Chapter 9
Once the two SandWings were out of hearing range, Alligator asked, "Brightsting cacti? What did she mean?"
Chestnut grimaced at the pain from his leg, trying not to let it cloud his senses. From the way Alligator was balancing on three legs with a scowl, keeping his injured one in the air, he assumed Alligator was going through the same pain. "The last word she said before that was antidote."
Alligator nodded. "That's true. Hopefully she was trying to help us, and not give us false hope."
"She was all quiet about it, so I suspect it is the actual antidote. Besides, what other choice do we have? It's our only chance. Although," Chestnut gestured at their wounds, "we don't have long. Maybe a week."
Alligator nodded, and the two dragons began limping towards the edge of the forest. The sound of many wingbeats made them look at each other in confusion, then up.
All the MudWings were flying back to their homes as a swarm.
The two watched the skies for the others of their sib group. "There!"
Chestnut followed Alligator's gaze to three dragons who were scanning the forest in desperation, eyes wide. Chestnut and Alligator took off into the sky with hisses of pain.
When Amber spotted them, her face quickly slid into relief. She poked Fawn and Morass with her talons and pointed at them. All the sibs spiraled back down to the ground, landing on the edge of the ocean.
"You're alive!" Amber wrapped her wings around Chestnut and Alligator.
Fawn hugged all three. "What happened to your legs?"
"SandWing venom," Morass said, before giving in and joining in on the sib group hug.
"Yes," Chestnut got out, despite being squished. "And we think the antidote is Brightsting cacti. Also, the leg hurts, maybe less pressure?" The other three gave him and Alligator space.
"One of the SandWings told us that," Alligator added.
"Should we trust them?" Morass gave him a skeptical look.
Chestnut sighed. "We don't know. But it's our only chance."
"So, we need to go to the desert?" Amber tapped her tail against the sand, a thoughtful look on her face.
"You don't have to," Chestnut pointed out. "You could just keep fighting."
Fawn gave him a look of disbelief. "We're sibs. That means that we all go where you go. And besides, we're not going to leave you to die."
"How long can you fly?" Morass glanced at their injuries, trying to judge how bad they were.
"It's probably easier than walking," Alligator said. "At least we're not using our legs that way. And the quicker we get there, the quicker we can heal this annoying thing."
"I'm not quite sure how the MudWings will react to you," Amber said. "But we can't wait here, since our tribe is no longer welcome on this island. So let's fly low towards the closest island in the direction of the swamps."
They all spread their wings and jumped into the air. Chestnut and Alligator both sucked in a quiet breath at the pain, but continued flapping and took off.
Throughout the flight, the others constantly looked back at Chestnut and Alligator to make sure it wasn't paining them too much. They stopped for rest at every island they passed. And one of those islands was where they saw the SandWing.