Darkleaf's Secret Plan

**A story by LorikeetRainWing about her private Skybreak Clan.**

This is still a work in progress.

## Prologue

The dark green Spiral's shadow-purple eyes shone with both sadness and joy at the same time as he looked down at the little hatchling in front of him - his daughter. Darkleaf's claws oozed with yellow yolk, and around the hatchling, shards of eggshells lay. Darkleaf wiped his claws clean on a nearby bush, closing his eyes so tears of relief wouldn't spill out. He had done it, he had managed to not kill his daughter when attempting to save her life. And he had succeeded.

Ivy, his mate, was dead - dead for a month now... Darkleaf couldn't believe how lame and stupid her death was: killed by her egg cracking inside her, not coming out in time... she had died twitching in pain, beautiful nature-green eyes looking up at Darkleaf. "Protect our daughter," she had whispered, and then she had left the world. And no one had saved her in time.

Darkleaf had abandoned the egg for a while, leaving the hatchery guard, a Mirror dragon, to irritably watch over the cracked egg. But he had thought it was dead. Yet it wasn't - somehow, the cracks weren't so bad as to kill the forming dragonet inside. And the Mirror dragon, Ymir was her name, had walked right over to him today and said to him, "Help me hatch her. Now." Darkleaf had gone inside and smashed the egg open with his front talons, squishing yolk all over his claws. But no matter - early and tiny as she was, his daughter had hatched just in time to escape her doom - rot. The cracked egg had been beginning to rot, and miraculously, the little Spiral inside was still alive.

Now Ymir and Darkleaf blinked at the hatchling. She was beautiful - emerald, leaf, and seafoam, cherub, basic, and butterfly. Now the Spiral opened her eyes - and they were the exact same purple as her father's.

"She's a shadow elemental, like me," Darkleaf breathed in wonder, and gently he reached over and picked up his daughter with his front talons. She squeaked slightly and wriggled, but her father didn't let go. He pressed her to his chest, wings quivering. "Summerleaf. I will name you Summerleaf," he whispered into her tiny ear.

"That's a nice name," commented Ymir. Darkleaf blinked at her - the Mirror dragon wasn't usually given to kind comments - and then he saw her twisting her claws awkwardly. Ymir was still herself.

"It is," Darkleaf agreed, and it was, since it had been the name that Ivy had chosen for her daughter before she had been laid. He remembered that day, and what Ivy had said exactly. They had been sitting in the clearing, eating dinner, and then Ivy announced, "I have ideas for a name."

"What?" Darkleaf had asked.

"Yew or Thorn for a male, and Summerleaf for a female."

That was it - one name choice for the female. And yet it was the perfect name for the beautiful dragonet.

Ymir stood up, stretching her wings. "Well, I'm glad the suspense is over," she said. "Would you be so kind as to move her to your lair now?"

"Alright," Darkleaf answered and lifted off with Summerleaf in his arms. Summerleaf was the only thing left to him in the world now (except for his clan, of course). He wouldn't let anything happen to her, and he would make sure that her future was bright and happy. He was certain of it.

## Chapter 1

*...a few months later...*

"SKYFROST!" screamed Dawnfire, launching himself at his brother. The two coatl hatchlings wrestled for a while, laughing so much that their fighting skills were weaker, and then Skyfrost ended up on top.

"Ha!" Skyfrost said. "I'm the best fighter, you know that. I am going to be the leader one day, and the best fighter gets to be the leader out of the three of us." He fluffed out his blue-and-white plumage.

Suddenly, an azure-and-tangerine blur crashed into Skyfrost, rolling him onto his back. Windflame pinned him down, panting. "Intelligence is just as important as strength!" she boasted. "I am much smarter than you, and I can outwit you any day! And besides" - she took a deep breath - "females are better than males."

Skyfrost let out an enraged screech and flailed around, but even though he was stronger than his sister, Windflame had him pinned down thoroughly. He sighed and flopped to the ground. Windflame relaxed, and that was when Skyfrost lashed out with his talons, throwing her off.

"What's that you said about outwitting?" he crowed triumphantly.

Windflame turned and said, "Come on, Summerleaf, let's play!"

Summerleaf crouched a few feet away, looking awkward and lonely. "Umm...I'm okay, th-" she began. Windflame walked over to her and cuffed her lightly on the ear.

"Come on, please?" the coatl begged. "It'll be fair then - two girls against two boys!"

"No fair," called Dawnfire, stamping his foot. "Spirals are too agile!"

"So? Coatls are really strong!" Windflame said.

"Not as strong as Guardians," argued Skyfrost.

"It doesn't matter," said Windflame, scowling.

Skyfrost regarded Summerleaf for a moment, then turned and whispered something to his brother. Dawnfire was still for a moment, then laughed. Summerleaf's sharp ears, however, were already pricked, and she caught some of the words: *"Shy," "Weak," "Terrified."*

Summerleaf scowled and sprang forward. "I'll fight!" she announced, but it came out too quiet...she tried again, louder, so her throat muscles really had to work: "I'LL FIGHT!"

"O-okay," said Dawnfire, taken aback. He looked at Skyfrost, and then the two coatls got into battle position.

Windflame stepped up beside Summerleaf, nodded to her in support, and then the fight began.

Windflame blinked at Skyfrost warily, then lunged at Dawnfire, since he was slightly smaller and weaker. The two coatls grappled ferociously, each blow punctuated with a squawk or a squeak, and then Windflame tripped... Summerleaf's heart pounded as she watched the fight, forgetting that she was meant to be fighting, too. Windflame rolled, landing on her feet, and crouched down, spreading her wings and hissing.

Something barreled into Summerleaf's side, and she yelped as Skyfrost's blue-and-white shape blurred in front of her eyes. Summerleaf's mind went blank in fear, but she twisted her long, lithe body, easily dodging his swipes. Instinct made her extra-cautious so that none of her six wings were hit - what was it? Oh, right - her father had told her that if any one of a fighting Spiral's wings was disabled, the battle was over.

Skyfrost hissed in frustration and spread his wings, flapping them to create a small breeze. Summerleaf crashed to the ground, not the best flier when there was a wind, and Skyfrost pummeled her chest with his strong front talons. Summerleaf twisted and curled, evading some of the slashes, but it was no use. Suddenly, feeling desperate - no dragonet fight should be this violent - Summerleaf reached out, tears pouring from her violet eyes, and her teeth snapped shut on the coatl dragonet's snout.

"ARGH!" Skyfrost cried, rolling backwards. Tears involuntarily sprung from his eyes as well, and he grasped his snout, wings wavering. Summerleaf pounced onto him, curling her body around his, and squeezed like a python. Not too hard - she didn't want to knock him out - she pressed once, twice, and then let go, springing clear, sides heaving.

Summerleaf quickly examined her wounds - her green scales were scratched with blood in some places, and she had a bruise on her left shoulder - but none were serious. She raised her chin. "The fight's over," she said quietly.

Skyfrost hissed, clawing at the ground. "No!" He crawled toward her, tongue flicking out between his teeth. Summerleaf realized he wanted to fight some more, so that he could teach her not to constrict him, and she really didn't want to get any more scratches, so she whirled around and zipped off through the trees.

"Summerleaf, wait! We won!" yelled Windflame.

"No you didn't! The fight's not-" Skyfrost tried to say, before his voice was cut off and there was a thump. Summerleaf thought that one of his siblings had smacked him. She hoped they had. But now was definitely not the time to check, not with Skyfrost being such an aggressive dragon. She skidded to a halt when she almost crashed into a full-grown Guardian dragon. Being only a few weeks old, Summerleaf still didn't know everyone's name, so she whipped around, tripped over her tail, and crashed into a tree. Her mind pounded horribly, her wounds throbbed, and she wanted her father to comfort her. She blacked out.