Wings of Fire: Holocaust of the Skies {FINISHED}

Chapter 9

  At the queen's treehouse, Gavin slid through the silvery yellow flowers that hung in the doorway. The vanilla-scented flowers swished against his snout when he walked in, almost causing him to sneeze. In the far back of the room was a light green RainWing with red-yellow wings. She wore a delightful flower crown that had a variety of flowers in it, and she laid in a wooden throne that was covered in lacy scarlet flowers and roses. A black NightWing stood next to Queen Glory, his eyes fixated on Gavin. His stares made him feel uncomfortable, and he wanted to run out of the Rainforest Kingdom and ditch on saving the tribes, but he knew that wasn't a good decision to make. A silvery gray sloth hung on sleepily on Glory's neck, though it burpled with welcome. "What's this? A NightWing?" The black NightWing said as he grinned. "That's new! I wonder what he has to tell us. I'm surprised none of the RainWings shot any venom at him yet."

Glory sighed and flicked the point of her tail. "What is your name?" Glory commands in a stern voice. Gavin quickly bowed to the RainWing queen. "My name is Gavin, Your Majesty. I need your help." 
"What do you need help with?" Gavin stood up tall. "I need the RainWing army. I need them as allies, I mean. To-"
"Wait a minute," the black NightWing interrupted. "You need the RainWing ar-"
"Deathbringer, shut it or I'll stab you with a sleeping dart!" Glory yelled as her scales rippled into an angry red color, but soon turned back to her regular green color. Deathbringer grinned. "Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut, beautiful." Glory sighed, and looked back at Gavin. "To stop who, Gavin?" Glory asks softly. Gavin took a deep breath. "The SkyWings. Someone needs to stop this war, and I believe that if I kill Queen Andesine, the war will stop." 

Glory went silent, her eyes glancing around as she was possibly trying to think of something to say, but Deathbringer spoke before she could. "Why do you need the RainWing's help to fight the SkyWings? Can't you ask the NightWings themselves?" Please don't freak out, Gavin thought. "I left the NightWing island because the queen was going to keep me hostage. Her actions were influenced because of this."
Gavin opened his claws and levitated a bromeliad flower. He moved his claw left and right, and the flower followed his movements.  "An animus!" Deathbringer blurted out suddenly and caused Gavin to lose his concentration and drop the flower. Glory watched the floor slowly float to the ground. "I just need the RainWing's help. So, please, Queen Glory. With the RainWings venom, camouflage, Deathbringer and my power, we'll be able to kill the queen in no time."
"Or," Glory started. "Weaken her and make her surrender. We should only kill her if it's necessary."
"Is that a yes?" Gavin got a bit excited, and his eyes glimmered with thrill. Glory curled her talons around her sloth and slowly stroked it's head. "I'll think about it," Glory says. "Until then, I grant you access to the Rainforest Kingdom. Make yourself at home, I guess."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

  ☾ 

 Sunbathing like a RainWing didn't look bad. "Suntime" is what they called it. When the sun was at it's highest point, the rainforest dragons sleep on platforms or in hammocks in the sunlight to recharge their camouflage scales, make them smarter, less grumpy, and just to let them feel recharged. Gavin wanted to try it for himself now that he was going to stay in the Rainforest Kingdom for a while. Being on an island near a scorching volcano wasn't very fun, especially when the volcano would often puff out black, stifling smoke that would block the Sun's light for days. The Sun didn't hit his scales in a uncomfortable way like in the Sand Kingdom. In the Rainforest Kingdom, the Sun's heat was warm and comforting, and if he gets too hot, a crisp breeze would cool him off. 

Would "suntime" work on a NightWing? On a platform with other sleeping RainWings, Gavin walked into a tight circle and then laid down with his wings wide open, trying to catch as much sunlight as he could. The sunlight reflected off of his starry green wings, causing it to glitter and sparkle magnificently, as if his wings were inlaid with tiny diamonds.  His dark scales absorbed the sunlight, and his entire body was flooded with warmth. He sighed with relief as his muscles relaxed. RainWings may be considered "lazy", but this was something to be lazy for. It was so much better than the island. No crazy queen, no bullies and no smoke. Just trees, peace, and relaxation.

It was paradise, even for a NightWing.

  ☾ 

Gavin woke up refreshed and even a bit happier. There was several hours until nightfall, so he stood up and yawned. He shuffled his wings before taking off into the sky, wanting to explore the rainforest a bit more before it gets too dark. He sped past trees and branches, quickly guiding between them, trying to copy the RainWing's way of flight. He then plunged down towards the rainforest floor. It grew darker as he went further downwards, the sunlight blocked by the treetops far above his head. Gavin looked around, trying to get a glimpse of whatever he could see. He saw a spiderweb that was as big as his wings, he caught a glimpse of a prowling jaguar in the bushes, and he spotted a few fiery orange tamarin monkeys perched in the trees. He noticed how far he was from the village, but he could easily find his way back if he kept flying upwards. The constant chittering of monkeys and birds overhead were almost soothing to his ears, the new sounds were calming to him. The landed on the ground, folding his wings close to his body. On the moist and muddy ground was many fruits he had never seen before, including a large peach-colored melon. The fruits were scattered across the ground as if someone dropped them. Gavin looked around and saw no toppled down trees or dragons in sight, so who could've done it? Gavin picked up one of the fruits. In his talons was a round, bright reddish-yellow fruit with a semi-bumpy surface. Gavin recognized it as an orange. He sniffed the fruit, the citrus smell coming off of it made Gavin snort. Then, he stuffed the fruit into his mouth. He chewed the fruit a few times, before the bitter taste of the orange's rind flooded his mouth.

Disgusted in the fruit's taste, Gavin spat the orange out onto the ground. The orange was squished and covered in saliva, though tiny ants were already making a feast out of it. "Disgusting," Gavin says as he tried to spit out the saliva in his mouth that still had the bitter taste. "You're supposed to peal it, silly!"

Gavin's wings flared and his eyes widen by the sudden voice. He looked back and forth, before he looked up. A bumblebee yellow RainWing sat a branch, grinning at Gavin from above.