(3rd Pov Starflight)
Sunny spread her warm golden wings and Starflight fitted his own wings around hers for a hug. It always felt exactly where her should be, even if just for a moment.
"I'm so glad you're all right!" she said, stepping back and examining him for injuries. "I was checking on Webs and then this SkyWing came in, of all things, and I was showing the healers how to get cactus milk into his wound when someone said two NightWings brought him in and I knew it must be you. You know, I wanted to go through and find you, but Glory said no." She wrinkled her snout at the new queen.
"Glory was right. It's too dangerous there," Starflight said.
"Oh, please. Where have we been lately that isn't dangerous?" Sunny said. "All the more reason we should go rescue you. Although I wasn't really worried, because of course you had to be fine so we could fulfil the prophecy, right? And look, you rescued yourself, which is so impressive."
Starflight guessed that the grin on his own face was probably a little goofy, but he couldn't seem to squelch it.
"And you are?" Fatespeaker interjected, clearing her throat and sliding so close to Starflight that she bumped one of his wings.
"I'm Sunny," said the little SandWing. She tilted her head at Fatespeaker. "Wow, your silver scales are so cool. That one looks like a bracelet - like you were born with your own treasure."
Fatespeaker's wings relaxed a little bit. She held out her talons to peer at the anklet of star-bright scales. "I never thought of it like that. I was about to say your scales are a great color. All the SandWings I've met were sore of pale and dusty-looking."
"I know, I'm weird," Sunny said agreeably. "You're the alternate NightWing, right? Glory said Stormcaller's letters mentioned you a few times."
"Who's Stormcaller? You've mentioned him a few times before." Fatespeaker asked.
"He's," Starflight said, then paused, "he's a friend of ours that's trying to help us stop the NightWings. He also was the one that discovered the ancient dragons."
Fatespeaker made a face that looked as if she just figured out the last piece of an odd puzzle. Starflight wondered if he made a similar look when he figured out something important.
"What was it like growing up in the Talons of Peace camp?" Sunny asked.
"So bizarre," Fatespeaker said, folding her wings and leaning toward Sunny. "We were always moving around so that no one could find us. And everyone talked about peace, but it seemed like all we were doing was avoiding soldiers and waiting for the prophecy to some true."
"But it must have been amazing to live with so many dragons from different tribes," Sunny said, her eyes shinning. "You'd get to see what really makes them different, and the ways they're all the same, too."
"I was thinking about that!" Fatespeaker said. "I was the only NightWing, so I was always trying to figure out which other tribe I was most like. But-"
"- you could find something in common with all of them" Sunny guessed.
"Exactly!"
"All right," Glory interrupted. "As strangely adorable as you two are, I need you to either go away and discover your twin souls somewhere else, or focus on battle planning with me."
"Battle planning," Fatespeaker and Sunny said simultaneously.
Glary gave Starflight an odd, somewhat amused look, and he shifted uncomfortably, although he wasn't sure why. He liked that Fatespeaker and Sunny liked each other, but it also made him weirdly uneasy.
luckily, at that moment, Mangrove, Oleander, and Toad arrived with the elegant older dragon Starflight had seen in Kinkajou's dream.
"Let's take this meeting to the tunnel," Glory said. "I need Tsunami's and Clay's input, too." She reached into her desk and pulled out a mess of papers, spread her wings, and soared off the balcony into the trees.
Fatespeaker and Sunny went next, talking to each other as they flew. Starflight followed, trying to keep his mind on the impending attack. Only a few minutes of sunshine and fresh air, and he was already finding it hard to believe what he'd gone through on the NightWing island - or that an army of angry dragons was preparing to destroy all of this before the next sunrise.
Once they were all gathered, within sight of the tunnel but out of hearing distance to be safe, Glory spread out multiple papers that turned out to be letters from Stormcaller, and then had Starflight explain everything he'd heard in the council chamber.
"So at least some of them are afraid of us," she said when he'd finished.
"I'd say most of them," Starflight said. "I mean, I think that's the whole reason they've been kidnapping RainWings and studying them, and why they haven't attacked before. They're terrified of your venom."
Glory showed her teeth and hissed. "They should be."
"Yours, maybe," Tsunami said. "But the res of these dragons - I really can't guarantee that any of them will use it on another dragon, even in a life-or-death situation. They've been told their whole lives to never use it as a weapon. I've done my best, but you try changing an entire tribal philosophy of life in three days."
"I know," Glory said, starting to pace.
"Which I'm not even sure we should," Sunny interjected. "I like their philosophy."
"I could do it," Grandeur said. "Attack another dragon with my venom, I mean, for the sake of my tribe. But I agree that the others would have trouble." She glanced at Mangrove and Oleander.
"I will do anything to make sure Toad stays safe," Oleander said.
"I'd try," Mangrove said. "For Orchid. She's really still alive?" he asked Starflight.
"And waiting for you," Fatespeaker said. "Starflight told her you looking for her, and she said she'd survive until you came and that help was coming soon."
A wave of pink rippled across Mangrove's scales.
"I'm worried about attacking first," Clay said. "We'd have to come out the other end one at a time. If they're smart, they'll be waiting, and then they can pick us off one by one. But if we wait here and let them attack, we could do that to them instead - we'd be in the stronger position."
"I don't want them in my rainforest," Glory snapped. "If they think they're loosing, they'll set the whole place on fire just to be horrible. Besides, we have to go there to rescue the RainWings and have Stormcaller meet up with us. Even if we drive back their attack, we'd still have to go through at some point, and we'll have waisted resources on out defense. No, we go to them first. We just have to find a way to get everyone past the guards at the entrance."
"I have an idea," Sunny said.
"Changing your scales will help," Tsunami said at the same time. "They won't see the RainWings coming along the tunnel if you're all camouflaged Then maybe we burst out and start attacking and hope we've surprised them."
"Doubtful," Starflight said. "Once Morrowseer figures out I went through, they'll be on high alert at the tunnel opening."
"I think it's a good idea," said Sunny. "The one I have, I mean."
"We need to choose the bravest RainWings for the first wave," Glory said. "Tsunami, I want you to make a list for me, based on what you've noticed during training."
Tsunami snorted. "A 'brave' list might be asked a lot. You can have a 'less sleepy than the others' list."
"I can fight," Toad said happily. "I'm super strong."
"You're not going, Toad," Oleander said.
The small MudWing opened his mouth to object, but didn't say anything and just sat on his mother's back with a frown.
"One does not speak to a queen that way of her citizens," Glary said to Tsunami with mock haughtiness, the lapsed back into her regular voice. "Anyway, I think the RainWings will surprise you. I've been meeting them all, one by one, as fast as I can, and they're a lot more complicated than they seem."
"Doesn't anyone want to hear my idea?" Sunny asked.
"I do," said Starflight, but Glory was already speaking to Mangrove.
"We have to make sure that we pair up related RainWings in each squadron, so there's always someone to counteract the venom if there's an accident. I know Sunny's been taking notes on that, so make sure we use her chart when her form the squadrons."
With a stab of jealousy, Starflight saw Sunny lean toward Clay and whisper in his ear. Sometimes it seemed to him as though Sunny and Cay were always together, like the MudWing was the ne she could trust more than any other dragon. He wished he could be that for her instead. But he wasn't anything like Clay, and the truth was, if he had to choose someone to trust with his life, he'd pick Clay over himself as well.
"I don't know how to prepare them to fight NightWing fire," Tsunami said, a little hopelessly. "Most of these dragons have never even seen fire. They'll probably think it's shiny and pretty and try to touch it."
Glory coiled her tail and stared at the sky through the tress. Starflight guessed from her expression that she was thinking about how the RainWings were going to die - there was no way to avoid it. Becoming queen of an entire tribe all of a sudden was hard enough. But leading dragons into battle, especially woefully underprepared dragons, was something none of the dragonets knew anything about or ever wanted to do.
'We want to stop a war - not start a whole new one.
Do the RainWings even stand a chance against the armor-clad, fiercely desperate, violently unhappy NightWings? Are we all going to die today? We're only dragonets. We shouldn't be leading anyone to their deaths. But this is happening no matter what we do. We have no choice now.'
"I tried to draw a map of what I could remember of the island," Glory said. "But Stormcaller, sent us a map of the whole thing. Thanks to him, we might have a better shot at this." She pointed at a map drawn on a piece of parchment paper. "Starflight," she said, "is there anything to add?"
"Queen Splendor is inside the fortress," Starflight said. "In the same dungeon as Deathbringer."
"Oh," Glory said, and several colors shifted across her scales at once. "One wing will go straight to the RainWing prisons, so another should go there - maybe Tsunami can lead that group -"
"SLEEPING DARTS!" Clay suddenly yelled, making everyone jump.
Glory stared at him. "What?"
"Those sleeping darts the RainWings used to knock us out, when we first got to the rainforest," Clay said. Hu nudged Sunny forward. "Sunny says the healers have hundreds of them. The RainWings use them all the time - they play this game where they try to sneak up on each other before getter shot."
"That's true!" Mangrove said, lashing his tail. "And we take turns patrolling so we can shoot strange dragons who come into the forest, like when you five did, which is even more fun."
"Every RainWing already has a blowgun," Sunny said. "Arm them all with as many sleeping darts as they can carry, and use those instead of fighting."
"That's it!" Glory flared her wings, turning dark purple with lightning bolts of excited gold all along her scales. "That's exactly how RainWings should fight!"
"It was Sunny's idea," Clay said, nodding down at the SandWing.
"Maybe we can do this without casualties," Glory said animatedly. "Clay and Sunny, you're in charge of arming all the RainWings. Get all the sleeping darts you can find. Mangrove, Grandeur, and Oleander, it's time to tell the village. Everyone who's willing to fight, meet by the stream here in one hour. We're doing this before nightfall." She turned to Starflight as the others flew off. "Lets review the map. Tell me everything you know."
Glory grabbed the piece of parchment that had the NightWing island drawn on it and put it in front of Starflight.
'War is coming. There's no time to be scared.' Starflight told himself as he leaned over the map. 'You can't be that cowardly dragon on Pyrrhia right now. Remember, you've read all the history scrolls you could find on famous battles. Now use that knowledge. It's time to prove that you really do belong in this prophecy.'
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Onto the next chapter
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(3rd Pov Starflight)
Two hours later, Queen Glory's army was on the move.
The sun was just starting to sink below the trees. It wasn't dark here yet, but it would be soon.
Starflight dug his talons into the mud by the stream, trying to beat down his terror. The clearing bustled with activity, but it was unsettling activity, because most of the gathered dragons were essentially invisible, carefully camouflaged against the background. Starflight kept being bumped and jolted by what appeared to be empty air.
Tsunami was trying to face her and shut up so she could give them a rousing battle speech. The fact that this was proving difficult did not bode well for the over all attack, Starflight thought anxiously.
"Starflight," Glory said, materializing beside him. Her scales shimmered from dark green to a sort of worried-looking pale blue and black. "Are you all right?"
"I guess," Starflight said. He shifted from one foot to another. "You know. Nervous."
"Do you want to stay here?" she asked him quietly. "I'd understand if you do."
"No!" Starflight said. "I mean, I shouldn't. I can't." He glanced at Sunny, who was sorting piles of sleeping darts into little bags that could go over the RainWings' necks. She had none of the weapons other dragons had - no venom, no camouflage, no fire proof scales like Clay and Stormcaller, not even a poisonous tail barb a SandWing should have. He'd never let her go off to a battle without him. Stay behind while his friends threw themselves into danger? How could she ever love him if he made that choice? "I promise I won't be scared."
"It's normal to be scared," Glory said. "I'm scared. You'd have to be crazy not to be - well, crazy or Tsunami, which is basically the same thing. You just have to push that aside and do what you have to do anyway. But I meant, do you want to stay here because we're going to fight your tribe? If it's too much to ask, I understand if you want to sit this one out."
"They're not my tribe," Starflight said. "You are. You and Sunny and Tsunami and Clay and maybe even Stormcaller."
"Aw, you big sap," she said, but her wingtips went all rose-colored, and he knew Glory felt the same way even if she'd never say it out loud. "All right," she said, punching his shoulder, a rare gesture of physical affection from her. "Let's go change the world."
She bounded to the tunnel opening and summoned the first wave of RainWings with a flick of her tail. They huddled, listening to her orders.
Starflight looked around at Sunny again.
'I might die today. What is she never knows? What if I die without telling her how I feel?'
He lifted his face toward the setting sun. He'd bluffed the NightWing guards. He'd escaped from the NightWing island. Surely he could say three words to one dragon.
When he looked down again, Sunny was right in front of him. His heart seized as though someone had wrapped fierce talons around it.
"We're going to be all right," she told him, shaking out her wings. "Just think of the prophecy. We have to be alive to stop the war, right? So we can't die today. Isn't that comforting?"
"I wish I had your optimism," he said.
"It's not optimism," she objected. "It's faith. There's a reason we're here. What we do today is part of it, but there's more, too, and we have to survive to make it happen." Her smile made him feel as if lightning were crackling under his scales.
"Sunny," he said hesitantly. "There's something - I mean . . . . something I've wanted to tell you for a long time."
"I'm listening," she said, tilting her head.
Across the clearing, Glory was flaring her wings and waiting for silence. It was now or possibly never, depending on what happened today.
"I love you," he blurted.
Sunny blinked, and then blinked a few more times. "I . . . I love you, too, Starflight."
"No," he said. "I mean - I mean you're all I think about, and I want to be near you and it hurts when I'm not, and everything I do, I think, what would Sunny want me to do? And I think you're the only dragon who sees me the whole way I am and likes me anyway . . . ."
He thought, uncomfortably, of Fatespeaker, and spotted her at the same time, across the clearing near Glory, watching the RainWing queen with her eyes wide and her head upturned. But his feelings for her and his feeling for Sunny . . . well, they couldn't be the same.
"And I had to tell you," he hurried on, "in case something happens to either one of us today, although if anything happens to you I don't know how I'd be able to breathe or think or do anything ever again."
"Oh my gosh, Starflight, stop," Sunny said in a rush. "This - right now - how can I say anything, let alone the right thing, when we're - when everything - ?" She spread her wings helplessly, indicating the mob of RainWings around them.
"It's all right," Starflight said, and realized that he meant it. "Don't say anything. You don't have to. I just wanted you to know, just in case."
She wrinkled her forehead, as if that didn't seem right to her, but he twined his tail around hers and looked down at their talons sinking into the river bank.
"Just promise me you'll be safe," he said.
"I hardly get to do anything in this battle," she said fiercely. "You promise me you'll be safe."
He opened and closed his mouth, wishing he could promise that and mean it.
"Exactly," she said. "So stop talking like a scroll and just tell me you'll see me soon, okay?"
"I'll see you soon," he said, and for a moment her certainty made him believe it, too.
"Good luck. Kick a NightWing for me," she said as Starflight stepped away, and then she pulled him back for a quick hug, and a moment later he found himself walking over to Glory, his mind in a daze.
'I did it. I told her. And the world didn't collapse.'
(Side note: if Stormcaller was here, there's a 50/50 chance he would have done something to ruin either Starflight's moment with Glory or his moment with Sunny.)
The queen of the RainWings flared her wings one more time and the clearing fell silent.
"You know I don't like giving speeches," Glory said, "so I'll just say this. We're going to save our fellow RainWings, and we're going to make this rainforest safe, and we're going to do it like real RainWings. And by the three moons, try not to talk or sneeze or fall asleep in the tunnel on the way there, all right?"
She turned to the dragon standing next to her. It took Starflight a moment to recognize Glory's brother Jambu; he wasn't his usual vibrant raspberry color, but a rippling shadowy black that would blend in well with the tunnel walls. He was apparently one of the best shots with a blowgun, and he'd volunteered to be the first on through the hole. Starflight wasn't sure if that was bravery or just not knowing what he was getting himself into, but right now it amounted to the same thing.
Jambu hopped up to the hole and slid in; Glory followed immediately behind him, and then Mangrove, Liana, Grandeur, Oleander, and two other RainWings armed with blowguns.
According to the plan, Starflight and Fatespeaker were next, so that once the guards were knocked out, they could lead the RainWings to the prison caves and the fortress. He took a deep breath and looked back, hoping to catch Sunny's eye.
She was watching him, her scales glowing in the fading sunlight.
'I can do this.'
Starflight clambered into the hole and almost immediately, Fatespeaker followed, nearly stepping on his tail. Neither of them said anything, but he felt a little safer knowing she was at his back.
It was stifling in the tunnel, and eerily quiet; the RainWings ahead of him were stealthier than he'd ever expected. He wasn't sure how far ahead they were, exactly; even with his excellent night vision, Starflight couldn't make out the difference between shadows in here. The tunnel tilted down, and he crept along as fast as he dared, keeping his wings carefully folded to hide the silver scales.
Ahead of him, he heard a quiet zzt, and then another and then seven more in rapid succession. Sleeping darts fired flow blowguns, straight out of the shadows, hopefully knocking out all the guards by the hole before any of them noticed and sounded the alarm.
Next, Starflight heard a muffled thump as one RainWing after another jumped into the cave, and then he saw the flicker of firelight. A moment later, he climbed out of the tunnel and felt warm rocks scraping below his scales.
Nine NightWing guards were lying around the cave, each looking as if he or she had just fallen asleep all of a sudden. Their chests rose and fell peacefully; their spears rested harmlessly on the ground nearby.
Glory turned to Mangrove and pointed at the spears, She made some kind of signal Starflight didn't follow, but Mangrove apparently did. He started gathering all the weapons in the cave and passed them to the dragons still coming through the tunnel. They were handed back talon over talon until they were safely stashed in the rainforest, far away from NightWing claws.
'The NightWings are still dangerous. We can't take away their talons or teeth or fire. But one less weapon in a NightWing's claws can't hurt.'
Jambu and Grandeur had already crept ahead; if he strained his ears, Starflight could hear the zzt zzt of the blowguns taking out the guards by the cave entrance.
How long was this going to work? How many NightWings could they send to sleep before somebody noticed? And once someone sounded the alarm, how soon before RainWings started dying?
"All clear," Grandeur's voice whispered along the tunnel like leaves rustling.
Glory's scales had shifted to gray and red and black to match the cave. Starflight couldn't see her, but he felt her wings lightly brush his. It was his turn to lead the way.
He glanced back at the hole that lead to the rainforest. Tsunami and Clay and Sunny were supposed to stay out of sight during the first wave - if anyone spotted blue or brown or gold scales on this island, they'd know the tunnel had been breeched and the NightWings would be on them all immediately. So they were to stay hidden until the stealth campaign turned into a real battle. On the one talon, Starflight was relieved that he didn't have to worry about Sunny, but on the other, he'd feel a lot better if Clay and Tsunami were leading the charge instead of him.
'But this is the smart way to do it - the only way to do it.'
He padded down the tunnel with Fatespeaker beside him, stepping over the slumbering NightWing guards. He could hear the sound of the ocean waves crashing on the black sand below. Outside, the sky was even more gray and ominous than before, with grim lowering clouds that flickered with lightning, all lit by the red glow from the volcano.
After the bright warmth of the rainforest, the island seemed darker and smokier. As Starflight stepped out onto the cave ledge, he felt the ground tremble beneath his talons, then stop.
'That's unsettling,' he thought
"What a nightmare," Grandeur's voice whispered behind him.
"It's worse than I expected," said Jambu. "How can anyone live here?"
"You carry this," Glory said, handing Starflight one of the guard's spears. "We might need it, and it'll look less weird in your claws - if I hold it, it'll look like it's just flying around through the air by itself."
Starflight nodded, although the weight of the spear felt extremely strange in his talons. It was more likely that he'd accidentally poke his own eye out then that he'd be able to use this to fight. He tried to hold it as far away from himself as he lifted up into the sky.
"Take us to the prison caves first," Glory's voice said from the air beside him. "Once Mangrove and the others are set up to free the prisoners, you and I can head for the fortress."
"You?" Starflight said. It was really odd not being able to see her; he felt as if he were arguing with the air. "That's the most dangerous part. As the queen, shouldn't you keep yourself safe? You can send someone else for Splendor." He tilted his wings to soar toward the prison caves and the lava river.
He could feel the air currents shifting around him as several invisible dragons flew alongside. He wasn't sure how many RainWings were following him, but he hoped none of the NightWings would hear the wingbeats and get suspicious. There were very few NightWings in sight - one or two on the balconies of the fortress of the fortress plus the guards in the cave entrances below. Starflight guessed that the rest were assembling in preparation for their planned attack tonight.
"I'm not going to be the kind of queen who sends other dragons into danger that I'm not willing to face myself," Glory said. "And even if I could send someone for Splendor, I can't send anyone else to face Battlewinner. Besides, Stormcaller said he would meet up with us once we entered the fortress."
Starflight sucked in a surprised breath. "Battlewinner?" he said. "Is that a good idea?"
"Weren't you the one who suggested diplomacy?" Glory said, and he could hear amusement in her voice.
'Yes, but that was before I knew anything about the NightWings.'
"Rescuing the prisoners is the top priority," she went on, "but if I can threaten her somehow - maybe if I tell her I'll expose her secret - perhaps I can get her to leave us and the rainforest alone from now n."
"I doubt it," Fatespeaker said. "The NightWings really want your rainforest."
"Well, too bad," Glory snapped.
"Shh," Starflight said. They were approached the first prison cave. he dipped his head toward it and felt a whoosh of wind as one of the RainWings dove past him. A moment later, the two guards in the cave entrance reached for their necks, looking confused, and then, in slow motion, they crumbled into slumbering heaps.
"We're luck the caves line the river," Starflight said, circling around in the sky. "The guards at each cave entrance can't see any others get knocked out."
He saw the guards in the next cave entrance collapse to the ground, and then the next, and the next. The RainWings were fanning out, following instructions Glory had given them before before leaving the rainforest. He saw the shimmer of scales and teeth here and there as the RainWings landed in pairs, shifted color, and darted into the prison caves.
"You said you saw Orchid in one of these caves," Glory said to Fatespeaker. "Do you remember which one?"
Fatespeaker nodded and twisted into a dice, aiming for one of the caves closest to the fortress. As they approached, its two guards looked up. Although all they could see were two NightWing dragonets, one of them frowned a little as if he sensed something was amiss. Starflight's stomach lurched as the guard reached for the gong that would summon the rest of the tribe.
Then the air beside Starflight's ear went zzt zzt, and the two guards wobbled and went down.
"That was close," Starflight said, but after a moment he realized he really was talking to empty air. Below him, the two guards were dragged aside, and as he landed he heard the thump of talons hurrying to the back of the cave.
"I want to see this," Fatespeaker whispered, darting inside. Starflight followed just in time to see Mangrove appear in front of Orchid, his gray and black scales shifting all at once to a joyful pink shot through with worried green.
Orchid let out a cry of joy that was muffled by the iron muzzle around her jaws. She reached toward Mangrove and he leaped for her, wrapping his wings all the way around her and twining his tail with hers.
"I'm here," he said. "I wouldn't give up; I'd never give up on you."
She couldn't speak, but the rose colors of Orchid's scales said everything.
"Let's get out of here as fast as we can," Glory said. "If they're all chained to the wall like this, we have extra work to do. Starflight, give me the spear."
Starflight held the spear out and it was whisked away from him. A Glory-shaped shadow approached Orchid and carefully stick the points of the spear into the lock of the mouth band.
"Liana, Grandeur, are you paying attention?" Glory asked.
"Yes," two voices said from the air. Starflight jumped. He hadn't realized the two other RainWings were with them.
"This is how you undo the locks," Glory said, twisting the spear. The muzzle fell off with a clank, and Glory set to work of the chains that bound Orchid to the wall.
"I was afraid you wouldn't care where I was," Orchid said to Mangrove. "I thought you'd move on and find someone else . . ."
"Never, never, never," Mangrove said fiercely.
"Do you feel the earth shaking?" Orchid asked.
"I think that's me," Mangrove said, holding out his trembling claws. "Like all the happiness inside us is trying to burst out."
'Actually, I'm pretty sure that was a real earth quake,' Starflight thought. He'd felt the tremor in the earth as well, rumbling through his talons before it stopped.
"Done," Glory said, and the spear moved through the air as she handed it to one of the other RainWings. Orchid shook off the loose chains and spread her wings, beaming and glowing like a ball of pink sunshine.
"Orchid, this is our new queen, Glory," sand Mangrove. "She's the reason we found you, and she's the dragon who convinced everyone to some get you."
"It was really thanks to Mangrove," said Glory. "He's the one who knew you were missing and wouldn't shut up about it. If we hadn't brought an army to save you, he'd have come over here and done it himself."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Orchid said with a half bow.
"That's too weird," Starflight whispered to Fatespeaker. "Hearing my friend called 'Your Majesty.'"
"I bet watching her lead an invasion is fairly strange, too," Fatespeaker whispered back.
"Grandeur, liana, disguise yourself as NightWings, take the guards' spear, and go to the other caves," Glory ordered. "Show everyone how to free the prisoners. Move as quickly and quietly as you can. then get everyone back to the tunnel. The most important thing is getting all fourteen prisoners home safe. Mangrove, you and Orchid take a moment to calm your scales down and then you can head back to the rainforest, too."
"I should come with you," Mangrove said. "if you're going into the fortress, you'll need backup."
"I'll have it," Glory said. "But we went to a lot of trouble to reunite you and Orchid, so go be happy with her for a little while. We'll let you know if we need you."
Mangrove and Orchid both bowed.
Wings brushed against Starflight's shoulder and he started back for a moment before he realized it was Glory, heading up the tunnel to the lava river.
"Come on, Starflight," she said from the darkness. "Let's go have a talk with the NightWing queen."
END OF CHAPTER
A/N
Hope you all liked the chapter.
There's only four chapters and the epilogue left of book 4 (2 chapters and an epilogue for this story) and Stormcaller will only be in the last three, but some interesting things are going to happen.
When I started making this story earlier in the year, I though I would barely finish book 4 by the time I had summer break, but I might finish book 5 before that time, or get close to finishing it.
Also, just letting you all know, Stormcaller will be in book 5 a lot more than he was in book 4.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
See you all in the next chapter
bye