Wings of Fire: Revenant

Chapter Thirteen

By the time they made their way back out of the palace, the sky was a swirl of crimson and burgundy. One of the moons was already peeking over the horizon, sending ripples of fiery orange across the sea.

Peacemaker followed Seeker as she lighted confidently into the air, soaring down past the palace and over the four-sided courtyard below. She did a loop and stopped to hover as Peacemaker flapped up beside her.

"This is the Great Diamond," Seeker explained. "It's the plaza where the tribe had its most important buildings. There were apparently a lot of festivals and important events that would be held here as well."

Peacemaker swept his gaze across the vast square, taking in the towering structures framing the courtyard. No light shone from the shattered windows, and the pathways that had once hosted dances and raucous celebrations were now overgrown with weeds. The only sound came from an owl screeching hoarsely as it emerged from the walls of a broken tower and took off into the evening sky.

The plaza sat like a scattering of weather-stripped bones, bare, pale, and resigned to being forgotten.

Seeker led them down to a structure made of pale granite, with a jutting roof supported by a long row of scroll-shaped columns. One column was badly cracked and another completely toppled, but the roof itself was still standing. There was no door anymore, and the entryway yawned black and empty in the twilight.

"Was this the library?" Peacemaker inquired.

Seeker nodded, reigniting her fire so that the two of them could peek in.

The ceiling inside was at least three stories high, with rows upon rows of empty shelves carpeted with dust and woodchips. A mouse spotted the two dragons and quickly scurried away through a crack in the wall. In one corner a moth flew clumsily in circles, only just managing to avoid the crisscrossing net of spider webs above.

"This was once the largest library on the whole continent," Seeker said between bursts of flame. "There were a few scrolls still left when the NightWings first came back here, but those were declared historic artifacts and donated for use by all of the tribes. The originals went to a museum in Possibility, and the transcripts are at Jade Mountain Academy."

"That sounds like an idea Moon came up with," Peacemaker said, his own voice calling back to him from the vast ceiling. "She must have lost her mind the first time she saw this place."

"I wouldn't blame her," Seeker replied, gazing worshipfully at the building as they stepped back out onto the empty streets. "When I was two, my father caught me trying to build my own little clubhouse here. As you can imagine, we had a very long talk about that afterwards."

Peacemaker snorted. "Your father is lucky if that's the worst thing you ever did. I got into so much trouble when I was little that my mother once said she was going to string me up by my tail and leave me for the panthers. I personally don't understand how death would somehow remedy the situation, but whatever."

"Lucky for us you never get into trouble anymore."

"Well, of course."

Next they came to the foot of a half-crumbled building, shaded in dark green lichen and moss. Solemn NightWing faces had been carved into the façade, their features worn smooth by hundreds of years of wind and rain. The domed roof was almost completely gone, with only a few stray tiles left as evidence that it had ever been there at all.

"That was the museum," Seeker said, nodding upwards. "It's pretty badly flooded on the inside, so I think we better stay out." She leaned in close and whispered, "Besides, I think there might even be bats in there."