Fire and Ash

Chapter 3

Sky felt his breath leave his lungs as Clay led the group into the mountain.

First, the light got dimmer and Sky had to blink a couple of times to see properly. 

But then he was in a cave - a massive cave - bigger than any massive cave he'd ever been in before (which he supposed wasn't saying much, as he'd never actually been in a massive cave). 

Even though it was darker in here than it was outside, sunlight was still pouring into the cavern, sending scattered shadows across the stalagmites and stalactites and twisting columns that reached from the floor to the ceiling far above. A huge bronze gong was hung against the back wall, with three flying dragons carved into its surface. Two tunnel openings formed along the cave's left wall, with two more on the right wall. Next to each entrance was a huge map, most likely displaying tunnel routes to help students find their way around the mazelike caves.

"Whoa," Wren said, climbing up Sky's neck for a better view and using his horns to balance herself. 

"Tsunami!" a voice shouted, and a blur of gold shot out of the crowd, wrapping it's wings around the blue SeaWing. 

"Sunny," Tsunami hugged the golden dragon back, smiling. Sky's vision suddenly blurred. "I hope no one's gone and released an evil dragon from a mountain or spewed out a confusing prophecy while I was gone, no offense, Moon." 

The NightWing shook out her wings. "None taken." 

"Sky," Wren whispered in his ear. "Sky, are you okay?" 

Sunny was the little golden dragon he'd seen taken by Burn. The one who was different from all of the other dragons around her; the one he thought he'd never see again, because she was dead. 

"I'm fine," the mountain dragon choked out. 

"No," Sunny laughed, untangling herself from Tsunami's wings. "We've had a bit of drama with Umber and Sora coming back, but surely nothing as exciting as what's happened with you over in Pantala. I'm hoping that someday we can start having Pantalan students as well as Pyrrhian ones. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?"

"Sure," Tsunami glanced at Sky, for some reason. 

"Oh!" Sunny straightened and then also started looking at Sky. The little golden dragon hurried over to Sky and Wren, beaming. "I'm being so rude, I'm sorry. Welcome to Jade Mountain Academy, Sky and Wren! I'm Sunny, the Founder." She smiled somehow even more brightly. 

"Hi," Sky said. 

"Tsunami has sure told you a lot about us," Wren said, standing up on top of Sky's head. The human held out a tiny hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, Sunny." 

Sunny smiled, gently taking the human's hand between two claws. 

Moonwatcher and Qibli looked at each other, although Sky didn't notice. He was too busy smiling. All of these nice dragons at Jade Mountain Academy! So exciting! Wren was wrong about this place - he was sure of it. 

"You said Umber and Sora came back?" Tsunami's face hardened. "Why didn't you tell me about that?"

"It seemed like a minor detail, with you across the ocean battling evil plants," Sunny said apologetically. "I didn't want to give you something else to worry about. And it's all worked out - Umber's back to being a student, but Sora's been sent back to the Mud Kingdom with the rest of her siblings."

Tsunami rubbed her temples. "Alright. Might as well get the last shenanigan over with before Starflight gets caught up in it and accidentally gets burned to a crisp. Moon, take it away."