Wings of Fire: The Extremely Awesome Amazing Epic Legend Of Kinkajou

Chapter 11

Cintre is waiting by the rack of scrolls in the center of the room, tapping her claw on the table impatiently, when Kinkajou enters through the hallway. The ring of keys on her neck glitters slightly in the globe of light bobbing happily above her shoulder.

KInkajou creeps into the room, Super secret stealth mode fully active. She is careful to make sure not even a ripple in the air can be seen. If Cintre had seen the sword on her back, which was Moon's leading theory, to which Kinkajou had replied, 'Maybe she has cool magic powers!,' she wouldn't be able to now considering that Kinkajou had left the sword back in the cell with her friends.

As if in answer to her thoughts Cintre shifts to look directly at her, "So, rainwing. Why don't you turn visible so we can talk?"

How does she know? She thinks, Does Cintre have awesome magic like I thought? Or how? Slowly she lets her scales return to visibility, mimicking the color of ice and snow with small swirls of black along her wings and tails.

"Hi, I'm KInkajou. This is so interesting, how did you know I was here?" Kinkajou asks, of all the six billion questions she is dying to know, this is one of the ones she really wants to know the answer to. The only dragon that has ever been able to catch her so easily when camouflaged was Tamorine, and Tamorine is blind, so she doesn't rely on sight anyway.

Cintre smiles slightly down at her and says, "Hello Kinkajou, I'm Cintre, though I'm sure you already know that. Anyway, to answer your question, I heard you. I've been in charge of this dungeon long enough to know every sound it makes and you were out of place."

So it was like Tamorine, even if Cintre wasn't blind, she paid attention enough to what she could hear to tell who was around her. So exciting. Her mind chimes, then it bubbles up a thousand other questions for Cintre.

Before she can ask them though, Cintre's face turns serious and she asks, "Now, why are you following Tsunami and Moon?"

Kinkajou feels like a lot is riding on her answer to this question. Should I lie? She wonders, but she doesn't see any reason to. If Cintre is going to be an annoying smug face and put her in prison with her friends, there is nothing she can do about it, well other than turn invisible and escape again, or use her venom. But she knows she couldn't do that. Maybe if a friend's life depended on it, but even then it makes her scales roil just to think about it.

"Well, I was with them until the icewings were totally rude and captured us for no reason, but I camouflaged myself before they could put me in this dungeon. Are you going to put me in your dungeon?"

"Whether you join your friends depends on your answers, of which I have one more question. Why were you in the ice kingdom, and how do you have the gift of diplomacy?" Cintre asks seriously, eyeing the silver band encircling Kinkajou's wrist.

"Well, Queen Glacier left Jade Mountain with the GIft of Diplomacy in case anything went wrong, and when Darkstalker returned Starflight had..."

At the word Darkstalker, Cintre looks startled, and terrified. If she was a rainwing, Kinkajou is sure that she would be a color green deep enough to rival the rainforest. Every inch of Cintre's body is instantly tense and worried.

This reaction confuses Kinkajou slightly. Yes, Darkstalker is scary and she has good reason to be terrified, but none of the other icewings had reacted this way. She was almost certain they were all under a spell, and Darkstalker was behind it, so why wasn't Cintre?

She can see Cintre make a valiant effort to regain her composure, which is only half successful.

"Back up, back up, you said Darkstalker returned. How, and why in the deepest mountains of the icekingdom are the icewings not more worried, I assume someone in your group told them."