Wings of Fire: The Rainforest Monster | ✔️

~ The Rainforest Monster: Chapter 4 ~

They were on a platform wide enough to fit twenty dragons. The RainWings shot suspicious glances at them as they passed.

Liana stood on the platform with Kookaburra and two other dragons. Their friends' nets were brought over by four groups of four, who placed them lightly on the platform.

"Are we supposed to just stay here until they wake up?" Glory asked.

"Well we aren't letting you go anywhere else," Liana replied.

Shades of red began to spread through Glory's scales. Hare turned away and shook out her wings. Maybe she could take a nap, or she could play a game with Starflight.

"You're real funny-looking," one of the RainWings commented, lightly poking Hare in the side.

"Be kind, Adoration," Liana warned. "This is Princess Hare, daughter of Burn."

"I don't see why she has any importance here," Adoration argued. "We aren't involved in the war. Anytime we tried never went well."

"I'm aware," Liana growled. "Now shut your jaws."

Kookaburra bounded over to Hare. "I always imagined you to look more like your mother," he said. "You look so IceWing though."

Hare bristled a little. "My mother said I look more like her," she told him.

"Oh, you've met her?" Kookaburra sat back on his haunches. "I thought she sent you into hiding?"

"She did," Hare said. "My friends were kidnapped by Scarlet. That's when I met her."

"I thought those were just rumors." Kookaburra yawned, his venom-spitting teeth catching the sun and giving off a shine. "There's been an awful lot of gossip since the war started. That's what Liana said."

"I didn't know RainWings took on apprentices," Hare said. "How does that work?"

"It's quite simple." Kookaburra laid down on his side, his tail hanging off the edge of the platform. "RainWings can sign up for the mentoring program once they're eight. When a dragonet reaches the age of one, they become an apprentice and are assigned a mentor. Our mentors teach us the basics of being a RainWing, then begin teaching us the more advanced stuff. When they think we've learned enough, they tell the queen and we're no longer on the list of apprentices."

"How does the queen possibly keep track of it all?" Hare asked. "I mean, there must be a lot of mentors and apprentices."

"There are," Kookaburra replied. "She has a list. Three, actually. A list of mentors, a list of apprentices, and a list of who belongs with who. Liana's been in the mentoring program for a year, and I was assigned to her about a week later." He smiled at his mentor, who was keeping a close eye on Glory. "She's really good at what she does."

Hare nodded. "What else do you guys do? I mean, I'm sure you've heard about all the rumors of your tribe being lazy and useless. The world doesn't know much about who you really are."

Kookaburra nodded. "Yeah, I'm aware. In my opinion, the rumors are a great advantage. Nobody will expect it when they see who we truly are." He smiled at Hare. "Anyway, we have daily patrols. Obviously you know about the border patrols, but there's also fruit patrols, occasional hunting patrols, and treetop patrols. Hunting patrols are really only used for big events, like a celebration hosted by the queen. We basically only hunt monkeys and birds. We mainly eat fruit." Kookaburra pointed up. "The treetop patrols are used to check if there's any enemies who managed to sneak past our alarms by going through the trees. Oh, and there's also burial patrols. They find any bodies of animals or dragons. If it's just an animal, it's buried where it's found. If it's a dragon, it's brought back here and laid on the vigil platform. We lay flowers around the body and we all gather around to pay our respects. We sit in silence from sunset to sunrise."

"Even if the dragon is an enemy?" Hare asked.

"Yes," Kookaburra replied. "All dragons deserve to be honored, no matter who they are."

"What if it's a bad dragon?" Hare said, her mind darting to the Place of Lost Souls. For the first time, she noticed how different this rainforest was from that one.

Kookaburra shrugged. "All dragons have done something honorable with their lives. The stars put them here for a reason. Doesn't it feel wrong to not honor a life they gave to us, after all they've done?"

Hare felt a small flicker of hope. The stars! Maybe RainWings know about the Place of Lost Souls and the Place of the Found. Maybe they can help me.

"Have you ever heard of the Elders?" Hare asked hesitantly.

Kookaburra smiled. "Of course I have! Every RainWing knows about the Elders and their home above the Place of the Found. We also know about the Place of the Unknown and the Place of Lost Souls. There's an entire section in all three of our libraries dedicated to them. It's almost required to know about them."

"Do you know about the summoning system?" Hare blurted.

Kookaburra blinked. "Summoning system?"

"It's just something I heard about," Hare said nervously, running her claw along the wood.

"It's not something I've ever heard about," Kookaburra said, shaking his head. "Can you explain?"

Hare hesitated, trying to remember what Mystery had said. "Dragons in the Place of the Found can summon living dragons anywhere they want. That includes the Place of the Found itself, the Place of the Unknown, and the Place of the Lost Souls. Dragons from the Place of Lost Souls can only summon living dragons there. Dragons can't try to bring themselves there, they can only be summoned."

Hare swore she could feel Mystery's pride at the fact that she'd remembered. That's right, I paid attention.

Kookaburra stared at her for a moment, then snorted. "That's ridiculous. Who told you about that?"

Hare bristled and lightly cuffed him over the ear. "It's true!" She cut herself off before she could add "you idiot".

Kookaburra glared at her. "And how would you know? I thought you only heard about it."

Hare looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, then lowered her voice so only she and Kookaburra could hear.

"Because I've been summoned," she explained. "I've been to the Place of Lost Souls and the Place of the Found. I don't know who's bringing me there, but she said something about knowing what I'll have to face."

Kookaburra laughed loudly. He was laughing so hard he had to steady himself before he fell off the edge. Hare almost pushed him down herself. He doesn't believe me!

Once he calmed down, Kookaburra wiped his eyes. "I think you're crazy."

Hare huffed. "And I think you're an idiot!"

With that, she stomped off to sit with Starflight and Glory.