The Masked Dragon Part Three

## Wings of Fire The Masked Dragon PART 3

* by RhynoBullraq, Jul 30, 2017, 11:42:28 AM
* Literature / Fan Fiction / Fantasy

*Written by: RhynoBullraq*

*Edited by: A.T. Peluso*

*Based on the World and Characters created by Tui T. Sutherland*

**Chapter 3: Jackelot**

***3 Years Later***

       Today was the day. Today was the day that the watching would finally end and the time to 'destroy' Eranomous' heart had come. Skylis was finally leaving for the palace to serve Queen Scarlet as a soldier, Jackelot couldn't possibly forget it because the insufferable SkyWing always brought it up at least once a day. Over the past three years Jackelot had grown to loathe Skylis and his mother, Eleanor. Skylis seemed to leave the home as often as he could to train up north with a MudWing named Earthquake while Eleanor seemed to just hunt, eat, and sleep before repeating the process over again. Jackelot knew it was impossible to ever see inside the SkyWing home, but he found a hidden spot outside behind a few boulders that he could easily hear most of their conversations. He had grown to hate listening to Eleanor snap on Eranomous when they were alone inside, so Jackelot would occasionally follow Skylis to his training sessions with Earthquake.

    Whenever he watched the conceited dragon training, he made sure to study him closely. Jackelot knew one day he may have to fight the SkyWing and he wanted to know exactly how to kill him. Carefully, he learned his battle strategies, his weaknesses and strengths, where it was he would strike first and where he would leave himself open to an opponent.  Jackelot couldn’t wait until that day would arrive. He'd finally be able to release all of his built anger out on him. However, that would not be today. Today was about Eleanor and he knew exactly how he would end her.

    As the years passed Jackelot began designing his own tools and clothes with Morbid’s help. Together they designed an outfit for this very mission. Jackelot was covered in all black clothes, from his neck all the way down his tail. On his throat he wore a metal guard to protect from anything sharp that might try to find itself there and on both of his sides he had a black leather satchel filled with anything he might need, from weapons to food. Over everything he wore a long, flowing  cloak. The idea was to completely conceal that it was he who was doing what was about to be done, so Jackelot  had also painted his entire wings gray so that his sandy scales wouldn't be visible anymore. At the end of his tail was a heavy metal set of jaws designed to heat up at the teeth when hot coals were placed inside the secure chamber in the contraption’s mouth. Jackelot knew it would be practically useless in serious combat but if he closed it around the throat of a sleeping dragon properly, it would kill relatively quickly. His final, and most favorite addition to his outfit, was a smooth, expressionless white mask. Jackelot smiled at it as it hung on the wall, ready to be utilized. The SandWing had designed dozens of masks for this job, but none of them struck fear inside him like this one and when Morbid agreed it scared him as well, he knew it was perfect.

    Jackelot pulled the mask off the wall slowly and began to anxiously bring it to his face, when suddenly he heard a loud familiar voice chirp into the room. "Hey Jack! ...Wow what are you doing?"

    The SandWing turned to see Crimson standing in the doorway, brow raised. He suddenly felt his heart lurch. *‘Crim!? What is she doing here!?’*

    Whenever he saw her his mind jumped back to the day his father arrived in the Sky Kingdom. Neither of them ever gave an answer to the ‘Do you like me?’ question and just went on acting like it never happened. Seeing her also always brought back Crimson's reaction to his deformed appearance. When she saw him she... she started to cry. Jackelot didn’t know how to respond to that. That was all in the past now, however. These days, Jackelot couldn't spend as much time with the beautiful SkyWing as he used to when they were young. He had to watch Eranomous with his time now, whom she regrettably found out about as well at some point. Despite her being a bit of a pest in his business and always undermining him where she could, he still cared about her more than he knew he should. Every time he visited Morbid in BlackTalon Pass, he always came back with a gift for her. He brought her beautiful jewelry and capes, but the thing she seemed to like the most was a simple large gray muffler. Jackelot loved how it looked against her brilliant red scales and it meant so much to him that she wore it nearly every day since. Jackelot knew for a fact that he loved her, but knew that she deserved better than a deformed SandWing who worked as a spy. She deserved the best.

    "Crim!? I thought you'd be with your Father at the palace by now… Why are you here?" He tried to hide the mask under his cloak but realized it was futile, she could tell what was going on.

    Crimson's ruby eyes turned sad, "I'm headed there soon...but I wanted to see you before I left..." They both sat in silence for a moment before she continued. “Jack...you're going to do something bad aren't you..."

    Jackelot couldn't bear to look at her; her opinion of him was suffocating. "Just go Crim..."

    "Jack...you're going to hurt that poor SkyWing aren't you...please don't..." Her voice was filled with worry as she took a step forward.

    Jackelot knew he didn't have a choice, this was his mission. This would make his father proud. "Crim...I have a job to do..."

    Crimson shook her head, "Jack I know you...and this isn't you."

*'Why is she trying to stop me?'* Jackelot growled and lashed his tail in anger, scraping the metal jaws across the ground loudly. "Crim! Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do!" He snapped turning to her, eyes narrowed. *‘I need her to leave…she isn’t even supposed to know about Eranomous!’*

    Crimson took a few steps back shaking her head. "Jack..." Her face looked hurt.

    The SandWing's ears drooped, he had never snapped on her before, it felt wrong, but it was necessary… wasn’t it? He quickly turned away from her, his heart aching all the while. *'I’m so sorry…I never deserved your kindness, Crim...'*Jackelot gritted his teeth, his emotions causing turmoil all over inside until finally being overcome with the need to take his words back. "Crim...I'm sorry-" But when he turned back to the doorway he realized she was gone. *'Crim...'*

    He stood there in silence for a moment. No, he had to do this. This was necessary. Jackelot growled to himself, shaking away his swirling emotions and slipping the mask on. *'Crim will find someone better than me…but my purpose is this! My purpose is to my Father, my purpose is awakening the Beast of Hatred…It is time… Time to destroy his heart. '*

                                                                                               ~~~

    By the time he arrived at the mouth of Eranomous' home, he could tell Skylis had already left. *'The home is so quiet...'* The SandWing carefully entered the cave for the very first time. Walking into the home felt strange, almost like he was stepping into a story he had read for so many years. This was where the SkyWing brothers grew up, ate meals, played, and slept. The interior was smaller than he expected. *‘No wonder they struggled to be comfortable here.’* As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he noticed Eleanor sleeping peacefully on her side, steadily breathing. Jackelot smirked beneath his mask, feeling his heart racing with excitement. *'She'll never see it coming.'* The SandWing quickly checked the metal jaws at the end of his tail to assure everything was ready. It still looked hot, the teeth slightly orange from the heat emanating through.

    Jackelot couldn't help but think of when his father told him more of *the Beast of Hatred*. The beast was foretold to have fiery jaws that could burn through anything in a mere moment, so Jackelot designed this tail topper with the beast as inspiration. *'I suppose it’s time to begin.'*

    He slowly approached the sleeping dragon, almost as if stalking prey, until he was standing right beside her. He paused for a moment, watching her breath fill her chest before softly being blown back out in a calm, rhythmic sort of way. Jackelot could tell he was hesitating, but couldn’t quite understand why.*‘I hate her… and her death will bring forward the awaking of the beast of hatred… besides I’m doing Eranomous a favor…’* The SandWing sighed, "I'm not sure how you would continue after today anyway... first your mate died... and then your favorite son left you here to live alone with Eranomous... I'm sure you want to die."

    The Masked SandWing opened the metal jaws on his tail and aligned it with the large SkyWing’s throat. The hesitation took hold again, but Jackelot cast it aside again before then clamping the jaws down into her flesh fiercely. Eleanor's eyes widened immediately, Jackelot felt his heart jump and without even a thought he swiftly wrapped his talons around her mouth muffling any sound she could attempt. The large SkyWing tried thrashing about her limbs, but the Masked SandWing pinned her with all of his strength.

    “Shhhh…” Jackelot watched as the SkyWing mother stopped struggling, her eyes fluttered around in panic before then seeming to just rest on something unseen in the room. She finally stopped moving, her gaze now seeming much more calm as her breathing came to an end. *'Hmm...It almost seemed like she calmed down… and accepted her fate.*’

    Jackelot sat in silence. For a moment, he felt completely empty. Even though he despised her so, this was the first time he had ever killed a dragon... It felt unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Shaking his head with a small sigh, Jackelot pulled the jaws free before then locking them on Eleanor’s face. *‘I need this to look like a fire jawed beast killed her...’* Jackelot narrowed his eyes and with a couple of cracks, he listened as the dead dragon’s scales finally gave way and the metal buried deep inside her flesh once again. Jackelot sighed once again, pulling the jaws free yet again. That’s when he suddenly noticed Eranomous rush out in a panic. *'There you are...Eranomous.'*

    Eranomous froze in place, shaking from head to tail, obviously taking in the horrific scene. *'No doubt he's frightened...but is he angry? Is he feeling the fire inside?'*

    Jackelot stared at him in silence until the deformed SkyWing finally spoke, "Why did you...?" His voice was shaking as much as the rest of him. "She was my... she..." The SkyWing seemed to be choked up.

    Jackelot tilted his head, truly wondering what would happen next. *‘Is he angry… will he try to kill me?*’ “How does this make you feel?" He asked calmly.

    The SandWing couldn't help but think of all the times he heard Eleanor yell or complain about Eranomous and a thought crossed his mind, *'Maybe he’ll thank me for freeing him from this dragon.'*Jackelot laughed at that thought narrowing his eyes on the SkyWing.  "Ha-ha...what's wrong? This dragon you called *Mother*was holding you back... you should be thanking me." *‘That should set him off.’*

    Eranomous slammed his front talons down and roared an emotional roar, "Shut up!"

    Jackelot couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. *'I really thought he would burst into the beast from the scrolls to be honest... I guess this will take some whittling.’ “*Wow, you're disappointing.”

    That’s when he noticed something. There was a sudden and unsettling glint in the SkyWing's eyes. *'There it is, the fire! His rage and hatred!'*

     "I'LL KILL YOU!” Eranomous snarled viciously.

    The Masked SandWing expected him to rush forward, but the SkyWing stood his ground and instead did something quite unexpected. Following his roar of rage, a deadly eruption of flame flared from his mouth. Jackelot felt his blood run cold as he quickly sprang back, barely avoiding the sudden burst of fire. By the time Jackelot looked back to Eranomous, he could tell the SkyWing had lost control of his own body. *'He can't stop himself from spitting fire...why?'* He watched as Eranomous tried to force his mouth closed with his talons, but the fire didn’t stop. The flame continued to burn through his jaws, charring the flesh from his talons and his lower jaw. *'Three moons... His fire… it’s destroying his body.'*  Quite abruptly, fire violently burst out of his neck, obviously needing somewhere to release after being built up. Jackelot was in awe, never had he seen anything like this.

*'This is unreal…’*Jackelot watched as Eranomous collapsed to the ground, he looked too weak and scared to handle this any longer. He watched as the poor SkyWing writhed in pain while flames continued to spew out of his mouth and throat, lapping at anything unfortunate enough to be near. Jackelot knew there was nothing he could do for him, this was his fate, so he simply stood there silently. Finally the fire stopped and Eranomous' roars of pain subsided to rough moans and pathetic tears.

    The Masked SandWing stepped closer, examining the self inflicted burns on the deformed SkyWing. At the front of his jaw,  a segment of his throat, and front talons, the skin had burned completely off revealing a hot, black, rock-like under skin. Truly, Jackelot had never seen anything like it before. *'Father was right! This SkyWing is most definitely the Beast of Hatred depicted in the Rise of the Vehement scrolls...'* Jackelot had listened to his Father ramble about it so many times and he had to be honest, he didn't actually believe any of it until now. *'If this is true... what other prophecies were true?'*

    Jackelot took a deep breath to steady himself, but immediately began gagging on the strong stench of charred flesh in the cave.*‘Uggh! I'll wait for him to get up, outside the cave!'* Jackelot briskly made his way outside, pulling his mask off so he could take in the fresh air. Standing outside for a couple of moments to clear his own lungs, he suddenly heard several wing beats nearby. *'What!? What are other dragons doing all the way out here?'* Jackelot knew he couldn’t fly away, so he quickly scurried behind the boulders he hid behind for the last three years and lowered himself to the ground, throwing dirt on top of himself to try to conceal his scent. *'If I'm found out here I'll be killed! I gotta just stay calm... Three moons... was this Crim's doing?'*

    Jackelot heard several dragons land down and one quickly spoke up, "So you think the screams came from here?"

    Another voice spoke up, "Yes! It sounded like someone was suffering. "

    Jackelot held his breath, looking through a crack between the boulders. He couldn't make much out, but he knew for a fact that these were SkyWings. *'They didn’t mention Crim… so this must be a patrol team. Why are they so far out?’*

    As the SkyWings made their way deeper into cave their voices began to muffle. Jackelot tried to listen closer, but his heart was beating too loud for him to hear anything. He could tell from their tones that they were beginning to freak out, though. Suddenly there was a loud thud followed by a deep spine chilling hiss outside the cave. *'What!? Another dragon!!! But wait… that hiss sounded like a SandWing!'*

    Then he heard the dragon roar, "That's mine!" The voice was female and very menacing. There was a moment of silence before he heard one of the SkyWing’s exclaim.

    "Queen Burn... What are you doing here?"

    Jackelot gritted his teeth, *'Burn!? What is she doing out here!? I swear Crim... you better not have.... wait Burn's not a Queen... stupid confused SkyWing.’*

    Out of all three SandWing Princesses, Jackelot knew the most about Burn. In short she was best known for being brutal and sick. Ever since Crimson had been stationed inside Queen Scarlet's Palace with her Father, she had told him about Burn’s love of oddities and stuffed creatures. Surely Crimson wouldn't have sent her to retrieve Eranomous. *'Three moons Crim, if I find out you sent her.'* He just had a sick feeling that she told her to try to stop him. After all, how else would she have known to head here? *‘Crim! You pebble brain….’*Jackelot knew his job had just become a lot more difficult, but a dark thought occurred to him. *'This will probably help awaken the beast inside the SkyWing a lot quicker… but will he be strong enough to bust himself out before the insane Princess kills and stuffs him for display?’*Jackelot couldn’t help but feel a little defeated by this. He also wondered if that was Crimson’s plan.

    Jackelot waited until all the other dragons had left with Eranomous in chains before he too left for the palace. He wasn't going to accept this as a defeat; he was going to get Eranomous free so he could successfully complete his mission.

    As Jackelot made his way towards the palace, however, he spotted Crimson flying his way. Her face seemed apologetic, making him believe further that she sent Burn. "Crim!" He roared unable to hide his anger, "Down there! Now!"

    Crimson nodded drifting toward the trees below. Jackelot followed suit and landed down next to her, pulling his hood off. Crimson quickly spoke up."Jack before you start, I know-"

    Jackelot roared above her voice, "Burn! You told Burn to get Eranomous!"

    Crimson lowered her head, "I thought I'd be able to save him when he got here... but they didn't put him in the main cells. They put him in a different cage... one I don’t have the key for."

    The SandWing knew this was his own fault for telling her about Eranomous when he wasn't supposed to, but he hated having secrets from her. "Crim if my Father finds out what just happened here, I am dead!" His tail lashed smashing the metal jaw loudly against a rock. "You were never supposed to even know about Eranomous! If he finds out that I told you, he's never going to trust me again. "

    "Jack! Do you hear yourself?" Crimson snapped back, lifting her head up, "Your father won't trust you? Adenium is insane, Jack! My Father told me to stay away from him. Maybe... Maybe he was a good dragon once... but I personally don't think so. Look what he’s done to you! He disfigured you and now he wants you to destroy this poor SkyWing's life!" Passion burned in her eyes, passion that Jackelot could feel was stronger than himself.

    Jackelot roared and slashed his claws across the dirt, "Shut up! Just..." The SandWing knew deep down that she was right, or at least, a part of himself did. Another part couldn’t drop the loyalty he so strongly felt for his Father. He felt torn in half by his conflicting emotions. Jackelot lowered his head and sighed, calming himself. "Crim... I need you to go back to the palace and figure out what is going to happen to Eranomous... Then come back and tell me. I'm going to save him but I need a plan… So please help me."

    Crimson nodded, "Ok Jack, I'll be back." Her voice matched his calmness. The SkyWing quickly lifted from the ground and off into the sunset sky.

    Jackelot didn't want Crimson to hate him and he didn't want his Father to be disappointed either. *'How do I make them both happy... is it even possible?'*

~~~~~~~~

**Chapter 4: Jackelot**

       As Jackelot flew through the orange and lilac painted sky, he looked to the setting sun and sighed. This marked the third day that he hadn’t seen Eranomous, but he knew where he was headed. As he flew, the SandWing thought about everything Crimson told him the night he headed out. Crimson had listened in on Burn and Scarlet. She’d heard that Eranomous was being taken back to the desert immediately to be added to her weirdling collection, so there was no time to free him in Scarlet’s Palace.

    Jackelot knew he would have to break into one of the most fortified and terrifying locations in all of Pyrrhia, Burn’s Stronghold. *'Why did she have to leave immediately? She couldn't just wait another day or two in the Sky Kingdom...'*

Crimson had also told him that she saw how mortified Skylis was when he saw his brother chained up and heard about his Mother’s death.  According to her, Skylis left the palace completely and disappeared. Jackelot wasn't surprised to hear that Skylis didn't even try to save his brother, it fit right in with his wanting to serve his queen above his family… but he was surprised that he seemingly just left. Jackelot pondered on that for a moment. *‘Maybe he is planning something…’*

    Jackelot scoffed at the thought of Skylis’ potential priorities. As a member of the Peacewings, family always came before the queen, but there was always a small part of Jackelot that wondered what serving a queen would be like. He never allowed himself to linger on the thought for too long, however. *'No point wasting time thinking about things that will never happen. I have to focus on my current task, save Eranomous from Burn's Stronghold.'*

     Surely it wouldn’t be that hard for a single dragon to sneak inside without alerting any guards of his presence, but at the same time, he couldn’t go in without a plan. In preparation before he left after Burn, Jackelot and Crimson collected a bag full of explosive cacti. The SandWing knew bombing the stronghold from the air would be suicide, so he had to set them off inside. If he set the bombs off within the walls far away from Burn’s weirdling tower, then he’d surely be able to get in to the tower, rescue Eranomous, and get out before anyone would be the wiser. But first he had to get inside; a task he believed would be easier now that the sun had almost fully set.

    Jackelot quickly landed down and pulled out two cacti wrapped in string. The string would allow him to set off the cacti from a distance; he hoped the explosion would catch a couple of wall guard’s attention so he could quickly slip in when the guards were distracted. The young SandWing made sure his deadly, blade covered, IceWing inspired tail topper was equipped just in case a guard did notice him. He’d be able to make quick work of them with that one. Jackelot silently walked along the smooth sand with the two strings, until they hit their length. *'Here we go...'* From here he was only a couple wing beats away from the Stronghold.  He knew he’d only have a few moments, so he quickly blew fire onto the strings and began briskly moving along the sand toward the grand structure. To the SandWing’s relief he hadn’t seemed to have been spotted. His paranoid mind kept reminding him that the mission would end in a matter of moments if he was, which caused his heart to beat faster and faster. *‘Please don’t see me.’* Out in the distance the two cacti finally exploded with a loud pop, sending large clouds of sand stretching up into the air.

    As Jackelot met the wall, he heard a low growl followed by a voice, "What was that?"

    Another voice responded unenthusiastically, "Hmmm…Let's check it out."

    Suddenly two large SandWings flew off the main wall toward the explosion. Now was his chance, Jackelot knew he couldn’t hesitate, so without so much as a  thought he quickly lifted off the sand and pulled himself onto the wall. Once up, the smell of decay finally hit him and he didn’t have to look hard to find the source of the stink. Mounted all along the walls were heads of many unfortunate dragons. Jackelot knew if he were caught his would surely be added to the collection. The young SandWing tucked his wings in close and lowered himself to the ground scanning the area for any guards; to his luck he was the only one up there at the moment. *'Good, time to set off the rest of these cacti and save Eranomous.'*

    Jackelot swiftly made his way through the first door he saw and into a torch lit corridor. Down the long corridor, Jackelot could hear the crackling of torches and the sound of muffled voices talking behind closed doors. He trusted his sneaking skills when he wasn’t wearing anything, but he had never actually had to sneak around in several layers of clothing and with two heavy bags on his sides. The young SandWing took a deep breath and began slowly down the corridor. As Jackelot crept down the hall, he kept his body low and his ears perked. *‘I’m so dead.’* With every step forward his heart sounded louder and louder. ‘*Stop being afraid, Jack! No one is going to find you.’*  Suddenly Jackelot heard a door behind him begin to creek open.  Feeling his heart leap from his chest, Jackelot twisted around the corner. Looking around wildly, he counted his luck as he spied a narrow stairwell. The SandWing headed down the hard stone stairs, skipping every other step; never had he felt so in danger before.  Jackelot followed the stairs all the way down to ground level, trying desperately to get himself under control. Once he  stepped out of the stairwell, he finally managed to compose himself and calm his panicking heart. *‘Calm down, you’re fine. I need to get to the Weirdling Tower and free Eranomous.’*

    After getting a grip on himself, he examined his position. To Jackelot’s left he could see an open door leading to more corridors and to his right was the main courtyard. The courtyard was dark, save for several torches here and there but across the way he could still see what he believed was Burn's Weirdling Tower. *'I’m coming Era… You better still be alive or so help me… Alright, the dark of night will make it easier to get over there... but I still need a distraction.'*Jackelot continued scanning the area until he notice the entrance to the Stronghold shut nice and tight. That’s when an idea hit him. Quietly, he pulled out the last three cacti from his satchel and rolled one toward it, still holding onto its string. He then rolled the second one about half as far as the first one and lastly he left the final cacti on the ground before him. Jackelot knew he’d have to act fast, so without a second thought he spit fire onto the strings and hastily made his way through the shadows toward the tower. After a few moments, the three bombs went off one by one and were immediately followed by panicked SandWing cries.

    "We're under attack!" One hollered.

    "The bombs went off inside!? Secure the perimeter!" Another cried out.

    All at once, SandWings began to rush toward where the explosions went off, granting Jackelot the perfect opportunity to pick up his pace. *‘Please be alive!’*

      Immediately upon reaching the tower,  Jackelot knew something was wrong. The doors were wide open, revealing only darkness continuing further inside. *'What!?'* The SandWing felt his heart lurch. *'He couldn't have escaped on his own…’*Stepping inside, Jackelot quickly noticed a SandWing laying on the floor, breathing steadily. Jackelot couldn’t believe his eyes.

    "Are you kidding me!? How!?" He couldn’t help but think out loud. *'Did he already fully awaken?'*  He wondered for a moment but he quickly dismissed that possibility, surely there would be death and destruction everywhere if he had.

    Jackelot quickly looked around the room for clues. There had to be something he was missing. There was no way he could've escaped on his own, Eranomous was too weak for that without being fully awoken, but if so, how did he escape, and where to? When he took a step closer to the unconscious guard, he felt something sharp and cold under his talons. Before pressing his weight on it, he quickly pulled his talons back and examined the floor. Strewn across the ground in front of the guard lay hundreds of little ice shards glistening like stars. Jackelot narrowed his eyes, *'An IceWing was with him... and they must've escaped together.'*

                                                                                              ~~~

    Jackelot wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now, surely a flightless dragon couldn't get very far in the desert on his own. But he knew that Eranomous wasn't by himself, he was with an IceWing. An IceWing that he knew nothing about. This job had slipped even further from his claws now than it already had, but he knew he couldn't give up. He had to keep looking until he found something.  He flew about for a little bit, scanning over the sand carefully looking for any kind of trail he could.

    The sun was high in the sky when Jackelot finally spotted something unusual. A large group of dragons crowded around a den in the middle of nowhere. Jackelot narrowed his eyes examining the scene closer, he spotted six SandWings and four SkyWings, suddenly a fifth SkyWing emerged from the den holding something metal that he couldn't make out. *'Oh no… What are they doing... could they be looking for Eranomous?'*  Whatever they were doing, he knew it would be better to not get spotted by them, but he also got the feeling he might learn something from eavesdropping on them. The young SandWing quietly and swiftly descended down, landing gently behind a large dune nearby. Jackelot lowered himself to the scorching sand and raised an ear, straining to hear their faint voices.

    The first voice he heard was silky smooth and suave. "This must've been on one of your escaped display pieces. They must've been a strong fellow if they broke this off."

    "That was on the SkyWing... the IceWing and SeaWing weren't chained up." Another voice hissed. Jackelot squeezed the sand below him. *'So he's with a SeaWing too... great now there are two dragons I gotta deal with.'*

    The first voice responded, "I see, do not fear. We will help retrieve the SkyWing and the others for Princess Burn. Judging by these tracks they headed west on foot. "

    Another voice chimed in. "You're right CrossWind, if they're on foot we'll definitely find them by sundown.”

    CrossWind chuckled. "Yes we will… and we'll also find out who these other two tracks belong to."

    Jackelot cursed under his breath, *'Two other dragons are with him!?'*This *job* was getting worse by the second. On the other claw, maybe more dragons was a good thing. *'I suppose if he gets attached to them… This gives him more to lose...'*He knew Crimson wouldn't approve of that thought, but what was he supposed to do? His Father would finally be proud of him if he did this successfully… that’s what he had always wanted, wasn’t it?

    The young SandWing listened as the dragons wings lifted them into the sky and began to fade into the distance. Jackelot lifted himself from the sand and took a deep breath, feeling his heart slowing down again. *'Well looks like I'm headed west.'*

                                                                                                    ~~~

    By the time the moons were high, Jackelot spotted the patrol again, but not how he thought he’d find them. To his shock, they were all dead, broken against the sand in a morbid, but picturesque scene. Jackelot landed down to get a better understanding of what transpired.

    Jackelot had never seen so many dead in one place before and he knew he'd never forget the sight. The smell of blood and charred flesh wafted the area and at the SandWing’s feet lay broken bodies and charred heaps of what were once dragons. In the middle of it all, however, was the most surprising sight. It was a MudWing he recognized. *'Earthquake!?'* Jackelot quickly moved to the motionless brute, feeling his scales tingle oddly. *'If Earthquake is out here that must mean... that Skylis came looking for Eranomous.'* As he circled around to the MudWing's face he realized he was in a lake of his own blood from a large gap in his throat, but in his jaw was the crushed head of a SkyWing. *'He must've stayed behind to let the others escape. Which means the others probably can't fight very well... so I probably only have to worry about Skylis now.'*

     Jackelot looked around wondering which way the others could've gone. As he gazed about, he spotted a familiar sight. A large rock spire that he recognized from when he was little. *'That is one of the landmarks from the Path of Peace...'*Jackelot remembered when he was little and his mother and father took him along the path to the Ice Kingdom to the old Peacewing base. It was one of his fondest memories from his past, but it also made him sad to think about because it always made him miss his mother. Back then he was always with her. She taught him everything he needed to know and she always brought a smile to his face. The night she was killed would've been the worst day of his life if he didn't meet Crimson.

    Jackelot smiled to himself. *'They must be following the Path of Peace to the Ice Kingdom, to find the Peacewings.'*

The SandWing spread his wings out wide readying himself to take off. *'Finding Eranomous just got easier.'* Jackelot lifted into the night sky with restored vigor. There was no way he’d lose him now.

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Next Part: https://fjh-wings-of-fire-fanclub.fandom.com/wiki/The\_Masked\_Dragon\_Part\_Four