Wings of Fire: The Secret of Silverstripe

~Prologue~

Early in the night, a black dragon ran across the beach.

It's time... It's time... She said it would happen tonight... the NightWing thought as he pounded across the sand. The three moons hovered over the horizon, two crescents and one half moon illuminating the beach.

Defender could be easily spotted against the white sand, he knew this, but his destination was only a few dragonlengths away now, and no one should know that he had abandoned his post to visit the beach... no one could know that he was out here instead of doing his duty on the other side of the Talons of Peace settlement...

Anxiety filled Defender's heart as he sprinted the last dragonlength, and finally he saw it: a hole in the cliffside. That was where he needed to be, right now.

Defender flew into the hole and blinked, adjusting his vision to the darkness of the cave.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Defender panted as he landed in the cavern. In the far side of the cavern, he could see the faint light of a SeaWing's stripes.

"Where have you been?!" Cove quietly scolded as she wrapped her wings around him. "The egg's almost ready to hatch! I told you it would happen tonight!"

"I know I know," Defender said, burying his face in her glowing shoulder. He lifted his head again to say "I sneaked away from my post; no one should know I'm here. How's the egg?"

"It's fine; over there," Cove said, pointing to the corner that she'd previously been hiding in.

Defender padded to the corner and lifted the egg into his talons, stroking the surface. It was ebony black, like a true NightWing egg, and warm from Cove curling up around it. The egg rocked suddenly, and Defender set it down again.

Cove edged closer as the egg gave a more forceful rock, cracking the surface of its shell.

One more forceful rock, and the hatchling climbed out of its black encasement, shaking off the egg-goop.

Defender and Cove lowered their heads so that they were level with the dragonet's eyes, the little hatchling gazing at each of them curiously.

"She's so beautiful," Defender said as the little dragonet pressed her webbed talons to his snout. He playfully snorted, and the dragonet jumped and snorted back.

Through the moonlight, Defender could see that the dragonet was blackish-blue, and appeared more SeaWing with her fins and short legs. The most noticable part of her appearance in the moonlight were her stripes, which were in the same pattern as her mother's.

At first, Defender thought she could already flash her glowscales, and looked to Cove for translation to the Aquatic, a language that only SeaWings could use, flashing their stripes in certain patterns and brightnesses.

Cove shrugged, and as she studied the dragonet, she exclaimed, "Amazing, her stripes are silver!"

As Defender studied the dragonet, he could see it too. The dragonet's stripes didn't actually glow, but reflected the light from the moons as if they could glow.

"What do you think we should name her?" Defender asked Cove as the dragonet climbed up her forearms, nestling into her left shoulder.

"How about a NightWing name?" Cove suggested, smiling down at the dragonet on her shoulder. "Like Silverstripe?"

"I like it," Defender said, shifting over to Cove and twining his tail around hers.

They sat in peace for what seemed like a small eternity, a small family with a new dragonet, until they heard wing beats from outside the cavern.

A massive NightWing flew into the cavern, glaring at them with yellow eyes.

"Morrowseer!" Defender exclaimed as he pulled away from Cove, Silverstripe squawking with surprise.

Cove hissed defensively as Morrowseer padded forward, lashing his tail furiously.

"What are you doing here, Defender?!" Morrowseer snarled, thin tendrils of smoke rising from his nostrils. "I assigned you to a post across the settlement from here, and what are you doing with that SeaWing?!"

Cove's eyes widened, and Silverstripe cooed curiously.

"Sir... I-I was helping her with her dragonet," Defender said weakly. "Sh-She needed help because her husband w-was killed in the war..."

"Silence, Defender!" Morrowseer hissed. "I knew you sneaked away from your post! And to think, a NightWing guard abandoned his post, eloping with a SeaWing!"

Defender backed up against the walls of the cavern, his spikes raised to their full extent as he cowered before the larger NightWing.

"And you've produced this dragonet, a hybrid," Morrowseer scorned, pointing a claw at the little blue dragonet.

Silverstripe chirped in response to the claw, turning her head back and forth between Defender and Morrowseer as if connecting that they were from the same tribe.

May you never feel any kinship to my cruel tribe, Defender thought as he looked at his daughter. You'll never know their hardships on the island, and you'll never know the feeling of iminent doom from the volcano.

"The dragonet needs to be gone by morning," Morrowseer said solemnly. "I won't tolerate this hybrid distracting you from your duties. It's already enough with this SeaWing hiding in this cavern waiting for you to abandon your post every other week to see her. I won't tolerate this from a NightWing, and I won't tolerate this hybrid spilling our secrets to Pyrrhia, especially in the middle of war."

"No! I won't give her up!" Cove protested, her gills pulsing with fury.

"We don't have to get rid of her," Defender argued. "She could be useful to the Talons and the NightWings."

Morrowseer hissed, unconvinced.

"NightWings have been known for their spies and assassins for generations," Defender continued. "We could raise her to become a spy... She has the dark coloration of a NightWing and she has gills... We don't have that many spies in the ocean right now, and she would be perfect for the position."

"I could teach her Aquatic," Cove added. "She can't speak it herself, but I could teach her to understand it... We've been needing a spy in Blister's forces, someone who can tell us exactly what Queen Coral plans to do with Blister. We have spies on Queen Moorhen, but no one who left the Kingdom of the Sea has been able to return without immediate execution from Queen Coral."

Morrowseer stood still in thought.

"I don't care what you do to me... Just let my daughter live," Defender said, bowing his head submissively. "I won't leave my post again."

"Very well," Morrowseer said decisively after a moment. "The hybrid will become our spy in the Kingdom of the Sea, but if she ever proves herself to be any less than what we expect of NightWing blood, if she's disloyal or incompetent, then you know the price."

"Yes, Morrowseer."

"And listen to me, Defender," Morrowseer added. "If I catch you leaving your post or being disloyal to me again, the dragonet will be the first to go."

"Yes, Morrowseer," Defender said gravely as the massive NightWing left, flying out into the night.

Defender leaned back into Cove, breathing a sigh of relief. He kissed Silverstripe on her forehead, thinking to himself, You will live, Silverstripe. You will be the greatest spy the Talons have ever seen, and if Morrowseer threatens your life again... I won't hesitate to disobey him again to save your life...