Mud squelched beneath Hare's talons as she trekked through the puddles that dotted the grass. She pushed her snout through the reeds and looked around. She gasped in awe as she saw the area laid out before her.
Tall mounds made of mud, several dragons high and several more wide, jutted out of the marshes like massive teeth. She could see MudWings moving around in the muddy terrain, almost all of them moving in groups. Hare could see a small group of dragonets playing, toppling over each other and knocking one another into the mud.
Asha emerged from the reeds and smiled. "Amazing, isn't it?"
Kestrel came out beside her. "I don't understand how dragons could live in such conditions," she grumbled.
Asha looked at her. "And we don't understand how you SkyWings can live in such conditions. All that wind and those birds flapping right above your head every moment?" She shuddered in a mocking way. "Ugh, no thank you. I'll stick with my mud and crocodiles."
The others pushed out of the reeds. Clay's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "This is where I came from?"
"Yes, it is." Asha pointed to a cluster of mounds near a body of water. "From right over there."
"I've read about this," Starflight gasped. Glory laughed and nudged him with her wing. "What haven't you read about?"
"We can get a closer look," Hare said, darting out of the reeds. She raced across the grass, barely feeling the ground beneath her talons.
"Hare, wait!"
Someone grabbed her forearm and yanked her to a halt. Hare gasped in surprise. Pebbles and bits of dirt tumbled into the ditch that sat right at her clawtips. The ditch that she'd almost just charged straight into.
Hare looked into the ditch and drew in a breath. She took a step backward, staring with wide eyes at the scene below her.
The ditch was littered with the bodies of dead dragons. The ground was churned up into unwelcoming mud. Blood and bones were ground into it, with broken wings sticking out from large sodden lumps, like tree branches smashed by a storm. The dragon bodies were so covered in mud that they all looked like MudWings, but here and there Hare saw the bright shimmer of icy blue and the near white of desert-sand scales. Fires dotted the mud, filling the air with foul-smelling black smoke. Brown-scaled limbs stuck up from the flames. MudWings had been involved in this battle, too.
"A fresh battlefield," Asha said quietly.
"Sickening," Kestrel spat.
"Can we go?" Sunny asked. "I don't want to stay and look at this. I don't think any of us do."
"We can't all go," Clay suddenly said.
Tsunami bristled and turned to glare at him. "What? Why?"
"They'll never trust all of us together." He pointed at Tsunami. "Especially you. The SeaWings are on Blister's side."
"That doesn't matter," Tsunami protested. "We'll just tell them that we're the dragonets of destiny. They'll have to trust us then."
Glory scoffed. "You may as well just waltz right into a prison cell, then."
Tsunami snapped her head around to shoot her a look with narrowed eyes. Starflight intervened quickly. "Clay and Glory are right. Burn's army is looking for us. Must I remind you who's side the MudWings are on?" He put his talon on Tsunami's shoulder. "It won't hurt for us to sit this one out."
Tsunami huffed. "Fine. So who's going and who's staying?"
"I'm going," Asha said immediately. "I know my way around the Mud Kingdom better than any of you."
"I feel like that's obvious," Kestrel scoffed. She looked around at the kingdom that lay on the other side of the battlefield. "I'll stay behind. If anyone catches me, I'll be killed on the spot." Kestrel shook her head. "Now that I know my daughter is alive and okay, I have no wish to drive myself to that fate."
"Tsunami and I will stay, too," Starflight said, glancing at the SeaWing. She huffed angrily but didn't argue. "We'll keep Sunny with us as well."
"Good idea," Asha said, nodding her head.
"I'll go," Glory said, her tone leaving no room for argument. "I can shift my scales and features to blend in. No one will notice that I'm out of place."
"I'm go-"
"No," Asha interrupted. "You're not going."
Hare bristled. "And why not?"
"If Burn's army is going to be looking for anyone, it'll be you," Asha replied. "And you're not exactly easy to hide."
"A hybrid will stand out among other SandWings," Starflight agreed. "You'll especially stand out among MudWings."
"I'll cover myself in mud," Hare offered. "Please. What if something happens? You'll need me to fight."
"You're not going and that's final," Kestrel snapped.
Hare glared at her.
"Fine," she spat after a minute or two. "But I'm not just sitting around. I'm going on a walk."
"Don't stray too far," Kestrel said. "This is an unfamiliar area, you could get lost easily."
Hare scoffed and turned away. As if I don't already know that!
Hare made her way back into the reeds and the muddy area they'd come through. She went in until she was sure she was fully hidden, then scooped up a few talonfuls of mud and tossed them in front of her, trying to make it sound like she was still walking away. Hare then quietly moved through the reeds to find a path across the ditch. She paused by a large patch of mud and splattered clumps of it on her scales until she was almost fully covered. She felt gloopy and heavy, but it'd hopefully keep her hidden.
She glanced through the reeds. Kestrel was leading Sunny, Starflight, and Tsunami back to the waterfall. Asha was with Glory and Clay. She said something to them, then flew over the ditch and into the marshes. Glory shifted her scales, her colors turning from green to puddle brown. Her snout began to look more flat, rather than the elegant and narrow one she had. Her body looked a little more bulky than usual and her spikes shrank. Nothing fully disappeared or completely changed, but it was enough to make anyone think she was a MudWing as long as they didn't look hard enough.
Glory and Clay followed Asha, spreading their wings and flying over the ditch. Hare stared after them. She obviously wouldn't be able to fly. She edged closer to the edge of the reeds and peered through the gaps.
I'll have to climb through the ditch.
She hated the idea, and it sent shivers down her spine, but it was her only option. She'd have to cross through the battlefield.
Hare walked out of the reeds and to the edge of the ditch. She'd have to move quickly in order to keep up. Hare sighed, then reached out with her talon to take a step forward.
Hare was instantly met with dangerously steep ground. She lost her footing and tumbled down the side of the ditch. Everything became a rolling blur. If she hadn't already disguised herself, this fall definitely would've disguised her.
She rolled to a halt, her back hitting against something. She groaned and sat up. A fire blazed in front of her as she groaned and pushed herself to her talons. She looked beside her and instantly hurried backward.
The mangled corpse of an IceWing lay beside her. Blood stained its scales dark blue scales and crusted the areas between its scales. She wanted to look away, but it was so horrifying that she couldn't. It reminded her of something.
It reminded her of the rainforest.
This was the kind of thing she would've seen there. Were living dragons really as cruel as the dragons in that awful, dark place? Were living dragons really awful enough to tear another dragon apart like this?
Of course they are. The dragons there must be alive, too, right? At least, some of them.
Hare forced herself to look away and hurried to the opposite side of the ditch. She reached up to try and climb, but the area was too steep for her to climb. She slid back down, landing on her hindquarters. She huffed, then tried again, only to fail and fall once more.
In a desperate attempt to get out, Hare spread her wings to try and fly. Mud weighed her down, making it next to impossible for her to fly. Frustrated, Hare shook out her wings. Mud went flying across the battlefield. She didn't wait a moment longer and flew out of the ditch.
Hare landed on the marshy ground and hurried forward as quietly as she could. A good amount of mud still covered her scales, so she'd blend in as long as she stuck close enough to the muddy structures and terrain.
Asha was leading Clay and Glory through groups of training armies. Hare followed from a distance, still keeping them in her view. They began following a path that led to a more isolated area. Less mounds were built in this area. Asha stopped in front of a lopsided mound beside the lake. Hare splashed through the mud and hid by the mound beside it.
"Hello?" Asha called. She pushed herself to the tips of her claws to try and peer through the hole at the top. "Helloooo?"
A second passed, then a wide, flat snout poked out of the hole. Yellow eyes glared at the dragons, then softened when they landed on Asha.
"It's Asha," he called. "She's come with a pair of dragonets."
Asha dipped her head. "Hopper. I'm looking for Cattail."
Hopper eyed her. "I'll fetch her," he said, "but I don't think she'll be too happy to see you."
Hopper disappeared back into the mound. There were sounds of grunting and flapping wings, like the dragons in the mound were moving to let one climb over the others. At last, a thin brown dragon appeared. She pushed her way out of the hole and shook out her wings. Her scales were designed with dapples of paler brown. She looked similar to Asha, except Asha's paler spots were larger. The new dragon narrowed her eyes at Asha.
"So now you decide to return?" she hissed.
Asha met the dragon's gaze. "I know you're not happy I left, Cattail, but it was for a good purpose."
"What could possibly be more important than your loyalty to your siblings?" Cattail demanded. "What could be so important that you left us?"
"There's a war that needs to be stopped," Asha argued. "The Talons needed extra help."
"They could've gotten it from somewhere else," Cattail hissed.
"Isn't it better that we suffered loss instead of someone else?" Asha said.
"I don't know who 'we' is," Cattail snarled. "Unless you're referring to us" - Cattail waved her wing toward the mound - "there is no 'we'."
Asha held Cattail's gaze. "If that's how you want to see it," she said calmly.
Cattail bristled. "What other way is there to see it?"
Asha didn't respond. Instead, she pushed Clay forward. "I've brought someone to see you."
Cattail eyed Clay up and down. "Who are you?"
"I'm Clay," he blurted. "I'm your son."
Cattail yawned. "So?"
Clay's eyes widened. Hare noticed that Cattail's eyes were the same color as his, but with a ring of yellow around the pupil. "I- uh, we-"
"This is the egg I took back to the Talons six years ago," Asha explained. "This is our MudWing dragonet for the prophecy."
"I don't care about the prophecy," Cattail snapped. "That prophecy is what took you away from us. That prophecy can rot and burn for all I care, along with the NightWing who wrote it."
Clay looked at Cattail sadly. "So you didn't miss me at all?"
"I had no reason to," Cattail growled.
"We're wasting our time," Glory snarled, brushing her tail against Clay's. "Come on Clay, she clearly doesn't want us here."
Clay had a longing look in his eyes as he stared at Cattail for a little longer.
"It was nice to meet you," he said sadly. "Even if you don't want me."
Glory led Clay back down the path, pausing a little ways away to look back at Asha. "Are you coming?"
Asha and Cattail were facing each other. Asha hadn't moved a single claw-length. Cattail bared her teeth a little.
"Yes, aren't you going to leave us again?" she spat.
Asha looked at Cattail for a little longer, then looked at Clay and Glory.
"No," she said. "The Talons don't need me anymore. You six are free, I have no purpose among the Talons unless they call for me again." Asha dipped her head sadly. "This is where we say our farewells."
Hare felt her heart drop for what felt like the hundredth time since they'd been taken away from the mountain, but this time she felt it sink farther than it had before. All in the same day, she'd lost Copper, Peril, Rose, Hvitur, and her mother. Now she was losing Asha too?
And she wouldn't even be able to say goodbye.
"You're not coming back?" Clay choked out.
Asha shook her head. "I have no place among you anymore. This is my home, this is where I truly belong."
Cattail's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean, you're leaving your group of peace?"
"I'm not leaving them," Asha said, looking at her sister. "I'm still a member of the Talons, but I'm stepping away from my duties as a caretaker."
Cattail eyed her suspiciously. "Do you expect us to accept you back?"
"No," Asha replied. "I know you won't. That's why I planned to find somewhere else to stay."
Cattail relaxed a little and her gaze grew oddly soft. "You think we won't," she corrected. "But you're wrong." Cattail stepped forward and rested her head against Asha's shoulder. "We'd be more than happy to have our sister back."
Asha smiled and wrapped a forearm around Cattail. "I'm happy to be home."
Asha looked at Clay and Glory again. "Goodbye. I'm very proud of all of you. You've grown well and become wonderful dragons. I know you'll end this war. You won't let us down. I know you won't. I'll miss you all. Tell the others I said goodbye."
Glory nodded. "Goodbye Asha."
Clay gave a small wave. "Goodbye."
The two dragonets began walking away again. Hare lingered where she was for a bit longer.
Goodbye Asha. Thank you for everything.
Then Hare turned and followed Clay and Glory.