Eddie was allowed to leave his quarters, as he was still the son of council members. Henry attempted to protest, but as a shifter from Tenebrian to Lucantian, he wasn't as respected and was ignored.
It was early in the morning when Eddie stood at the edge of the ship, four days into their journey. There was a guard keeping an eye on him, but he knew there was no point. Even sad, depressed Eddie wasn't dumb enough to jump off the edge of the ship.
He missed Richie like hell. Every time he woke up, an ache filled his heart. He needed Richie; he needed to hold him and know that nothing bad would happen. Unfortunately, life didn't work that way. A war would happen, and either of them could die.
"I want to see the Tenebrian," Eddie stated, walking toward the cells at the bottom of the ship.
He was grabbed by the arm and pulled away from the door. The guard shook his head, silently telling Eddie to either go back to his room or return to his position at the edge of the ship.
Henry had informed the captain that Eddie and Stan were conspiring and had a plan to escape, which quickly ended their visits. It was annoying and shitty to not be able to speak to the one person on his side, but Eddie knew he'd have to adjust. Maybe if he could earn back trust, he could find a way to save his friends.
A flash of green caught Eddie's eye. He recognized it, and made his way to the edge of the ship. His eyes widened when he realized Eclipse was holding tightly to the edge of the ship.
"I have to do my work," the guard said. "I have to take you back to your room."
Eddie scoffed. "I can't go anywhere. Just let me stay here," he replied, sitting down on a barrel at the edge of the ship. "I won't do anything."
The guard was clearly having a mental debate, one that Eddie could use to his advantage.
"I'll stay right here. I promise," he said, trying to look innocent.
The guard sighed and nodded, disappearing down the stairs.
As soon as he vanished, Eddie held his arm out. "What the hell are you doing here?!" he hissed, but pet the dragon nonetheless.
Eclipse purred loudly, nuzzling into Eddie's hand. Eddie caught sight of the note and recognized Cassie's name on it.
"You're supposed to be in Pona!" Eddie snapped. "Get out of here, now!"
Eclipse growled lowly at that and looked over toward the front of the ship. Iris had been tied down there, her mouth shut by metal chains and held into place. Even if he wanted to, Eddie wouldn't be able to free her without the keys.
"Can you free her?" Eddie asked, eyes wide in realization.
Eclipse growled again. He spread his tiny wings and dashed over to where Iris was. Thankfully, it was early enough in the morning that most of the crew was asleep or in their cabins.
Eddie followed Eclipse, who grabbed onto one of the chains and tugged at it. It didn't break, making Eddie sigh in irritation. How would a three foot dragon no bigger than a fox be able to do anything?
Then, Eddie saw the chains falling apart and melting away. Eclipse had opened his mouth and pushed a small white flame at the chain, making the metal fall apart.
"Holy shit," Eddie whispered, pulling the cool part of the metal so Iris could free herself. "Hurry up, Eclipse."
The dragon obeyed, tugging at the chains and melting them. The sun was rising and Eddie knew if they didn't rush, both he and Eclipse would be caught.
Iris seemed to realize this and began tugging at the restraints. The thickest chains were on her jaw, and Eclipse was rushing to try to pull them apart.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" came a dark voice.
Eddie turned to see Henry, marching toward where he stood.
"Keep working," Eddie whispered before walking over to Henry. "I'm making sure you haven't killed Richie's dragon!"
Henry glared at where Iris stood, then looked down at Eddie. "You're not supposed to be unsupervised."
"I'm not doing anything wrong, Tenebrian," Eddie spat, knowing how much it'd pissed Henry off. "Or should I call you a stand in Lucantian?"
Henry was fuming. He grabbed onto Eddie's arm, squeezing so hard there would be a bruise. "I should've killed you when I had the chance," he growled.
Eddie winced at the pain coursing through his arm, but he forced a smile. "You mean when Richie killed your fuck buddy? Bet if he'd lived you'd still be Tenebrian."
Henry threw Eddie to the ground. "Just because I can't kill you doesn't mean I can't break you. No one's out here to protect you," he said menacingly, pressing his heel onto Eddie's chest.
Eddie coughed, the pain and lack of air terrifying him. Yet, he forced himself to speak. "You're wrong."
"About what?" Henry asked, eyes boring into Eddie's soul.
"My protection. You better run or you'll learn what burnt flesh smells like."
"What are you talking about?" Henry asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
A low growl echoed through the otherwise silent air. Henry looked up and met the eyes of the black dragon glaring at him, her chains removed. On her back stood a small green dragon, hissing at Henry.
Eddie laughed. "That's what I'm talking about," he said knowingly, sitting up.
In his shock, Henry had stepped away from Eddie, his eyes wide in fear.
"Eclipse, go get Stan," Eddie ordered, rushing over to Iris and gently petting her to reassure her that he was on her side. "Let's get out of here."
"HE'S ESCAPING!" Henry screamed, just barely dodging the fire that Iris spat at him.
In an instant, all of the guards had shown up on the deck, swords drawn and ready to fight. At the same time, Stan appeared on the deck, Eclipse on his shoulder.
Eddie leapt onto Iris's back and yelled at her to take flight. They rose a few feet before diving down, blowing flames at the guards. Eddie held out his hand and grabbed onto Stan, barely pulling him onto the back of the dragon.
"Get to the sky!" Eddie yelled, feeling Eclipse crawl onto his back, claws digging into his flesh.
"We need to take down the ships!" Stan argued. "This is our chance!"
Eddie shook his head. "Iris is exhausted and hasn't eaten in days. We need to find a chain island where she can rest."
Stan was irritated, but sighed in agreement. They continued up toward the clouds until they knew the ships wouldn't be able to see them.
"Eclipse, get this letter to Cassie. Iris, we need to land somewhere so you can rest," Eddie said, watching his dragon take flight and vanish into the clouds.
"What will we do?" Stan asked, knowing Eddie must have some kind of plan.
Eddie looked back at him, determination on his face. "We get back to Tenebris. They need a warning and we need an army."
