Wings of Fire - The Third Continent

Chapter 8

The dragons who saved Jade Mountain and the ones from Pantala were gathered with Auran, Asma, Dia, Beetle, and Sandspirit.  Qibli had requested that the Dragonets of Destiny didn't show up for some reason.  Auran looked back at her scales.  They had gone back to her normal orange and black, slowly removing the pink.  All that was undone when Asma gave her a shy smile.  All she could do was smile back, aware of the tinge of pink spreading across her scales.  Something caught her eye on Asma's scales.  They weren't always that pink, right?   Sandspirit gave a slight chuckle.

"Asma," Auran whispered.  "Your scales."

Asma looked at herself, and the scales only got pinker.

"You finally noticed it," Dia teased.

"They were always doing it?" Auran asked.

"Yep," Dia said.  "I thought it was something SpotWings knew they could do.  You had pretty good control over them and keeping your emotions to yourself."

"All SpotWings are able to do it?" Qibli asked.

"I haven't seen all of them do it," Dia responded.  She paused for a moment.  "I haven't seen anyone do it.  Only Auran and Asma."

"That could help us," Qibli said.  He turned to Kinkajou.  "Can you give them some lessons in camouflage?"

"I'll try!" Kinkajou promised.

"Where's Tsunami?" Turtle asked.

"And the rest?" Winter added.

"Tsunami would kill us if she knew what we were going to do," Qibli explained.  Auran saw Asma's eyes flash with worry for a second before going back to normal.  That's the second time. Should I ask her about that?  Can I?

"Ooo, I like this plan!" Kinkajou said.  "Reckless?  Dangerous?"

"You sure we should do this?" Beetle asked.  "It seems, well, what Kinkajou said."

"We can only do it if Auran and Asma agree to it," Qibli replied.  He turned to them.  "You two are our only defenses against Malus and his SpotWings."

"That might not even be true," Asma said solemnly.

"What do you mean?" Moonwatcher asked.

"Malus isn't affected by a SpotWing's song," Asma explained.  "He also is able to hypnotize dragons himself."

"How?" Qibli asked.

"It's in the food he gives," Asma responded.  "I wouldn't doubt if he has some other way as well.  We might not be as safe as we think.  However, he might not use it if he doesn't have to."

"Any way to break it?" Qibli asked.

Pink tinted the edge of Asma's wings as she avoided Auran's gaze.  She shook her head, her scales going back to normal.  "Strong, unexpected emotions and/or not being exposed to whatever Malus uses."

Auran saw a gentle smile creep onto Moonwatcher's face before it disappeared.

"So nothing much," Qibli said.  "Earplugs could save us from the SpotWings, but not from Malus.  And if animus magic doesn't work on SpotWings, I doubt it could save us from Malus."

"So we're defenseless," Cricket said.  "Even with warning."

"If only..." Asma started, but trailed off.  Auran knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Can I talk with Asma alone for a few minutes?" she asked.  The other dragons nodded.  They left the two SpotWings alone.

"The SpotWings fought off Malus before," Asma said.  "Ultimately unsuccessfully, but he had a hard time."

"But Malus has erased all that from scrolls," Auran replied.  "And blocked animus magic from seeing it."

"So we're still lost," Asma sighed.  "Our one weapon doesn't work against him.  Animus magic won't work; it doesn't work on SpotWings' singing.  Fire won't damage him; he's fought off the DayWings.  If fire doesn't work, it's unlikely that venom will, nor frostbreath.  He's strong enough to just rip away silk, and I doubt any HiveWing weapons would work.  Leafspeak wouldn't be enough.

"That's the SkyWings, MudWings, SandWings, RainWings, IceWings, NightWings, DayWings, SpotWings, SilkWings, HiveWings, LeafWings, and the AntlerWings will stick to his side.  We're completely lost."

Auran looked at Asma.  "That's...something."

"Oh!  Sorry," Asma responded.  "Was I thinking aloud?  Sorry.  Just easier to organize my thoughts that way."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Auran assured.  "No natural weapon will work on him."

"No natural weapon," Asma echoed.  "That's how the SpotWings did it!"

"Of course!" Auran nodded.  "But he would've made himself completely immortal after getting injured again if he could."

"So not even that," Auran sighed.  "I guess we should head back."

They walked back to the others.

"We've got nothing," Auran told them.

"That's alright," Moonwatcher said.  "You have a kingdom to run.  And Asma?"

"Yeah?"

"You should be fine to go," Moonwatcher said.  "Not everybody will trust you."

"But I do!" Kinkajou continued.  "I can help you find a place to stay!"

"Thanks," Asma said, clearly taken aback by Kinkajou's energy and willingness to talk to her.

In the rainforest, Auran had called the dragons together, all of them listening to her more often than she expected.

"I have some news to share with you," she said.  "First, we have a new member to the rainforest.  Asma the SpotWing."

Cheers rippled through the dragons, combined with splashes of colours.  Auran could make out cobalt, pale green, emerald, light blue, and dark blue among others.  She focused on making her own scales stay the same colour.

Auran let it die down before speaking again.  "However, this is contrasted by an approaching threat.  A dragon named Malus is on his way to take over Pyrrhia.  It is likely that war will be declared."

"We've beat Darkstalker; we can beat this other dragon!" a voice came from crowd.

Auran spotted a black dragon older than her shaking his head.  She caught a glimpse of under his wings, there were rainbow scales.  In the corner of her eye, she saw green ripple through Kinkajou's scales.  I'll have to ask her about that.

"This dragon is no easy feat to beat," Auran responded.  "He's immune to all weapons - venom, fire, frostbreath - and he'll have a team of dragons with him."

Kinkajou nudged Auran.  "Tell them."

Auran nodded.  "Dragons that look like me and Asma are ones you want to watch out for.  SpotWings have the ability to hypnotize dragons with songs.  Make earplugs to keep yourself safe from them.

"It is from the bottom of my heart that I regret what my first order as Queen must be.  But it must.  We have one week before Malus arrives.  Get ready.  And be prepared for anything."

The dragons dispersed, but Auran kept Kinkajou behind.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Kinkajou responded.  "Fine.  Not everything's okay.  That NightWing with rainbow scales, right?"

"Yeah," Auran responded.