Blood Ties

Category:Content (DuskRose42)
Cover credits: Joy Ang (background), Peregrinecella (base), DuskRose42 (edits, basefill, and cover design)
 
Story is owned and created by DuskRose42. Do not edit without permission. (I will make occasional additional edits for grammar and consistency, but nothing major). Constructive criticism is welcome.
Was on 'hot pages' for a few weeks. Written from late August 2021- August 2022
Character pages: Rose, Caiman, Palemoon, Violet , Mudskipper, Mosquito, Tide, Vulcan
Note: Rose = she/he/fae pronouns, Mudskipper= he/they, the rest of the characters are just he/him or she/her :)
== Introduction ==
=== The Mudwing Prophecy ===
Claws of Sky, Rain, Mud, Sea, and Night
Five will join the righteous fight
Blessed and cursed with terrible power
In Jade Mountain’s final hour.
From the Kingdom of soil and sleet
A dragon of cruelty and deceit
Dragonets she will slaughter and kill,
Forcing others to do her will.
If brother kills sister,
Her heart will blister,
And Jade Mountain is saved.
=== Prologue: Hatching day ===
(5,006 AS)
Quagmire was submerged in a warm darkness. He felt comfortable, like he could stay here forever, and nothing could possibly make him leave.
Then he felt a sudden spark, an instinct, light up inside him like a fire, burning him out of his comfort and forcing him to break out of his shell.
Quagmire pushed his front claws through the top of his eggshell, and light poured in. He squinted as the sunlight seemed to invade all his senses. He stopped for a moment, shoving his head out of the egg and breathing in the fresh morning air.
Then, the spark returned, possessing him to crawl out of his egg and break open the four other eggs in the nest.
The first dragonet to crawl out was a caramel brown female dragonet.
The second was a dragonet that was dark brown, with beautiful green eyes that blinked up at him. The two dragonets radiated strength and kindness, and he immediately sensed a kinship between himself and them. 
Those two dragonets would grow to become Newt and Moss, beloved members of Quagmire’s sib troop. Although as a dragonet of only a few minutes, he couldn’t put his feelings into words, he felt an overwhelming love for his sisters.
Then there was the third. Something like a cold chill ran through Quagmire as he cracked open the egg. Another female dragonet lay inside. She almost looked like a NightWing, her scales were such a dark brown that they appeared almost black. Once she crawled out of her egg, though, it was clear she was not a NightWing. She was bulky, for a dragonet, in a weird swollen-looking way. Her underbelly was a brownish red. She looked like a mosquito that had just fattened up on dragon blood. He felt a strange, itchy, wrong, feeling when her talons were near his. She chirped and looked up at him lovingly just like his other sisters, but something about her was different.
Quagmire flinched away from her, and moved to crack open the last MudWing egg. Out crawled a male dragonet so tiny, he almost looked like a regular lizard. His eyes were large, beautiful and hazel, and his shiny brown scales had a hint of green to them that made him resemble the crocodiles and caimans that lived in the swamp that was to become Quagmire’s home. He was beautiful, like a flower or a snowflake. Delicate and weak.
This is my family now. Quagmire thought, in emotions rather than words. And only two of them are any good.
== Part One: Cursed ==
=== Chapter One: Talons of Power ===
(5,009 AS, during the War of SandWing Succession)
(Caiman)
A SandWing jumped forward, talons first, her claws gripping Caiman’s neck and preparing to squeeze the life out of him. She growled in his face, spittle flying in his eyes so that he was forced to attack blindly. Caiman kicked with all his strength at the SandWing’s underbelly, his claws scratching the soft, vulnerable scales. She screamed in pain and her talons loosened, allowing Caiman to writhe out of her grip. He leaped on her and slashed at her eyes with his claws, then smacked her face with his tail.
The SandWing hissed and plunged her tail towards him, the barb glinting menacingly in the sunlight. Caiman dodged, but he was a fraction of a second too late and the barb was about to rip through his flesh.
In a flash of dark scales, Mosquito darted in front of the SandWing’s barb, protecting Caiman. She blocked the tail with her forelegs, then tripped the SandWing with a slash of her talons, causing the SandWing to spin and fall. Caiman noticed that she had gained a dark gash on her foreleg from the barb.
Mosquito pounced on the SandWing. She whispered something, some kind of silent command, then let go of the SandWing’s yellow scales.
The SandWing’s eyes widened, but she obeyed. Slowly, painstakingly, she drew her claw across her neck. Blood spurted out of the wound like a red waterfall, cascading over her sandy scales. It took a few moments for the SandWing to bleed out, and she collapsed onto the muddy earth, dead.
Caiman stared wide-eyed at Mosquito. “What did you just do?” He asked, staring at his sister.
Mosquito smiled at him like nothing happened. “What do you mean? I slit her throat.”
“No.” Caiman said. “You did something, you did something to her.”
“I think you’re mistaken.” Mosquito said nonchalantly.
“I know what I saw…” Caiman said, but before Mosquito could reply a SeaWing pounced on Mosquito from behind. 
Caiman flew and tackled the SeaWing, rolling her off of Mosquito’s back. They rolled in the mud and Caiman slashed at her underbelly with his sharp claws. She bit him in the shoulder, her jaw clamped shut. Caiman smacked the SeaWing against a tree, and with a loud crack her neck broke. Her jaws slowly relaxed, releasing his shoulder, and she fell onto the ground completely limp. 
Caiman gazed down at the SeaWing for a long moment, catching his breath. He reached forward, arranged her talons and wings so that it looked like she was lying comfortably. He laid her head on a mossy rock, and closed her eyelids over her bright green eyes. He stepped away. The SeaWing looked like she was resting, Caiman almost felt like she would open her wings and fly away. “I’m sorry we had to fight.” He whispered. She looked barely older than he was.
Caiman turned away from the corpse and faced Mosquito. They had been fighting in a grassy clearing in the middle of the forest, and Mosquito was standing in the centre of it. The SandWing lay in a crumpled pile, in a pool of her own blood. Caiman approached and looked down at her. “I can’t believe you did that.” Caiman said.
“Did what?” She asked. “Kill an enemy? Do what we’ve trained for since we were a year old?” Mosquito shook her head and looked exasperated. “You have to stop feeling bad for them. You’re going to lose your mind.”
“They’re just like us.” Caiman said. “They were dragonets once, some of them still are. They’re just doing what their Queen commands and so are we. We can’t pretend we’re better than them.”
“That kind of thinking is going to get you killed.” Mosquito hissed.
Caiman glanced at Mosquito’s leg, where a dark and gnarled slash from the SandWing barb should have been. Instead, there was just a thin, pale pink scar. Dark brown scales grew and meshed over the scar right in front of his eyes, and soon there was no sign that she had ever been wounded.
Caiman stepped away from Mosquito slowly.
“Where are you going?” Mosquito asked.
Caiman opened his mouth, then closed it. He couldn’t think of what to say. “What are you?” He asked.
Mosquito rolled her eyes. “Your sister, dummy. Now come back here.”
Caiman looked at her with fear in his eyes. He thought of all the times Mosquito was miraculously unharmed in battle, or the aim of her spear was a little too perfect. Suddenly everything made sense.
“I-” He hesitated. He couldn’t tell her how he suspected her of being some kind of sadistic magic-dragon. “I just need some time alone. I think you’re right, I think all this killing is getting to me. I need to go.” He lied.
Caiman flew off, leaving Mosquito alone in the clearing. He reached his siblings’ hut far before Mosquito. Newt, Moss, and Quagmire were already back from their patrols. He landed next to them.
“I need to talk to you.” Caiman blurted.
Quagmire looked down his snout at Caiman. He was the bigwings, so he was the biggest of all of them, and Caiman was the smallest in their sib unit. He was easily three or four heads taller than him, and their height difference was staggering.
Quagmire towered over Caiman menacingly, already looking disappointed. Caiman had fought so hard to become strong in battle to make Quagmire proud of him, and he was now an excellent fighter, but Quagmire still saw weakness in him and hated him for it as though it was a poor reflection on himself.
“What is it?” Moss asked, her green eyes searching his fearful face.
“Are there magical dragons?” Caiman asked frantically. “Dragons who can heal from anything, and make other dragons listen to them?”
“An animus.” Newt replied. “That’s called an animus dragon.”
Caiman remembered that word, he had heard tales of animus dragons before. All the information about animus dragons came rushing back to him. Most of what he remembered was how they would all eventually lose their souls and go insane after using their power.
“What if Mosquito is an animus?” Caiman asked
Quagmire barked a laugh. “You really are losing it, tiny.”
“I’m not.” Caiman insisted. “I was on patrol with her and a SandWing and a SeaWing attacked us. She put a spell on the SandWing to make her slit her own throat, and then afterwards all of Mosquito’s wounds just disappeared like she enchanted them to heal.”
“Maybe,” Quagmire said, “Mosquito just isn’t a weakling like you are. Maybe she’s just good at fighting, good enough to slit her enemy’s throat and good enough not to get hit.” Quagmire seethed, eyeing the bleeding bite marks in Caiman’s shoulder and tail.
“I’m not lying!” Caiman insisted. He looked at Moss and Newt for support, but they looked away from him and avoided eye contact. They don’t believe me either, Caiman thought. He felt betrayed.
“Yes, you are. You’re a tiny, pathetic liar.” Quagmire said, jabbing Caiman in the chest with one claw, causing him to stumble backwards.
Quagmire had always disliked Mosquito, he thought of her as a strange dragon and barely talked to her. He always made a face like he had eaten rotten fruit when she was near, like he could sense something wrong with her. Despite all of that, Quagmire still wouldn’t believe Caiman. I guess he just hates me more. Caiman thought sadly.
Before Caiman could defend himself, Mosquito landed next to them. “What are you guys talking about?” She asked. 
“Nothing.” Moss said, who looked down at Caiman with a mix of disappointment, sympathy, and pity. The other three dragons left to soak in their own mud pool, leaving Caiman and Mosquito alone.
Caiman still felt an aching terror when he looked at Mosquito, but tried to hide it. He had always disapproved of her tendency to be cruel to enemy soldiers, but he had never thought of her the way other dragons did. Dragons always called her a monster because of her battle skill and ruthlessness, and Caiman had always defended her. He had loved her because she was a misfit too. It had always seemed like it was just the two of them against the world.
For the first time, Caiman saw what other dragons saw in Mosquito. Power, cruelty, be afraid, she’s not normal, she’s not to be trusted.
	Mosquito smiled at Caiman, and he immediately felt guilty. Maybe they’re right. He thought. Maybe I’m remembering wrong. Maybe what I saw was something else.
Caiman smiled back awkwardly, and the two of them slid into a mud pool. The mud slipped in between his greenish-brown scales and he let out a sigh of relief as the mud gently soothed his wounds and sore muscles.
He felt significantly more relaxed than he had a few minutes ago. For a moment the mud soothed everything, and his fear and anxiety was almost gone. He glanced next to him, where Mosquito was relaxing in the pool of thick brown sludge.
He searched her face for a moment, her eyelids closed over her reddish-brown eyes.
I know what I saw. He realised. I’m not going crazy. There’s no mistaking what she is.
Animus. He replayed the word over and over in his head. My sister is an animus, the most terrible and evil power in all of Pyrrhia,
And she’s going to lose her soul if I don’t stop her.
=== Chapter two: Blood ===
(Caiman)
That evening, Caiman’s troop returned to their patrol. Moss patrolled alone, and Newt and Quagmire patrolled together.
Caiman opted to patrol with Mosquito again. He had built up the courage to be around her again, after his initial shock of figuring out she was an animus a few hours ago. He wanted to be able to talk to her entirely alone, away from his other siblings, away from the town, away from everyone.
Caiman and Mosquito walked through the forest, mud and wet dirt squelching between their talons as they walked. The trees were taller and thicker here than in the swampy area around their village. There were the sounds of animals in the trees, and the wind rustled the thicker branches creating an orchestra of forest sounds around them.
“Mosquito.” Caiman said gravely. She stopped in front of him, turning around to meet his gaze. Her scales were dark brown, almost black, and the brown of her under scales had a reddish tinge to them. She was almost twice his size in both bulk and height, though not quite as big as Quagmire.
“I know you’re an animus.” He continued. “You have to stop using your power. You’ll lose your soul.”
Mosquito stared at him blankly for a moment, then smiled. “Animus? What’s an animus?”
Caiman rolled his eyes. “I know you know what I’m talking about.”
Mosquito chuckled and punched him in the shoulder, which hurt a lot more than it should have. “Lighten up.” She said, “Who says the old legends about animus dragons are even true?”
“Almost every animus over the history of Pyrrhia has gone insane and murdered several dragons, unless they imposed strict constraints on the use of their magic. Mosquito, I don’t want you to hurt anyone. Even the way you fight in battle it’s…. Cruel.”
It was Mosquito’s turn to roll her eyes. “Come onnnn.” She groaned. “They’re our enemies. Can’t I have a little fun?”
“How is enchanting a dragon to slit her own throat fun.”
Mosquito narrowed her eyes at him, “You haven’t told anyone about this, have you?”
Caiman paused awkwardly. He had tried, but they hadn’t believed him. He wondered how Mosquito would react if she knew. He loved her and trusted her, but a voice in the back of his head told him she was dangerous and might kill him at any moment.
He decided to tell the truth. We both need to tell each other the truth from now on. “I mentioned it to our sibs, but that’s it. They didn’t believe me anyway. I’ll never mention it to them again, I swear. They’ve probably already forgotten about it, I just freaked out a bit when I first figured it out. They think the war has driven me insane anyway. Just promise me to stop using your power, unless it’s life or death. Okay?”
Mosquito nodded solemnly. She used a single claw and cut a line, drawing blood, in the palm of her talon. She gestured for Caiman to do the same. He recognized this as a blood pact.
He slit his own palm, and they grasped each other's bleeding talons. “I swear never to use my power of animus magic until I deem it absolutely necessary.” Mosquito said.
“I swear never to tell our siblings or any other dragons about your animus power.”
Mosquito whispered something quickly under her breath. Panicked, Caiman yanked his talons away. “What was that?” He asked, alarmed. It looked like she had been casting a spell.
“Nothing!” Mosquito yelled, grinning and laughing. “I was just trying to mess with you. Do you really think I’d cast a spell on you or something? Why would I want to hurt my favourite little brother?”
“I’m barely younger than you.” Caiman grumbled with annoyance.
They spent the rest of their patrol laughing and teasing each other, and talking about anything other than animus magic, but there was still a part of Caiman’s mind that wondered:
Did Mosquito just enchant me?
=== Chapter three: Soul Balance ===
(Caiman)
It had been about three weeks since Caiman had found out about Mosquito’s animus abilities. Caiman had kept his promise, he never mentioned Mosquito’s powers to anyone. Mosquito had mostly kept her promise, though her definition of what counted as ‘life or death’ was not the same as Caiman’s.
Her healing enchantment was still in effect, Caiman guessed it was irreversible, but she also used her power in other ways during battle. She used it less, granted, but she used it more often than Caiman thought she needed to. I know what a good fighter she is, and how strong she is physically. She could take most dragons out easily. It’s just unnecessary and unfair for her to use her power to fight like that.
	Caiman and Mosquito had many arguments about this. It usually ended with Mosquito going on a rant about how she must have this power for a reason, that she deserved it, the universe trusted her with it and not to worry, etc.
Because it had been a few weeks and Caiman didn’t see any obvious enchantments on himself, he felt more relaxed about whatever Mosquito had whispered during their blood pact. Most of his anxieties now were about Mosquito herself. It became less a fear of Mosquito, and more of a fear for her. What does it feel like to lose your soul? Caiman would wonder frequently. Horrible. It must be horrible. Imagine losing your ability to recognise when something is good or bad? How would you feel to know that you could hurt the people you care about?
	Mosquito didn’t seem very concerned about her soul, she always said that she still had control over her own decisions and she only ever used her magic against enemies.
The issue of her soul concerned him more and more as the weeks drew by, and eventually Caiman made a plan. When he and Mosquito were out hunting, he made a strange request.
“An enchantment?” Mosquito asked. “I thought you didn’t want me to use my powers?”
“I know, I don’t.” Caiman said quickly. “But I also know you’re going to do it anyway. I just want to keep an eye on you, so if you ever go to the point where one more spell would tip you over the edge I could warn you.”
“Ugh.” Mosquito said. “This ‘losing your soul’ stuff is such nonsense. I’m the same Mosquito I’ve always been!”
That was partially true. Mosquito had been headstrong, confident, and a little cruel for most of her life, but she had also been using her magic for years. Caiman remembered a slightly different Mosquito when they were much younger, a kinder more compassionate Mosquito. She had always been considered weird by her peers, but she had grown into something much worse than weird.
“If you don’t think the legends about losing your soul are true, then you should have nothing to lose by doing this enchantment for me. Won’t I be much less annoying if I know your soul is secure?” He asked.
Mosquito considered this for a moment. “Fineeee.” She said with a groan. Mosquito cupped her hand over Caiman’s right eye. “Enchant Caiman the MudWing’s eye to read the souls of all other creatures, including the ability to see the balance of good and evil in their soul.”
Caiman felt a sharp pain in his right eye and he shut it quickly. The pain disappeared as quickly as it had come. He opened his right eye again, blinking. It was very blurry at first and he couldn’t see anything out of it, though his left eye was still working fine. 
Mosquito looked shocked when she looked at him. “Oops,” She said.
Caiman walked over to a particularly still and reflective puddle. Caiman gazed in the puddle and regarded his new face. It was the same as it had always been, except his right eye, which was now a black orb that emitted a dark purple glow. He touched his talon to his face.
“I look terrifying.” Caiman said.
“You were the one who asked for me to enchant your eye.” Mosquito said. “So you could ‘see my soul’ and ‘make sure I’m not a murderous animus’ and all that ridiculousness. I could probably find a way to fix it.”
“No.” Caiman said. “Don’t use your magic again.”
“You were the one who told me not to use it unless it’s life or death, and then you ask me for this favor. It seems pretty hypocritical to me. The least I can do is change you back.”
“It is life or death.” Caiman insisted. He gazed up at his sister, closing his left eye and looking at her with his right. Slowly, the blurriness in his right eye cleared. Through his enchanted eye, the world looked black and dark, and any living beings glowed with a harsh colourful light that represented their souls. Mosquito’s soul was bright shades of red, blue, and yellow. Caiman could see a black rot that spread throughout his sister’s soul, eating holes in it until it was barely there. He opened his other eye and gazed at her with both of his eyes. His half-half vision was very disorienting at first, but it eventually merged into a strange balance, as though his soul vision was a translucent piece of paper layered over his regular vision.
“Mosquito.” Caiman said, sadness and seriousness in his tone. “Never use your magic again.”
“What are you talking about?” Mosquito said. “I’m not giving up my magic.”
“Your soul is almost completely gone.” Caiman said. “It’s barely there.”
Mosquito scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. I must’ve enchanted your eye wrong or something.”
“Enchant Caiman the MudWing’s eye to be able to read souls, including their balance of good and evil.” Caiman repeated, remembering the words to the spell Mosquito had cast moments ago. “There’s no mistaking it. Your soul is almost gone.”
Mosquito growled. “I don’t care. I’m not giving up my magic.”
“I’m sorry I asked you to do this. The spell cost you too much, all of them have. I shouldn’t have asked you to use more of your soul. I should’ve known…”
“Known what?” Mosquito snarled. “That I’m evil? I’m not a ghost story, I’m not the Darkstalker, I’m me! I’m Mosquito, your sister!”
Caiman went quiet. “There was a reason I asked for this. Because I barely recognise you. I remember who you used to be when we were young dragonets, you were so sweet and kind and you would never make excuses for yourself like this.”
Mosquito looked angry, then sad, then confused. “Why have you already given up on me?” She asked.
Her face looked so broken, so torn. Maybe he was overreacting, maybe she was the same she had always been. Maybe he was breaking his sister’s heart for no reason. Surely he had been too harsh.
“I’m sorry.” He said. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He wrapped his wings around Mosquito. “I haven’t given up on you. Just please promise me to be more careful.”
“It’s fine.” Mosquito said. “I won’t use my magic again, just please don’t think I’m evil. I always thought I used my magic well… But if that’s really what you see, maybe I’m wrong.” She hugged Caiman back tightly.
Caiman was swamped with a sharp sense of relief. Finally Mosquito believed him, finally she took him seriously. 
I have my sister back.
=== Chapter four: Love Spell ===
(Mosquito)
Mosquito was proud of herself. She hadn’t used her magic in two weeks. Her relationship with Caiman had significantly improved, and they were the closest sibs in their troop again. The others seemed mildly curious about what had been going on with the two of them, but Moss had been the only one that seemed genuinely interested.
“I’m glad you and Caiman seem to be getting along better again.” Moss said to Mosquito.
“Me too.”
“He said something pretty crazy to us before. Last month, after you guys came back from patrol.” Moss said. “I was really worried about him.”
“I know what he said, he told me about it. Don’t worry, we cleared it up, and I think he’s doing a lot better now, like, mentally. I think between the war and everything he just freaked.”
Moss nodded. “Good.” She said.
“I’m starving. I’m going to go hunt.” Mosquito changed the subject quickly. She could only talk about mushy stuff for about five minutes before getting totally grossed out.
“Alright.” Moss said. “I might join you later.”
Mosquito nodded and flew off.
Mosquito landed in the forest, and froze when she saw a SeaWing close by. She hid behind a tree and watched him, in case there were more. She was trying to be smarter about fighting lots of dragons at once, since she had stopped using her magic.
The SeaWing was stocky and muscular, and quite tall. He had a long, handsome face. He was covered in gleaming dark blue scales, with greyish blue under scales, and his glowscales were unusually vibrant. He looked a little older than Mosquito, but only by a year or two. Mosquito was immediately intrigued by the dragon, and followed him through the forest instead of confronting him.
A strange thought shot through Mosquito’s mind. Everyone at home thinks I’m a freak, but maybe if there was someone who wasn’t from home… Maybe we could be friends. If I let him know that I’m not here to fight… but… he is on the other side after all. Though, he’s not my enemy yet. Right?
The SeaWing didn’t seem to be here to attack anyone, rather he looked like he was searching for something. He walked through the forest, and eventually came across the SeaWing Caiman had killed weeks ago. She still lay in that peaceful position, like she was sleeping, but she now had a bloated look to her like she had started to rot inside her scales. Mosquito looked and saw the SandWing she had killed nearby and felt slightly embarrassed, as though she had left her room in a mess when a guest was visiting.
The male SeaWing barely noticed the SandWing, and instead collapsed at the side of the SeaWing cadaver and began to sob violently.
Mosquito watched him with interest. It must have been someone he cared about. I wish I was someone he cared about. Mosquito thought with a pang of jealousy. Someone he would cry over.
Mosquito watched the SeaWing cradle the corpse in his arms and begin to fly away with her, lopsidedly. Mosquito flew after him, though stayed near the treetops so her dark scales wouldn’t stand out against the daytime sky. After flying for a while they reached the nearby shore that was the border between the Mud Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Sea.
Mosquito watched from the treeline as the SeaWing walked onto the beach and layed the corpse down in the water. It seemed to Mosquito that it was some kind of SeaWing thing, that a SeaWing must be returned to the ocean once they have died. 
The ocean waves crashed, white seafoam bubbling against the wet sand that the SeaWing stood in. It was like a scene from a play, when the heroine loses her lover, and all of nature reflects her sorrow. Mosquito felt a small stab of pity for the SeaWing. He looks so remorseful. She thought. 
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud crack and she realised she had stepped on a brittle stick which snapped in half. Mosquito jumped behind a tree, but it was too late. The SeaWing whipped his head around and tensed for battle, his eyes darting along the tree line suspiciously. “Who’s there?” He growled, a deep guttural noise. Mosquito sighed. For once, she didn’t want to fight this dragon.
Mosquito stepped out of the treeline with her wings spread in a manner that was meant to convey that she was harmless. “I don’t want to fight.” Mosquito called out, “I just want to talk to you.”
The SeaWing either didn’t hear her, or didn’t believe her. He lunged towards her, tackling her to the ground. Mosquito used her strength to flip onto her other side, so the SeaWing was below her and she was on top of him, crushing him into the sand. Mosquito held him down with one of her talons. She raised her other talon to slash his throat and kill him quickly.
Then, he looked up at her with his pale blue eyes. They were shot with horror and fear. Maybe there’s a way I can keep this one. Mosquito thought. I don’t really want to kill him if I don’t have to.
	Mosquito hesitated, then said, “Don’t be afraid.”
The SeaWing’s expression completely changed. The fear drained from his face, and was replaced with anger. He growled and hissed, scrabbling under her grip and managed to scratch Mosquito's forelegs.
“Aargh!” Mosquito hissed. “Stop being angry, stop being upset, just love me! Love me like you can’t live without me!” She yelled. The SeaWing stopped struggling completely. The anger and cruelty completely melted and he gazed up at her with an expression she had never seen before. 
No one had ever looked at her like that before. She let him go and he stood up slowly. He grabbed her face in his talons, leaned forward, and kissed her. Mosquito was surprised for a moment, but didn’t pull away. She felt a wave of guilt. This is fake, you enchanted him. He doesn’t really love you. Mosquito squashed it down, in her signature stubborn fashion. Maybe he’s better off this way, loving me. I’ll treat him better than anyone ever did, he’ll be mine and we’ll love each other. Isn’t that good? Even if it’s fake?
The kiss ended and the SeaWing gazed affectionately into Mosquito’s eyes. “What’s your name?” He said.
Mosquito felt another pang of guilt. She had forced a dragon to be in love with her that didn’t even know her. Is there any way to reverse this? She thought. I really didn’t think this through, I just didn’t want him to make me kill him. She felt even worse when she remembered how good she had been doing, about not using her magic. Caiman is going to be so disappointed. She thought.
“I’m Mosquito.” She said, “What’s your name?”
“Tide.” He replied. “You’re the most beautiful dragon I’ve ever seen.” He said, staring at her as if he’d never look away. “I’m sorry I attacked you, just instinct during the war I guess.” He glanced over at the corpse of the SeaWing. “And I was a bit on edge since I came looking for my sister’s corpse. I’m not so sad anymore though.”
Is that good? Mosquito thought. There had been something strangely beautiful about Tide’s sadness, because it meant he loved his sister. But isn’t it better to always be happy? She thought indignantly.
Mosquito heard a shuffling in the distance, like someone moving through a bush. Her head turned and she saw Moss stomping toward her with the most furious expression she had ever seen on her. She must have followed her and watched everything, probably out of suspicion from what Caiman had suggested.
“What did you just do?” Moss asked, anger bleeding off of every word.
“Nothing! It was an accident! I didn’t think it through!” Mosquito said, backing away. “I didn’t mean to do that to him!”
“Everything Caiman said was right, he was exactly right about you! You’ve been using this to hurt dragons, and now to toy with their emotions? Their minds?” Moss huffed angrily. Moss was never angry. “Quagmire was right about you too. You’re nothing but a monster, and you always have been. I used to listen when Caiman defended you, he has more faith in you than you deserve you animus scum.”
Mosquito grew angry. “Are you kidding me? I avoided using my magic for weeks because of Caiman’s ‘sensibilities’, I only ever hurt enemy dragons and this was just bad wording. I’m not as evil as you all make me out to be!”
Moss shook her head. “You’re too dangerous. You’re a wild card, you’ll do anything if you think you can justify it.”
	There was a part of her that understood what Moss said, and there was another part of her that wanted to defend herself. She couldn’t let dragons go around thinking she made bad decisions, or that she was evil somehow.
“Maybe I just defend my actions when they really are justified.” Mosquito said. “Maybe I don’t think I can justify it, maybe I can justify it. Maybe I am right. Enemy soldiers don’t deserve our pity, and this dragon is happier now than he was before. With me he can be happy! As a SeaWing soldier his life was just fighting, and crying over his stupid dead sister!”
“I can’t let you leave this beach alive.” Moss said resolutely.
“Fine.” Mosquito said. She reached over and touched Tide’s shoulder. “Do whatever I command you to do.”
Moss lunged at Mosquito and she dodged. “Kill Moss!” She yelled.
Moss was lunging toward her, about to slice her claws through Mosquito’s chest, but before she could Tide grabbed her by the neck and flung her across the beach. He leaped toward her and pinned her down with his tail and back legs, and dug his talons into her throat. He dug deep, and grabbed onto Moss’ windpipe, ripping it out of her throat with the sound of breaking cartilage. Blood gushed from Moss’ wound, reddening the sand around her.
Mosquito was filled with a sudden, overwhelming sense of sorrow. Her sister Moss was gone, and she would never breathe again. Mosquito bounded towards Moss, and held her talon, sobbing. “Come back…” She whispered. “Come back…” 
No matter how many times she tried, the body remained limp. Mosquito had encountered the only known limitation of animus magic: death.
Mosquito buried her face in her talons. I’m completely evil now. She realized. Just like Caiman said I would be. I’m gone, completely gone. There’s no coming back from this, ever.
Mosquito looked around for something to enchant, to take away her feeling of heartbreak. There was nothing around, nothing she could wear. She looked down at her talons. She had enchanted her own scales before, but not in this way. Never to change her own emotions.
Mosquito glanced down at Moss’ body again and felt a new wave of overwhelming sadness and guilt. She touched her talons to her scales and said, “I enchant myself, Mosquito the MudWing, not to feel the emotions of guilt or sorrow ever again.”
Mosquito suddenly stood up straight, feeling a weight like a thousand tonnes lifted off of her shoulders. She felt such a sudden and sharp relief that it was startling, like she had woken up from a dream. She also felt incredibly foolish. Why did I ever feel bad about killing her? She thought. She tried to attack me. I only defended myself. What a ridiculous response. She shook her wings with a flourish. I’m a beautiful, powerful animus dragon, and she was trying to take that away from me. I’ll never need to feel bad about anything like that again.
She looked over at Tide. He’ll be happy with me, I know he will. I just need to hide him so he can live with me and the other MudWings.
Mosquito noticed a small silver hoop earring in Tide’s ear. She didn’t want to erase his SeaWing self completely by enchanting his scales (she thought his blue-ness was rather handsome), so she took a less permanent route of enchantment.
“Come here.” She commanded to Tide. He complied. She touched his silver earring with two claws and said, “I enchant this earring to cause Tide the SeaWing to appear as a MudWing, though retain the same height, eye colour, body type, and general appearance.”
Tide’s scales warped and shifted, becoming a dark brown rather than a dark blue. His underscales became a greyish brown. His ice blue eyes still peeked brightly out under the new brown shade of his scales. Now he’s going to be unique. Mosquito thought. A MudWing with blue eyes, how fun. Not very common. Now for a name. Mosquito pondered for a moment. His name will be Humus. Humus the MudWing.
“From now on, when anyone asks you who you are, you tell them that you are Humus the MudWing, and that I, Mosquito, am your girlfriend. Don’t tell anyone any details about where you grew up or anyone you knew before you met me, without consulting me first. Okay?”
Tide nodded.
Mosquito turned around and gazed down at her sister’s corpse. “Now to deal with this nonsense.” She said, “What a waste of life, if only she hadn’t jumped to conclusions.” Mosquito said, though she felt none of the sadness that should have been associated with such a statement. It only felt like a slight shame to her now.
She reached down and held her sister’s wrist. “I enchant this corpse to look like an IceWing in every single way, with no discernible connection to Moss the MudWing.”
Moss’ scales churned and shifted until she was a pale white that reflected the sun blindingly in the sunlight. Her blood stood out even more now, against her newly pale scales. Mosquito thought the contrast was almost beautiful.
She looked towards the forest. “Follow me.” She commanded Humus, who flapped his wings after her.
I guess I’ve gone fully evil now. Mosquito thought pensively. Which means I’ve already gone too far. I’ve already crossed the line and lost my soul. Which means I can do anything I want from here on out. 
I have nothing left to lose.
=== Chapter five: Blame ===
(Caiman)
Caiman was standing completely still. He was watching an alligator across the swamp from him, his muscles tensed, ready for the kill.
A loud splashing noise erupted from behind him, scaring the alligator. It dove under the water, disappearing completely. He turned around to see Mosquito, and an unfamiliar MudWing behind her with striking blue eyes.
“Mosquitooo.” Caiman groaned. “I was just about to catch my lunch!”
“An alligator?” Mosquito asked. “That would be like watching you eat yourself. You’re so tiny and green.” Mosquito pointed out.
“I had no idea. It’s not like everyone points it out ALL the time.” Caiman said sarcastically.
“Well, whatever. Let’s catch something better.” Mosquito said.
“I thought you’d already eaten.” Caiman said. “Weren’t you and Moss out hunting all this time? She left like half an hour ago to go join you. Have you seen her?”
“I got distracted, and no, I didn’t see her. Maybe she got distracted too.” Mosquito said, her voice monotone. She didn’t seem nervous or distressed, but something about her seemed… off. Caiman closed his left eye to see her better with his enchanted one, so his soul-sight would be more precise. Oh no. Caiman thought. I hadn’t been paying attention before, but the holes in her soul have grown. The corruption has spread significantly. There’s something else, too. Like the light of her soul has been… dulled. Something’s very, very wrong here. Caiman eyed the MudWing that was following Mosquito. I bet he has something to do with it.
“Who’s this?” Caiman asked, pointing a claw at the MudWing that was tailing Mosquito like an adoring puppy.
“Oh, that’s Humus. He’s my boyfriend.” 
“Riiight.” Caiman said slowly, looking Humus up and down. “That was fast. He was your distraction I’m assuming?” Humus looked spellbound by Mosquito. Like a love spell, Caiman thought gravely, I hope she didn’t do anything too stupid. There was a strange sheen on his soul, a particular shine, similar to one surrounding Mosquito. They both have some kind of enchantment on them. I know Mosquito protected her scales long ago, but what did she do to Humus?
	Humus’ soul was unusually bright, even apart from the atypical glimmer. It blared a yellow happy colour, and a vibrant pink, signifying joy and admiration. There was no trace of other emotions in him.
“So, what part of the Mud Kingdom are you from, Humus?” Caiman asked in a curious tone.
Humus didn’t even look at him.
“Answer him.” Mosquito snarled. “Tell him how you live a few towns over.”
Humus’ eyes flitted over to Caiman, as though he had noticed him for the first time. “I live a few towns over.” He replied.
She definitely did something to him. Caiman thought. But I shouldn’t provoke her right now. Maybe I can get her to tell me the truth later, and I can convince her to take the spell off of him then.
	Mosquito darted through the trees, and returned moments later with three dead otters. She tossed one to Caiman, and one to Humus. Caiman caught his otter, and Humus’ fell onto the ground in front of him. He picked it up slowly, not taking his eyes off of Mosquito. He seemed to want to spend every second of his life adoring her.
Mosquito rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated groan. “I hate him already.”
“Why don’t you break up then?” Caiman asked, prodding Mosquito for the truth.
“You can love someone and hate them!” She snapped. 
Mosquito had returned to the state she was often in: constant anger. Caiman thought they had made progress over the last few weeks. I guess I was wrong. He thought sourly. Her soul reflected this change, a blaring red with yellow spots, and no traces of any other emotions. She was like a vessel of pride and self-satisfaction. Although the dark spots had only grown slightly, there was definitely something wrong with her soul.
Caiman and Mosquito ate their otters and so did Humus (after Mosquito yelled at him to stop staring at her all the time). Afterwards, they made their way back to their sibling hut. The sun was starting to go down, and Mosquito and Caiman started a small fire made of a few logs. Their brown scales turned a beautiful shade of amber in the light of the fire, glistening and shifting as the flames danced.
As the evening stretched on, Newt and Quagmire returned one after the other. The siblings and Humus sat in a circle, talking about their patrols and the enemy dragons they encountered, and Mosquito filled them in on her (obviously made up) meeting with Humus. She also said that he was an un-sib, and suggested that he stay with them temporarily until he found a new sib group, which Newt and Quagmire didn’t seem very happy about.
After a few hours of talking and eating prey by the fireside, Moss was yet to make an appearance. Caiman was starting to get worried. Mosquito said Moss might’ve gotten ‘distracted’ too. Distracted? What did that mean? Did she enchant Moss to stare at a tree forever in the woods, or run off and become a deserter? Caiman’s head whirled with all of the possibilities, none of them good.
“Are you sure you didn’t see Moss after she went out to meet up with you?” Caiman asked, hoping and praying he would finally get an honest answer.
“Yeah. She never showed up. She’s probably fine.” Mosquito said offhandedly. She didn’t seem worried at all.
“I just don’t know where she would even go this late.” Newt said.
“She can take care of herself.” Quagmire grunted, but Caiman could tell he was worried too.
“I’m just afraid an enemy soldier got her.” Newt said.
“We’ll look for her if she doesn’t show up by tomorrow morning.” Quagmire said.
Quagmire and Newt left and went into their sleeping hut. Mosquito and Caiman were the only two (other than Humus) sitting by the fire now. They stared at each other over the bright red glow of the flames. Mosquito looked at him with a glare that told Caiman, She knows I suspect her.
	Mosquito got up, approaching the mud hut with Humus in tow. She looked behind her at Caiman for a moment, and said, “I won’t be sad about it, or miss you. But I’ll be disappointed.”
Caiman knew what she had meant. She was talking as though she had already decided to kill him, because he had figured her out. He was the only one who knew her secret.
I didn’t think she would go this far. I knew she might do something bad, but Mosquito always had her guilt to hold her back from doing something really terrible. She must have totally lost her soul doing some dumb enchantment. Caiman thought. He felt a sudden, staggering despondence, as though Mosquito was already dead and he was talking to her walking, talking corpse. 
She probably wasted her soul and magic to enchant Humus to love her. He thought hopelessly. Maybe there’s still a chance I can reason with her, though. Maybe Moss is still alive and I can save her, if I just talk to Mosquito. I’ll try tomorrow. If that doesn’t work, I… I don’t know what I’ll have to do.
…
Caiman had slept outside the mud hut next to the fire the entire night, which was now just a few glowing embers. He woke up with an array of bug bites, and a chill that had crept under his scales during the night. The early morning light illuminated Mosquito’s face in front of him. Caiman flinched. He looked around. No one was there except him, Mosquito, and her shadow: Humus. His other siblings were probably still asleep.
“What do you think? Use your magic eye,” Mosquito asked, her voice level, spreading her wings as though she was presenting them to him. “Am I evil now?”
Caiman looked down at his claws. “You tell me.”
Mosquito laughed, a cold sound that grated Caiman’s ears. She leaned forward and whispered, “I killed Moss. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“What?” Caiman asked. His world was crumbling in his talons. None of his worst worries could’ve ever compared to this. “How? Nevermind, I don’t want to know what you did to her.” He said, his voice breaking.
“Oh, I can show you.” Mosquito said. “If you want to see.”
Before Caiman could answer, Mosquito reached next to her and grabbed a stick off the ground. “I enchant this stick to teleport me and Caiman to Moss’ corpse.”
Caiman blinked, and he was on the beach. An IceWing corpse lay in front of him and Mosquito, her neck a bloody blue mess of cartilage and bone.
“What? Where’s Moss?” Caiman said, looking around.
“She’s right here.” Mosquito said, in a sly voice.
Caiman looked down at the IceWing, and he wore an expression of horror as the truth dawned on him. “No.” Caiman whispered.
“Technically, it was Humus that did it, or should I say: Tide.”
Caiman narrowed his eyes at Mosquito. “You changed him… he’s your puppet now?”
Mosquito shrugged. “I felt bad about it at first, but with magic anything is possible.” Mosquito stretched her claws. “So. Much. Better.” She said with a sigh of relief.
Mosquito stepped towards Caiman, her talons outstretched. “I know how you’re feeling right now, I felt that way too, but I can help. Will you let me fix it? We could both be better!”
“No.” Caiman said, flinching away, tears streaming down his face.
“She was going to kill me, ME! Her own sister, because I accidentally enchanted some stupid ridiculous SeaWing to love me! It was all Moss’ fault. If you blame anyone, blame HER!” Mosquito roared.
Caiman shook his head numbly, his face buried in his talons.
“I could make you, you know.” Mosquito said. “I could make you join me, and we could rule the world together.”
Caiman didn’t respond.
“I have a better use for you, though.” Mosquito rushed forward toward Caiman, clasping the back of his neck. At first Caiman thought she was trying to choke him, but then he realized she was removing the simple twine necklace (which held a pouch that he used for collecting things) that he always wore around his neck. Once it fell off, Caiman felt like his soul was drowning in black tar inside his body, trapped in a dark place and totally alone.
“Come here.” Mosquito commanded.
Caiman fought against it, but he felt his muscles moving against his volition, forcing him to crawl forward and sit barely a foot away from Mosquito.
“Enchant Caiman the MudWing so that when I remove his necklace, he will listen to anything I tell him to.” Mosquito said. “That was what I muttered under my breath during our blood pact, if you were wondering.”
“How could you?" Caiman asked, his voice breaking. "Were you evil even then?"
Mosquito growled. “Being careful isn’t the same as being evil, but if you want me to be evil, I will be."
Mosquito seemed to ponder over what ‘evil things’ she could do. “Even though I disguised her body.” Mosquito said, thinking out loud. “They’ll still go looking, and eventually they’ll probably suspect one of us.”
She must have settled on an ‘evil thing’ to do, because Caiman recognised her ‘aha’ face. She always scrunched up her snout a little, and held up one claw as though she was some great philosopher pointing out a fact about life. Caiman silently grieved the dragon Mosquito used to be, thinking of all the times he’d seen that face come up with a silly idea for a game when they were tiny dragonets.
“I want you, Caiman,” Mosquito said. “To go to Newt and Quagmire and confess to killing Moss and hiding her body in the swamp. You will also confess to attempting to kill me.”
Caiman’s eyes widened with shock, and against his will his wings opened and he began to fly into the sky, heading towards his other siblings, ready to confess to a crime he didn't commit.
== Part two: Claws of Sky, Rain and Night ==
=== Chapter six: The Rainforest ===
(5012 AS, After Darkness of Dragons but before The Lost Continent)
(Rose)
Rose drowsily opened his eyes. A haziness overwhelmed him, and he roughly rubbed the sleep from his eyes. A strange uncomfortable feeling haunted him from whatever unremembered dream he had had the night before.
He stirred and began to wake up and stretch his wings, which were large and SkyWing-like. His scales shifted as the sun sent dappled ovals of sunshine into his bedroom. They moved in vibrant shades of red, pink, and orange.
There was a shelf of scrolls in the corner of his room, and another pile next to his bed. Bright pink and red flowers grew along the inside of his small bedroom. The gentle breeze caused the wind chimes in his windows to create a gentle tune. The only other feature of his room was his green hammock, which he slipped out of and gently let his feet fall onto the structure below.
Rose’s house was like a collection of large spheres woven from grass, with hallways supported by extra fibres and wood between the globular rooms.
Rose made his way from his bedroom and into the dining room of his house. His father sat at a wooden table, absentmindedly eating a banana while reading a scroll. He wore small spectacles on his snout.
“Morning.” Rose said.
“Morning monkey.” He said affectionately, without looking up from his scroll.
Rose grabbed a mango from the woven baskets stacked around the room. He sliced it neatly with his claws, and ate the flesh. He ate several more fruits, including a papaya and a clawful of berries. His mother was gone visiting her parents and siblings in the Sky Kingdom so Rose would have to miss out on her cooking.
After finishing his breakfast, he waved goodbye to his dad (who waved his wing in reply), and took off outside their treehouse. Rose was decent at rainforest flying, since he grew up there, but his SkyWing wings were made for flying in wide open spaces, not tight jungle. He sometimes crashed into a tree here or there because of his large, awkward wings.
Rose wasn’t the most social dragon, mostly spending time with his brother, Flamingo, or alone in his room reading or writing stories, but today he finally felt like spending some time with friends.
His family’s treehouse lay in between the NightWing and RainWing villages. He paused his flight and landed on a tree branch, trying to decide which village to visit.
Rose had just finished the scroll he was reading and his claws itched to get ahold of a new one. He spread his wings and veered towards the NightWing village, excited to visit his friends, but mostly excited for the scroll vendors.
After a few minutes he swooped down into the undergrowth of the rainforest, and found himself in a gathering of NightWings. It was unusual to see a RainWing, let alone a hybrid, all the way down here, but the NightWings were used to him by now. Rose was impressed with all the improvements the black dragons had made to their village. Although it was particularly damp and dark down here in the lowest level of the rainforest, they managed to set up a functioning village.
Rose mostly smelled the earthy scent of rotting leaves and mud here on the forest floor, but beyond that he whiffed the familiar papery scent of scrolls. He flew into a NightWing hut and greeted Scrollkeeper, the friendly NightWing vendor he had come to know well since the NightWings moved to the rainforest.
“Hi Scrollkeeper. Do you have any new scrolls for me today?” Rose asked.
The older dragon nodded, and smiled with excitement. He shuffled quickly to the back of the hut, grabbed an armful of scrolls, and spread them out on a table in front of Rose.
“I’ve got several new scrolls, from the Sand Kingdom, the Mud Kingdom, and the Kingdom of the Sea.” Scrollkeeper enthused.
“Mud Kingdom?” Rose asked. He knew very little about MudWings. The swamp dragons usually kept to themselves, and weren’t known for their intelligence, so it was unusual to get a scroll from the Mud Kingdom. Rose was not one to listen to dragon stereotyping, and he did not consider MudWings unintelligent, but something about a MudWing scroll intrigued him because of its scarcity.
“Wow.” Rose mused. “Will you really let me have it?” He asked. He couldn’t imagine parting with a scroll of such value.
“I will.” Scrollkeeper said. “It’s not for sale, but since you’re my favourite customer you can borrow it for free. Just remember to return it when you’re done.”
“Thank you Scrollkeeper!” Rose said, taking the MudWing scroll in his claws and reading the table of contents, excited for what MudWing events this scroll would tell him about. “You’re so kind.” He said as he put the scroll in a bag made with thick cloth to keep the scroll from getting damp in the wet rainforest outside.
“Anything for my only RainWing customer.” Scrollkeeper said smiling. “Have a good day, Rose!”
“You too!” He called, as he exited the scroll store and flew to the outskirts of the NightWing village. Handed in front of a NightWing hut, not large but big enough for three dragons to live there comfortably.
Rose entered. “Violet? Palemoon?” He called.
Two dragon heads poked out from the doorway, one dark and one light.
Violet smiled. “Hi Rose!” She said in a chipper tone.
Violet was a RainWing, she was small and her scales were duller than other RainWings from sun deprivation. She kept them in shades of dark purple and green.
“What are you doing down here this early?” Palemoon asked, a grin on his bespectacled snout. He was an albino NightWing with cream-coloured scales and pink eyes.
Rose lifted his bag with the scroll in it for them to see. “Scroll shopping.” He replied. “Do you guys want to come with me to the hideout?”
“Sure.” Violet replied, “We don’t have any plans.”
Palemoon, Violet, and Rose darted up into the higher levels of the rainforest. Although Rose wasn’t the best at rainforest flying, he had to slow down considerably for Violet and Palemoon, who were still unaccustomed to their new rainforest surroundings.
Eventually, they reached what Rose liked to call the ‘hideout’. It was a square treehouse made of wood, with a solid roof that never let any rain through. They landed on the branches outside, and walked single file into the roomy area. There were large windows to let the sunlight in, and there were mossy couches to lounge on.
Maps of Pyrrhia lined the walls, as well as zoomed in maps of each kingdom. The shelves were filled with history and geography scrolls about the different tribes. In one corner, there was a large canvas with a portrait of a beautiful SkyWing with dark red scales with a tinge of purple in them. Rose had painted it himself, of his mother Heather. There were several other paintings on the walls, as well as a half finished one on an easel with painting supplies littered around it.
In another corner of the room was a desk with blank scrolls and pots of ink. That corner of the room was the reason why Rose’s claws and talons were always stained black, where he wrote his own stories.
Rose brought out several blank pieces of paper from a stack on the desk and passed them to his friends, and gave them pots of paint and paintbrushes. The two of them lay on the couches and got to work, doodling and sketching. Rose had been painting the longest out of the three of them, but Palemoon and Violet had picked up on it quickly.
Rose took his new scroll out of his pack and unrolled it, skimming the information inside. 
Violet painted the three moons surrounded by black clouds. Palemoon worked on his rendition of a rainforest scene dotted with small purple flowers.
Rose continued reading his scroll, until he saw an illustrated portrait that caught his eye. It was of a young MudWing, barely fully grown, who was very scrawny and small for MudWing standards. One of his eyes was normal, while the other was pitch black, like a SandWing eye. The difference was SandWing eyes didn’t have blackened, corrupted looking flesh around their eyes and a weird purplish glow. I have to know how he got that eye. I’ve never seen anything like it… it must be animus touched.
Rose read the text under his picture aloud. “Caiman, a MudWing dragonet arrested for killing his sister, Moss, during the last years of the War of SeaWing Succession. He is currently held in the MudWing prisons, and is due for execution. He committed the most heinous MudWing crime, the murder of a sibling.”
Rose stared at his picture for a couple more minutes. “I wonder if he really did it.” He said thoughtfully.
“Why?” Palemoon asked. “If they arrested him they must’ve had proof.”
“I don’t know, the whole thing seems super sketchy.” Rose said, “The scroll doesn’t say he’s an animus but that he got his eye like that from some sort of infection. No infection I’ve ever heard of looks like that.” He turned the scroll around for the others to see.
Violet wrinkled her snout. “He definitely did it. Creepy looking dude.”
“He didn’t.” Palemoon said behind Violet, a flash of recognition in his eyes. “He’s innocent.”
“How do you know?” Asked Violet sceptically.
“Because I saw him in my dream.” Palemoon explained.
Violet’s eyes widened. “That was the MudWing you saw?”
“Wait, wait, wait, WHAT?” Rose exclaimed, holding up his talons in surprise. “You had a vision? I thought you had to be born under the full moons for that!”
“I thought so too.” Palemoon said. “But if he’s a real MudWing that means I wasn’t dreaming, that my nightmares have been visions of the future.”
“He keeps spouting this cryptic poem in his sleep.” Violet explained. “So I asked him about it, and he said he was dreaming about a MudWing getting executed for a crime he didn’t commit, and with him gone all the Jade Mountain students will get murdered.”
“What? Who murders them?” Rose asked.
“Another MudWing.” Palemoon answered. “I don’t know her name, just that she’s extremely powerful.”
Rose chewed his claws nervously. “Well, we have to do something to stop it. We have to save Caiman before he’s executed. If she only goes on a rampage after he dies, that means that if we save him he can help us stop it, right?”
“Hopefully.” Palemoon said unenthusiastically.
“Wait,” Violet said, “Are we really doing this?”
“Well… We have to, right?” Rose said, “If everyone at Jade Mountain will die if we don’t? That includes us, you know?”
“Shouldn’t we ask someone else for help, y’know, like the actual dragonets of destiny? Between the three of us, we couldn’t defeat a regular dragon let alone an animus.” Said Violet.
“Do we have the time to fly to Jade Mountain and back?” Rose asked.
Palemoon shook his head, “As far as I can tell, he should be executed in a few weeks, I don’t think that’s enough time to go to Jade Mountain, then to the Mud Kingdom.”
“Hmm…” Rose thought. “We need more information before we make any drastic decisions. I’m going to gather some resources and figure this out, and from there we can create a plan to rescue this MudWing. But first I need to figure something out about your seer abilities, Palemoon. There must be a reason you have the abilities and other NightWings from the island don’t. Y’know, other than those who had powers granted by Darkstalker.”
Darkstalker had given powers to some of the NightWings who followed him, but despite Darkstalker’s spell to make everyone like him, Palemoon, Violet, and Trueheart had always been among the dragons who were suspicious of him and stayed in the rainforest under Queen Glory’s rule. Darkstalker had been rude to Palemoon anyways, which Rose suspected was because his white scales reminded Darkstalker of the IceWings which he despised.
“Alright.” Palemoon said. “Don’t be too obvious that it's about me, though, I don’t want anyone to find out about this, if possible.”
“I’ll just say it’s hypothetical. I research so much random stuff about other tribes, I doubt anyone will find it suspicious. While I’m gone, write down all the details about your visions from beginning to end. I’ll be back soon.” Rose stated.
Violet and Palemoon agreed, and Palemoon started quickly jotting down information on a blank scroll.
Rose grabbed a map of the MudWing territory, including names of cities and towns, and went to the exit of his hideout. He spread his wings, and lifted off into the sky.
I wonder if we’re going to become the new dragonets of destiny. He thought. The thought of it deeply unsettled him. The dragonets of destiny were smart, brave, and good at fighting. What are we? Just a bunch of tribal misfits. I don’t think we’re cut out for this.
He flew off, in search of answers.
=== Chapter seven: Librarian ===
(Rose)
Rose landed on a branch outside her family's treehouse, and entered into the main room. Her father sat at the dining table, where he had been since the morning. The peel of the banana he had been eating was now discarded beside him. He still read the same scroll, and it looked like he had almost finished reading the whole thing.
Rose glanced at the hallway that led to their library. There was plenty of information in there that she needed, but how long would it take to weed through all those scrolls to find everything she wanted to know? She looked at her father, intent on reading his scroll. She knew he already had most of the information in his collection read and memorized.
“Dad?” Rose asked, sitting across from him and resting her talons on the wooden table. “I was wondering how NightWings get their powers?”
“As far as I know from what we learned about Darkstalker, they must be hatched under the light of one or all of the full moons. If the light is obscured by anything, a cave, or even clouds, they won’t have any powers. That’s why none of the island NightWings have powers, and Starflight doesn't either, even though he was born on the brightest night.”
“Is there really no other way?” Rose asked.
“Not as far as I know. This is still a pretty unknown subject, since knowledge about NightWing powers was lost for so many years.”
Rose nodded, “OK, I was just wondering. I have another question, I wanted to know where MudWing prisoners might be located. Especially if they committed a high-profile crime. It’s for a story.”
Capuchin raised an eyebrow. “Sounds very dramatic.”
Rose shrugged. “My protagonist needs his help. Maybe there’s more to his story than meets the eye.”
Capuchin laughed. “Often true.”
Rose passed her Mud Kingdom map to her father. He pointed to a space on the map. “Right here, next to the palace. That’s where high-profile criminals would be kept. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, I suppose.”
Rose took the map back and circled the area her father had pointed to with her ink-stained claw. “Thanks dad. You’re like an encyclopedia.”
Capuchin smiled. “No problem.” He said.
She rolled up the map and started heading out of the room.
“Where are you off to so quickly?” Capuchin asked.
“Oh, I have to get back to Violet and Palemoon at the hideout. They’re just painting right now but I don’t want to leave them alone for too long.”
“OK, have fun.” Capuchin said nonchalantly, and returned to his scroll.
Rose opened her wings, and flew off. It was only a flight of five minutes or so to her hideout. She let out a breath, relieved that she hadn’t made her signature ‘lying face’. Rose was normally a terrible liar, but when she found a way to bend the truth, or omit certain parts of it, she could manage a couple lies. She didn’t often lie to her parents, though, since she usually didn’t need to. Rose wasn’t a rebellious dragonet… at least, not anymore.
Rose landed, and entered the treehouse. “What did you guys write down?” She asked.
Palemoon picked up the sheet of paper and passed it to Rose. The paper read:
Caiman finds out his sister killed their other sibling. The sister betrays Caiman and he gets the blame for the murder. He is imprisoned for three years. In two weeks, Caiman is finally executed. The sister flies to Jade Mountain Academy, dead bodies lay everywhere including the three of us and some of the dragonets of destiny, and the MudWing sister is covered in our blood.
Rose looked at the sheet of paper for a moment. In a flash, Rose could imagine these images so vividly. The gore, the limp bodies, the fear. It was so visceral she could almost smell it. It would be difficult, she imagined, for Palemoon to have to dream of it constantly.
“I’m sorry you had to see that Palemoon.” She said, “That sounds horrible.”
Palemoon nodded awkwardly. “Kind of sucks to see it every night.” He said. “But it’s worth it if we can save people.”
Rose nodded. She took her scrolls out of her bag. “I have a map with the possible location of our MudWing prisoner circled…” Rose said. “I’m going to read the rest of Caiman’s history in that MudWing scroll. And Palemoon?”
“Yeah?”
“My dad says that it’s impossible for you to have powers if you were hatched on the island. There could be a loophole, but since you’re the only one it's very likely that you were hatched in the rainforest, and brought back to the island.”
“I think that’s possible…” Palemoon said, “Wrathful wasn’t my birth mother, she found me abandoned. She could have found me in the rainforest, but I guess she just never told me,” He said uncomfortably. Talking about his mother always made him seem fidgety and upset. “I don’t know why she didn’t just leave me there, but then I wouldn’t have met Violet, so I guess everything happens for a reason.” He brushed his wings against Violet’s, who gave him a small smile. They twined their tails together.
“Alright, well I’ll look at Caiman’s story, why don’t you guys look for possible paths to get to the Mud Kingdom?” She tossed the map and Violet caught it, and began looking through it. Rose returned to her own scroll. The scroll read:
Caiman murdered his sister Moss in cold blood. He confessed to the crime. He was kept alive for many years due to his plea of insanity, but because of a recent court case is due to be executed.
His living siblings, Mosquito, Newt, and Quagmire, testified against him. Mosquito also claimed that Caiman had tried to attack her, which Caiman had previously confessed to, although there were no marks or signs of an attack on Mosquito.
The scroll went on about their stories and what they said about Caiman, but what was important that she could deduce was that Quagmire was male, meaning Mosquito and Newt were both possible suspects for being bloodthirsty animus dragons, since the deadly dragon in Palemoon’s visions was female.
“It’s either a dragon named Mosquito, or a dragon named Newt.” Rose concluded. I could just ask Caiman myself which one it is, she thought to herself, but didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to reveal her enchanted object to them just yet. She still needed more information about Caiman’s location to be able to use it.
“I’ve been looking at what I can see of the prison from the map” Violet said, “This is not going to be easy.”
“I have something that might help.” Rose said. “Trust me.” She eyed the sun as it slowly sank down the horizon. “But we should get a night’s rest first. Do you guys want to sleep over at my hut?” She asked. “It’s getting late and mine is closer.” She pointed out.
Violet shrugged. “I usually ask my dad first but he knows I’m at your hut so often that he’ll assume I’m with you, so it should be fine.”
Palemoon nodded. “I’m always with Violet so Trueheart won’t worry about me.”
“Great.” Rose said.
They flew out into the rainforest. The sun was sinking below the horizon, casting shards of sunlight through the canopy that looked like pieces of molten gold. Birds chirped loudly, and thunderclouds approached in the distance.
Once they reached Rose’s family treehouse, she quickly explained to her father (who was writing a letter in his library) that her friends were sleeping over, and he nodded with absentminded approval.
They ate a quick dinner of some of the dried up animals Rose’s mother kept in the house, and some kiwis. Rose noticed they didn’t mind the dry meat, then remembered the kind of rotting flesh they were used to eating on the island. She shuddered and felt a stab of pity for her friends.
After dinner they left the dining room, and entered Rose’s bedroom.
Rose picked up the two extra hammocks that were folded up in the corner of her room, and set them up against the ceiling. Violet, Rose, and Palemoon jumped into their hammocks and lay there, waiting for sleep to take them.
“Goodnight.” Rose said.
“Goodnight.” Her friends replied in unison.
Rose glanced out the window at the stars in the night sky, twinkling brightly. She wondered if Caiman was looking out his barred window at the stars right now.
She wondered what he was thinking.
She wondered if he had anyone to say ‘goodnight’ to.
=== Chapter eight: Ghost town ===
(Rose)
Rose tossed and turned in her hammock. Her friends had been asleep for hours, but Rose had only slept for a few minutes at a time in a shallow sleep filled with stressful dreams.
She put a brave face on to her friends, but she was terrified. Rose had never been in battle, only play fighting as a dragonet, and even then she had to rely on biting and clawing rather than strength. Facing a dangerous animus dragon that could potentially murder them all was way out of her comfort zone.
Rose frowned and clasped her talons over her eyes, letting out a small groan of frustration. She usually slept like a baby, unless her anxiety got the best of her. It was always about stupid things, like meeting new dragons or thinking about finally going to Jade Mountain and being a disappointment with no friends and no future. Her friends and most dragons she knew had been through so much, and Rose always felt like she was never as happy as she should be. She didn’t have a perfect dragonet-hood, but she always felt like she should be better than she was. Rose often thought that she might’ve just been born wrong.
This time I have something real to worry about. Rose told herself. I can actually do something about this. I’m not just… trapped.
Rose slipped out of her hammock. If I can’t sleep I might as well make use of my time.
She snuck out of her house, and flew out into the rainstorm outside. She just needed to fly, and think.
The rain batted down aggressively against her wings, and thunder crackled in the distance, casting flashes of purple light through the trees. The rainforest was so dark at night, she wished she had better night vision like a proper RainWing. She could see better at night than a lot of other tribes, but her SkyWing half weakened any night vision her RainWing side gave her. Perfectly balanced to be useless. Rose thought, remembering her previous weak attempts at camouflage, which she couldn’t do because of being half SkyWing. She hadn’t really felt bad about it before, since she never thought she would really need it, but camouflage would be useful against a powerful foe. At least I have my enchanted amulet. Rose thought. I won’t seem so pathetic compared to the others if I show it to them. I guess I’ll have to tomorrow anyway.
Rose paused mid-flight, and wondered if she should fly to the hideout and retrieve her treasured amulet now, then decided against it. She would use it to talk to Caiman if she could, but she needed to know the location better to be able to use it. I need more details from Palemoon.
Rose swerved in a different direction. She didn’t even know where her wings were taking her, when she ended up in the most dreaded location in the entire rainforest.
Rose landed in the clearing where the tunnels to the Night Kingdom and the Kingdom of Sand lay. She could feel the strange itchy feeling animus magic gave off. Wrongness. Rose thought. There was no other word to describe it. She had somewhat gotten used to the feeling, though, because of her amulet.
She approached the tunnel and gazed into the black nothingness inside. She thought about all of the RainWings kidnapped and experimented on in there, and shuddered. NightWing cruelty could be exceptional. Don’t hold the whole tribe accountable. Rose reminded herself. Remember Palemoon, Scrollkeeper, Trueheart, and the dragonet of destiny: Starflight.
Walking into the tunnel felt like jumping into a lagoon full of sharks, but Rose’s curiosity got the best of her. I need to know what it was like there. I need to know about the place that caused NightWings to lose their powers for so many thousands of years.
She walked through the tunnel, and eventually came out into a dark, smoggy environment that choked her lungs. She felt as though her entire respiratory system had been scraped raw, just by inhaling one lungful of the air on the island.
Rose flinched, a dragon stood near the entrance, like a statue. She looked closer and saw the layers of rock and volcanic ash over his body, and realised he was dead. She now figured out that it was a Morrowseer, and that he had died right here since he refused to go into the rainforest and have a RainWing as his queen. She almost felt like he would move and grab her, he was huge and intimidating.
There was a thunderstorm here too, but it wasn’t raining. Usually Rose liked the sound of thunder, but when it was alone without the gentle pattering sounds of rain it sounded strange. It sounds evil. Like there’s a terrible dragon flying above me who’s breathing lightning on the island, trying to kill anyone who returns to this accursed place.
Rose flinched when the lightning grumbled again. She gulped. Imagining a giant lightning-breathing dragon was a mistake. She concluded. Rose opened her wings and flew around the island. At night this place was almost pitch black. There was no light from the moons or the stars because of the thick clouds of smoke billowing up from the dormant volcano.
She could barely make out the faint outlines of a castle structure, melted and deformed by partially cooled lava. I couldn’t imagine living here. Rose thought. She felt a strong appreciation for the rainforest rush through her, no matter how stifling her childhood there had been. The longer she stared at the structure, the creepier it felt, like ghost dragons still walked through the halls. Like Mastermind is still there torturing dragons, and dragonets and grown dragons alike are still starving in those caves.
As she flew, she caught a glimpse of something moving near the shore, at the edge of the island. At first she thought she had seen an animal moving or a small stream of lava flowing, but as she looked closer she saw the shape of a black dragon with small glints of red in his scales. Rose recognised him, and landed next to him. He flinched, then sighed in relief when he saw it was only her.
“Vulcan?” Rose asked. “What are you doing here?” Rose asked.
Vulcan was Palemoon’s half brother. Or adopted half brother, I guess. Rose realised, now that she knew Wrathful wasn’t Palemoon’s birth mother.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Vulcan said quietly. He had an overwhelming aura of sorrow that surrounded him. Rose followed his gaze and realised he was staring up at the frozen shape of a dragon.
“Three moons… ” Rose whispered. The dragon strongly resembled Vulcan, and Rose guessed that it was Wrathful, Vulcan’s mother. She had not been melted by the lava, but rather coated in dust and ash until she looked like a vague statue of the dragon she used to be. “I’m so sorry.” Rose said.
“Don’t be.” Vulcan said. “She was awful. I just wanted to come back… I wanted to be sure she was really gone so she won’t haunt me anymore.”
Rose didn’t know how to respond. They were both silent for a few moments.
Vulcan gazed up at the black sky. “I grew up missing the three moons, even though I had never seen them before. I never thought they would be so detailed, the craters and the cracks in them. And the stars. I always imagined how they would look. Nothing I ever imagined lived up to when I saw the real thing. It's ironic that we had the stars under our wings, but we could never look up and see them in the sky.” Vulcan shook his head and looked angry. “All this torture because of pride and fear. I think this place should serve as a reminder to what the NightWings should never be again.”
“You’re right.” Rose said. “No amount of power is worth it.” Rose could barely imagine it, growing up without ever seeing the moons. 
“You never answered my question.” Vulcan said, bringing Rose out of her train of thoughts. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh… Right… I couldn’t sleep.” Rose replied.
“I doubt coming to the most horrifying place on Pyrrhia would help with that.” Said Vulcan.
Rose shrugged. “It wasn’t a plan or anything, I just started flying and ended up here. I guess I wanted to see it, at least once. Just to know.”
“Well. Now you know.” Vulcan replied curtly, and flew off with a loud flapping of wings.
Rose gave the NightWing Island one last look, then flew off after Vulcan. 
She didn’t want to stay on that island for another minute. It felt as though the soot and dust in the air had crept up under her scales and corrupted her from the outside-in.
***
When Rose returned to her room, she saw Palemoon tossing and turning, repeating the cryptic words over and over:
Claws of Sky, Rain, Mud, Sea, and Night
Five will join the righteous fight
Blessed and cursed with terrible power
In Jade Mountain’s final hour.
From the Kingdom of soil and sleet
A dragon of cruelty and deceit
Dragonets she will slaughter and kill,
Forcing others to do her will.
If brother kills sister,
Her heart will blister,
And Jade Mountain is saved.
Rose shivered. It was creepy to see her friend in that state, and the words themselves were pretty creepy too. She guessed that ‘Rain’ was her and Violet, ‘Mud’ was Caiman, and ‘Night’ was Palemoon. She wondered who he meant by ‘Sea’. Maybe someone they would meet soon.
As she flew into her hammock and settled in, she noticed Violet’s eyes were open. “Can’t sleep either?” Rose whispered to her.
“I know you were there. On the island...” Violet replied in a quiet voice. “I can smell it on you.”
“Oh.” Rose said. “I’m so sorry, I don’t want to remind you of it. I just wanted to see it, I guess.”
“It’s OK.” Violet said, shifting so that her face was away from Rose’s direction.
“No, it’s not.” Rose replied. “I’ll be back in a second.”
She flew out the window, her wings gently brushing the chimes by accident, but it didn’t seem to wake Palemoon, who continued his unconscious stream of prophecy-talk. 
She dived into a nearby river, feeling the ash and soot wash out from between her scales. She stepped out and shook out her wings, flying up and returning to her window, finally relaxing back into her hammock. She was glad she went into the river, the coldness and the cleanness made her feel tired after a night of insomnia. 
She closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
=== Chapter nine: Amulet ===
(Rose)
Rose woke up unsatisfied and tired. He had only gathered about three hours of sleep after returning from the NightWing Island.
Rose plopped out of his bed, and realised both the hammocks his friends had slept in were empty. They must’ve already gotten up. He thought.
When Rose entered the dining room his friends were already eating. Rose joined them and they all had a small breakfast of fruit. His father was in the office, and his brother, Flamingo, was probably still asleep. He looked back and forth to double check no one was nearby.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t tell anyone, not even Queen Glory?” Violet asked.
“If she’s involved, it could start another war. I doubt Queen Moorhen will just release a prisoner if we ask nicely, and if Glory sends RainWings to retrieve him it could ruin our relationship with the MudWings.” Rose said.
“I just feel like we should ask someone who’s way better equipped to deal with this.” Violet grumbled, “By the way, what were you talking about yesterday? Something that will help us save Caiman?.”
“We can’t talk about that here.” Rose said. “It’s… hard to explain without showing you. We need to go to the hideout.” Rose said. I guess I have to show them now. He felt selfish for hiding it for so long, but he didn’t want a chance of knowledge of the artefact spreading throughout the tribe. Rose just hoped they didn’t hate him for hiding it.
***
Rose, Palemoon, and Violet stood in the hideout. Rose walked to one of the couches and grabbed a treasure chest from under it. Rose opened it. It was filled with rocks that were nicely shaped and interesting colours, or shells and feathers that Rose found particularly beautiful. What stood out among the rest was the real treasure.
A necklace with a thick gold chain, at the end a gemstone that was half light blue and half dark blue, and carved with beautiful swirls. Rose picked it up out of the chest. “I found it near the edge of the rainforest a few years ago. It’s animus enchanted.”
This explanation was, of course, only a partial lie. A lie of omission, as Rose had grown accustomed to forming. The truth of the amulet was not something he could really discuss with his friends... or even fully understand himself.
“What does it do?” Palemoon asked. There was a note of fear in his voice, and it was clear that animus power scared him. Rose suspected his own power scared him as well.
“It can teleport me to any place that I visualize.” Rose replied. “So if I’ve been there before, or if I’ve seen an accurate illustration or something, I can go there in one second. It kind of teleports a ghost version of me, though, so I can talk and look around and people can see me but I can’t hold onto anything.” He grabbed a piece of paper and dipped his talon in ink. “Palemoon, tell me what the cell looks like that Caiman was being held in.”
“Why don’t you just let me use it?” Palemoon asked. “Not that I want to teleport to a prison cell…”
“Because it takes practice.” Rose said. “It took me weeks to get really good at using it. You have to be really precise and focused. I mean, you can try if you want but you’ll always run the risk of teleporting halfway there or in someone else’s hut. Not fun, trust me...”
“Uh nevermind.” Palemoon said, and proceeded to describe the dimensions and appearance of Caiman’s cell. Rose sketched quickly, and lifted the piece of paper for Palemoon to inspect. He nodded. “That’s what it looks like.”
Rose closed his eyes and imagined the cell. Square, small, two barred windows (one to the inner hallway, and one letting in sunshine). There was a pile of hay in the corner of the room that seemed to be a substitute for a bed, and there was a chamberpot in the left corner.
With a surge of power and a flash of light, Rose’s consciousness left his body.
=== Chapter ten: Death Row ===
(Rose)
Rose blinked. 
For a moment, just one, Rose was in some kind of white space. Opposite her was some sort of creature, a dark shifting shape, one that was almost familiar…
And then she blinked once more.
Rose was in the MudWing prison, and Caiman was asleep in the pile of hay opposite her. He was small, much smaller than she expected. Rose was considered short and he looked an inch or two smaller than her. He did not look overly young, though. He had a strong jaw and a mature face that made it clear he was at least five or six.
He looked like he was having an unpleasant sleep, he tossed and turned, his talons twitching like he was experiencing a brutal nightmare. The sunlight through the barred windows illuminated his brown scales, causing the green undertones to shine like polished emeralds. Rose didn’t know MudWings could be so colourful.
She reached forward to tap him to wake up, since it would seem like a mercy, but her claw went through his scales. I forgot I can’t touch anything, at least with my current skill with the amulet. She thought sourly.
A moment later, she didn’t need to. After a loud scream, he opened his eyes, gasping for breath. When he saw Rose he scrambled into the far corner of the cell, his teeth bared. With his eyes open Rose could see his corrupted eye staring at her. He seemed to calm a bit after a moment.
“You’re not here to hurt me.” Caiman said.
“I’m here to help you,” Rose said, “How did you know?”
He pointed to his eye. “I’m enchanted.”
Rose felt a personal mental congratulations was in order for correctly deducing it was not an ‘infection’ as the scroll stated, but Rose was a little used to being right about most things (at least that’s how she saw it). However, Rose decided now wasn’t the time to get him to explain, questions could be asked later. Right now she needed to attend to the task at claw. “I want to rescue you. Or, like, get someone else to rescue you or something. You need to be rescued, is the point.”
Caiman snorted. “Yes, here to rescue me: evil, crazy, killed-his-sister Caiman.” He asked, obviously repeating what others said about him. “Are you just here to mock me?”
Rose shook her head. “I don’t believe any of that. Me and my friends have proof, sort of, that you’re innocent.”
His eyes widened. Rose noticed the gleam of green and brown in his normal, hazel eye, and the tears threatening to spill before he blinked them away.
“You really don’t?” He asked, as though it was thoroughly impossible.
“I know it was one of your sisters, and I know she’s going to kill more people if someone doesn’t stop her.”
Caiman nodded. “Mosquito.” He looked up at her again. “How did you get here anyway?”
Rose gestured towards her amulet. “Animus object.”
Caiman stared at her as he waved his claw through her, causing Rose’s form to ripple and then settle like smoke. She couldn’t recognise the emotion on his face, Fear? Shock? Anger?
“You can’t trust animi. Don’t trust any of them, none of them, do you hear me?” He asked, his voice full of concern and anxiety.
“I don’t know any animi, I found it in the forest. Just listen to me, I can’t be here for long.” Rose insisted, though excluding important information, once again, weighed on her conscience. “We need to know how we can get you out of here.”
Caiman looked at her for a long moment. “There are lots of guards here, it will be better to wait until my execution day. They’ll leave me tied up in the courtyard for everyone to gawk at or throw stones at me, and probably leave me up there for a few days, so your best bet is when I’m in the courtyard when they change the guards.”
Rose nodded.
He stared at her for a long moment, looked down at his claws, then back up at Rose. “Are you real? Or have I finally lost it?”
“I’m real, and I’m coming to get you, I promise.” Rose felt a tinge of guilt at the promise. Was she really going to do this herself? There might be no other option…
“Thank you.” Caiman said, and Rose felt as though he really meant it. His eyes had such a sincerity to them. She was still cautious, as she always was (internally) towards strangers, but felt a new responsibility towards this odd creature.
Before Rose had a chance to say something reassuring, the world around her seemed to fold up within itself.
***
There was the white space again, just for a moment. And she saw the thing. It was a her, Rose knew, intuitively.
Then the whiteness was gone.
The world unfolded itself into the small square room that was the inside of the ‘hideout’. Rose’s friends stared at her, concerned expressions on their faces.
“What?” Rose asked.
“Your eyes went all creepy and white you and you just stood there like a statue, it was so weird.” Violet explained. “We had to shake you awake, sorry, we thought you were like, dead or something.”
“Oh.” Rose laughed. “I guess I never thought about what it would look like when I travelled. I’m usually alone when I do this.”
“So what did you find out?” Palemoon asked.
“He said the best time to rescue him would be a few days before his execution. They’re going to tie him up in the square for a while before he’s hanged. He’s going to be less guarded, and when the guards change there will be a short period of time where we can get him and get away before the new guards come. We should probably leave soon, otherwise we won’t have time, considering the amount of time it takes to fly there, even more since you guys are a bit slower.”
“Hey,” Violet said, “I’m not that slow.”
“I’m not even going to try to defend myself,” Palemoon laughed, “I am really slow.”
“Alright, now we just need a really excellent excuse to give our parents.” Rose said with a frustrated sigh.
“Maybe we say that we need to go to Jade Mountain early for some reason.” Palemoon suggested.
“Mm…  My dad is going to be a teacher there this year so I don’t think that would be a great excuse. He would know that there’s no reason to.” Rose replied.
“What if I tell my dad that I’m going with your family on a trip to see whales or something, and you say that you’re going with our family? They might notice each other around the rainforest and get confused but by that time we’ll be long gone. Ask for forgiveness instead of permission right?” Violet explained.
“Not airtight, but we’ll go with that for now. Get your bags packed, and we’ll leave tomorrow.”
Violet and Palemoon nodded, and flew out of the hideout.
I guess we really are doing this. Rose thought, this really stupid idea considering we’re a bunch of useless dragonets. But… who else would believe us, that we could get to in time?
Then Rose felt a strange twinge in her heart, just under where the amulet lay. Quickly, she took it off and threw it in the box, slamming it shut. Her talons trembled. Keep it together, you useless thing. 
Rose turned and grabbed a couple of maps of the Mud Kingdom that were relatively recent, rolled them up, and put them in a bag, then headed to her house to pack and give Capuchin their makeshift excuse.
== Part three: Blessed ==
=== Chapter eleven: The cure-all boy/The Devastation Inn ===
(Mudskipper)
Mudskipper jumped forward, sliding headfirst into the cold river water. With the speed of a pouncing predator, he impaled a fish with his claws. He lifted his head out of the river, sending a spray of water onto the shore, stashing the fish in a bag, and diving back into the water to spear two more fish with his talons. 
He emerged after his victory, putting one of the fish in the bag, and throwing the other fish in the air and swallowing it in one gulp. He let out a sigh of satisfaction. Delicious, he thought with a smile.
He grabbed the bag of fish and slung it over his shoulder. He turned away from the river, facing his town. It lay on the border between the Mud Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Sea. It used to be a MudWing town, but now the blue and brown figures of MudWings and SeaWings mingled. It had been this way since the war had ended, which was essentially Mudskipper’s entire life.
Boundless. My home. 
He walked through the streets, waving at dragons and smiling, until he made it back to his grandparents’ house.
His grandparents weren’t very old, his parents had apparently had him when they were very young. He often tried asking his grandparents about his parents, but they always changed the subject or told him they would explain it to him when he was older (although they had told him that for two years now and he thought two was old enough).
He walked through the doorway of the mud hut. “Hi ma. Hi pa.” Mudskipper said. “I got us breakfast.” He slung the bag onto the floor next to his grandmother, Urchin.
“Thank you Skipper.” Urchin said affectionately, planting a kiss on his cheek and picking up the bag of fish. She set the bag on the table and got to eating her portion, and sliced up some fish with her claws for Mudskipper’s grandfather, Porpoise.
Porpoise, although he was only in his thirties, was incredibly sickly and had been for years. He used to be a skilled swimmer when he was young, or so Urchin had told him.
Mudskipper went toward the corner where Porpoise was sleeping on an arrangement of furs. He held Porpoise’s claws. “Hey, pa. How was your day today?”
Porpoise’s eyes flitted open and he grinned at Mudskipper. “Pretty good. Especially now that my favourite grandson is home.”
Urchin started feeding small pieces of fish into Porpoise’s mouth. “Mmm! Good catch!” Porpoise said enthusiastically.
Mudskipper held Porpoise’s talons with a pang of sadness. He knew his grandfather would just keep deteriorating. I want my talons to heal this dragon. He thought, though he knew no matter how much he prayed, it would never happen. They lived outside of the Kingdom of the Sea, and the jurisdiction of the Mud Kingdom, in the middle of nowhere. They didn’t have great doctors here, and they didn’t even know what was wrong with him, much less how to cure him.
“Um.. pa do you think I’m old enough to know about my parents now? You know I’m two now.”
“Two is still pretty young.” Porpoise said. “I don’t know if you’re ready for it yet.” He said. “It takes a lot of explanation, and it will be difficult to hear.”
“Mudskipper is remarkably mature for his age.” Urchin argued.
“See pa? Ma agrees. Don’t you think I should know the story?”
Porpoise sighed. “Fine. I’ll tell the story.” He shifted positions to face Mudskipper more directly, then noticed that he could easily prop himself up on his elbow. “Huh.” He said. “I’m surprised that it doesn't hurt...”
He slowly, shakily, stood on his talons. “Oh my god…”
Urchin clasped her talons over her mouth. “You can stand?” She asked.
“I-” Porpoise looked down at himself with an expression of both fear and amazement. He stretched his wings, he turned in a circle, he jumped. “I’m cured!” He exclaimed.
Urchin began sobbing with joy.
Mudskipper stared openmouthed in shock. Did I do that? He wondered. No way, it must’ve been a coincidence, right?
He shook his head, as though flicking away all concerns, and embraced his grandfather. They hugged each other tightly, until his grandfather broke out of the hug and exclaimed, “I’m going for a swim! I need to feel the saltwater on my scales again!”
Mudskipper and Urchin watched Porpoise run out of the hut and toward the waves beyond. They looked at each other with relief, and shock.
“How in Pyrrhia-” Urchin murmured, “Thank the moons, but how?”
Mudskipper hesitated. “I think it might’ve been me… I don’t know how but… it was like I cast a spell!”
Urchin stared at him. It was a much harder and more fearful expression than he’d expected. He thought she would either find it ridiculous, or amazing, not… terrifying.
Urchin let out a long sigh, then said, “Maybe it is time to tell you about your parents.”
The elation Mudskipper felt after seeing his grandfather well was quickly fading as he saw Urchin’s expression. He sat, and listened.
“Your father was our son, as you know. His name was Tide, and he was strong, brave, and honourable. One day, our daughter, Seastar, was sent to deliver a message to what were then our SandWing allies. Before she could, she encountered a MudWing border patrol. She was killed, along with the SandWing soldier sent with her. When Tide realised she was missing he went after her. We didn’t see him for a year. We feared the worst, but nothing we could have imagined would have been as terrible as the truth.
“When we moved here soon after the town became intertribal, there was still no sign of our son for many months. Until one day, we saw two MudWings, a female we had never met, and a male. There was something familiar about him: his eyes. A few months later these two MudWings came to our door, with a tiny hybrid dragonet. The female MudWing was your mother, Mosquito, an animus dragon that had enchanted your father to love her and to listen to all of her commands. She also enchanted his earring to make him appear like a MudWing. She told us all of this, to prove her power, as she threatened to make our son hurt us or himself if we resisted. She gave us the dragonet, which was you, and left. We haven’t seen her or Tide since.
“As you know, animus powers pass through genes. It is possible… that you have inherited this power.”
Mudskipper looked down at his claws. “Is it evil, then? Animus power?”
Urchin reached forward and held Mudskipper’s talons. “No, and you never will be. You are our Mudskipper, and we love you. Power only corrupts if you let it. But it is dangerous, and you must be careful how you use it and who you use it on.”
Mudskipper nodded numbly. It felt like too much information for him to process all at once. “Was she really evil, my mother?”
“Yes,” Urchin said. “She made our son’s life a living hell.”
“But maybe…” Mudskipper started, “Maybe if there’s a tiny bit of goodness left in her, maybe I can reason with her?”
“Mudskipper, in your short life here in Boundless, you have never had to encounter true cruelty, but trust me when I say: True evil resides in Mosquito the animus.”
He sighed. “I need to go on a walk, clear my head.”
Urchin nodded. “I understand. Take your time.”
Mudskipper left the hut, walking through the familiar paths of his home. He always thought the story about his parents would be bad in some way, but he hadn’t expected that. My mother is evil. He thought, How could someone like that even exist? Is there really no hope for her?
Mudskipper’s thoughts were interrupted when he saw a mail-dragon stop in front of him. It was a young turquoise SeaWing with a bag strapped across her chest. “Can you tell me where I can find Mudskipper’s hut?” She asked, “The numbering of this neighbourhood is a bit confusing.”
“I’m Mudskipper,” he replied, surprised and curious who would send a letter specifically for him and not Urchin or Porpoise.
The SeaWing took a small scroll out of her leather pouch and handed it to Mudskipper.
He took it gingerly from her talons and unfurled it. It read:
Mudskipper of town Boundless:
Your request for attendance at Jade Mountain academy has been accepted.
You are officially invited by Queen Moorhen, as a hybrid of the SeaWing and MudWing tribes, to attend Jade Mountain academy as a MudWing student and a representative of the Mud Kingdom.
We hope you make both your tribes proud.
*Send a letter back to this address to confirm your presence at the start of the school year, with parent/guardian signatures*
The bottom of the scroll had a stamp that looked like a royal seal, proving that the letter was approved by the Queen. Mudskipper was shocked, he hadn’t at all expected to be accepted. He had applied, ‘just in case’. I never thought they would actually accept me, he thought, how many other MudWings had applied? Why choose me, out of all dragons? Especially a wingless hybrid, wouldn’t that be controversial? To choose me as one of the seven MudWing students to attend Jade Mountain?
Mudskipper sighed, his head whirling with thoughts of excitement and worry, and returned to his hut to begin writing a letter.
***
ROSE
Rose, Violet, and Palemoon had been flying for hours. Even Rose was beginning to grow tired. Violet and Palemoon looked ready to drop. 
The only times they stopped was for Rose to use her amulet to confer with Caiman, and make sure their plan was airtight.
They had passed over several small MudWing villages, though they were growing larger the closer they got to the capital.
The sun was setting. In the distance, illuminated by the last golden rays of the sun, the MudWing palace glistened. The MudWing palace was much more impressive than Rose would have imagined. She thought it would be something more like Burn’s stronghold from what she had heard about the MudWings; utilitarian, square, and brick. It was quite the opposite. It was made of tall spires constructed of clay and stone, rising out of the earth like stalagmites. The stones and clay had ripples of some sparkly material in them, so that despite the main colour of the castle being a dark brown, it shone with all the shades of sunset.
A large, bustling city, consisting of small MudWing huts around the border, and larger buildings more like the spires of the castle in the city centre, spread out beneath their wings. Thousands of brown shapes of MudWings strolled through the streets, and the scents of cooking meats and stews wafted up from the stalls on street-corners. 
Next to the palace was a large, squat building with barred windows, and a courtyard in the middle of it. “That must be the prison.” Rose commented, pointing a claw toward the building. She checked her map, and found the squat building was just where her father had pointed out where the prison would be.
“I think I’m going to drop dead.” Palemoon groaned.
“Same,” Violet said, stretching her wings dramatically, “Though I guess dying now of exhaustion would be better than being torn apart by an animus later. You know, in case we fail.”
“At this point, an animus coming and ripping us apart would be a mercy. It would definitely be faster.” Palemoon said as they swooped down, landing at the edge of the city. 
“There should be an inn somewhere around here, right? Caiman’s execution shouldn’t be until tomorrow morning, so we should find somewhere to get some food and rest.” Rose said, scanning the nearby buildings.
“Oh I could eat a whale,” Palemoon commented.
“Me too,” Violet said, “Though if we can’t find a whale, I’ll just eat you!” She said, pouncing on Palemoon and pretending to gnaw on his talons.
“Delicious NightWing stew!” She roared.
“No, no, I’m not delicious, I’m nasty!” Palemoon said, laughing as they rolled through the mud, “I promise, I promise! NightWings are very bitter!”
“Bitter?” Violet asked in mock horror, then her face turned to a huge villainous grin, “I love bitter, nom nom nom!” She said as she imitated nibbling Palemoon’s stomach while she tickled him with her talons, and he laughed loudly and uncontrollably.
Rose couldn’t help but laugh at them, “Come on guys,” She said with a smile, “No cannibalism in this friend group. You’ll get mad cow’s disease.”
She offered her talons to Violet and Palemoon, pulling them up out of the mud. “Now you guys look like locals,” Rose laughed. Their scales were covered in mud, making them look like the typical dark brown MudWing scales.
Violet looked down at herself, “You’re right! You should do it too, this way we can blend in better with the MudWings. I mean, I could’ve just camouflaged, but,” She shrugged, “I’m not going to bother washing off.”
Rose rolled herself in the mud, letting it soak under her scales. It felt squishy and gross, though not completely terrible as she let herself adjust to the texture. Eventually she was almost completely covered, and any visible spots she turned to the brownest red shade she could, in hopes that those scales wouldn’t stick out too much.
“Let’s go,” She stood up, and as she began to walk, the mud began to dry and stick to her scales like a protective outer layering. It felt almost cool and refreshing, and she began to understand why mud might have healing properties for MudWings.
They walked down the streets, the smell of clay, rotting foliage, damp earth, roasting meat, and unfamiliar spices scented the streets. As they made their way towards the inner city, it got more and more crowded, and street vendors sold a variety of roasted fish and small mammals, others sold baubles (such as jars of fireflies, brass or clay ornaments, turquoise jewelry), and even the occasional scroll.
Rose had looked at the titles of a few of them, since she couldn’t help herself, and found that most of them were gardening or weaponsmithing manuals. There was the occasional collection of fables, fairy tales, and legends for dragonets. Rose flipped through them, and found that they were similar to others across Pyrrhia. A few she recognized from a similar collection given to her from her mother, from the Sky Kingdom.
She guessed that although MudWings did read, their kingdom didn’t produce a lot of authors, at least not for children’s stories. She remembered that adults didn’t raise dragonets here, they were raised by their eldest siblings. She wondered what that was like, and thinking of her older siblings, although she loved them, she silently thanked the universe that she wasn’t a MudWing.
They eventually spotted a sign reading ‘Devastation Inn’ outside a tall, rectangular building, with several windows and porches going all the way up. Despite its name, there were flower pots on several of the porches, and it looked strangely friendly.
That word sent a shiver down Rose’s spine. Surely it's unrelated, she reassured herself.
“Should we stop here?” Rose asked, “The name is pretty ominous.”
“My feet are killing me,” Palemoon said, “Though even I have to admit, that name feels like a threat.”
Violet rolled her eyes, “Come on, guys, it’s just a name. Probably named after some old dusty NightWing who visited here fifty years ago or something. No big deal.” She strutted into the inn. Rose and Palemoon followed after her begrudgingly.
The inside of the inn glowed with firelight from several torches, fireplaces, and jars filled with buzzing fireflies. Ribbons of some types of sticky material hung from the ceiling, covered in mosquitos and flies. Rose guessed it was a method of keeping the amount of insects indoors to a minimum, which was difficult for this climate. That’s so smart, she thought, I have to bring that idea back to the rainforest with me.
The clerk at the front desk was a bored looking MudWing with tawny brown scales and a permanent line on his forehead from furrowing his brows too much. He was carving a stick into a sharp point with a knife, leaving wooden shavings all over the desk.
Palemoon, Violet, and Rose all glanced at each other. They all knew what that look meant: who’s gonna talk to him?
Palemoon gestured towards Rose, and she shook her head, saying, definitely not. 
Rose pointed towards Palemoon with a questioning look, why don’t you just do it?
Eventually this went on way too long for Violet’s patience, and she rolled her eyes, walking up to the clerk and ringing the little bell on the desk.
His dull green eyes looked up at her with the same bored expression.
“Ye-es…?” He asked, as though he was wondering why the hell they were bothering him.
“We’re here to book a room?” Violet said, “Three dragons.” 
The dragon nodded absentmindedly, jotting something down on a scroll, and handing them a key. Rose took it.
“Three coins.” He demanded, holding out his palm.
Rose shuffled around in the pouch around her neck, and passed the clerk the required funds.
“What name should I put you under?” The clerk asked
“Um…” Rose looked at the others for a moment, unsure what to say.
“I only need one name,” The clerk said, annoyed, as if that should be obvious.
“Bog?” Rose said, hoping that was a common MudWing name.
The clerk snorted, as though it was clearly obvious they weren’t really MudWings. “OoOkay, ‘bog’.” He jotted down the name. “Up the stairs, first floor.” He directed, without looking up.
They followed his directions, and found themselves in a hallway marked with numbered doors. The number on their key said ‘2’, which was one of the first doors they found.
The room was sparsely decorated, with only a few chairs, a table, and three raised, muddy platforms, which were probably meant to be beds.
Violet left out the window to grab some food, bringing back some critters she found in the stretch of marsh behind the inn. 
They quickly ate their food, and settled into their beds, trying to make themselves comfortable despite it being cold and damp. Eventually they fell asleep, in the darkness of the swamp, surrounded by the noises of a thousand singing insects.
=== Chapter twelve: Execution ===
(Rose)
Rose’s eyes flickered open. He heard the loud chirps of birdsong outside, and the pale yellow light of sunrise shone through the window.
Rose stood up from his bed, shaking Violet and Palemoon’s shoulders to wake them. They groaned in protest, until eventually they both grumpily got up and stretched.
“I should contact Caiman again.” Rose said. “Just to hammer out more of the plan.”
The other two nodded. Rose took his amulet out of her pouch and put it around his neck.
The world around him folded like a piece of paper, and unfolded into a prison cell.
Caiman was still in a deep sleep across from him.
“Caiman?” He said gently, “Caiman?”
His eyelids fluttered, and eventually his eyes, one black and one hazel, met his. He looked startled, taking him a second to recognize him. “Rose!” He said in a loud whisper, “You look like a MudWing.”
“Oh,” Rose chuckled, glancing down at his muddy scales, “I forgot about that. Best attempt at a disguise.”
“Are you guys here?” He asked.
“We’re near the palace, we should be heading to the prison soon. Anything more we should know before we head there?”
“Well, they’re probably going to bring me out there any minute now, and the changing of the guards should be in a few hours. Best to stay hidden and watch for the right moment.”
Rose nodded. He cast him a worried look, “Listen, Caiman, if this prison break doesn’t work out, I just wanted to say…”
“No,” Caiman said, casting him an intense look.
“What?” He asked, worried he had offended him.
“It’ll work.” He said determinedly, “I believe in you. You’re going to get me out of here, and together, we’re going to take my sister down. I know we will. Do you believe me?”
Rose smiled, and nodded. “Yes.”
Before he could think of something else to say, he heard a guard coming, the prison disappeared, to return Rose’s consciousness to the inn.
“We should leave now,” He said to the others.
They left the key at the front desk, and signed out, leaving the inn to fly towards the prison through the early morning air.
***
They found a grove of trees on a hill, thick enough to hide them but tall enough for them to overlook the courtyard of the prison. Palemoon stayed hidden between the trunks of the trees due to his stark white scales that stood out among a landscape of dull browns and greens. The rest flew to the tops of the trees, Rose’s scales turning to a dark maroon colour to better blend in with the bark of the trees, and Violet disappearing into the branches.
Rose could see Caiman perfectly from up here. He was chained against a tall iron bar which jutted out of a pedestal. Two guards stood in front of him. They didn’t have more guards, she guessed, because he was so heavily chained up, and because Queen Moorhen wasn’t worried about people trying to rescue this particular prisoner before his execution date.
MudWing commoners filed into the courtyard. There weren’t many at a time but plenty came and went. They watched Caiman, and always gasped when he opened his eyes. They gawked at his physical differences, his stature and his odd eye. They mocked him.
Some glared at him, and threw rocks. The guards didn’t do anything. That was the purpose of setting him out here days before his execution date: for him to suffer longer.
Most of the rocks were too small to cause any real damage, but a few of them caused a wince from Caiman, and he was bleeding in a few places.
Rose felt himself burning with anger, his claws itching to fly down there and tear off the faces of every one of those ridiculous MudWings. He knew they were torturing him under a false pretense, but he couldn’t help but feel enraged. They’re treating him like an animal.
It was torture to wait and wait. It was hard for Rose to stay focused on the guards, when all he wanted to do was swoop down there and murder anyone who had ever hurt Caiman.
	They waited, and waited. The sun was starting to drip below the horizon and the moons arose. The sky was splashed with shades of blue and orange during the dusk. Then, the moment came. The guards left. Two more were approaching from the side of the courtyard. 
In a swift movement, Rose’s scales changed to their darkest shade of red, as close to brown as he could get. Violet had better camoflauge, but her venom only corroded biological material. It was up to Rose to rescue Caiman. 
He hissed a thin spurt of the hottest fire she could muster, heating the chains until they cracked. Rose grabbed him and lifted into the sky towards the others. “Go!” He yelled, to signal Violet and Palemoon to start flying. 
Rose had been holding Caiman, but now he was flying partially on his own, even though he probably hadn’t flown in years. Rose was dragging him along to make sure he flew fast enough. 
Violet raced next to them, and seeing Caiman lagging, she grabbed his other talon. They put on another burst of speed.
The MudWing guards flew after them, and they heard alarms beginning to spread throughout the prison, and the MudWing city.
They put another burst of speed, until the guards were almost out of sight behind them, but Rose knew MudWings had good stamina. “Down into the trees, now!” Rose yelled.
They followed his command. “Down by the bushes!” He hissed.
They tumbled onto the ground. They were under a large bush, Palemoon crouched under the wings of the others: Violet who was camouflaged, Rose who turned himself the darkest shade of maroon he could, and Caiman who’s greenish-brown scales blended in.
They all stayed perfectly still, taking care to barely breathe.
Rose opened his eyes just slightly, and through the crack of his eyelids saw the shadows of the MudWing guards pass by, illuminated by the moons. He watched them circle back and scan the forest, but they had been too quick for the guards to see, and the guards were looking about thirty feet off from where they were.
Eventually the guards moved to look elsewhere, and Rose could feel the muscles of the whole group relax. Rose was the first to speak. “We have to move on foot.” He said, “It’s too risky to fly back home. We’re too easily spotted.”
The rest of them nodded.
“Wait, Rose,” Caiman said from behind her, “We can’t go back to the rainforest yet.”
“Why not?” He asked curiously,
“We need to make one more stop. My hometown, Boundless.”
=== Chapter thirteen: Four Unusual Strangers ===
(Mudskipper)
Urchin and Porpoise had signed and sent the letter the day before. It was confirmed, Mudskipper was going to Jade Mountain Academy.
Mudskipper felt nervous, excited, scared, all sorts of feelings jumbled in their heart.
They felt afraid of their abilities, their magic, and that fear was compounded now that they knew they would be around all sorts of other dragons all the time. Mudskipper hoped they wouldn’t get angry, and accidentally hurt someone.
I never want to turn out like my mother.
They stared into the rippling water of the river, at their reflection, wondering what their parents looked like, and if they looked more like their mother, or their father.
I hope animus magic is the only thing I inherited from her, and that I don’t look or act anything like her.
Mudskipper had never felt ashamed of their MudWing side before, but they did now. It wasn't exactly that they were ashamed of being half MudWing, they were just ashamed of being half of their mother.
They let out a sigh and walked back to their grandparents' hut.
When they entered the hut, and saw their grandfather, Porpoise, standing and playing the lyre, which he hadn’t played in years, they couldn’t help but grin. Even if magic is dangerous, isn’t this proof it can be used for good?
They dashed forward and embraced their grandfather in a tight hug and began tearing up, “I’m still just so happy you’re better, pa!” They exclaimed.
Urchin had told Porpoise that Mudskipper was an animus (with their permission of course), so he knew that was the cause of his miraculous healing.
Porpoise laughed, “All thanks to you, Skippy!”
Urchin gave Porpoise a look, and he added, “Though, of course, only use a new spell when absolutely necessary. Right kiddo?”
Mudskipper frowned slightly, and nodded. “I swear,” They said morosely, “On the three moons.
Porpoise grinned, “You’re such a good kid.” He leaned back and continued playing his lyre.
Mudskipper sat at the table and grabbed the deck of cards sitting there. “Did you hear the news, ma?” Mudskipper asked, “There are strangers in town.”
“Oh really?” Urchin replied, as Mudskipper dealt the cards and the two began to play a game.
“Mushroom told Mussel, who told Kelp, who told Sapphire, who told me, that there are four unusual strangers in town asking about a MudWing who used to live here during the war.” Mudskipper said as they played the game, listing off the dragonet gossip chain they had heard the news from.
Urchin chuckled, “You dragonets,”
“I wonder who it is they’re looking for?” Mudskipper asked, “I just hope it’s not… You know…”
Urchin’s expression darkened, “It’s possible, but she hasn’t been back here in years. I suppose if they’re strangers, though, they wouldn’t know that.”
Mudskipper nodded, as they chose their cards carefully, slamming them down on the table. “Beat you!” They yelled.
Saltspray’s Bluff was a quick SeaWing card game that Mudskipper was exceptionally good at for a young dragonet. They stacked the cards once more, and asked their grandmother, “Is there anything you want me to pick up for you at the market today?”
“Hmm,” She murmured, picking up a scrap of parchment from the table and scanning it, “Blueberry jam. Dew is in town this week, and she makes it best, so better get three jars.”
“Yup!” Mudskipper exclaimed, grabbing a couple coins from a chest in the corner of the hut, and heading out the door. “Have a good day ma, pa!” They called.
They made their way down the footpaths to the centre of his small village. The middle of the town included a town square, which was essentially a small clearing circled by shops in huts, which were only differentiated from the houses by the signs over their doors.
As they were heading towards the shop where Dew always sold her jams, someone jabbed a talon into their shoulder, and asked, “Excuse me, dragonet, have you seen this dragon?”
They turned to find a purple dragon, who they guessed was a RainWing, holding an illustration of a bulky MudWing with cruel eyes.
“Who is she?” They asked, though they were afraid they knew the answer.
“Her name is Mosquito, she used to live here, during the war.” The dragon explained.
Mudskipper’s heart sank, “No, I haven’t seen her, but I know who she is.”
The purple dragon raised an eyebrow. “You do?”
“She’s my mother.” Mudskipper said dejectedly. Seeing Porpoise play the lyre had cheered them up so much, but this development had sunk their mood down completely again. They felt that itchy, uncomfortable feeling under their scales again, like the whole world was wrong, including themself.
The purple dragon’s grey-blue eyes widened, “Your mother?”
“Why are you looking for her, is she causing trouble again?” Mudskipper asked.
Before they could have an answer, the purple dragon said, “wait one minute”, and flew off, returning with three other dragons. All of them were even more odd looking than the first. The purple dragon seemed to be just a regular RainWing, from what they had heard, an odd sight in the Mud Kingdom but not otherwise strange.
The rest, however, were dragons Mudskipper could never have imagined in his wildest dreams. The first was a NightWing with cream-white scales and pinkish eyes, the second seemed to be a pink RainWing-SkyWing hybrid, and the third was a small MudWing with one eye that had black sclera and white irises, and one regular hazel eye.
They were all wonderfully unusual.
Mudskipper, being a hybrid, and born wingless, had never seen people who reminded them of themself so much. They felt a warmness in their heart. They’re all totally unique, like me. They thought. They were so used to being the ‘strange one’ in their village, they never could’ve imagined there were so many other unusual dragons.
“Your mother is Mosquito?” The pink dragon asked.
Mudskipper’s heart sank again. They had forgotten the topic at hand for one, blissful moment.
“Yes,” They admitted, “I’m not proud of it. I know about the bad things she’s done. I just found out the other day.”
The MudWing stepped forward, “I’m your uncle.” he said quietly, staring at Mudskipper as though if he blinked too aggressively, they would just disappear like a mirage. “My name is Caiman.”
“My uncle?” Mudskipper stared in disbelief.
“We’re looking for Mosquito, because this NightWing, named Palemoon” He said, gesturing towards the white NightWing, “Had a prophecy that Mosquito would go to Jade Mountain Academy and go on a murder spree, unless I could be freed, and we could unite to stop her.”
“Jade Mountain Academy?” Mudskipper squeaked, “I’m going there!”
“That’s where we’re headed to next. We just had to make sure she wasn’t still here in Boundless. We also thought she might’ve left something behind.”
“Like a dragonet?” Mudskipper asked.
“Well…” Caiman admitted, “that part was a little unexpected. Do you… want to come with us?”
Mudskipper thought about it, flexing their claws.
“Claws.” Rose interrupted, pointing at Mudskipper’s talons, “SeaWing. Sea. Claws. Claws of Sea! The prophecy that Palemoon had, he said ‘Claws of Sky, Rain, Mud, Sea, and Night’, and we already have a half SkyWing, two and a half RainWings, a MudWing, and a NightWing. You might be our Claws of Sea, Mudskipper!”
“Really?” They asked, they never imagined they would be a part of something this important. Isn’t it my duty? They wondered, If I have these powers, to use them to stop my mother? Besides, I need to leave for Jade Mountain soon anyway…
They resolved that this was the best thing to do.
“I’ll come with you, I just need to buy some jam from the store over there for my grandmother first,” they said resolutely, marching to get Dew’s best jars of blueberry jam.
=== Chapter fourteen: Magic Is Evil ===
(Mudskipper)
Mudskipper was being carried through the sky by the NightWing named Palemoon. He let in a long breath of fresh air, the wind whipping across his scales. His grandmother had carried him through the sky for short distances, just to give him a taste of flight, but he had never flown this long. It was absolutely exhilarating. Mudskipper was an excellent swimmer, who moved with such ease through the water that he could outswim almost any other SeaWing, but he still felt a slight pang of sadness that he would never feel the wind through his own wings, since he had been born without them.
The dragons had been taking turns carrying him, as they flew towards Jade Mountain. First Rose, then Violet, and now it was Palemoon’s turn. He noticed that Palemoon was a weaker flyer than the first two, especially Rose. Although fae had an advantage, being part SkyWing.
A few days ago, when Mudskipper had been accepted to Jade Mountain Academy, he was planning to leave for school with his grandparents. Now, with the knowledge that Mosquito would be at the school, he knew he wanted to keep them as far from the Jade Mountain as possible. He had introduced the four new dragons as fellow students who were going to bring him to the school. It wasn’t exactly a lie, which lessened the weight on his conscience.
They had been travelling for a few hours, and would be at the outskirts of the rainforest soon, though they hadn’t caught sight of it yet. There was still just swamp, marsh, and river in all directions, except for the shape of the distant SkyWing mountains to the north.
Mudskipper heard faster wingbeats, and the voice of Violet saying in a harsh whisper beside Palemoon, “I think I saw a MudWing patrol. They’re going to catch sight of us if we don’t go back under cover of the trees.”
Palemoon nodded, and veered down toward the trees. Before they crashed through the canopy, under cover of the swamp trees, Mudskipper caught sight of Violet telling Caiman and Rose the same, and the two following after.
Once they landed on the muddy earth, Mudskipper stretched his arms, which ached from being held by the spot between his shoulders and his chest for so long.
“Are we going to continue on foot?” Mudskipper asked.
“We’re going to have to. It’s going to take much longer but it’s better than to risk being sighted by those MudWing guards trailing us.” Rose replied. “I just need a moment before we get started. I’m going to check if Mosquito is at the school yet.”
Fae retrieved an amulet from faer bag, a thick gold chain and a stone that connected in swirling halves of light blue and dark blue. Once fae put it on, faer eyes rolled up into the back of faer head, and fae became unresponsive.
“What is that?” Mudskipper asked.
“Animus enchanted amulet.” Palemoon replied. “It helps him view places and talk to people long distance.”
“Oh. That’s useful.” Mudskipper commented.
Palemoon nodded. “I’d say it’s pretty creepy.”
“As if your prophecy sleep-talking isn’t?” Violet said, nudging him with her elbow.
“Hey! I can’t help it!”
“Speaking of prophecies, I thought the NightWings didn’t have powers.” Mudskipper asked.
“Oh we do. Or, we did, and now we do again. I mean some of us.” Palemoon explained awkwardly. “I guess you didn’t hear about Darkstalker?”
Mudskipper shook his head. “Boundless is pretty isolated, we don’t get much intertribal news, especially after the war ended. Mostly just snippets of events from the Mud Kingdom or Sea Kingdom, and not much else.”
Palemoon briefly explained the rise of Darkstalker, and his recent mysterious disappearance, as well as an explanation of NightWing powers. “I’m the only NightWing I know of that was born with natural powers, since I hatched in the rainforest.” Palemoon explained.
“So you saw the prophecy and just decided to help?” Mudskipper asked.
“Well, yeah. I mean I had the prophecy, so it’s kind of my responsibility to solve the issue.”
Mudskipper nodded. He felt the same way about his animus magic. “I get that.” He reached out and grabbed one of the roasted rodents and popped it in his mouth. He mostly ate fish so the fur and big bones were a bit weird for him to chew. “You guys eat this stuff all the time?” He squeaked.
The other two laughed. 
“We used to eat much worse than that, imagine rodents but all rotten and smelly and filled with maggots.” Violet said.
“Yuck.” Mudskipper made a face. “I mean, no offence, if that’s your culture or something. I don’t know a lot about other tribes.”
“No, no, we didn’t want to. There just wasn’t a lot of prey where we grew up.” Palemoon explained. 
“Ohhh. OK.” Mudskipper said, trying to think about what he had heard about NightWings. I know they’re in the rainforest now, but where did they come from? Was it really that bad? Apparently it was too cloudy to see the moons, that must be awful. Some kind of nasty island.
	His thought was interrupted when Rose awoke from faer astral projection. “No sign of Mosquito yet, though she could be hiding.” Fae said, “Let’s get going.”
They started through the swamp, talons landing in mud that squelched and squeaked with every step. Mosquitos and gnats swarmed them, and they had to flick their tails to keep them away. Up in the air and the wind, the humidity was less noticeable than down here on the forest floor. Here it felt like walking through a thick, wet, fog.
Mudskipper was used to walking, much more than the rest of them, since he had to rely on it, but even he was getting tired. Hours stretched into hours, until the sun was rising again, and Mudskipper collapsed onto the first muddy riverbank he spotted.
Caiman joined him, relaxing into the mud. He let out a long sigh.
“We need something to eat.” Violet said, “Me and Palemoon can hunt something.” 
“Just be ready to hide Palemoon if you hear or see anything suspicious.” 
Violet nodded, twining her tail around Palemoon’s. “I’ll look out for him.”
Palemoon sent Violet a shy smile.
Rose turned faer attention to Caiman, and began tending to his wounds. He flinched away from faer slightly, then relaxed.
Mudskipper turned away from the rest of them. He kept thinking that the guards were still after them. What would happen if they found us? They’d take us all into custody. We would never find Mosquito in time. She would kill so many people. Mudskipper looked back up and the sky, checking and double checking while his sore muscles relaxed into the cold mud of the river water. He moved forward, deeper into the water, dipping his head under the surface. Normally, in cold freshwater like this, he would feel refreshed, and like the current was washing away all of his problems. But some problems are too big. He thought solemnly. One more spell, just to make sure we don’t get caught. It’s all to stop Mosquito. One more spell shouldn’t make a difference. I hope.
Mudskipper swam to the bottom of the river. It was surprisingly deep for how narrow it was. He touched a stone at the bottom, worn smooth by the current. It was a thin, pale oval, and it reminded him a bit of one of Palemoon’s scales. He set it in his palm and curled his claws around it. He wondered if he could think a spell, instead of saying it (like when he had accidentally healed Porpoise), so he tried and thought with all his strength: Enchant this stone to fly up and touch all of the guards looking for us, and make them forget everything they know about us.
	Before Mudskipper knew it, the stone flew out of his hand and out of the water. He felt a pit in his stomach. The others must have seen that. I should have thought of that first.
Mudskipper stayed in the water. He didn’t want to confront them about it, he didn’t want them to know. They would think he was another monster, like Mosquito. He felt like crying. What a stupid, stupid, mistake.
Just as he was gathering the strength to emerge from the water, Caiman’s face burst under. He looked angry. He grabbed Mudskipper by the forearm and guided him out of the water. 
Once they reached the air, Caiman turned on him. “What was that?” He asked. His voice sounded desperate and afraid. “I should have known. You inherited her power. You’re an animus.” He sounded like he almost choked on the word animus.
“I- I-” Mudskipper stuttered.
“Answer me.” Caiman hissed. “Did you just cast a spell?”
Mudskipper struggled to answer.
“Caiman…” Rose reprimanded. “He’s just a kid.
“They’re never just kids for long.” Caiman closed his normal eye, and gazed at him with the black one, pacing around him.
“Stop looking at me like that!” Mudskipper squeaked.
“Like what?”
“Like I’m a monster!” Mudskipper said, bursting into tears. His shoulders heaved as he sobbed. “I’m not my mother! I’m not her!”
Caiman’s tenseness relaxed a bit. He inched toward Mudskipper.
Rose stepped next to Caiman. “Relax.” Fae said assertively. “It’s just one spell. You can see him with your eye can’t you? You can see he isn’t corrupted.”
Caiman began to calm down. His black eye studied Mudskipper closely. “No, no he’s not corrupted. Not a tiny dot of black.” He looked immensely relieved.
Mudskipper’s face was in his talons as he cried and covered his face. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Caiman, lines of worry and guilt around his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He wrapped his wings around Mudskipper in an embrace. “You’re not her. You never will be. I’ll make sure of it.”
Mudskipper relaxed into Caiman’s wings, still crying. He understood why Caiman was so afraid, after all he had seen. After all, Mosquito wasn’t much older than him before she discovered her powers and started slipping. It still hurts to see how much he fears me, how much he distrusts  me. Mudskipper’s heart sank as he realised: dragons will always fear me, no matter how much good I try to do. I’ll never be fully trusted, by anyone.
Caiman released his embrace and looked at Mudskipper with a solid gaze. “I’m sorry Mudskipper, but you can never use your powers again. Promise me?”
“I promise.” Mudskipper squeaked, but he knew he was lying. He had to use it at least one more time, to kill his mother. Otherwise, why did he have this power? There must have been a reason it chose him. It was his responsibility to kill Mosquito. Who else was capable of killing an invulnerable animus witch?
	Violet and Palemoon returned, with a pair of badgers they had caught in the woods. They were divided and shared among the group, except for Mudskipper who caught a fish from the river. They ate in awkward silence. 
“The spell was so that the guards would stop following us. I knew the mission would have failed and Mosquito would never be stopped if we were caught with a fugitive.” Mudskipper said abruptly, in a quiet voice. “So we can fly now.”
Violet and Palemoon looked at each other, then back at Mudskipper. 
“You’re an animus?” Palemoon asked.
“Unfortunately.” Mudskipper replied glumly.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence, and went on their way flying towards the rainforest. This time, Violet carried him. 
“Thanks for trying to protect us.” Violet said, “even though it wasn’t in the best way.”
Mudskipper glanced up at her. Her face was severe but earnest. “You’re welcome.” Mudskipper said almost imperceptibly.
Rose and Caiman flew slightly behind the rest of them. Rose was the strongest flyer, but fae lagged behind to talk to Caiman, who’s flying skills were weak from years of a sedentary lifestyle. It seemed like fae was talking to him seriously, but kindly. There was a sympathetic look on faer face, and fae twined faer tail around his. Mudskipper couldn’t hear what they were saying, because the wind buffeted his ears and all he could hear was white noise.
After hours of flying, and alternating being held by Palemoon and Violet, Mudskipper could see the rainforest in the distance. The leaves were different here, and the sunset lit the mist ablaze so that it looked like a glowing orange smog. The sunlight that managed to hit the leaves caused them to glisten, like a forest of emerald jewels.
When they reached the edge of the rainforest, Mudskipper was greeted by a cornucopia of scents. Rich earth, fresh rain, damp mists, decomposing plant and animal matter, flower nectar, and more that he couldn’t even name. The sounds were so loud, a constant chatter of birds and monkeys sounding constantly, and a consistent patter of rain. It was thoroughly overwhelming. His senses were invaded, yet he almost felt comforted by the strange warmth and overbearing smells and noises. The rainforest was so loudly and obviously alive. There were bright things to see everywhere, a place where life dominated everything in sight.
It was absolutely spectacular.
***
Although the sun had set, the cacophony of chirping birds, rainfall, and croaking frogs extended into the night. Caiman was asleep next to Mudskipper. They lay on makeshift beds on the floor in Rose’s room. Mudskipper wasn’t completely sure he was asleep, but he lay with his back turned and his shoulders rose and fell rhythmically.
Once they had arrived at the rainforest a few hours ago, they prepared to stay at Rose’s house. Fae set up everything for them and gave them fruit to eat. Mudskipper tried to sleep, but he had just lain there for hours staring at the woven patterns of grasses and leaves that made up the wall.
Dim lamplight streamed through the door, Mudskipper overheard Rose talking to faer father. He didn’t hear everything, but he managed to catch snippets of conversation.
“Is there space at Jade Mountain?”
“I don’t know, some students left but it’s complicated since there are only enough slots for one dragon of each tribe per winglet.”
“Please, dad, you have to trust that it’s important. I need Caiman to come with us.”
“Alright. I’ll…contact the school.”
There was a short silence. “Rose, you know I trust you,” Faer father said, “But who are these people?”
Rose let out a sigh. Mudskipper heard faer tell a disjointed version of the truth. Fae told Capuchin about the rescue, and how they met Mudskipper in Boundless. Fae told the story about a sister of Caiman’s framing him, and Palemoon’s visions about Caiman’s execution. Fae didn’t, however, say anything about Mosquito by name, or that she was going to be at Jade Mountain. Fae made it seem like Caiman had just needed a safe place to stay, and that they had just picked up Mudskipper on the way, not that they were all planning to hunt down his murderous sister and stop her rampage.
Capuchin hugged Rose, and left for his office. Rose turned back and glanced in the room. Mudskipper quickly closed his eyes to make it look like he was asleep. Rose walked past Mudskipper and nudged Caiman on the shoulder. The two of them left to the outer room where Capuchin and Rose had been talking moments before. 
“I’m worried about Mudskipper.” Rose whispered, “I don’t know if we should have told him everything.”
“You’re right.” Caiman said, “He’ll be too tempted to use his powers.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!” Rose said, “He’s so young, I don’t want him to get hurt!”
“What do you think happens when animi use their powers?” Caiman hissed, “They’re not them anymore. Some of them get to a point where it would be a mercy for them to be dead.”
Rose sighed. “You’re right, but Mudskipper isn’t at that point yet.”
“He could be, soon. It always goes faster than you think.” Caiman looked away from Rose, almost guiltily. “I know you think I’m being too hard on him, but I just want to protect him. I don’t want him to…change.”
Rose brushed faer wings with Caiman’s. “I understand, but it’s hard for him to understand. He’s a young dragonet.”
Mudskipper felt a mix of pity and understanding towards his uncle. Caiman wasn’t afraid of Mudskipper, he was afraid for him.
Mudskipper rose from the bed, and joined the others in the outer room. They looked at him in surprise.
“I thought you were asleep!” Rose said.
Mudskipper sat in front of the pair, “I couldn’t sleep. I heard everything.”
Rose looked up at Caiman and down at Mudskipper awkwardly. “Skip, we didn’t mean…”
“No, I understand now.” He said, “I understand why you were so scared, Caiman. There’s nothing wrong with me, because there didn’t used to be anything wrong with Mosquito either. That’s why you’re so sad, instead of angry, isn’t it?”
Caiman avoided Mudskipper’s gaze. “Yes.”
“I don’t think I hate her anymore. I think I pity her. The dragon isn’t the monster, it’s the magic. Magic is evil.” Mudskipper said resolutely. “So I’m going to give it up.”
=== Chapter fifteen: Containment ===
(Mudskipper)
Mudskipper stood on a cliff edge. They were at the coastal border of the rainforest, and they held a rock in their talons. The waves splashed, sending droplets of spray into their face. The familiar smell of the sea was refreshing. It reminded them of their grandparents, and of home. 
They remembered their grandpa, and how they healed him. It had only been about a week before they had discovered their powers, and now they were getting ready to give it all up. What if ma gets sick too? How will I protect her? A part of them still believed animus magic could be used for good. Their mind was swirling with doubts, but they knew it was necessary. Anything to prevent another Mosquito. I can’t protect anyone if I’m always worrying about going evil. It’s too much power for anyone to handle, much less a two year old.
They had already done their last spells. They had planned them out carefully, and discussed them with Rose and Caiman, with supervision from Caiman’s magical eye.
They enchanted a piece of jewelry belonging to each of the others, an earring of Caiman’s, Rose’s nose ring, a silver hoop earring of Palemoon’s, a copper anklet of Violet's, and Skipper enchanted their own necklace. It was a simple necklace, made of twine and a blue seaglass pendant that was carefully cut into a circular shape, but it was one of their only pieces of treasure (aside from the pearl earring Urchin had given them).
Each object had the same enchantment, Enchant this piece of jewelry to protect the wearer from enchantments placed by any animus dragon.
	Mudskipper had made the spell nonspecific to Mosquito, in case the five of them had to fight another animus dragon sometime soon. They doubted it was likely, but it was better to be cautious.
After they had placed their spell they flew out here to the coast, and now faced their decision. They had planned to enchant the rock to contain all of their animus magic, and to throw it out into the ocean. They hesitated, and put down the rock.
They held it in their talons, gazing down at it furtively. They stood for a long moment, thinking, and then they said aloud: “Enchant this rock to transform into a bronze horn band that fits me perfectly, that contains all my magic, and can only be used by me.”
The rock transformed in front of their eyes, to a small circular band of gleaming brown metal. They put the band around their left horn and took a deep breath. They turned back to face the rainforest, with a new sense of resolve.
I’ll get rid of my magic once and for all, when Mosquito is dead.
== Part Four: Jade Mountain ==
=== Chapter sixteen: Phantom ===
(Rose)
Rose and Caiman landed in front of the entrance cave to the Jade Mountain Academy. The others, Palemoon and Violet, had arrived a few days prior to the school to set up and get acquainted with their winglets. Rose and Caiman arrived later, because she had stayed behind with him to iron out a backstory and a fake name to use at the school, as well as forged papers and identification.
They had established that his name was Crawfish, and he was a soldier who fought in the war, and worked as a guard before coming to the school. She had briefly caught him up on recent events, like the details of the end of the war, and the rise and fall of Darkstalker. He wore an eyepatch over his enchanted eye, and decided to say it was a wound from the war.
Caiman had already warned them to watch out for a MudWing with blue eyes named Humus who almost never left Mosquito’s side, and that he was completely under her control. He also informed them that this was the alternate form of Mudskipper’s father, Tide. Although, he mentioned that it was possible Mosquito had given Tide a new form to wear.
It was windy on the ledge, and dragons of all types milled around. Rose’s eyes widened. He had never seen so many types of dragons in one place before, and he saw IceWings and SandWings, which he had never even seen before. Not in person, at least. He had seen plenty of drawings in scrolls. The IceWings were so beautiful to him, they looked like delicately moving floes of ice, but they all seemed to have a rather harsh and intense look on their faces. They seemed quite intimidating.
Rose glanced at Caiman next to him. He looked tense, his eye darting around the crowd surrounding them. He guessed he must feel exposed and weakened, without being able to use his magical eye. He wouldn’t be able to spot Mosquito if she was disguised this way. He looked more afraid than Rose had ever seen him. They hadn’t known each other for long, but it still made him sad to see him so distraught. Rose nudged his shoulder lightly, and shot him a small smile.
He looked up at him, and his face relaxed, like he had let out a breath he was holding. He smiled back, a little shyly, before looking down at his claws. Rose wondered what was going through his mind. He let his wings touch Caiman's, and Caiman didn’t move away. A small shiver of excitement went down Rose's spine. He couldn’t help but feel good when looking at him. Rose hoped he understood he was trying to say, I’ll protect you.
“Come on.” Rose said softly, “Let’s go to the entrance.”
They left behind the crowd at the outer area, and entered the first tunnel. They were greeted by an extremely friendly, dark purplish NightWing.  
“Welcome to the Great Hall of Jade Mountain!” She exclaimed, “I’m guessing you’re…” She looked at a scroll in her talons for a moment, “Rose and Crawfish?”
Rose nodded, “Yup!”
“I’m Fatespeaker,” She smiled widely, “Here’s your welcome scroll and your map.”
Rose noticed the silver teardrop scales next to Fatespeaker’s eyes, which should mean she has NightWing powers. He guessed she didn’t though, since he thought he would have heard of her.
Rose looked around, noticing that the main hall was beautiful. Stalactites marked the walls, and sunlight poured through windows to illuminate the rippling textures of the cavern. It was a beautiful glow of golden sun and warm brown stone.
A banner was strung above an ornate gong against the back wall, made of an array of flowers and vines, which said: Welcome, new students!
One either side of the central gong and banner, were two tunnels leading further into the cave complex, with maps above them showing where they lead in the school.
Fatespeaker held a scroll which she looked through until she came to the right point. “Alright, you’re both in the Crystal Winglet,” She said, “So you’re both in the first hallway to the left. Except, Rose, you’re in the fifth room on the left, and Crawfish, you’re in the eighth room on the right.”
Rose unfurled his scroll and found the room Fatespeaker was talking about. He circled it with a coal pencil he retrieved from a pouch around his neck. 
Rose leaned towards Caiman and pointed to his room on the map. “I’m here, and you’re over there. We’re pretty close!”
Caiman smiled. “Cool.”
Rose began walking towards the first hallway, Caiman trailing slightly behind him. The corridor sloped gently, and was illuminated by multicoloured round glass lamps which hung from vines criss-crossing the ceiling. Rose grinned up at the lamps as he felt the warmth of the lamplight on his face. “It looks like home.” He said to Caiman, looking down at him and watching the colourful light of the flames dance on his scales, and in his hazel eye.
Rose let his scales shift in oranges and pinks, like his scales were flickering as well. “I didn’t expect it to be so beautiful here.”
“It is beautiful.” Caiman replied, though it didn’t seem like he was looking at the lights at all. He was looking at Rose.
He looked away awkwardly, and hoped his scales didn’t reflect his embarrassment. Soon, they reached the part of the hallway where the doorways to the dorm rooms began. The hallway was not filled with the chatter and movement of young dragons, some older and some younger than her.
“I guess this is me.” Rose said when he reached the fifth hallway on the left. He had been counting the doors as they were walking. He got lost easily so he had to constantly overcompensate by triple checking his map. “Remember, you’re three doors past me on this side.” He said, pointing a claw towards the doorway.
Caiman nodded, waving a wing goodbye at him, and continuing to his dorm room. He felt a small sinking feeling that they weren’t roomed together. Rose knew how scared he was, considering Mosquito could be anywhere in this school. He just wanted to be there, to wrap his wings around him, to make sure he was okay.
He barely knew him, but already he had rescued him, tended to his wounds, given him a place to stay, and created a fake persona for him. He felt responsible for him, in a way. He had gotten him this far, and couldn’t help but worry about him even when he wasn’t around him. 
Rose let out a sigh. He’ll be fine, he reassured himself, and entered the room.
It was not a large cave, but it was big enough for two dragons to room comfortably. There was a hammock on one side, which Rose guessed was for him, and a slab of sandstone on the other side. Sitting on the sandstone was a tall, thin, SandWing. 
Surrounding the SandWing’s bed was all manner of potted cacti, with different coloured flowers growing from them. The SandWing held one of the tiniest cacti, which fit in the centre of her palm. She was carefully removing a shiny blue beetle from between the cactus’ spines.
“Hi, I’m Rose.” Rose said, going to his side of the room and settling in the hammock. He set his bag next to the hammock, which hung low to the ground.
“I’m Rebutia.” She said, smiling. She succeeded in picking out the beetle, and set down the cactus, holding the beetle in her hand. “But you can call me Tia.”
“What’s with all the cacti?” Rose asked.
“Oh, I collect them. I fly all around the desert and find new breeds, or I buy some from merchants in the Scorpion Den.”
“That’s really cool!” Rose said, “They’re beautiful, and they match your scales.” 
“Thank you!” Tia said, smiling shyly. “That’s why I was named Rebutia, it’s a type of flowering cactus.” 
Her main scales were a pale yellowy colour, but her wing membrane had a pinkish tinge (like the cactus flowers) and the edges of her SandWing ruff and her tail were a greyish green, like the cactuses themselves.
“But I don’t only collect cacti.” Tia added, “I collect all types of succulents as well as other plants.” She eyed the green fibres of Rose’s hammock. “I would love to see all the plant life in the rainforest one day.”
Rose smiled, “It’s beautiful, but you might be overwhelmed. Although many are well known, there are also thousands of new, unknown plants around every corner. You can visit anytime you want, though, if you want to try and catalogue some of them. We have plenty of space at my house.”
“That sounds awesome,” Tia said, grinning.
Rose noticed mahogany scroll racks placed around the room. He slipped out of his bed and emptied the scrolls he had brought with him into the one next to his bed, then rushed towards the two beside the doorway. They were already filled with scrolls, and had a sign that said ‘free reading’ above them.
Rose excitedly rifled through the scrolls. There was a huge variety, with an abundance of his favourite: adventure scrolls. 
“I’m guessing you’re a big fan of scrolls?” Tia asked.
“Yes,” Rose laughed, “Definitely. This is a great selection!” He looked a bit farther through the titles, finding many he recognized and many he didn’t.
“There’s one for you.” Rose said, picking up a botany scroll from the stack and handing it to Tia.
“Nice, thanks!” Tia said, opening the scroll and scanning the contents.
Rose sat down in his hammock, opening a scroll and starting to read. It was a scroll about a misunderstood MudWing hero. He laughed a little when he started it. It reminded him of Caiman.
***
(Caiman)
Caiman entered his dorm cave to find a brooding NightWing sitting in the corner etching something into the ground, and an IceWing who was absorbed in a scroll.
The IceWing looked up briefly, then down at his scroll again, without saying anything.
Caiman stood there awkwardly for a few moments, scanning the room. The NightWing had strange orangeish star scales under his wings, instead of the usual silver. He was strong-looking, for how scrawny he was. Rose had filled him in on the NightWing exodus, so he thought it was expected for most NightWings to be malnourished.
The IceWing was the opposite. Most IceWings were tall, strong, and proud-looking. This one looked uninterested in his surroundings, but not in the usual egotistical manner of an IceWing. He looked meek. He was small, and a bit round. Probably in one of the lower circles, Caiman guessed, from what he knew of IceWing culture.
Neither of the two dragons introduced themselves or even acknowledged Caiman’s presence in the room. Both of them lay on rock ledges, which were meant to be beds, so Caiman figured the bed of soft muddy earth in the corner was meant for him.
He left the room without inspecting much of it, and went back looking for Rose. He had found his room, and didn’t want to waste time around strange dragons he didn’t know.
Caiman walked past Rose’s room. He was about to walk in, then hesitated. Rose was looking up from a scroll, smiling and chatting with the dragon opposite her. He stopped and backed away. Have I ever made her smile like that? Caiman moved on from the room. I doubt it, I probably just depress her. She’ll be better off if we don’t get close. That SandWing would probably be a better friend to her than I ever could.
He wandered briefly around the school, trying to stay out of sight. He knew Mosquito could have disguised herself, so he stayed away from most crowds, hiding behind corners when he heard footsteps behind him.
He lifted up his eyepatch to check their souls. They were a mixed bag, but mostly normal. No animus corruption. He made sure to duck behind corners when he did this, to avoid people catching a glimpse of his enchanted eye.
His stomach growled, they had been on a long flight from the rainforest without having eaten anything. He checked one of the maps above a tunnel, and followed the one that said ‘prey centre’. Down the hallway, he found himself in a large cave covered in a variety of skittering animals. Dragons of all kinds bounded through the room, flapping their wings to jump and catch their prey. 
He stepped over a small wall of boulders, which stopped the prey from escaping. He breathed in a breath of fresh air. Part of the room was open to the sky. It smelled real and raw here, the scents from the forest below the mountain mixed with the smell of wet stone to perfume the room with a rich, earthy, quality.
Caiman kept near the wall, staying in the shadows and behind stalagmites. He was small and his scales were dark brown, so he blended easily into the cave walls, making him mostly unnoticeable. He lifted his eye patch and scanned the shapes. There were so many dragons in the room that the colourful shapes of their souls blended together into what looked like a globular rainbow.
Behind it all, something stood out. The dragon’s soul was like a black hole, sucking away the colour from the rest of the room. He covered his black eye with the eye patch again, spotting the outline of the dragon in the back. It was a MudWing he had never seen before, but he knew it was Mosquito. She would never permanently change her appearance, she’s too vain, Caiman thought, scanning the MudWing for jewelry. She wore a tiny stud in one of her ears, almost impossible to see from this far away. She’s probably going by another name. I have to find out who she’s pretending to be.
He left the room, behind the stalagmites and slipped out the door, praying that Mosquito didn’t catch sight of him. Her presence seemed to haunt him all the way through the caves like a malevolent ghost.
=== Chapter seventeen: Lokelani ===
(Caiman)
Caiman ran to Rose’s room. When he entered, panting from his run across the school, the two of them stared at him. The SandWing looked shocked, and Rose looked worried, like fae knew exactly what he was going to tell faer. 
“Excuse me,” He said, dipping his head towards the SandWing apologetically, “I need to talk to Rose. Alone.”
The SandWing looked quizzically from Caiman to Rose. “Oh, uh, okay.” She said awkwardly, “I guess I’ll just get something from the prey centre. Do you want anything Rose?”
“Sure, bring me back anything, just not fish. They have too many bones.”
The SandWing left the room, leaving Rose facing Caiman. Fae looked at him expectantly, and his heart lurched. He felt awkward making sustained eye contact with faer. He almost didn’t want to tell faer, because that would make it real. That Mosquito was really out there, the prophecy was true, and they would have to fight her. Rose would be in danger, all because Caiman wasn’t smart enough or brave enough to fix the problem before it began. He often felt conflicted, like he should’ve found a way to either save Mosquito, or kill her, before it came to all this.
“Mosquito is here. I saw her. She’s disguised, but with my soul vision she can’t hide from me. There’s nothing left of her soul anymore, Rose, not even a fragment.” His voice broke slightly at the end. He cursed himself mentally, I should be over this by now. I should be numb.
He felt a tail twine around his own. Rose’s scales were warm and soft, and he felt a wave of excitement despite himself. 
“We need to narrow down the MudWings in this school, and find out what name she’s going by now.”
“We should ask another MudWing for her name, some of them might have met her,” Rose said, “And maybe we should ask Fatespeaker for the winglets list. It would be useful to know where she is and when, and when to skip class if we have any with her winglet.”
“Good idea.” Caiman admitted. He found it a little startling how quickly Rose could come up with plans. Fae had pretty much orchestrated most of his rescue, and put faerself on the line to bring him to this school. He couldn’t help but admire faer for that.
He glanced out the doorway. It was hard to admit, even to himself, but he was terrified of Mosquito. He wanted to be able to come here, and slit her throat on sight, show that he’s strong, and make up for his mistakes. To prove Quagmire wrong, finally. To show that he wasn’t weak, that he could fix things. But his fear won him over, he couldn’t go out there in the hallways, not yet, if he knew she might be there waiting for him. 
“Rose?” Caiman asked, “Can I stay here with you for a while? I… I don’t think I’m ready to be out there again, not yet. I haven’t seen her for so long and I just…” He shook his head, “I’m sorry, but what she did to my sister… What she’s capable of…”
Rose wrapped faer wings around Caiman, and he relaxed into faer shoulder, shutting his eyes. Faer wings felt like safety, a shield to block out everything else.
“You don’t have to explain yourself, I’m scared too.” Fae said, “Knowing when to rest and gather your thoughts is better than going into a situation unprepared. I’m glad you told me. Let’s just stay calm for a while, and then we can plan and figure everything out.”
“Okay,” Caiman replied. 
Rose gently let go of Caiman, just as the SandWing re-entered the room with a squirrel for each of them.
“Thanks Rebutia!” Rose said, catching the two squirrels that Rebutia tossed towards Rose from the doorway. Fae passed one to Caiman beside faer.
They ate the squirrels, which were lightly roasted, and Caiman noticed Rebutia eyeing them suspiciously. What is she looking at? Does she know something? Does she suspect what we’re here for? Then Caiman realised that Rose and his’ tails were still twined together. Oh, he thought, retreating his tail and wrapping it around himself, that’s what she was staring at. She must think we’re a couple or something.
He glanced over at Rose, I wonder if fae feels the same way about me that I do about faer. Does fae think of me this way? Or is fae just this considerate to everyone?
He pushed those thoughts away from his mind. I can’t afford to think about this sort of thing right now. I have to plan for Mosquito’s downfall.
Caiman realised that Rose and Rebutia had been chatting for a few minutes while he was lost in thought, finishing the last bits of his squirrel. “I better get back to my cave.” He said, standing up and approaching the exit. “Let me know if… well, if you need me.” He said quickly, before he said anything too suspicious. He didn’t want to reveal that they were there to kill a student, even if it was to prevent her from going on a full-on murderous rampage.
“Wait,” Rebutia said, “The assembly is soon. We should probably be heading to the main hall now. Are you coming?”
Caiman gave Rose a look, and fae nodded. He couldn’t be in a large group like that, in case Mosquito spotted him and blew his cover. He had to avoid being sighted by her at all costs. She wouldn’t be looking for him, since she didn’t know he had escaped prison, but she might recognize him anyway, even though he had grown considerably since their last meeting.
“You can catch me up, Rose.” He said, making up a lie for Rebutia’s sake, “I’ve never been a big one for assemblies.” Not that I’ve ever been to one, unless you count war planning, he thought sourly, soldiers don’t have time for school.
He made his way to his winglet cave, and luckily found that his two wingmates were leaving for the assembly. I’m glad to miss them, he thought. He wasn’t a particularly social dragon, and those two gave him the sense that sitting quietly in a room with them would be just as awkward as trying to talk to them.
He entered the room, finally taking notice of the scroll rack next to his earthy bed. He had never been much of a reader, and he was a bit slow and possibly dyslexic, but there wasn’t much else to do and he didn’t want to be left alone with his thoughts.
He found a scroll about plants and animals in all the kingdoms, which had lots of illustrations and a clear font, and started looking through it.
The first page was about the rainforest, and showed a beautiful orange and pink flower as the first picture. The small letters under the picture read Lokelani (Damask Rose).
Caiman smiled. The colours looked just like Rose’s vibrant scales.
=== Chapter eighteen: Fate ===
(Rose)
Rose was worried. Of course he was worried. This was all becoming too horrifyingly real. He seemed confident and put together when he was reassuring Caiman, but heading to the assembly with Rebutia, he now felt the gravity of the situation dawning on him.
What if we interpreted the prophecy wrong? What if we’re not supposed to be here? What if Mosquito kills everyone, and it’s all our fault!
Rose wrung his talons nervously.
Rebutia seemed to notice, and asked, “Are you alright? You seem a bit shaken.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just nervous, is all.” Rose lied.
They made their way into the main hall, where a large gathering of dragons stood. Rose skimmed the dragons, looking for the MudWings. He saw no sign of Humus, or at least no dragon that looked close to Caiman’s description of him. He must be disguised as another MudWing, or another tribe entirely.
Fury shot through Rose. By the moons, animus magic is the worst. If I could leech it from this world, I would. He stood there, clenching his talons into his palms and gritting his teeth. He wanted to hunt down Mosquito and rip her face off. Emotions whirled inside him. Fear, impatience, and fury, each contributed to the other. Waiting made him nervous, nervousness made him angry, anger made him impatient, which made him afraid and angry all over again.
As Sunny stood in front of the crowd of students, Rose could barely think. He felt cold and tingly all down his scales. He felt lightheaded, and his head started to ache, and suddenly he felt like laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. The wretched hilarity of their situation.
He dug his long, sharp talons even deeper into his palms, drawing blood. He began to see blurry spots in his vision, but sat like nothing was wrong.
Rose looked around at all the dragons again. He almost wanted to grab them all by the face and scream at them “Which one of you is evil?” But that wasn’t how it worked, he supposed. I would kill to have a mind reader right now.
He felt a familiar itching under his scales. Every second of every day, he always felt like he had something to do, even if he couldn’t remember what it was. A constant feeling, like your muscles are aching to move. Constantly making plans for the next hour, next day, next week, next year, next decade. He was always planning.
For once in his life, this feeling that he had the world upon his shoulders was accurate. A slaughter at Jade Mountain Academy could potentially send Pyrrhia into another war. Tensions had already risen after the Darkstalker debacle, but this would be the last straw.
Rose scanned the crowd, and finally locked eyes with Fatespeaker, who gave him a small smile, then looked back up at Sunny making an entrance speech. Sunny spoke about peace and friendship between the tribes, and a strong bond that was to be forged at this school.
Sunny didn’t know how fragile that bond was, that it could be so easily broken. One slaughter, and the world would devolve into chaos.
Rose had never fought in the war, but he knew what it meant. He had read the stories, heard the tales. He knew it meant tragedy, for every tribe.
He made his way around the edge of the crowd, whispering to Rebutia not to follow him, and finally made his way next to Fatespeaker. Sunny had managed to project her tiny voice loud enough through some kind of cone shaped metal thingamabob that it was easy for Rose to whisper and not be heard by the rest of the crowd.
“Fatespeaker?” Rose asked.
Fatespeaker turned and sushed him, turning back to look at the stage.
Rose rolled her eyes. She poked Fatespeaker’s shoulder, and motioned for her to meet Rose in the hallway.
They walked away from the loud speech, into the silence of a nearby hall, mostly decorated with green and blue glass globes which scattered shards of colour across Rose and Fatespeaker’s scales.
“What is it?” Fatespeaker asked, not unkindly.
“Sorry, I know this is an odd request, but I was wondering if you could show me the full winglet list?” Rose said.
“Is it urgent?” Fatespeaker asked, “Seems an odd time for something like this.”
Rose sighed and decided to tell a partial truth. “I know we don’t know each other well, Fatespeaker, but you know the dragonets of destiny. You know about fate and visions. Trust me when I tell you that it’s vitally important. To the school, and all of Pyrrhia.”
Fatespeaker’s purple eyes scanned Rose for a second, as though she was attempting to read a scroll that was written in the Scavenger language. “Alright.” She said finally, “Follow me.”
He followed Fatespeaker through the tunnels and into an office with the words “Guidance Counsellor” written atop the doorway. She approached a desk, and opened a drawer in it, withdrawing a stack of papers. She grabbed one of them and handed it to Rose.
The office copy of the winglets contained each and every winglet, with an illustration of the student next to it. The illustrations came from the citizen files of each kingdom, presumably used to confirm the identity of the students.
Rose brushed his talons over the pen marks illustrating a MudWing named Crawfish, who was really Caiman. She had drawn the image herself, a crude approximation of his features, with an eyepatch covering the enchanted eye that would reveal him as a wanted fugitive. His papers were faked, with the help of Capuchin. Rose reminded himself to thank his father once all of this was over.
He looked at the other MudWings listed:
Mudskipper: Iron Winglet
Gnat: Gold Winglet
Strider: Jade Winglet
Sepia: Silver Winglet
Gallinule: Copper Winglet
Merlin: Quartz Winglet
He scanned the sketches. They were colourless, but got the general face shapes and features of the dragons down, as well as values of dark and light. Gnat was a strong-jawed female mudwing with dark scales and piercing eyes. Strider was a male mudwing with a handsome face, who looked like he’s almost always on the verge of winking coyly. Sepia looked large and brash, though not extremely intimidating. Gallinule looked like a creature of perpetual boredom, and Merlin looked like a scrawny bird, as much as a MudWing could.
He made a mental note that there was still no sign of a MudWing with blue eyes named Humus. That meant that Tide was likely hidden somewhere in the school, and he could be any tribe. Rose frowned. Having Tide around the school in an unknown disguise was disconcerting, they would have to be careful to share nothing with other staff or students. But first, Rose had to figure out who Mosquito was hiding as.
Gnat has those same dark scales, strong jaw, and piercing eyes as Mosquito. Even the name is similar… but would she be that obvious? Caiman always mentioned her vanity…
Rose looked back up at Fatespeaker. “Do you have another copy of this? One that I can keep?”
Fatespeaker smiled, “Lucky for you, I do.”
***
Rose made his way through the hallways, trying to make it back to Caiman’s cave. As he approached, a loud gong sounded, echoing throughout the caverns and tunnels that made up the school.
Rose swore. For someone as studious as Rose, being late on the first day of school sounded like a nightmare.
Visions of his awkward late arrival flashed through his mind. I’ll walk in, the sound of my talonsteps interrupting the teacher talking and the class. They’ll all look back and watch me, judging me. Blank eyes, staring. “The dumb lazy RainWing, the unsocialized SkyWing, the weird hybrid”. I’m going to sit down and my talonsteps will be so loud, it’s going to be mortifying. No one will want to talk to me after that, or worse: Mosquito or Tide will be there in disguise, see that I’m late, and suspect I’m up to something!
Rose felt himself on the edge of tears as he arrived in Caiman’s dorm. He shoved the paper into Caiman's talons, and wrapping his tail around his, they both rushed to class. As they walked through the hallways, they passed a wooden statue, and Rose quickly knocked on it twice as they passed. Don’t jinx it, Rose. She thought furiously, Don’t let your imagination become a prophecy. Don’t tempt fate.
=== Chapter nineteen: The Illusion of Normalcy ===
(Rose)
Before Caiman and Rose entered the classroom, Rose double checked her schedule, and breathed a sigh of relief when the other winglet they would be having classes with that day was Iron Winglet. A class with Mudskipper, Violet, and Palemoon. She thought, and gave Caiman a reassuring smile as they entered the classroom, signalling to him that the class was safe to enter. Though there was a voice in the back of Rose’s mind, whispering that Tide could be anywhere, watching, whispering secrets to Mosquito. She knew they should have hidden Caiman’s appearance, but they thought it would have taken too great of a toll on Mudskipper’s soul, and now he had gotten rid of his magic entirely.
I know that’s what Caiman wanted, to keep Mudskipper safe, and to keep Pyrrhia safe from him… but we’ve left ourselves defenceless against an imminent threat, in favour of eliminating a possible future threat. It was a gambit, but will it be worth it? Will any of us survive to worry about Mudskipper’s soul?
Rose breathed another sigh of relief when she saw who the teacher was. Capuchin, his scales swirling shades of green, blue, and yellow, stood in front of the class. At least the only thing I have to worry about is the future of Pyrrhia, and not making a bad first impression on a new teacher… Rose thought sarcastically, though she was truthfully relieved to see the friendly face of her father instead of some stranger.
She had been homeschooled by him for long enough that she felt she could relax in her seat and listen to the lesson.
Capuchin gave out math worksheets, including questions of multiple levels, to test where each individual student was at. Each tribe had different school systems, and many dragonets never went to school or were homeschooled like Rose. Because of this JMA lessons had to be very individualised. It helped that the classes were small.
Rose breezed through most of the algebraic questions, but struggled with the simple math. Rose had a quirk in which mental math proved nearly impossible to her, but algebra was fine. She could remember formulas and rules, but multiplication and division stumped her. It was like everyone had a machine that automatically calculated everything in their heads, but Rose’s was broken.
She handed in the sheet, and the lesson was over before she knew it. Violet, Palemoon, Mudskipper, Caiman, and Rose all stuck together in a walking cluster through the hallways on the way to their next class. Rose whispered a few updates to the others, as the chatter of the hallways was loud enough to muffle their speech.
Their next class was Dragon Language and Writing with Periwinkle the IceWing. When Rose entered the classroom, she understood why the dragon was named Periwinkle. Her white scales held shades of purples and blues which shifted as she turned her head and moved her muscles. Silver jewellery adorned her horns and wrapped around her neck, marked with purple jewels. The jewellery made a tinkling noise as she turned her head, like frozen branches in the wind.
“Welcome!” Periwinkle said with a smile, “My name is Periwinkle, though you can call me Peri for short. As it’s your first day, let’s just get acquainted with one another. There is a piece of blank scroll on each of your desks. Simply write me a few paragraphs about yourself or something you care about, and that will be all for today.”
This will be easy, Rose thought. She had been writing stories since she was barely a two year old dragonet. At six, she had a lot more practice than the rest of these dragonets. She felt a lurch of guilt. They couldn’t practise writing because they weren’t hidden away in the rainforest, like I was…
She sat down at her desk, dipped a claw into the simple stone inkpot that had been placed there, and stared at the sheet of paper. She glanced around at the classroom, reading the titles of the scrolls on the shelves in the wall, looking out at the bright sunlight streaming through the window, watching Periwinkle’s scales which moved like shifting ice floes. Rose looked around at the other students in the class.
She recognized her friends, of course, but her eye caught on the strange scales of an acquaintance. She knew Vulcan was going to JMA, but she didn’t know they were in the same winglet. He made her think of the island, and she pitied that his own scales must remind him of a home he probably wouldn’t want to remember.
Rose looked down at her blank parchment, and began to write.
A hybrid, from a sheltered home,
	Plagued only by phantoms and spectres.
	An albino, an outcast, a misfit, and an orphan.
	Five, united by a shared enemy
	And a shared cause.
	For who knows better the labours of war
	Than the dragonets left in its wake
	Left to pick up the pieces
	Of a world marred by others
	Burned lungs and terror
	The cost of war
	The cost of hatred
	And we will be the glue
	Or Pyrrhia will burn once more
	And the tribes will be scorched by their own fire
Rose almost chuckled to herself, sounds like a prophecy. She thought, though she hadn’t meant for it to. I could give Palemoon some notes.
She found it easiest to write free-form poems of this type than paragraphs dredging on about her life history. Rose glanced up at the others and noticed that she had finished early, and spent the rest of the class doodling strange dragons with many eyes in the corners of her parchment.
***
(Mudskipper)
Mudskipper held a large fish in his talons. After the gong had rung for lunch, the five of them had made their way through the cacophonous hallways into the prey centre.
Mudskipper noticed the others talked to each other, though he could barely hear them over the noise of dragonets hunting, talking, and laughing. Rose motioned towards him to follow them as they left the room with their prey.
He took his half eaten fish, and grabbed one more fresh one, and followed the older dragonets through the school. They led him to the outside courtyard, which seemed mostly empty.
They sat under the shade of a tree a little ways away from the cave entrance.
“We need a game plan.” Rose said, and turned to Caiman. “Can you confirm who of these MudWings had Mosquito’s soul?”
Caiman unfurled a crumpled piece of paper, finally getting a chance to look over it. He pointed at the MudWing named Gnat with one claw. “Definitely this one.”
“So I was right,” Rose breathed, “She’s not very creative. I think that’s an advantage for us.”
Caiman nodded. “Vanity and pride are definite weak spots to exploit.”
“I think the real question is how do we even begin to take her down?” Palemoon asked, “Her scales are invulnerable.”
“With animus spells, wording is everything.” Caiman said, “Her scales will always heal when harmed, but her eyes and mouth are still places to attack. That said, our best bet at defeating her is probably poison of some sort.”
“How would we get close enough to give it to her?” Violet asked, “I mean, I could use my camouflage. Hopefully she didn’t do a spell to guard against camouflaged RainWings. It would be pretty great if she underestimated us like everyone else does.”
Rose snorted, “For once everyone thinking we’re lazy and stupid would be really advantagous.”
“But still, how could we give her poison and make sure she takes it?” Violet pondered.
“I might have an idea…” Rose said, “We hit her with a sleeping dart. Her scales will heal over the wound almost instantly, but the sleeping tincture will still enter her system. After that… well, we pour poison down her throat, or just kill her the old fashioned way before her scales have a chance to heal.”
Caiman nodded, “That could work…”
Mudskipper listened intently. Should I tell them I still have my magic? He wondered, No. It’s better to use it as a failsafe, instead of relying on it. Besides, Caiman would be too busy looking over his shoulder worrying about me that he wouldn’t be focused enough on Mosquito.
Mudskipper continued eating his fish as the others discussed the finer details of the plan. The breeze gently caressed his mud brown scales, and he breathed in a long breath of the crisp mountain air. Snow capped the highest peaks, but on their ledge there was sunlight, trees, and warmth. Mudskipper could definitely get used to living here. He felt a new bolster of motivation to defeat Mosquito, not only to save the dragons whose lives were threatened, but also to save a vital sanctuary for the tribes to coexist within.
=== Chapter twenty: Night Terrors ===
(Mudskipper)
The rest of the school day passed without incident, and the five of them spent their after school hours in the library looking at scrolls about old animi. There wasn’t much available, which wasn’t surprising since most of these dragons were long dead.
When the sun was beginning to fall lower into the sky, the library started to take on an orangish hue, even through the green window-coverings. They all started to put away their scrolls and make their way to their dorms.
They passed through the main hall, now empty and illuminated by varying shades of oranges, pinks, and purples from the distant skylight. In side pools near the edges of the cavern, small crabs skittered with the sound of dragon talonsteps.
Rose and Caiman left the group, waving goodnight and going down the tunnel that led to their dorms, leaving Mudskipper with Violet and Palemoon.
“Do you really think we can do this?” Mudskipper asked.
“Probably not, but it’s better to try, isn’t it?” Violet remarked.
Palemoon shivered, “You’re not very encouraging, Vi.”
She chuckled and nudged his shoulder, “I thought you loved my honesty.”
Palemoon rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. The two of them returned to their separate dorms, and Mudskipper approached his own. He glanced inside both of their rooms as he passed. Violet was roomed with a beautiful but painfully shy IceWing named Owl, and Palemoon was roomed with a SandWing and a SeaWing, Dust and Seafoam.
They had been in class with Mudskipper all day, but the one he couldn’t keep his eyes off of was Dust. A long graceful neck and pale tawny brown scales, talons polished a dewy blue colour.
Dust looked up through his cave entrance, locking eyes with Mudskipper. Moons, I was staring. He thought, looking away frantically and rushing into his own dorm.
Mudskipper entered, seeing his clawmate Cordillera, who was already splayed out over her rock outcropping of a sleeping space, limbs askew and mouth open. She was drooling and taking long, deep breaths. She looked around four or five, and was covered in vibrant red and orange scales. She almost looked like she could be related to Rose, maybe a distant cousin, as they had similar colouring.
Mudskipper let out a sigh, and lay down in his bed of damp earth, a bed specifically designed for MudWings, which he appreciated. He pulled out a blank scroll and an ink pot which he had purposefully left next to his bed the other night. He wanted to figure out spells that could help them fight Mosquito, but he didn’t want to do anything stupid or impulsive. He wrote several different drafts of a spell in his clumsy cursive writing,
Hide Caiman the MudWing from Mosquito
Make Mosquito see Caiman as a different dragon
Make Caiman invisible when Mosquito is around
Make Caiman unnoticeable to Mosquito, unless he wants to be seen by her
He settled on the last one. He didn’t want to disrupt any plans, if they wanted to use Caiman as a distraction for whatever reason. He looked around for something to enchant. Skipper stopped on a tiny pebble, which he could barely hold between two of his claws.
He held it close to his heart, closed his eyes, and thought with all his might, I enchant this pebble to find Caiman when he and his clawmates are fast asleep tonight, and for it to make Caiman unnoticeable to Mosquito, unless he wants to be seen by her.
He let out a breath as he opened his eyes, and saw the pebble roll out of his hands and down the hallway. It looked those tiny silver fish who lived in his river, and darted away as soon as you came near. A tiny flash of movement, and gone in the next moment.
Skipper ripped up the paper he had written on, to hide what he had done, and lay back on his bed. His mind whirled with spell possibilities as he stared at the dark rock ceiling above his head, illuminated by a white shaft of moonlight from the window above his head.
I hope I’m doing the right thing…Mudskipper thought, thinking of all the thousands of possibilities of his spells and how everything could go wrong, as he drifted into a stressful sleep.
***
Palemoon could feel the floor and walls reverberating against his body, sending tremors throughout the mountain.
In the entrance cave, a giant dragon spread her wings. Mosquito had grown to a horrifying size. Dragon corpses lay at her feet, students and teachers alike.
In the distance, Palemoon spotted a limp shape draped over a rock. Violet. He thought with mounting fear. He surged forward, no longer caring if Mosquito spotted him. He ran to Violet’s side and held her talons in his, shaking her violently.
“Violet! Wake up! Violet!” He yelled, his desperation mounting.
She can’t be dead. She can’t be. I’m nothing without her.
He heard a loud rumbling laugh. Mosquito looked down at him, her blood red eyes peering at him with amusement. “Did any of you really think you could stop me?”
In each of her talons she held wriggling dragons. Rose and Caiman, Palemoon’s friends.
“Run Palemoon!” Rose yelled, “Save yourself! Get help!”
“She’s dead Palemoon!” Caiman said, his voice cracking, “I saw her soul leave, it’s too late!”
Palemoon was frozen. Complete sorrow had hit him so suddenly and thoroughly that he couldn’t even move. His thoughts moved at a sluggish pace, to the point where he simply stared at his white claws as tears streamed down his face.
How did it get to this? Where had we gone wrong?
He heard screaming behind him as Caiman and Rose were crushed in Mosquito’s massive claws. He heard two soft thumps as their bodies hit the stone floor.
He heard the stomp-and-slide noise of Mosquito’s footsteps. Then all he could feel was darkness and pain.
Palemoon woke up crying. He saw both of his clawmates staring at him, the piercing blue eyes of the SeaWing named Seafoam and the black eyes of the SandWing, Dust.
“You’ve been muttering all night.” Seafoam hissed, “I don’t need all your NightWing nonsense.” The turquoise dragon turned around and grumbled annoyedly, though Palemoon could faintly hear him scratching something down on a scroll.
“Are you ok?” Dust whispered, “You were saying lots of weird things.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Palemoon breathed shakily, “Just a nightmare. It happens to me a lot.”
“Do you need anything?” Dust asked.
“No, I’m ok, thank you.” Palemoon said. The SandWing couldn’t have been older than two or three yet he was still so kind and understanding. He definitely had a level of empathy that was uncommon for his age.
Palemoon slowly got up, “I need to go on a walk. And sorry for waking you.”
“It’s alright,” Dust said, “I have nightmares too. I hope you feel better after your walk.”
Palemoon left the cave, and tried to remember where Violet’s cave was located. He peered into a couple and saw some unfamiliar sleeping dragons before he got it right.
Violet’s scales were a shifting aurora of beautiful colours, and she was breathing peaceful breaths. She must’ve been having a good dream, with what he knew of RainWing colour meanings. He felt guilty waking her.
“Violet?” He whispered, and lightly nudged her shoulder.
Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing her vibrant green eyes. “Moonie?” She whispered, “What’s wrong?”
She reached out to him and gently wiped the tears from under his eyes.
“The nightmares keep getting worse. I can’t sleep in my cave anymore.”
Violet glanced around at her cave. There was only one other dragon, an IceWing named Owl, in the room. “I only have one roommate, but you’d probably get in trouble for sleeping someone else’s dorm anyway. I know a spot though, c’mon.”
Violet twined her tail around Palemoon’s, and led him out of her cave and down through the tunnels into an empty hallway. There was a dead end at the end of it. It was deep in the mountain, after passing through dozens of tunnel networks.
A sense of surging warmth could be felt as they approached the end of the hallway. Violet touched the wall, “Feel it,” She said.
Palemoon touched the wall. It felt warm, almost hot, but not enough to be painful. “It’s like the island.” He murmured.
She nodded, “It’s great to be off the island, to be able to breathe and eat prey that isn’t carrion, to be out of hiding and not fear that I’ll be captured like the rest of my tribe… but the island was still our home, and sometimes I miss the warmth we were so accustomed to. In comparison, Jade Mountain is freezing.”
It must be a dormant volcano, Palemoon thought. “It’s wonderful Vi, thank you.” He said with the utmost sincerity.
She smiled shyly, “I thought you would like it.”
The two of them curled on top of eachother in a dragon pile against the wall, sleeping like they had when Palemoon used to stay with Violet and her dad, Trueheart, on the island.
Nothing was better than the warmth, and the smell of Violet’s scales.
Wherever she was, was truly home.
=== Chapter twenty one: Mind Loss ===
Tide opened his eyes.
No, not Tide, not anymore. Seafoam now. Now he was Seafoam. First Tide, then Humus, then Seafoam.
I have to remember what Mosquito told me. My name is Seafoam. I am a 6 year old dragonet from the kingdom of the sea. I grew up with a sheltered life in the palace, as the son of a noble.
Seafoam, Seafoam, Seafoam.
He had to remember. He had to. For her, for Mosquito. She was the best, the most wonderful, beautiful, most perfect dragon in the entire world. As soon as he met her, he never felt angry or sad ever again, Unless I’m pretending. Mosquito says I have to pretend sometimes. It’s hard to know when to do it though. I wish she was always around to tell me what to do.
He rolled out of bed, looking down at his slender frame, and his bright turquoise scales. He felt an odd feeling, like he had when he first started living as Humus. Eventually he had gotten used to being Humus, but Seafoam was new. It felt strange being in his scales. Tingly.
Humus was different from Tide, but still strong and intimidating, with piercing bright blue eyes. But Seafoam was different, so different. Small, bright scales, dark eyes. Strange and tingly.
But never bad. Everything always felt fine. Tide never felt bad, ever. All he did was love Mosquito. Think about Mosquito. Right, I can’t call her 
Mosquito in public anymore. She told me to call her Gnat, so her identity is secret. Her identity must always stay secret. I have to protect my love.
It was early morning, and his clawmate Dust was still asleep. Palemoon, on the other hand, was missing. Missing, and he seemed friends with Caiman. Caiman is no good, Mosquito tells me to hate him. He betrayed her, my love, my everything. He felt a deep aching in his chest to find her and be with her. I can’t live without her. I love her like I can’t live without her. The thought circled in Tide’s head over and over, but he stopped himself before running out the door and finding Mosquito.
She said I can’t be with her all the time here. Too suspicious, too suspicious. He reminded himself, But she has to know! She has to know! She has to know about Caiman! She has to know about the funny words the white dragon spoke in his sleep! I need to protect her, my love, Mosquito. I need to, I need to, I need to!
He picked up the scroll he had written on in the night, and trudged out the door. I must remember this new character is grumpy, this Seafoam. Mosquito told me. She knows everything, so intelligent, and beautiful. Her red eyes gleaming like polished rubies, her strong muscular frame. She is effortless and flawless. So I must keep a grumpy face while I walk through the hallways, and talk grumpy, so no one will suspect that I cannot feel anger or sadness. Lots of dragons here are angry and sad, I’ve noticed. I feel nothing most of the time. Absolute emptiness. But I love Mosquito, I love her, that is all I feel. But I should be able to feel happy, if I can’t feel sad or angry. I wonder why, I wonder why, I wonder why. I’m not upset. I love Mosquito.
Where is Mosquito? Right, she is Gnat now. I will find where Gnat is staying. Mosquito told me, I must remember. Everything Mosquito says is important, she is the most wonderful dragon. Smart, strong, brave. She sees what she wants and takes it. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Mosquito.
Tide wove through the hallways in his new body, until he found where Mosquito had told him to look for her. He peeked in, seeing Mosquito’s new enchanted body. Different, similar but different, different faces and very strange. But still Mosquito on the inside, I will always love Mosquito. Love her like I can’t live without her. I can’t live without her. Can’t live without her.
“Gnat?” Tide whispered, using Mosquito’s false name. She did not stir. My Mosquito is a heavy sleeper, yes, definitely. Wonderful, heavy sleeper. I must shake her shoulder.
Tide entered the room cautiously, trying not to make noise and wake Mosquito’s clawmates, an IceWing named Tern and a scarred and blind RainWing, who was named after some kind of monkey. Tide could not remember, it did not matter. Mosquito mattered.
He nudged Mosquito-Gnat’s shoulder.
“Hrrghh?” She said, rolling around in her sleep.
He nudged her again.
“Hmmeh?” She turned and opened her eyes. “Hu- Seafoam?” She said, almost forgetting the new name she had given him.
“I have things to tell you. Important things. Like you told me to do.” Tide explained.
Mosquito rolled her eyes. “Alright, shut up for a second and let’s talk somewhere else.”
Tide shut his mouth. He could not disobey. He had to listen to everything she told him, not that he would try to resist. She was wonderful. Can’t live without her. Love her. His thoughts circled endlessly.
He followed Mosquito-Gnat in silence through side caves and tunnels, until they made it to one of the deeper caves, which housed the underground pools which were so popular with the SeaWing students.
“We probably only have an hour or two before the wakeup gong, so make sure this won’t take too long.” Mosquito said annoyedly.
Mosquito always treated Tide like a nuisance, a toy which she had gained by accident and was almost fed up with. But I don’t mind. I can’t mind. I’m never upset. I never even feel sad about Starfish’s death anymore. I haven’t since that day. Strange, but not bad, never bad.
“Well? Spit it out!” Mosquito spat, “I don’t have all day.”
Tide was startled out of his thoughts, “You’re right my love, I was simply lost in the clouds of thought.” He smiled, “A NightWing, the strange white one, was saying words last night. Lots of strange mixed up words. I think it was like the legends say, like a prophecy.”
Mosquito raised an eyebrow. “You sure he wasn’t just sleep talking? I thought the stupid destiny dragonets said that no one had powers anymore, except for that scary old Darkstalker guy I had to hide from.” Mosquito grumbled. “But he was like a thousand years old or something.”
“Maybe, maybe, but look at it. His scales are strange, but maybe he’s strange in other ways too. Maybe he’s enchanted, who knows, but there might be something there.” Tide insisted, passing the scroll to Mosquito.
“Fine,” She said, grabbing the scroll. “Claws of rain, mud, sea, and blah blah blah, five righteous losers, blah blah blah terrible power blah blah blah, the kingdom of soil and sleet, a dragon of cruelty and deceit. Oh I guess that’s me,” Mosquito said with a chuckle, “Forcing others to do her will, ok definitely me, and I guess you’re in there as well, being the ‘others’ in that case,” she said, snorting, “If brother kills sister, her heart will blister, and Jade Mountain is saved.”
Mosquito was silent for a long moment, a dark shadow passing across her face. “Caiman? Caiman is here?” She said, the words coming out as a low guttural growl.
“Yes, I saw him. He is friends with this NightWing.”
Mosquito hissed, slashing Tide across the face. The scar on his Seafoam form began to fade as quickly as it had formed, but Tide could still feel the pain on his real body. He absentmindedly wondered how many scars he had gained over the years of Mosquito batting him around like a ragdoll.
Tide held his head low. “I did not mean to offend you, Mosquito.” He held his head low because he knew she liked it, having power over him. He didn’t feel guilty, though. He couldn’t. Only love for Mosquito. That was all that was left.
“I know you didn’t, you never do.” Her face was filled with disgust and disappointment, “You’re not even a real dragon anymore, after what I did to you.”
“I am whatever you say I am, Mosquito.”
“Shut up! And you better not call me that in public. Or do you have goldfish memory like the rest of your stupid tribe?”
“My memory is functional.” Tide responded. “Do other SeaWings have bad memory?”
“I don’t know, they do if I say they do.” Mosquito snapped. “Now help me think of what to do about Caiman. I have to avoid him. I have my magic, but he can see me anywhere, even if I hide my shape, and he probably brought an animus with him. He’s always prepared, that stupid conniving little lizard. Ridiculous, tiny, weak, green, barely a MudWing at all!” She roared, smashing a stalactite next to her.
“I can’t believe I used to care about that little maggot,” Mosquito fumed, “What a stupid reality. I’m so glad I got rid of all that love and guilt,” She turned to Tide, “But I needed to keep the anger, you understand that, right Seafoam? The anger is who I am.”
“Yes.” Tide replied.
“I’m always right, the smartest, the best. The mistress of the universe, and I will decimate that tiny gecko of a little brother. I will crack open his ribcage and pull out his guts, smash his head into a rock until his skull cracks open, and I can paint the walls of Jade Mountain Academy with his blood. He can’t stop my plans, he can’t stop me from fixing Pyrrhia. From bringing war back. Don’t you think I can fix things, Tide?”
“You are always right, the smartest, the best. The mistress of the universe.” Tide repeated.
Mosquito grabbed two of Tide’s talons, and broke them. He screamed in pain, shutting his eyes. But he wasn’t mad, and wasn't upset. The physical pain just shocked him, that was all.
“You’re always parroting me and I hate it!” Mosquito screamed,
“Sometimes I just want someone to tease me, like my stupid brother did, but you would never do it right. You’re just a plaything, and I hate you. And I can’t ever, ever get my brother back because he betrayed me. Do you know what betrayal feels like Tide?”
“No.” Tide answered simply, between sharp breaths.
“Aww, are you going into shock?” Mosquito said in mock sympathy. “I’ll let you squirm for a little longer before I heal you. You need to be punished sometimes, Tide. We’ve been together so many years and yet you still don’t understand how to act right.”
“Yes.” Tide replied.
“Tide, why do you love me?” Mosquito asked.
“Because I can’t live without you.” Tide answered, the script hidden somewhere in his mind.
Mosquito shrieked in frustration, “No, no, no, no, no! Tell me something real!”
“I- I-” Tide hesitated, “I don’t know anything real.” He replied.
Mosquito paused, the tiny ghost of sadness flickering her across her face, and disappearing in an instant. “Neither do I.”
***
Violet watched in horror at the opposite side of the room as she witnessed what had become of Mudskipper’s father. He has become her slave, completely. I wonder if there’s anything left of who he used to be…
She was camouflaged against the wall, and had stayed as silent as possible.
Earlier, she had been sleeping against Palemoon’s scales, feeling his warmth, hearing his breathing, but then she heard two pairs of talonsteps walking by. She knew there shouldn’t be dragons awake that early.
So she followed them, making sure her steps were as silent as possible. Now, down in a deep cave with the sound of drops from the ceiling dripping down into the pool, she had seen Mosquito’s cruelty first hand. A shiver of fear ran through her.
Mosquito continued to get Tide/Humus/Seafoam to tell her everything he knew about Caiman, and the rest of the people he considered friends, and debating about the details of the prophecy.
I have to leave, I have to do something.
Violet carefully made her way out of the cave, her talons slowly and carefully moving across the stony ground. She glanced backwards at the two of them, and made a step forward, accidentally slipping on uneven ground. She had quickly righted herself, but it had made a loud schliiick noise which echoed through the cave.
Violet froze.
“Shush, did you hear that?” She heard Mosquito asking Tide.
“Yes.” He said, in a quiet tone.
Mosquito looked around, sniffing the air and patrolling the room. She came close to the exit, where Violet was standing. Mosquito was less than a foot away, eyeing the air where Violet was standing.
“What are you looking for?” Tide asked.
“Shut up! There might be someone in here. I heard those RainWings could camouflage, didn’t you learn anything about other tribes at this stupid school?”
“Not much.” He replied, “We haven’t been here for long.”
“I told you to shut up.”
Tide stopped speaking. If Mosquito asked another question, though, he would have to answer. She shouldn’t berate him for listening to her, it’s not like he can help it. Violet thought, but kept her body still.
After a long moment, Mosquito let out a frustrated groan. “There’s no one here anymore, you probably chased it away.” She returned to Tide’s side, and they continued talking, but Violet couldn’t listen anymore.
She let out a tiny breath, and got out of the cave system as quickly as possible.
=== Chapter twenty two: Stealth ===
Shallow breaths. Cold stone.
Violet, camouflaged, went to her dorm. The morning gong had already gone off a few minutes ago, so now Violet was missing class. But she didn’t care, it was just the second day of class, and she knew she had to get rid of Mosquito now, or there would be no more classes at Jade Mountain Academy ever again.
She shuffled through her bag of belongings, which was set next to the hammock of woven vines that had been prepared for her. She grabbed a blow gun and several sleeping darts that she had brought with her, as well as a thick and sturdy length of rope.
Quickly, quietly, she made her way back to where she had last seen ‘Seafoam’ and ‘Gnat’. As she turned a hallway, she saw them walking in her direction. She jumped out of their way, and waited for them to pass.
They walked for a while, until Seafoam split off from Gnat in order to go to his class, and Gnat turned and headed in another direction. As soon as no other dragons were in sight, she put a dart in the blow gun and shot it at Gnat’s neck.
Gnat slapped a talon against her neck, likely thinking it was a bug, and looked at her hand in confusion when she saw only a few broken splinters of a dart. Before she could completely comprehend what had happened, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed onto the ground.
Violet rushed forward, tying up Gnat’s snout, forelegs, and back legs. She wrapped her arm around Gnat’s waist, hefting the huge dragon over her shoulders which caused her legs to wobble dangerously. She spotted the nearest window, and after slicing her claws through the leaf window coverings, managed to squeeze both herself and Gnat through the door.
She flapped her wings desperately, but it was an inevitable downward spiral towards the forests below Jade Mountain.
Violet roughly landed in a spread of trees, her talons sinking into the soft earth below. Gnat tumbled out of her talons. She grabbed her wrist and dragged her under cover of the forest’s canopies. Violet slumped Gnat’s body under a tree, and using another long length of rope, tied her to the stump of the tree.
She let out a long sigh, letting herself catch her breath for a moment. Violet looked up at the academy, the mountain towering above her like a stern god, large grey shoulders and a white cap. I need someone to watch her, but I need to get the others so we can kill her. Violet thought, debating her options. She glanced at Gnat, blowing one more sleep dart into her neck for good measure, then flying back up to the academy. She tried to remember what class her and Palemoon were having right now, but before she could finish her thought the gong rang again. Perfect, she thought, climbing through the window.
She darted to the classroom just in time to see Palemoon leaving art class, a variety of paints dried and crusted over his white talons. She grabbed his shoulder and tugged him into a side hallway, turning her scales a dark greyish-brown, “Palemoon, go down to the forest below the mountain. We have a sister situation, if you catch my drift.”
Palemoon looked confused for a moment, then a look of horrifying realisation dawned on him. “It’s time?”
“Yes, take this.” She said, shoving her blowgun into his talons. “I’m going to get the others so we can deal with this as quickly and efficiently as possible. Use a dart every thirty minutes, but I doubt we’ll take that long.”
He nodded, his pink eyes wide with fear. It was clear he was overwhelmed and very, very nervous.
Violet squeezed one of his talons and kissed his cheek, “I love you Palemoon, you can do this.”
An uncertain smile flickered on his face, but he nodded and headed off with Violet’s instructions. She turned, re-camouflaging, looking through the hallways and trying to spot the bright orange and pink colours of Rose’s scales. It wasn’t as easy to know where they were, because Violet’s winglet, Iron Winglet, wasn’t having class with their winglet, the Crystal winglet, that day.
She flew above the bustling students walking through the damp stone hallways. Her horns and frill brushed the ceiling, but soon she spotted Rose’s scales. She narrowly avoided getting elbowed or hit by someone’s wing, but eventually she made it to where Rose and Caiman were walking together and chatting. Violet grabbed both of them by the shoulders and whispered, “It’s Violet, meet me in the side hallway.”
Rose flinched, and almost screamed but she clapped a talon over her mouth, locking eyes with Caiman. An almost telepathic line of communication passed through them, her brown eyes to his black and hazel. It communicated fear, anticipation, and determination.
They turned to the side hallway, where Violet had been standing, just out of the way of the hall filled with students swarming like schools of fish, their chattering voices sounding like bees buzzing loudly.
Again, she changed her scales enough just to vaguely reveal her shape, but not to make her stand out and be noticed by others. “Mosquito. Forest. Follow me.”
The other two nodded morosely, following her to the window that she had broken through earlier. They each propelled themselves out the window one at a time. Violet felt the sudden catch of air under her wings, allowing her to glide peacefully down to the forest, the mountain air whipping past her.
***
Palemoon sat, staring at Mosquito, or Gnat’s, limp body. She was much larger than he anticipated, with thick scales like that of a crocodile, and muscular limbs and tail.
It had taken him a few rounds of the edge of the forest to find where Violet had hidden Gnat, and now that he had found her he didn’t feel any better.
He nervously held the blow gun Violet had given him, his scales itching in anticipation for her to wake up and mutter a spell that would kill him immediately.
He thought of the nightmare he had last night, Mosquito grown ten times in size, Violet dead and discarded on the floor, her talons squeezing the life out of Rose and Caiman right in front of him. Palemoon shivered, Just a possible reality, he reminded himself, and we’re preventing it, it’s going to be fine, like Violet says. She always knows what to do. He let out a sigh in an attempt to relax himself and slow down his pounding heartbeat. The others will come, and then she will die, and everything will be ok. My visions never have to come true.
He looked up past the treeline, seeing Violet, Rose, and Caiman approaching the spot. A wave of relief passed through him. He had been having a horrible fear that he would have to deal with Mosquito all on his own, and all his vision-nightmares where that happened did not end well.
Palemoon felt a sudden, sharp pain against the back of his head. All he was aware of was his body slumping forward onto the roots and rocks of the forest floor, slicing his forehead open on a boulder.
His awareness faded into an all-encompassing, fuzzy blackness, but a tiny thread of panic persisted as he fell into a deep unconsciousness.
=== Chapter twenty three: Sororicide ===
Caiman opened his eyes, a splitting headache consuming his conscious mind. What happened? Where am I?
His mind weakly wondered, his eyes blurred and it took a while for his vision to clear. He faintly remembered Violet coming to call for them, and then leading them down to the forest. He remembered seeing Palemoon in the distance, and Mosquito (in her Gnat disguise) tied up. Then, a blur of dark blue scales as something hit him and he fell unconscious.
He could feel something thick and itchy wrapped around his scales, tight ropes binding his wrists, ankles, and snout. He let out a groan, and blinking his eyes, tried to get a view of his surroundings. The sun was starting to go down, and a fire was burning. Next to the fire was a MudWing, and a large and muscular SeaWing.
“I was waiting for you to wake up.” A familiar voice spoke.
Caiman flinched. He hadn’t heard that voice in years. “Mosquito…” He managed to squeak out from his tied snout.
“Yes, it’s me.” A voice said softly, “Would you believe me if I told you I missed you?”
Caiman let out a groan as the ache in his skull overwhelmed him. He could dimly see his friends around him, tied up and just waking.
Mosquito waved a hand of hers, causing the rope around Caiman’s mouth to rip off. He moved his jaw, adjusting it slightly. “I believe you.” Caiman’s voice croaked.
She no longer wore her disguise, and Caiman could see the familiar shapes of his sister’s face. His heart ached with sorrow, seeing someone he used to love so much, taken by an otherworldly evil.
Mosquito smiled. “Look around you, at this world, this continent. All these dragons and tribes. The war was wonderful Caiman, I know you had your reservations about it, but can’t you see now who is your enemy and who is your friend? It was always me and you against the world Caiman.”
“It doesn’t have to be.” He said gently. “You can still change things. You can be better.”
Mosquito laughed, “Why should I? No one ever loved me! Even Tide never loved me! You Caiman, you were the only one. And I never understood why, but I think I understand it now. You’re like me, you need purpose. That’s why you fought against me, it was your purpose, your moral crusade. Think, Caiman, what is left for you after you defeat me? You’ll go back to prison and be executed, but I can change things for you. I can make it all better. I will destroy this school, and the tribes will all blame each other, blame the destiny dragonets, and then we can rule the chaos Caiman! We will have purpose again! To fight for the MudWings, fight for glory!”
Mosquito let out a sigh, “After the war, without you, without any fighting, my life was so meaningless. All I had was Tide, and I kept trying to change him and edit the spell to fix him but he’s so worthless Caiman. He’s not even a real dragon, he’s something I created. The beautiful SeaWing I saw that day is gone forever. Don’t you get it? You can’t have a chance at a normal life! You can’t be with that hybrid abomination, you know that right? That thing will never accept you, only I did! We are the only people who can stand each other!”
Caiman stared at her.
Fury shone in Mosquito’s eyes, “So? Are you gonna say something?”
“You’re not Mosquito.” He murmured.
Mosquito let out a roar of anger, and breathed a plume of fire at the branches above her head. They fell, flaming twigs crumbling around her scales. The sparks burned into her flesh, and healed in seconds. She was unaffected.
“I’m not supposed to feel bad, Caiman. I made it go away. All the sorrow and the guilt. But I still feel angry, and I still feel bored, and sometimes it’s horrifying how close that feels to those other things. I kept the anger though. I have to keep it. I wouldn’t be myself without it. And you’re wrong that I’m not Mosquito, I’m more Mosquito than I’ve ever been. Because all she is, Caiman, is anger, frustration, hatred. You act like there was a me before all this. But who was that? A pathetic, sad little dragonet who turned her sorrow into hatred. Isn’t that exactly who I am right now?”
“Mosquito had a conscience, even if she didn’t always listen to it.” Caiman mumbled.
Mosquito growled. “I’m sick of you, absolutely sick. You understand nothing. Maybe Quagmire was right about you. You worthless lizard.”
Caiman winced, “I’d rather be worthless than cruel.”
Mosquito hissed. “I can change your mind, if I want to.”
“But then I would be like a doll that you get bored of playing with, like
Tide.”
Mosquito grimaced, and turned towards Tide. Tall, dark blue scales, and piercing pale blue eyes. Strong, and sturdy, large wings. He looked very different from his disguise as Seafoam. Caiman could see the resemblance in his face with Mudskipper, and his eyes. In his true form, though, Tide was covered in scars. Scorch scars, slashes, bite marks. More than he had seen on almost any dragon. This is what she does to people, Caiman thought furiously.
“Tide,” Mosquito cooed in a false loving tone. “Go to Jade Mountain. Kill all of the students, and write messages in their blood to send to their nations. There will be no peace in Pyrrhia, not as long as I live.”
“Yes mistress.” Tide replied, flapping his large wings and flying towards Jade Mountain.
As Caiman watched Tide fly away, he realized with immense relief that Mosquito had moved them farther away from Jade Mountain and further into the forest while they were unconscious, likely afraid that someone would spot her and disrupt her plans before they could go into motion. We might still have time to do something.
We do. Another voice said in his mind, If we act quickly.
Caiman was shot with fear, Who are you?”
It’s Mudskipper. I can’t explain right now, but I kept my magic encased in that new horn ring I got. I used it to project my thoughts into your mind.
What? How could you-
Just listen. I noticed you guys were missing so I used my magic to contact you, I know Mosquito must've got to you. I put a spell on you the other night, Mosquito can’t see you if you don’t want her to. Maybe you can free some of the others.
Caiman immediately started using his claw to saw through his ropes, and glanced at the others. Rose had just woken up, faer brown eyes looking over at him with concern. Palemoon was still unconscious, his reading glasses crooked on his nose, but Violet was wide awake. Her green eyes looked from side to side, like she was anxious to dig her claws into someone’s scales.
Mudskipper, can you help me project a message into Violet’s mind?
Alright. Mudskipper responded. Say the message now.
Violet, Caiman thought, and he could see Violet’s eyes widening in shock. I’m going to break out of here, and then I’m going to untie your ropes. I can’t explain right now, but Mosquito won’t be able to see me. As soon as your ropes are cut, I need you to camouflage and sneak closer to Mosquito. Try to find a way to immobilise her while I free the others.
He saw Violet make a small nod.
“Don’t look so glum, Caiman, that’s just the way it has to be. Anyway, if you keep trying to stop me, I guess I’ll have to kill you, or maybe I’ll find a way to trap you.” Mosquito considered, but after glancing down at the fire and then up at Caiman, he was gone.
“Caiman?” Mosquito asked, “Where are you?”
Caiman stared at her, still nervous despite knowing he was invisible to her. He broke through his ropes, finally, and after retrieving a small knife from a bag around his chest, he cut the ropes around his ankles. He slowly made his way over to Violet. He could still see his own talons, but Mosquito couldn’t.
As Mosquito looked around for Caiman frantically, he cut through Violet’s ropes, and she camouflaged within a split second of the ropes falling to the damp forest floor.
Caiman then began cutting Rose’s ropes. Mosquito looked up from her search just in time to see Rose’s restraints being magically cut.
“Oh, so you’re hiding from me with magic? Don’t tell me I was right, and you found an animus. Who was it, my hybrid spawn? I should have known to kill that thing-” Before Mosquito could finish, a spray of black venom erupted from an empty space in the air, hitting Mosquito’s eyes. She screeched in pain, writhing around on the ground.
Caiman finished breaking Rose’s restraints, and fae stood, retrieving a long knife from one of fear pouches.
“Where have you been hiding that?” Caiman asked.
“I have my ways, Caiman.” Fae replied, rolling faer eyes.
“What do we do with her? If she recovers even a little she’ll tear us apart!” Violet yelled.
“I know what to do.” Rose replied, “Caiman, you still have your enchanted earring from Mudskipper, right?”
Caiman nodded, at first confused, but then realization dawned on him.
“I don’t know how much longer she’s going to be screaming and not killing us with magic!” Violet insisted.
Rose shot a hot plume of fire at faer knife, causing it to glow red-hot. Fae ran towards Mosquito’s writhing form, and stabbed the knife into Mosquito’s chest, right into her heart.
Mosquito let out a scream as the flesh in her chest began to bubble and blister around the wound. She screeched even louder, her body convulsing. With one last surge of her strength, she grabbed a stick next to her, “I enchant this stick to--”
Before she could finish her sentence, Caiman had finished clipping his earring into her ear.
Her talons went limp, and all the spells she made began to unravel around her.
Caiman could see her soul changing. Instead of just the red of fury and the rot of evil, he could see a flash of dark blue. Regret. Then, in a moment, the soul was gone, and only a lifeless body was left in its place.
Caiman was overcome with grief.
He held Mosquito’s body. His tears slid off of her scales as he began to sob. “I saw you.” He whispered, “I saw you… I saw you… I saw you…” He choked between sobs.
“Caiman…” Rose said behind him, not unkindly. “We need to stop Tide.”
“You’re the fastest of all of us.” Caiman whispered. He unclasped the earring from Mosquito’s ear. “Take this.” He handed it to Rose, without looking at her.
Rose took the earring, and he heard the wingbeats as she darted away.
Caiman looked down at Mosquito’s face. Her eyes were corroded away by Violet’s venom, leaving only sockets crusted with blackened flesh. Her mouth lay agape, as if mid-scream. The flesh around the wound in her chest was burned and blistered. If brother kills sister, her heart will blister. Caiman remembered the lines of the prophecy.
If only I could’ve saved her, I should’ve saved her. I should’ve saved her. I could have done things differently, prophecy be damned.
He removed the knife from her flesh, and cast it aside. Caiman clasped her talons, and rested his snout on her chest, tears slipping from his eyes.
***
Rose flew above the trees, flapping her wings as hard as she could. The sun had set below the horizon, meaning everyone would be asleep, or reading in their dorms. They’ll be unprotected, and Tide will be able to slaughter them.
Rose put on another burst of speed, until she could spot Tide in the distance, a blue dot against the white and grey of Jade Mountain.
Closer, closer, closer. Rose had never been in a proper fight before, but her claws were sharp and long. She just had to plan her first attack well. I just have to immobilise him long enough to get the earring on him.
The night air sent a chill through her scales, but she kept going, even as her shoulders began to ache acutely, like poison running through her veins.
Eventually Tide was close enough that Rose could feel the air from his wingbeats, and see the faint blue aura of his glowscales. She scanned him for sensitive areas, weak points. Her eyes caught on his gills, Sorry Tide. She thought, as she lunged forward with another burst of speed, flying above him, sinking her talons into either side of his gills and raking her talons downwards, leaving bleeding ribbons in their place. Torn pieces of Tide’s gills flapped in the wind as he let out a wail of pain, stopping in place and clutching his wounded neck.
He only stopped for a split second, though, as he had to follow Mosquito’s command. He had to finish flying to Jade Mountain. Tide ignored Rose and began flapping his wings, propelling himself forward again.
With a growl of frustration, Rose raked her claws against Tide’s wing. He began to flap awkwardly and slowly. She grabbed his jaw to keep him still, and with her other talon clasped the earring into Tide’s ear.
His eyelids fluttered, and then he fainted, collapsing in Rose’s arms and weighing her down. She couldn’t carry a dragon three times her size, but she attempted to glide him down towards the mountain.
The two of them dropped through the air, stuttering and plummeting as Rose tried to keep them airborne. They tumbled onto the entrance cliff of the academy, rolling head over wings over each other and eventually collapsing onto the dark stone.
Rose lay there for a moment. She felt like the air had been compressed out of her lungs, and her ribs ached with a sharp pain that felt like she had been stabbed through with a cold blade. She shut her eyes tightly and let out a groan of pain.
Tide was still unconscious next to her, and now they were stuck there in the entranceway. I can’t… move… Rose thought, Dad’s gonna be so upset.
She drifted slowly between consciousness and unconsciousness, semi-aware of the moons shining down on them, and half in a hazy dream world.
She could hear muffled voices, sounding close but obscured…
“Oh my god, are they dead?” A voice squeaked in horror.
“No, they’re both still breathing,” A more assertive voice spoke. “Run and get Sunny and some medics. I’ll keep an eye on them in the meantime.”
Rose tried to speak, but whoever was near shushed her.
“It’s alright, Rose. We did it. Palemoon is getting help. You can rest now.”
“Good.” Rose whispered, before drifting off into unconsciousness.
=== Chapter twenty four: Healing ===
Mudskipper paced outside of the medic’s cave. The wooden door was shut, but not locked, although there was a ‘do not disturb’ sign hung off of a nail on the door. My father, he’s in there… And he’s got his personality back! His life and his emotions!
Mudskipper wrung his talons, But… he hasn’t been himself in three years. I wonder if he remembers everything that happened, or if it will feel like waking up from a bad dream. I hope it isn’t too overwhelming for him.
The door cracked open. A pale green RainWing stuck her head out of the door. “He’s awake now, if you want to see him.”
Mudskipper entered the room. There were windows, but they were shut away by thick curtains. Caiman, Violet, and Palemoon were resting on pillows in a far corner of the room, as they had all suffered severe concussions from being knocked out by Tide. There were four rock outcroppings covered with blankets and cushioned with pillows. One, Rose lay in. She was still asleep, and had suffered from a broken wing and several broken ribs. The other held Mudskipper’s father.
His pale blue eyes met Mudskipper’s own, and Tide managed a weak smile. His neck and wing were bandaged, and he had gotten through the fall with only a dislocated shoulder.
Mudskipper approached him, and Tide grasped his talon and squeezed it fiercely. “I know it’s you…” He whispered, “I could tell as soon as you walked in here… I wanted to keep you, but she-” Tide’s voice broke at the mention of Mosquito, and he squeezed his eyes tight, letting thin rivulets of tears stream down his cheeks.
“It’s OK.” Mudskipper whispered, “It’s OK”, He leaned forward and hugged his dad as best he could without hurting him.
“It’s so strange…” Tide whispered, “I experienced all those things, so long ago… but I’ve only been able to feel them properly today. And most of my memories are… poisoned…” He took in a deep breath, “I’m sickened, to think of what she made me feel, what she made me do.”
“It’s over now, you’re safe.” Mudskipper reassured him.
“I can’t believe the last time I was myself… was when I found my sister dead three years ago. I feel like I’ve been revived from the dead. Like I was just a zombie following her orders all that time.” Tide looked up and into Mudskipper’s eyes. “What did my parents end up naming you?”
“Mudskipper.” He whispered.
Tide smiled, as he shut his eyes and rested his head. “That’s a good name.”
Mudskipper let his father rest, and walked over to Rose’s bed. He peered down at faer, watching faer chest rise and fall rhythmically.
“They said she should be fine.” Mudskipper heard Caiman’s voice behind him.
Mudskipper turned his head to see the face of his uncle.
“She doesn’t look fine.” Skipper commented.
“She’ll be fine.” Caiman insisted. “She has to be.”
Mudskipper could hear rain outside of the mountain, thundering and pouring. He could even smell it through the window. Rain made everything fresh and new, it healed the earth and brought new life. I hope that means that Tide and Rose will be alright.
Behind Mudskipper, the door to the medic room opened. Out through it stepped Capuchin, his scales a swirl of dark red, pale green, and white. “You four, come with me. Now.”
Violet and Palemoon looked up, shocked and somewhat nervous expressions on their faces, but they complied.
They followed Capuchin down the hallway, their talonsteps echoing through silent walkways, and into his classroom. Although he looked furious, the curtains were closed on the window, so the light wouldn’t affect the concussed dragonets.
“All of you, right now, need to tell me what the hell happened to my daughter.” He said, his voice measured but filled with anger.
The four of them looked at each other, unsure who should start.
“I- I guess I should start the story.” Palemoon said nervously, “I was the one who had the prophecy, after all.”
Palemoon explained how he had his nightmares, and that his fears of a prophecy were confirmed when he saw the scroll Rose had gotten from Scrollkeeper.
Violet took over, explaining their plans and the lies they concocted to tell Capuchin and Trueheart.
Occasionally Caiman jutted in to tell about the amulet and his and Rose’s conversations.
Violet continued with the story through Caiman’s rescue, all the way to the confrontation with Mosquito, and how Rose prevented Tide from killing any students.
Capuchin furrowed his brow, “Why didn’t she tell me any of this?”
“We were afraid that getting the school involved would cause Mosquito to act rashly and attack quicker.” Caiman explained.
“I’m not ‘the school’, I’m her father! She told me to trust her when she brought you to our house. I trusted her, I do trust her, but I do not trust you.” Capuchin said, anger flaring in his eyes. “You do not endanger my children. Do you understand?”
Caiman nodded, tears in his eyes.
Capuchin sighed, his scales shifting to a dark grey-blue. “Maybe I’ll forgive you, in a little while. But not yet.” He said, leaving the room.
The four of them sat there in silence. An air of shame hung around them.
“I shouldn’t have stayed behind with Mosquito. I should have gone with Rose, to protect him.” Caiman said, his head hanging low.
“You wouldn’t have been fast enough.” Violet pointed out, “Rose was the SkyWing. Each of us played our part in killing Mosquito, that’s why five were needed. Claws of Sky, Rain, Mud, Sea, and Night. We needed my camouflage and venom, your personal knowledge of Mosquito, Palemoon’s visions, Mudskipper’s magic, and Rose’s planning and speed. Otherwise the world would be in chaos.”
“But there could have been another-”
“There was no other way.” Violet insisted, “We did the best we could. We did what the prophecy asked of us. Capuchin is upset, as he should be. His child, a dragonet, was injured without him knowing why or who to blame. I don’t think bringing a parent’s anger down upon us was avoidable. We did what we had to do. I know Trueheart will be furious with all of us when we get home.”
Caiman sighed, “I guess. I just can’t help but feel responsible.”
“She’s right,” Mudskipper said, “We can’t blame ourselves that Rose got hurt saving the world. He knew the risks, and he’s going to be just fine. He’s going to heal, and then we can go back to school like normal, and everything will be alright.”
“I hope you’re right.” Palemoon added.
Three dragons entered the room. Sunny, Fatespeaker, and Clay. Fatespeaker looked as angry as was possible for her, and Clay looked quiet, almost sad. Sunny’s expression was somewhat sympathetic, concern in her green eyes as she looked up at Caiman, then down. She avoided eye contact as she spoke.
“I’m sorry Crawfish, I mean- Caiman,” Sunny said, “The MudWing authorities are here to arrest you.”
Sunny stepped aside, and Mudskipper watched as his uncle was tackled to the ground by two large MudWing soldiers, shackled, and dragged away.
== Part five: Judge and Jury ==
=== Chapter twenty five: Full Circle ===
Caiman stared up at the familiar ceiling of the room that had been his prison for the last three years. A small rectangular room consisting of a bed of straw, a chamber pot, and two small barred windows. One led to the inner hallway, leading only to darkness and the cells of other prisoners, and the other led to the outside world, letting in only thin bars of sunlight.
He lay on the straw, contemplating his future. I did it, He thought, I defeated Mosquito. He let out a breath. I can’t help but wonder how things could’ve been, if I could have a life back at Jade Mountain. With my friends. They all saved my life in more ways than one. Maybe Mosquito was right, maybe this was for the best. Maybe she was the only one who understood me.
Caiman turned on his side, facing the wall. I lived through my purpose, what else is there for me in this world? And now I’m not only the murderer of one sister, but two…
“Caiman?”
Caiman whipped his head around at the sound of the familiar voice.
It was Rose. She was standing there, a look of concern on her face.
“You’re here!” He exclaimed, but his talons passed through her body. His expression darkened slightly, “Right. The amulet.”
Rose was standing, but her midsection and her wing were heavily bandaged. She was still injured, but awake, and alive.
He felt like he hadn’t seen those enthusiastic brown eyes for months, but it had only been days since he had been dragged from Jade Mountain back to the MudWing capital.
“I can’t be there in person,” She explained, “But the others are coming. You’re going to have a trial, a proper one, where there are dragons advocating for you instead of just against you. The Dragonets of Destiny are going to vouch for you Caiman, we told them everything and they want to make sure you’re freed. Clay is coming with us to help with the trial, serving as a MudWing representative for Jade Mountain Academy and the Dragonets of Destiny. There’s a real chance we could get you out of here, permanently.”
Caiman smiled, “Before now, I was too scared to hope for anything good to come of this, but I trust you. Thank you, Rose, truly.”
“It’s all part of the job of being a prophecy kid,” She said, smiling, “We stick together.”
Caiman nodded, “We stick together.”
“Now, although my amulet can’t keep me here forever, I can visit you for a little while using it, and I figured you need some entertainment,” She said, picking up two scrolls from next to her, “Which one should I read you, the Missing Princess or the Legend of the Great Ice Dragon?”
“Reading me a bedtime story?” Caiman teased.
“I do great voices, trust me,” Rose insisted with a smile, “And I guess that means I’m choosing for you, in which case I pick the secret third option: Fire and Brimstone. It’s a SkyWing scroll, you’re gonna love it, trust me.”
Caiman relaxed onto his bed of straw as Rose began to read. She’s right, her voices are really good. He thought.
Rose read him several chapters, before eventually she had to go. Even with just a short time together, some of Caiman’s faith in his future was restored. He fell asleep that night, with a new hope that he could be free and happy one day.
=== Chapter twenty six: The Trial I ===
Caiman stood in a large circular chamber. Around the walls were rows and rows of seats, with mostly MudWings sitting in them, watching him. He could tell they were staring from the shine reflecting off their stern brown eyes.
A skylight shone from the center of the ceiling, high above Caiman, which illuminated a spotlight of sunbeams over where he stood, and left the rest of the dragons in shadow, except for Queen Moorhen. She had her own balcony, high above but facing him, and glowworms dimly illuminated her face in a strange blueish light, which caused the jewels she was adorned with to sparkle, and gave her a strange spectral air.
Next to Caiman there was another, smaller, spotlight, but no one stood there yet.
“Caiman of the MudWings.” Moorhen’s regal voice boomed. “You are accused of two counts of murder, one for your sister Moss, and another for your sister Mosquito. How do you plead?”
Caiman took a deep breath and prepared to speak, even though he felt like his legs would collapse under him at any moment. “Not guilty.” He said, his voice strong and clear.
“Very well.” Moorhen said, “I summon the prosecutor to the stand.”
A thin MudWing with a very severe looking face and large cheekbones walked into the spotlight next to Caiman. He had warm brown scales and green eyes so pale they almost looked like a greyish-white.
“The accused stands in this court, claiming his innocence while he has previously confessed to his crimes, and later pleaded insanity. Which is it, Caiman, are you a cold-blooded killer, a maniac, or an innocent who had nothing to do with the murder?” The shrill dragon asked rhetorically,
“How many tales will you spin, and where does it end? With all your siblings getting killed? Both of Caiman’s living siblings, Newt and Quagmire, have previously testified against him. These two dragons have known Caiman his entire life, and swore, under oath of honesty to the Queen, against his moral character. What does this say about the accused, I ask you all? Even his sibs, including his bigwings, believe he is at fault, and how can we deny their pledge when Caiman was with both Moss and Mosquito for many hours in isolated locations, right before they turned up dead? Citizens of the Mud Kingdom, I believe we settled this case long ago, when we sentenced Caiman to be put on display, and eventually executed. A sib-murderer does not belong in our kingdom, and-”
“Move on, Sedge.” Moorhen interrupted, “Bring your witnesses to the stand.”
“Very well, my Queen.” Sedge said, bowing.
Caiman was dragged by his shackles out of the spotlight, and to the side of the room, near the walls where the seats began. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to being in the shadow.
Into the main spotlight, Newt stepped.
Tears filled Caiman’s eyes, and he looked away. Although he had seen her many times throughout the years when Caiman’s case was brought back to court, it was always hard to hear her advocate against his innocence.
“Newt, do you swear by the Queen, and by the Kingdom, that you will tell only the truth?” Sedge asked.
“Yes.” Newt answered, her tone level and self-assured, her amber eyes avoiding looking back at Caiman.
“And you confirm that you are indeed Caiman’s sister?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell us the events of the day that Moss went missing.”
Newt took a sharp inhale, and started her tale. Caiman had heard this hundreds of times before. Newt had a sharp memory, she was easily the cleverest of their sib group, so she told the story exactly the same every time. No detail changed or altered from her original view of the events.
“It was a chill morning, the sky white and overcast, the light dim and dreary. There was a slight wind in the air that carried scents from all around the forest. Mosquito had been talking with Moss. They were talking about Mosquito’s friendship with Caiman, and how it had been rekindled, despite the fear that Caiman had expressed towards her a few weeks prior. It seemed they had worked out their difficulties. After the discussion, Mosquito left to go hunt for food. Around thirty minutes later, Moss left to join Mosquito on her hunt. Another thirty minutes passed, and Caiman left to hunt as well, though he had implied that he would be hunting on his own.
“Quagmire and I did not join the others, and instead ate fish we caught near our hut. Quagmire was building extra supports for the roof of our hut, as there had been some leaks during a recent storm, and I was reading a scroll on battle strategy. Our sib-group tended to be disorganised, and I hate disorder.” She said, growling at the last word. “Near dusk, Caiman and Mosquito returned, along with Mosquito’s new boyfriend, Humus, an un-sib from the next town over. Tension seemed to have increased between Caiman and Mosquito, likely due to Caiman’s dislike of Humus, and possibly other unseen factors. We allowed Humus to stay with us, though Quagmire and I weren’t particularly enthused about the affair. I found him to be a useless grey blob in regards to both personality and intelligence.
“Moss didn’t return that night, and although we were worried, we decided we would sleep now and worry in the morning. All of us slept in the hut, except for Caiman, who slept outside. None of us thought anything of it at the time, but it could have given him the opportunity to do what he later confessed to.
“We didn’t see Caiman or Mosquito when we woke up the next morning, they were simply gone. Eventually, we saw Caiman flying back, and he told us that he had killed Moss and attempted to kill Mosquito during the night, and offered himself up as a prisoner to us. Mosquito returned slightly after him, and despite having no clear wounds on her body, confirmed Caiman’s confession, saying she saw him hiding Moss’ dead body in the swamp, and they fought. After Mosquito won, she said he flew off like a coward to be imprisoned, because he was afraid of being killed by her and would rather take his chances with the law.”
“Do you think it was plausible that Caiman was afraid enough of Mosquito to get himself arrested, rather than take her on?” Sedge asked.
“Yes. Mosquito was always large for her age, and Caiman was always small. Although he learned to fight well, so did she. I think she could have beaten him in a fight. I also know for a fact that he feared her, because a few weeks before the event of Moss’ death, Caiman came to us and asked us about animus dragons. He was so afraid after seeing Mosquito easily slit a dragon’s throat, that he claimed she was an animus. Obviously, this would be impossible, since animus powers are genetic, and there is no recorded genetic thread of MudWing animi.” Newt concluded.
“Thank you, Newt,” Sedge said, “You may leave the stand. “Quagmire?”
Newt’s tall, lithe frame left the spotlight, and was replaced by the large, dark brown brute of a dragon that was Caiman’s bigwings. He turned his head, his deep brown eyes finding Caiman’s hazel and black, and he glared ferociously at him, letting out a sinister growl, before returning his attention back to Sedge.
“Quagmire, do you swear by your Queen and Kingdom to tell the truth?” Sedge asked.
“Yes.” Quagmire replied, his tone low and guttural.
“Do your memories of the events match Newt’s thorough explanation?”
“Yes.”
“And what do you have to say about Caiman’s moral character?”
“He’s a coward, a weak, spineless little lizard. He always seemed to defend the enemy, and acted like he cared more about their wellbeing over ours. I wouldn’t be surprised if Caiman killed Moss because she didn’t agree with his dumb politics.” Quagmire explained.
“I believe this concludes my examination of the witnesses regarding Moss’ death,” Sedge said, “According to their story, Caiman had the opportunity and motivation to kill his sister, and even confessed to the crime. If this doesn’t prove his guilt, I don’t know what does.”
“I call for a cross-examination of the witnesses, your honor.” A voice called from the shadows.
“Very well.” Moorhen conceded. “The defendant may take the stand.”
Sedge begrudgingly moved away from the side spotlight, and a RainWing with stark blue scales entered it. Capuchin, Caiman thought, I thought he hated me after what happened to Rose…
Capuchin’s glasses sparkled in the light, obscuring his eyes, which were the same shade of brown as Rose’s. He stood straight and tall, his body and scales composed, despite the uproar of hushed complaints in the room, likely debating his ability to be a defendant in a MudWing court because he was a RainWing.
“You’d let this fruit muncher in our court!” An unknown figure yelled out, his voice calling out clearly above the cacophony of whispers.
“Order!” The Queen yelled, and the courtroom fell into complete silence.
The Queen waited a long moment, eyeing her subjects with distaste, before saying, “Continue with your cross-examination, Capuchin.”
Capuchin turned his head towards Quagmire beside him. “You mentioned moments ago that you believed Caiman to be weak. Do you mean weak of will, or weak physically?”
“Both.” Quagmire grunted.
“I see. Murder generally takes a large amount of conviction to go through with. It requires mental and physical turmoil, especially in the case of a murder within the family. There is, however, another possibility, where someone might murder another by accident, in which case they may be morally innocent, or only guilty of a crime such as brawling. But saying that you believe your brother, who you have known all his life, to be both mentally and physically weak, leads me to believe that it would be unlikely for him to possess the mental or physical fortitude to go through with murder. Is this correct?”
“Yes.” Quagmire grumbled.
“Did Moss and Caiman have a good relationship?” Capuchin asked, “Were they friendly to one another?”
“Mostly, I think.” Quagmire said. He seemed to be getting increasingly more annoyed at Capuchin’s questions. “I don’t know.”
“Alright, I think that’s all I needed from you.” Capuchin turned his attention to Moorhen, “Your honor, may I call Newt to the stand?”
“You may.”
Quagmire begrudgingly moved out of the spotlight, and Newt replaced him.
Her yellowy eyes examined Capuchin, like she was sizing up prey. Caiman knew her well enough to know she did this to every new person she met: evaluate all their possible strengths and weaknesses, just in case.
“Do you believe Moss and Caiman had a good relationship, Newt?” Capuchin asked.
“They were not particularly close. Caiman was always closer with Mosquito. Despite their fights and disagreements, they loved to tease each other and play games. Moss was what other tribes would call the ‘mother’ of the group, I was the strategist, and Quagmire was the leader. Moss was kind to all of us, always looking out for us, tending to us, but there was no particular closeness or fondness between Moss and Caiman. No more than we all had towards her.” Newt explained.
“So they generally showed positive feelings towards one another?”
“Yes.”
“Was Caiman known to lie, or bend the truth? To hide his true feelings?”
“Not usually.” Newt replied, “I think he believes most of the things he says, that doesn’t mean they match reality. I think he really thought Mosquito had done magic that day, as a result of his mind snapping from the trauma of war. It had always affected him emotionally more than the rest of us. He may have lost his grip on reality.”
“I see. Then what do you believe Caiman’s motivation was for killing Moss?”
“He may have thought she was also an animus, in his paranoia, and killed her for it, later doing the same to Mosquito.”
“Did Caiman show any signs of insanity previous to this? Any signs of hallucinations or paranoia?”
“No.”
“Do you have any confirmation that Caiman was wrong about Mosquito being an animus?”
“No strict evidence, but it is impossible since only IceWings, SeaWings, NightWing, and SandWings have been known to hold animus magic. Since it is genetic, and we are MudWings, it wouldn’t be possible.”
“Tell me, dragonet, do you know how animus magic began?”
“No, no one does.” Newt said, “If there was an answer, I would know it.”
“Then what proof do you have that it would be impossible for a new bloodline of animi to start?”
“None.” Newt said bitterly.
“So it is entirely possible that Caiman was right, and he could’ve been enchanted to give his previous confession?”
“Yes, though I believe it is highly unlikely.”
“It is also highly unlikely for a MudWing to murder their sibling with no solid motivation or means.” Capuchin said, adjusting his glasses.
“Who else could have done it?” Newt hissed.
“I’m getting to that,” He said. “How would you describe your sister Mosquito’s personality?”
Newt frowned.
This isn’t going how she wanted it to, Caiman thought, But she also never lies. Capuchin might actually be able to do this!
“Violent, unpredictable, and feared by many.” Newt stated.
“How would you describe her physique and fighting prowess?”
“She was always tall and muscular for her age, taller than Moss, and almost as large and muscular as Quagmire. She was a skilled fighter, though not the best in our troop, but she was ruthless which meant she made a high amount of kills.”
“I see. Thank you, Newt.”
“Witness dismissed,” The queen called.
Newt left the stand and flew up to her seat, now another pair of watching eyes.
Capuchin now addressed the Queen and the Jury. “Neither Quagmire nor Newt have provided any solid proof that Moss’ murder was committed by Caiman, instead of by their other sister, Mosquito. While both siblings had opportunity, Caiman had neither means nor motivation, while Mosquito had both. She could have easily overpowered her sister, according to these accounts. She also has been described as violent and unpredictable, which may have led to a crime of passion.”
“Additionally, there is evidence available leading to the conclusion that Mosquito was indeed an animus, and that she had used her power to kill her sister, imprison and mind-control a SeaWing soldier, and later attempt to murder several students attending Jade Mountain Academy.”
Shocked whispers echoed throughout the room.
“Order!” Moorhen called, “You may call your witnesses to the stand.”
Capuchin nodded, and beckoned a figure out from behind the shadows. Stepping into the spotlight was a familiar pink and red dragon.
“I call to the stand Rose of the SkyWings and RainWings.”
=== Chapter twenty seven: The Trial II ===
Rose stepped into the spotlight.
How is she here? A few days ago she was bedbound, how did she travel across the rainforest to get here? Caiman wondered, but his question was answered quickly enough. When he watched her step into the light, he noticed a strange shimmer going through her body, and then saw that she was wearing her amulet.
She must be projecting her form back from her room at Jade Mountain, like she was when she visited me.
He noticed a wince in her face every time she moved, and although her broken wing was in a cast and wouldn’t be causing her pain, any movement in her body would agitate her broken ribs. The bruising around her ribs created a purplish effect under her scales, standing out amongst the normal bright oranges and reds.
“Rose is presenting her case by projecting her form through a magic item, with permission granted from Queen Moorhen.” Capuchin explained, then turned his attention to Rose. He could keep his face and tone exceptionally professional, despite looking at his injured daughter.
Caiman knew on the inside, he must be very worried. But he’s here, and not with her, to give me a better chance… Caiman thought, and tears were brought to his eyes. It still startled him when people went out of their way to help him.
“Rose, please elaborate on your relationship with Caiman.” Capuchin asked.
“He’s my friend.” She said, “Me and my allies were the ones who helped him escape execution.”
Gasps echoed throughout the room, angry mutters, until the Queen shushed them.
Rose explained about the prophecy, Caiman’s rescue, and the other details of their adventure. She concluded with, “Caiman did not murder Moss, Mosquito did, and we killed Mosquito as a joint effort because of her posing a threat to the school, and to international political stability. She wanted to cause another war.”
“Where’s your proof?” A voice called from the seats, sounding suspiciously like Sedge.
“We’re getting to that.” Capuchin said with an agitated smile. He removed a dragon skull from a thick leather bag he wore around his chest. “This IceWing skull was found near Caiman’s hometown, Boundless, but it isn’t a regular IceWing skull.”
He brought out Caiman’s enchanted earring, which Caiman had last seen on Tide. How is Tide protecting himself now? Caiman wondered, I hope Mudskipper didn’t use more of his magic. I don’t care if it’s contained in an item, it’s still dangerous.
“This earring is a magical object enchanted to remove animus spells.” Capuchin explained. He fitted the earring around one of the horn tips of the dragon skull. Before their eyes, the skull shifted and morphed, as if there was something moving under the ‘skin’ of the bone, and the extra IceWing spikes receded back into the skull. The horns began to curve and shorten, and the skull grew flatter and wider.
It was now a MudWing skull.
“How can you prove that it's Moss' skull?” Moorhen asked.
Capuchin pointed a claw at the jaw of the skull. It had a lumpy part to it, where it looked like the jaw had been broken and healed awkwardly.
“I believe Newt and Quagmire will be able to confirm that Moss had a bad break in her jaw while she was still growing, that left part of her jaw lumpy and slightly crooked for the rest of her life.” Capuchin said, glancing at where Newt and Quagmire were sitting just beyond the light, with a satisfied look on his face.
He returned the skull to his bag.
“Since this skull was enchanted to appear like an IceWing, it adds to the likelihood that Mosquito was indeed an animus, and enchanted Moss’ corpse to hide it. The jury and our Queen might now be considering the possibility that Caiman is an animus, but I ask you, why would he let himself be imprisoned in a tiny square cell with nothing to his name but a pile of straw and a chamberpot, his escape relying on the help of three dragonets?” Capuchin argued.
“That settles Moss’ death, unless the prosecutor requests further questioning.” Moorhen said, “But what about Mosquito?” She turned her attention towards Rose, “You admit to her death as a joint effort between you, Caiman, and your trio of misfits?”
“She had enchanted herself to heal her wounds faster than normal, so she was nearly invincible, but not quite.” Rose said, “She was about to kill us. Before she had the chance, Violet sprayed venom in her eyes, then I stabbed her through the heart with a burning knife, and Caiman did the last step. He put the enchanted earring, which we previously showed working on the skull, which undid her enchantments on herself and stopped her from healing.”
“So although we worked together to take her down, if anyone should take the fall for Mosquito’s death, it’s me.” Rose concluded.
“Thank you, Rose.” Capuchin said, and she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Capuchin snapped his fingers at someone in the shadows, and two MudWing guards walked into the light, dragging a corpse.
Caiman winced and looked away.
It was Mosquito’s body.
Moorhen flew down from her perch, landing with a loud thump in front of the corpse, sending a tremor through the ground which echoed throughout the walls. She inspected the body, lifting Mosquito’s limbs one by one to examine all her scales. “No scars, despite being a soldier for many years.” Moorhen observed, “Except for the melted eyes, and the stab mark through her heart which appears to have been cauterized by the heat of its own blade.” She said, pulling the skin slightly away from the wound to get a better look inside.
Moorhen raised an eyebrow, “Your story appears to add up, Rain.”, before she returned to her elevated seat.
Capuchin snapped his fingers again for the guards to remove the corpse. They dragged her out from the spotlight.
“Now tell me, RainWing,” Moorhen spoke in a level tone, “How did you get these enchanted objects you all keep using?”
“Rose’s amulet is an ancient object, found in the rainforest with unknown origins, but the protective spells, like the one on the earring, were cast by an animus dragonet named Mudskipper, Mosquito’s son.” Capuchin explained.
From the blue light above Moorhen’s face, Caiman could vaguely see her raise an eye ridge in curiosity.
Out of the shadows, Mudskipper stepped into the light. The yellow light glittered on his warm brown scales, and his blue eyes, webbing, and glow scales shone a bright pale blue. He looked worried and fidgety, and kept glancing behind him, as though he was worried people would notice his wingless back.
It’s alright Skipper, Caiman thought, You’re brave. I believe in you.
“Mudskipper, tell me about Mosquito.” Capuchin asked.
Mudskipper explained his connection to Mosquito in a flat voice, like he had to use all his concentration to keep from crying. He explained about how his mother enchanted Tide, and how that led to him coming to Jade Mountain to stop her, and why he has animus magic.
“I can demonstrate my magic, if you need proof.” He added.
Capuchin looked up at Moorhen, who simply nodded. “Go ahead Skipper,” Capuchin said softly.
Mudskipper picked up a pebble from the ground in front of him. “I enchant this pebble to become a glowing pink butterfly, and to land on the snout of the most kind person in the room, before disappearing in a cloud of harmless sparks.”
In Mudskipper’s open palm, the tiny grey pebble turned pink, and in a process of stretching and elongating, began to flap its glowing wings. It flew through the air, darting from dragon to dragon with its haphazard flying, as though it was sniffing the air.
Caiman could see it closer now, because it flapped towards a short female MudWing sitting near him, but it quickly turned away from her, and in one startling movement, the butterfly landed on Caiman’s nose. It exploded in a shower of sparks, and Caiman sneezed.
Me? Caiman thought, The kindest in the room? Why would it be me? Wouldn’t it be Capuchin, for helping me after getting Rose in trouble, or Moorhen for agreeing to redo my trial? Or Mudskipper! Why me?
He looked around at the room. Everyone else looked almost as startled as he was.
The silence was broken when Caiman started to hear a glorious tune of uproarious, hearty laughter. It took him a long moment to realise it was Moorhen laughing. Once she recovered her breath, she wiped a tear from her eye, and with a slight smile still on her face, she said, “Let’s continue the trial.”
As Mudskipper left the stand, Caiman saw his large blue eyes find him in the crowd, and he gave him a little smile. It’s almost like he knew it would be me. He felt a surge of warmth in his heart for his nephew, and promised to himself to trust Mudskipper more from now on.
The rest of the trial went by in a daze. Palemoon and Violet took the stand at some point, as well as Urchin and Porpoise to confirm Mudskipper’s story. Caiman could barely pay attention, and he barely felt the sting of the shackles around his wrists and ankles. All he thought about was the butterfly. He tried to wrack his brain, and piece together what it meant. Animus magic is objective, right? He thought, Which means… That it’s true…
Tears began to silently fall down Caiman’s face. All this time… All this time I thought I was a failure, atoning for my mistakes. But maybe… All along… I was a good dragon.
Moorhen’s clear, strong voice interrupted Caiman’s thoughts. “Caiman will be returned to his cell while the Jury and I deliberate. Court adjourned.”
Dragons shuffled out of the room through the main exit, while the Queen and the Jury, a small section of the crowd on the Queen’s left side, remained.
Caiman was escorted, his shackles connected to chains held by two stout guards, through a smaller door beneath where the seats began, leading directly to the prisons.
After walking a long hallway lit by torches, Caiman was back in his familiar cell.
=== Chapter twenty eight: The Sentencing ===
Caiman remembered the day, three years ago, when he first stood in front of the Queen to receive his sentencing.
Guilty, for murder, and attempted murder.
Everything went downhill from there. A life of guilt, and isolation. He could only manage to hold onto a small thread of sanity when his entire world consisted of four walls, and two small windows. He had forgotten how beautiful the world was. Although his world had always been small, a world of swamps, siblings, and battles, he always had the fireflies and the sonnets of croaks that the frogs sang in the night. The coolness of the breeze and the scents of MudWings cooking over their fires in the evenings.
He had returned to the world he had missed, and thanks to Rose and the others, it became so, so much more than that. A world of adventure, and friendship, and beautiful places that he never could have imagined in his wildest dreams.
And now Caiman stood in front of Queen Moorhen again, ready to be sentenced, and against all of Caiman’s fears, she said
“Not guilty.”
Not. Guilty.
Not Guilty.
The word echoed throughout the courtroom, and felt like it was reverberating through his body, his scales, his muscles, organs, his bones, his heart and soul. Not guilty.
He hadn’t even realised that tears were silently streaming down his face, running down his snout and dripping soundlessly onto the stone floor.
He felt a pair of wings wrapping around him, then another, and another, and when he looked up, all his friends had embraced him, and Clay with his big wings was embracing all of them.
Caiman had friends. Not just Mosquito, it used to just be Mosquito. Now he had a real life, with friends, and a world beyond the swamp, the prison, and the war. A life where he could do whatever he wanted to do, a whole wide continent to explore, dragons to meet. Hobbies to make, things to learn. A dragon to become.
I get to build a life. Finally… Finally…
***
Caiman stepped out of the courtroom and into the light of day, the pale beams of dawn illuminating patches on the ground in thin shards, filtering through the short swamp trees.
He took in a deep breath of cool, humid air. The air that smelled of plant growth, the air of home. For once, it was the air of freedom.
“How does it feel to be a free dragon?” Rose asked behind him, still in faer spectral form.
“Wonderful, and terrifying.” Caiman said.
“Oh?”
“For once I have the ability to dream that I could have any life I wanted… but I also have no clue what I’d do with myself. I don’t have an education, my troop joined the war effort as soon as we were of age. I don’t have hobbies either, unless you count making strange sculptures out of straw and playing with them…” Caiman said, laughing.
Rose laughed, “That’s a start. You obviously have creativity in you, and there are plenty of things to try at Jade Mountain Academy when we go back to finish our year.”
Caiman’s eyes lit up. “I get to go back? I thought since it was all fake, and I didn’t really get in…”
Rose snorted, “You really think the dragon who saved Pyrrhia and was just declared innocent wouldn’t be accepted? I’ll be right back.”
Fae disappeared for a second, and when fae reappeared fae had a paper in faer hand.
“What’s that?” Caiman asked.
“Your student file, with your real name, and a picture of you without an eyepatch covering your cool eye.” Fae said, holding up the paper, with an excellently sketched portrait of himself wearing a crocodilian smile.
Caiman grinned, “You think it’s cool?”
“Don’t let it get to your head,” Rose said, rolling faer eyes, but still smiling.
Although Rose had just said it offhandedly, it meant a lot to him that fae wasn’t put off by his eye. It was a source of a lot of the fear and hatred surrounding his story.
Caiman sighed, “Although this will always be my home, it’s good for me to leave. My case was so public and controversial here in the Mud Kingdom, and I know there are those who will always believe I’m a liar. I don’t want to be around that anymore. I don’t want to live with people forcing me to feel guilty and responsible for everything that happened.”
He looked up at Rose, “You helped me believe that I did my best, and that’s enough. I can’t punish myself for failing at something that was beyond my control. Thank you for that.”
Rose laughed, “It’s funny how I can help others with something I’m so terrible at. I’ve always felt like the world was on my shoulders, and the slightest thing I did could crumble the universe, even when I was just a hybrid from the rainforest, not an international superstar.” Fae said sarcastically.
“We can be imperfect together.” Caiman said, reaching his talon over to touch faers, even though it went through faer hand and touched the ground.
Rose turned a bright shade of pink all over faer scales. “Imperfect together.” Fae agreed.
Behind them, the door to the courtroom opened again, Clay exiting with Violet, Palemoon, Mudskipper, and Capuchin in tow.
Clay brought Caiman into a tight hug that almost squeezed the life out of him, and he stumbled a little when he let him go. “A free dragon!” Clay exclaimed. “You deserve it.”
“Thank you,” Caiman smiled, “I’m ready to go now, if you guys are. I’m surprised to say this, but I’m really looking forward to class.”
“Me too!” Violet exclaimed, flying up into the air and doing a loop, “I’d even take math class at this point! No offence, Capuchin.”
“None taken, I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.” He replied.
“I’m so tired, that took like two full days and the second one went the whole night,” Mudskipper complained, “I think dragonets are supposed to get more sleep than this…”
“Maybe we should go to an inn,” Caiman said, “and leave after we’ve all had a good sleep.”
“We stayed at a pretty nice one last time we were here, Devastation Inn, remember that Rose?” Violet asked.
“Yup,” Fae replied.
“Pretty sinister name.” Caiman said.
“It’s kind of misleading,” Violet said, “Just a very standard inn with a very bored innkeeper.”
“Alright,” Caiman shrugged.
“Well, I guess that’s my cue to go,” Rose said, “Even just using this amulet takes a fair bit of concentration, and I’m getting a bit exhausted. I’ll check on you guys again in a few days, hopefully you’ll be in the rainforest by then so I can find you.”
“When we get back, I promise to return the favor and read you some scrolls in the medic cave.” Caiman said.
Rose laughed, “You might need a bit of practice first…”
“Not fair,” Caiman said, grinning, as Rose’s form disappeared.
He sighed, but looked at all the wonderful dragons around him and felt better again.
***
“I’m sure it was around here,” Violet said, frustrated. “It’s like it just disappeared!”
She paced up and down the street, but where Devastation Inn should have been, was only an empty lot where it seemed like MudWings dumped trash and abandoned items.
“I have a pretty bad sense of direction… but you don’t. You’ve always had, like, photographic memory for streets and buildings. And even I remember that there was that bakery next door.” Palemoon said, gesturing with an ivory claw towards a squat clay building, with hearty loaves of wheat bread on shelves in the windows, and the smell of freshly baking bread wafting out of the chimney.
“Strange,” Clay commented, “but we don’t really have time to figure it out. We should find another inn, I think we passed one on the way here that looked decent, at least… whatever they were cooking inside smelled pretty good.”
“Yeah, you’re right-”
“You said the Devastation Inn, right?” Capuchin asked.
“Yeah.” Violet said, “It was kind of an odd name, so I remembered it. I mean it’s not uncommon to have inn names that are, like, vague concepts, but this one was just so… dark? I guess?”
“Have you heard of it before?” Palemoon asked.
“No, nothing… Just someone I used to know. Where did you say Rose got that amulet again?”
“Found it in the rainforest while exploring.” Palemoon answered.
“Right… Right…” Capuchin said, forehead wrinkled in concern. He made an expression like he was shaking his thoughts away, and then said, “Forget I mentioned it. Let’s get going.”
They started walking back up to where they came, at Clay’s request.
Caiman began to sniff the air and noticed the delicious smell Clay had been talking about. That smells better than anything I’ve eaten in my life… He thought, but there was still a knot in his stomach. How can a building just disappear with no explanation?
He glanced back at the empty lot, and couldn’t drop the feeling that something was watching him.
=== Epilogue: The Lady ===
Where am I…what’s happening…I feel… strange… 
where is my body…who am I…
I can answer your questions. A voice resounded through the swirling mists of nothingness. Your name is Mosquito, and you’re dead. As for where you are, your soul is trapped in my web.
Mosquito… that’s right… mosquito…
A figure stepped closer out of the mists, walking towards Mosquito’s disembodied consciousness.
Who are you… why did you trap me…
Too late. You’re mine now, all your memories… everything that made you… you. The voice was a low, female voice, but elegant. Poised.
I can see you now… you’re… a RainWing…
I’m not a RainWing, I am destruction, devastation, terror. I am the ultimate being, a force of nature, and I need a new host. You see, your brother’s little friend Rose found my amulet. She doesn’t know all the things that it does. She doesn’t know that I can drive her mad, until she’s begging me, begging me to take her over.
I won’t… let you… Caiman… would be… sad…
Who said you had a choice? Who said you could stop me? The figure, still partially obscured by mist, let out a laugh that sent a cold chill throughout Mosquito’s incorporeal being.
Then, it began. A suctioning feeling, beginning as an intense pressure, building, building, and building until it felt as though (if Mosquito still had a body) her brain was being ripped out of her head by the force of magnetism. Once the memories broke away from Mosquito’s form, they snapped into the body of the dragon. There was nothing left of Mosquito when she was done, just a thin layer of mist left in her place that now coiled and curled along with everything else in the dragon’s web.
I am Lady Devastation, and everyone will know my name.
== The Story Will Continue! ==
Keep your eye out for the sequel, and other stories by DuskRose42.
The sequel -----> Devastation
A prequel about Violet and Palemoon's backstory (featuring Vulcan as well!) ----> A Pale Moon Rises
Some of Blood Ties from Tide's fractured perspective -----> Puppet Boy
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Genre (Prophecy)
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Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)