The Seer of Stars (BOOK ONE OF THE SPACEWING PROPHECY)

Chapter 2

Pisces was reading her favorite scroll. 

About the world below, called Draco. And the strange wyrms that lived there. They called themselves "dragons" instead of wyrms. So weird!

It was her first class of the day, called "Homeroom". A door on the wall between the Winglet B girls' room and boys' room the twenty-six students filed in and sat down at their desks, chatting and doodling and writing. 

Pisces instantly found Streak, who was talking to a nice-looking MoonWing. 

"I'm Orbit," she smiled a toothy grin. The moon scales that lined her body changed from white to silver when she moved and they were shaped like half-moons. Her scales were silky silver-blue and her eyes were a deep shade of midnight blue, like the depths of the ocean. 

Now that she thought about it, Pisces realized Streak had soft lavender colored eyes, something she hadn't been paying attention to before. 

Pisces was getting tired again. She yawned. 

"I was up all day reading," she confessed to her new friends. "I'm really tired." 

"That's okay," Orbit assured her. "The teacher goes easy on us for the first few days of school." 

"That's good to know," Pisces sighed in relief. 

"Hello," the teacher called. She was a MoonWing, dark blue in color, with pale silver eyes that matched the full-moon shapes running along her body. 

Pisces wondered when she would be taught to use her special powers. Every wyrm had them as long as they were born with stars shining in the sky. And who's ever heard of a night without stars? 

My name is Silver," the teacher said. "Your normal chaperon isn't here today, so I'll be filling in." 

"A sub," Pisces heard someone whisper. "Great." 

"Does anyone know what class you have first?" she asked, ignoring them. 

Complete silence. A small cricket sound came from outside. Pisces stifled a giggle. Orbit stared at her. 

"...okay..." muttered Silver, looking at a scroll. "You should have your schedule in your bags," she said finally, tapping the paper she was holding. 

There was a rustling of wings and paper as everyone dug through their bags to unearth their schedules. 

"I have writing first," Pisces said, leaning toward her friends. "And you?" 

"Writing," Streak smiled. 

"Reading," Orbit sighed. 

They headed off to classes. Luckily, Orbit's reading class was in the same room as Pisces and Streak's writing, they just had different teachers. 

"Don't be sad about reading," Pisces hissed. "I love reading. It's the best class of the day." 

Soon the classes began. The teacher was rambling on about something called "paragraph structure", but Pisces was only half listening. She was daydreaming about what her new life at Oly Academy would be like. What would change? What would stay the same? She hoped not much. New friends and new classes were cool, but new enemies and new dislikes were not, and she didn't want her old relationships to die. She thought ruefully of the StarWing named Black Hole. Black Hole and Pisces had been great friends, and then one day Black Hole accused her of something she didn't do and left Pisces with hardly any warning. 

Later, after reading and math, Pisces was sent back to homeroom to reflect on what had happened that morning. Then everyone went to the dining hall, which was more like the Prey Center from some Pyrrhian stories than anything else. It was crazy, with dragons running everywhere trying to catch their lunch. Pisces was relieved when she and Streak took a seat near the back, away from the rabid cows and chickens. 

After lunch was free time, when Pisces was allowed to go outside and hang out. She and Streak zoomed around the whole mountain, exploring every cave. They found a nice and secluded one by the top of Mount Oly. From there, they could survey the whole school and even see some of the surrounding land. Out on the horizon, they saw a blur of black and a flash of gold. 

"Wow," Pisces breathed. "Did you see that?" 

"We can do anything we want as long as we're back at school by midnight," Orbit replied. "Wow. Moonrise is usually when we wake up. We got up early today, at, like, 12:00 pm." 

"Yeah," Pisces said, already spreading her wings. With a quick yelp of protest, Streak and Orbit followed her and the tree winged their way to the last known location of the golden flash. 

They landed with a thump somewhere in the forest. 

"What the-" Pisces stared in awe at the golden wyrm before them. Her eyes were a stunning indigo, and her scales were so bright in the setting sun it hurt to look at her too long. She was covered in deep slashes and cuts, and one of her wings was bent in an unnatural way. 

"Uh..." she moaned. "I think I hit my head too hard..." she groaned and then looked at them. She hissed, hackles raised, then collapsed in a golden ball of scales. 

"She needs help," Streak said, looking worriedly from the sky to to the SunWing then back to the sky. "A patrol could be on it's way, and they won't hesitate to kill her."

"What are you saying?" Pisces wanted to scream. "She's our enemy!" But something made her stop. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Her gaze wondered to Streak. There was sadness in her eyes. 

"There is nothing we can do," she sighed. "Her scales are too hot for us to carry her. With only us, we wouldn't be able to carry her, and, well, she's our enemy, Streak." 

Orbit broke in. "What is she doing out here anyways? The Kingdom of the Sun is on the other side of the continent! Maybe she's a spy. Maybe she was going to try to kill us, the way the patrol might kill her." Orbit looked at her talons.  

"But, she's hurt, guys. I'm sure she has her reasons to be all the way over here, and I want to help, and I want this war to end. Maybe this will be the beginning of that."

"I have an idea," Pisces announced, spreading out her wings. 

"What?" Streak gave a little jump of happiness and smiled. 

"I'll call my friend Twilight. That should be enough dragons to loosen the load and make it burn less, right?" She glanced at Orbit. 

"Should be," she grumbled. 

"And he's really smart. If anyone can help us, it's him," she nodded her head toward Mount Oly. "Besides," she added. "He's nice." 

"Okay," Streak said. "I'll stay here with Orbit. You be quick, okay?" 

"As quick as the laws of physics will allow," Pisces gritted her teeth. By the time Streak had blinked, she was only a dark dot on the horizon. 

"Please hurry," Streak whispered.