Wings of Fire: The Kingdom of the Sea | ✔️

~ The Kingdom of the Sea: Chapter 1 ~

And dragons had been lost before they'd been dragged to the home of the SkyWings. Dune had been murdered by Scarlet.

And Hare had lost her mother as soon as she met her.

It was her choice. She could've gone with her mother, but she chose to stay with her friends.

Do I regret that?

She knew the answer should be no, but she missed her mother. She missed those motherly glances, glances from the dragon who'd given birth to her. Glances from the dragon who'd put her into hiding, in order to keep her safe.

"So, what do we do now?" Glory said, looking around. "Shout 'Hey SeaWings, we got your missing princess!' and wait for dragons to bound joyfully out of the ocean?"

"With a feast!" Clay cried. "Remember The Missing Princess? There was a part at the end with a big feast!"

"Actually use your brains," Kestrel snapped. "We need to figure out an actual way to find the SeaWings."

"We could split up into different parties," Hare offered. "One group of three, and two groups of two. We can search around until sunset, then meet back here."

"How will we know where to look?" Glory pointed out.

Hare looked over at Starflight. He blinked in confusion. "What?"

"You spent the most time looking at the map in the study room."

"That doesn't mean I have it memorized!" he protested. "Who could possibly memorize a whole map?"

"You," Glory muttered. She yawned, her venom-spitting teeth glittering in the sunlight.

Hare moved to the clearest area of the beach. She moved some of the twigs and rocks that lay there, then turned to Starflight. "Draw what you remember."

Starflight hesitated. Kestrel walked over, flicking her tail against Starflight's shoulder as she passed him.

"Come on," she said. "I'll help."

The two dragons sat side by side, working together to draw the continent in the sand.

"Are we sure this is really a good idea?" Clay asked. "What if we get caught? Maybe it's best to stay together."

"It'll be easier to not get caught if we're split up," Hare said. "What's easier to find? A group of two dragons or a group of seven?"

"We don't need to risk it," Tsunami said, looking over at them. "I can just dive in and look for the palace."

"Absolutely not," Starflight said, looking over his shoulder. "Do you know what's down there? It's dangerous. There's unpredictable currents and big things with teeth."

"I'm a big thing with teeth," Tsunami told him, grinning with all her teeth on display.

Starflight shook his head and went back to work. "It's too risky. You can't go."

"My tribe is made for the water," Tsunami protested. "Friendly reminder, I'm a SeaWing!"

"A SeaWing who grew up under a mountain with only the underground river as a source of water," Starflight shot back without looking at her. "You have no idea what the ocean is like."

"And neither do you," Tsunami snarled.

"Enough." Kestrel stood up and stepped back. "We're done."

Hare, Tsunami, Glory, Clay, and Sunny huddled around to look at the drawing. A sketch of Pyrrhia lay in the sand. Starflight pointed to the tail of the continent. His claw rested on a group of islands.

"This is where the Kingdom of the Sea is," he said.

"We must be close by, right?" Sunny said, leaning closer.

Kestrel pointed to one of the little islands. "This should be about where we are."

"This isn't much," Tsunami said. "Right now we're just going off of guesses and 'maybe's."

"That's all we have," Kestrel snapped.

"Stop fighting!" Sunny cried, flapping her wings.

"Where's the SeaWing palace?" Clay asked Starflight.

"Nobody knows," Starflight replied, looking a little annoyed. "That's the whole point. There's no purpose in marking the underwater one on the map because nobody but SeaWings can go there. The above-water one is hidden, it's used to receive visitors like Blister and other SandWings."

"Well soon we're about to be the visitors," Glory said, yawning again.

"Wait," Starflight said. "This won't work."

Hare looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Glory might be able to blend in for a little bit, and Sunny won't be any trouble, but the rest of us?" Starflight waved his wing toward Clay and Kestrel. "They'll never let those two anywhere near SeaWing territory, and who knows how they'll react to me."

"They'll have to accept us all," Tsunami said. "We're the dragonets of destiny."

"You really think they'll believe that?"

"They'll have to." Tsunami puffed out her chest. "They won't have much of a choice."

"I'm pretty sure they will, considering it's their kingdom and we'll be outnumbered," Starflight mumbled.

"We need to split up into our groups," Hare said quickly. "It's probably best to put Tsunami with the ones who'd be most in danger."

"Which would be Clay and Kestrel," Starflight said, looking over at the two.

"I'll manage in a different group," Kestrel said. "Put Sunny with her."

"But-"

"Put Sunny with her."

"Then Kestrel should go with Hare," Glory said. "Anyone will recognize her as Burn's daughter."

"Meaning she'll be recognized as Blister's niece, so she won't be seen as a threat," Clay said, perking up. "That's genius!"

"No, just obvious," Glory said, swishing her tail so sand went flying all over Clay.

"I still don't like this," Starflight huffed.

"You don't have to like it," Hare said, studying the map. "We're still doing it."

Starflight opened his mouth as though he were about to argue, but he remained silent. His nose moved as though he were smelling something. He looked up at the sky, wrinkling his nose.

"Do you guys smell that?"

"Smell what?" Tsunami asked, looking up.

"It smells like fire," Starflight said, looking back at the others. "Who breathes fire?"

"MudWings, SandWings, and SkyWings," Sunny said.

"Exactly." Starflight turned in a worried circle. "We need to hide."

"NightWings breathe fire too," Sunny pointed out.

Starflight stopped and looked at her. "What are the odds that NightWings are out here?" he snapped.

"Look!" Tsunami screeched, pointing up at the sky.

Hare looked up at the sky. Red specks were approaching, and quickly.

"A SkyWing patrol!" Hare cried. "Hide!"