Heiress

Chapter 10: Guests

"Listen, Star, I know you're confused right now but you have to trust us on this one that it will be way better for you and for the queens if we helped you," reasoned Qibli. He walked over to his daughter and placed his sandy talon on hers. The young hybrid just swiped her talons away from him, as if the thought of touching him was revolting. Qibli winced at how harshly she pulled away.  

"I don't care," hissed Starguider. "If you two come with us then you have a higher risk of dying. I can't lose my parents. I just can't." Lily would have rolled her eyes if it wasn't for the sting in her gut. She knew she would do the same if her dad was the one who was offering to give his life away for some advice. "There are other dragons who will do it instead. What you two need to do is go somewhere. Hide. I don't know, be anywhere else than the Claws of Cloud Mountains." 

"Claws of Cloud mountains?" Lily repeated, raising a brow. "Why can't they be near the Claws of Cloud Mountains?" 

Either Starguider didn't notice or she just didn't care what Lily said.  As Lily tried to get Starguider's attention, she felt a wing slip over her back, sending shivers down her spine. A smile started to worm her way onto her snout as she felt Nighthowler's wing on her. Although they were going through a crisis Lily succumbed to the butterflies that scattered around her stomach. 

Something must have happened while Lily was squealing inside because Moon let out sigh and turned to Lily. "I guess you won't have our help then," she muttered. "But Qibli and I are always here if Starguider changes her mind." 

Lily nodded her head. "Thank you," she whispered. "It means a lot." 

"Of course, and my offer still stands," Moon murmured. She gave Lily a quick hug then turned to go talk to Starguider. While Moon was off comforting her daughter,  Lily turned to run off to her dad's cave. He had to know what was going on with her. He had to know what was happening. As she was running down the halls, Lily spotted a familiar blur of yellow and blue scales. She skitted to a stop and whipped her head toward her brother. 

Much to her surprise, Lily saw Toucan blabbering on with Bear. The SkyWing-MudWing hybrid seemed to be blushing a lot. Lily would have spied on her brother but she didn't have the time. She shook her head and continued running. It felt like etrinity when she finally reached her dad's cave but when she did she noticed how much stuff he was packing. 

Everything was cluttered everywhere and it was as if he didn't have the strength to clean up. "Dad?" Lily called as she tipped toed into the room. "Where are you?"

"I'm here!" Turtle replied. With a small smile, Lily rounded the corner and saw him packing up some of his novels. Even though it had only been a few days since the news came, Lily could see how much stress it caused her dad. His eyes were much more bagged and he seemed to be sloopy. 

"Dad....I need to tell you something..." Lily whispered. Turtle frowned then turned to face his daughter. 

"What do you mean?"

"I...um..." Lily trailed off, not knowing how to finish this off. How was she going to tell him? Hey dad, I gotta go off and basically kill myself for you guys. Oh don't worry I'll do my best to make sure Toucan and I don't go and die in the process. With a big sigh, Lily realized that she would just have to spill it out. So she did. She told him all about Starguider's prophecy and about how Moon and Qibli came and offered to help. She told him about how Starguider turned them down and that they were going to do it by themselves.

When her dad heard that she wasn't going to get the help, he almost fell out of his chair. Thankfully, she managed to calm him down. When she finished, he seemed like he was going to cry. "Dad..."

"So. You're going to go off and find out who is killing off the royals and my friends...and then...hopefully not die..."

"Yes," replied Lily. "I'm still going to the funeral but...I just want you to know that is happening." 

Turtle took a deep breath then said, "okay...well, we'll discuss this after the funeral. I-I need time to process this." With that, Turtle turned around and continued to  pack. Lily watched in hoplessness as her father scurried around the cave. How was she going to get him to see that she's crying out for help? How was he going to know that Lily is just dying inside because she has no one to rely on. With a sigh, Lily stood up and walked out of the cave. 

If Turtle was going to pack like nothing had happened so would Lily. She wouldn't let this...incident ruin her chance to say goodbye to her grandmother. As she walked down the halls of Jade Mountain, she could swear that she felt the eyes of every dragon on her. The thought chilled her to the bone, but she shrugged it off. It was just like the rainforest. If anyone was watching, be the dragon that they look up too. 

So she was. She stood with her snout high, ignoring all the looks. So much so that she actually thought that she was fine. That she wasn't drowning in her own problems. Once Lily reached her cave, she let out a sigh and folded her wings around her eyes. She just needed a break. Yeah. That's what she needed. A small...little...break.