Wings of Fire: The Hidden Kingdom | ✔️

~ The Hidden Kingdom: Chapter Four ~

"My father?" Starflight repeated in awe. Hare felt a stab of grief and jealousy in her heart. Yet another dragonet who got to meet their father, while Hare's was dead. He had died in Scarlet's arena, while Hare was cheering for his death.

At the time she hadn't known he was her father. She didn't find out he was her dad until after he had died.

I only had one conversation with him, and I thought he was weird.

"There's only one dragon in this tribe who talks like you do," Morrowseer told Starflight.

"Can I meet him?" Starflight asked.

Morrowseer laughed. "There's no getting out of that. I'm surprised he didn't track you down the moment you were dragged in. Must be in the middle of another big experiment. Nose in his scrolls ... probably hasn't even noticed that we're about to go to war."

Starflight shifted uncomfortably. "W-well, we don't know that."

Morrowseer snorted but said nothing. Starflight glanced at Hare, then looked back at Morrowseer. "What about my mother? Can I meet her?"

"No," Morrowseer said. "Dead. Died a few years ago. Idiot tried to help a SeaWing getting attacked by two SkyWings." He looked at the dragonets. "Are you going to eat those?"

Hare pushed the wing away. "I'd much rather catch prey my way, I appreciate the offer though."

Morrowseer scoffed as he grabbed the wing. "Right, your way. The mainland way is best, right?" He took a bite from the wing. "How do you do things, princess?"

"I'll show you," Hare said as Starflight passed his wing to Morrowseer. Hare scanned the area, then sniffed the air. All she could smell was smoke and rot. If I can even find anything.

Starflight lightly tapped her shoulder after a while. He pointed at the sky. Hare looked up. A bird was flying by, it looked like some kind of vulture.

"Right," Hare said quietly. "Watch this."

The hybrid launched up into the sky. The bird noticed her and squawked in surprise. It wheeled backwards and tried to get away, but Hare was quicker. She lashed out her claws and fixed them on the bird's wing. She pulled the animal toward her and delivered the killing bite to its neck. The bird fell limp. Hare triumphantly flew back down and landed next to Starflight. "That's how it's done."

Morrowseer made a grunting noise. "Well, it's different."

Hare shared the bird with Starflight. He blinked at her gratefully. "I didn't know if there'd be such a thing as fresh prey here," he whispered.

Once the dragonets finished eating, Morrowseer twitched his tail. "Alright, let's go see Mastermind. Then I'll bring you to the alternates."

"The what?" Starflight asked, but Morrowseer was flying away quickly and not looking back.

Hare and Starflight followed. Ahead of them, the NightWing fortress loomed, black against the gray sky. It was massive, built in layers that wrapped halfway around the mountain. But it also looked somehow precarious, as if one rock shelf could shift underneath it and the whole thing might suddenly slide all the way into the ocean. Part of the fortress had been swallowed by lava, clearly some time ago. A whole corner of the building, at least as big as Queen Scarlet's gladiator arena, was covered by a hardened mass of black rock bubbles. It looked like a giant dragon had reached out of the mountain and slammed its talons down over the walls.

Hare and Starflight followed Morrowseer back inside the fortress. Hare glanced at the full, rocky walls. They were nothing like the palaces Hare had been in. Even the RainWings, who didn't even bother with palaces, had a more royal and decorative look to their home.