Wings of Fire: The Hidden Key

~Chapter Eleven~

"Again... how? Do you even have a plan?" Reed mumbled, yawning. "Also... how long have I been asleep?"

Dreamcatcher grinned. "Almost three hours."

"WHAT?!" Reed scrambled to her feet, nearly hitting the others in their faces with her wings. "Why didn't you wake me up? Kelp could be dead by now!"

"Relax, drama queen." Amber's tail was curled in, preventing her accidently stabbing them with her poisonous barb. "If they need Kelp for something, he's not gonna be dead until they get what they want from him."

"Wow, that makes me feel a lot better." Reed muttered, glaring at them.

Dreamcatcher shrugged and turned towards the exit hatch. "Now all we need to do is find Starberry." She noticed Reed's doubtful expression, and sighed. "Reed, we do have a plan. It'd be idiotic to go charging out there and expect no one to attack us."

She stared at the floor, not sure how to respond to that. She felt extremely bad for dragging her new friends into her mess. She didn't want to get them hurt for trying to escape, and she hoped that they didn't blame her for anything. "Are you sure you're both okay with... leaving? I don't want you to feel forced..."

Amber rolled her eyes again and grumbled something under her breath. "Well, news flash for you. We want to help you, and we definitely want to get out of this stupid place. I guess your arrival just boosted our determination to escape. Before, I suppose we weren't brave enough to even attempt it. But then you came along, being all mopey and helpless, and we can't just let you go flop around in your cell and cry."

Reed blinked, and she felt tears coming to her eyes. "...Thank you. You guys are... really nice..."

 Amber shrugged. "Don't worry 'bout it. Anyway, we'd better hurry up. Starberry's waiting for us near the back exit."

"...There's a back exit here?" Reed glanced at Dreamcatcher, who nodded in assent. "Yeah. It's not used very much, and we're not allowed to go there, but... I guess, screw the rules for now."

"Yay! Screwing the rules is awesome!" A cheerful voice exclaimed into their ears. All three of them jumped, but there was nothing there to see.

"Starberry, stop camouflaging." Dreamcatcher glared at the air, which began to shimmer. Slowly, bursts of color began to appear, revealing a tired but excited-looking RainWing.

"What's up?" Amber grinned at Starberry, who smirked back.

"Nothin' much. Busy saving your sorry scales." She examined Reed, a touch of concern in her bright eyes. "You okay? You look kind of... bleh."

Reed frowned, wondering what 'bleh' meant. "Um... yeah? I guess?"

"Alright, cool! Anyway, we gotta move, 'cause I only bought us around five minutes. Should be enough time. I think." She said brightly, beaming at them. "Oh, and if you want, I can hide Reed under my wings. You two won't draw any attention, 'cause nobody knows that you're in cahoots with me!"

"Thanks." Reed said in relief, pushing down the urge to hug Starberry.

"No problem!" Starberry said, and she closed her eyes in concentration. Slowly, she faded back into the darkness, leaving only a ripple in the shadows. Reed blinked again, and she felt a warm pair of wings flap in front of her. Amber grinned. "Wow, Reed, I can barely even see you. Curl in your tail a little bit."

Reed obediently curled her tail around her legs, hoping it rendered her completely invisible. "So... I just walk in sync with you? I'm not very good at that. I'm kinda clumsy... according to everybody..." she added under her breath, a little bitterly.