Wings of Fire: The Coming Change

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Wings of Fire: The Coming Change
Artwork and Coding by EclipseTheNightwing17
Story and text by Darkstalker1247
Flamethrower, Eclipse, and the DarkWings are non-canon and are owned by either user.'''
Genres	Semi-canon	Pyrrhia	Behind-the-scenes	Fantribe	Theoretical	Current-day
==Prologue==
In the lava, Flamethrower couldn’t hear the moans of the RainWing prisoners.
There were no beakers to clumsily knock over, no tails to accidentally step on, no prophecies to recite constantly, no stupid, grumpy, moon-blasted Morrowseer bullying him for his fireproof scales. In the lava, there was quiet. And warmth.
Flamethrower was different. Not just because of his scales and his weak mind reading powers. Because he cared. About the RainWing prisoners. Nobody else did. Every time he was placed on guard duty, he could feel the depression radiating from the prisoned dragons, and it made him want to claw his snout off. Nobody felt the same. Nobody…except her.
The one dragon who cared. Not just about the imprisoned rainforest dragons, but about him. Her name was Greatness. Yes, she was the only one. Flamethrower’s mother was dead (or so he heard), and his father didn’t give a scavenger’s head what happened to him. Greatness was a little smaller than him, with black eyes that matched her scales. Her wings always drooped, as if they were constantly weighed down by large boulders, and she wore a necklace with a quartz talisman in the center (a gift Flamethrower had given her on her fifth hatching day). She had a scar on her chest and always wore a nervous expression on her face. She didn’t want to be queen. Flamethrower loved her for that.
Morrowseer was the exact opposite. Ginormous in size, grumpy, always barking orders at everyone around him. Flamethrower wanted to yell at him for acting like a king, but there was one thing good about him. Deep under all that hate and anger was a small thread of respect for Flamethrower. That’s what redeemed him.
Flamethrower was well adapted to the NightWing Island. His fireproof scales made him heat-resistant, and his hot fire made him a perfect soldier. Morrowseer was planning on sending him to the front lines when they took over the rainforest. Flamethrower didn’t like this idea. He wanted to live in the rainforest with the RainWings. Maybe that would happen, just maybe…
Things were about to change.
==Part One:==
==Chapter 1==
Where is she?
Flamethrower was sitting on the left side of the Queen’s Eye, nervously fidgeting with his claws. Everyone else in the council chamber was impatiently mumbling amongst themselves, either talking about what they were going to catch at hunting time or about Queen Coral’s new scroll (Claws of Murder). But everyone was waiting for one dragon… Princess Greatness. Sometimes she was a little late, but never this late.
The sound of talons storming through the hall turned everyone’s attention to the doorway. Greatness ran in, seemingly in a rush. “So sorry I’m late,” she said frantically as waves of guilt radiated off her. The NightWings (especially Vengeance) glared and scowled, anger rippling off them. Flamethrower immediately took action, baring his teeth and speaking in Greatness’ defense. “Oh, it’s fine. We’re still waiting for Deathbringer to arrive anyways.” One of the council members foolishly spoke up. “Deathbringer’s on a mission to kill the RainWing the Talons used to replace the SkyWing egg they lost,” he said sternly. Flamethrower bared his teeth at the NightWing, and he immediately went wide-eyed. “Uh, I mean, yes, we are waiting for Deathbringer, uh, sir.” Flamethrower nodded at him then turned his focus to Greatness, who smiled at him and flew to her perch on the right side of the Eye. Thanks,her mind whispered. He twined his tail around hers. “Alright,” she said confidently, “I call this meeting of the NightWing Council to order.”
==Chapter 2==
After the meeting, Flamethrower was headed towards the forest. It was his week to hunt, even though his method of hunting was different from the other NightWings. His method was to creep up on his prey and kill it with his own claws, then set it on fire so the meat was nice and charred. His mouth was watering just thinking about it.
But on the way, he bumped into someone. It was the dragon who had spoke up in the chamber, a dragon named Deadlyclaws. “Flamethrower, sir,” he muttered nervously, “may I speak to you for a moment?” “Sure thing,” he replied, “and you don’t have to call me ‘sir’, you know.”
“Of- of course,” Deadlyclaws cleared his throat. “I’m extremely sorry for how I spoke out in the chamber. I screwed up, and it was entirely my fault.” He bowed his head, sweating nervously. Flamethrower smiled and put his talon on Deadlyclaws’ shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it. It was an honest mistake. Just, don’t do it again, alright?” Deadlyclaws let out a short wave of relief and nodded. “Have a good hunt!”
Flamethrower was used to some NightWings being afraid of him and treating him like he was The Darkstalker sometimes, even though there was no reason to. He mainly used his scary looks and hot fire to get some dragons to pay attention at council meetings and to stop dragons from putting too much pressure on Greatness. That was his number one priority, to make her happy. She’s always so stressed..
Flamethrower exited the fortress and lifted off, headed toward the hunting grounds and in a great mood. He spotted a lava lake and dove in, coming right back out almost immediately. It was nice to just feel that heat on his charcoal-black scales sometimes. It was his favorite thing to do.
As he flew toward the small forest where everyone hunted, an albatross passed by, close enough for Flamethrower to catch it in his talons and squeeze the life out of it. He carried the dead bird a little aways from the forest, towards the black sand beach where Flamethrower often met up with Greatness and they talked. He landed on the shore and felt the cool sand between his talons as he stared out at the open ocean. He lifted up the albatross and set it aflame, feeling the fire on his scales, then shoved the burning corpse into the waters, dousing the flame. He threw the albatross into the air and caught it in his mouth, chomping it down in two bites.
Hmm… maybe…Flamethrower thought to himself as an idea popped in his head. He bounded into the ocean water, which was cold and murky, and scanned for a fish. He waited a little while, and then a blue-mouthed bass curiously swam close. Too close. Gotcha.Flamethrower immediately grabbed the fish out of the water. It flopped around in his talon, but Flamethrower had a strong grip. He lifted off with the fish frantically squirming in his claws and headed toward the fortress.
His mind turned to the love of his life. Her rare smile that was only seen when they were together, her black eyes he sometimes got lost in, even the fact that she was the only dragon who knew about his mind reading. When she didn’t want to say anything out loud, (especially at council meetings) she always thought it so he could hear it. He loved her.
As Flamethrower made it to the fortress, he looked for Greatness’ chambers. Once he found them, his heart leaped. He flew as fast as he could as soon as he saw her waiting for him. He dove through the opening to a balcony, right into Greatness’ wings.
==Chapter 3==
Flamethrower sort of flew right by Greatness as he crash-landed into the wall of the chamber. She giggled almost uncontrollably as he stood up with a huge smile on his face. “I’m sorry, that must have hurt, but I just had to laugh,” she said, still giggling.
“Aw, what?” He joked, “I thought that was a grand entrance, don’t you think?”
“Yes, very grand,” she said, smiling.
“I-I brought you a fish,“ Flamethrower said with a shy smile, “your favorite.”
Aw, you know you didn’t have to… she thought. He wrapped his wings around her with dreamy eyes, and they sat there hugging for a long, peaceful, beautiful minute. This is what she needs.He did not let himself think, “this is what I need”. He handed her the fish. “I’ll see you later. Promise.” She twined her tail around his and said her goodbye.
When Flamethrower stepped out of the chamber, a dragon was waiting for him. “I hope you were able to get that out of your system,” Morrowseer said with a scowl, “Now, come with me. We have a mission.”
“What kind of mission?” Flamethrower asked skeptically. “Are we going to the mainland?”
Morrowseer just scowled, which was his way of saying, “Well, yes, but quit asking me questions”.
Flamethrower’s heart leaped. Even though he had been to the mainland before, it was nice to go back. He already knew why they were going. They were going to the Kingdom of Sand to meet Princess Burn. They needed to choose an ally in the next year to help them take over the rainforest, or the entire plan would be in vain. Morrowseer glanced over at Flamethrower and chuckled. “By the looks of it, you already know where we’re going.”
Flamethrower nodded. “I do, and I’m ready.”
==Chapter 4==
Flamethrower spread his wings next to his father. They were ready to take off for the mainland. Morrowseer had insisted on flying there instead of using the enchanted tunnel in the rainforest. He glanced down at his son and felt a bit of pride. “Alright. Let’s go.”
They were already about twenty heartbeats away when the storm started. Lightning flashed and thunder clapped. Flamethrower’s vision blurred. His wings were soaked. They passed over a rocky island and Morrowseer flew towards it.
“We can wait here until the rain stops,” He shouted, his voice barely audible over the thunder. They both dived at the same time, landing on the shore and immediately beginning to search for shelter. They eventually found a cave.
“I’ll gather some food. You find some decent wood for a fire,” Morrowseer ordered. Firewood? On an island made of rocks? There were no trees, and even if there was, they would all be too wet for a fire. Wait… maybe driftwood? Yes. Driftwood would work. It might be a little wet, but I can work with wet.He flew over toward the shoreline and scanned the waters. He spotted a small piece of white wood and grabbed it, smiling triumphantly. He flew back toward the cave, where Morrowseer was waiting with two scrawny fish. He glanced down at the wood Flamethrower brought back and scowled, as if to say, “This is it?”
Once they had eaten and a decent fire was burning, they both sat in the cavern, silent. Finally, Morrowseer spoke up. “There was another reason I brought you along, you know.” Flamethrower was seemingly surprised he could even come along, so he glanced up at his father curiously. “As you may know, about a week ago I traveled to the Talons of Peace camp and the cave where the Dragonets of Destiny are being held. I’ve met both of our NightWing options, and neither of them are suitable enough to fill the role to make our plan work. One of them is terrified and incapable of following orders. The other one thinks she can see the future and never shuts up.” He sighed. “We have decided to have a third backup. We have chosen you. I’m taking you to the Talons of Peace camp to meet the alternate dragonets.”
==Chapter 5==
Flamethrower felt as if the ground had dropped from underneath his talons. What did he just say? Him? A dragonet of destiny? He wasn’t even a dragonet! He had so many questions. Take a breath. One step at a time.
“What about choosing an ally?” Flamethrower asked, confused. Morrowseer smiled, a rare sight, and gave his answer.
“Don’t worry, I already took care of it. Our ally is Blister.” Flamethrower nodded. Blister would make a much better queen than Burn or Blaze. Burn was war-hungry, and Blaze had the IQ of a drugged goat. “So, once the rain stops, should we get going?” Morrowseer nodded. “Alright then, let’s wait it out.”
———
The next morning, Flamethrower awoke to the weird smell of petrichor. The storm was over. Morrowseer was still asleep, so he went over to wake him. Flamethrower tapped his father’s talons, and he muffled, opening his eyes. “Morning already?” He mumbled, standing up. “Alright then, let's get going.” Flamethrower walked outside of their shelter and spread his wings, lifting off. Morrowseer followed behind, then eventually took the lead.
“So where is the camp?” Flamethrower asked.
“Somewhere near the Claws of the Clouds Mountains,” Morrowseer answered calmly, “just follow me.”
Flamethrower could feel the warm sun on his wings as they finally reached the mainland. He stared down at the beautiful pine forests and towering mountains that looked like giant teeth sticking up from the ground. A SkyWing outpost there, a goat over that way; there were so many sights to see. But he was looking for one thing. There, about 30 wingbeats away, was the Talons of Peace camp. There, right there, were five dragonets: a red and black SkyWing, a pale yellow SandWing, a shrimpy green SeaWing, a brown MudWing, and a purple NightWing. Flamethrower smiled.
My new friends.
==Chapter 6==
Morrowseer dove down towards the waiting dragonets.Flamethrower followed closely behind as his talons touched the ground. He felt the soil squish between his talons. It felt so good. He could also feel the attitude of the dragonets. Oh. Hm.
The SkyWing, surprisingly, was the only one who would treat him with dignity. The SeaWing was unbelievably terrified of both him and Morrowseer. The MudWing didn’t seem to care, he was just hungry. The SandWing regarded him with a nod, showing a bit of respect for him. But the NightWing… was kind of a mess. Morrowseer was right, she did have prophecy power, but it was weak, and she was so excited, TOO excited, to see another member of her tribe.
“Flamethrower,” Morrowseer’s voice boomed, “my son. Behold the alternate dragonets of destiny.”
Flamethrower understood why Morrowseer mentioned how he was his son. Just as he said it, the dragonets snapped at attention, eyes wide. He nodded toward Morrowseer and stared at the five dragonets, pretending to categorize them like he was taught. Finally, the silence was broken by the NightWing dragonet.
“Hi! My name’s Fatespeaker. These are my friends. It’s so great to meet you! What’s the Night Kingdom like?” Flamethrower ignored the NightWing’s rambling questions, instead more focused on meeting the rest of them. They all seemed very annoyed at Fatespeaker, and after she noticed he wasn’t paying attention, they began to introduce themselves.
The SkyWing spoke up first. “My name’s Flame. The shrimpy SeaWing is Squid. The MudWing is Ochre. And then there’s Viper.” Flamethrower nodded towards each of them.
“Well hello, you five,” he said, spreading his wings with a smile, “as father said, my name is Flamethrower. I’m looking forward to getting to know each of you.”
“Ooh, me first!” Fatespeaker squeaked enthusiastically.
Flamethrower blinked a few times before saying, “Alright then, Fatespeaker, you first.”
==Chapter 7==
Flamethrower motioned to Fatespeaker and they flew over to a nearby cliff. He wrapped his wing around her shoulder so they could have privacy. She had black scales with deep blue and purple underscales, small silver scales on the edges of her eyes that looked just like the ones Flamethrower covered in soot to keep them hidden, and some silver scales around her wrist that looked like a bracelet. She was also very small.
“So, I’m Fatespeaker! It’s so nice to meet you! Have you been to the Night Kingdom? What am I saying, of course you have! What’s it like?”
Flamethrower smiled. “Well yes, I’ve been to the Night Kingdom,” he said proudly, “but I’m not allowed to tell you what it’s like. It’s… classified.” Her smile fell, but she was still glad. They talked for a little while, then they flew back to the other dragonets. Morrowseer was talking to Nautilus, and the dragonets were mumbling amongst themselves.
They all snapped to attention when Flamethrower landed. “Who wants to go next?” He asked them. “How about you, Flame?” Flame looked at him, surprised, and nodded. They flew to the cliff and sat there for a minute before Flamethrower said something.
“Why are you all afraid of me?” Flame stared at him, then shrugged.
“I’m not afraid. It’s probably just Squid. That little shrimp is afraid of everything.” Flamethrower was concerned for the five. They seemed to hate each other, which made sense. He liked them all, but Flame was the one he liked best. He wasn’t sure why.
He talked with each of the alternates, getting to know each of them well. Squid stuttered anytime he said anything and was absolutely terrified of him. Viper had major anger issues. And Ochre… was a dimwit. Literally the dumbest dragon Flamethrower had ever met. They didn’t reveal their personalities themselves, of course, but he read it in their minds.
Flamethrower walked over to Morrowseer to talk to him after meeting the dragonets. He overheard a conversation between his father and Nautilus, Squid’s father.
“What do you mean you’re taking them to the Island with you?” Nautilus questioned, his voice cracking. “It doesn’t make sense to me. I—“
“Because you are an incompetent idiot,” Morrowseer barked. “You were supposed to teach them to follow my orders. And you didn’t. They are coming with me.” Morrowseer glared at Nautilus, baring his teeth. Nautilus nodded, sweating, and walked away.
Morrowseer whirled around to see his son, his eyes widening. “How much did you hear?” He whispered.
“Enough to know what’s going on,” Flamethrower answered coolly, “They’re coming back with us?” Morrowseer growled. “Yes, and you are going to continue to live a normal NightWing life until you are needed. You don’t have to be near them. I understand that they are… difficult to deal with.” Flamethrower nodded, understanding. They both strode back over to the alternate dragonets.
Morrowseer spoke to them before Flamethrower had the chance to say anything. “You all are coming back with us. Whether you like it or not.”
==Part Two:==
==Chapter 8==
The council was in an uproar.
Flamethrower was at his usual spot in the council chamber, his tail in the lava below and his eyes focused on Greatness. She was sitting on the right side of the Queen’s Eye, her talons covering her eyes. Please calm them down…her mind begged. 
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” he said with a smile.
The dragons below were arguing about what the NightWing dragonet from the prophecy had just said: the RainWings were going to attack. The alarm and distress coming from the council members was overwhelming. The only two calm ones were the queen and Morrowseer. He was about to breath a plume of fire to get everyone to shut up and pay attention when a dragon walked in and hushed everybody.
“It doesn’t matter,” Vengeance said confidently, “RainWings are no match for us.” Greatness’ eyes went wide.
“Vengeance, you were not invited to this council.”
Vengeance frowned. “Yeah, I noticed. And yet, I’m the one who knows the most about what those lazy fruit-eater can do.” He pointed to the venom scar on his face.
Flamethrower let smoke rise from his nostrils and bared his teeth. “Oh yes,” he said sarcastically, “we all know about your tragic attempt to nab their queen and how you were hit. What’s your point? Oh, let me guess. You want to pin Deathbringer for something he didn’t do.”
Vengeance didn’t seem afraid this time. Instead he smiled and said, “Actually, that is my plan. BRING HIM IN!” Deathbringer was dragged into the council chamber and Vengeance shoved him onto the floor. “This assassin pet of Princess Greatness was seen conspiring with the enemy,” he growled. “I have witnesses who saw him with them!”
Greatness frowned. He knew that she wasn’t going to kill Deathbringer, her star assassin. She leaned in toward the Queen’s Eye to listen to her mother’s orders. Flamethrower leaned in too, and what he heard was a low, raspy whisper. “Kill Vengeance, and put the assassin in our dungeon.”
Greatness nodded, then spoke. “Queen Battlewinner has made her decision. Vengeance, you brought the RainWing back to the island. You endangered the tribe.” Vengeance’s eyes went wide.
“But- but Deathbringer did worse!,” he stuttered, “Glory didn’t look no different from any other RainWing—!“
“AND IN ADDITION,” Greatness shouted, annoyed, “you are irritating your queen.” She glanced over at Flamethrower. “Flamethrower, would you like to do the honors?”
He nodded and then jumped down into the lava, slowly walking over toward Vengeance with his teeth bared. Vengeance was frozen still, knowing what was coming. Flamethrower got out of the lava pool right next to Vengeance. He leaned in to whisper, “I know you wanted revenge on your brother, but it was Deathbringer’s mission.” Vengeance sighed, accepting his death. Then Flamethrower grabbed him by his neck and pinned him down in the lava pool, killing him.
==Chapter 9==
An hour later, Flamethrower sat in his private chamber, deep in thought. He stared down at his talons, which were shaking. He hated execution, especially when Queen Battlewinner asked him to do it. The sound of Vengeance’s near-silent scream as he hit the lava was playing over and over in his head. He knew he would have nightmares about this one. Even though Deathbringer was a friend and Vengeance wanted him dead, Vengeance didn’t deserve to die.
“Knock, knock,” a familiar voice called softly. “You alright?” Flamethrower’s head perked up as Greatness walked through the door. She wore a worried expression, and when he saw it, he cleared his throat and stood up straight.
“Uh—yeah, I’m fine,” he lied nervously.
She smiled shyly and said, “Flamethrower, we both know you’re lying.” He sighed and nodded, frowning.
Greatness wrapped her wing around him. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have asked, she thought, choking back a sob.
“No, it wasn’t,” he said calmly and frantically at the same time, “you were just following orders, like I was.” He rested his talon on her shoulder, much calmer now. She looked lovingly at him and smiled. He smiled back, staring deep into her coal-black eyes. They were silent for a minute, their tails entwined and their wings wrapped around each other.
==Chapter 10==
The halls were empty. It was night, so everyone was asleep. But Flamethrower couldn’t sleep. No, not that, he just didn’t want to. He didn’t like to sleep that much. He would rather hunt or fly or do literally anything else. So what was he doing? He was going to the library.
The NightWing library was huge. Scrollshelves lined the walls and towered up to the ceiling, each neatly labeled and organized. The librarian working there was named Foresight, who was quiet and mostly kept to himself. There were hundreds of scrolls that keep you reading for hours, maybe even days. Flamethrower loved getting lost in those stories, especially his favorite: Tales of the NightWings. He strode into the library and spotted a red dragonet with large wings.
“Flame!” He said, glad to see his friend. “My favorite dragonet! How are you?” Flame’s wings flinched as he turned to meet Flamethrower’s eyes.
“I- I’m fine, just looking for a scroll.” Flamethrower looked at him skeptically. “What kind of scroll?” Flame looked around, making sure nobody else was in the room, then motioned for Flamethrower to lean in.
He did, then Flame whispered; “Can you keep a secret?” Flamethrower nodded. Flame let out a sigh of relief and kept talking. “I’m looking for a scroll on assassins. I want to- uh, learn about them.”
He choked on that last sentence. Flamethrower knew he was lying. He knew what Flame wanted to do. “Well, I’m not an expert on killing,” Flamethrower whispered, “but I do know a dragon you can ask for advice. His name is Deathbringer, and he’s down in the dungeon. He can help you.” Flame nodded as thanks, then crept out of the library.
———
A few hours later, as Flamethrower was reading, another dragonet walked in. But this one wasn’t Flame. There in the doorway stood a small black dragonet, admiring the scrolls around him. He didn’t look like anyone Flamethrower had ever met. In fact, he looked much more healthy than the other NightWings. He had midnight-black scales, a slate-colored underbelly and green eyes. Flamethrower’s head perked up. “Hello, little black dragon. My name is Flamethrower.”
The dragonet’s eyes went wide for a second, then he replied, “H- hi, my name’s Starflight.”
==Chapter 11==
Starflight…where had Flamethrower heard that name before?
Oh, wait. Last week. Flamethrower remembered going to chat with the alternate dragonets and Fatespeaker mentioned someone named Starflight. “He actually sometimes reminds me of you,” Fatespeaker had said, “except he’s a lot cuter and he’s a scrollworm.” So this was him. Starflight. What a beautiful name.Flamethrower smiled, attempting to make a good first impression, and invited Starflight to the table where he was reading.
“What are you reading?” Starflight asked, peering over his shoulder. “Something about the RainWings, I presume?” Flamethrower sensed loneliness and gloom inside this dragon and wrapped his wing around him, attempting to be sympathetic.
“No, not a RainWing scroll,” he said, his voice lowering to a whisper, “trust me, I don’t like the idea of keeping them prisoner either.”
Starflight’s eyes went wide as he kind of panicked. Oh no, he must be reading my mind. He probably knows all my secrets and I need to run and—!Poor Starflight. His mind was racing. Flamethrower looked him straight in the eyes and lowered his voice to a calming whisper. 
“It’s alright, I’ll stay out of your head if you want.”
Starlfight let out a sigh of relief. Thank you,he thought, then looked again at the scroll laying on the table beneath Flamethrower’s talons.
“It’s a scroll about the geography of the Kingdom of Sand,” Flamethrower explained, sensing his father coming near. “Care to read?” Starflight’s mind told him he definitely wanted to read it, but he shook his head. “No, thanks. I’d better get going.” He nervously crept out of the room and headed toward the dragonet dormitory.
Just then, talons stomped in. Morrowseer. “I see you’ve met our NightWing prophecy dragonet,” he grumbled. “I wanted you to meet both of them, because we’ll have to kill one. Or both. We do have you.” Flamethrower’s wings twiched.
“W- who are you planning on killing?” “That’s what I came to ask,” Morrowseer said coolly, “I’d like you to choose.”
Flamethrower thought for a minute. Which one would he kill? On one talon, he liked Fatespeaker’s company and her questions about the tribe. Her death would make the rest of the alternate dragonets happy. On the other talon, Starflight was lonely. He needed a friend and just wanted to get back to his friends in the rainforest. He didn’t deserve death, and it would just make Flamethrower feel awful.
“I’ve made my decision,” Flamethrower grumbled, “I’ve chosen for you to kill Fatespeaker.” Morrowseer smiled, glad his son could come to a decision. But Flamethrower wasn’t done talking. “But on one condition,” he said sternly, turning around to face his father with bravery in his eyes. “You leave her alive for the next week. Then you take her on a ‘mission’ alone. Go toward the mainland, and stop for a break halfway. Kill her in her sleep.”
Morrowseer nodded, agreeing completely, to Flamethrower’s surprise. “Alright. I suppose we can keep her alive a bit longer. You’ve made a good choice.” He strode out of the library, leaving Flamethrower alone. Just then, Starflight’s head peeked back in with an expression of terror.
“We’ll talk later,” Flamethrower mouthed at him. Then Starflight nodded fiercely and left in a rush. I wish he hadn’t heard that…
==Chapter 12==
Flamethrower trod down the hallway, head down. It had been a long night, he was tired, and he had two things to worry about. How to explain to Starflight what had just happened and how to keep Fatespeaker alive. The first would be quite easy, he just had to tell Starflight that he had a plan and that Morrowseer was his father. There was one problem… HE DIDN’T HAVE A PLAN.
How in Pyrrhia can you spare a dragon without telling that dragon that she was going to die in the first place?If he told Fatespeaker then she would say something to Morrowseer, then Flamethrower’s plan would be ruined! Ugh, WHY didn’t he stall? Was it because he was scared? No, Morrowseer never scared him, not anymore. Was it because he knew Starflight was missing? No, he didn’t sense Starflight. Was- was it because he thought Morrowseer would make him kill his choice? Flamethrower immediately shoved that thought down. I will not think that. I will not kill Fatespeaker. I will not kill any other dragon without being forced to.
He neared his chambers. He just wanted to sleep right now. He let his tail drag the ground as he turned the corner, and of course Starflight was standing there. Flamethrower sighed. “I can explain, just hear me out—”
“I know, I know,” Starflight said reassuringly, “I just hope you can pull it off.” He stared at his talons gloomily. Flamethrower gave a sigh of relief. Good. That would make his job a little easier, especially since him and Starflight were on the same boat. Starflight said his goodbye and headed back to the dormitory.
Flamethrower hung his head and walked into his chamber. It was small, with a pile of blankets on a wooden bed in the corner and a shelf with a few blank scrolls. He trudged over to his bed and laid down on it, closing his eyes. He just wanted to get some rest. He had just a second to think, oh, I forgot to tell Starflight… about my father…before tumbling into a dreamless darkness.
==Chapter 13==
Two days before Fatespeaker was set to die, Battlewinner set a plan for attack on the rainforest. Flamethrower had come up with a plan the night before. He had told Starflight and Greatness what he was trying to do and they both understood. Flame was dying, Viper was dead, and Squid was missing.
The plan was simple: Starflight was to escape the island with Flame and Fatespeaker, Flame would get his venom wound healed, and Greatness was to tell everyone to attack the rainforest tonight. That should buy them some time before an army of RainWings came for their prisoners. Flamethrower was to help the prisoners escape and just prayed that the RainWing queen would let the NightWings live in the rainforest with them.
The ground trembled as Flamethrower rushed to the cave he was assigned to. His RainWing prisoner he was set to guard was blue, with hints of black along his scales. He always radiated a little hunger and a lot of depression, but Flamethrower always gave him a little more food than he was supposed to. He landed in front of the cave and threw on his helmet. Clutching his spear, he waited impatiently for the RainWings to arrive.
He spotted three dragons in the sky. Two NightWing dragonets were carrying a SkyWing. Flame, Starflight and Fatespeaker; Flamethrower thought joyfully, reassuring himself that his plan would work. Those were his dragons. His friends. He would follow them to the edge of the world, and he thought—no, he knew—that they would follow him too.
The ground shook beneath Flamethrower’s talons. That was worrying. He glanced up at the volcano. If that erupted, the entirety of the NightWing tribe could be wiped out. Greatness might…no. He would never ever let Greatness die. He wished he was an animus so he could enchant something to keep her alive, and to give her mind reading. He wanted so badly for Greatness to have mind reading. Or anyone. That would be nice…
No. Flamethrower, focus on the task at hand. He took a deep breath and watched the skies with bated breath. He spotted two dragonets. Two NightWing dragonets. They did it. Fatespeaker and Starflight dove towards the cave where Flamethrower was waiting for them. Time to save some RainWings,he thought. He was ready.
==Chapter 14==
Starflight’s talons touched down first. Flamethrower smiled. “Starflight! Where are the RainWings?”
“Right here,” a voice hissed. A dragon seemingly appeared out of thin air. “Starflight, who is this? I thought you said you had a friend who could help,” the dragon said. 
“This is the friend who can help,” Starflight said, his voice rising to a squeak. “Glory, meet Flamethrower. Flamethrower, meet Glory.”
Flamethrower slightly bowed, realizing this was the RainWing queen. “Good to meet you,” he said coolly, “There’s a prisoner in here, a blue-and-black RainWing. Let me fetch him, then we can move on to the others.” Glory seemed doubtful, but he went into the cave anyway.
The RainWing was lying on the ground, eyes half closed. “Psst,” Flamethrower whispered to him. “I’m here to rescue you. Hold still.” The RainWing’s head perked up. He took his spear and fit it to the lock on the RainWing’s muzzle. It clicked and the muzzle fell off. The RainWing flexed his jaw, then looked at him gratefully.
“Thank you,” he said weakly. “My name’s Toucan.” Flamethrower smiled and motioned for Toucan to follow him outside.
Toucan’s eyes squinted in the light as they stepped out of the cave. Glory stared. Wow. He really did free the RainWing. 
“Everyone, this is Toucan,” Flamethrower said, waving his wing in Toucan’s direction. Toucan smiled and waved shyly.
“Alright,” Glory ordered, clapping her front talons together. “Flamethrower, you take Toucan back to the rainforest. Jambu, you go with him—” Who’s Jambu?“—Mangrove, Starflight, you two come with me. We’ll search for Orchid.” Two more RainWings materialized. One was pink, the other was blue and purple. 
“Ok Glory,” the pink one said, turning toward him. “Hey Flamethrower. I’m Jambu. Let’s get you and Toucan back to the rainforest.”
They took flight, and Jambu disappeared. “Toucan,” Flamethrower said in a raspy whisper, “camouflage your scales. If I’m ever seen with a RainWing prisoner, I’ll be killed.” Toucan’s eyes went wide as he dissolved into the background. Once they reached the tunnel, Flamethrower noticed how the RainWings got to the island in the first place. The guards were both knocked out, with a blow dart sticking out of their shoulders. Flamethrower raised a claw to his mouth, signaling the RainWings to be quiet. They slipped silently past the sleeping guards and traveled through the long, winding tunnel. It was very dark and hard to see. Flamethrower breathed fire on his talon, lighting up the tunnel and revealing Jambu and Toucan.
“Alright,” Jambu whispered, “let’s go.”
They stepped through to the beautiful light of the moons. Flamethrower felt the soil and stared up at the sky. I want to live here.“Jambu, you know where the village is,” he said. “Take Toucan there. I’m going back for my girlfriend.”
==Chapter 15==
The volcano was spewing lava as Flamethrower charged through the tunnel. Greatness can’t die. I won’t ever let her die.He took flight and frantically searched for her around the island.
Wait. The throne room. That’s where she would be. He knew where to go. He flew over the very tip of the volcano as it hissed and spit a lava ball at his wing. He flung it away, ignoring it completely, then dived down toward the nearest entrance.
Once he landed, he started running as fast as his legs could carry him toward the throne room. The halls seemed so much longer than usual, and they were empty. The NightWings were preparing to attack the RainWings.
The throne room was up ahead. Flamethrower tried to stop in time to reach it, but he tripped and fell right in front of the Eye. He heard Starflight talking through the wall and leaned in to listen. All he caught was “—if they accept you as their new queen.” New queen? Wait. The plan. The plan worked!Flamethrower wanted to do a flip and jump around like crazy, he was so happy. Task at claw, task at claw,his mind whispered.
He didn’t sense Greatness. WHERE WAS GREATNESS? Flamethrower panicked and darted away toward the only place where she could be, her chamber. Run. Run. Run.His mind screamed. The ground shook violently. The eruption. Greatness was about to die.
There she is,he thought, spotting her and trying to run faster. The volcano rumbled. She turned to glance at him as he picked her up off the ground and lifted into flight. The exit was right in front of him, so he dove down, covering Greatness in his wings. The tunnel. He had to get to the tunnel.
Hundreds of NightWings were already there, evacuating to the rainforest. Everything was about to change.
Behind Flamethrower, the volcano erupted into a stream of fire. All the NightWings were through except Morrowseer, who was running toward there at that moment. Flamethrower dove down into the tunnel as the lava creeped around his scales. He flew through the entrance into the rainforest. He dropped Greatness safely to the ground and tried to land, but couldn’t. He crashed into a tree and everything went black.
==Chapter 16==
Flamethrower could smell the cool morning air. He could hear birds singing in harmony. But his eyes were closed. His body was almost completely numb. Urgh. His head hurt. Where am I? What happened?
Is Greatness okay?
He felt a talon on his chest and his wings flinched. “Flamethrower, it’s me,” Greatness whispered to him. “Can you hear me?” Flamethrower opened his eyes. The light was blinding and it made his head hurt more. He closed his eyes again and groaned. “It’s alright. You hit your head pretty hard,” Greatness’ voice called again. “Don’t worry. Everyone’s safe now. Queen Glory is letting us live in the rainforest with the RainWings. That’s what you wanted, right?”
“Yes,” Flamethrower muttered, attempting to open his eyes again. “Where are we?” His eyes opened to the sight of Greatness’ beautiful smile. He sat up, looking around the hut he was in. It was wooden, with a wheatgrass roof and a small window with a leaf covering it. He lay on a bare wooden bed, and there were three dragons in the hut with him; Greatness and two other black dragons. One was smaller than the other, with shiny purplish-black scales and silver scales outside of each eye. The other looked almost exactly like her, but without the silver scales. He glanced at Greatness, asking her “Who are these dragons?” with his eyes.
“This is Secretkeeper,” she said, spreading one of her wings toward the larger NightWing.
Secretkeeper? That name felt so familiar…WAIT. MOTHER?
He glanced at Secretkeeper with wide eyes. She shed a tear of pure joy. “My son. I know Morrowseer told you lies. He lied to me too, telling me you died in your egg.” She spread her wings, pride filling her eyes. Flamethrower scrambled off the wooden bed and hugged his mother fiercely. Tears of joy began to stream down his face.
“I thought you were dead,” he said in between sobs. Everything was going right for once. Wait a second. That other NightWing…who was that?
She had a sort of different aura to her mind, like she was…no. Impossible. She couldn’t, but… could she? He twined his tail around his mother’s and glanced at the smaller NightWing. Can you…he thought as loud as he could, can you read my mind?The dragonet’s eyes went wide, but she gave an answer: I can, but I didn’t think anyone else could.Secretkeeper slightly gasped, realizing that she forgot to introduce the dragonet, then cleared her throat. 
“Flamethrower, this is your younger sister. Say hi, Moonwatcher.”
She smiled shyly and waved at him. “Hi,” she said quietly, “I’m Moon. It’s nice to meet you.” Does anyone else know you can read minds?Flamethrower glanced over at Greatness and smiled. She smiled back. 
“How come I’ve never seen you on the island before, Moon?” Flamethrower queried. She stared down at her crescent-shaped claws. “Because I didn’t grow up on the island. I grew up here, in the rainforest.” Flamethrower nodded. “I see.” Lucky.Greatness came over to him and wrapped his wing around her. You sure you’re ok?She looked at him, worried. “I’m fine,” he said reassuringly, although his head still hurt a little. “Wait. Where’s Morrowseer?”
Greatness’ lip quivered. No,he thought, realizing immediately. No. No. No. No.His talons began to tremble. “D- don’t say it,” he mumbled, holding back tears. 
“I know.” Greatness hugged him as he cried. It’s okay, she thought, it’s gonna be okay.He wished he hadn’t asked. Even though Morrowseer was a terrible dragon and did terrible things, he was still Flamethrower’s father. And now, he was dead. Died in the eruption. Flamethrower leaned in to listen to Greatness’ heartbeat. He needed her warmth right now.
Things had changed. For the better. Flamethrower knew a mind reader, who was his sister. He finally met his mother, after so long. Fatespeaker was alive. The NightWings were living in the rainforest in harmony with the RainWings. He and Greatness could be together forever, safe and happy. His friends were with him. But the one flaw was that his father was dead. That was fine, he would get over it eventually. Hopefully. Everything had changed. The terribleness was over. But, somewhere deep down, Flamethrower knew that something else, a new adventure, was on the horizon.
==Part Three:==
==Chapter 17==
It was a beautiful morning in the rainforest. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. Flamethrower was taking a walk toward his favorite river with Moon. “Did you hear about Starflight?,” he asked her.
“Yeah, I heard he was blinded in the eruption,” she replied, “Is he ok?” He glanced in the direction of the RainWing village.
“I think so. He’s knocked out in the healer’s hut, recovering. He has to wear a blindfold for the rest of his life. Oh wait, here’s the river I told you about.”
Flamethrower relished the sound of the babbling brook as they came to their destination. The river was quite wide, with coy swimming around in circles and a small waterfall pouring water down into the beautiful blue waters. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” He smiled, bending his head down to look at his younger sister. She shrugged her shoulders.
“Eh, it’s alright. I can see why you would like it. You did live on an island for your whole life.” He rolled his eyes and smiled at Moon.
“Now, should we get started?”
Moon smiled. Flamethrower had been trying to teach her how to control her mind reading powers. She also had foresight, but he had no idea how to help with that, except comforting her when she woke up from a vision in the middle of the night (sometimes screaming). Alright, he thought, focus on the sound of the river. She made a weird face and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Ok, she thought, a little skeptical, now what? Flamethrower inhaled. “Now,” he said coolly, “imagine my thoughts being washed away by the water.” She stared at the river, focusing. Can you hear my thoughts now?
Moon gave no response. “It worked!” he said, wagging his tail like a wolf. She jumped at his excited squeak.
“What worked?” She nervously asked, “Did I do something?” Did I do something wrong?
“No, no,” he said, taking her front talons in his, “you did exactly what you were supposed to do. You blocked out my thoughts, Moon. Now you won’t have to worry about any headaches anymore.” He let go of her talons, realizing that was something he and Greatness did. “Now,” he said to her, “I’m thirsty. Let’s get a drink.”
As they dipped their heads into the river for a drink, a dragon appeared out of the trees. He had pale black scales like a NightWing, but the insides of his wings were grey. He had cloudy blue eyes and dirt in between his claws. He dipped his head down for a drink. “Who are you?” Flamethrower queried. The strange dragon noticed them, picked his head up out of the river, and darted into the trees. “Wait! Where are you going?”
Moon and Flamethrower looked each other in the eye, mouths hanging open. What had just happened?
==Chapter 18==
“No, I’m not joking, we really saw something!”
Flamethrower and Greatness were in their house, talking about the strange dragon from the river. They were kinda arguing, but it was hard for Flamethrower to argue with anyone, especially her.
“Alright, alright,” Greatness said, putting her front talons in the air, “tell me what exactly happened again.” Flamethrower sighed and began his story.
“Ok, so I was training with Moon by my favorite river and ducked down to get a drink. All of a sudden, a dragon appeared out of nowhere. He had pale black scales and cloudy blue eyes.”
Greatness looked at him skeptically. “Sounds like a normal NightWing to me.” Flamethrower let his tail swish back and forth and kept talking.
“I thought that too, but when he spread his wings, they weren’t black with white scales scattered around, they were just a weird pale grey. He ran away before I could ask him anything.”
Greatness seemed concerned. A NightWing with grey wings… is that even possible?“Are you sure you saw it?” She asked, putting one wing over his shoulder. “You hit your head pretty hard a month ago. Maybe you were seeing things.” 
Flamethrower shook his head. “No way, I’m fine! Moon saw him too. Right, Moon?” He whirred around to where his sister was standing before, but she wasn’t there. “Moon?”
“Right here,” Moon said shyly from the corner. “Flamethrower’s right. Something’s out there.” But—but that isn’t possible, Greatness thought skeptically.
“Okay,” she said in her ‘let’s be sensible about this’ voice, “if you really did see something in the forest, maybe you should tell Her Majesty. She would want to know about this.” Hmm. She’s right. Queen Glory might know who that stranger is.
Moon put her talon to her forehead as if she had a painful headache. Having a vision?He thought to her. Greatness didn’t seem to notice until Flamethrower glanced over at his sister. 
“You okay?” She said, walking over to the dragonet and putting her wing around her. Moon nodded, taking her talon off her head.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said nervously, “just a little tired.”
“Come on,” Flamethrower said to her, “let’s go find some mangos for you. I know they’re your favorite.”
Moon smiled shyly. “Yeah, okay.” They walked out of the house together and made their way out of the NightWing village. Once they were far enough away, Flamethrower spoke to her.
“Your vision. What happened?” The vision flashed through her mind. The dragon they saw earlier. Underground. With other dragons that looked just like him. And a word, a name. “DarkWings,” she blurted aloud. “That’s what they’re called. I—I don’t know where they came from, but I started having visions about them ever since this morning.”
Flamethrower put his claw to his chin. “Hmm,” he said, brainstorming, “in the vision, the DarkWings were in some sort of cavern. Maybe somewhere in a mountain?”
“Maybe,” Moon said skeptically, “but I think it’s somewhere else.”
“Maybe near the river there’s a cave of some kind?” Flamethrower guessed, picking up a mango and handing it to her. She bit into it. “Maybe we should look there, then. We’re close to it.”
Alright, she thought, let’s look there then.
The river was as calm as that morning. There were cod swimming around, trees that blew in the gentle breeze, and the clear water flowed lazily.
“Alright,” Flamethrower strategized, “the dragon came from over that way.” He pointed toward a patch of bushes. “Let’s look around there and hopefully we’ll find something.” He jumped to the other side of the river and helped his sister across.
Once there, he began to push away bushels and branches that were in his way. Moon peered over his shoulder. He glanced around, studying the thick rainforest around him. He took a step and nearly fell into a giant pit. As he stood up and shook dirt off his wings, he stared at the gaping hole in the ground. Moon clutched his back leg and pressed her talons to her forehead, her mind overwhelmed with visions.
“I think,” Flamethrower said, startling her, “we just found what we were looking for.”
==Chapter 19==
Flamethrower and Moon were trudging through the dirt, tired after the long day. Moon’s visions had given her an immense headache, so Flamethrower was trying not to think so she wouldn’t be too overwhelmed. Two of the moons were crescent moons, the other was half full. When they made it back, a few NightWing dragonets were gathered around a bonfire, sharing snacks and telling stories. If I were any younger, I would go join them.Flamethrower thought, reminiscing of his childhood. That was when he met Greatness. He remembered that perfect day fondly, the way he bumped into her and she took a walk with him to calm him down.
It had been a hot day, with sleet falling from the sky and the air smelling a lot more sulfur-y than usual. Flamethrower was sick. Really sick. He had told Morrowseer his symptoms and asked to go see the healers multiple times, but his father had refused.
“You’re a NightWing, Thoughtseer,” Morrowseer had barked coldly, “start acting like it. If you’re going to let a little cold bring you down, you don’t belong here.”
Flamethrower remembered wanting to yell back but instead breaking into tears and leaving in a huff. He remembered rushing out the nearest exit and going for a fly. He remembered his eyes being flooded with tears as he flew over a glowing lava lake. He had flown straight into her without knowing and crashed straight into the lava lake. He had blacked out for a second, but then he woke up without a scratch on his scales, which had smoke rising from them.
“Are you alright?!” Greatness’ voice had called to him, enveloping him even now with a feeling of security.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he had said, sitting up and smiling at her.
“How are you not burning?!” She seemed horrified. He didn’t know, he just shrugged and clumsily climbed out of the lake. As he shook the lava droplets out of his wings, he spoke to her.
“Hi! My name’s Thoughtseer. What’s yours?” She giggled.
“I’m Greatness. Your smoking scales are cool.” Flamethrower remembered looking at his scales and deciding he wanted a different name. It was weird how he came up with it, and he wasn’t sure why, but everyone liked his new name.
For the next few weeks after that, he and Greatness usually walked and flew together, even adjusting the schedule so they could hunt together. They fell for each other then, when they were together. Precious memories. So distant in the past, and yet they felt like they happened yesterday.
“I didn’t know you changed your name,” Moon said, shaking Flamethrower from his trance.
“Oh, sorry,” Flamethrower said, startled, “did I make your head hurt more?”
She giggled. “No, I liked that story. It’s really cool what your scales can do.” She tapped a spot on his foreleg. His scales were kind of like armor. They protected him and made him feel safe.
“Are you going to be ok?,” Flamethrower asked his sister, “with your visions, I mean. Do you think you might have nightmares?” Moon ducked her head and nodded. He put his wing over her. “Want me to sleep with you tonight?” She smiled.
“That would be nice,” she whispered.
When they got back to Flamethrower’s house, Moon was almost asleep and not thinking about her visions anymore. Good.They silently creeped inside and Flamethrower lay down on his bed. Moon lay next to him and closed her eyes. After a minute, her chest was rising and falling. Flamethrower tucked her in his wing and slowly drifted off to sleep.
==Chapter 20==
“This could be bad.”
There were four dragons by the strange giant hole: Flamethrower, Moon, Greatness, and Queen Glory. “A dragon came out of here?” Glory asked, staring at the open pit.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Flamethrower replied, “we don’t know where it leads.” Moon picked up a small rock and tossed it in, noticing that it was not very deep.
“And you’re sure,” the queen responded, “that this isn’t another NightWing tunnel.” Flamethrower nodded his head fiercely.
“Yes. Yes, I’m sure.” He peered into the hole and slipped, falling down to the bottom.
“Flamethrower,” Greatness yelled down to him, “are you alright?”
Flamethrower stood up and rubbed his head. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he yelled back, “I think I can see what’s down here.”
“Wait,” Glory said, hatching a plan, “I have an idea. You explore down there, and every night I’ll have someone dreamvisit you so you can tell us what you’ve found.” Flamethrower nodded, up for the challenge.
“Got it.”
Moon stood at the edge of the hole. “Wait,” she said frantically, “I want to come too. You don’t know what’s down there. You might need backup.” She flew down and landed beside him. “Also, I think you might get lonely.”
Flamethrower bumped her side. “Aw, you big sap. Greatness, tell Secretkeeper what we’re doing. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”
She looked down at them. “I’ll miss you,” she yelled. He took one last look at her and breathed fire on his talon to act as a torch.
“Shall we get going?” He looked down at his sister, her teardrop scales glistening in the firelight. She smiled and nodded fiercely.
“Alright,” Flamethrower boomed bravely, “let’s go.”
==Chapter 21==
The tunnel was just narrow enough for two dragons to squeeze through. Even in the firelight it was hard to see. Moon was nervously pressing up against Flamethrower’s side, and he wrapped his wing around her. “Are you having visions again?” She started shaking, which told him the answer was yes. “Don’t worry,” he reassured her calmly, “I’m here to protect you.”
Flamethrower was glad that Moon had decided to come. He would’ve been lonely within the first three heartbeats. She would’ve been worried sick about him, especially with her visions acting up. Wait… was that a light at the end of the tunnel?
“Moon,” Flamethrower whispered to his sister, “Moon, there’s something here.” She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
“Flamethrower,” she whimpered, “I’m scared.”
He twined his tail around hers. “I know,” he sympathized, “it’s gonna be okay. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”
The light was coming from a lantern. A little metal lantern with a flaming coal inside. Flamethrower blew the fire on his talon out and stared at the light. Moon looked at it curiously and reached for its handle. She carried it in her talon and they began to press on. Then there was another lantern. And then another. And another. Where were these coming from?
“We’re getting closer,” Moon suddenly spoke up, making Flamethrower’s wings flinch.
“Closer to what?” She shook a little, then spoke, nearly silent; “to the home of the DarkWings.”
==Chapter 22==
Moon was shaking and leaning against Flamethrower as they came to a large pile of boulders blocking the way. “A dead end,” Flamethrower whispered. “Moon, you said there was something here.” Moon looked straight at him and an image flashed across her mind. A dragon on the other side, somehow watching them. Something’s beyond this wall. “So we just need to knock this wall down,” Flamethrower said to himself, “how do we do that?”
At a comically perfect time, two black talons, covered in dirt, peeked through small holes and grabbed a boulder, pulling it away. The whole pile came tumbling down, revealing an opening to a large room with some of those lanterns hanging from stalactites and a pattern on the floor made of quartz and sapphires. And a dragon. The. Dragon.
“Hello,” Flamethrower said to the mysterious dragon, “my name is Flamethrower. This is my sister, Moon.” He glanced down at her, and found that she was still leaning to his side. She shyly waved her talon.
“Hi,” the dragon said in a raspy voice, “I’m Amethyst. Welcome to the Kingdom of Darkness.”
There were no other dragons…and two possibilities why. Either Amethyst was the last one or they were all asleep.
“Excuse me,” Moon spoke up, startling Flamethrower, “are you alone here?”
Amethyst laughed. “Come on, let me show you to my room.” Moon, Flamethrower thought to his sister, you have stronger powers than me. Can we trust him? She stood up, her visions finally stopping for now. I—I think so… I mean, he never did anything bad in my visions. I think we should trust him.Flamethrower nodded at her and followed behind Amethyst.
Flamethrower felt kinda drowsy, and figured that’s why Moon had been half-asleep the whole way. The tunnel they had just come through was very long. How long had they been walking? Flamethrower’s talons hurt nonetheless, and maybe he could get some sleep.
“Here we are,” Amethyst said, waking him from his trance, “you can sleep here for tonight. I’ll explain everything in the morning.”
The room was small and kinda cramped, but there were two beds big enough to fit a dragon with their wings spread. Flamethrower and Moon sluggishly climbed onto one and curled up, Moon under Flamethrower’s safe wing. Amethyst crawled into the other and pulled a ragged blanket over his shoulders. Flamethrower closed his eyes and held Moon tight. Soon he was enveloped in a darkness beyond dreams.
==Chapter 23==
First, Flamethrower gave his report to Deathbringer. They didn’t talk much, and Flamethrower just told him what he found and where he was. But afterwards, he had a different dream. One he had often, but hated. It was about his father, Morrowseer. He stood at one end of a gap, and Flamethrower stood at the other. Morrowseer’s side was crumbling and he was about to fall. Flamethrower was chained and his wings were bound. He couldn’t save his father. He was helpless to do anything. He had to watch as his father slowly died. Then his side would drop beneath him, and he would fall into an empty void.
He woke up crying and sweating. Moon was next to him, looking at him with sympathy in her eyes. Amethyst was snoring softly next to them. Did you have the nightmare again?Moon’s mind whispered to him. He nodded with tears in his eyes. She leaned in closer to him. What was Father like? Mother won’t tell me about him…He wrapped his wing around her and closed his eyes, still half-asleep.
I’m glad you never met him, he thought to her, feeling a stab of guilt. He was mean. Like, really mean. He was kinda nice to me, but he did lie to me about Mother.Moon sighed and closed her eyes. Flamethrower closed his too, and soon he was asleep.
He woke up to the sound of a bell ringing. “GET UP, CHUMPS,” a voice called, “COME ON, TIME’S WE’RE WASTING VALUABLE TIME!” Flamethrower heard moans and complaints as dragons passed through the long tunnel. Moon’s eyes opened slowly.
“Urgh,” she whispered to him, “what’s happening?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, glancing at Amethyst, who sat up and grumbled.
“That’s just Eclipse,” he explained, “doing her job.” He seemed kind of angry about it, but kept talking as they walked out into the corridor. “Each DarkWing is assigned a different job each week. Sometimes the queen assigns them, sometimes they choose. But Eclipse always does the wake-up bell two hours early.”
They came to the hall they saw when they first came in, stood a dragon with dusk-coloured scales; wings that were a cold, dark smokey violet that had been washed out until it looked dull and near-colorless scattered with silver; deep blue eyes like an abyss lit with a bright blue fire; a dark red tongue; an underbelly with many shades of indigo; and twisted purple horns.
“Eclipse,” Flamethrower said in greeting, “so this is where you disappeared to.” She stared at him for a second. Stay out of my mind,she thought to him, and he immediately locked himself out of Eclipse’s head. 
“Hello to you too, moon-eyes,” she said, nodding at him, “I thought someone said they saw someone that looked like you.” She glared at Moon, who crouched behind her brother’s back leg. Flamethrower hid her with his wing.
“Hey,” he growled at Eclipse, “don’t you pick on my sister.” She looked away, at the end of the hall where three more dragons walked in.
They all appeared similar to Amethyst, but some had differences, such as different color eyes or different shades of black scales. But Flamethrower noticed something about them. They each had a type of gemstone embedded on the end of their tails. Amethyst had one too, he noticed, and it was… well, an amethyst. Do they have gems embedded in their tails to match their names? If that was true, then the blueish one with the weary expression was named Sapphire, the angry one with diamonds embedded on the tip of her wings was Ruby, and the deep black one that looked half dead was Sodalite.
Moon clutched her forehead and bent down. Flamethrower wrapped his wing around her and whispered to her,“Remember what I told you. Just think of the river and imagine their thoughts being washed away.” She focused, and soon her headache was gone, but she still seemed uneasy.
I don’t like this, she thought to him, I feel dizzy. Her visions were acting up again. Poor Moon, he thought, hugging her as Eclipse rolled her eyes behind him. Don’t worry. What’s the worst that can happen, right?
==Chapter 24==
Amethyst showed Flamethrower and Moon a map of the tunnel system and Moon immediately started heading to the library. “You need some help getting there?,” Amethyst offered.
“No,” Moon said rather confidently, “I think I can make it myself.” She began heading into the north tunnel, but Flamethrower and Amethyst stayed at the Grand Hall.
“So,” Flamethrower asked him, “tell me more about your tribe.”
Amethyst nodded. “Everyone here is assigned to a job as soon as they turn three. Some of us work in groups; Ruby and Smoky Quartz hunt gophers, and Mineral and Stalagmite are miners. Then again, some work solo, like Eclipse and I.” Flamethrower cocked his head. “What’s your job?” “Actually, I have two,” Amethyst explained, “I’m a tunnel digger and a guide for visitors. Only the strongest DarkWings dig tunnels.”
Flamethrower put one claw to the bottom of his snout. “A guide,” he echoed, “do you get visitors often?”
Amethyst shook his head. “No, almost never. Only you and Eclipse…she came down here a few months ago. That was the first time Queen Lapis let any of us travel above ground for centuries.” He let smoke rise from his nostrils, feeling a twinge of embarrassment for rambling on for so long.
“Why don’t you join your sister at the library?” Flamethrower nodded and followed down the northern tunnel.
The hall was just wide enough for a full-sized dragon to fit through, with those same coal lanterns on the sides. Some stalactites dripped water from the ceiling, making Flamethrower’s wings twitch with nervousness. He passed a different room, a small bedroom with two beds and a small table. Then he came up to a fork in the passage. Consulting the tunnel map in his head, he tried to decide which path to take. He eventually decided to go left.
Once he passed through to the library, he saw two dragons; Moon, who was reading, and the Librarian, Sodalite, who glanced up from his scroll with blank eyes that seemed lifeless. “Welcome to the DarkWing Library,” he said in a hoarse, sickly voice, “can I help you?” Flamethrower shook his head slightly then glanced over at Moon. Sodalite immediately understood, nodding slightly.
Flamethrower made his way over to Moon and set his wing on her shoulder. She smiled at him, which made his heart beam. “I had another vision,” she said to him, “it was about this library. And that librarian.”
Flamethrower became worried. “What happened?” A series of images flashed through Moon’s mind; stalactites falling to the ground, dragons frantically trying to escape, Sodalite not making it out in time. An earthquake.
==Chapter 25==
Flamethrower’s mind was racing. A cave in, his mind chanted, a cave in, a cave in. What am I supposed to do? Warn Amethyst and the rest of the tribe? Tell Deathbringer? Get help? Urgh, how am I going to stop this?His heart was pounding and he was breathing heavily. He felt Moon put her wing on his shoulder, which calmed him. 
“Don’t worry,” she whispered nervously, “I don’t think it’s gonna happen for a little while.” She hid her fear well.
He decided to take his mind off the vision and walked over to a scrollshelf. A single scroll, worn with age and coated in dust, sat on the top shelf. Gently grabbing it with his front talon, he made his way over to an empty table with a few rocks on it to hold scrolls open. Carefully unrolling it, he read what was inside. It was a scroll, centuries old, about the tribe’s history. The earliest date, the first paragraph, took place in 3012 AS. The Darkstalker’s year of terror?Flamethrower read on.
Apparently, when The Darkstalker was buried and the NightWings fled the old kingdom, the NightWings split into two groups. One group fled to the volcanic island. The other erected a queen and began digging a series of tunnels underground in the rainforest and were never seen again. This is where they’ve been hiding, Flamethrower thought to himself, they evolved. They belong to my own flesh and blood. He glanced over at Sodalite, who was half-asleep at his desk. He might die. He’s my tribe, I need to save him.
Sodalite seemed peculiar to Flamethrower. He had drab grey scales and drooping wings. He wore a pair of spectacles that hung on the end of his snout, and his eyes were a lifeless grey. He seemed extremely sleepy and sick, and his tail swayed back and forth behind him. He looked about eighty years old. Flamethrower put the history scroll back on the shelf and walked over toward the librarian’s desk.
Sodalite glanced up at him and adjusted his glasses. “Hello,” he said hoarsely, “I saw you reading your scroll. Are you new around here?” He cocked his head.
“Yeah,” Flamethrower said, “I’m Flamethrower. Nice to meet you. Let me guess—your name is Sodalite, right?”
Sodalite looked at him for a second and chuckled. “Yes, you can always tell from our stones. They’re embedded when we’re a year old. We use them to tell each other apart, since we all look the same.” He paused and rubbed his forehead.
“Are,”Flamethrower said worriedly, “are you alright? You seem—ill.”
Sodalite sighed. “Yes, I’ve been ill for quite some time. The healers can’t do anything about it though.”
Just then, there was a rumbling sound coming from a different tunnel. A dragonet screamed. Flamethrower whirled around and headed directly toward the noise.
==Chapter 26==
As Flamethrower sped through the tunnel, dragons began to whisper worriedly. He noticed Sodalite limping behind him and ran back to help him. “That—that dragonet,” he mumbled, “that’s my granddaughter. Please, if something happens, save her.” Flamethrower leaned towards him.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered, “I’ll do whatever I can.”
The yells and rumbles came from the entire other side of the tunnel system, from the dragonet dormitory. Amethyst ran along beside Flamethrower, gasping for breath. “What’s happening?” Flamethrower asked him, half yelling.
“A cave-in,” he yelled back.
When they made it to the Great Hall, Amethyst slid to a stop. Flamethrower tried to stop but clumsily ran into a wall. Shaking himself, he bounded over toward Amethyst, who smothered a laugh and glanced over toward a thin, blueish-black dragon. She had chain loops around her horns embedded with pearls, a necklace with the dragon symbol carved into its wooden talisman, and a golden ring around one of her claws. A small Lapis Lazuli was embedded in her tail. “Queen Lapis,” Amethyst mouthed, bowing in her direction.
“Everyone, remain calm,” the Queen said sternly. “You. Visitor. Are you strong enough to move boulders?” Flamethrower nodded and puffed out his chest, spreading his huge, black wings that looked gigantic compared to the other dragons’. “Good,” Queen Lapis said, “then you go with our tunnel diggers and try to save the trapped dragonets. Gather up as many as you can and get them out of there. Nobody is dying today.”
Five dragons, each large and burly, stepped out of the shadows behind Queen Lapis and motioned for Flamethrower to follow them. They sped down the southwest tunnel as fast as their legs could carry them. It took them a bit to get to the dormitory, and by then the rumbles had stopped. The front entrance was blocked by large boulders.
The tunnel diggers began to remove a few of them, tossing them aside. Flamethrower searched for a load bearing rock and found it. Down at the bottom, a large, flat rock that held everything together. Pulling it out caused the whole wall of boulders to fall. The tunnel diggers looked at him in awe as if he brought down the whole thing with just a flick of his claw. Ignoring them, Flamethrower rushed in to rescue the dragonets trapped inside.
The dragonets were in panic as the diggers ran in behind him. Flamethrower saw at least fifteen of them. The diggers began to escort the dragonets out, checking for injuries and scooping them up to take them to the Grand Hall. Flamethrower noticed a rock in the corner and a small grey-black wing sticking out of it. Racing over to it, he lifted the rock to find a dragonet, knocked out and severely injured. He hefted the dragon onto his back and wrapped her up in his wings to keep her safe. He noticed something else there too; a small pink axolotl in a water pool, where the dragonet’s talon had been. Aww, he thought, she has a pet. That’s cute.He grabbed a wooden bowl and scooped it up, carrying it in his front talons. Turning around, he raced toward the Grand Hall.
The dragonets were now in the Hall, their parents fiercely hugging them. He set the axolotl on a table and gently set the injured dragonet on the ground. Dragons gasped and ran towards him, eying the injured dragon. They lifted her onto a stretcher and carried her to the Healer’s Hall, down the southeast tunnel. Amethyst strode over to him.
“Good job,” he said, nudging his side, “what’s in the bowl?”
“Her pet,” Flamethrower explained, “she was trying to keep it safe.”
Amethyst smiled. “Aw, you big sap,” he giggled, “you think she’ll live?” Flamethrower nodded. “If I know anything about anything, it’s that life always finds a way.”
————
That night, before Flamethrower went to bed, he heard something make a small noise at the entrance tunnel. All the lanterns had been put out, so Flamethrower lit a small fire on his claw to get a good look. What he found was a small grey wolf pup, with big brown eyes and soft, silky fur. What’s that doing here? He lifted the small puppy in his talons, blowing out the flame on his talon, and stared at it in awe. The pup tilted its head at him and whined. It’s hungry, he thought.He quickly fed it and carried it back to him and Moon’s designated sleeping dorm. Moon was waiting for him. He lay down on his bed and Moon curled up under the warmth of his wing. The pup scrambled onto Flamethrower’s head and fell asleep. He smiled, touched by the little creature, and closed his eyes.
==Chapter 27==
An empty void. No gap between sides, just Flamethrower standing in the empty black. He glanced around, looking for literally anything. There, there was something moving in the void. Something big. A black dragonoid figure moving in the shadows. Talons thudded on the ground as a familiar face stepped out of the shadows. Morrowseer.
“Hello, Flamethrower,” his father’s voice boomed. “Been a bit since we last spoke.” Flamethrower was dumbfounded. “But,” he muttered, “I—you- you’re dead. How—how are you—where—what? How?” Morrowseer stepped forward, slowly moving towards his son.
“I saw what you did today,” he boomed.
“And,” Flamethrower asked hopefully, “what did you think?”
Morrowseer scowled. “You could have saved more dragonets.”
Flamethrower lashed out in anger. “ARE YOU SERIOUS? I NEARLY DIED SAVING HER! I nearly died trying to save you! I’ve done so much for you, for the tribe, for everyone, and I’ve risked my life for them, and you’re STILL NOT HAPPY! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?” He clasped his mouth shut with his talons, embarrassed. “Ahem. I mean, I’m sorry I disappointed you, father.”
“Don’t,” Morrowseer boomed back, mildly annoyed, “Flamethrower, listen. If you really feel that way, then I raised you wrong. I wanted you to be a good fighter and grow up tough like me. I wanted you to be strong and obedient, to not care and be a ‘true NightWing’. But that’s not who you are. You’re kind, compassionate, and understanding; not a grumpy liar and a deceiver like me. I’m sorry for making you feel like you’re a disappointment, because you’re not. You’re my son.”
And then, Morrowseer smiled. He smiled and spread his wings. Flamethrower ran into his wings and he wrapped them around him. Flamethrower cried, tears streaming down his face. Then he felt someone touch his shoulder, but it wasn’t Morrowseer. It was Moon’s familiar warmth. I’m dreaming.
“You’re,” he said sadly, “you’re not really here. I’m just talking to myself.” Morrowseer let go of him and looked straight into his eyes. “I miss you,” Flamethrower choked out, “I’m constantly thinking of you. What you would say, what you would do, if you would approve of something. I know you were a terrible dragon, but I really cared about you. In fact, I still do.” He felt Moon’s wing around him, which helped a little, but he was still sad. Morrowseer frowned and twined his tail around Flamethrower’s. He sighed and took one last long look at his father and woke up.
Moon was at his side, tears in her eyes as she looked at him. The wolf pup was still asleep on his head, and it whined a little. “What,” he whispered, “what all did you hear?” She just looked back, which probably meant she heard all of it. They hugged there for a minute and Flamethrower’s heartache lessened. The pup (whom Flamethrower nicknamed Shadow) whined again, wanting to go back to sleep. Flamethrower slowly drifted off… and then he was asleep again.
==Chapter 28==
The bell didn’t ring the next morning, and Flamethrower was one of the first dragons up. He was joined by Eclipse and Moon in the Grand Hall, and they were all chatting and waiting for breakfast (Except Eclipse, who was silent).
“You know,” Moon said, “you never told me why you’re fireproof.” Flamethrower looked down at his scales. The amount of heat and fire they had been exposed to would have been more than enough to melt and deform any other dragon’s, but not his. He remained as black as coal and perfect as they had been the day he hatched.
“Well,” he said to his younger sister, “if you want to hear a story, then I’ll tell you why.” She grinned from ear to ear and nodded fiercely.
“Yes please!” She sat down in front of him, listening attentively.
“Okay,” he said, clearing his throat, “here we go.”
“Before I was born, my egg was caught in an eruption that destroyed half of the fortress. When they drilled a hole into the obsidian to rescue my egg and the treasures they lost, they found it completely safe, not a scratch on it. I hatched in my father’s talons, and came out perfect, just like you. They all wondered how I survived until I breathed fire for the first time and blew a hole through a wall. I was born with too much fire.” Moon mouthed an “oh” and put one claw to her chin, beginning to contemplate what happened in her brother’s childhood, something he didn’t want her to think about.
A dragonet walked in, with a bandage on her wing and a cast on her back left leg. “Ah,” Flamethrower said, changing the subject, “just the dragonet I wanted to see. How’s the wing?” Alexandrite tried to move it and winced. Limping, she walked over to him and leaned against his side. Moon walked over to her and smiled. Alex was the dragonet that he saved from the dormitory cave-in, and she was very, very grateful.
“It feels a little better,” she said hoarsely, “but it still hurts a bit.” She walked over to a table where her pet axolotl still sat. Dipping her claw into it, she smothered a giggle.
Moon bumped Flamethrower’s side, startling him. “Isn’t that Sodalite’s granddaughter?” He nodded and slowly swished his tail back and forth.
“Yeah, that’s right.” But he wasn’t exactly thinking about that. He missed Greatness.
An image of her face flashed through his mind, a picture that he wanted to catch and hold forever. Ever since they moved to the rainforest, he had sometimes talked about having dragonets, but she wasn’t all for it. Sure, she wanted a dragonet, but she didn’t want to have an egg. “We could adopt one,” he had said, but she had argued that there were no adoption centers in the rainforest, or maybe even in the nearest kingdoms (maybe one in the Scorpion Den). She’s probably right,he thought.
Moon tapped his tail with hers, knowing what he was thinking, and he cleared his head. Shadow Headbutted his leg and whined, hungry. He picked up the little wolf and carried him into the hunting tunnels.
==Chapter 29==
“How do DarkWings hunt again?”
Flamethrower and Amethyst were in the supposed hunting tunnel, but there were no animals in sight. Amethyst took a deep breath, trying not to get annoyed, and looked up at the ceiling.
“Okay. What you do is reach your neck up to the ceiling and sniff.” He put his snout to the ceiling, and Flamethrower did the same. “Once you smell something,” Amethyst continued, “you reach up and break through the tunnel. You should find yourself in a groundhog’s den. All you need to do is grab the little ball of fluff with teeth, pull it down into the tunnel, and squeeze the life out of it.”
Flamethrower smelled a den and did as Amethyst instructed. A small gopher squeaked in his talons and bit his claw. He held it up to Shadow, wondering what the pup would do.
Shadow cocked his head at the gopher, but after a second he pounced. Flamethrower let go and Shadow forcefully ripped the gopher’s head off. Amethyst averted his eyes in disgust. Flamethrower stared at the pup in surprise as he wagged his tail and offered the head to his master. He hesitatingly grabbed it and set it aflame, since it was too bony and small for him to eat.
Shadow gobbled the rest up in two bites, obviously hungry. He returned to his adorably peaceful state and scrambled up onto his master’s talon. Flamethrower put the (now fed and happy) wolf puppy onto his shoulder. A bell rang once, twice, three times. “Breakfast,” Amethyst explained.
In the Grand Hall, a large table was set out with assorted fruits and meats spread across it. The DarkWings were in a line at the beginning of the table, each holding a small quartz plate.
“Each dragon is to take any type of food they want,” Amethyst explained, “as much as they want.” Moon was at the back of the line, waiting for them. Shadow jumped off Flamethrower’s shoulder and bounded over to her, barking. She giggled as the wolf’s soft fur brushed against her scales.
“Hey, Moon,” Flamethrower joked, “how’s the history lessons going?” Moon rolled her eyes.
“We both know they aren’t lessons, but yeah, they’re going fine.” She bumped his side as all three of the dragons grabbed a plate and got in line. A series of images flashed through Moon’s mind: a cave-in, dragons dying, the DarkWings fleeing the tunnels and trying to fly out. They can’t fly, Flamethrower worried. We’ll talk later,she thought to him, and he nodded.
Once they picked up their food, Moon and Flamethrower went to their room while Amethyst attended the weekly tribe meeting in the library cave. Moon began to get nervous. “I’ve been having more visions lately,” she said, “I think it might happen soon, but I don’t know when-“
Her sentence was cut off by a tremor in the ground. And a crash. And screams.
==Chapter 30==
Flamethrower nearly tripped over his own talons. He called Moon’s visions to mind. Okay, Flamethrower. Stay calm. The cave-in is happening right now. The DarkWing’s tunnels are all coming down. They need to escape, but…the hole… they can’t fly.Dragons bumped into him as he frantically ran toward the library. Sodalite’s claws peeked out of a giant rock, cold and unmoving. There was no time for remorse. I’m going to get them safe. I have to.
In the Grand Hall, Queen Lapis was trying to organize her tribe. The DarkWings were in panic. Flamethrower was kinda panicking too, but there was no time for that. He thought of all the dragons he loved and cared for, all of them counting on him.
He breathed a plume of fire and all the DarkWings snapped to attention. Just like back on the island. “Listen to me,” he boomed, “If you follow me, we can go through the tunnel up to the surface and you’ll all be safe. We don’t have tunnels, or earthquakes, or cave-ins, or any of the dangers you face down here.” They all glanced over at Queen Lapis, wondering what she would say. After a minute, she sighed and nodded. “Alright,” Flamethrower said, clasping his talons together, “everyone go round up every DarkWing you can find and meet here, then we’ll all leave.”
Flamethrower headed toward the adult dormitory, his heart pounding in his chest. He nearly fell over trying to stop at the entrance. Three dragons were in there; Eclipse, Amethyst, and Sapphire. Flamethrower explained his plan to them and they followed him to the Grand Hall.
All the DarkWings were there, all with worried expressions and mumbling amongst themselves. Moon ran at him and hugged him fiercely. The cave began to crumble. The DarkWings scrambled for the entrance tunnel, talons thumping on the floor. Flamethrower was knocked down, trying to run for the tunnel to plead for Queen Glory’s help. The DarkWings were in the tunnel and the opening crumbled, but Flamethrower was still trapped. Amethyst and Eclipse began to frantically remove rocks, but it was too late. The Grand Hall’s ceiling came down on top of him, and everything went black.
==Chapter 31==
-Eclipse’s PoV-
He’s still in there.
Eclipse was helping Amethyst pull rocks blocking the entrance, but her mind was somewhere else. Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead, please please please don’t be dead, she thought. Up until now, she had never realized how Flamethrower actually cared about her. All her life, she was just another dragonet, neglected and forgotten. When she was born her mother had abandoned her. They were planning on killing her, but Flamethrower stood up for her. He saved my life. Let’s hope I can do the same.
Most of the DarkWings were already running through the entrance tunnel, trying to find the surface, but Amethyst and Eclipse had stayed to help Flamethrower out of the now-collapsed Grand Hall. The tremors had stopped completely. Flamethrower’s pet wolf was with Moon, but Eclipse could still hear it barking.
She wanted Moon (and kind of the rest of the DarkWings, who stared at her all day and night) to die. In her mind, Moon didn’t deserve the good life in the rainforest she had. She didn’t have to deal with the heat and terribleness of the volcanic island. She didn’t have hybrid blood. SHE didn’t have to deal with dragons bullying her all the time because she had a little bit of MudWing in her. SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO LIVE IN CONSTANT TERROR OF DYING IF SHE MESSED UP EVEN A LITTLE BIT. Don’t get angry, Eclipse, a voice that sounded a little like Flamethrower whispered in her mind. Focus.
Finally, the boulders blocking the entrance came tumbling down. Eclipse instinctively ran into the half-buried Grand Hall and shoved her talons into the dirt, tossing it aside. Amethyst ran in behind her and began to search too. I can look by myself,she thought bitterly, I don’t need Amethyst’s help. But Amethyst found Flamethrower first. His left wing bent in the wrong way, and half of his right horn was clipped off. But he was still breathing. He’s alive.Eclipse and Amethyst sighed simultaneously in relief. They both grabbed one end of him and carried him to the section of the tunnel where the rest of the terrified DarkWings were.
Moon bounded over to them, her eyes transfixed on her unconscious brother. “Is—is he...?” she stuttered on the verge of tears, “is he dead?”
Eclipse shook her head at the same time as Amethyst said, “no, he’s alive. Don’t worry.” Shadow barked a few times and snuggled into the gap of his right wing. Flamethrower, Eclipse thought to him, if you can hear me, everyone got out alright. I’m going to go round up a few dragons to help everyone out.Flamethrower moaned, still unconscious. She sighed. It’s what he wanted.
Eclipse ran to the exit, where DarkWings were trying to claw their way up the big shaft, looking helpless. Pathetic.She opened her wings and flew up the shaft, the DarkWings looking after her in awe. She knew just the dragons for the job.
While she was gathering a few RainWings (including Toucan and Pineapple), her mind turned to the dragon she was trying to save. The only dragon she could trust. He used to insist on spending time with her before he met the Princess. They would usually sit in silence while Flamethrower fidgeted with his claws. Once, Flamethrower accidentally replied to a question she had asked in her head. That’s when she found out about his mind reading. She made him promise not to listen to his thoughts. And he actually listened to her. He’s been trying to be as nice as possible my whole life. I only just now realized it.
———
She had gathered a group of five and flew back to the gaping hole the helpless ground dragons were trying to claw their way out of. Toucan and Pineapple had a large net for an unconscious Flamethrower, the rest had small nets for carrying the DarkWings. They all took turns climbing in and the RainWings hoisted them up to the surface. Flamethrower was carried to the Healers, the rest of the dragons stayed near the hole, exploring their new surroundings. Amethyst’s cloudy eyes looked as if they were shining in the daylight.
Eclipse headed to the Healer’s to check on Flamethrower after Queen Glory had sorted everything out. The DarkWings were to claim a small bit of unused territory in the Sky Kingdom, where they would stay and learn to fly. Greatness was aware of what happened and had gone to visit Flamethrower an hour earlier. But he still hadn’t woken up. Asleep on a bare wooden bed with his pet wolf snuggled up beside him and a bandaged wing, Flamethrower looked completely peaceful, like nothing had happened.
Maybe it’s the same as Quickstrike's death, Eclipse thought to herself. She was struck by lightning and passed out. She never woke up. Eclipse immediately stomped that thought down. Don’t think that way. He’ll be okay.
He has to be.
==Chapter 32==
Awake.
Flamethrower sat in silence, eyes wide open and heart pounding. He couldn’t feel. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t hear. He couldn’t even move. He could only think. He sensed a negative energy in the same room as him. He barely recognized Eclipse’s thoughts. Most of the time they were angry or dark; but now they seemed… depressing. Worried. Scared.
She must think I’m dying.
Feeling creeped down Flamethrower’s scales. He flexed his claws. Maybe I’m just in shock.And then a sharp pain in his wing. Ack, what the—?!
A light. A big, bright light flashed and sight returned. And hearing. Flamethrower frantically looked around, wondering where in Pyrrhia he was. A dark room, with nothing in it except him on a bare bed and… another dragon. Eclipse. She was stiff, looking at him, muscles tensed and stiff as a rock, with a look of relief and shock and anguish and fear all at the same time. She looked at him and the muscles in her wings relaxed. “Y—you’re awake,” she whispered. Her voice wasn’t as angry as it usually was. It was actually kind of… relieved. “How do you feel?”
“Like a giant sloth chewed on my wing and spat it out,” Flamethrower moaned. “How long have I been out?”
Eclipse sighed. “A few days.”
A few DAYS?!Flamethrower thought. Wow. I must have missed a lot.He was actually kind of surprised that Eclipse was the one in the room with him instead of Moon or Greatness or literally anyone else. He rested his head on a pillow and sighed. He was still pretty tired, and in a lot of pain. He wanted so badly to close his eyes. 
“Hey,” Eclipse said quietly, “stay with me a minute, okay?” He glanced back at her, intrigued. Why does she care?
She didn’t say anything. A stream of thoughts came across her mind, almost as if she wanted him to see them. I must’ve hit my head a little hard. Eclipse doesn’t act like this. But still, he read the thoughts anyway. He couldn’t help himself. And with each passing thought, he began to get what was going on. She’s thanking me.
Flamethrower tried not to make it obvious that he was reading Eclipse’s mind, but he couldn’t help but smile. She started to say something, but he wasn’t listening. He was really tired. Really, really tired. Eclipse seemed to notice this and spoke softly: “It’s alright, I know you’re still tired. I—I hope you feel better.” Those last words stuck with him. I hope you feel better, he thought as Eclipse left. I used to want to say that to her. But I didn’t.
Flamethrower sighed and closed his eyes, still with a grin on his face. The three dragons he was always trying to help (Eclipse, Morrowseer and Greatness) were either all better now, or… dead. Morrowseer. He felt a lump in his throat. At least Moon never met him. He would’ve tortured her.
He cleared his mind and slowly drifted into unconsciousness.
==Epilogue==
The sun shone down through the rainforest trees. Flamethrower took a step out of his house onto his porch and stretched his wings, staring at the scar on his left one. He had completely recovered, although his wing still hurt when anyone (or anything) touched it. Shadow barked a few times and rubbed against his back leg. He had grown a bit in the past six months, now about two talons tall, and Flamethrower had been house training him.
“Ready to go?” Greatness stepped out of the house and brushed her wing against his. He winced. “Oops, I forgot,” she said frantically, “your wing still hurts.”
Flamethrower smiled. “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.” He wrapped his good wing around her. “And no, I’m not ready.” He frowned. He had been dreading this day for a while. Moon was going off to Jade Mountain Academy, and Flamethrower didn’t want her to leave. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Hey, don’t be so sad,” Greatness reassured him, “she’ll be okay. She needs education, and she’ll make lots of friends.” Flamethrower felt a lump in his throat as they walked towards a clearing where Moon and Secretkeeper were waiting.
“You don’t know that. Most dragons hate our tribe now, Greatness. And most NightWing dragonets hate her too. I could teach her everything she needs to know. I keep telling Secretkeeper that, but she never listens to me.” He sighed.
They came to the clearing and saw Moon and Secretkeeper there. Flamethrower’s heart sank, yet he smiled at his younger sister, who clung to her mother’s side with the most cow-eyed look he had ever seen.
“Flamethrower,” Secretkeeper called, “come to say your goodbyes?” He nodded and Moon bounded over to him. He wrapped her in his wings.
“Hey, Moon,” he said soothingly, “Listen. I know you’re stressed about going to school, but if you ever feel alone, or afraid, or sad, I want you to know that you can come right back to the rainforest and talk to me. I’ll always be here.”
Moon sniffled. She didn’t want to leave either. “Come on, Moonwatcher,” Secretkeeper called. “Let’s go.”
Does she even see what’s happening?, Flamethrower wondered. “I’m going to miss you, Moon,” he whispered in his sister’s ear.
“Me too,” she said back. He opened his wings and Moon slowly trudged over to her mother with watering eyes. Greatness appeared beside Flamethrower and put her wing on his shoulder.
“She’ll be okay,” she whispered to him. But Flamethrower wasn’t sure.
Still, he let her go. He watched as Secretkeeper and Moon flew off into the distance with a lump in his throat. And he accepted it.
==Gallery==
==Links==
Prologue: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000416155
Part One
Chapter 1: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000416554
Flamethrower’s bio: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000416643
Chapter 2: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000416853
Chapter 3: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000417906
Chapter 4: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000418544
NightWing Headcanons: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000418608
Chapter 5: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000418716
Chapter 6: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000418827
Chapter 7: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000418934
Announcement: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000419084
Part One Recap: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000419337
Part Two
Chapter 8: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000419123
Raffle (Closed): https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000421840
Chapter 9: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000419948
Chapter 10: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000420050
Chapter 11: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000420286
Chapter 12: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000420581
Chapter 13: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000420763
Chapter 14: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000420893
Chapter 15: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000421163
Chapter 16: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000421295
Announcement: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000421558
Raffle (Closed): https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000421840
Part 2 Recap: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000421716
Part Three
Chapter 17: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000422033
Chapter 18: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000422307
Chapter 19: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000422347
Chapter 20: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000422962
Chapter 21: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000423151
DarkWings introduction: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000423163
Chapter 22: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000423401
Chapter 23: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000424293
Chapter 24 (repost): https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000424720
Art thread: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000429423/r/4400000000005170065 
Chapter 25: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000425160
Chapter 26: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000425794
Chapter 27: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000425992
Announcement: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000427638
Chapter 28: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000428181
Chapter 29: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000429819
Chapter 30: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000430575
Chapter 31: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000431222
Announcement: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000432070
Chapter 32: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000432171
Epilogue: https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000432962
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)