Chapter Text
Peril shook her head. "I'm not ready," she said. "Maybe one day we'll find eachother again."
Kestrel's tail whipped back and forth, churning up the ground. "Well, suit yourself." Her amber eyes shifted balefully from one dragonet to the next and landed on Clay. "Listen, MudWing. For all your noble talk, you're not going to be any use to the others if you can't fight and kill to defend them. Just think about that."
Her words stung, like they always did.
Tsunami took a threatening step towards Kestrel, but before she could say anything, the large red dragon spread her wings and launched herself into the sky. She banked over the lake and flew off to the west without looking back.
They're going to get caught before midnight. I did what the Talons of Peace asked me to. I never believed in that prophecy anyway. A load of nonsene, just like any other NightWing ever talks about.
A few hours had passed. It was evening. Kestrel had preyed on a large eagle she caught mid-flight without effort. She was lost in thoughts as she watched the Claws of the Cloud Mountains scraping the clouds. Surprisingly, she wasn't very far from the cave she had raised the Dragonets of Destiny for 6 years straight.
Pfff. Destiny. Yeah, sure. She thought as she ripped off the head of the bald eagle. Blood drooping down from its neck as she swallowed it, licking off the blood from her lips. She looked back at the Sky Kingdom. Small dragon silhouettes could be seen flying away from Queen Scarlet's castle. They were flying in a hurried-like formation. Not very SkyWing type. And they didn't even seem like SkyWings, Kestrel quickly realised. She had seen silhouettes her entire life. She knew how to make the difference between a SkyWing or a different tribe. Those were not SkyWings, but SandWings. The silhouette in the front was bigger than the rest. It must be Burn. The soldiers behind her appeared to be carrying something as big as them, a dragon. Kestrel couldn't figure out who that was, but she had a funny feeling about it.
As Kestrel finished her dinner, she heard wingbeats approach. One single pair. She scrambled to her feet, ready to face whoever was approaching her. But as she expected some single patrol that had recognised her, she was hit with a rather friendly MudWing.
"Hey!" The MudWing saluted as she landed a few meters away from Kestrel. She was big and battlescarred. Before Kestrel could salute back, the MudWing spoke. "Are you Kestrel? I'm Crocodile. I joined the Talons of Peace a few years ago." Kestrel thought that it wasn't a good idea to say who you are and who are you working for to a stranger. But since she knew Kestrel, was she really a stranger? Nevertheless, Kestrel felt relieved it was a Talons of Peace member.
"Hello, Crocodile. I am Kestrel. What do you want?" She answered bitterly, like usual.
"Morrowseer has a letter for you." Crocodile said as she reached into her satchel and took out a piece of paper, then handing it to Kestrel. She took it and read it.
Meet me on the cliff close to the Bay of a Thausand Scales.
- Morrowseer.
Great. He must've found out that the dragonets escaped and caused havoc in the SkyWing Kingdom. And now I have to answer for it. "Thanks for the letter, Crocodile. Have you seen Webs lately?"
"Oh, yes! I've met with him along with Nautilus and some IceWing named Cirrus. He's new to the Talons. Anyway, they wanted to kill him! I was on my way to you trying to find you and stumbled upon them. Luckily for Webs, I was there to save his tail. Now he's headed to the SeaWing Kingdom. Told him that I've heard that Queen Coral is pretty merciful these days." Crocodile answered with pure proudness.
"Oh you-" Kestrel held her tongue from insulting the MudWing. "You shouldn't have told him that. If Coral finds out he's the one who stole from the royal hatchery, she'll scatter his corpse across her whole kingdom."
"Really? I neved knew she's that cruel." Crocodile answered bewildered.
"I'm taking off to see the NightWing. Farewell, Crocodile." Kestrel lastly added before launching into the sky towards the Bay of a Thausand Scales. She looked back and saw Crocodile head into the forest, hidden by the darkness. They tried to kill Webs? Why? Are the Talons really trustworthy? Who have I been working for this whole time? I need to investigate that myself. And maybe show Nautilus and this new Cirrus guy what true killing means.
It took Kestrel 2 hours to reach it. Flying through rain wasn't her kind of thing. In fact, what kind of dragon liked flying through rain?But as she got closer, she saw 2 dragons there, not one. Morrowseer and a SandWing. As Kestrel landed, she realised that was Blister.
Wind howled around the snall rocky cliff with the force of a thausand screaming dragons. It battered at the three on the cliff as if trying to tear off their wings. One dragon was as black as night, one as red as flames and one as pale as desert sand.
"Why did you bring me here?" Kestrel shouted, digging her claws into gaps in the rock. The wind seized her voice and threw it away.
Morrowseer ignored her. He stepped closer to the SandWing, their heads sheltered by their wings so they could hear eachother.
"Trust me, you're the one." He said. "Burn and Blaze are the two who will die. We have chosen you to be the SandWing queen." Surf roared at the base of the cliff below them.
Blister regarded him with glittering black eyes. Kestrel analysed her from horns to tail and caught an eerie stillness about her and her venomous tail barb about to strike. I should keep my distance.
"And the dragonets will make this happen." She said. "The same dragonets who are now wandering loose around the countryside."
"We'll keep and eye on them." Morrowseer promised. "It's better this way. Once the word gets out, everyone will be watching for them... waiting for the prophecy to come true at last."
"What if they have their own ideas about who should be queen?" Blister asked.
"They won't. Besides" - Morrowseer spread his wings so the star scales caught the moonlight - "the NightWing dragonet has his own orders now. He knows what he's supposed to do."
"What?!" Kestrel yelled. "What are you saying?" She took a step forward, trying to crowd in closer, but she didn't trust her gut. Morrowseer conspiring with Blister? Kestrel knew her as the worst viper you could encounter. She decided to keep her distance by taking back that step and wait for her turn to the conversation.
"I like that." Blister mused. "A traitor in their midst. Tear them apart from the inside. My kind of plan."
"We're good at those." Morrowseer said. A blast of wind buffeted the sea against the rocks and yanked at the dragons' tails. Thunder rumbled behind the thick clouds in the distance. "But we expect what we were promised."
"There won't be a problem." She said, running her forked tongue over her teeth. "Tell me, does your magic vision tell you where the dragonets will go next?"
Morrowseer looked at her sourly. "That's not how it works." He said.
That's not how it works? How does it then?
Blister looked amused. "Well, let's hope it's to the SeaWings." She said. "And her? This is the trouble?" She tossed her head at Kestrel.
Kestrel caught the last question after barely understanding bits of their conversation. "Yes." She roared. "Why am I here? Morrowseer, you said the dragonets were in danger."
"And you came running." He said. "Well, of course they're in danger. More than they know. But you're really here because you failed me."
I did come running, even though I had told them I won't. Little brats actually got to me...
Kestrel blinked her amber eyes and took a step back, glaring at him and Blister. She winced as she saw Blister's tail barb uncurl. "I failed you?" She growled. "I work for the Talons of Peace." She wasn't sure if she really did after hearing that they tried to kill Webs. "Not the NightWings. They can talk to me if they've got complaints. I've kept those brats alive, like I was supposed to."
"But they don't need you anymore." Morrowseer said as Kestrel heard talonsteps hurrying over from her side. She looked and saw Blister approaching with her lifted claws. Kestrel ducked at the last second before Blister could cut her throat. She caught her horns and Blister staggered back, shaking her claws. Kestrel and Blister were separated by a gust of wind that pummeled them. Morrowseer charged at Kestrel, but she had her guard up and let out the biggest fire breath she ever had. The fire caught Morrowseer's head and Blister staggered back, dodging the flames.
They're trying to kill me. I can't take them both. I need to flee!
Without a second thought, Kestrel launched into the sky and flapped her wings as fast and hard as she could, panicked. She looked back and saw Morrowseer and Blister fly up and begin chasing her, but Kestrel was already ahead of them and had caught enough speed to safely leave them behind.
"I'll kill you!" She heard Blister scream her throat as Morrowseer told her they couldn't catch a SkyWing during flight.
Kestrel's heart was beating as fast as the day Queen Scarlet had caught her and her dragonets at the Diamond Spray Delta. She followed the shore, the border between the SeaWing and RainWing Kingdoms. She kept looking back, making sure she wasn't being followed. Upon landing near a tropical looking forest, she caught her breath.
They tried to kill me! Morrowseer was conspiring with Blister! He isn't part of the Talons of Peace?! Are they planning to kill the dragonets?! Things are not as I thought they are. I need to find them and warn them. And... maybe apologise...? Ugh. After that I'm finding the Talons and confronting them of what's happening. First, Webs trying to get killed by his own allies, then I try to get killed by who I thought was my ally. Traitor. I need to tell the Talons about this too.
Was it ironic to call Morrowseer a traitor when almost the whole Talons of Peace were also traitors in some way to their queens and kingdoms? Kestrel didn't bother thinking about that. She caught a few fishes, drank a mouthful of water from a rock that had stored it from the rain. She looked at the forest. The storm was ravaging this shore and so was the outer part of the RainWing Kingdom. She still needed some sort of shelter, so she headed between the trees. The rain and wind were muffled by them. This was a good hiding spot from Blister and Morrowseer.
Kestrel sat down on her abdomen, covered her head with her wings and closed her eyes, thinking about the offsprings she wronged or couldn't save. You couldn't realise whether she was shedding tears or those were just raindrops. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep.
She did not hear the wet talonsteps approaching her.