Wings of Fire • Dragon of Storms [1]

Chapter Seventeen

- ❈ -

"Land ho!" Brisktail called quietly from the bottom of the cloud.

     Lightningtail bunched her wings up in a small 'hop'. Quickclaws used his tail to push her back down from above.

     She scowled at him – a hard thing to do considering the sun had set long ago and it was now very dark.

     "Hey," she growled, a teasing tone in her voice. "Don't ruin my moment!"

     Her friend laughed and waved his talon dismissively. "Sorry."

     The dragonets followed Brisktail down to the island. It was small, and Lightningtail doubted SeaWings could hide any dragon on it since the island didn't even have trees. It was so small, it looked to Lightningtail that it was only a wingspan across.

     Nevertheless, Lightningtail landed on it. Her friends dropped down too, jostling for the limited space. She ended up squashed under Quickclaws' chest, while Thunderclap had his own spot and Rainwind wrestling with Brisktail for the last dry bit of sand

     It felt so good to rest her wings, but it felt better to lean against a warm body while at it. Lightningtail yawned toothily, wanting to lay down and rest.

     "Can we just sleep?" She asked with another loud yawn.

     Thunderclap scowled at the moons, one full and two half full. "I don't know... unless we took shifts. I could do the first one," he offered.

     Quickclaws nodded. "Then let's take shifts. Wake me up next when you feel tired."

     Rainwind immediately flopped, limp body hanging on Brisktail's. He relented and covered her with his wing, sheltering Rainwind from the howling wind above. Thunderclap lay down too but kept his head up, making sure to keep a low profile.

     "Uh, Lightningtail?" Quickclaws asked softly.

     "Huz- what?" She responded. Then she realized that she was still sitting and that she would have to sleep very close to Quickclaws. She gulped.

     Seeming to sense her uncomfortableness, Quickclaws moved back as much as possible and ended up leaving Lightningtail enough room for her to be close to the other dragonets and for him to stay on the sandbar.

     Lightningtail smiled her thanks at him, which he, unfortunately, couldn't see. She rested her aching body on the cold sand and closed her eyes, letting the ripples of the waves and howl of the wind to lull her to sleep.

- ❈ -

Lightningtail woke to a small talon on her shoulder. She blinked open her heavy eyelids, trying to stay awake.

     "What is it?" She rasped, wincing in pain at the rawness of her throat. When had she last had a drink of water? Only the Sun Chasers knew.

     Rainwind was leaning over Quickclaws so that she could shake her shoulder. "You have the last watch. Brisktail told me we leave at first light." Rainwind tiredly flopped down.

     Lightningtail giggled at the way Rainwind dropped to the sand, then stopped suddenly. Because of the movement, she felt a wing draped over her body. When she twisted around, she saw that the wing belonged to Quickclaws. He had his arm wrapped around her also, and her back was pressed tightly into his chest.

     Her mouth opened and closed, then shut finally. There wasn't anything that bad about this, she trusted him and it actually felt kind of nice. So, Lightningtail stayed in that position.