Wings of Fire • Dragon of Secrets [2]

Chapter Ten

Brisktail landed in the snow, sinking up to his elbows in the fleecy whiteness. The guards were surrounding him and keeping the inquisitive PineWing villagers away.

     Beside the dragons was a large ravine. It stretched two dragonlengths across, and a small river (at least, it looked small due to the depth of the ravine) was snaking its was along the bottom of the scar.

     Brisktail twisted his neck to take in the surroundings. The forest extended all the way to the edge of the ravine, with some trees hanging off the ledge at weird angles and their trunks bent. There were more sphere nests built in the trees, and vines had been woven together to make bridges across the ravine. At ground level, the roots of two trees had somehow been forced to grow across the ravine and meet to form a bridge. Brisktail saw a tavern tucked away on the other side of the fissure as well as other shacks on the ground. As he peered into the depths of the ravine, he saw a crack in the wall that had platforms leading to it and lamplight coming from inside. Brisktail could hear a hammer busily banging metal into shape – a blacksmith's cave.

     The village extended along the ravine for a while. There were at least a hundred PineWings visible, gathered on bridges, platforms, or poking their heads out of windows in their hollows. Windows that were lit by candlelight twinkled merrily in the dusk gloom. The whole scene looked perfectly normal, and Brisktail had no idea why he was sent here.

     "What am I here for?" he asked the largest guard.

     The PineWing sniffed and pointed to a large pine tree. "You're to sleep under there. You'll learn about your assignment tomorrow."

     "Does it have anything to do with fighting a bear?" Brisktail asked, "Because I know I'm definitely going to fail and die."

     A guard laughed and Brisktail's inner confidence faded. He had thought Sycamore could have been joking, but, that wasn't the case. Either that or this PineWing thought he was joking and was truly laughing. Both options provided no explanation, so Brisktail was just as thrilled as he was when he was thrown into Queen Belladonna's prison.

     He shuffled through the snow, curling up under the tree and shivering in place. The guards surrounded him and the tree, making escape impossible. Brisktail lay his head on his talons and watched the snow in front of him. It sparkled in the faraway light of torches and he watched it glitter with an entranced eye. 

     His mind roamed slowly as he observed the snow. The graduation definitely would have happened by now and Quickclaws would now be a full-fledged soldier. Funny, he had always thought they would graduate together. 

     Brisktail laughed inwardly. I guess I ruined that when I ran away. He smiled to himself as he thought of the situation he was in; a foreign queen's prisoner and about to work for her until the foreseeable future. And so much for 'fading into the background...' Brisktail thought bitterly.

     "You're not allowed to see the prisoner."

     Brisktail raised his head. A young female PineWing was trying to push through the guards. She was carrying something in her talons, Brisktail couldn't see what it was. A younger dragonet was jumping up and down behind her, attempting to get a glimpse of Brisktail over the guard's menacing wall of quills.

     "Please, he'll be cold. Mother told me to give him these blankets."

     One of the guards turned to the largest, the one in command. "She has a point, Cedar. If he doesn't rest well he won't have a lot of energy tomorrow."

     Cedar grumbled in annoyance but let his tail fall to clear a path for the siblings. The PineWing thanked him and shuffled forward, balancing a blanket on her back, one in her talons, and one in her mouth. Her little brother bounded eagerly forward to Brisktail's talons.