I couldn't move, but I could think, I could hear.
"She's not moving. Qibli, she's not moving." Winter said, panic in his voice.
"She's breathing." Marvin silenced him. What did you mean Moon? When you said I already know? What do I know? "Ugh, just stay alive until you can tell me." Jesus Christ.
You already know about Goldman, about his powers, about our powers.
But there was no response. I still felt Marvin's nervousness eating him alive. It was a strange feeling, like my entire body was filled with a strange taste, it was really uncomfortable.
"We need to get her to a medic." Travers said.
"She's got no surface injuries," McManis stated.
So that's who I felt running around me.
"We need to get her to a doctor!" Marvin exclaimed.
"The closest one is at Jade Mountain, and I don't think Clay can treat her," Qibli commented.
"We need to at least get away from here. Goldman knows where we are." Turtle said.
"True. He could have the entire squad here within five minutes. It's been about two already. We need to move." The scruffy voice of Marvin's friend.
"We can't leave Moon here." Qibli and Winter said in unison, Marvin was thinking.
"Can you two carry her?" He finally said.
I sensed they looked at each other. I assumed they nodded because Marvin continued.
"Okay. Try. We'll swap out as we go, but we need to at least make it to Jade Mountain."
"What about the forest? Glory will take care of you."
"Does she have any doctors Kinkajou?"
I heard her whisper. "Not any good ones."
"Then it's Jade Mountain or bust. Travers, ride with Turtle. See if you can figure out a plan to reverse this spell. McManis, keep rear security, I don't want anyone sneaking up on us again. Let's move."
I felt claws scoop up from under me. One was cold as ice, and the other had a pleasant warmth to them. With a heave, I was picked up off the ground. Winter slipped, nearly digging into my side trying to hold onto me. Their wings beat hard as they tried to carry me.
"Marvin!" McManis called out. I guessed Marvin turned around to look at him.
"You ingenious bastard!"
"I took three of them from the camp when we were there. Goldman got 'em. They still work!"
"Absolutely fantastic! Hold onto them, they'll be handy later!"
Turtle and Travers were also talking.
"How did you get animus magic back?"
"I don't know. I didn't know I even had it until literally today."
"Yes, but you cast a spell. Some sort of spell. What did you say?"
"I said a lot of things. I guess I healed Marvin when I was panicking with Moon and the tan dragon.
"Heh, tan dragon. Qibli. But were you called into someplace? Maybe with Goldman?"
"Actually... he did call me into his tent after we discovered we could do magic shit. He had this weird book-scroll thing. I don't know what it was, but he told me to repeat a phrase with him."
I heard Turtle miss a beat.
"W-what did it say?"
"It said... reverse Jerboa's spell, and bring back animus magic. That this spell is to be irreversible by any animus, no matter what." He paused for a moment. "Animus? Is that what we are?"
I felt a chill envelop me, and it wasn't from Winter.
"That's why." I heard Turtle mumble.
"Talons and teeth," Qibli whispered. "So it was you two."
"Apparently two animus wielders can cancel out a single one," Winter said plainly.
"That's useful to know," Qibli remarked.
We kept flying. Until Marvin broke the silence.
"Wait! Do you think you both can reverse Goldman's spell?"
"I just thought of that!" Qibli exclaimed.
"Quickly! Land!"
I felt everything fall, like I was suddenly weightless. The queasy feeling vanished promptly when my carriers flared and gently rested me onto the ground. There was a commotion. I heard a short but intense drone. Fabric rustling.
"Whatever she has, she's unresponsive, but she's alive. Can you hear her Marvin?" McManis quickly said.
"No. But I think that might be the spell. She's alive though."
I sighed happily. Marvin wasn't giving up on me.
"What are you planning to do?" Qibli asked immediately after. He wasn't about to give up either.
I sensed Marvin point towards Turtle landing with Travers.
"You two. Come up with a spell that can reverse this. And if you can, protect yourselves and the rest of us from Goldman's spells."
"A-are you sure? I mean, I've never done this before." Travers stuttered.
"And I don't want to be used like an object." Turtle added.
"I'm not using you, I'm just putting you in a situation where you can make yourselves useful." Marvin quickly spat out, he remained calm, but I could hear anger and annoyance begin to gather. "And besides, you're protecting yourself and your friends. First and foremost. That's all I'm asking. Do you understand Turtle? This is not an order, this is more of a logically necessary request."
They remained silent, but I heard them step away, then they both whispered to each other. They were probably planning out the spell. I felt something cold touch my scales, but it wasn't Winter.
It moved in bursts, feeling out something.
"She's got a pulse," McManis announced
"Oh thank God." Marvin sighed.
"Is that... good?" Winter asked, concerned.
McManus paused for a moment. "I'm... hearing fluid in the lungs. But I've never treated a dragon before, I don't know if that's how they're supposed to sound."
"Do your best." Marvin said. "I need that spell STAT!" He yelled back to Travers.
"I think we have it."
I heard the two run back.
"Just do it already. I can't see shit, and it looks internal. I couldn't save her even if I tried." McManus stepped back from me.
I felt a body snuggle against me.
"Come on Moon. Be okay. If you aren't, I'm gonna force feed you fermented mangos and smokeberries."
I laughed internally. Did I even have to say who it was?
"Okay, on three, repeat what we practiced." Turtle said.
"Okay." Travers agreed.
"One."
"One"
"Two" "Two"
"Three"
I held my breath.
Both Turtle and Travers spoke.
"Enchant this rock to remove Goldman's spell on Moonwatcher, and to prevent future spells from being cast on Qibli, Winter, Kinkajou, Turtle, Peril, Travers, McManis, and Marvin."
A rush of wind surged through the dark forest, my entire body shivered.
I shivered! I can move!
My eyes shot open, in time to see Marvin's turn to face me. His face lit up.
"Moon!" "Moon!" "Moon!"
Qibli and Winter rushed me, I was suddenly enveloped by my friends. Their warm and true feelings also crushed the breath out of me.
"We knew you'd be alright. I knew, you'll be alright." Winter's words spilled out.
"Of course, never a doubt in my mind either."
Winter and Qibli had a mini staring contest.
Suddenly, I was almost knocked over by a small, not necessarily tiny, RainWing. She threw me down in a flash of nearly all yellow.
"Don't you dare do that to us again. I couldn't STAND it, Moon!" But she still snuggled her head alongside me, trying to hug me with her wings. "I'm just happy you're okay."
"I am too."
I let Kinkajou continue hugging me, covering her with my own wings in an embrace.
Travers stood alongside Turtle. They looked like they were exhausted, breathing heavily.
Suddenly, two humans standing a little ways away from everyone caught my attention. Marvin was looking at us, a great big smile on his face. McManis stood with his arms crossed, as if he was proud as well.
I'm just happy you're okay Moon.
Despite dragons jumping all over me, I managed to sneak out.
So am I. That was a super awesome idea.
He chuckled.
It was you, I couldn't let you go without a fight.
"What are you two talking about?" Qibli stood up next to me.
"Oh. He's just happy I'm okay. And so are you." I wrapped my wings around him. "Thank you Qibli."
He promptly laid his warm head over my back.
I opened my eyes to see Marvin looking on, a grin plastered on his face. No tinge of jealousy, not a hint of anger. He was just happy I was okay, and so was everyone else. I let their warmth envelop me once more, finally sighing for the first time in what felt like forever.
Our cave was quickly running out of space for humans. But thankfully, McManis had managed to pack away a spare tent, which was set up in our cave. Sunny dropped by, she offered to quarter them in one of the miscellaneous rooms that were only used for storage, but McManus and Travers refused.
"We fight together, we sleep together. That's about it."
"Besides, I would rather not have to deal with young dragons trying to eat me every 30 seconds."
Me and Marvin agreed to share the bed. He would take a small corner at the front so we could all stay nearby. The tent was strung up more towards Qibli's bed, while Kinkajou had a wide open space.
"I don't know. We give quite literally the majority of our section the one place to sleep almost directly next to the dragon who has a venom tail?" Marvin voiced his concern.
Qibli scoffed. "I won't hurt you. I won't hurt any of you. The first thing any SandWing learns is how to guard against stinging people accidentally." He curled his tail so that the barb didn't swing freely, then adjusted himself so his tail faced away from the tent. "Safe enough?" He asked playfully.
"Safer," McManis commented. "Although sleeping in quite literally a communal dragon den is not something any sane person would volunteer to do."
"It's a school." Marvin shot back. "McManus, a boarding school. Plus, we have three perfectly good bodyguards who can take care of any threats, or at least warn us, if anything happens." Marvin reasoned, motioning to the three of us.
"Can't argue with that."
Qibli turned, making himself comfortable. Kinkajou also thrashed about in her hammock, before falling into a deep snore. Not too long after, soft breathing could be heard coming from the small, white tent.
They fall asleep fast. I thought.
They're soldiers Moon. They've trained to go days without sleep. So when they get the chance to rest, they take it quickly. Marvin shuffled, setting up himself.
Ah. I giggled. Something about this seemed funny to me, but the context as to why is sad.
I let down my head, brushing up against the cool leaves. I looked over at Marvin, who was laying down in his own little bag that kept him warm. He yawned deeply, as if he too was about to go to bed. But his mind kept working away, finding ways to get to the rest of his friends. How to stop Goldman. What kind of danger we're in. How to get back home. It was similar to Qibli's thoughts, although Marvin was less organized. But he did focus on the details very well. The compounding of animus magic to nullify previous spells. An interesting but dangerous thought.
I tried to block out his mind, placing his ideas into raindrops, letting the background noise drown them out. But it was no good, his chattering mind kept me awake. He must have noticed.
Sorry. Am I keeping you awake?
A little. I shifted to look back at him.
Can't really help it," He shrugged. "but I can try until you're asleep.
Oh, you don't have to do that.
But I want to do it. I don't want to be more of an inconvenience than I already am.
You? An inconvenience? Hardly.
Says Ms. Prophecy dragon who almost died doing the things I asked. I think inconvenience isn't the right term to describe whatever this is.
I was about to refute, but Marvin somehow made it clear to me that he didn't want to argue. He forfeited so that we could all get a good night's rest. My heart lurched at his action, but I wasn't about to let it go to waste. I closed my eyes, focusing on the dark emptiness. The soft chatter of dragonettes slumbering peacefully after yet another day of class.
At some point, the world fell away, and I was asleep.
"IT'S MORNING!" A RainWing sang, before she was suddenly surrounded by three armed soldiers that were still shaking off sleep. Stripes of white appeared on her scales, and she froze.
"At ease Airborne. She's... one of ours." Marvin had to stop to yawn between his last sentence.
The white quickly dissipated back to Kinkajou's raspberry and gold self.
"Jesus Kinkajou, what time is it?" Marvin said, almost grumbling.
Travers checked a small armband, a circle object with a few markings and some small rotating arrows.
"Oh, six twenty-three hours." He responded
"Jesus Christ Kinkajou!"
"We have school!" She responded.
"In two hours! I know. That's the time I wake up to get chores and stuff done, wake up fully. How much time do you need to get ready?"
The room fell silent. Marvin just ran his claw down his face.
"Just... continue your last." He waved his hand, surrenduring. "Let's get a SITREP, what do we have?"
"Sir."
McManis disappeared into the tent again. Travers just stepped out and stretched. Qibli stepped up next to me.
"They're really fascinating! Winter would love this."
"What? Morning routine?" Marvin fought with his sleeping bagl. "It's nothing special Qibli, we just tally what we got, what we don't, what we need, and how to get it. That's it."
"Still. I should document this for Winter."
"He sounds like he's really interested in human behavior." Marvin put his claw at his hip, smiling.
"That he definitely is, he won't stop talking about it." Qibli angled to where he was staying.
"Heh. Well if he really wants to learn more about us, he can talk with McManis." Then he did a double-take. "Actually, they'd probably end up in a shouting match."
Qibli broke down laughing. I just rolled my eyes.
"Okay, supplies?" Marvin pointed to the emerging McManus.
"We have enough for a day's march, maybe a day and a half. 2/3rds combat supplies. Three rifles, two handguns, and a shotgun." He rattled off.
"A shotgun?" Marvin exclaimed.
McManis ducked back inside and came out with a small box. As green as the forest, but it looked like it had been scraped up. His smaller and more dexterous claws opened two latches on either side. It opened with a shrill squeak. McManus picked up the weapon. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.
A trench gun!
I looked to Marvin, he was starry-eyed, already approaching him.
"Jimmy entrusted me with this. Said it was Joe's prized possession. Figured we could put it to better use."
McManus felt the weight of it a little bit more, before setting it back into its crate. Marvin just looked on in awe.
"A little extra firepower never hurt." He chuckled. "How many grenades?"
"Eight. Two between the three of us, I carry a couple of extras. Two gammons, the rest fragmentation."
"I don't think we'll be facing anything armored here McManus." Marvin said.
"Pays to be prepared, Marvin. And besides, they still pack a hell of a punch for demolition work."
Marvin mumbled in agreement, nodding his head.
"I have about six cases of comp B. Enough to blow this place to kingdom come."
Everyone just looked at Travers.
"It's.... not like I could do... that anyways." He just sat down. "Oh man, I'm gonna get myself killed." He mumbled.
"You and us with your big mouth," McManus mumbled back.
"Easy guys." Marvin stepped up. "Remember, we're not here to search and destroy... but to serve and protect. We are guests here, don't forget that. We just so happen to be soldiers. Show some respect."
"Yes sir."
"Yes sir."
Both soldiers agreed.
"Good." Marvin looked around at his small team of soldiers. "Now let's grab a bite at least. Maybe we can make better decisions on a full stomach."
"Sir." McManus said. Both of them getting up.
Marvin walked up to me. I looked behind him to see Travers running up with a dark fur.
Marvin behind you.
He looked at me, then turned.
"Travers, wha- My jacket!"
Travers passed it onto him.
"Where- how did you get this?" He looked between his gift and him.
"I may have stolen it from Goldman before I left."
Marvin scoffed, fixated on his jacket. "You-you..." He looked up at him, tears filled his eyes. He was happy, so happy. He walked up to Travers, hugging him. "Thank you, Travers." Not just for this.
They patted each other on their backs. Marvin slid on the jacket, making sure it fits, before starting back for the entrance.
"So. If there are not any objections, let's grab some breakfast before anything starts up."
"I agree. No one makes the best decisions on an empty stomach." McManis quoted.
Yeah. I agree. I thought.
Yeah. McManis usually knows what he's talking about. There's a reason he was platoon guide for a stint.
Platoon guide? I questioned. What's that?
Essentially the most seasoned soldier out of 32. He's basically the advisor to the platoon leader, which I was a couple of times. But he's there to "zero in" new commanders, act like their wingman, keeping them from making stupid decisions. Keeps everyone safe.
I nodded. Then he's very good at his job.
Yeah, one of the best I've met. Marvin looked at McManus, nodding.
"If I had to guess, you are having a telepathic conversation about me." He commented, meeting our gaze.
And observant. "I plead the fifth." Marvin smiled.
McManus gauffed. Travers continued to be amazed at every little thing. Mumbling not so quietly.
"These little orbs, they light up the hallway. How? The fire looks contained though. Nothing I've ever seen. And all the dragons, they all look different. Why is that?"
"They're different tribes," Winter answered, annoyed by his mumbling. Joining us as we passed by his cave.
Not so suddenly, I was bombarded with voices. I could always tell whenever we got close to the Prey Center Cafeteria, but I secretly thanked Sunny we were placed quite far away from it. I let the thoughts slide away into a rainstorm, Marvin did the same. We turned in. Dozens of dragonets were eating and socializing. A group of them came in to land, Clay with them, bringing in a new catch of prey. I motioned Marvin to an empty spot somewhat close to the fruit pile, and not too far away from the meats area. I could feel he smelled the blood and terror from it though.
"Ooookaaayyyyy. Pick your poison men. We have fruits over there with Kinkajou, meats are with me." Marvin took charge.
They all unanimously decided to join him in trying to get some meat. He sighed.
"Okay. How should we do this Moon?" He walked idely around to my side.
"I think I have an idea."
I went over and scooped out a goat. It bleated in fear as I brought it over to the three waiting humans.
"A goat? Really? I mean, I'm all for some meat right about now. But I'm not about to-"
Travers promptly stopped and nearly keeled over once I snapped Its neck. Marvin and McManis barely batted an eye. Only Marvin got up to check on Travers.
"You okay Travers?"
He swallowed down something. "Ungdah- fine." He shuddered.
Marvin turned to me, canted his head, and looked at me. Come on Moon. He's a city kid.
I didn't know!
He shook his head. "Let's just prepare this goat already."
Marvin dragged the dead goat over to the men. Unfolding his knife, he pierced the thin blade into the soft flesh of the animal. Rather than just eat the whole thing in a few bites, I watched him cut it up into smaller chunks more suitable for them. He stacked them in a somewhat neat pile on the other side of the goat, staining its fur with blood. When he was finished, he noticed all the blood on his hands and blade.
"Uhh. I should probably clean up. I'm not the best butcher."
"You're good enough Lieutenant."
McManis got up and got one of the chunks, heading back to a bundle of stickers he collected.
"Actually, I can help you with that," Qibli said, walking up to him.
McManus met him, looking between Qibli, Marvin, and Travers. "Travers, get your mind out of the gutter and tell me what this dragon's saying to me."
"Ugah." Travers groaned as Marvin led him back. "He says he can help you. That fire is restricted in the Prey Center."
He looked up at Qibli, who blew a small puff of flame. McManis nodded, as if he finally understood what he meant.
"Okay. How do you want your meat?" Qibli asked.
Travers translated.
"Well done."
"Well done."
"Okay, I don't know what that is, but I'll make sure it's all the way cooked."
Qibli leaned down and started roasting the chunks of meat with a small flame.
Hey Moon. Marvin came walking up to me, his hands held wide so he wouldn't get more blood on himself. "Is there a way to clean up around here? Other than the underground lake?"
"No, I don't think so." I shook my head.
He signed. "Okay. Do you think you can..." lead me?
"Of course."
"I didn't even finish-" my sentence.
"You didn't have to."
Marvin paused, then grinned, shaking his head. "Sometimes Moon. Sometimes."
"Sometimes what?"
He shook his head. "Let's just go." Leading me out the Prey Center.