Fire Islands: Chapter Three: Discovering Embers

Chapter Three

Discovering Embers

    Clay gently lifted Sunny and wrapped his wings around her. He and Tsunami exchanged worried glances. "You think she'll be all right?" asked Tsunami.

    "I hope so," replied Clay with a sigh. "Although she doesn't look very good."

    Tsunami nodded reluctantly and they set off between the jagged boulders. "Glory!" called Tsunami. "Starflight?" No answer.

    Clay adjusted his grip on Sunny as a shadow fell over them. They looked up to see the tallest mountain in sight looming over them. "I have a feeling that this is where Starflight and Glory are. It seems to match with our luck so far."

    Tsunami snorted and they began to climb the mountain. Its rocky trails were treacherous and at times they had to hug the walls for fear of falling. Clay tightened his hold on the golden SandWing and she leaned closer against him.

    "I think it's time to find out where we are," started Tsunami. "Mountains. That seems like SkyWing territory, but we haven't seen a single dragon around here. You'd think Ruby would have some kind of patrols or something."

    "Maybe they're sleeping?" Clay suggested.

    Tsunami sighed and arched an eyebrow at him. "All of them? Now? It's, what, noon? Why would they be sleeping?"

    "Er, hibernation?"

    "That's bears you idiot. Dragons don't hibernate. Especially in the summer."

    "Good point."

    Suddenly a voice drifted down from the mountain. "What's this about dragons and hibernation? Dragons don't hibernate. I think that the chances of a dragon sleeping for two to three months straight are very low. The agriculture curve would change dramatically. Like-" He was cut off by Tsunami running towards him.

    "I know whenever I hear about agriculture curves and random stuff like that that Starflight has been here," she laughed as she threw her wings around Starflight. Starflight laughed back, for once not bothered by his friend's teasing.

    Clay moved more carefully up the mountain slope and nudged him affectionately. "It's never Starflight if he doesn't have something to say about technical stuff."

    Starflight's smile faded as he realized that Clay's wings were cradling someone. "Sunny?"

    Tsunami pulled away. "Sorry, Starflight. She won't wake up."

    Nodding reluctantly, Starflight's blind gaze swept over the mountains. "Have you found Glory?"

    "No," Clay replied. "Although we found one of her scales, so she's probably here somewhere."

    "Somewhere?" called another voice. "You got that right. Somewhere stranded on this stupid mountain with stupid rocks and a stupid broken wing!"

    They all looked up to see Glory, desperately trying to keep her scales a cool forest green, but not exactly succeeding. Her wing was bent at an odd angle and flares of red seemed to be striking through the green, based from her injury.

    "Glory! Thank the moons!" Tsunami brushed her wing against Starflight's and scrambled up the slope. "Are you all right?"

    Glory gave her wing a disgusted look. "Other than this? Yep."

    "Great," moaned Clay. "Deathbringer's gonna kill us."

    "Can I see it?" Starflight asked. After Glory gave her permission, he carefully ran his claws along her wing, resulting in a wince. "Sorry," he apologized and withdrew his talons. "It's broken. And dislocated."

    "Lovely. I was hoping I could start break with the inability to fly," griped Glory. "Wait. Is that Sunny?"

    Clay sighed for a second time that day and nodded. Glory winced again, and not just from her wing. "How do we get the dislocated wing back into shape?" Tsunami asked Starflight.

    "Well, I've never done this before, but first someone has to hold her down."

    "That's unnecessary," protested Glory as Tsunami held her to the ground. "I can restrain myself."

    "No, you can't," Starflight firmly told her, and took the wing gently in his talons. He took a deep breath, and pushed as hard as he could against Glory's wing.

    Glory yelled, but then breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Now all we have to deal with is the minor problem of the broken bone."

    "And Sunny," added Tsunami as she let Glory up.

    "Hey, maybe she can help us." Clay was shielding his eyes from the sun with his free arm and pointed. "See? That little red dragonet."

    They turned to see a small dragonet flying towards them, her red scales just visible. "Don't her wings look a little big?" asked Tsunami.

    "Yeah," Glory agreed. "And-Wait. Are those golden scales?"

    Sure enough, as the dragonet neared them they could see red flecked with gold.

    "Maybe she's a hybrid," suggested Starflight. "Of SandWing, NightWing, some kind of big-winged dragon, and SkyWing?"

    "Ugh," muttered Glory. "Not likely."

    The dragonet landed next to them and looked up at them with curious eyes. Her eyes traveled over to Glory and Sunny and she gasped. "Are you all right?"

    Before they could answer, someone called, "Embers! Come back here right now!"

    The dragonet rolled her eyes. "That would be the Terror-Sister."

    Another red and gold dragon barreled towards them and landed, panting, next to the dragonet. "Embers, what did I tell you about-" She broke off abruptly at the sight of the other dragons. At Clay's broad head, at Tsunami's webbed talons and gills, at Starflight's unmistakable blind gaze, and at Glory's deep green scales, which were slowly being covered by red, despite her best efforts.

    The dragon gasped and jumped in front of the dragonet. She threw her wings out, displaying their enormous size, and bared her teeth at them. Her next words were low and menacing, "Who are you?"