Switched dragonets AU | #1 | The Dragonet Prophecy

Chapter 8

"They wouldn't!" Ostrich said. "They definitely would," Anemone said, "they'll do anything for the prophecy." "All of you together are no match for Kestrel!" Kinkajou said. "So we escape," Umber said. "Escape?" Kinkajou muttered. "We have to get out tonight, right now," Umber said. "If escape were that easy, we'd already be gone," Moon said, "there's a huge boulder blocking the exit, it can't be opened from the inside without the key, and only Dune has it." "Can we steal the key?" Umber asked. "They'd catch us for sure," Moon said. "If one of us got out, could we move the boulder from the outside?" Kinkajou asked. "Probably, we've seen Kestrel and Webs come in without Dune," Moon said. "But it doesn't matter, there's no way to get outside," Anemone said. "What about the sky- "Can we force the boulder?" Umber asked. "What about the sky- "won't work, the mechanism locks the boulder in place," Moon said. "GUYS! LISTEN! What about the sky hole? In the study room? We could fly up and squeeze out!" Kinkajou yelled. "It's to small," Moon said, "even for you, I've flown up when no one was around." "Me too," Ostrich said. "Me too," Anemone also said. Why didn't I ever try that? Umber thought. Umber turned to Anemone. "You have an idea," Umber said, "I can tell, you've been working on an escape plan forever." "'Forever'? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Kinkajou asked. Anemone then glanced at the river, ignoring Kinkajou's question. "It's to dangerous, it was supposed to be me," she said. "The river?" Umber asked, "do you know where it goes? I found a gap under the wall in the training cave," Anemone said, "it's very tight, I've never gone through in case I couldn't get back." "I'll go, with you tied up, I'm the best swimmer," Umber said. "Umber, you can't!" Anemone yelled. "MudWings can only hold their breath for an hour-you could get trapped with no air and drown," Anemone worried. "Kinkajou will die if I don't, right? There's no other way," Umber said. "We don't know where the river will take you, you'll need to orient yourself, when it's daylight, we'll send a smoke signal through the sky hole," Moon said. "I can think of a few scrolls I'd like to burn," Kinkajou said. "Me to!" Ostrich said. Moon winced a bit when Ostrich and Kinkajou said that. "What's Kinkajou supposed to do while we wait for the sun to come up? Kestrels coming tonight," Anemone said. "I'll be fine," Kinkajou said, "the guardians don't know I can do this." Suddenly, Kinkajou began to get less, and less visible, and then, she was invisible so much that Umber couldn't even see her. "I guess it's a good thing we never studied RainWings," Kinkajou said, "you don't even have to risk the river, Umber, I could stay just like this." "For how long? Until you starve?" Moon worried. "They're trying to kill you, we have to get out," Umber said. Kinkajou's head then became un-camouflaged. "Alright, do what you want, as long as you're not just doing it for me," Kinkajou said. Umber stuck a claw in the cold water, and walked in it. "Be really careful Umber," Anemone said. "Follow the current if the river goes out into the world anywhere, the current will take you there," Moon explained. If? Umber thought. "Kinkajou, you should hide," Umber said. "Fine. . ." Kinkajou said before going into camouflage. "Don't you dare die!" Ostrich said clutching her talons to Umber. "Don't panic when you're down there, if you panic, you'll run out of air faster," Moon explained. Umber nodded and went into the cold river. "Don't die," Kinkajou said.