Wings Of Fire (WOF) : A dark family affair

Chapter 5

Nightjar flew through the dark veil of night, guided only by the light of the three moons and the stars. She was getting close to the border of the kingdom and decided to land for a moment to check her route. She landed silently between several trees, shielding herself from potential eyes with the foliage above her. The ground was hard and the grass was greener because as she continued on her way, the swampy weather was fading.

She rummaged in her satchel, took the map of the continent that she had previously put in her satchel and unfolded it under her eyes. In the absence of a strong light source, she could help herself with her night vision that she had inherited from her father's clan. "I should be located not far from the Diamond Spray Delta" she thought. Nightjar knew the topography of the area perfectly, but she had not had the luxury of studying the topography of the other kingdoms. Her goal was to get to the Sand Kingdom. If Root had really been right, her parents' attackers had to be in this area for sure.

The biggest problem of this plan was the mountain range that separated her from that promised land. It had been occupied by bandits for almost ten years now according to the information of the mudwings and they were becoming more hostile every day and nobody knew why. Nightjar couldn't risk dying foolishly and chose instead to be cautious by passing this great chain for safety. So she had no choice but to make a stopover by the sky kingdom. "At least I would see some new clans. I wonder if Queen Falcon has completely abolished her mother's authoritarian reforms" she thought curiously. Indeed, the hybrid had rarely had the opportunity to see dragons from other clans. The only ones she had seen were skywings and only from a distance.

"But first, I need to get across the fierce armed border." she thought fearfully. Nightjar knew that this one was constantly guarded by Swamp's colossal border guard. Her only option was to walk for the next few hours while remaining aware of her surroundings, hoping to slip through the cracks. The only thing her ears could hear were the crickets and the leaves of the oak trees in the wind. She checked her position one last time before putting her map back in the leather bag.

Just as she was about to move forward silently, she was frightened by the cracking of a branch behind her. Nightjar turned and stood on guard, eyes wide open and baring her fangs, hoping to be threatening. But there was nothing, not a trace of life. She could only see trees on the horizon, and an owl on a slightly higher branch, staring at her, eyes fixed, with curiosity. However, this sensation of being spied on by someone was not a simple impression, she was persuaded to have been followed at this moment. "I did check that nobody was following me, I'm sure" she panicked in a low voice. She could not afford to raise her voice to frighten her opponent. She would risk attracting attention.

At the same time, that owl that had been loitering on the branch redirected its attention to a small bush not far from her by turning its head sharply. Its pupils dilated, it wiggled its wings a little and dived violently behind the bush. Brown wings sprang up from the bush followed closely by the entire body of a mudwing, revealing a familiar face. "Reed ?" shocked Nightjar, not feeling afraid anymore. The younger brother struggled with the bird as it hovered around the spy for a moment before flying back into the depths of the forest. He had cowered in on himself, talons on his head, before finally glancing up, meeting his sister's deep, furious violet eyes. "Oh..." he seemed to realize his stupidity. "Hey Nightjar... I was just wandering around and ny luck I...

- Shut up right now before I decide to roll your face on the bark of this oak tree" she said coldly, pointing quickly at the large plant. If her Toad were here, he would be ashamed of her. The hybrid herself felt guilty. She was angry at herself for making such a stupid mistake, but she was especially angry at herself for involving her brother in her adventure. And the other problem was that it seemed that her camouflage of black scales of night wings was not proving as effective as she had hoped in the night. Seeing Reed's wet, guilty eyes directed at the grassy ground, she regained her composure for a moment before resuming, "Sorry, I'm a little angry and nervous since I didn't plan for anyone to find me. First of all, why did you follow me? She was really trying to stay clear-headed and definitely not start yelling at her sentimental brother.