Wings of Fire • Dragon of Secrets [2]

Chapter Sixteen

Brisktail woke up with a shiver. His dreams had been dark and haunting, figures of darkness stalking him in the corners of his mind until they caught him and... it was best he didn't think about it.

     He sat up, shaking off a light dusting of snow and getting his bearings. He knew he was on the infirmary island. He checked his pouch and was relieved to find that the leaves were naturally waxy and thus shed water, keeping the scrolls dry. Nevertheless, he still made it fully waterproof by enchanting it. After the hollow feeling of enchantment didn't go away even after the magic was done, Brisktail panicked a little bit, only to realize that he hadn't eaten since going to the grotto. He was just hungry.

     He spread his wings and took to the sky, a brisk wind helping him rise several hundred dragonlengths almost immediately after take-off. Brisktail soared on a thermal draft and spread his wings wide to glide. He looked down, scanning the water for any fish he could catch in the ice holes. He finally focused in on one and, after dropping down in the sky in short bursts, he dove and snapped his jaws around it (after avoiding any ice floes, of course). Brisktail rose out of the water and flew to a nearby sea stack to eat.

     "Did you see that?" someone shouted.

     Brisktail looked up.

     Three dragonets were sitting on a small rocky island across from him. They were pointing at the water where he had dived into – which was still foaming – and shouting amongst themselves. As Brisktail watched an adult dragon heard the commotion and soared down to help them.

     Brisktail ate nervously after that. He knew the fish he was holding should be invisible, but he didn't want to risk being seen (the fish being seen, not him) so he kept his wings covering himself as he sat on the rock and finished his meal.

     He pulled his head out from under his wings just in time to see a soldier preparing to land on his sea stack. Brisktail scrambled off, causing a rock to dislodge from the stone and plummet to sea. The dragon looked down curiously after he landed but didn't say anything.

     Brisktail decided to go to the Inventory Hall after that. He kept close to the cliffs as he flew so he didn't crash into any dragon unexpectedly and made his way to a cave that connected to the Hall. He followed the winding passageway down into the earth (hating every claustrophobic second) and passed the guard with ease. He slipped inside, took out a few mackerel, and slunk back outside to thaw his food.

     After his stomach was successfully filled, Brisktail sat perched like a bird on an old wooden beam that used to hold up one of the walkways surrounding the estuary. He took his all-knowing pebble out and stared at it.

     Brisktail eventually came up with a question: "Do you know if one of Windwhipper's spies works in the armoury?" he asked it.

     The pebble answered: "Yes."

     Brisktail felt better now that he had a goal to work for today. He pulled out his map and the ink bottle. Brisktail wanted to make a better enchantment for the map. He needed something that would show the whole bay and all of the spies he found on it. He spent another hour practicing enchantments that he could make until he finally came across what he wanted.

     "I enchant this map to rearrange itself to show the whole estuary – including all islands, sea stacks, and the area inhabited by the SwiftScales."

     The ink on the page shivered and began to slither around the parchment. Soon, a detailed sketch of the bay showed itself on the paper. Brisktail continued: "I enchant this scroll to show a red tracker dot for the spy Whitecloud."