Ye-es,” she said. “A-are you the last ones?”
“Nope!”
A turquoise SeaWing stood in the doorway, scowling. “I am. I hoped I would get  first pick on beds. But if not, I’m ready to fight anyone who dares defy me.”
Auburn shrank back against the wall, terrified of this tough SeaWing. Her scales were a metallic turquoise with small green flecks, and her eyes were a blue so dark that they looked black. She looked to be about six, with scars that suggested that she was a fierce fighter. “My name is Delta. My sister is Moray. My father is Commander Shark.” 
Silvereyes widened her eyes. “WHAT?” she shrieked. “You’re an ANIMUS DRAGON?”
“And YOU’RE a mind reader,” Delta snapped. “It’s rude to read another dragon’s mind, you know.” 
“An animus?” gasped Jewelscales. “For real?”
Delta nodded and arched her long neck. “Don’t worry though. I barely touch my power.” She narrowed her eyes at them, and they all withered under her glare.
Delta strode briskly across the room and stepped into the small wading pool. Delta wasn’t just big and an animus and tough and scary, she had an air of authority around her that was impossible to ignore. “Hi, Delta!” Jewelscales said cheerily. “I’m Jewelscales, that’s my best friend Silver-eyes, and that’s my other best friend, Auburn, who I’ve technically never met before, but Silver-eyes can see the future and I bet she foresees that we’ll all be great friends! Right, Silver-eyes?”
Silver-eyes closed her eyes and scrunched her forehead playfully. She nodded thoughtfully. “Yup, my visions indicate that.”
Delta rolled her eyes and sat down in the small pool, back to the dragonets. Auburn nodded politely
== Chapter 3 ==
“Hi!” said Sunny cheerfully the next morning in class. “I’m Sunny, your home teacher. I’m the dragon that you will have all your winglet activities with. Like this small group discussion class.”
The second loud GONG! reverberated through the halls as Auburn stepped into the cave. Sunny smiled at her, Jewelscales, and Silver-eyes as they all trotted inside. Auburn looked around the room. One side of the cave was open to the ground, where there was a small pool of water. It wasn’t big enough to swim in, though. Delta was stirring her tail absentmindedly in the water, gazing at her reflection in the ripples of the pool. A burly MudWing was chatting with a wiry SandWing, and someone said something that made the other shout with laughter. Sunny smiled faintly at them, and then turned to Auburn, making her jump. “So, Auburn, I see you found some friends?”
“Um- uh-I-I don’t-” Auburn stuttered.
“Um-uh-YEAH!” Jewelscales interjected.
“Oh!” said Sunny, her face lighting up. “That’s great! I hoped you three would like each other!” 
“Y-you did?” asked Auburn, but before Sunny could respond, the final gong struck, and a silver-blue IceWing slid into the room, panting.
“Woo!” he puffed to Sunny. “Slept late, and someone didn’t bother to wake me up.” He cast a significant look at the MudWing.
“Well, I’m glad you made it,” Sunny said briskly. “Now everyone gather around.”
Delta reluctantly left the pool of water she was sitting in and walked over to join the group. “Now,” said Sunny, “we’ll go around and introduce ourselves. I’m Sunny, and I’m your home teacher. Last year was a bit chaotic, but we managed to get ourselves in order. Delta? Want to go next?”
The SeaWing nodded and stood up, sighing. “I’m Delta.  My Aunt is Queen Coral, because my father is Shark and my sister is Moray. Father says I was hatched for taking the SeaWing throne, so that is exactly what I am planning to do.” She flashed the royal patterns in her wings.
“Wow!” said Sunny. “The heir to a throne, right in our winglet! Who wants to go next?”
“I’ll go,” offered the SandWing. “I’m Sunrise. I am very excited to be included in school this year! Also, my favorite color is auburn.”
Auburn blushed and looked down. “I’m glad you’re excited to join Jade Mountain!” Sunny smiled. “And since you like the color auburn, maybe Auburn could tell us about herself.”
All seven pairs of eyes swiveled to look at her. Auburn froze. Nope, nope, nope. This was a BAD idea. “I’m Auburn,” she said softly, looking down. “I like the color orange, and I’m good at flying.”
It was silent. Auburn a crack in the rock below her talons nervously. Delta snorted. “I’ve never heard you talk that much. I was starting to think you couldn’t.”
“Alright, people!” said the MudWing. “I’m Crocodile. And that’s pretty much all.” 
“Well, I am Jewelscales,” Jewelscales said, flaring her ruff. “I am in training to be a healer and I cannot wait for the herbs and healing class. I’m also Silvereyes’ half sister! Same dad, different moms. And my favorite color is sapphire.”
“I’m going!” said the IceWing. “My name is Esker. I like hunting and meeting other dragons and I’m good at math and deciphering things and I’m also really good at brain puzzles.” He stopped. “And that’s it.”
Silver-eyes began her introduction. “HelLO!” she sang. “I am Silvereyes and I am sooo excited to finally be at Jade Mountain with my bestest best friend AND HALF-SISTER, JEWELSCALES!” She grinned at Jewelscales, and Jewelscales beamed. 
“Alright!” Sunny smiled. “Now, to begin with the basics of how this school works…”
== Chapter 4 ==
After class, Auburn made her way to the library. At least, that’s what she intended to do. 
“Auburn!” 
Sunrise, the Sandwing in her winglet came over to her, grinning. “Esker, Crocodile and I are going to head over to the prey center. You wanna come?”
Auburn froze, torn. She wanted to go to the library, but maybe this was a chance to get closer to her winglet. She snapped her wings, and nodded. “O-ok.” 
Sunrise grinned at her. “Great! I’ll tell them.”
He darted over to his clawmates, and Esker nodded at her. Crocodile beckoned to her with a wing, and she followed them. As they walked, Crocodile and Esker chatted about Sanctuary. Turns out, they’d both grown up there together as friends. Sunrise and Auburn listened, but Auburn found herself drifting off, wondering how on earth she could ask about her winglet. It would be very awkward. Not fun. Finally, they made it to the prey center. Skywings and mudwings played together, chasing sheep and chickens. Clay sat in the corner, chatting to a pair of rainwings. Daddy! Auburn thought happily.
“Auburn?” Sunrise asked. “You good? We’re gonna get our prey and meet back up at this table, ‘Kay?” Auburn nodded, and he saw where she was looking. “Oh, Clay. Do you know him?”
“He-” Auburn hesitated, although she wasn’t sure why. “He’s my dad.”
“Oh!” Sunrise raised his brows. “I didn’t know he had an egg. With who?” 
“Peril.”
Sunrise’s eyes widened. “How? Wouldn’t the eggshell burn? Can you even touch her? That must be awful.”
“I, uh, I can,” Auburn said. “My dad’s fireproof gene plus mom’s fireproof scales made my scales impervious to fire, even more so than my dad’s.”
“Wow,” Sunrise said. “I wish I had any cool powers,” he said, abashed. “You’re fireproof, Delta’s an animus, and Silver-eyes has psychic powers. I only have this.”
He touched his gold armband, inlaid with amber stones. “What does that do?” she asked. 
“Nothing,” Sunrise said with a laugh. “That’s my point.”
But there was a strange film under his voice, barely perceivable, that said otherwise.
But before she could press it, Clay came lumbering over to them. “Auburn!” Clay smiled, giving her a quick squeeze. “How are you liking school so far? 
“It’s okay,” Auburn said. 
“Have you and Sunrise made friends?” Clay asked. 
Sunrise shrugged. “I mean, sure, if you want to be friends, Auburn.”
“Okay,” Auburn said. 
Clay’s face lit up. “Great! Say, I’m leading a hunting party. You two want to come?”
“Sure!” Sunrise said. “I’ll go see if Esker and Crocodile want to come.” He bounded off.
Clay put a wing around his daughter. “See?” he whispered to her. “You’ll make many new friends.”
Maybe, Auburn thought, with the first spark of happiness she’d had since arriving. 
== Chapter 5 ==
Auburn woke up refreshed. Today was their first day of classes. They had herbs and healing. And better yet, Clay taught that class Auburn stretched on the bed, then looked. Silvereyes was fast asleep, murmuring quiet words to herself that Auburn was too far away to understand. Delta was also asleep, her luminescent scales glowing softly under the water. Jewelscales was nowhere to be seen, but Auburn was sure she’d probably just gotten up  to go for an early snack. Her necklace was on a hook over her hammock, where it idly hung. She checked out the window, and the sky was just starting to fade into the sunrise blend. 
She quietly stood up and walked out in the cave, where she did some basic stretches, then up to the entry hall. She flexed her claws and her wings, then vaulted up into the early morning sky. Her skywing gene shown up here. Auburn loved the sky, the open air, the wind, the clouds up high in the sky far above. She twisted and dove and soared, weaving in and out of the peaks of the claws of the clouds mountains. She swooped to the peak of a tall mountain and landed. Jade Mountain was visible nearby, but she barely paid it mind. She took a deep breath of the early morning air, filling her lungs with the sent of frosted mountaintops and wilderness. The faint chill in the air was fading, and Auburn snapped her wings to warm herself. And then, a warm, copper-orange filled the sky, like the color of her mother’s scales. The sun. 
Auburn watched the sky explode with color, a daily phenomenon that always entranced her. She watched the light chase the dark away, chasing the three moons down the horizon to be devoured by the distant sea. She sat there for a moment, just breathing, feeling the wind ripple her outstretched wings. But eventually, she sighed, and lifted off, arrowing back toward the academy. As she felt her stomach growl, she angled toward the open wall of the prey center. It was empty, but a few animals stood idly in the cave. As she dove in, she ducked into a roll behind a chicken, then whipped it into one of the tables with her tail. She pounced, digging her claws into the creature, and it was dead. She tore off a wing, and put the rest of it in one of the nooks for storing prey. She headed unconsciously toward the library. She didn’t notice where she was going until she stepped into the library, and Starflight turned toward the sounds of her talonsteps. Auburn knew and liked Starflight, as he was friends with her dad. She knew all the dragonets well, as she’d practically grown up at Jade Mountain.
“Hello?” he asked.
“It’s Auburn,” she said.
“Oh, hello Auburn,” he said with a smile. “You come to get your library card? All cards are on the desk, so feel free to grab yours. I assume you know the system.”
Auburn nodded and found the stamp with her name on it, then asked, “May I have a pouch?”
Starflight reached under the desk with deft claws and pulled out a bin of pouches, before taking one and handing it to her. “Any scrolls you’d like to check out?”
“I’ll just take a look around,” Auburn said, putting the pouch around her neck, tightening it to fit, and slipping her stamp inside. 
She stepped back and browsed the scrolls for a bit. She settled on one called The Animus Histories, and settled in a nook to read it. She was so enveloped in her read, she didn’t notice how light it was getting, until one of the sunbeams decided to spear her through the eye.
Auburn glared up at the sun, scooched to the side, and read for another ten seconds before realizing-
Auburn’s head shot up as the gong was struck, jolting her out of her trance. She quickly rolled up her scroll and shot out of the library, the scroll tucked under her wing. She passed through the entrance hall as Fatespeaker struck the gong a second time. GONG! GONG! She picked up her pace, and as she passed her cave, she thrust her scroll inside. As it clattered against the cave floor, she heard a yelp, and poked her head in. Silvereyes was scrambling around the cave, clearly woken by the sound of the gong. She put her pouch around her neck and sprinted out of the cave, shoving Auburn aside with her wings. “Go, go go!” she yelped, hurtling down the cave toward the herbs and healing class, Auburn close on her tail.
They followed the tunnel, took two rights, then wound up in the Herbs and Healing class as the final gong sounded. All the dragons in the cave swiveled their heads to look at them, both Emerald and Diamond winglets. Auburn flinched backward, but Silvereyes cried, “Sorry, sorry we’re late, I overslept, sorry!”
Auburn felt her scales heat up, and she sat down at an empty desk near the back. “Okay, is everyone here?” Clay asked. “I’ll call out names. Say, ‘here’ when I call you out. Allseer?”
“Here.”
“Auburn?”
Auburn curled her talons in. “Here,” she said quietly.
Clay flashed her a quick smile. “Brackish?” 
“Here.”
“Buzzard?”
“Here.”
“Camo?”
“Here.”
“Crocodile?”
“Here.”
“Delta?”
“Here.”
“Esker?”
“Here.”
“Jewelscales?” Clay paused and looked around. The students glanced at the desks around them. Jewelscales was nowhere to be seen. “Has anyone seen Jewelscales this morning? Delta? Silvereyes? Auburn? You three share a cave with her, right?” 
“Oh, no!” Silvereyes cried. “What if she got up and explored and got lost? Or tripped down a slope and got hurt? Where is she?”
“It’s probably nothing,” Clay said gently. “She’s probably with Sunny or Starflight.”
“I’m going to find her!” Silvereyes said, standing up and starting to charge out of the cave.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Delta said, grabbing Silvereyes’s tail as she stepped over her. “Sit down.”
“But- but-” Silvereyes started to protest.
“But nothing,” the Seawing growled. “You can look for her after class. Do you want to be like the Jade winglet, you idiot?”
“Silvereyes,” Clay said gently, “I’m glad you’re worried about your clawmate, but you’re here to learn. “You can search for her after class- I’ll even help. Okay?”
Silvereyes sighed and sat down next to Auburn. Auburn brushed one of her wings with her own. “I’m sure she’s fine,” she whispered. Silvereyes didn’t answer.
== Chapter 6 ==
“I’ve asked everywhere!” Silvereyes cried, flinging her wings up, pacing back and forth across the cave. “She’s missing!”
   Auburn sighed and put down the scroll she was reading-or, trying to read. Silvereyes had been pacing back and forth for the past ever, and Delta looked as annoyed as Auburn felt, but Auburn managed to keep her expression still. Silvereyes walked over to her mat and flung herself onto it with a groan. “You’re overreacting,” Delta said, exasperated. “She’s probably just gone flying and hasn’t come back yet.”
“It’s been four hours, Delta!” Silvereyes shouted, but it was muffled since she’d buried her snout in her talons. “Where could she beeeeeeee…” 
“Can you have a vision?” Auburn asked her. 
“I’ll try,” Silvereyes said, scrunching up her snout and squeezing her eyes shut. It was silent for the first time in- “NOTHING!” Silvereyes shouted, lashing her tail in frustration. 
“Alright!” Delta snapped, surging out of the water. “I can use my magic to find her, as long as you shut up and leave me alone afterward!”
Silvereyes turned toward Delta accusingly. “You could do that? And you never said anything?”
“Well, before, you weren’t being insufferable,” Delta scowled.
   She whipped around to face the wall, and splashed Silvereyes’s head with her tail when the turned. But Silvereyes barely noticed. She watched with shining eyes as Delta reached into a small ledge above her bed and pulled out a small drawstring bag. She pulled it open, reached inside, and pulled out a small pellet. “This is something I made for Auklet and some of my cousins. They place it down, and it tells them a story. It can be about someone specific, or it can be random, or it can be a scroll turned into a mini-play. One of my younger cousins, Angler, to be exact, also figured out a way to use them to spy on other dragons. It is very annoying, and I altered all the pellets after that so they wouldn’t work if they tried that. But then, I thought, It would be so useful to have spying, but only for me. So, I made these. They won’t tell us where she is, but we’ll know whether or not she’s in trouble.”
   “Oh, wow!” Silvereyes said. “But, wait. Why can’t you just teleport her here?”
   Delta just growled at her, and dropped one of the pellets into her own pool of water. Interested, Auburn set down her scroll to watch. “Jewelscales,” Delta whispered, then tapped the pond lightly with one claw, sending ripples across it. 
   The pellet dissolved into a cloud of white dust, then vanished, and the ripples slowly brought an image into view. 
It was a dark cave. It was a black image for a moment, then a flicker of torchlight. “Rainwing,” a voice hissed. “You’re finally awake.”
   “What are you doing?” Jewelscales hissed, but the torchlight reflected off a mixture of red, green, and white scales. 
Those are the colors for anger, pain, and fear, Auburn recognized.
“LET ME GO, SILENTCLAWS! When the dragonets hear what’s going on, they’ll-” Jewelscales started
   “I don’t care,” the Silentclaws said dismissively. “Let them come.” They slithered closer to Jewelscales, reached out, and wrapped his claws around her chin. They yanked it close to their own. “Tell me where the Sapphire Amulet is.” the dragon growled.
   Jewelscales was silent for a long moment. “I will never tell you,” she snarled, sounding angrier than Auburn had ever heard her.
   “Oh, dear,” the dragon said, releasing her, and Auburn caught a flash of black scales in the torchlight. 
   A Nightwing!
   Silentclaws made a small tsk noise and hissed, “If you don’t tell me, your friends are dead.”
   Jewelscales was silent for a moment, and the image faded away.
“Jewelscales!” Silvereyes cried, lunging for the image of her friend in the ripples. “Oh, no no no!” She whirled around to face Auburn and Delta. “We need to help her! We have to go tell the dragonets!”
   Even Delta had concern on her face for the little Rainwing. Auburn reached out and grabbed Silvereyes’s talons. “Go look for her. I’ll be back soon. What could that dragon possibly want with Jewelscales?”
   “I don’t know!” Silvereyes shouted, flinging her wings upward. 
   “They said something about a sapphire amulet,” Delta offered. 
   Auburn looked back at the scroll rack near her bed. She almost flared her wings in her excitement, and turned to Silvereyes and Auburn. “You two,” she said. “I might have an idea! Could you maybe go look for Jewelscales? She has to be in the mountain somewhere, right?”
   Silvereyes perked up. “That’s true… yeah! We can do that, right Delta?”
   Delta rolled her eyes. “Sure.”
   Auburn picked up her scroll. “I have some reading to do. I’m going to figure out what the Sapphire Amulet is. Meet back here in an hour.”
   And then Auburn was gone, whisking up the tunnel toward the library.
== Chapter 7 ==
Auburn raced down the hall toward the library, and as she passed through the entrance hall, she went outside and leapt into the air to take a shortcut, going around to the prey center, which was closer to the library. However, as she dove in, she collided with an Icewing, accidentally hurling herself into cold white scales and accidentally dropping her scroll. “Sorry, sorry, she muttered, reaching for her scroll. 
   “Auburn?”
   She looked up and her eyes met blue eyes. Esker caught her in his wings, and the cold felt uncomfortable. She backed up. “Sorry- I was just heading to the library- I’ll go- sorry-”
She half mumbled, half stuttered as she backed away, preparing to flee toward the library. Esker caught one of Auburn’s claws in his own. “Actually, I was just heading to the library. I’ll come.”
   Auburn didn’t dare protest, so she nodded and began the walk down the tunnel. They passed a skywing who was lighting the lamps with small bursts of flame as he walked, and he waved to them as they walked by. They rounded the corner into the library, where Starflight was sorting scrolls. Fatespeaker was nearby, placing scrolls into nooks and muttering to herself. Several dragonets were curled into reading nooks, including, Auburn realized, the rainwing and nightwing from the Jade Winglet. Moon and Kinkajou, if she remembered correctly. Moon looked up at her, smiled, then turned her attention back to their scroll. A sandwing was also reading, and Peak, a skywing. “Who is it?” Starflight asked. “Is that you, Auburn? Who’s with you?”
   “Esker,” Esker said. 
   “Oh,” said Starflight, smiling in their direction. “Do either of you need anything?”
   “Yeah, actually,” Esker said. “Do you have any scrolls on medicinal herbs? I want to do some research on swordleaf root- they were mentioned in herbs and healing today, and I don’t know much about them.”
   “Sure,” Starflight said. “Check in the nonfiction section for a scroll called Flora of Pyrrhia. It talks about the different plants of the kingdoms and their uses. Swordleaves grow on the outskirts of the desert and in the rainforest, as well as some oases, so check those kingdoms to find it.” Esker nodded and walked into the nonfiction aisle. “What about you, Auburn?” Starflight asked. 
   “M-me? Oh, nothing. I was just wondering- do you know anything about an object called The Sapphire Amulet?”
   “Why?” Starflight asked. “It’s not talked of much- how did you hear of it?”
   “Uhm- I read about them in the Animus Histories- and I wanted to know more about it.”
   “Ah, okay. Sure, in our history section we have a few scrolls. For one, there’s The Lineage of Animus Magic, From Past to Present that has Starshifter, the Nightwing who made them detailed. There’s Animus Nightwings and Their Enchantments, which is what it sounds like, and then there’s a story called Animus Touched Objects: What They Do and Where They Are.” 
   “Thanks,” Auburn said.”
   Starflight smiled back. “If there are any you want to check out, do tell me.”
   Auburn turned to go to her favorite spot, a ledge high in the corner. It was rock on three sides, and higher off the ground than any of the 
 Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)