Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Peril felt the foreign urge to shiver as she lowered herself into the swiftly moving river. The water hissed and rose as steam the moment that her scales touched the liquid, but it was moving so swiftly that it was quickly replaced by more water. Being cold was alien to her, due to her burning-hot scales. Only being submerged in water allowed her to feel even the slightest hint of chill.

Peril had tried to relax in still, shallow water once, and was quickly annoyed to find that it boiled and evaporated away within minutes. Rivers were perfect, though. The water couldn’t get hot enough to boil if it was moving fast enough, so while there was a bit of steam, it wasn’t going to evaporate enough to lower the water level.

She allowed herself to sink further into the water, resting on the stony bottom of the river that had been scraped clean by the current. She delicately placed her chin on the bank of the shore, ears twitching in annoyance as the loud hissing crunch of the sand melting and bubbling under her scales. She lifted her head back up, shaking it to rid herself of the clinging molten sand. The melted spot on the bank swiftly hardened back into shiny glass.

She had come a long way when it came to accepting her firescales. Today was, unfortunately, just one of those days when she was feeling a little more self-pity and rage than usual. Even the ground itself seemed to be mocking her. Blurry reflections of herself glared back at her with flame-blue malice, mockingly imitating her in the shaky reflection in the glass.

Just moments ago, a student, some SandWing she’d never heard of, scraped her flank with the outermost edge of his wing as he’d darted past her. In Peril’s opinion, it had totally been his fault, as she had taken up the habit of only taking the side tunnels to wherever she needed to go in order to avoid situations like that. He’d been flying, likely in a rush to get to his class. If Peril had been any other dragon in Pyrrhia, she would’ve been the one complaining of injury-- it wasn’t a hard enough strike to bruise, not through her diamond-hard scales, but it had caught her off guard so terribly that if she hadn’t been training herself to not make sudden movements, she likely would’ve turned and whacked him with her tail.

Peril shook off the thought that it was possible he’d never fly again. Whatever, it was his fault. She was more annoyed that she felt bad than anything. It wasn’t her fault! Of course, now the others at the Academy would look at her with even more suspicion than usual for a few days. Annoying, but not anything Peril hadn’t been used to.

She sighed and ducked her head underwater, closing her eyes as the chill of the water swept away the heat from her scales, if only temporarily. Water was her one escape from everything. It was even better than flying. She couldn’t hold her breath as long as a MudWing, but a few minutes of underwater bliss at a time was enough.

She sensed a shadow falling over her, and she perked up, lifting her head out of the water. As soon as her scales weren’t submerged anymore, the water evaporated off in an angry hiss, temporarily blinding Peril as a result. She shook her now-dry head, clearing away the wisps of vapor.

She’d expected Clay, who usually came to look at her with those sad, disappointed eyes he always gave her whenever she did something wrong, or maybe even Turtle, who tried to cheer her up-- though she was, of course, not upset. Instead, she was met with the odd little face of Sunny, the SandWing princess and one of Clay’s best friends.

Peril couldn’t figure out how she felt about the SandWing-NightWing hybrid. She was irritatingly cheerful, and worse , close friends with Clay. But she’d always gone out of her way to be kind and understanding to Peril, in a way that even Clay was not. Even At that moment, when she had surely come to scold Peril for burning a member of her tribe, her mossy green eyes were sympathetic. Annoyed, Peril decided. She definitely felt annoyed by Sunny.

“Clay told me that you’d probably be here,” Sunny said, sitting down on the shore a short distance away. Peril wondered whether SandWings liked sandy beaches, or if that was reserved for deserts. Peril twitched her ear, raising her head and neck more out of the water.

“You’re not in trouble,” Sunny started, and Peril was tempted to shove her head back underwater to avoid the awkward conversation. She’d heard it before a million times. Empty words about how it wasn’t her fault she was a horrific monster, but she’d still be placed under more restrictions. She’d already been unsubtly swayed from walking in the main halls and attending heavily used areas during hours when they were most active. Clay had assured her that it was to keep her from having to worry about hurting anyone on accident, but she knew that he was really worried she’d do something on purpose, if given the opportunity.

Sunny seemed to pick up on Peril’s annoyance. However, instead of reacting like any reasonable, normal dragon, and becoming angry with Peril clearly checking out of the conversation, she just nodded reassuringly.

“I promise you’re not! I just came to tell you that Pronghorn is okay,” Sunny said, her smile brightening. “He’s hurt, sure, but we actually have animus-touched healing items in storage for things like this since…” Sunny trailed off.

Peril knew she was talking about the event in which Sora, a MudWing who had been a student, set off a dragonflame cactus which resulted in the death of two dragons and the severe injury of another. Peril wasn’t sure when they’d come into possession of animus-touched healing items, but considering the fact that Jade Academy had two magical SeaWings running around (at least, before their magic had broken), it was no surprise that they’d specifically asked for something more substantial than bandages and herbs to help with injuries.

Sunny shook her head as if she were trying to rid herself of the memory. Peril didn’t like the reminder, either. Being one of the two fireproof dragons in the Academy had meant that the task of rescuing the injured had fallen to her. Both of the dragonets that she’d pulled from the wreckage had died of their burns. Peril flexed her talons, trying to focus on the image of Sunny’s strange little face instead of the vision of burned and dead dragonets grasped in her talons.

“But really, he’s okay,” Sunny reiterated. “Thanks to the healing items, he might even be able to fly again if he still has feeling in the outer edge of his wing.”

Despite Peril absolutely not caring at all about the fate of that idiot SandWing, the news did make her feel better. She was glad she wasn’t going to be put under more restrictions, at least. If he’d been seriously injured, even if it weren’t Peril’s fault, she’d likely actually be in trouble. How many times could she injure someone before she was asked to either leave or stay in her room and not come out?

“It was his fault,” Peril said, hauling herself out of the river. Clumps of molten sand clung to her talons in sticky globs, and she shook them off distastefully. Sunny didn’t flinch like Peril expected her to, even though, now that Peril was out of the water, she was definitely close enough to feel the heat radiating off her scales. The chill of the water only kept her scales cool for half a second, if that, before returning to their normal wildfire heat, vaporizing the water that clung to her.

The sun was nearly beginning to set, and in that light, Sunny’s metallic golden scales reflected burnt orange, almost like a SkyWing. Now that Peril was standing, she was reminded that Sunny was small; much smaller than any SandWing or NightWing her age had any right to be. She was shorter than most of the dragonets attending the Academy, despite being an adult. Peril wondered if it was something about her genetics, or if it was just a Sunny thing, to be so tiny. It only added to Peril’s irritation. She was likelier to step on and kill a tiny dragon than a large one.

The large SkyWing carefully unfolded her wings, letting the trapped steam escape to wherever water vapor disappeared off to. Still, Sunny didn’t flinch. It was odd, Peril thought to herself. Sunny had to have seen Pronghorn’s injury, which had been severe enough that he’d needed to be hauled swiftly to the medical wing despite only making contact with Peril for a moment. She’d just seen close up what Peril could accidentally do to a member of Sunny’s own tribe, but she looked unfazed. Perhaps it was different for Sunny, since she was only half SandWing? Peril shook off the thought. She’d seen enough dragon scales, skin, and fat melting to know that it all looked similar enough, in the end. Maybe Sunny was just stupid.

“He was flying,” Peril continued, pulling herself from her thoughts. “He either didn’t see me or didn’t know who I was, when he so rudely crashed into me.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to justify herself to Sunny. She didn’t even like the little gnat. Still, Sunny nodded, as if she couldn’t tell that Peril wanted the conversation to swiftly end.

 “I’m sure he’ll understand once he wakes back up. He was put to sleep since he was in so much pain-- Not that you should feel bad!” Sunny hastily added. “It’s really not your fault.”

“If I’m not in trouble, then why are you here?” Peril asked, her words coming out ruder than she’d expected. Sunny blinked a few times, confused, as she tilted her head. She wondered how nobody had known that Sunny was a NightWing for most of her life. Her mannerisms and face shape were so distinctly NightWing that it was obvious, really… at least to Peril.

“I came out here to comfort you?” Sunny said, hesitantly, as if it bordered on a question. As if it were obvious. It was not, in fact, obvious. Nobody comforted Peril when she hurt someone. It was always her fault, even if unintentional.

“Why comfort me, when a member of your tribe was injured?” Peril asked, genuinely confused. Sunny shifted, lifting her talon, before hastily lowering it, as if she remembered abruptly she couldn’t reach out and touch Peril to reassure her.

“I’m sure it was distressing for you, too,” Sunny explained, and Peril wondered if she ever stopped smiling. Peril could burn her muzzle off, she supposed. She entertained the thought for a few moments, before letting it slip out of her mind entirely. No, intentionally maiming someone would definitely get her kicked out.

“I’ve killed more dragons than I can count,” Peril reminded her, hoping that would get the infernal grin off the little gnat’s face. “Accidentally burning a dumbass who didn’t know to look where he was going doesn’t even register to me.”

For a moment, Peril thought Sunny would actually drop the grin. It lessened some, but didn’t leave. Sunny shook her head.

“I just worry that may not be true. Have you eaten today? Come to my office, let’s have a meal and talk,” Sunny offered.

Despite every part of Peril’s brain rebelling at the idea (some parts even giving horrifically--and entertainingly-- violent alternatives), she agreed. Sunny’s shining scales flashed like fire in the last beams of the sun as Peril followed her into the sky. She was much, much slower than Peril in the air, and didn’t seem to be trying to go faster. Peril grumbled to herself as she forced herself to go at a dragonet’s pace so as to not pass or crash into the infernal SandWing hybrid.

Sunny’s office had its own entrance. Peril waited to be sure that Sunny was well out of the way before neatly landing inside the cave entrance, careful to fold her wings as soon as she touched down to prevent them from setting anything ablaze.

The den was remarkably flammable. Peril was first surprised, then suspicious as to why Sunny thought it was a good idea to invite her inside, considering the amount of paper piled up. Half of the den also seemed to be Sunny’s nest, piled high with soft, flammable things that Peril knew she'd never be able to touch. Animal skins covered feathers and fabrics. If Sunny was concerned about the flammability of the room, she didn’t show it. Loose documents were scattered about the room, set next to drying pots of ink. Sunny swept a few aside carelessly as she made her towards the opposite end of the small cave.

“I have dried dates in here,” Sunny said, searching through a few divots in the cave walls. “Though SkyWings are mostly meat-eaters, aren’t you? I can go get you something to eat, I’m sure there’s food left,” Sunny mused. Peril lashed her tail, leaving a scorch mark where she hit the stone wall.

“What are you playing at, Sunny?” Peril asked. Sunny halted, looking taken aback. Peril continued, “You bring me to this room full of flammable documents, for what? You want me to set them ablaze on accident so you have further reason to kick me out?” Peril hissed accusingly. She’d finally figured it out! Surely the little SandWing princess was testing her--likely being annoying on purpose in hopes of making Peril lash out in a rage. A stupid plan, of course. Peril could kill Sunny in a matter of seconds, but Sunny didn’t seem all that bright.

Sunny’s eyes widened, her smile dropping for a moment.

“What? Oh, Peril,” She said, her voice sounding insufferably sad instead of terrified. Caught off-guard by the atypical response, Peril didn’t make any further move. The SandWing-NightWing shook her head, and, in a display of absolute idiocy, actually walked closer to Peril.

“I’m not trying to kick you out, I promise,” the little golden dragon said, looking up at Peril earnestly. She was further in Peril’s personal space than even Clay usually got, and he was immune to her firescales. Did Sunny have nothing but cloud-fluff filling her skull? Did she not realize how dangerous Peril was? “I’m just trying to comfort you. I invited you here so that we could talk over a meal. I’m sorry if I’ve caused more stress. You’re, of course, welcome to eat in the privacy of your room. I’ll go and fetch you something myself?”

Her eyes were so wide, and her expression was so unbelievably earnest, that Peril’s rage was swept away from her as if it, like the heat from her scales, had been smothered by the swift flow of a river. Sunny studied Peril’s expression for a few moments, before taking a few steps back and turning around. Though she was careful not to accidentally clip Peril with her tail, she didn’t flinch away from her when it came close enough to feel the intense heat radiating off her. It was as if Sunny truly wasn’t afraid of Peril at all.

“I’ll go fetch you something more SkyWing-friendly than fruit. How about a goat?” Sunny asked, approaching the smaller entrance of the room that led deeper into the mountain.

“Wait--” Peril said, before she even realized she was speaking. Sunny paused and looked back, tilting her head. She waited patiently for Peril to speak, eyes calm and rational and utterly devoid of fear. Peril felt the strange sensation of burning in her scales, though that was, of course, impossible.

“I--” Peril averted her eyes, shaking her head in frustration and looking anywhere else but at Sunny’s gentle face. “I’d rather have a pig, if you have any.” Sunny giggled, before bounding happily out the room. Peril waited a minute before she left to ensure she wouldn’t run back into her, taking a different turn away from the feasting area and towards her isolated room.

Dragons attending the Jade Academy slept in groups with members of their Winglets, with the exception of Peril.

It made sense, of course. Peril was hesitant to call them nightmares, but she was no stranger to twisted dreams... Dreams of fighting--If you could call effortless massacre of dragons both innocent and guilty “fighting”-- Often left her flailing and flinging herself abruptly into consciousness when she inevitably hit an unforgiving stone wall in her sleep. She told herself it was because she missed the days when she could ceaselessly murder dozens of dragons a day without breaking a sweat, and not because the distinct smell of melting dragon fat still turned her stomach a little.

Still, in moments like these, as she settled down in her completely barren room, decorated only by scorch marks and soot decorating the walls and floors, she wished that she shared a room with someone. Her cave was kept far away from the other sleeping quarters. Not out of intentional maliciousness, but because there simply wasn’t a cave closer. It wasn’t completely silent, as she occasionally heard the distant click of talons or scrape of scales against stone, but it was still disconcerting.

As she strained her ears, she he heard the fearful squealing and wailing of a captured pig. Peril tried to sit in a way that didn’t make it obvious that she was awkwardly waiting for Sunny to arrive. The little SandWing was able to grip the struggling piece of prey with one arm as she hauled it into the room, walking awkwardly to accommodate her three-legged gait.

Sunny released her prey, and it fled in blind terror directly into Peril’s burning grasp. Its soft, unprotected flesh sizzled as she slammed her foot down and crushed its skull, killing it instantaneously. Sunny looked a little queasy for a moment, before meeting Peril’s eyes once more with a smile.

“You don’t have to worry about going to your classes tomorrow. They’re canceled for both your and Pronghorn’s sakes.” Sunny said, entering the cave after a few moments. She seemed to be thrown off a little by how barren and scorched it was as she looked around, but she didn’t say anything. She sat on one of the less sooty areas on the floor and wrapped her barb-less tail neatly around her talons.

Peril sliced into the pig’s side, cutting long strips of sizzling fat and muscle free from the carcass and crunching down on them hungrily. Like most food she touched, it mostly tasted of ash, but some of the natural flavor of the pig peeked through. It was delicious .

When she was finished, Peril breathed out a stream of flame far hotter than any other dragon would ever be able to manage, incinerating the remaining bones and scraps. Once reduced to only a small pile of ash, Peril swept the mess to the edges of the room.

She was surprised to see that Sunny was still there across the room. She had been entertaining herself by scratching lines in the soot, leaving streaks of paler stone against the ashes. It looked like a hare, though a poorly drawn one, with lopsided ears. Upon seeing that Peril was done eating, Sunny stood up, swiping her tail over the drawing to obliterate it.

“I’ll come back tomorrow morning, if you want to have breakfast together,” Sunny said brightly. Peril scowled, but didn’t argue. It was admittedly nice to not be forced to eat alone. She was sure her Winglet would be more understanding than the rest of the Academy, so she could sit with them if she wanted, but they liked to interact with other Winglets while eating, and it would be unfair for Peril to ask them to eat alone with her in her cave simply because she didn’t want to deal with the staring.

Sunny met Peril’s eyes, giving her a soft, genuine smile that seemed more than just her default happy expression, before turning and exiting the cave. She didn’t seem bothered by the soot staining her tail and haunches. Peril looked over at the trace remnant of Sunny’s drawing and felt a little smile creep onto her own face despite her best wishes.

Chapter Text

Peril woke up to the feeling of something touching her side.

It wasn’t exactly common for things to make physical contact with her, obviously, so the feeling of something distinctly fleshy against her flank was enough to startle her awake.

She lifted her head, blinking in confusion as she saw Qibli, the SandWing in her Winglet, sitting a short distance away from her, noticeably out of the way of her wings and tail in case she flailed at him. He was grasping a long stick in his claws, poking at what seemed to be the now-burnt remains of some animal resting on her side just under her wing. It seemed to have had feathers at some point, but they were all currently on fire.

She shook it off, bewildered, as Qibli burst out laughing.

“I thought maybe your scales would cook it more evenly than dragon fire,” he explained, pulling the sizzling meat closer to him, leaving a greasy smear on the floor of her cave. Peril was entirely too asleep for this. Could she not have a moment of peace away from this ridiculous tribe? It was like every SandWing in the world had decided to come along and ruin her week.

“I told you she wouldn’t attack you,” came Turtle’s voice. Peril turned her head to see him, as well as Moon and Winter, standing in the entrance to her cave. Kinkajou was the only one absent, and Peril assumed that she had chosen to sleep in. Qibli picked up the animal, which Peril guessed was some kind of large predatory bird, and stuffed it into his mouth, crunching down hungrily.

“I’m not scared of Peril,” Qibli said, after swallowing. “We’re best buddies, right Peril?” Peril snorted a bit of flame in his direction, making him flinch back, coughing up a singed feather. The other members of her Winglet entered her room, and she assumed they’d been hanging out in the doorway in case she got too startled by Qibli and lashed out. Turtle sat down against the wall drowsily, lighting up half of his luminescent scales to provide a bit of light in the room, casting bizarre shadows against the scorched walls.

Peril was honestly a little surprised to see almost all the Jade Winglet there. Turtle himself visiting her wasn’t odd, she supposed, but the rest of them seemed to be surprisingly… Not upset at her? Granted, they all seemed a bit uneasy, but that was better than the outright fear most dragons regarded her with. Peril wondered whether it was presumptuous to call the Jade Winglet her friends?

Moon nodded, giving her a little reassuring smile. Her solid black scales absorbed all the light that Turtle’s was so helpfully putting off. Next to Winter, who’s glittering IceWing scales sparkled like freshly fallen snow in the sunlight, she appeared as only a silhouette. Peril shot her a dark look.

“I’m sorry!” Moon said, not sounding particularly sorry at all. “You’re just the only mind I can hear clearly right now, is all.” Peril sat up halfway, brushing the ash from her flank. There was a spot of grease on her, now, irritatingly enough. It gave her an excuse to visit the river again, at least.

“Get out of my head,” Peril rumbled, voice low and deep, though there was no real anger in her voice. She understood what it was like to have such terrifying power and to have nobody trust you for it. In the grand scheme of things, mind-reading wasn’t even that terrifying. It mostly just made Moon a little spacey. Besides, if she ever wanted the NightWing out of her thoughts entirely, she could just imagine horrific things. That tended to chase her away. “And tell your SandWing boyfriend to not use me as a cooking device.”

“Your scales burn too hot anyway. It’s even worse than dragon fire,” Qibli complained, but there was mirth in his voice. Peril wondered if having irritating smirks was just a SandWing trait. She knew that Qibli had been unofficially adopted by Sunny’s mother, and wondered if there was something about Queen Thorn that made her children so particularly irritating. Qibli’s smile was different from Sunny’s, though. While Sunny’s was bright and reassuring, his was more of a devious smirk.

Peril had to quickly distract herself, because she was beginning to think once more about melting grins off of dragon’s snouts, and Moon was starting to look a little faint.

“So what did you all decide to bother me this early for?” Peril demanded, sitting up straight and trying to look graceful despite the fact that she felt like a half-asleep chicken. Her heavy wings wanted to droop, but she pinned them back neatly against her back. She felt exhausted despite having just woken up. Her dreams must have been particularly annoying last night. “We don’t have classes today, thanks to me. Sunny said that she’d tell you that.”

“She didn’t actually tell us why we didn’t have classes,” Winter said. “She told us to ask you.” The IceWing’s cool blue gaze tried to meet Peril’s, but she avoided his gaze. Peril always felt a bit awkward around Winter ever since she’d nearly burned him to death that one time (that again, totally was not her fault!). He’d been healed by Turtle’s animus magic, but it was a bit hard to forget.

After he’d taken a temporary hiatus from the Academy and took to living in Sanctuary for a while, though, he’d begun writing to her. With the help of Qibli and Moon, Peril and Winter had begun having a very odd, tentative friendship. Peril didn’t know how to regard him now that he was back in person. She’d always felt that IceWings were particularly fragile when it came to heat, and that thought stuck with her hard after nearly melting one that she had found herself becoming somewhat fond of ( or at least , she thought aggressively towards Moon, who she knew was reading her thoughts, one that she didn’t particularly want to kill, unlike most dragons) . Moon, to her credit, at least had the decency of not responding to Peril’s pointed thoughts.

Peril realized that he’d indirectly asked her a question, and that she probably should explain.

“I…” Why did her throat feel tight all of a sudden? She opened and shut her mouth, unable to force sound to come out. Three moons, she’d only just started to grow close with the rest of her Winglet, and now she had to explain to them that she’d maimed an innocent classmate? Moon’s alarmed expression didn’t help her sudden inability to speak. Peril couldn’t get images of wings curling up in withered black shapes out of her head. Injuries that were no doubt far more severe than the one she’d inflicted on Pronghorn, but ones she’d caused intentionally.

“Do I need to get someone?” Moon asked Peril. Peril blinked and realized that the small NightWing dragonet had taken a couple steps closer. She looked a little nauseated, and was keeping a safe distance from Peril, but she had clear concern on her face. Against her black silhouette, the silvery teardrop scales on the corners of her eyes glittered like fallen stars.

Moon’s question registered to Peril then, and she felt a rush of upset and confusion. Get someone? To throw her out for what she did? To try and subdue Peril in case she tried to hurt anyone else?

“No, no,” Moon said, taking a step back and sitting down, raising her talons palm-first towards Peril to show she wasn’t a threat.

“You’re having an anxiety attack or something, Peril. I was wondering if you needed medical attention.” Peril shook her head violently, as if that would dislodge the thoughts.

“I’m not having a panic attack,” she snapped, before standing up once more. She was positive that if she moved around, she’d be able to shake the thoughts from her mind. “I’m going to the river,” she said, trying not to notice the panic on Winter’s face as she walked past him to get out of the cave. He’d scrambled away so quickly that he’d nearly stumbled over Moon.

“Can we come with you?” Turtle asked, following her anyway. Peril sighed, leaving a trail of smoke as she turned down a rarely used, narrow tunnel that led up to open air.

“I’m not going to stop you,” she grumbled. She heard the clacking of talons on rock as the group of dragonets followed her. She was one of the only dragons that used this narrow, sloping exit, so she wasn’t surprised that she saw no sign of anybody other than her irritating Winglet trailing behind her like baby ducklings.

As soon as she reached open air, she flung herself forward. The cave entrance was narrow enough that she had to fold her wings tightly to her side to leap out, and it opened onto the side of a sheer slope that dropped down just far enough to be dangerous, but also a short enough distance that it would be difficult for inexperienced flyers to get their wings underneath them in time. As a SkyWing, she was a queen of the air, though, so it was no challenge at all. She spun in the air after flying a short distance, turning to watch the dragonets to ensure they were all managing to take wing effectively.

She observed as Turtle, Winter, and Qibli all managed to pull up easily from the drop. Moon’s wings stuttered a bit, and she dropped alarmingly before she righted herself. Peril probably should’ve considered taking an easier route for the younger dragonet, but she dismissed the thought. She wasn’t in any mood to coddle them.

After making sure they weren’t going to injure themselves, Peril turned and flew on with the grace of an eagle. The wind joyously lifted her to the heavens, and Peril wondered, not for the first time, if she could fly high and fast enough to touch the sun that was just beginning to peak over the horizon. It spilled pink-tinted warmth everywhere it touched.

The dragonets, with their smaller wings due to both age and tribe, were far outpaced by her, but she couldn’t find herself caring. There were very few other dragons flying at this hour. She spotted a NightWing and an IceWing flying together in the far distance, and a lone MudWing dragonet was flying in lazy circles as he observed the forest on the side of the mountain, presumably looking for prey.

Peril landed neatly on the bank, glass and sand crunching beneath her talons. This was her favorite spot to soak in the river, since there was little vegetation that she could brush up against and accidentally set on fire. The sandy bank was already marred by spots of shimmering glass, and any plants that had hoped to take root in the sand had long since been burned to ash.

She tested the water with a single talon, shivering at the chill that was even more prominent so early in the morning. She stepped into the water, swimming out to the center with her wings spread wide to keep her buoyant. Her chest ached from the cold, and she scrubbed at the greasy spot on her flank, grateful to get it off.

What Qibli did was a little funny, though, admittedly. Slightly.

Moon landed on the shore with a graceless thump, and Winter landed much more gracefully right next to her. Qibli skidded to a halt, seemingly purposely dusting sand all over the IceWing, which the two began to bicker about. Turtle landed in the river with a splash, all his luminescent scales flashing in shock at the cold.

“It’s freezing!” The SeaWing said, shocked. Winter perked up, distracted from his argument with Qibli, and walked over to judge the temperature of the water. He tested the water for a moment, before shrugging and diving in next to Turtle. Peril hadn’t ever swam with anyone other than Turtle before. She hadn’t even known that IceWings liked swimming.

Peril lowered her wings into the water, allowing herself to sink deep enough that only her head broke the surface. The water around her hissed and steamed. Turtle splashed Winter with his powerful tail, and the IceWing bared his teeth after him, though Peril guessed that he wasn’t really upset.

“I don’t understand how you guys like that stuff,” Qibli grumbled. Moon had laid down on the sand, playing with a sluggish salamander that had been startled awake by the dragons. She shifted her talons as it sleepily tried to walk off them so that it couldn’t get off of her. “It’s freezing!” He said, nudging Moon with his wing.

“You SandWings are just sensitive,” Winter said haughtily. Qibli stuck out his dark forked tongue at him. Winter reared up on his hind legs and flapped his wings hard, sending a wave of shockingly cold water towards the smug SandWing. Qibli yelped as he was drenched, and he retreated to hide behind Moon, who was laughing at him. Turtle poked his head out, looking confused for a moment, before he joined in on the laughter as he realized what had happened.

Peril wished that she could join in the fun, but she just felt awkward. She was much older than the other members of her Winglet, and she’d never felt quite as close to them as they were to each other. It was natural, she guessed, when the other five members were all dating each other and were also half her age, but it still left her feeling alienated.

It was admittedly still a little nice, though, she would admit, to have others swim with her. She usually came to the river for solitude, but this was okay, too. She was admittedly amused by the dragonets’ antics, despite how lonely it made her feel to watch them play with each other so easily. Peril had never had that, and likely never would.

Moon was giving her a pathetically sad look, distracted from the others joking around, and Peril just ducked her head underwater to avoid her gaze. Stupid NightWings. She wished that she could breathe underwater like Turtle, but after only a few minutes, her lungs were begging for her to take another breath.

She poked her head out and saw that Turtle and Winter had gotten out of the water and were waving their wings to dry them. Sighing, Peril clambered out after them.

“We should go back to get Kinkajou,” Moon explained, shooting a glare at Winter when his flapping wings sprayed water droplets on her. She wiped off her face and continued, “You should get something to eat, then join us. Qibli wanted to go mushroom hunting,” she nodded her head towards the SandWing, who was giving a devious look to an oblivious Winter.

As Peril watched, Qibli darted forward, crashing into the side of the IceWing and wrapping his arms and wings around him. The two fell to the ground, fighting to pin the other one down. Moon rolled her eyes in amusement at her boyfriends’ antics before turning back to Peril.

“If you want to stay here, that’s fine too, but Sunny was worried about you,” Moon said, lowering her voice. Turtle looked over at the pair talking curiously, before seemingly deciding that whatever they were discussing wasn’t his business. He poked at the salamander that Moon had been playing with earlier. Peril tried very hard to focus on that instead of her confusing thoughts on the SandWing princess.

Turtle examined the salamander closely before popping it into his mouth and crunching down on it. Was it even possible for someone like Peril to make friends with someone like Sunny? Qibli was pinned on the ground underneath a victorious-looking Winter, baring his teeth. Sunny was too nice, Peril couldn’t trust her. The tiny drops of water on Moon’s scales were scattered like rainbows on pure black, refracting the early morning light. Was Peril scared of Sunny?

Moon grimaced at her apologetically, clearly realizing that Peril was trying to keep her out of her thoughts. “You should probably just talk to her, Peril. I’m serious when I said she was worried about you,” Moon said. 

Peril huffed, flame flickering in her nostrils as she shook her head. “Stay out!” she roared, the words coming out much more loud and vicious than she meant for it to come out. The two wrestling dragonets stopped what they were doing, looking over at her with alarm. Even Turtle looked at her with a bit of fright as he finished chewing his meal.

Peril turned and launched herself into the sky. Within only a few moments, she found herself touching the lowest clouds, the wisps of cool water hissing and drawing away from her scales like scorched talons.

What did Moon know, anyway? There was no possible way that any dragon was as obnoxiously kind as Sunny without ulterior motives. She may have actually been worried for Peril, but it was much more likely that she was worried that Peril would hurt someone else rather than about Peril’s actual feelings.

She knew that Moon could only read the very surface-level thoughts that dragons had, so it was entirely possible for her to pick up the wrong idea from brief glimpses. Moon confirming that Sunny was actively thinking about her even while Peril wasn’t present made a twist of fear curl in her gut. Fear was her least favorite emotion. She hated how it made her talons and wings shaky. Being a nearly invincible monster usually kept it at bay, but Peril was certain that Sunny was plotting something.

Once the air began to grow so thin that even Peril’s massive wings struggled to find purchase, she leveled out. Her chest heaved from exertion and panic and thin air, but she didn’t want to go back down closer to the ground.

SkyWings were better adapted to higher altitudes than any other tribe. Nobody would bother her up here, as there were no SkyWings that would seek her out. After all, SkyWings were particularly frightened of Peril. Though the ones at the Academy were dragonets, most of them were still old enough to remember the things Peril had been forced to do during the war. They’d certainly heard stories from their parents, at least.

There had been one SkyWing at the Academy who hadn’t been frightened of Peril. Carnelian, the SkyWing who had been part of the Jade Winglet before Peril had taken her place. She was one of the victims killed in the dragonflame cactus explosion. She hadn’t been killed immediately by the blast, but had been knocked unconscious and was trapped in the classroom as it was set on fire. Peril had tried to save her, and had dragged her from the burning wreckage, but everywhere she’d touched the younger SkyWing left deep burns down to the bone in the shape of Peril’s talon prints. Carnelian died shortly after from the wounds.

Carnelian had told Peril just the day before that she hadn’t thought she was so scary. She’d talked to her about what it was like living under Queen Scarlet, curious about what Peril’s life had been like. Apparently she’d always been curious about the SkyWing queen’s pet monster.

Black dots danced in Peril’s vision, so she tilted her wings and slowly descended until she was low enough to get sufficient air in her lungs. She saw no sign of her Winglet, so she assumed they’d gone on ahead with their plans and left her to fly in peace. She soared closer to one of the taller entrances to the inside of Jade Academy, landing with a slight stumble on the harsh stone lip that led to an ominous downward slope. She shook her wings out and folded them against herself tightly.

Being up so high, this entrance was rarely used. There was no sign of any other dragon, though she could hear a dull murmur echoing from deep within the cave; the sound of dozens of dragons all talking at once. She slunk through the corridor, hoping to make her way back to her sleeping quarters and just spend the rest of the day moping there.

She passed by the library and poked her head in to see Starflight, the NightWing librarian, speaking softly to a MudWing student who was sitting over a scroll on the floor. Peril didn’t recognize her, so she assumed she was one of the newer arrivals. Around the time Winter had come back, each tribe had sent two dozen more dragonets each. This must have been one of the new MudWings. She caught Peril’s eye and froze in fear. Peril tore her gaze away and continued walking.

She shouldn’t have been surprised to find Sunny waiting for her at the entrance to her cave, but she still felt an icicle of fear and distrust shoot through her at the sight of her. She looked so sickeningly joyful that it made Peril’s teeth ache. There was absolutely no way she would ever be able to trust her. Peril was convinced that Sunny was trying to lower Peril’s guard so that she’d be able to set her up more easily.

“Hi, Peril,” Sunny said. Her golden scales glinted like the sun in the light of the torch hanging on the nearby wall. She looked like a piece of living treasure, as if an animus had enchanted a decadent statue and tasked her with making Peril’s life more miserable. “I was just looking for you. Pronghorn is awake, and I was wondering if you’d like to see him?”

Peril wished that the thought wasn’t appealing. She wanted to assess how much damage she’d done to him, after all, if only to reassure herself that it was nothing worth being banished from the Academy for. However, seeing as how it was Sunny inviting her, she was on edge. What if this was a trick, somehow? If anyone would be in on a plot to get Peril cast out, it would certainly be the dragon who she had just injured.

Still, though… It was tempting. She weighed her options for several moments, avoiding Sunny’s piercing gaze. It was unnaturally bright for a SandWing, who typically had solid black eyes. She gritted her teeth and finally nodded. Sunny seemed to brighten up more, if that were even possible.

“Oh, wonderful!” Sunny chirped, perking up as if Peril had promised her a piece of rare treasure.

She heaved a sigh as Sunny bounded away, beckoning Peril to follow her with her tail. Peril steeled herself and followed.

Chapter Text

Pronghorn was awake and chatting with a SkyWing dragonet when Peril entered the Healing Cave, trailing behind Sunny a safe distance.

The SkyWing, who Peril quickly recognized as Peregrine, had his head turned slightly to the side with his good ear toward his clawmate, nodding along with whatever it was that the SandWing was saying. Pronghorn looked agitated as he spoke, and Peregrine’s deep maroon talon rested comfortingly on the SandWing’s clenched claws.

Almost immediately after Sunny and Peril had entered, they both snapped to attention. The atmosphere in the room became tense, with Peregrine jerking his talon away as if burned. He looked as though he were about to take flight out of the nearby cave opening at any moment. His large wings trembled in anticipation. He was a coward as well as a fool; Peril was as swift as any SkyWing, and she had the advantage of age and size. Despite his proportionally large wings, she’d be able to capture and execute the trembling red dragonet as easily as killing a member of any other tribe.

Peril had only been in the healing center once before, just to be shown where it was, and she had intended on keeping it that way. Injured dragons didn’t need the stress of knowing that someone who could kill them with a single touch was hanging around. The room was also particularly flammable, with all the medical diagrams adorning the walls and neat stacks of clean bandages along tables, and setting the room meant to house and heal injured dragons alight seemed counterintuitive.

Pronghorn sat up from where he was resting on a pile of furs, stretching his wings out. Peril eyed his injured wing and was relieved to see that while it was visibly scarred, it had already been healed. She suspected the culprit responsible for his quick recovery was the pyramid of innocuous-looking stones stacked neatly next to a large basin of clear water.

She knew that the stones had been enchanted by Turtle in the past, before animus magic had broken, to heal minor injuries, and had been duplicated dozens of times in order to have plenty in cases of emergencies. They weren’t very effective for serious wounds, but they would at least stop the bleeding and prevent infection from setting in.

To his credit, he looked much less shaken at her appearance than Peregrine. There was fear in his eyes, which was smart, but he didn’t look like he was about to flee. Not that he’d make it very far anyway. Now that she was looking, she saw that the final joint on the injured finger of his wing hung oddly slack. The muscle or even the bone must have been damaged by how hard he’d hit her burning scales.

“Peril came to check on you, just like I said,” Sunny chirped happily, walking closer to Pronghorn. The SandWing looked uneasy and wouldn’t meet Peril’s gaze, but he nodded in acceptance of her presence. Peregrine had backed away, pressing closer to the side of the cave, in a way that he probably thought was subtle as he pretended to be fascinated with the animus-touched stones. Peril wished she’d burned him instead.

Pronghorn swallowed, the tip of his barbed tail twitching nervously as he regarded Peril, still looking anywhere but her face. She shined like polished brass in the weak sunlight that pushed its way through the leaves that covered the external entrance of the room. Tiny reflections of her scales danced and wavered in the heat shimmer that curled around her. Her presence alone had significantly raised the temperature in the room, she noticed. Like a roaring flame had been lit at the entrance. Since he was now most likely flightless, and the entrance of the cave opened up to a steep drop, there would be no escape for him if she chose to finish him off.

Peril didn’t know what to say and, from the look of it, neither did Pronghorn. He didn’t seem to be in any pain, but he looked tired. His small ears were pinned back, and both of his wings were now slumped on the soft pelts beneath him. His blinks were slow and labored, as if he was struggling to keep his eyes open, and there was a slight tremble to him. His body hadn’t recovered from feeling pain, she assumed. Even with the magical healing, he clearly wasn’t well enough yet to leave the healing center.

Sunny’s annoyingly chipper voice cut through the awkward tension in the air. “It’s good to see you’re able to sit up, but you really should rest,” Sunny said, walking over toward him. Despite him being much younger than Sunny, he was still substantially bigger than her. Still, he bowed his head respectfully and, after giving Peril another nervous glance, laid back down. He seemed to relax slightly once Sunny had stepped between himself and Peril. As if she would attack him again! If she’d wanted him dead, she’d have done it right after he’d crashed into her, the absolute imbecile.

It was interesting to Peril to see the contrast between Sunny and a normal SandWing. He was larger, obviously, but his scales were also sharper. He was a familiar dull and dusty tan in contrast to her strange gleaming gold. The deadly stinger on the end of his tail twitched again, as if he worried he’d have to use it to defend himself. Sunny’s tail curled into a useless dull point.

“I don’t think I should tell my family,” Pronghorn said, and Peril was caught off-guard by the seemingly out of context statement before realizing that he’d gone back to talking to the nervous Peregrine. The SkyWing dipped his head sideways towards Pronghorn, eyeing Peril warily.

Sunny shifted, raising her shining wings slightly and almost seeming to partially obstruct Peril from his view. She was facing away, so Peril couldn’t see her expression, but the tense angle of her neck suggested annoyance. Likely at Peril, for scaring Pronghorn’s friend and one of the only dragons training to be a healer. Peregrine looked away from Peril at the display, looking embarrassed, as he focused instead on the injured SandWing. Peril huffed, flame flickering in her nostrils. It wasn’t her fault that the SkyWing was such a pathetic coward.

“I know you’re worried about them wanting you to come home,” Peregrine said. His voice was shaky, but he swallowed and, when he spoke again, his voice was more stable. “But if they didn’t pull you out after the Darkstalker incident, and I doubt they will now. Unity between our tribes is at an all-time high, thanks to us. They know how important you being here is.”

“Besides,” Peregrine added after a moment of pause. “It’s not like she can come here herself and force you to leave. You’re young, but nearly fully-grown. And I don’t think she’d do that, anyway.”

“But what if she asks Queen Thorn to ask for me to return home? You know how protective she is of me.” Pronghorn said with a groan. Sunny stepped forward again, clearing her throat to catch their attention. Pronghorn immediately snapped his mouth shut and looked to her, as alert as he could in his current state.

“I assure you that my mom would never ask for you to go back, Pronghorn,” Sunny said kindly. “She chose you, personally, out of all the other SandWings who applied. She talked highly of all of the letters you sent her.” The other SandWing looked a bit embarrassed, clearly not expecting the sudden praise. Peril felt a little irritated that she hadn't been given the chance to apologize yet. she wanted nothing more than to get this over with.

“But… My mom is very overprotective,” Pronghorn said, picking at a patch of scales on his wrist. “She could convince Queen Thorn to get me to come home, I’m sure of it. She convinced Blaze to keep me in her fortress with her back during the war. She can convince any dragon to do anything.” In Peril’s opinion, anyone with a mouth could convince Blaze to do something as long as they called her pretty first, but Sunny seemed to be considering what he was saying. She’d lowered her wings into a more comfortable position again, lost in thought. Peregrine snuck glances at Peril out of the corners of his eyes, but didn’t go back to gaping at her as he’d done before. He'd benefit greatly from having his eyeballs burned out of his skull, so he couldn’t gape at her anymore, but Peril refrained for now.

“I’ll go deliver the news myself, then,” Sunny decided. Pronghorn’s jaws fell open in shock.

“Y-your Majesty, I could never ask you to—”

“Please don’t call me that,” Sunny said, voice as playful but slightly strained. “I may technically be your princess, but I’m really just your teacher. And you didn’t ask, I offered. I’ve been wanting to return to the Kingdom of Sand, anyways. I’ve missed my mom,” she admitted. “You’d be doing me a favor as much as I’d be doing you one.” Pronghorn looked like he was going to object again, but he seemed to think better of it when Peregrine nudged him with a wing.

“If anyone can convince your mom and your queen to allow you to stay, it would be Sunny,” he pointed out. “The Dragonets of Destiny still hold a lot of political sway, Prong. And she’s your queen’s only daughter.”

“But what if she gets hurt or something because of me?” Pronghorn protested. Peril rolled her eyes, quickly growing tired of a conversation she was clearly not a part of and had little interest in. She knew it would be awkward to leave without actually saying anything to the dragon she’d potentially left flightless, but this conversation felt like it was going nowhere. She began planning on how best to escape without Sunny bothering her about it.

“I’ll bring Peril!” Sunny said cheerfully. Peril’s thoughts halted.

What.

“What?” Pronghorn and Peregrine echoed Peril’s thoughts aloud.

Sunny turned around, facing Peril once more.

“Nobody can hurt me with the most Peril at my side. If she agrees, of course,” Sunny amended. “Besides, while the Kingdom of Sand is only a few days’ flight from here, flying through the desert is still a dangerous trip. I’d only trust a SandWing or a SkyWing to fly with me, and I trust Peril to keep up and keep me safe,” Sunny explained.

Peril longed to take the opportunity. A few days away from this claustrophobic mountain teeming with little dragons that she could hurt so easily sounded like such a relief. And she’d be considered a hero, she knew, to be escorting a dragon as beloved and vulnerable as Sunny, who was sweet and kind but was so small and lacked any of the natural defenses that either of her tribes had aside from fire. Peril would easily be able to protect her, and it would likely even land her in the other dragons’ good graces once more…

But instead, Peril bared her teeth and growled.

“Was this your plan all along?” Peril snarled. “You want me away from the Academy to protect the other students, is that it?” Peril felt a flood of vindication alongside the hurt. She knew Sunny had been scheming. Once Peril was away from the Academy, it would be easier to keep her out than it would be to remove her by force.

Sunny, though, just looked confused and a little hurt. She certainly didn’t look like a scheming dragon whose plot had been figured out. Peril growled as Sunny took a step closer to her, but Sunny looked unafraid.

“Your Majesty, get away from her!” Pronghorn roared, leaping up from where he was settled. He leapt over Sunny and landed with a loud thud between her and Peril, spreading his wings. Despite his ferocity, with fangs bared and dangerous venomous tail poised to strike, the only thing Peril could see was the limp, useless digit on the outside of his injured wing. It flopped as if he couldn’t feel it at all. His eyes were wide with terror, and his chest heaved with exertion, as he put his frail body between his princess and the most dangerous dragon in all of Pyrrhia.

Peril was reminded so much of Winter, in that moment. She remembered how he’d attacked her, believing her to be a threat to his friends. Despite her only trying to escape him, she’d injured him so grievously that he’d nearly died.

Without another word, Peril turned around. She was careful not to whip her tail back, so as to avoid burning him. She held her head up high as she walked away, trying to hide the rage boiling in her chest. She’d known that she wasn’t wanted at the Academy. This only further proved it.

Part of her wished that she could show them how upset that she was in the way other dragons did. She pinned back her ears and tried not to think about how twisted of a dragon she was, to have never cried before. Even now, when she knew she should, knew it might possibly even help her, nothing ever came. Not even steam flickering at the edges of her eyes. A dragon with true emotions wouldn’t struggle to show them. She’d just trained herself to feel this way.

She turned down a narrow passageway, where she had to clamber between two walls that were nearly too close together for an adult dragon such as herself to fit into. She squeezed her way through forcefully, hissing as she ripped out a few scales. She continued down the passage, which wasn’t lit by any torches, and turned a few times, occasionally puffing jets of fire to light her way.

“Peril!” Sunny’s voice came from behind her, desperate. Peril ignored her, continuing to stride forward. The cave she was walking through was narrow enough that no dragon would be able to slip past her, even if she weren’t deadly to the touch, so there was no danger of Sunny getting in front of her to stop her.

“Peril, I’m sorry,” Sunny said, though Peril barely heard it. False sincerity is something she was more than used to, and it burned her ears hotter than even her fire ever could. “I swear, I didn’t mean that I wanted you away from the Academy! I just think you’re a nice dragon, Peril, and I wanted to spend time with you! I thought you’d appreciate being away for a while, but I see now that was a bad call.” Sunny’s voice echoed annoyingly through the cave, vibrating Peril’s teeth with the overlapping screeches of her high-pitched voice. It felt like a stalactite digging deep in the front of her skull.

Peril slithered over a particularly large rock that blocked the path, leaving only a small amount of space between the top and the ceiling. Her spines scraped aggravatingly on the surface, and she had to hold her breath to wiggle through the other side. She felt a sharp pain in her ribs as she forced her way through the gap without slowing down.

She’d been back here a few times. It was in this cave where she’d first tried swimming again after her adventure with Turtle. It was useless, though; the water source was too small for her to lie in without boiling, and she knew at least one pair of other students ventured down here on occasion, taking out hopes of privacy that she’d harbored. Nobody bothered her in the river, either, but in an isolated cave she could have at least pretended it was her own choice.  

Behind her, Sunny scrambled over the rock easily, nearly having enough room to stand on the top of it without brushing the ceiling. Sunny truly must have been stupid, to follow her down this unfamiliar narrow pathway with no quick escape routes.

Sunny’s talons clicked over the rock as, through brief blue-bright illuminations of Peril’s flame, she saw the little SandWing hybrid glancing around in surprise. It seemed that she didn’t know of this cave, which wasn’t surprising. The narrow entrance was down a rarely used back-tunnel deep in the mountain, where torches were sparse and typically only SeaWings explored due to the darkness.

“How did you follow me?” Peril growled, dipping her tail into the water. She paused her fire, letting the crushing darkness swallow her whole as the rolling rumble of water rapidly boiling filled the room. She had hurried off quickly enough that she’d assumed she’d left her pursuer behind, and she’d taken several odd twists and turns through the tunnels even before she got to the obscure entrance to this place. Clearly she’d been wrong.

Sunny blew her own flame, much duller and redder than Peril’s own blue-hot bursts. The warm light lit the room for a few seconds before she let the flames go, casting them back into shadow. “The stone you walked on was still warm,” Sunny said, voice drawing closer. Peril snorted a bit of fire and saw that she was only a tail-length away, looking up at her sadly.

“And you hurt yourself pretty bad crawling through one of those narrow tunnel entrances,” Sunny said, and Peril heard the sound of something rustling, and then a soft clinking sound like a talon running across metal. “You lost some of your scales. They’re still hot enough to burn me, but I put them in my satchel, and they haven’t burned through yet. I picked them up so that nobody else would find them.” Peril stayed silent, lifting her tail out of the water. Her ribs and shoulders ached a little where she’d been so hasty crawling through the unforgiving stone. It was only minor scrapes, but pain was unfamiliar to her. She’d also stubbed her nose against a wall when she’d been going a bit too fast in the complete dark, but she didn’t need Sunny to know that. She felt the blood that dripped from her nostrils boiling away as soon as it touched her scales.

“I’m really sorry, Peril, honest,” Sunny said, and a scraping noise sounded as she scooted a little closer. Peril had the feeling that if she were a normal dragon, Sunny would be comfortingly resting her tail on Peril’s talons.

It was so strange, Peril thought, how similar yet different she and Sunny were. Sunny was a freak. Just like her. But while Peril’s strangeness made her so deadly that entire Kingdoms would fall before her, Sunny’s took away nearly all of the natural weapons she should’ve been born with. Sunny had no poison tail. She didn’t have the NightWing’s dazzling dark scales or ability to read minds. She had the privilege of being born weak. Peril couldn’t help but envy her for it. Couldn’t help but wish she’d been born fireless, like her brother.

“I really do think you’re a good dragon,” Sunny said, and Peril felt like the hollow iciness in her chest was cracking, spilling freezing water inside her that would snuff out her internal flame. She just felt ragged and torn open, far beyond what a minor scrape should make her feel. “I’m sorry I confronted you in front of everyone, but I was serious about my offer. I trust you, Peril. This is my way of showing that. Come with me.” Peril didn’t speak, positive that if she opened her mouth, the only thing that would come out would be a mournful wail or a fountain of flame.

Why was Sunny doing this to her? Did she hate her? Sunny’s cruelty was far worse than Queen Scarlet’s. At least Scarlet told Peril what she was. Sunny did much, much worse. Sunny told Peril everything she’d always wanted to hear. It was a cruel lie.

“I know you feel guilty about what happened with Pronghorn, even if it wasn’t your fault. I know the way the others view you, despite all the good you’ve done for Pyrrhia. You do really deserve a break from all of this.” It was all so much that Peril didn’t know what to say. It was too much. Peril felt sick. Sunny took another step forward.

With a deep rumbling roar, Peril sent out a shock of flame so scorching hot into the floor that it melted into the stone. Rock that hadn’t felt the warmth of daylight in its entire existence glowed with the ferocity of the sun even after Peril’s flame subsided. Sunny’s eyes were wide open in shock, and she’d stumbled several paces back, wings flailing out to shield herself. Even though the fire hadn’t been near her, it was close enough that it had burned. Peril stepped toward her, trembling with rage and hurt.

Peril wondered if it wouldn’t have just been better if the Great War had never ended. If Scarlet remained on the throne, Peril as her pet monster. She’d hated it, but nothing hurt, then. Not as much as it did now. Part of her wanted to go back to embracing her true nature. Escaping her hurting feelings, turning into the rampaging beast that most of the world saw her as. She’d be the fiercest dragon to ever exist. With no more Animus dragons, she could be the queen of all of Pyrrhia.

Sunny’s talon gripped the side of her muzzle, eyes squinted shut in pain. Peril rumbled a low growl as she stepped towards her. This was all this stupid SandWing’s fault. Now Peril was going to be kicked out of the Academy for sure. All because Sunny refused to leave her alone.

Sunny pried her talon away from her face and met Peril’s eyes. In the fading light from the cooling rock, her eyes looked black as obsidian, just like her mother’s. Just like Burn’s. Her angry expression looked alien on her face.

“Enough, Peril!” Sunny said, her own roar sounding like a dragonet’s compared to Peril’s, but the needle-sharp ferocity still caught Peril off-guard. Her wings splayed out, flashing golden in the lingering scraps of light.

“You’re not going to hurt me,” Sunny said firmly, and Peril hated that she was right. As much as she wanted to pounce on this idiotic lizard and destroy her so thoroughly she’d never be found, she couldn’t. She felt like she was going to be sick just at what she’d done to her already. She hadn’t meant to actually hurt her. She just didn’t want her coming any closer.

The light was gone, now, but the room still felt stiflingly hot.

“I could kill you right now,” Peril rasped. “Nobody would find you. You’d sink to the bottom of this forgotten puddle as nothing but ashes. You wouldn’t be able to stop me.”

“No you couldn’t,” Sunny said simply. “You’re not that dragon anymore, Peril. You weren’t that dragon as soon as you realized you had a choice. I don’t think you could kill me even if you wanted to.” She paused for a moment, before adding, “And you don’t want to.”

In the dark, warm humidity of the cave, it almost felt like being in some great beast’s stomach. It felt almost like being dead.

“Apologize,” Sunny said, voice suddenly more serious.

“What?” Peril asked, confusion and outrage pulling her out of her stupor.

“Apologize. To me and Pronghorn. And after that, tell your Winglet that you’re going to be coming with me on my trip to the Kingdom of Sand. You don’t have a choice. You’re my student in my Academy, and I’m telling you that you are taking a mandatory break from your studies.” Sunny said all of this with a voice that allowed no arguments. Killing her and hiding her remnants was sounding more appealing every moment.

“Why would I do that?” Peril growled, though she felt more confusion than genuine rage. Even after all of this, Sunny was still insisting that Peril come with her on her stupid mission? Did she have nothing in her skull but sand?

“I’m going to prove to everyone that you’re a good dragon, Peril. Including you.”

The walk back through the twisted, narrow corridors was awkward. Peril led the way once more, with Sunny following a healthy distance behind her to give her space. The initial trip through the tunnels had passed by in a blur, but now Peril’s scales ached from where she’d crashed into and dragged across the stones so many times, so she was much slower and more meticulous as she picked her way back to the light. It still ached, and she had to bite back hisses of agony on occasion as jagged rocks dug into her sore hide.

Sunny hadn’t spoken since they’d started their trip back, but her words replayed in Peril’s brain as if they were still physically echoing throughout the cave. By the time Peril came blinking into the dull light of a distant torch, she wasn’t even sure that the SandWing was still following her. She was certainly far behind. Likely due to Peril’s slow pace heating up the rocks beyond the point of safety for her to still touch. She tried to pretend she didn’t feel bad about that.

She heard a scraping sound and turned just in time to see Sunny wriggle out of the same cramped entrance to the hidden cave that Peril had just struggled to escape from for minutes. Her scales still ached fiercely.

Now that they were somewhat in the light, Peril saw that there was a substantial burn on her face and the outside of her wings were singed. None of them were particularly deep burns, but they were large patches. Where she was injured was pink and raw in the center, the shining gold faded and dim. Peril wanted to turn tail and flee. There was no way that she wasn’t going to be punished for this. Sunny’s eyes were sharp in the low light, and she jerked her snout forward, indicating for Peril to continue to lead the way.

“To the Healing Cave.” Sunny instructed; voice hoarse yet firm. Peril blinked hard, trying to swallow down the crushing anxiety that began to fill her lungs like water. The agony of her scraped scales was nothing compared to the absolute dread that she felt as she was marched back to where she’d fled from.

It was a rare kindness from the universe that she didn’t meet anyone on her way back. The mountain was relatively silent, likely due to all the students being outside celebrating their day off. It was well enough into the day that all the students, even the sleepiest of RainWings, were awake. She halted outside the cave entrance, turning to Sunny nervously.

“Go get one of the healing stones,” Sunny told Peril. “Unless you’d rather them see me burned.”

Peril tried not to tremble as she entered the cave. The two others gaped at her, but she ignored them. She ignored how Peregrine scrambled out of her way as she snatched one of the magical stones, and she ignored the way it made the ache in her stubbed talons ease immediately. She returned to the entrance of the cave, throwing the stone on the floor in front of Sunny so that it could cool off.

“Peril,” Sunny said, voice firm as she tapped the stone with her talon a few times. As soon as it seemed to be cool enough, she scooped it up into her talons and gently rolled it against her face. The burns healed immediately, leaving her scales just as flawless as before. She contorted herself as she began rolling it across her wings, and Peril swallowed heavily.

“I’ll keep this between us, so long as you don’t give me a reason to tell anyone,” Sunny said, voice low. Peril huffed, a low growl escaping her despite her best efforts.

“You’re blackmailing me?” Peril accused, speaking a bit louder than she’d intended. Sunny’s eyes widened in surprise, before she looked moderately annoyed. Part of Peril felt glad that Sunny was showing negative emotions for once, but another part of her missed her idiotic, overly-happy disposition from earlier.

“What?” Sunny asked. “No! I’m just telling you that I understand it was an accident, but if you keep hurting people, even without meaning to, then I will need to tell someone. She set the stone down on the floor, rolling it over to Peril. “I just… Go talk to Pronghorn.”

Peril grumbled, wishing she felt as grateful as she knew she should be. She knew that she should be facing much harsher repercussions than just having Sunny be a little upset with her. Guilt clawed at her stomach as she picked up the stone, rolling it across her hurt scales, watching and feeling the way they knitted back together as easily as water flowed. She contemplated what Sunny had said.

It seemed like she had even more apologizing to do.

Entering the cave once more, she realized how strangely uncomfortable she felt without Sunny as a buffer. The way the SkyWing and SandWing couldn’t help but stare, unabashed weariness in their eyes.

“Where’s Sunny?” Pronghorn demanded, before Peril even got the chance to speak. A wisp of annoyed smoke trailed from her nostrils as she flicked her ears.

“She’s fine,” Peril snapped, before she realized how aggressive her body language was. She raised her head proudly, trying not to show how annoyed and fearful she was. “She went back to her room. I know you heard her voice outside, if you’re thinking of accusing me of hurting her.” She fixed her gaze on Pronghorn. She noted that he was trembling, somewhat. He nodded sharply in acceptance of her answer.

“I came to apologize,” Peril said, trying to keep her tail from lashing in annoyance. The tip still twitched, slightly, unable to help herself. Pronghorn looked confused and hesitant, glancing at Peregrine as if he didn’t know how to respond.

“It’s, um…” The SandWing lowered his head a little. “It’s fine. I’m sorry for crashing into you. And threatening you,” he said sheepishly. “That was really stupid of me.” Peril wanted to agree with him, telling him that yes, he was incredibly stupid, but that would definitely upset Sunny even more, if word got back to her. Struggling to keep her tone civil, she responded.

“It’s fine.” She probably should’ve said more, but even that small interaction had felt like pulling teeth. After a few moments of awkward silence, she abruptly turned and began to walk out of the cave. She hated the strange, tense atmosphere, and wanted to flee it as soon as possible. As she slipped out of the cave, she stopped and turned her head once more, meeting Pronghorn’s stone-black gaze for a moment.

“I hope your wing heals back fully,” she said, voice softer than it had been before. She hurried away, hoping to sneak back to her room quickly and quietly enough that she wouldn’t run into any other dragon, figuratively or especially literally. It seemed like, once again, she was blessed in that regard. She spotted only one other student, a NightWing that she didn’t know by name, but she easily avoided her by slipping into another passage that led to her room in a more roundabout manner. 

It wasn’t until she was back in her soot-stained cell that she realized she still had the healing stone gripped tight in one of her front talons. It had, at least, kept the ache in her talons at bay. She cast it aside, and it emitted a spark where it crashed into the wall, splitting in half and sending a few white shards scattering across the black floor like stars. She was unsure whether or not that had destroyed its magical ability, but she was already too busy wallowing in self-pity to agonize over yet another thing she had done wrong.

She collapsed onto her side, groaning. It was barely even midday, and she already wanted nothing more than to sleep.