Wings of Fire: Blue Moons

Chapter 3

     Sage told Stinger about the thumps he heard, the blue moons, the skywing corpse, and just everything that had happened. She sat quietly for a minute when he finished, considering what he had said. "It seems you're right, I do believe that it was probably Garnet. In fact, I think she actually flew out of Possibility three days before the day you said Topaz was killed. But what are you planning to do about it? You don't have enough proof to prove that it was her, and you can't just walk up to her and say 'Hey, I think you killed this dragon!' " Sage looked down at his talons. He was originally planning on giving her to Queen Ruby, but Stinger was right. He didn't have nearly enough proof and Garnet was still way bigger than him. Sage was still only a dragonet and Garnet was fully grown and very strong. "I'm not sure." 

     Stinger let him stay the night there. All of his siblings were away, and his parents were also out doing who knows what. He laid in his bed, looking out the window. His room had a black, soft, carpeted floor and his walls were blue gray and covered in drawings. Mantaray was an amazing artist and he shared a room with Sage and his other brother, Barrel. Sage found himself missing every single one of his siblings. He wasn't used to being alone like this. Sage's egg had been found sitting by itself next to a cactus in the middle of the desert with nobody in sight. His parents, Trench and Boa, had found his egg and took him in. Since they couldn't have dragonets together, they had decided to adopt a bunch of dragonets instead, causing Sage to have ten siblings. 

     Sage liked having a lot of siblings. He was never lonely, they always had his back, and there was always somebody to talk to. That was, of course, until he left for Jade Mountain Academy. Mantaray was his only sibling that also got in, and he was the only person Sage hung out with for the entire first weeks he was there, so leaving by himself wasn't exactly ideal to him. He wondered if Mantaray was also feeling lonely or if he was making friends and forgetting about him. He smiled, imagining Mantaray hanging out with a group of dragons other than him and enjoying himself. Sage wanted the best for his brother. He then thought about what he was gonna do. I flew all the way out here, it's not like I can just go back now. I need to find a way to prove that Garnet is guilty. The queen needs to know before Garnet kills again. 

     Sage awoke to the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. He yawned and stretched before getting up and heading to the kitchen to say good morning to his sister. To his surprise, his father, Trench, was there, sitting at the table. His eyes lit up when he saw Sage. "Ah, Sage! Stinger told me you were here. It's good to see you." Sage smiled at his father and went to hug him. Despite his scales being cold, his father's arms were warm and welcoming. "So, what are you doing home from Jade Mountain?" His father asked. Sage explained the situation with their neighbor, and Trench seemed quite upset about it. "I know you're almost fully grown, but are you sure you can deal with this? If you want me to, I can take care of this for you. You don't have to feel like she is gonna hurt you." Sage smiled at the fact that his father cared so much to offer his help, especially since Trench was considerably terrified of Garnet, but he still shook his head. "If I don't do this then I'm probably gonna end up blaming myself for Topaz's death forever, and probably other dragons' deaths if it seems like she killed them." His father nodded his head with an understanding look on his face. "Alright, you can do this. But please, please promise me you will be extremely careful, and if you feel like you're in danger, then get out of there." Sage nodded his head and hugged his father again. 

     "I think I'm gonna head out soon. " Sage said. He had just finished eating breakfast and he was awake and full of energy. "Alright, I'll tell Boa you said hi" his sister, Stinger, said before handing him his bag. He hugged Trench and Stinger one last time before leaving. He remembered that Garnet usually left around that time to go to the Sky Kingdom. He hid in a bush near her house, waiting for her to leave. When she did, he waited a little more before following. He noticed a little bit later that she wasn't heading towards the Sky Kingdom. Every once in a while, she would stop to rest for a bit. Every time she did, Sage would stop as well. It was difficult to follow her unnoticed, especially in the desert, with barely anywhere to hide, but he managed to do it. 

     After two and a half days worth of flying, she arrived, with him hiding close behind her. Jade Mountain, he thought with a shiver of fear. As he was following her, he accidentally stepped on a twig, causing her to look back. He managed to duck behind a bush just in time for her to miss him. As she scanned the area, he caught a glimpse of her face. Instead of her usual scowl, she had a crazed look on her face. Sage wasn't ever really scared of her before, she only scared him a little when she burned his tail, and even then he was only scared of her fire. But as soon as her gaze raked the bush he was hiding in, he was absolutely terrified. He was doing everything he could to stay and sit still. He wanted to fly all the way home and hid in his fathers' arms. Then he noticed her eyes. Sage remembered vividly how wide and angry her amber eyes were when she attacked him, he knew that they 3fwere supposed to be amber, but instead, they were a bright, emerald green. 

     Sage stayed in that bush for what felt like forever before leaving it. There was no doubt in his mind that she was going to kill another student, or at least try to. Sage wasn't going to let her. He raked his brain, trying to think of who else she would be there to kill. Then it hit him. Mantaray, he thought, before speeding over to their sleeping cave. People yelled at him as he sped past them, but he didn't care. All he cared about was protecting his brother. He rushed into his sleeping cave, to see Mantaray, peacefully napping. He finally allowed himself to relax a little, but not for too long. He quietly went over to wake up his brother. Thank the moons that nobody was there, or else they'd think he was crazy. "Mantaray, wake up!" He shook his brother until his eyes fluttered open. "Mm what do you want?" Mantaray asked, in a sleep-filled voice. "I know who killed Topaz, and she's here to kill somebody else." That got him to wake up. "What? Who was it? What are you talking about?" Sage quickly explained to him everything that had happened, leaving out the part about how terrified he was and that he stayed in the bush for a while before leaving. He hated seeming weak, and he couldn't let his brother know that he was scared.

      They agreed that Mantaray would be bait, and Sage would hide in his hill of sand and tackle her when she tried to attack. They stayed in position for the rest of the day, waiting for something to happen. After what seemed like forever, Sage was about to give up and try to find her when he felt something grab his tail. He was dragged out of the hill, his tail barb being restrained so that he couldn't attack. He barely managed not to yell when his sapphire eyes met emerald ones. He couldn't scream. He was frozen with fear, unable to move as she shoved a cloth in his mouth to keep him from yelling, not like he could, as his voice had completely left him. All of a sudden, she was knocked away, dropping Sage. He looked up to see that Mantaray had hit her over the head with a large, heavy rock. Sage quickly took the cloth out of his mouth. "Well that didn't go as planned" he said, and Mantaray nodded. They tied her to a stone pillar near the front of the school and went to tell Clay. They decided to tell Queen Ruby and have her decide the punishment, but Sage still felt kind of bad. This wasn't her fault, it was the moons', and he suspected that this wouldn't be the last time something like this would happen.