King of The Dragons (Wings of Fire X Monster Hunter)

Part 2: Chapter 13, 14, & 15

Thorn looked down at the dragon head in Stormcaller's talon with an expression of pure horror, but it quickly melted into relief.
Stormcaller gently set the head down on the stone.
"Is - is everything -?" Sunny asked.
"A stranger," Thorn said. "Nothing to worry about." She rubbed her forearms. "Let's go back to the sunshine."

"Peril," Scarlet said, a low rumble in her throat. "Where are you going?"
"I'll be back to let you out once Sunny is far away from here," Peril said, looking over her shoulder at the imprisoned queen. "Don't try to argue with me. I know what you want to do with her and I won't let you." She set off down the ramp as fast as she could, and Sunny followed, feeling grateful and anxious in equal parts.

"I know what you want, and it's not going to work!" Scarlet shouted after her. "He's never going to love you! You can keep trying to save his friends, but no one will ever love you except me! I'm the only one who accepts you the way you are! You'll always be a monster to everyone else"
Peril threw the door open, leaving scorch marks on the wood, and dashed out of the tower.

Sunny caught up to her outside, where the SkyWing was curled up small in the middle of the sand, rubbing her claws together.
"She's wrong," Sunny said to Peril's back. She hesitated, glancing back at Smolder, Thorn, and Stormcaller as Smolder relocked the tower. "Don't let her make you hate yourself. I can't promise you anything about Clay, but I think - I mean, if you know him at all, I can tell you the way to his heart is by helping his friends." 'Although I cannot picture him with you. The kindest dragon in Pyrrhia . . . and someone who's killed who know how many dragons? How could you ever deserve him?' She didn't say any of that out loud, though. If she was being perfectly honest, she'd have to admit to herself that she'd never think anyone was worthy of Clay.

Peril sniffed and then nodded.
"And I don't think you're a monster," Sunny added, thinking, 'You've been monstrous, but maybe you can change. I have to believe you can change.' "You're a dragon like anyone else. You can remake yourself however you want."
Peril snorted. "Easy for you to say."
'Not really,' Sunny thought. 'My friends think they know who I am, too, no matter how much I try to show them I'm much more than that.'

"You don't have to set Scarlet free," Sunny reminded her. "You could come with me instead."
Peril tossed her head, folding her wings back. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."
'Which means "I don't want any more sympathy right now," ' Sunny thought.

"She is right, thought," Stormcaller said suddenly from beside Sunny, causing her to jump.
'When did he get there?' she thought. 
"I've seen monsters before, and you're not one of them," the NightWing said. "No matter how many dragons you kill, you can still change. Besides, there are dragon's out there who have killed more than you."
Peril gave him an odd look, and so did Sunny. 
"Are you saying you've . . . ." Peril trailed off. Stormcaller just stared at her with an unreadable expression and didn't say anything causing an unnerving silence to form between the three of them.

Sunny took a step back and turned toward the tower as her mother and Smolder approached.
"I think we have something that belongs to you," Smolder was saying to Thorn. "If you don't mind waiting, I'll go check Burn's library."
Thorn gave him a suspicious look and he chuckled. "Or you can come along, but it's rather a mess, is all." He glanced at Peril. "Lots of papers everywhere."
"I'll wait here," peril said sadly. She drew her tail in close to herself, leaving a moon-shaped swathe in the sand.

"Lead on," Thorn said to Smolder. Sunny joined them, and they headed into yet another twisting set of corridors, these ones lined with flickering diamond-shaped mirrors that caught the sunlight from small holes in the roof and walls.

"Mother," Sunny said as they walked. "What's going on? I thought you hated NightWings. Why did you think you might care about that one?"
Thorn stopped and waited until Smolder was far ahead, picking through his keys with a bright, brassy jingling sound.
"I don't hate all NightWings," Thorn said quietly. "I mean, I'm not fond of them, and I don't trust them, as a rule. But I'm looking for one in particular, an animus dragon named Stonemover."