Wings Of Fire: The Claws Of Vengence (book 2)

Chapter 4- Tempest

You know what annoys me most? The fact that I figured out exactly where Bella was kept by risking my butt to listen in on a rebel meeting and no one listens to me! Not even my boyfriend!

Not even a 'Gee thanks Tempest! What would we do without you!' But nooo, the moment I told them where she is, they started a full fledged shouting match that went a bit like this:

Gale: I'll go...

Bloodhunter: Yeah right, what are you going to do? Recite the Seawing rule book?

Me: Hey!

Storm: EVERYONE SHUT UP! Bella could be dying right now, and you three are bickering like dragonets!

Gale: I mean I don't mind staying behind...

Me: Gale, shush. You're coming with me and I'm leaving right now. The other two can keep doing their whole 'she likes me more, I'm more manly!' thing for all I care!

Then I just started flying, and they eventually followed.

Now we're flying through the Mud Kingdom with a pair of moody soldiers muttering behind me.

I glance down, my eyes trailing the maze of swamps, twig huts and the occasional alligator. I frown, usually there's groups of Mudwings lounging in mud pools, but nowadays most dragons prefer to stay in their homes, well the ones that aren't already allied to The Claws Of Vengeance.

When we finally pass the Diamond Spray Delta and begin flying over open sea, I take a deep breath of the salty sea air. I haven't had time to even look at the ocean in the past two to three months, but now I allow myself to have a few seconds of peace with the sound of waves.

Then Gale clears his throat beside me and I groan to myself.

"What?!" I snap, turning around to glare at Gale for interupting my peace. "What do you want-oh," I falter when I see our destination in the distance, directly between the Sea and the Sky kingdoms.

"Oh, I just thought you might-" Gale stammers, flinching at my harsh tone. I cringe.

"It's fine Gale. I'm just a bit... jumpy."

Gale nods as if he knows what I mean and I turn back to face the small island that appears up ahead, standing tall and jagged through the slight fog.

As we get closer, I notice how steep the cliffs are, crumbling rocky walls jutting vertically out of the sea like the tallest of rainforest trees. All pale ledges and worn away boulders.

I turn around to glance at the others and notice Storm's eyes widen as he spots a small cave opening. He flies ahead of the rest of us (which is obviously not that hard for him) and we scramble to catch up, wings aching in protest. We land at the entry to the cave and the moment I look inside, my stomach turns, tossing about the salmon I had for breakfast like a beach ball.

The hard stone walls show signs of struggle, a blood smear here (both red and blue) a deep gouge in the floor and even a broken sword laying uselessly on the ground.

I watch as Storm's shoulders tense and he grips onto his spear.

But the tunnel doesn't prepare us for the actual cave chamber. The moment the tunnel ends, revealing a large cavernous 'room' of sorts I gasp.

She's been here.

Red blood is splattered all over the walls, and weapons litter the ground. In the corner, a chair attached to shackles sits broken in the ground, covered in more blood. Knives, pitchforks, arrows, used matchsticks, hammers and lots of unidentified objects that looks like differents kinds of painful torture devices.