Night Falls

Chapter 10

Gemstone took a deep breath before gently knocking on the cave where Nightwatcher was staying. Queen Angelfish had arrived a few days prior, but only now did Queen Aurora and  Queen Fennec finally arrived. General Heat sat beside Queen Fennec.

Gemstone wasn't particularly sure about this; it seemed like neither of the queens would be willing to listen to a NightWing, even one who had promised to help end the war. He gripped the skyfire bracelet tightly. It was an old SeaWing artifact, but it would do the job he needed it to.

"Yeah?" Nightwatcher's green eyes glowed in the darkness of the cave before she stepped into the light.

Gemstone's eyes flickered from her teardrop scale to her scars. He felt awful that he hadn't been able to help fight that RainWing, maybe then her friend would have survived and maybe she wouldn't be so injured. He wasn't sure what to be more terrified of; the fact that she survived such an awful injury or the fact that she could read all his thoughts.

Oh. Right. He quickly shook the thoughts away with a flick of his wings and a shake of his tail before he spoke. "The queens are here." He held out the bracelet. "Safety measures, I'm sure you understand," he said apologetically.

"Right, of course." Nightwatcher took the bracelet from him and slipped it onto her wrist. Her wing shuddered slightly.

"Are you alright?" Gemstone asked. Oh man, does skyfire hurt mindreaders? Oh, by the ice monsters, I never thought about that.

"Yeah, just... odd," Nightwatcher answered. She took a deep breath.

Gemstone nodded and led her through the outpost to where the queens and Luminescence already were. Despite being told he should rest some more, Luminescence refused to miss out on the meeting.

As they walked to the huge twisting structure in the center of the island, Gemstone felt Whitetip's blue eyes following them. No, not both of them, her eyes were caught on Nightwatcher. She quickly tore her gaze away as she noticed that he had seen her.

Gemstone sighed. He knew Whitetip needed to keep her focus more than ever now, he had heard Luminescence talking about her many times with the healers, specifically Brisk.

"Hello your majesties," Gemstone said, bowing respectfully to Queen Aurora and Queen Angelfish. He let out a soft sigh of relief when Nightwatcher followed suit. He looked at the dragons around the room. "Brisk, what are you doing here?"

"That NightWing isn't fit to be moving around this much so early after the injuries she sustained. I'm just here in case anything happens." Brisk sat back respectfully, a good distance from the table.

"I understand that, Brisk, but this is confidential information. I trust you, but still—" Before Gemstone could finish speaking, Queen Angelfish interrupted him.

"General Gemstone, your healer is fine to stay. I appreciate him making sure our only source of information of the NightWings' doings didn't drop dead in the middle of this meeting,"  Queen Angelfish said. The blue stones on the crown she wore stood out against the silver of the crown. Her scales were a pale blue with hints of pink along her wings and webbed spines. She held herself tall, just as Queen Aurora did. "Wouldn't you agree, Queen Aurora?"

Queen Aurora nodded, the silvery spines running down her back clinking together like icicles. In the firelight of room her silver scales seemed to glow.

The odd one out in the room was Queen Fennec. Her scales were a dull sandy color with streaks of black running down her wings. She was shorter than Queen Aurora and Queen Angelfish, but held herself just as tall. Her scorpion-like tail was curled. Gemstone knew her efforts in the war were focused elsewhere, which was why there were so few SandWings at the Summer Palace outpost. "You'll have to excuse my rude language, but Queen Angelfish, are you really considering backing out of the war? And at the request of only your general? Are you crazy?" Queen Fennec asked, her eyes wide. "The other tribes will surely see this as a sign of weakness!"

Queen Angelfish huffed softly. "Not if we convince them to back down too. This war was my mother's choice to join, not mine. Queen Shimmer was smart to stay out of it."

"I doubt the other queens will back out of the war." Queen Aurora said. 

"Then you'll write a treaty. Settle the borders for good," Nightwatcher said. The queens turned to look at her. "That's what this war is over, right? Land and resources?"

"Yes. Queen Abyss wants to expand into the desert, which threatens IceWing lands by pushing SandWings further north," Queen Aurora answered

"And the SeaWings, SkyWings, and MudWings?" Nightwatcher asked.

"Don't play dumb, NightWing, it's not a good look on you." Queen Fennec's black eyes seemed to stare straight into Nightwatcher's soul. "Everyone knows the SkyWings offered to help the NightWings and that the MudWings joined the SkyWings to stay on their good side."

"Well, the NightWings do have the smallest kingdom currently and the SandWings have the largest," Nightwatcher started. "Yes, General Gemstone, I understand that doesn't make it right."

Gemstone snapped his mouth shut.

"General, I thought I told you to give her the bracelet," Queen Aurora said, glaring icicles at him.

"He did, don't worry," Nightwatcher said. 

"Queen Fennec, would you be willing to sell some of your land to Queen Abyss?" Queen Angelfish asked.

Queen Fennec thought for a moment. "Depends on how much she's willing to pay. If she's willing to go to war over it, I'm sure she really needs it."

"General Luminescence, we'll go for their allies first. They'll be more likely to agree if no one else backs them up," Queen Angelfish decided. "I'll send word to Queen a Skyfire first."

"Smart, she's the most likely to agree." Queen Fennec nodded.

"So it's decided then. With luck I'll see you all in the Sky Kingdom," Queen Angelfish said. 

"General Gemstone, take our friend back to her cave, will you? I doubt she'll be much help for writing." Queen Aurora gestured with her talon for him to leave.

"Come on," Gemstone mumbled to Nightwatcher, before he led her away. "You did amazing."