Droplet clutched the squirming sac of humans close to her chest.
"Please be quiet." She whispered. "We're rescuing you."
"Squeak warble chirp" Went the bag.
"We'll just have to be quick and hope we get enough of a head start that we can escape." Lilac said beside her, her scales rippling with waves of light blue and black. "Come on. We're almost there."
They sped up, running back up the tunnel. Ahead, the sounds of low voices echoed down to them.
We're going to make it. Orca was wrong.
As they got closer to where the other dragons were waiting, Droplet found she could make out words.
"How many escaped?"
"We don't know."
Someone growled, "Send out patrols. Kill them if you must. No one gets out to tell the queens. Do you understand? And you, go down the tunnel. I want to know how this happened."
Lilac turned to Droplet, her eyes wide, panicked green clouding across her scales.
"Hide!" She hissed, and dull grays and browns washed over her. A moment later, she was gone from sight.
The thump of talon steps echoed down the hall, and Droplet just had time to think I should have gone with invisibility, before a group of armored dragons turned the corner and their eyes locked on her.
Droplet yelled as they charged at her, calling out to each other. She tried to remember the battle training Tsunami had taught her, but all she seemed to be able to do was drop her sac of humans and run.
She felt claws rake across her side, but the expected pain didn't come. My necklace. Thank goodness for Orca's magic. She felt its invisible weight thumping against her chest and felt one iota better.
Startled shouts came from the dragons behind her, and she felt a warm tickle as a SandWing blew fire onto her scales. Wow.
But she couldn't run forever. And the dragons chasing her were bigger and faster. It was only moments before a huge weight landed on her back, crushing her to the ground.
Droplet yelled and lashed out, raking her claws across a SkyWing's side. The red dragon screamed, and her claws snagged on Droplet's wing. Again, there was only a dull tickling sensation. The SkyWing gave a confused cry, and Droplet only had a moment to feel relieved when two more dragons jumped and pinned her.
"Help!" She yelled, though she didn't know who she was yelling for. Maybe Lilac was still around... but no, she probably escaped. Certainly no one helped her as the guards grabbed her and dragged her back up the tunnel.
Cries came from the cave ahead, and Droplet felt her heart sink. She struggled, wishing that she wouldn't have to see the scene ahead of them. But the guards only held her tighter and continued down the tunnel.
The dim passage opened into the cave, and Droplet stifled a cry.
Bodies dotted the space, most she recognized as the dragons she had just met, the ones she had freed. I did this. I sent them to their deaths. There was the SkyWing, his throat slit and his jaws locked around a dead NightWing's neck. And there, a SandWing, who had thanked Droplet and said she would go straight to her family. No.
And then the guards were pulling her again, dragging her through the room. Her tallons squelched through dirt turned damp with blood, and she would have fallen if it weren't for the dragons holding her up.
The four original guards still lay unconscious on the ground, unaware of all that had happened around them. Droplet found herself envying them, that blissful ignorance.
They cleared the cave, made their way up the short expanse of tunnel, and back through the trap door. The evening was dark, clouds blotting out the sky. Signs of battle existed here as well, though considerably less so.
The guards dragged her to the courtyard, shoved her in front of the large column in the center. Droplet stood there, trembling, while the guards waited.
It wasn't long before the SandWing sauntered in, the picture of a vengeful leader. She took her time climbing her pillar, spreading her wings wide. Against the night, she was little more than a shadow with glinting eyes.
"Well, it seems our SeaWing has finally arrived."