Wings of Fire - Cavernous Promises

Chapter 15

MALLOW

Mallow ran up the corridor, what will Skull do if we're late? I hope he doesn't punish us. She skidded into the cave followed by Acacia, Dragonfly, Locust and Cobalt. Admiral was already sitting in front of Skull, looking over his shoulder at the group.

"You're late." snarled Skull, glaring at the group. He flicked his tail, before calling to one of his companions, "Metatarsals! Get the satchel!"

"Yes boss." replied the white CavernWing, as he ran off into one of the caves. Mallow sighed and settled down next to Admiral, wrapping her tail around her claws. Skull still glared at them with his orange eyes, that always looked like there was fire behind them. Metatarsal returned and placed a perfectly ordinary satchel onto the ground. I thought it would be more doom-y. What is in that satchel? Skull picked up the satchel and opened it; he reached in and pulled out a bronze key. "Admiral, this is the master key, it was enchanted by Dripstone, he was a thief who tried to break into the palace with his powers. This key was what he used, now you must use it to do the same." He then strung the key on a piece of string and hung it on Admiral's neck. Skull then reached into the satchel again and this time drew out a pale white whistle.

"Mallow," he said. Oh, no, no, it's me. I can't be trusted with something like that!

"This is the Night Whistle, it was enchanted by Queen Amber when tensions were rising between us and the SkyWings. She gave it to her head spy to keep an eye on the SkyWing palace, now you must use it to keep an eye on your enemies." he then hung the whistle around Mallow's neck. Wow, I wonder what it does, could it disguise me as any kind of dragon I want? Make me invisible? Make me unnoticeable? I wish Skull would just tell me, not all this cryptic nonsense. Skull looked at her before reaching into the satchel again, pulling out three bones. Eww, I hope those are clean.

"Acacia, these Enchanted Bones are the most recently enchanted by Prince Carpal. They were given to help us in our journey, now we give them to you to help with your journey." Skull then pulled out a large leather pouch and tucked the bones inside it, before hanging it around Acacia's neck. Skull then pulled out the last thing from the satchel, a dragon's skull. Oh no I don't want that near me, is it one of their own!?

"Cobalt, this is the Skull of Queen Cavern," began Skull.

I'm going to be sick.

"It was enchanted by her son Prince Stalagmite. It has helped many a desperate dragon, so Queen Cavern's fangs and horns will accompany you in this quest." he finished, and pulled out another leather pouch and tucked the skull into it, giving it to Cobalt. "Do not lose this item, it's one of the oldest and most important in the CavernWing archives. You are the last person someone would expect to hold such a dangerous object."

"Skull! I just finished!" came Ghost's cry, as the silvery dragon ran in carrying a clattering sack over her back.

"Good," replied Skull, "Locust, this is a set of armour made by the Featherweight Tools, enchanted by Talus. The CavernWings have found this item quite useful for over a thousand years, a true warrior should have the best armour," He then pulled a gleaming helmet from the sack, "Made from the strongest steel we could find."

Locust took the helmet in his claws and looked down at its gleaming surface.

"Ahem, excuse me, where is my, probably brilliant, enchanted item?" sneered Dragonfly.
"You're wearing it." snapped Skull, "The Mind Hidder, enchanted by Tunnelfinder. It has kept some of the most important dragons from unknowingly leaking their secrets."

"I wish you good luck," murmured Calcite.

"Don't ruin that armour," chided Ghost.

"Don't lose anything," growled Metatarsals.

"Stay safe, stay strong and may the cave spirits be with you." finished Skull, "Now get out of my sight!"

At this Skull flicked his tail at them with a clatter of spines. "Come on." growled Locust as he grabbed his sack of armour, slinging it between his wings. Mallow followed, bowing her head.

"I'll miss you!" called Mica, beaming at them as they left. The group travelled up and exited the cave, they stood on the rocky plateau, scanning over the hills. Locust tipped out his sack and began poking through the contents. Mallow leaned over and looked down at what was among it. The helmet was of course still in Locust's talons. There was a sleek chest plate studded with two diamonds at the very top. Four separate wing guards, each having a ruby placed in them. Two arm guards, with a gold trim around the edges. Two leg guards with a silver trim. And a large selection of neck armour each one of them having a piece of amber in them. Mallow realized that the helmet had sapphires studded above the eyes and a ruby embedded between the eyes.

"Wow nice, that looks like some good armour, Ghost knows what she's doing." Mallow said, picking up one of the wing guards. The LeafWings had armour but most of it was made by one dragon Blackthorn, the blacksmith. The rest was stolen and didn't fit on LeafWings very well. But Ghost's work was impeccable, each hammer strike must have been perfect, there weren't any scratches where a dragon got too haphazard when handling it and the metal was perfectly tempered. It also looked like it could take quite a few hits.

"Well, yeah, she says her father was a blacksmith before she got drafted into the CavernWing guard." replied Locust as he fitted on the helmet, he suddenly gasped then shook his head, "It can't be this is- this is weightless, literally weightless."

A large grin spread over his face, "They said it was made by the Featherweight Tools right? So that means the enchantment causes anything that's made with those tools to become weightless, genius."

"Shouldn't we find out what these do before we use them? So we know how to use them when we need to." asked Admiral, looking between them all. He lifted up the bronze key, "I assume mine can unlock anything with a keyhole, because it was enchanted by someone trying to enter a secure palace. It's also called the Master Key."

"Right." murmured Mallow, she picked up the whistle around her neck. I don't feel any different holding or wearing it, so maybe if I blow it?

She picked the whistle to her lips and blew, no sound came out but she felt a buzzing electrical feeling as though she had stood too close to a lightning bolt.

"Wait, where did Mallow go?" asked Acacia, looking around frantically.

"I'm right here you idiot." snapped Mallow.

"MALLOW! MALLOW! MALLOW!" called Acacia. Did he not hear me?

"I'm right here you idiot!" She snapped standing in front of Acacia. He pushed past her without even glancing at her. Excuse me, I'm still here. She looked down at her claws, checking she was still there, her claws sat on the rock looking as solid as ever. What's going on? Wait, that's the enchantment, I become invisible and whatever else to everyone but me. I need to test something. She sat next to a small stream, and dipped her claw into the mud, before writing, 'Over here, idiots' on the rockface. Even Acacia, who was looking in her direction at the time, didn't seem to notice. This is so cool! If we had more of these we could go to Wasp hive without being noticed and catch the HiveWing queen by surprise, then we could set free all the SilkWings, allow the LeafWings to have freedom and bring peace to Pantala. Then she remembered Thistle's words, "The only good HiveWing's a dead HiveWing. The SilkWings are stupid and we're supreme!" She passed out a minute later. She sighed, Pantala will never be at peace, LeafWings like Thistle and Nightshade would want to kill all the HiveWings, LeafWings like Oak and Goldenrod would want to imprison both tribes as slaves. There isn't a single good LeafWing. Mallow shook her head. No, said another voice, what about you, what about Acacia. Not all LeafWings are bad, just as not all HiveWings are bad. In fact most of them are just acting on what Wasp wants them to do. I must use my power wisely.