𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐲𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐫 - 𝐐𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢 𝐱 𝐎𝐜

Chapter 13

𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

I felt a stab of hurt when the word 'Skywing' was uttered. Following immediately after that hurt was a sense of alarm and dread washing over me when the rest of the scream sunk in.  My mind went straight to my grandmother, Queen Scarlet. 

"Find somewhere to hide," Starflight cried to Me, Moon, Kinkajou, and Sora. He stumbled forward, talons outstretched. "Don't let her see you."

His expression was so frantic that the feeling of terror that had settled in the pit of my stomach tripled. If the dragons meant to protect us were that scared then we had no hope at all. "Who?" Kinkajou yelped. "Who are we hiding from?"

Sora curled into a ball on the reeds, trembling.

Moon clutched her head and began whispering to herself. She closed her eyes before a surprised expression crossed her face. 

Starflight was hurrying away to the Great Hall, his wings brushing the rock walls on either side, his talons reaching forward anxiously.

Moon started after him, Me nervously following a moment later.

"Aren't we hiding?" Kinkajou asked.

"Is that what you want to do?" Moon shot back.

"No!" Kinkajou said, flaring green and purple and white and yellow in dizzying spirals. "I thought that's what you would want to do. But chasing after him to see what's happening is MUCH more exciting!"she exclaimed happily, bounding along beside Moon.

We burst into the hall only a few moments behind Starflight.

A SkyWing stood in the center of the cave, staring wildly around her with eerie blue eyes. Smoke rose from her shimmering metallic-orange scales. Relief spread across my body as I recognised who it was. Peril! 

Glancing around, I noticed a few things.

Most students had fled, but Winter and Icicle stood in one of the tunnel entrances, glaring at Peril. Carnelian was there, too, watching curiously. Two other dragons had apparently fainted before they could run away, a SeaWing and a SandWing I didn't know.

"Who's there?" Starflight called, his voice shaking. "That's not Queen Scarlet," I say with a smile, touching his shoulder.

"It's not?" Starflight said. His wings collapsed with relief.

"Peril!" Clay shouted as he hurried into the cave, moving fast despite his limp. "You came!"

Tsunami did not look happy as she came into the cave right behind him.

Peril instinctively shrank away from Clay, but Clay didn't seem to notice her pulling away; he took one of Peril's talons and pressed it between his. A sizzling sound and burning smell rose from his scales where they touched, but when he let go, the burn healed over almost instantly.

"When we didn't hear from you, we assumed you weren't coming," Tsunami said.

"I thought I could find her," Peril said, tearing her gaze away from Clay. "But she's nowhere. I don't know where else to look. I'm sorry." I winced when I realised she was talking about grandmother.

"Don't be," Clay said wholeheartedly. "We're glad you're here."

"We don't have a group for you," Tsunami said, folding her wings back. "We didn't know you were coming, so there's a SkyWing in each winglet already."

"I don't have to stay," Peril mumbled. She edged back a step, toward the outside.

"But I want you to," Clay said. "If Scarlet's looking for you, too, we'll all be safer together. Don't worry about the winglets, we'll figure it out." He shot Tsunami a frown that clearly read 'Don't scare her away'. I winced again at the mention of my grandmother.

Tsunami rolled her eyes, barely seeming to contain whatever snappy comeback she had wanted to say. "I'll go ask Sunny where we should put you," she said instead, and swept away.

"She can't stay here!" Winter suddenly barked, stepping forward. He jabbed a claw at Peril. "That dragon killed more than twenty IceWing prisoners. She was Queen Scarlet's favorite weapon. It's one thing to force us to work with deceitful Night Wings and lowborn SandWings, but a straight-up murderer? No one is going to stand for this."

"Besides, she's dangerous," his sister pointed out in a smooth, high-pitched voice. "Whether she's still working for Queen Scarlet or ... not" her tone of voice made it perfectly clear for which of those she believed.

"A lot of dragons have done things they need to be forgiven for," Clay pointed out. I winced slightly as I remembered all the arena fights, the memories flashing through my head. "Especially in the war. The agreement between the queens was amnesty for everyone, no grudges, no revenge."

"Fighting in battles, following orders from your general, that's normal warfare," Winter scoffed. "Killing prisoners while they're chained up, or forcing them to fight a monster - how is that forgivable?"

Peril seemed to be shrinking and burning hotter at the same time.

Her strange eyes glowered at Winter through the smoke.

"Even Queen Ruby hasn't agreed to pardon that dragon," Icicle pointed out. "She's been banned from the SkyWing palace, hasn't she?" I winced again at that comment and Peril finally seemed to notice me. A small smile grew on her face and she waved slightly. I waved back before moving my attention back to the conversation at hand.

"All the more reason to welcome her here," Clay said. "Where starting over and second chances are the whole point." He smiled at Peril again. She lashed her tail and ducked her head. "Come on, let's go see the others," Clay added diplomatically, waving Peril toward the tunnel where Tsunami had disappeared.

Icicle turned to Winter as they left and hissed, "I'll send a messenger to Queen Glacier tonight."

The gong sounded twice, echoing through the tunnels.

"Time for history," Kinkajou said cheerfully. "Come on, Winter!"

Icicle gave him an amused, arch look before walking off.

Winter shifted his wings uncomfortably and started after Kinkajou.

"Well then," Moon said, and started off toward the history cave. I looked at where Peril had just stood, plumes of smoke still lingering in the air.

I'm great friends with Peril but- is her being here really a good idea?

Okay guys, we finally introduced Peril! I'm so grateful for all your votes and reads on this book! For the book cover, we're tied between number 1 and the current one I think. Todays question is, What are all the places you've been to? (By plane) One again I'll comment my answer on the first comment! 

- Love, Issie

{Word Count: 1026 Words}