Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

You Can't Hide, But You Can Fight

Ray paced the cave that he and the others had hidden in, worry growing in his mind. Ander had just gone to warn everyone that wasn't here- she should be back by now.

"She should be back by now." He said out loud, fear lacing his voice.

"I'm sure she's fine, Ray" Rin insisted. "It's Ander. She can handle herself."

"But what if the Sting are here already and they found her?" He asked.  "What if they take her?"

"Then she'll rip their hearts out and sacrifice them to the moons or something." Rin guessed. "My sister can handle herself just fine."

Ray still looked wary.

Permafrost sighed and stood up.

"Okay," She began. "The Sting aren't looking for me, right? So what if I go out and find Ander and bring her back here? Would that make everyone happy?"

"Yes." Ray confirmed.

"Then I'll be back."

"Wait- Permafrost!" Stardust insisted. The Icewing paused at the door, watching him. "Be careful," He pleaded. Permafrost grinned.

"Don't worry, honey, your princess shall return intact." Then she flounced out of the room, leaving them behind.

"Ship it." Rin insisted.

*~*~*~*~*

Permafrost found Ander in a dark cave not far from Sunny's office.

"Hey An-" she started.

"SHHHHH!!" Ander cut her off, pulling her into the cave. "They're here."

"Who's here? The Sting?" Ander smacked on the back of the head.

"Of course!" Ander hissed. "There's three of them, but I'm not sure where."

"Then we have to get back to the cave,"

"And risk running into them on the way there? That's-" Ander stopped, gasping and she grabbed her wrist with a look of pain. A moment later, a blood curdling scream echoed through the mountain.

"Forget everything I just said, we need to go to the cave- NOW." Ander ordered, grabbing Permafrost's arm and running down the hall.

"What is it?" Permafrost asked. "What happened?"

"It's Rin," Ander said, looking worried. "She's the one that screamed. They must have found the cave." Permafrost's eyes widened. Rin wasn't a dragon who screamed out of fear.

What had happened?

*~*~*~*~*

Shortly after Permafrost had left, a trio of Sandwings had found the cave. The group in it- Ember, Apple, Rin, Parrot, Stardust, Ray, Stream, and Willow- stood there, petrified. The Sandwings studied the group, their eyes landing on different dragons.

"Two Rainforest princesses," One of them commented.

"This one looks just like the Mudwing who was there," Another said, pointing at Willow, who was cowering behind Stream.

"Now then," The third announced. "Let's just do this nice, and easy."

But then the first Sandwing grabbed Apple, and all hell broke loose.

Stream sank her teeth into the talons of the Sandwing who had pointed at Willow, and the older dragon jumped back with a yelp.

Stream growled, flaring her wings as Willow hid behind her and whimpered.

"ANYONE WHO TOUCHES WILLOW DIES." Stream declared.

Apple struggled against the first Sandwing who had grabbed her, and she let out a cry as the Sandwing slapped her across the face.

"You die now." Ember growled, lunging towards the Sandwing. The third one tried to hold him back, but Ember slipped through his arms and ended up on the first Sandwing's back, his talons wrapped around the Sandwing's neck.

Startled, the Sandwing dropped his hold on Apple and clawed at his neck. The third Sandwing ripped Ember off the first, but as he did, Ember's claws raked into the first Sandwing, and he accidentally slit the dragon's throat.

Blood sprayed out and the first Sandwing collapsed to the ground. Dead.

The third Sandwing let out a roar and clawed at Ember, ready to get revenge. The hybrid didn't know exactly what had happened, but all of a sudden, Apple was there, and venom sprayed into the Sandwing's eyes. He fell to the floor a moment later, screaming as the venom took over.

The last Sandwing standing went for Rin. The two fought back and forth until Rin clawed at his eye, and the Sandwing grabbed her wrist, wrenching it down in a direction that it wasn't supposed to bend in.

A crack echoed in the air, and Rin screamed at the top of her lungs.

Parrot, Stardust, and Ray tackled the Sandwing and were struggling to pin him when Permafrost and Ander showed up.

Permafrost caught sight of the Sandwing on the floor, his talons reaching for Stardust's eyes, ready to blind him.

"STARDUST!" Permafrost yelled. The hybrid jumped out of the way as Permafrost shot frostbreath, coating the Sandwing's entire arm in it.

A minute later, Permafrost, Parrot, and Stardust had the Third Sandwing successfully pinned, and he didn't bother struggling.

"Let me see," Ray insisted, gently looking at Rin's wrist, which was bent at an unnatural angle. The princess fought back a wince as her arm extended. Ray frowned slightly, shooting a glance at Ander.

"Broken?" She guessed.

"Fractured, at least." Ray confirmed. "We have to get you to the infirmary."

"Wonderful." Rin offered.

"Rin, you okay?" Parrot asked from his spot.

"I'll live." She declared as Ray led her down the hall.

"What now?" Ember asked. "Should we kill him?" He nodded towards the Sandwing.

"....No." Ander suggested. "I say we use him to send a message to the Sting."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Permafrost, if you will," Ander insisted. "You do have the sharpest claws out of all of us."

*~*~*~*~*

Later, after the Sandwings were gone, Apple remained in the cave, her eyes focused on the dried blood on the floor.

"I didn't want to kill him." She whispered.

"I know, " Ember's soft voice said from the doorway.  He too, stared at the blood. "Neither did I."

"I was afraid you would get hurt."

"So was I." Ember crossed the room, sitting next to Apple and wrapping a wing around her. He knew how much she hated killing, and yet the universe just kept making her do it.

"They were evil, right?" She asked. "Evil nobodies, who didn't have families?"

"They were evil nobodies, and no one will miss them," Ember assured her. "You did what you had to do, and you saved my life."

"Then I guess we're one step close to being even." She joked. Ember let out a laugh.

*~*~*~*

That night, a Sandwing would return to the Sting headquarters. One of his arms was black with frostbreath burns, and far beyond saving.  He limped, and could only see out of one eye. All of his fingers were broken. But the most shocking part was the message carved across the  chest.

You messed with the WRONG dragons.