Wings of Fire: The Kingdom of the Sea | ✔️

~ The Kingdom of the Sea: Chapter 24 ~

"Somebody's coming."

Starflight's urgent whisper woke Hare. The three moons were high in the sky and the stars were glittering. Catfish was asleep beside the water while the others were all asleep together.

The other dragonets and Kestrel began to stir. Hare picked up the sound of someone moving through the ferns. Tsunami and Glory quickly jumped to their talons. Sunny pulled the egg closer to her. Clay and Starflight stood over her protectively. Kestrel bounded over to the front, prepared to tackle the danger first. Hare took her place beside Glory, prepared to fight. Catfish lifted his head sleepily and looked over at them with a quizzical expression.

"It's only one dragon," Starflight whispered.

"We still need to be ready," Kestrel snarled quietly.

The sound of the dragon struggling to move around filled the air. That was the only sound for a while, until a crack split the air. Hare looked back as Sunny gasped. She was looking down at the egg, which had a fresh crack running through it.

"No, not now!" she cried quietly. "Don't hatch now!"

The egg didn't listen. It continued squirming and cracking until the top of the shell split apart and went flying. Just as a tiny dragon head poked out, the dragon burst past the vines. She was carrying a small shell.

"Anemone!" Tsunami cried, rushing forward to greet her sister. "You don't have your harness on. What-"

"I cast a spell on it when mother fell asleep. It let me slip out, but there's no weight difference. Mother still thinks I'm there." Anemone held up the shell. "And before you ask how I found you, I enchanted this to lead me here. It was a struggle, but it worked."

"Enchanted? Spell? Anemone-"

"Yes," Anemone interrupted. "I'm an animus. Mother's little secret weapon."

She looked over at Sunny as the newborn dragonet squeaked. Her scales were green and her eyes were bright. She moved around clumsily on her little talons. Anemone squealed with delight.

"Is that our sister? Oh, she's adorable!"

Tsunami smiled and held out her talon for the little dragonet. She stumbled over and climbed into Tsunami's grasp. Tsunami carefully picked up her little sister, smiling fondly at her. Hare couldn't help but look over at Catfish, who met her eyes for a minute before looking back at the princesses.

Anemone held out her claw. Her sister grabbed it with her tiny claws and began to wrestle with it. Anemone giggled. Hare noticed Kestrel watching with affectionate and sad eyes.

"Mother will love her," she said quietly.

Tsunami looked uncertain, but she eventually nodded. "She will. I'm hoping you'll be able to take her back?"

"Of course," Anemone said, a wide smile spread across her face. "She's so cute. Do you think mother would mind if we named her?"

Tsunami laughed. "Just don't tell her I had any part in it."

"What about Seagull?" Clay suggested, walking over to them.

"Princess Seagull?" Tsunami shook her head.

"Walrus might work," Glory joked as the small SeaWing bit her older sister's claw.

"She's not a Walrus!" Tsunami scoffed. "She's much more dignified than that."

"How about Auklet?" Catfish got up and walked over to join them. He stood beside Hare, but he didn't look at her. He kept his eyes fixed on the newborn princess.