Wings of Fire • Dragon of Secrets [2]

Chapter Four

Lightningtail somehow made it to the boulder before Brisktail. She skidded to a stop and beckoned with her talons, shrieking, "Faster! Hurry!"

     Brisktail envied her courage and selflessness for a fleeting moment. He reached the boulder right after Lightningtail and he squeezed under it with her help. A rumble shook the ground and small pebbles rattled.

     Quickclaws shot out next, then Rainwind, and then Thunderclap. Lightningtail made it out just in time as a blast shook the air and the inner cliffs collapsed, dislodging the boulder. Lightningtail squealed as it slammed down onto the tip of her tail. Thunderclap and Quickclaws grabbed her arms and pulled, and together they got Lightningtail free.

     Brisktail flopped down onto the ground. His heart was hammering wildly in his chest and he could barely breathe, much less feel his limbs. All five of the dragonets were laying on the ground, panting like dogs. Brisktail coughed madly and shakily stood up.

     He pointed a talon at Rainwind. "Why would you do that?" he roared. Actually, after he said those words, he had no idea why he said them in the first place. It was an accident! So what? He was just glad they were alive. So why did he feel so... so irreversibly angry about it? Why couldn't he control his own emotions?

     Rainwind scrambled to defend herself. "I didn't-"

     "But you did and it nearly got us killed!" He continued. "What were you thinking?" Brisktail yelled. Rainwind roared in fury and jumped up, running forward and stopping with their noses pressed together. She snarled lowly, and Brisktail began to unfurl his wings into a threatening display.

     Lightningtail pounced between them and flared her wings, effectively separating them. Brisktail tried to push past her but Quickclaws grabbed his arm.

     "Don't yell at Rainwind!" he shouted, smoke rising from his nose. Brisktail was so taken aback by Quickclaws' outburst that he scrambled away.

     Lightningtail lashed her tail wildly. "Stop fighting! Brisktail, you're right, but you don't have to be so cruel about it! And Rainwind, I get that Thunderclap suggested setting the string on fire – where did you even get that idea from? – but that doesn't mean that you do it when we're in the middle of a tunnel system!"

     Thunderclap pressed his ears to his head in shame and hung his head. Rainwind looked just as embarrassed as she should and Brisktail was in awe. Wow... just... wow. The way Lightningtail got them all to listen so fast... it was so... well, for lack of a better term, majestic. It really showed her prowess to take on the throne one day. 

     It still disturbed him how easily he turned against his friends. It really was an accident. Kind of an unnecessary one, but an accident nonetheless. Why he was so determined to make Rainwind feel bad, Brisktail had no idea. Well... maybe just a tiny, little one.

     He had listened in on what the SeaWing had told Lightningtail back in the Summer Palace's prison caves. He could barely make out the words, but it sounded like Current had said that animus magic corrupted the dragon's soul. Made then different. Maybe it wasn't true, but if it was... Brisktail shivered. He was sure it wasn't happening to him... was it?

     Once Lightningtail was sure they wouldn't fight anymore, she lowered her wings. Brisktail coughed awkwardly as Lightningtail emptied the contents of her pouch.

     A few charred feathers, a small dragon doll, one spiky plant, and three red scales. Brisktail's attention immediately snapped to those and the plant. The scales looked like they came from a dragon, yet they were bigger than a SwiftScale's. What SwiftScale was red anyway? And the plant... it was green and covered in quills, sort of. More like needles.