NOIR:- A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

Chapter 22

Star

It had been three weeks since Darkstalker had attacked. Three weeks since Darkstalker had brainwashed Lupus.

Most everyone had been severely injured, but no one had died, thankfully. Star had suffered some minor injuries from the fight, which were covered by white bandages. The worst injured of them all was Tigerfish, though. She had a nearly fatal stab wound, but Mamba had managed to administer stitches and also a bunch of other medical stuff, most of which he had proudly stated was way over his head.

Most of the other members of the winglet were shaken up, and they had good reason to be.

She stood on a mountain, overlooking a small IceWing camp. Last night, a lone assassin had raided the camp, and killed all the IceWings. There were only two or three there, but the wounds on their corpses was what really made Star shiver.

Every one of the corpses had an X cut through the dragon's throat. Two fine slices, and judging from the looks of it, they were made while the dragon was still alive. Star took another note of this in the journal Lupus had left for her in the study. It didn't have much information about the future in it, and Star could easily look into the future to see that, but it did have plenty of space to jot down all of these much-needed notes.

She slipped the journal back into her satchel and sighed. She heard a branch snap behind her, and she turned, only to be met with the ever shifting face of Mamba the RainWing.

"Hey Star." He said, walking up to her side. When Star has told the group that Darkstalker had brainwashed Lupus, most of them were too much in shock to react. To be honest, it's not every day that your hybrid leader gets brainwashed by an evil nightmare dragon. Mamba however, had immediately volunteered to help Star find Lupus, or what was left of him.

Mamba then noticed something, to Star's excitement. "Star, come see this." He said, flicking his tail over to an old brick wall, that was partially demolished. Three words were there, written in IceWing blood.

I AM PROPHET.

Stars heart jumped. That was what Darkstalker had called Lupus! He had been here. She sniffed the ground some, taking the scents. To her dismay, she smelled none of the familiar scent of her mate. Mamba ran a talon over the blood, sniffing it hesitantly. "It's not fresh, but it's recent." Mamba said, wiping off his talon.

Star nodded, making another note in her journal. One step closer to finding him.

"Let's sweep the camp one more time, check for casualties, and maybe for tracks?" Mamba suggested, and Star nodded in agreement.

After sweeping the camp multiple more times, the pair found nothing else important. As they were about to leave however, Star noticed a small glint of something in the grass.

She slowly approached it, and once she got a bit closer, she noticed it was a knife. Specifically Lupus's knife.

It was covered in blood, and the sheath was laying next to it. She picked it up, and looked at it in horror. Darkstalker had done it. He'd turned her lover into a monster.

Mamba put a talon on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. "He killed all these dragons..." she said with a soft whisper, holding the knife in her talons. Suddenly, it was if someone whispered something into her ear. It said:

Everything will be what it isn't....watch the stars.

The words seemed to float into her head, the source unknown. She shook her head in confusion, unknown as to what the words meant.

She sheathed the blade and slid it back into its sheath, strapping it next to her crossbow. She'd find him. It was her promise.

A rustle of tree branches, and Star's head shot up, crossbow drawn. It was only a small squirrel, and it chittered a sound of annoyance at the sudden reaction of the dragon. She lowered her crossbow, and holstered it.

Mamba had also drawn his weapon, and he did the same as Star had. "Listen, you need to trust your heart. Lupus is still out there, and you're going to find him. You'll save him."he said, twining his tail with hers.

Star nodded hesitantly and looked back up to the trees. Something wasn't right.

She was going to find him.

PROPHET

Talons wet with blood, the assassin watched the pair of dragons. His master had told him they were a threat, and that if he saw them, to eliminate them. The urge and rush that usually came with killing IceWings didn't come. He felt nothing for his kills, but something deep inside him told him that he'd feel regret for killing the pair.

Darkstalker had told him in time that he'd get the hang of shapeshifting, but Prophet never felt he would. It felt wierd, taking the form of another dragon, or anything of that matter.

His head felt fuzzy, like he was missing something important, but he shrugged it off. Darkstalker told him it was a side effect of the lily, but Prophet was extremely skeptical about that.

It was also wierd how the rush came. He always got a really strong urge to kill IceWings around them, and he couldn't stop it. The urge never stopped until the X on the throat was drawn.

Deciding what was to be done, he stood from his perch in the tree and concentrated hard on the form of a falcon. His body morphed, the painful feeling of bones snapping and reshaping, organs resizing and moving, filled his body, and he gasped out softly in pain.

Once the painful transformation was over, the assassin took flight, off to find more IceWings.

Star
Star watched the small falcon fly away, tempted to shoot it for a free meal, but a strange feeling overtook her thinking about the kill. Oddly, it felt wrong. She'd killed plenty of prey with the crossbow. Why was that bird any different?

She motioned to Mamba to follow, and they took flight back to the Mansion.

It was time to consult the journals.