"I should go," Moon said to Kinkajou as soon as the RainWing came back from the fruit pile.
"No!" Kinkajou cried. "We're eating together! You haven't even finished your hairy smelly carcass thing! Sit!" She nudged Moon back to sitting. "Just for five minutes."
Eclipse was about to tell Moon that they may not have five minutes but she caught a twin thread of anxiety from Kinkajou's mind - Don't leave me alone, please stay and be my best friend - and knew Moon wasn't going to leave anytime soon.
"Sure, ok," Moon said, relaxing her muscles and sitting back down. She was rewarded with bright pink scales.
"Can you tone that down?" Umber asked Kinkajou as he and Turtle joined them, each carrying a fish. "I mean, it's a very exciting color that I can't say I've ever seen before, but it's a little -"
"Bright," Turtle suggested.
"Noticeable?" tried Umber.
"Eyeball-scorching," offered Qibli.
"Distracting," Eclipse proposed.
"This happens when I'm happy," Kinkajou said, unruffled. "But if you'd prefer something more sedate -" she turned a vibrant shade of lime green with violet spots.
Eclipse flinched and closed her eyes while Moon nearly choked on her goat.
"Aaaah!" Qibli yelped, covering his eyes with his talons.
"I don't actually know you," Umber said to Kinkajou. "You might be totally serious right now."
"No, I'm just kidding," Kinkajou giggled, bumping Moon's side again. "I can be totally ordinary and boring, don't worry." Her scales shifted again, rippling to the same quiet brown as Umber's, and she gave him a wide-eyed stare.
"Boring hasn't exactly made it onto my list of words to describe you," Moon said.
"Winter!" Kinkajou shouted.
The IceWing paused in the act of sweeping majestically past them. "Yes?" he said frostily to Kinkajou.
Winter glanced at Eclipse and she caught his eye. He looked back at Kinkajou quickly and Eclipse opened his mind and listened.
Don't think about Eclipse. Don't think about Eclipse. Three moons. . . Why is this RainWing talking to me?
Eclipse smothered a grin and pushed his thoughts back into a raindrop.
"Do you want to sit with us?" Kinkajou asked. "I mean, since we're your winglet now, and everything." A wave of ice blue shimmered across her scales and then vanished. The amount of dreamy thoughts coming from the RainWing not fitting in any of Eclipse's raindrops.
Winter looked down his nose at the RainWing. "Absolutely not," he said, stalking away toward another IceWing perched on a ledge slightly above the rest of the dragons.
"He's so tortured," Kinkajou sighed happily.
Eclipse snorted.
"You're a little weird," Moon pointed out.
Kinkajou was about to reply when a hush fell over the cave. They all twisted around and saw Anemone pace slowly through the door with her head held high, followed by Ostrich.
The SeaWing princess, rippled through everyone's minds.
"They're in my winglet," Eclipse said, Kinkajou glanced at her. "She's nice. The princess. That's Ostrich. She's my clawmate. She's a good friend."
Kinkajou nodded and mumbled an "oh," a light pink rippling through her scales.
"Oh, thank the moons," Anemone said, spotting the net of fish, her voice clear and high. "I haven't eaten since we left Queen Moorhen's palace yesterday." She stepped delicately around a SandWing who was chewing something on the floor, and surveyed the few small fish that hadn't been claimed yet. A number of MudWings, SeaWings, and SkyWings were clustered nearby, brown and green and red scales side by side as they ate.
"Hmm. I'd like that one," Anemone said sweetly. She pointed at a giant grey fish with a pale speckled pink belly. A NightWing - one neither Eclipse nor Moon knew - already had his claws around it and was lifting it to his mouth. He paused and stared at her.
She gazed back innocently, her chin raised.
"Uh," said the NightWing. "This one?"
"That one," said Anemone. "It's my favorite kind."
"This one I'm eating?" he questioned.
"You heard her," snapped one of the SeaWings, a skinny greyish-blue dragon whose hostile mental vibrations seemed familiar. Eclipse thought for a moment then remembered the SeaWing and SkyWing Clay had broken apart the first day. His name was Pike, if she remembered correctly.
"But. . .I'm eating this one," said the NightWing in a tone of deep confusion.
"Oh, but I would like it very much," Anemone persisted.
"Anemone," Tsunami tried to interrupt, stepping forward.
"Don't you know this is the SeaWing princess?" Pike snarled. He shoved himself in the NightWing's face and flexed his webbed talons. "The heir to the throne! Give her the fish. Now."
"Uh -" said the NightWing. She's not my princess though, his brain mumbled.
Clay hurried over through the silence that had slowly fallen around Pike, Anemone and the NightWing. Most of the other dragons were staring at them, other than Coconut, who was deeply focused on a bunch of grapes.
"Hey, this is a understandable mistake," Clay said, gently scooting the NightWing back away from Pike. "We haven't posted any rules yet, but we will. Basically whoever get their claws on it first, they get to eat it. If we find that doesn't work, we'll revisit the rules in a couple of weeks. But that's how it is right now. All right?"
Pike scowled. "But the princess wants that fish!"
This one's going to be trouble, Eclipse heard Clays mind hum. He sighed.
"I do," Anemone agreed. She looked up at Clay with large blue eyes. "Mother would want me to have it."
"There's lots of other fish," Clay said, "and you're welcome to join us in the evening when we go out to catch more in one of the mountain lakes."
"That'll be fun," Tsunami said, elbowing her sister heartily. "I'll come, too. There are some awesome lakes I want to show you, not far from here."
Anemone blinked. She looked from Clay to Tsunami, and then narrowed her eyes at the NightWing, who was surreptitiously starting to chew on the fish's tail.
So that's how its going to be? I don't like this at ALL, said her mind, but her mouth said, "Oh. Very well."
Eclipse thought she saw a ghost of a smile cross Turtle's face.
"You can have my fish, princess," Pike said, handling her a dripping salmon that he'd already sliced lengthwise with his claws.
Anemone looked down her nose at it, then shook her head. "I'm not actually that hungry after all. Come on, Ostrich."
She swept out of the cave, deliberately avoiding Clay. Ostrich glanced around, thinking disappointed hungry thoughts, and locking eyes with Eclipse. She nodded and smiled at her SandWing friend. Ostrich smiled back before turning and hurrying after the princess.
Pike hissed at the NightWing. "You'll pay for this, Bigtail." he snarled. "Nobody disrespects the SeaWing princess."
"Time to cool down, Pike," Tsunami said sternly.
Pike hissed again, but slunk off with his salmon.
Oh dear, Clay thought. Eclipse watched him smile at the NightWing as if nothing was wrong, and then give Tsunami a "we should talk about that" look. She rolled her eyes and hurried after her sister.
Umber's whole face lit up as Clay paced over to them. "Hey," Clay said affectionately, nudging his little brother. "Where are Marsh and Sora?"
"Coming over now," Umber said, waving his wings.
Eclipse sat up and watched two MudWings approaching. One was fidgety and nervous while the other was suffering from painful anxiety that clawed at her insides yet her face was subdued. She had this ritual in her head where she poured mud over all her thoughts.
She's like Moon. Eclipse thought. Everyone here was anxious in some way, but with this MudWing it ran deeper, all the way to paralyzing fear. She wanted to escape just as much as Moon did.
Poor Sora. Moon thought sadly. She needs a crazy, enthusiastic clawmate like Kinkajou to take care of her. Or maybe I can help her. Maybe because I know how scared she is - maybe I can make her feel better. Maybe that's one good thing I can do with my powers.
There are a lot of good things you can do with your powers. Eclipse argued.
"This is my brother and sister," Umber said. "Marsh is really fast - you should see him fly. And Sora knows everything; she's the only one who ever practiced her reading." He beamed at them both as if they were the most special, perfect dragons in the world.
"Hey," Qibli greeted them, his mouth half full of goat. He looked as though he wasn't particularly paying attention, but a part of him whispered, That's the MudWing sibling bond. Loyal like the Outclaws are to Thorn, probably more so. Wish I had a brother and sister I liked that much. Actually a brother and sister who didn't actively try to kill me every time they see me would be a dramatic improvement.
"I'm Moon, remember?" Her sister said to Sora, trying to look friendly. "This is my sister, Eclipse. She's nicer than she looks."
What's that supposed to mean?
"Hey," Eclipse grinned. "Nice to meet you." Sora smiled shyly and nodded at her.
"Would you like some?" Moon gestured to the goat that still lay beside them.
Sora nodded. "Thank you." She took the goat leg in her claws, tore it in half, and gave the other half to Marsh.
"Who's in your winglet?" Umber asked. "Marsh, you're in the Copper Winglet, right?"
"Yeah. That's my clawmate," Marsh said, nodding over at Coconut.
Ha, Qibli thought. That's perfect. Put the slowest, least threatening dragon in the world with the most nervous. Not even this twitchy MudWing could be scared of that sloth masquerading as a dragon over there.
"That dragon has some issues," Eclipse said to the MudWing, definitely not smothering a laugh. "Slowest dragon I've ever met."
"Yeah," Marsh said. "I don't remember the other names yet."
"That's all right, you'll figure them out. Sora?" Clay prompted his sister. "Anyone really nice?"
She fiddled with the meat in her talons, pulling out tufts of fur. "There's a RainWing in my winglet who seems nice - she's blind."
"Tamarin!" Kinkajou cried. "Oh, you must be in the Gold Winglet. She's my best friend!"
Eclipse caught a slice of jealousy and hurt from Moon, who quickly pushed it down and decided to ignore it.
"A SandWing named Onyx," Sora continued, counting on her claws. "That SeaWing over there Pike. His clawmates: a NightWing named called Bigtail, and a SkyWing with a bad scar across his snout. And my clawmate." She nodded at the far wall, at the IceWing seated next to Winter on the ledge. They were both gazing disdainfully down at the eating dragons. Above them sharp, twisting stalactites studded the rood of the alcove where they sat, almost as though they were glaring out of a mouth filled with enormous teeth.
"Winter's sister?" Qibli said. "Then you and I are in the same tent, friend. Is she as stuck-up as her brother? Has she mentioned being in line for the IceWing throne yet?"
Sora blinked at the IceWings. Ripples shuddered across the mud puddles in her mind, but she refused to let whatever was under there escape. "Her name is Icicle."
Eclipse glanced in the direction of Winter and Icicle. Winter was already looking at her, and once their eyes locked, they both snapped their heads away.
"To be honest," Clay began. "From what we'd heard about Icicle, we figured we had to put her in the same cave as the nicest, least offensive dragon we could think of, so there wouldn't be any casualties the first week of school. I hope it's going all right, Sora."
His sister dropped her gaze to her claws. "It's fine." she said. Eclipse could tell, even without reading her mind (which she couldn't anyway), that it was in fact, not fine.
"Let me know if not," Clay said gently. "It's really important to me that you be happy here."
Sora nodded, thinking of the same brothers and sisters Eclipse had seen in Umber's mind.
"Do we have History together next?" Turtle asked. "Our winglet and your winglet together?"
"Do we?" Umber said, delighted.
"I think so," Qibli said. He had the days schedule memorized, plus a detailed layout of the school map in his head, but he was pretending to still be figuring things out with the rest of them.
"We have to go to the library first," Moon said to Kinkajou. "But I'll catch up to you." She stood up and paused, turning her attention to Sora. Eclipse stood herself, waiting for Moon. "Um. . . do you want to come with us?" she asked Sora.
The MudWing blinked in surprise. "I do," she said, standing up. As they headed out of the prey center together, Eclipse could hear the reactions stirring behind them.
That was nice of Moon, Umber thought.
Aw, maybe they'll be friends, went through Clay's mind.
Does she like her better than me? Kinkajou thought forlornly.
My boring little clawmate with two NightWings? came a frigid thought from across the cave. What's that about?
The group hurried into the stone tunnel, Moon trying hard to think about raindrops. Eclipse dropped back behind them and let them walk side by side. They were halfway to the library before Moon decided to say something.
"Um," Moon began. "The library is great isn't it?"
Sora nodded.
"I like the leaf windows," Moon nodded.
Is this what I seem like to everyone else? Moon wondered. Shy and really hard to talk to? Maybe I should try a little harder. It's easy to talk to my mystery friend. . .but I don't have to hide anything from him. I guess I couldn't even if I wanted to.
Starflight sat up as they came into the library, setting aside a stone tablet with letters carved into it. "Hello?" he said tentatively.
"It's Moon, Sora, and Eclipse," Eclipse said.
"Oh, hi," he said, relaxing. "Sora, I found that scroll on IceWings for you." He slid a scroll across the desk with his claws.
Sora glanced at the sisters, Eclipse raising a brow suspiciously. She ducked her head and mumbled something like, "Figuring out my clawmate." She took the scroll and scurried over to her spot by the windows.
"How are you, Moon?" Starflight asked. "How was class this morning?"
Terrifying. "All right - interesting," she said, "Do you have any scrolls about dreamvisitors."
He tipped his head, frowning a little. "I'm sure we do. Why? You didn't - I mean, you haven't been visited by someone, have you?"
"I'm just curious," Moon said quickly. "Someone mentioned them, um, in class, and I don't know anything about them."
Starflight slid out from behind the desk and started walking along the shelves, touching the carvings here and there. "If you ever do see a strange dragon in your dreams, let me know, all right? Especially if she's a SkyWing." A viciously scary orange dragon wreathed in smoke flashed through his mind.
"A SkyWing?" Eclipse questioned. "Why?"
Starflight sighed. "Queen Scarlet - ex-Queen Scarlet is out there with a dreamvisitor, and she hates us. I worry sometimes that she'll start scaring our students in their dreams." And that's far from the worst she could do, he thought anxiously.
"How did she get her dreamvisitor?" Moon asked.
"We're not entirely sure," Starflight said. He tilted his wings back and scratched his head. "She must have found it while she was imprisoned in Burn's weirdling tower, and Burn must not have known it was there. My theory is that Scarlet found it in or on this NightWing dragon corpse she disemboweled somehow."
"Oh," Moon said. "Does anyone know where the other two dreamvisitors are?"
To their surprise, Starflight nodded. "We know one for sure - it's right here in the school. I think Sunny has it this week. She got it from a scavenger, who stole it from the SandWings. And we're pretty sure the other dreamvisitor was lost in the volcano. I found it in the NightWing treasury, but someone stole it from me shortly before the volcano exploded."
"You don't know who stole it?" Eclipse asked.
He shook his head, flickers of guilt ricocheting through his mind. "Here." he brushed his talons across a section of the wall, and then chose a scroll and held it out for Moon. "This should be The Animus Histories. It's about several animus-touched objects, but the dreamvisitors definitely have a section in there."
"Thanks," Moon said. She pondered for a second. "Could a dragon ever use a dreamvisitor to talk to someone while they're awake? I mean, like in their heads?"
Now Starflight was really puzzled. "No, that wouldn't make sense," he said. "The way they're enchanted is to get into dreams, nothing else. Why do you ask?"
"Just a story we heard once." Eclipse said.
I promise you, little NightWings, I am no SkyWing.
Then who ARE you? Moon thought back fiercely.
No answer, of course. Eclipse followed Moon over to a ledge by the biggest window and curled up beside Moon, her back against a tapestry-covered wall.
There were more animus-touched objects than she would have expected, considering there hadn't been that many animus dragons in Pyrrhia's history - at least, as far as anyone knew. Moon stopped on a spread with a beautiful drawing of a tall, sweeping pavilion, twelve stories high, made of white stone and looking as if it had grown straight out of the water into this perfect shape.
The SeaWing Summer Palace, read the caption. Made of stone enchanted by Albatross, a SeaWing prince, to grow into a tower he designed.
That's really pretty, Moon thought, brushing one claw lightly across the drawing. I wish I could create something like that.
We'll it probably drove him crazy, Eclipse thought. Enchanting something that big has to take a lot away from the soul.
Moon rolled the scroll to read the longer paragraph on the side.
Albatross was one of the first known animus dragons, hatched over two thousand years ago, before anyone truly understood the limits of this power. He used his animus magic to create many things, including the Summer Palace pavilion, whose location is known only to SeaWings. But at the time nobody realized the terrible price of using animus powers, and nobody saw that Albatross was slowly going insane.
Yup. Eclipse thought.
Not until the Royal SeaWing Massacre.
It was a devastating shock to the entire Kingdom of the Sea when Albatross, who had been hailed as one of the greatest SeaWings of all time, suddenly snapped and tried to murder his entire family. He managed to kill nine dragons, including his sister the queen, his own daughter, and her husband, before someone was able to stop him with a spear to his chest. Among the few who survived were his young grandson, Fathom, and granddaughter, Pearl. Pearl ascended the throne peacefully and ruled for many years. One of her first edicts was to outlaw the use of animus magic anywhere in her kingdom.
Her brother, Fathom, was an animus dragon himself, but after the massacre he refused to ever use his power - except perhaps once.
Moon shivered. I guess there are worse powers than ours in the world.
Yeah. . . Eclipse blinked.
Moon found the section on dreamvisitors and studied the drawing of three star-shaped sapphires. Dreamvisitors, read the caption. Enchanted by a NightWing named Darkstalker to allow whichever dragon holds one to walk in to another dragon's dreams.
The first known animus dragon in the NightWing tribe, Darkstalker, also had the powers of mind reading and prophecy, making him a truly formidable dragon. He created three dreamvisitors so there would be one for him, one for his best friend [see: Fathom], and one for his beloved, a dragon named Clearsight. They were intended to link the three, no matter how far apart they were.
That's sweet, Moon thought.
Who would you give the dreamvisitors to? Eclipse asked.
Mother, of course. Eclipse felt a twinge of jealousy. Moon was to focused on her guilt over not missing mother as much as she should have to notice Eclipse's feelings. You. She paused. Who else? Kinkajou? the thought of Kinkajou flinging rainbows around in Moon's dreams as well as in her waking thoughts crossed Moon's mind.
Ultimately Darkstalker grew to be to powerful and his ambitions began to terrify the dragons around him. He claimed he'd found a way to make himself immortal. Rumor had it he planned to overthrow the NightWing queen and seize the throne for himself. After he killed his own father with an aspect of animus power that no one had ever seen before, the tribe agreed: He was to dangerous to be free.
The details of the trap set for the Darkstalker are lost to history, but it is certain that he and Clearsight disappeared one night and were probably both killed at the same time. It is also believed that he was ultimately taken down with an animus-touched object created by Fathom - the only time Fathom ever used his power.
Fear of the Darkstalker lingered in the NightWing tribe, however, causing them to move to a new, secret home in case he ever returned. NightWing ghost stories still speak of him, and there are those who believe that one day Darkstalker may rise again and come seeking his revenge.
NightWing ghosts, Moon thought, touching the scroll lightly.
Spooky, Eclipse grinned.
Mother never told me any traditional NightWing ghost stories. She had much more effective ways of terrifying me, just by telling me about the volcano and the RainWings and what would happen if another NightWing ever found me in the rainforest. Moon's mind continued.
Moon rolled the scroll in either direction, but there was no more information about the dreamvisitors.
Read the section on Fathom, the mystery voice suddenly commanded in their heads.
On Fathom? Moon questioned glancing up. Sora shifted slightly, but kept her eyes on the scroll she was reading, drowning her worries with under a deluge of words about IceWings. Why? To find out what he did with his dreamvisitor?
Just read it, he said. There was an odd vibration to his voice though, like an egg shuddering before it cracked.
What would you want to know about Fathom? Eclipse questioned as Moon began to roll further through the scroll. She quickly found the section on Fathom, alongside a giant illustrated question mark.
Grandson of Albatross, the perpetrator of the Royal SeaWing Massacre [see: Albatross]. Fathom was so traumatized by his family's murder that he swore an oath to his sister, Pearl, the new SeaWing queen, that he would never use his animus magic.
Fathom was sent to the Night Kingdom to befriend and guide a young animus dragon named Darkstalker. The hope was that Fathoms' sad story, his caution, and his understandable wariness about their powers would have a positive effect on the ambitious, brilliant NightWing. At first it seemed to work, and they became close friends.
But Darkstalker could not be convinced that his powers were dangerous and as he used them more and more, Fathom was among the first to sound a warning about his friend, and the stories say he was the one who convinced Clearsight that Darkstalker could not be trusted.
The legend says that Fathom finally agreed to use his power just once: to enchant an object that could stop Darkstalker, since nothing and nobody else could. Whatever the object was, it must have worked, as Darkstalker disappeared and was never seen again.
How sad, Moon thought, studying the picture of a worried-looking SeaWing. He must have felt awful, doing that to his friend. I wonder what he enchanted.
Darkstalker must have been pretty far gone for him to resort to using his power on him. Especially since he swore an oath not to. Eclipse noted.
Moon hummed in thought.
There was a deep pause, and Eclipse could almost have sworn that she felt the mountain tremble slightly under her talons.
It was a bracelet, the voice whispered, as soft as leaves falling.
Moon blinked at the scroll. What?
How do you know? Eclipse thought suspiciously. The answer was in the back of her mind but he couldn't be. . .could he? It was so long ago, how could any dragon survive for that long?
A bracelet. A wrist cuff. Enchanted to put me to sleep forever. Since I couldn't die - that story about making myself immortal is true - they had to come up with something else.
No way.
Her whole body felt numb, like ice was sweeping between her scales and freezing her insides.
I knew it, the voice went on. I knew when she pulled it out - right before she put it on me, I thought, Fathom must have touched that. He broke his sacred oath to his sister, just to betray me. But I wasn't sure until now.
What are you saying? Moon asked, pressing her claws into the stone below her.
Three moons. . . Eclipse sighed.
I'm saying, nice to meet you, Moon. My name is Darkstalker.