Wings Of fire: Shadowstalker

Chapter 4: Nighthawk

half an hour later, Shadowstalker sat at the dining table with his friends. His uncle, Preychaser, had made them all a delicious and savory meal. It was a pasta dish with meat and tomato sauce. Several different cut vegetables were mixed into the meal as well to add a variety of flavors. It was the prince's favorite.

"I love your uncle's cooking. He is seriously the best chef in the kingdom." Mindwatcher said with a smile. "So good.."

"Isn't he?" Shadow smiled. He took in a mouthful of food and ate slowly, humming to himself. He was far too big for a chair, so he sat on an enormous cushion. The food he was eating had been placed in a special bowl to make his food larger. It was enchanted by Darkstalker which saved time and costs. He felt something pat his side, and he looked down down to see Starhunter. "Hm?" He mumbled as he slurped up a large noodle.

"Thanks for talking your uncle into this, haha."

"Of course. All I had to do was offer him some of my snacking chocolate, which he uses for desserts and who knows what else." Shadow shrugged with a smile. He wiped some sauce off his snout before standing up. "Hm."

"Done already?" Sharp giggled. "That was fast! Faster than usual!"

"Yeah, I was hungry. I have to check with Nighthawk about something." Shadow said before stretching a bit. "Won't take long, I'll catch up to you three soon." He smiled and turned to walk out.

"Nighthawk! What a legend, he's fought in wars, and- and he broke out of BURN'S STRONGHOLD!" Sharp said enthusiastically. "I don't even know how anyone could survive that, but he did!"

"Nighthawk is a badass. To put it simply." Starhunter said. "Tell him I said hi. Aaand could you possibly get me his autograph?"

"On what?" Shadow tilted his head with a small chuckle. "Don't tell me you want him to sign his scroll and give it to you."

"That is exactly what I want. And if I don't get it, I will steal all your fancy chocolate." Starhunter grinned. "So what'll it be?"

"Oh fine." Shadow huffed. "I'll see, but if he says no then that's the end of it." He turned and began to head towards Nighthawk's room. He looked at some of the paintings and tapestries in the palace. There were portraits of the king, his wife and Shadow's brother and sister. There were paintings of Preychaser, his uncle, and Foeslayer, his grandmother as well. He stopped to admire them for a second.

Comet was the middle child. The princess was said to be as stunning and beautiful as the moons above. Her scales were a blackish blue, and her underbelly grey, looking just like her mother. Shadow's youngest sibling, Void looked more like his father than any of them. His scales were slightly darker than his father's with the same patterns, straight horns and the same eyes. His sister was five, and his brother was three.

Once he was satisfied with looking at the paintings, he continued his way to Nighthawk's room. He tapped on the door lightly with one of his beefy claws, waiting for him to answer. Soon the old creaky, wooden door opened and Nighthawk poked his head out.

"Ello! All done I assume?" Nighthawk smiled. Shadow nodded and began to head inside while Nighthawk moved back to let him in. He squeezed into the room and sat on a rug.

"Sooo..what did ya need?" Shadow smiled.

"I needed your help, and it will benefit you." Nighthawk said before unrolling a scroll. "I was planning on building a cabin up in the mountains for Sulu and I. I was going to ask if you could help build it with me, since I know how much you enjoy that." He offered, showing Shadow a blueprint of the structure he wanted. "Any corrections I need to make?"

"Oh, yeah! And sure, let me take a look.." Shadow reached into his pouch and took out a special spyglass. It too was enchanted to find the perfect zoom for any scroll he was reading without hurting his eye. As he looked over the scroll, he shrugged and shook his head. "You need more support beams for that kind of roof, otherwise it will collapse and crush you." He said as he rubbed his chin slowly. "But it really is a spectacular design, you did a great job with it."

"Aye, got it." Nighthawk pat his shoulder. "Thank you. I can't wait to see how it turns out, and with your help it should look incredible."

"Of course. Glad you're finally getting a place of your own. How is Sulu by the way?" He asked.

"Sulu is bloody brilliant as always, we went to dinner the other night and it was just spectacular." Nighthawk smilrd. As far as Shadow remembered, the two were married. They had done so after they moved to the night kingdom once the war was done. He was happy for the two, because their love was something special.

"That's sweet, I hope to have that one day, just romantic dinners with whoever.." Shadow said happily. "I'm still waiting for the right dragon.."

"I understand, and you'll find her soon enough." Nighthawk pat his shoulder a little. "You are a good dragon, and you deserve someone who will make your life happy. It might take a few years and tries, but you'll find her. I went through three before I found someone."

"So I've heard.. but you're happy with Sulu. If that's all, is there anything else?" He asked.

"Well uh, there was one more thing. And you don't have to help me with this, but I would be grateful."

"Alright, what is it?" Shadow asked. He sat up and stretched slowly with a yawn, admiring the cabin design for a moment.

Nighthawk took a deep breath before glancing up at the prince. "It has to do with a dragon named Viper."