Legends The Storm: The Last LightWing

PROLOGUE

Two white and violet dragons ran through the burning forest behind her, not looking back, one was Pomegranate, and the other was Sharpleaf. The hatchling in her arms was special, she couldn’t pinpoint why, but she had to protect it. “Sharpleaf, where can we go? They’ll find us no matter what!” Pomegranate said.

“It doesn’t matter if they find us,” Sharpleaf said, “It only matters if they find me,” They hid behind a large tree.

“Why?” Pomegranate asked.

“Because of the Resistance, Pomegranate,"

"What resistance?”  Pomegranate asked.

“My father started a Resistance many years ago, and he was brutally killed a couple weeks ago by a scavenger up in the north, now they’re looking for me,"

"That’s terrible,” Pomegranate said. Pomegranate looked at the hatchling. “I won’t be able to come with you,"

"Why?” Sharpleaf asked.

“I have to take care of her, we can’t leave her to die here!"

"Then I’ll have to die then, and you have to go to the village,” Sharpleaf said sadly.

“Why can’t you come?” Pomegranate asked.

“Because-” Just then they had been found, by the scavengers, a whole horde of them, all armed with nets, rope, and armor. “Fly!” They leaped clean over the scavengers, and as they flew away, Sharpleaf said “I have to go back to the base, there is something I need to hide. If I‘m not back at the Jade Mountain by tomorrow, then return to the village. Hide. Whatever you do, do not let our hatchling get taken."

"But we haven’t even named her!” Pomegranate cried.

“I have an idea, let’s get out of here! Now, fly.” and then Sharpleaf shot straight into the air, and as he flew back to the resistance base, he thought I have to hide the king’s dagger. If he finds it, we will be destroyed. It has power. It MUST be hidden.

He arrived at the base a few moments later, where the twins and Hibiscus were. “You two and SandWing” Sharpleaf called “Come over here. I need you three to protect this"

"Hey!,” Hibiscus whined “Call me Hibiscus!”

“Okay, Hibiscus,” Sharpleaf agreed, he really didn't like Hibiscus very much, but it wasn't his fault. Hibiscus’s real father was a servant to the king. Those people were frowned upon, Especially by the Resistance,  “Okay, son,” Sharpleaf said. Hibiscus smiled.

Soon he will realize that he will be part of the Resistance, then he would be a true warrior. Cherry and Apple would have to stay here, because the resistance would crumble, but I must tell Pomegranate that they were taken to another camp.

“This dagger could destroy us if we don’t hide it from the king. Go hide it. I’ll distract the scavengers. STAY HERE, no matter what you do, until years have past and no one thinks the rebellion exists. Twins, go back to your mother. Sandwing, you have to stay here because someone needs to protect the dagger."

"What happens if the king finds you?” Cherry asked.

“Then follow my instructions. If I am back before next week, I will give you new instructions. Now, go hide the dagger.” he said reassuringly, even though he knew his fate.

He left the base, hoping his stepson and daughters would be okay.

He landed in an empty field filled with clovers and grass. He looked around so no dragons could see him, nor Falconshade, “I know you’re out there...” Sharpleaf, said hoping to sound brave.

“I’m everywhere, you just don’t see me… yet” Then Sharpleaf couldn’t move anywhere where he didn’t see the towering, growing dragon rising up behind him.

“Have any last words, RainWing?” Falconshade asked from the whole field.

“Vos autem non morieris” The DarkWing chanted, “It’s in Dracqolin, meaning you will die NOW”

Sharpleaf felt his heart burning from the inside out. “It takes a while for it to happen painfully, so to pass the time, I will find your children and kill them too,” He walked off, putting on the necklace, and becoming smaller and smaller and more harrier, until he finally landed at the bottom of the palace, right near the door. Sharpleaf’s last thought looking around him was, Her name should be Clover...

Chapter  1

Clover hoped to wake up in the rainforest, to wake up to a new day, a better day. Then she was warped back into reality. Clover had a hard life, she was separated from her father and sisters at a very young age. Her father was killed a few years ago by the king. At least she had her mother, her little twin sisters Cherry and Apple couldn't even say that, since they had been separated when they were hatched the last year. She usually had the colors, red, gray and orange to represent the bitterness of her life all the time. Since Clover was so tired she slept till after breakfast, and into lunch.

She found a table where her friend Pigeon was sitting. “Scavengers are disgusting, claw-biting parasites”. She told her friend Pigeon, a young, smart, ambitious SkyWing, remembering her sad year.

He had bright red scales with an orange underbelly, it almost looked like he was on fire. His eyes were a light greenish blue color. Pigeon replied “How did they even take power over us? I could crush one with my back talon!”

“If you did that, you would answer to the king," Clover said. Nobody had ever seen the king of the scavengers, but dragonets thought he was big enough to kill a dragon with the flick of his claw, and there were rumors that the king was thousands of years old.

“We can’t crush the king in one talon, that’s for sure” agreed Pigeon, “But we can’t sit around doing whatever the king wants us to do, either. ” Pigeon was always saying things like that, just a week after he got taken he came up with a bunch of plans to get out.

After that, Clover went to look for her mother. On her way there she had a run-in with a scavenger. It was sitting on the porch of a small hut. Clover found her mother crouched on the bed. She was more and more sad with each coming day. She had been through a lot, her love had been killed, her daughters taken and she had been forced to live in a small hut.

“How are you?” Clover asked. “I’m okay Clover, I just miss him” sighed Pomegranate. Pomegranate usually had dark, sad, scales, but today she was a light green instead “I miss him too, mother” Clover said. ”And Cherry and Apple. " "Yes, I do too. I barely got to see them before they were taken, they might not even have the same name. ” Pomegranate said, ”Okay, I’ll go back to my own hut now," Clover said. “Bye Clover, did you go to the fruit picking station? ," replied Pomegranate. ”Oh, yeah, I don’t want to be late," "Thanks mother," Clover shouted over her shoulder as she left.

Clover’s job was simple. The scavengers would point to a fruit and she would have to get as many as she could find then she would deposit them in the horse-drawn wagons the scavengers rode in.

Sometimes Clover raced against the other fruit-picking dragons on the way to the fruit-picking station, then they would compete to see who could get the most fruit. The scavengers were okay with that, since it meant that they would get more fruit.

“Who wants to race?” asked Clover. “ I do!” shouted Cheetah. He was a small but fast SandWing-NightWing hybrid who had mostly yellowish-gold scales with black scales dotted here and there, hence his name. Clover tried as hard as she could, yet, in the end, Cheetah won just by one pineapple. When they were done racing, she saw her other friend Seaweed, a SeaWing about Clover’s age, she had mainly a mainly blue body, a green underbelly and some unusual white scales all over her body.

“Did you find out what the paper says?” asked Seaweed.

Clover answered, “Sorry, I left it in my hut.”  The “paper” was an old, torn scroll that had some words on it Clover couldn’t read, they were written in some quill scratch that looked written quickly. She found it under a mango tree when she was in a race with Seaweed, and she showed it to Seaweed. When she tried to read it, she couldn’t.

Cheetah came over and asked.“What’s the paper?”

While Clover was explaining, she saw Seaweed looking into a bush. Clover asked, “What are you staring at?,”

“I saw some kind of light in the bushes and then it just disappeared,” said Seaweed.

So Clover went deep into the woods to try to find it. Seaweed wasn’t so easily distracted and fireflies wouldn’t come out this early. “I wonder what that was” Clover whispered to herself as she plowed through the dense undergrowth. She saw a dim light, but it disappeared, and that was when Clover heard the conch shell. It was time to leave.

 

Chapter 2

The next day, Clover woke up to the sound of the scavengers’ summoning horns, a signal to go to the arena for announcements. To communicate, the scavengers wrote on a giant piece of paper with giant words the dragons could read. At least, it must have been giant for them. Even though the scavengers had deliberately written in large letters, they were still only about half as tall as a full grown scavenger, and it was still hard to read.

“I wonder what urgent alert we have now” grumbled Alligator, another one of Clover’s friends, a large hulking Mudwing, with a smooth, flat head, brown and tan scales, and amber flecks along his snout, wings, and underbelly. ‘I don’t know” replied Clover, “But I’m really tired”. She wondered if one of her friends did this, or if it had something to do with that light Seaweed saw.

Clover was shocked when the she heard the announcement; one of the scavengers was dead! Not just because of old age or disease, he was murdered. They had to admit it was a mystery but the scavenger clearly had a dragon clawed hole in his stomach. It must have been a dragon. Clover had a terrible thought: Could Pigeon have done this?. Clover told Alligator of her suspicions.

“It would make sense for Pigeon to do it” admitted Alligator. “After the rest of the announcements, I’ll look for Pigeon and see. ” Clover said. The rest of the alert was a warning to scavengers to run away from any mysterious light, and to alert a scavenger general about its location. After the alert was over, Clover flew over to Pigeon’s hut shouting ”Pigeon”! When she got to his hut, Pigeon wasn’t there. Then, she heard someone say behind her “Looking for me?” Clover whirled around and saw Pigeon standing there. “If you killed that scavenger" "I didn’t kill the scavenger! I’m not crazy enough for that!” Pigeon interrupted. “Besides, I wouldn’t be able to,”  “Well, then if you didn’t do it, then who did?” Clover replied angrily. “I don’t- hey, what’s that light?" "Humph” Clover snorted “ you’re trying to distract me, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. ” Pigeon replied sarcastically. Clover turned, and she saw the strange light too, and then she could’ve sworn she

saw pale blue eyes staring at her, but they vanished as soon as they were there. “That was……. Strange.” Clover said. “I agree” said Pigeon. ”I’m going to go outside now” Clover told Pigeon in an awkward tone. She looked in the forest which was right outside Pigeon’s hut for anything, even that mysterious light. First she sees it with Seaweed, now with Pigeon. Clover’s brain was all over the place “Was it a spy for the scavenger king”. She thought “Or maybe it was the king himself!" "Why is it so hard to find a light in a dark forest!” Clover told herself irritated. She didn’t know why a mysterious light was going to solve all her problems. minutes later after seeing a firefly skitter over a tree.

She decided to head home. She was very tired from her. . “expedition” so she wanted to go back to her own hut. When she went back to her own hut, she saw Seaweed with a worried expression at Clover. Clover ran to Seaweed to ask what happened and then Seaweed said “Clover, your mother has been put on inspection. ” It was like Clover had been hit with a  diamond. Inspection was the worst thing imaginable. Clover had thought it wasn’t reality, her mother hadn’t done anything wrong. This was how Clover’s father died, and she couldn’t lose her only family left. All at once, all of Clover’s fear wisped away She was done listening to pitiful creatures who forced them to do their bidding. She had to find the light.

 

Chapter 3

Clover wasn’t exactly sure how to find the light so she needed help and a way to communicate. They needed some kind of signal if they did see the light. So during the next day of fruit-picking she decided to tell Seaweed her plan. ”What’s the light?," Cheetah asked. Seaweed replied “The light is a glow that comes-”. “No not that light, this very specific light that you’re talking about” Cheetah remarked slightly annoyed”. ”Oh, that, I think Clover should explain that” Seaweed said. “The light is something I saw yesterday with Pigeon, " "I also saw it with Seaweed the day before that ” Clover explained. “Ohh, yeah" "That I remember, I was about to leave and go to my hut, then I heard Seaweed yelling something about a light and to come. " "And I went to go help, and you kept collecting pineapples," Clover remarked.

The next day when she woke up Clover went to Pigeon’s hut to ask him to join her “secret plan”. After about a minute of talking. “That sounds like a good idea, but how will we find it?," Pigeon asked, while pacing the room. “Well, I already told Seaweed and Cheetah yesterday," Clover said. “Did you tell Alligator yet?," Pigeon asked. “No, I didn’t see him today," Clover answered. “Well, if you do ever see him you have to ask him if he’s seen anything" "Ok sure, but even if we do see something what would it matter if it’s only there for a second? and how would we be able to tell each-other if we were able to see it?” Clover asked, also now pacing the tiny hut. “What we need is some kind of signal, like the conch shell at the end of our jobs," Pigeon said. “I think it should be quiet enough so that whatever “it” is it won’t be able to run at the sound" "But what could that be…?,” Pigeon said, again pacing the interior of his hut. “Could it be where we blow on a whistle?," Clover asked. “No--that would be too loud”. They heard some low whistling from the woods and Clover and Pigeon ran outside of the hut. Then they saw the same light as before, sky blue eyes then it all vanished before their very eyes. Instead of being terribly surprised Pigeon just asked Clover “Did you hear that whistle?" "Yeah” Clover answered. “That’s our signal”

The next day Clover, Pigeon, Cheetah, Seaweed and Alligator all met in Clover’s hut. “I have an idea," Pigeon explained “This is something I’m going to call the horn because it’s shaped like--" "Your horn” Cheetah replied. “Well show us then," Clover said anxiously. “Okay, Okay genius can’t be rushed" "Really? I don’t see one," Seaweed remarked. “Ha, ha, very funny. Anyway, here it is," Pigeon pulled it out from behind his back. It wasn’t too fascinating; it was shaped like any ordinary SkyWing horn. “Wow," Alligator exclaimed, “How does it work?," "Well," Pigeon started “You blow a sound through a hole and it would come louder or softer through the other side" "How would that help?," Seaweed asked. “I don’t know but it looks cool," Cheetah said. “No, shrimp for brains," Pigeon said, “Clover said she needed something to communicate, and we heard a whistle in the woods, so voila" "What does voila mean?," Clover asked. “It means--uhh--well---," Pigeon started scratching the back of his head. “Of course you don’t know," Clover said snarkily. “I heard someone using it and it sounded cool so---," Pigeon said “Did they use it sarcastically?” Alligator asked. “Maybe," Pigeon answered. “Then it was me.” Alligator said “So, let’s get started!," Clover said excitedly.

Clover woke up tired that day, then she looked outside. “Wait, why is it so dark outside?," Clover said to herself. “Something must have woken me up, but what?," She said a little bit softer. Clover had an internal clock, so she wouldn’t be woken up unless something woke her up. Clover looked around the hut for something that could have been changed since everyone left last night. She saw a book on the ground of the hut. That could have been Pigeon. She then did some snooping around outside of her own hut. I feel like a detective looking for ominous footprints, Ha She thought to herself. Clover found an bright yellow scale on the ground. What dragon could this be from. Clover went back into the darkness of her hut and then all of a sudden the scale started to glow, the exact glow she had seen before. Well that’s very odd

Chapter 4

 

The next morning when Clover woke up, the glowing scale was gone. Then she suddenly remembered everything that had happened the previous night. It’s like someone gave me a clue, then immediately took it away. She also remembered her mother was being sent to inspection the in a couple of days, so they had to find that light. Clover looked on the side of her bed and were the horn was, and today it was there, but  so was the note she had found about a week ago. “Huh, I don’t remember putting that there," Clover said to herself. “Well, I guess I’ll ask my friends, and I’ll head early to go to fruit-picking. ” So Clover took the horn Pigeon made, and the note that was on the side of the bed, and she took off.

“Hey guys," Clover said to Cheetah and Seaweed. “Good morning” Seaweed said with a yawn. “So guys, I did some snooping around, because I was woken up in the middle of the night and-" "Ahrgahh” Seaweed groaned and yawned, “Sorry, I went to sleep late last night but, please continue," Seaweed said politely. “Anyway, I found this light yellow scale outside and when I took it into my hut it glowed!” Clover said excitedly. “Do you have it ?” Cheetah asked. “Noo, I lost it” Clover said with a frown. “How do you lose a glowing scale?” Cheetah said annoyed. “I left it on my desk last night, and instead of it was the note I found with Seaweed last week," Clover said, slightly confused saying it out loud. Clover pulled out the note from a pouch she brought with her. “I could try reading it now, looking at Pigeon’s quill scratch while working with him, I became a master at it” Clover said grinning. “Let me see it, you only showed Seaweed!” Cheetah said anxiously. “Okay, okay, let me try reading it first," Clover said tiredly. “I can read out the first, second, fourth and fifth words now!" "The first word is THE, the second is LAST, the fourth is WILL, and the fifth I think is, COME” Clover said. “Can you read the the third word?” Cheetah asked with big eyes. “You want to try?” Clover asked then, showed Cheetah. “I think it says LIGHTWING," Cheetah said looking sideways at the scroll. “What’s that?” Clover asked confused. “Could it be a kind of dragon?” Seaweed butted in after yawning seven times. “Maybe we should go to the library?” Clover asked. “Okay” Seaweed said. The conch shell sounded. “It’s time to look for the fruit," Clover said. On the scroll was a picture of a banana. “Ready to race?" "Oh wait, I’ll win," Cheetah said snarkily. “Nice try, small fry, but I’ll win today!” Clover said snarkily. “Three, two, one!” Seaweed hollered “GOOO!” Clover left the ground at full force into the dense undergrowth. Cheetah set off running instead. “How’s he going to get any fruit?” Clover mumbled to herself, “Everyone knows bananas grow in trees," She hollered to Cheetah. “I know what I’m doing," Cheetah said then disappeared into the forest. “Well, he’s nuts," Clover grumbled to herself. Clover found a huge clump of what looked like more than fifty bananas. YES! A huge clump of bananas just for me, Cheetah’s probably eating my dust. Then Clover heard the conch shell. Time to go back, I can’t wait to rub this in Cheetah’s face! “Hey Cheetah how many bananas did you get?," Clover asked, waiting to hear his low number. “Oh, I got eighty of them,” Cheetah said grinning. “But--how--how did you do that!?," Clover said looking completely awestruck “I got only fifty bananas," "I’ll never tell my secret” Cheetah said jokingly. They both went up to the wheelbarrow and put their boatload of bananas into a cart. “Ok, let's go for the next fruit," "I wonder what it is” Clover said to Seaweed. It was a green fruit that was cut open and had a soft juicy green sauce inside. “Huh, what fruit is that” Clover asked. “I don’t know, but I guess we’re going to find out” Seaweed said. “Three, two, one!” Cheetah yelled “GOOO”. Clover decided to take it low this time. She had never seen that fruit and she thought that there were more fruits after Cheetah ran.

Then, while she was flying around the trees for the green fruit, she saw a light-yellow dragon that looked like a SandWing hybrid sitting on a rock, staring at the sky. After that, Clover flew into a tree and  passed out for a couple of minutes. When she turned up she saw the dragon looking down at her. “Who are you” Clover asked groggily. “I’m--I’m Beach" "Oh, Beach, what are you doing here?” Clover asked getting up. “I’m a hunter!” Beach said proudly. “Okay...” Clover said awkwardly. Then as soon as Clover got up, Beach asked “What’s that note in your pouch?" "Oh, this?” Clover remarked, pulling the note out of her pocket, “It’s a note I found about a week ago" "Have you read it yet?” Beach asked “I think so,” Clover said “I found it on my desk instead of the glowing scale I found yesterday” Beach looked away for a second as if trying to change the conversation. “Oh, can you read what this third word on the note is?” Clover asked “My friend said it might be “LightWing” but I’m not sure what that is" " I’m planning on going to the library today to find out”  “Do you know what a LightWing is?” Clover asked. “Ummmm--nooooooooo..” The suspicious dragon said. “Sure…” Clover said “I’m going to look for that green fruit now" "Oh” Beach said “I, think that’s called an avocado” “Okay, I’m going to look for those avocados" "Bye!” Clover said.

Clover went back to the cart. “Hi!” Seaweed said. “Why do you only have one green fruit?” Seaweed asked. “I ran into a tree and I couldn’t find any avocados” Clover said. “What are avocados?” Cheetah asked. “There the green fruit we’ve been looking for,” Clover answered. “How do you know now what they are?” Seaweed interrogated. Somebody told me when I was in the woods. “Okay, who?” Seaweed said. “He said his name was Beach,” Clover answered. “I’ll ask Pigeon if anyone is named Beach,” Seaweed responded. “Okay,” Clover said “Bye!”

 

 

Chapter 5

The next day, Clover went to Pigeon’s hut to ask Seaweed about Beach. “Hi, did  Seaweed ask if anyone named Beach, is a hunter?” Clover asked. “No” Pigeon said “But I know someone named Beach" "He’s about a year  older than me and he hangs out with Alligator" "And Alligator told me that he’s been acting a little weird lately,” Pigeon said. “Like what?” Clover asked. “I don’t know," "Things like talking less, responding less and--” Then Seaweed knocked at the door. “Pigeon, Clover, are you there?” Seaweed asked. “Yeah,” Clover answered. Seaweed came through the door. She had what looked like a sad expression on her face and looked at Clover. “Clover, your mother’s being put on Inspection tomorrow,” Seaweed said. “Oh,” Clover said abruptly. She had just remembered that if she couldn’t find this light, she’d have to take matters into her own hands, for her mother. Clover was about to leave when Pigeon said “What I was about to say was…” looking at Seaweed. She just shrugged “Beach took the night shift so if you want to find him--,”  “Go at night,” Clover responded, bounding for the door. “Okay,” Clover said, mostly to herself.

A couple hours later Clover was sitting on her bed looking at the top of her hut. “I’ve got to go now,” Clover whispered to herself. She lept off of her bed and onto the ground. She looked out the door. It’s almost dark outside, better get going. Two of the moons were full up in the evening sky. So beautiful. Clover almost never got a chance to see the light of the moons. She flew silently and camouflaged, for no apparent reason, except the feeling she was being watched. Were there more night hunters in the woods right now? She didn’t care, she had to keep going. She looked into the creepy, horrifying darkness right in front of her. I can’t see anything further than what’s right next to me. She couldn’t imagine looking for fruits when it was this dark. We give more food to those tiny annoying scavengers then we get ourselves, why would they need so much food as for a night shift? She realized that she was trying to keep herself from going inside the undergrowth. It’s fine, I can do this. She thought sheepishly. Clover went inside very slowly, looking around her with every step. “What’s THAT?” Clover almost yelled, looking at a dragon-shaped tree. Oh, that scared me. Clover felt her scales tingling and rising. She then saw a dragon figure from a few feet away veer from a tree. She went up to the dragon, and from closer she looked like a SandWing. “Hi!” Clover said. “Hello” the dragon said disappointed. “Why the glum face?” Clover asked. “I thought you were that deer I saw earlier, then I noticed deers can’t talk!” the dragon said with more of a smile. “What’s your name?” the dragon asked. “I’m Clover,” Clover answered. “What’s yours?” She asked. “My name’s Cactus,” He answered. “Do you know a dragon named Beach?” Clover asked “You know, light-yellow scales, new on night shift," "Yeah, I know Beach,” Cactus answered. “He usually goes farther into the woods than I do,”  “Okay, thanks!” Clover said. Clover left. Clover went deeper and deeper into the woods. There aren’t very many dragons on night shift. Then she saw closer in the mid-woods, a dragon that looked entangled in vines. Clover looked at the knots and then looked at the dragon. This dragon fit all the descriptions in her head she remembered about when she saw Beach. She got closer to the dragon and saw that only the dragon's snout and wings were bound together. I’ve gotta release him! Clover thought. She started to untangle the knots around the dragon’s snout and he looked up at her. When she untangled the dragon she started with the snout and then she did the wings. “Thank you,” The dragon said groaning. “Are you okay?” Clover asked. “Oh yeah,” He said “I’m fine," "Who did this?” Clover asked. “Someone who just wanted to take my shifts for some reason" "Wait a minute,” Clover thought out loud “What’s your name?,” She asked. “My name is Beach” the dragon said. Then came flying behind them was a dragon illuminated as bright as the moons in the sky.

 

Chapter 6

 

The two looked at the bright dragon in awe as its light yellow scales glistened, and were bright like the light she had seen so many times before. The two didn’t even try to attack the dragon, it was like something Clover had never seen before. “Who are you?” Beach asked his claws grasped. “Sorry,” the dragon said to both of them. “Your name is Sorry?” Clover asked. The dragon just laughed. Clover just couldn’t stop looking at his glowing scales. He had light blue eyes and lighter blue underbelly. He also had silver scales running from his head to the tip of his tail. “No,” He said “My name is Thunderhawk”. “Oh” Clover said. “Clover-” Thunderhawk said. “How do you know my name?” Clover asked, staring him dead in the eye. “That’s what I was about to say,” He said softly “I’ve been watching you for quite some time now," "The paper, that mysterious light,” he paused  “That was me," "Why would you do that?” Clover asked. “I have to save this whole village from an evil dragon,” Thunderhawk said. “ That doesn’t answer my question,” Clover said angrily, “I don’t think any dragons at this village are evil.” Clover said “Are there any?" "Well, those myths you hear about your king, are true” Thunderhawk answered. “How are they true, a scavenger king would have to be, a scavenger,” Clover said confused. “Your king, is a dragon named Falconshade,” He said. “Yeah, right! How could a dragon control scavengers, of all the evil things?” Clover asked, clearly irritated. “Long ago, there were two tribes. The LightWings, and the DarkWings. The LightWings were lightning powered dragons and were formidable warriors. Falconshade was a powerful DarkWing king, and he tried to kill the LightWings, but we were too powerful to wipe out. Our king banished Falconshade and all of those loyal to him on an island. Falconshade’s followers evolved into tribes, while Falconshade did not. So, the LightWings forced him to this village, with an enchanted amulet around his neck, and he became a scavenger,” said Thunderhawk. “What happened to the other DarkWings?” asked Beach. “They, too, evolved into tribes, as did my kind. However, some, like me, did not evolve, so we could keep Falconshade’s power in check. Which seems, has gotten out of hand. A few DarkWings stayed too, to keep their kind alive, not only in Falconshade’s tribute, but also in them." "What ever happened to Falconshade?” Clover asked. “The amulet turned him into a scavenger, and when he figured out he could take off the amulet, he was a lot more gigantic than the size of a normal dragon," "Oh, no” Clover said aloud. “What is it?” Beach asked. “My mother is going to go to the Palace in a couple of hours, for Inspection!” Clover said scared. “We can’t let that happen,” Beach said. “My friends are probably already at the Palace,” Clover said “We can meet them there," "What is Inspection?” Thunderhawk asked. “It’s where if a dragon is convicted of a crime, they will be sent to a court in the Palace and their fate is decided there,” Clover answered scared. “Well, if she didn’t do anything wrong, she shouldn’t be harmed?” Thunderhawk asked. “Right?" "No,” Clover answered “That fate, is usually death," "Then let’s go!” Beach almost yelled

 

Chapter 7

 

Clover, Thunderhawk, and Beach all flew fast towards the Palace. “Why did you decide to watch me?” Clover asked as they flew above the village. “Well, there’s something about your family you don’t know.." "What?” Clover asked. “Your father was part of a---resistance." "What is that supposed to mean, I’ve never heard of any resistance, let alone one my father was in?" "Why not?” Thunderhawk asked. “My father died when I was only one,” Clover said flying slower. “How?” Thunderhawk asked. “He was taken to Inspection, too” Clover said glumly.

As Clover, Beach and Thunderhawk neared the Palace, Clover saw a silhouette of four dragons who were around the exterior. She slowly and silently flew down to the ground. “Who are those two around you?” Seaweed asked quietly. “I’m Beach” Beach replied. “And I’m Thunderhawk, the last LightWing” Thunderhawk replied. “You’re a WHAT?” Cheetah shouted. “One, be quiet. Two, I am a LightWing.” Thunderhawk said annoyed “What is a LightWing?” Cheetah asked. “No time for that,” Clover said “We have to go now," "Okay, okay!” Cheetah said.

They all went into the Palace with surprisingly, huge walls. “How could scavengers build this huge place?” Seaweed asked looking above her at the very tall ceiling. “The king is magical, so I can see him putting some kind of spell to make the scavengers build faster,” Thunderhawk answered. “And bigger,” Cheetah said. They stared up in awe as they flew down the long corridor, until they heard some going on in faint muttering in a room. They all edged against a wall. “What could be there?” Seaweed whispered against a wall. “I guess we’re going to find out,” Clover whispered. And I kind of don’t want to find out.

They swiftly and quietly stepped closer to the room. “So, what do we do now?” Thunderhawk asked. “I don’t know,” Seaweed answered. “Why don’t we go in, take Clover’s mom and run!” Cheetah said briskly. Beach entered the room first, then Clover and then Seaweed. “Hmm, I expected to see a bunch of angry scavengers with spears pointed at us, but instead it’s another door,” Seaweed said with the slightest bit of relief in her voice. Clover peered around the door and saw a few scavengers that were wearing a light, but strong, armor over their back, and they had what looked like shoes that were made of steel. They also had masks that looked to be made of the same material as the armor. They didn’t seem to notice her, but they did seem angry. In front of the soldiers was a man who had long gray fur sprouting from under his nose and mouth. “Okay, let’s go in!” Seaweed said looking scared still. “You’ve said that for the fifth time already!” Clover almost yelled. “Be QUIET!” Thunderhawk said really loud. The rest of them entered the room. Clover looked through the door again. “The scavengers aren’t too happy, and they’re looking this way!” Clover said anxiously. She saw some of the soldiers go toward the direction the judge was in, and the rest came toward the door. Thunderhawk stormed towards the door and into the room and jumped in front of the guards. In the smallest margin behind Thunderhawk and the guards, Clover saw her mother. At that point, Clover flew right over Thunderhawk, and tried to push all the guards away with both of her talons but their spears were poking and prodding her,with every guard she pushed away, another tried to stab her in the eye! Clover was dodging the guards while Thunderhawk conjured up a ball of lightning in his talons. He threw the ball at the scavengers and they fell down, on their faces and backs, but weren’t dead. The two flew toward a door that Clover’s mother might have gone through. The rest followed ,awestruck by the lightning ball and Clover’s bravery. “Did you see your mother?” Seaweed asked. “Yeah,” Clover answered, “I think she went through this door," " You THINK?!” shouted Alligator annoyingly, “Shut up, Alligator!” Pigeon shouted back. “Why don’t you both be quiet!” Clover said glaring at them angrily. Clover tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. “Why won’t this stupid door move!” Clover said. “Maybe because, it’s locked”  Thunderhawk suggested. Thunderhawk formed another lightning ball in his hands and blasted it at the door. Now there was a hole, but it was only big enough for Cheetah to squeeze through. “Try another one,” Seaweed said. As Thunderhawk broke down the door, Clover started to search the other doors. In each room, there was nothing but a few chairs and some tables. They looked through the rest of the room, trying to find a trapdoor, or a secret compartment but, nothing they could find. Then Thunderhawk stopped and looked down. “What is it?” Clover asked. “It’s a key,” Thunderhawk answered. “Why would there be a key down here?” Clover answered, “There’s clearly not any doors," "I don’t think this is for a door, this is probably a magic key,” Thunderhawk answered. “Nice joke, let’s just look for a magic door,” Seaweed said sarcastically. “Ha ha, very funny,” Clover said with a straight face. “Well, it is a key,” Thunderhawk said. “It could be some kind of key for the prisoners,” Clover responded. “Maybe,” Thunderhawk said. Out of frustration, Thunderhawk threw the key at the ground. Clover picked it up and rubbed a little bit of magical death spit on it. “Eww,” Cheetah said, “That’s gross,”  Then the key started to glow in a purple-white color. “Okay, that’s still gross,” Then a corner in the wall started to glow the same color as the light. Then the wall started to crumble.

 

 

Chapter 8

The dragons all looked at the wall as a brilliant light that had the silhouette of a dragon that was standing on two legs and seemed to have hair on its snout and head, it seemed to be even shorter than Cheetah, but it was growing at an extremely fast rate. Thunderhawk and Clover was staring in complete and utter fear. “What is it?” Seaweed and Cheetah asked. “I-I-I don’t know,” Alligator stuttered trying not to sound scared. “It’s him,” Clover said “The king," "How could that be the king?” Cheetah asked. “He’s puny,” Then the scavenger king’s wings started to protrude from his back. Then his  hair started to shrink until he didn’t have any left, but by that point he was Clover’s height. He only grew faster at Alligator’s height, because at that point he grew a foot every two seconds. “Okay, we’ve gotta get out of here!” Cheetah said. “You will not escape” The voice said, its fire as purple as a grape, coming out. “I don’t need to,” Clover said spitting magical death spit at the dragon’s eyes. “Argh!” It said, then blew a huge fire; big enough to scorch the walls around them. Then Clover started to run, but not towards the door, she went under the dragon’s talons and into the room he broke through, the dragon turned around, but Clover spit some more magical death spit at him. Then, she saw Pigeon, Thunderhawk, Alligator and Cheetah all go in front of the dragon and start breathing fire and electricity at it. I have some amazing friends. She thought. She saw her mother tied to a pillar and she started to cut through her ropes with her teeth and claws. Her mother seemed dazed as if in a trance. She asked her “What happened?" "I’m not sure,” She answered. “Do you remember going to court?" "Or even being taken to this huge Scavenger Palace?” Clover asked. “No, I don’t remember any of that,” Pomegranate answered, pressing her head. “It’s okay, we have to go,” Clover said looking around the room, “But…,” Clover said. “What is it?” her mother asked. “By any chance, do you remember any other secret rooms that we can go in?" "No, but I can look around,” Pomegranate said. “I don’t think we have time for that,” Clover said, peering at the huge hole in the wall. “My friends are outside trying to beat some huge dragon-beast-thing that broke through the wall," "Okay," "So, there must be some other rooms around this one,” She said. Clover and her mother started to look around the wall, Clover noticed that this was probably a really old room, it had a lot of walls that looked wet so this room might have been used millions of years ago, whatever it was used for. It had an array of weapons and armor and it also had what looked like some sort of talon-cutter. There was a scavenger-head-sized hole in the middle that looked like if you pulled a string, the blade would come down on the head, the string looked worn and had a lot of small holes in it. Clover looked around until she found the end of the room. Hmm, there must be a really weak wall right there. She pointed at an extremely wet and rotting wall, it had vegetation growing on it, almost everywhere. Clover spit on it and the plants started to rot away. She saw the brick behind the roots and Alligators. “mother, I found a weak spot in the wall,” Clover shouted across the room. Clover heard wingbeats come toward her. “Where is it?” her mother echoed. “It’s right in front of me, but I’m not sure where it’s supposed to lead” Clover answered. Clover started to claw parts out of the wall. “Did you make a hole,” Pomegranate asked. “No,” Clover answered, “Can you help?" "I’m here,” She said. Pomegranate started to claw out a gaping hole of the breaking wall. “I think I made a hole,” Clover said. Clover saw the purple fire at the other side of the room “We have to get out of here!” Clover said,but it was too late. Right then, the room burst apart as a huge dragon, darker than the Nightwings, rose up behind them. Thunderhawk stuttered “I-I-It’s Falconshade." "Who?” asked Cheetah. “Whoever he is, we have to get out of here!” said Alligator frantically. “COME ON!” yelled Thunderhawk. “Follow me!” he formed more lightning, larger than anyone had ever seen, and said “Go into the light. It will transport us to a safe place.” Clover barged into the light, as well as everyone else. “You will not escape me, LightWing.” roared Falconshade. “Sucks to be you, ‘cause I will.” taunted Thunderhawk as he threw the ball and leaped into it, disappearing faster than Falconshade could react. “YOU WILL DIE, LIGHTWING. YOU CANNOT HIDE FOREVER!” Falconshade roared, spitting out the word “LightWing” with poison in the name. “I WILL FIND YOU!”.

 

Chapter 9

“Where are we?” Clover asked, looking around at the forest, lighting up as the sun started to rise. “We’re in the rainforest,” Thunderhawk said, looking at the sun. “How did you do that?” Cheetah asked, looking up as if he had a lot more questions. “I’m not sure, but it definitely helped," "Where can we go, we’re right next to the Palace, and they’re probably looking for all of us right now!” Seaweed said. “By any chance, do you have another huge lightning ball to transport us through?” Cheetah asked, pattering his claws on the ground. “No, I honestly have no idea where that came from, I didn’t have anything to do with it!” Thunderhawk said looking at his talons. “Let’s look around,” Alligator said. They looked around at the forest, it was loud with birds chirping and howler monkeys yelling. It was wet everywhere because of the morning mud. “Ew, this is really gross” Seaweed said with a scowl on her face. “Tell me about it,” Cheetah said looking at every step he made “Its freezing”. “It’s not cold,” Seaweed replied, “It’s actually quite warm, I just HATE mud," "You’re a pleasant one aren’t you?” Thunderhawk muttered, snickering. “What did you say about MUD?” Alligator asked looking genuinely offended. Seaweed turned around to look at Alligator, who was clenching his teeth and was not only a Bigwings but was spreading his huge wings. Clover stepped in to break it up, just in time because the MudWing looked as if he was going to pound her. “Whoa, guys break it up,” We better find shelter before more rain comes with anger, man… Clover thought. “Okay, you guys stay here, Pigeon and Thunderhawk, and I will look for shelter,” Clover said. Or whatever Thunderhawk was talking about with my dad... Clover thought briskly, maybe he knows where the Resistance’s base is. They started to go East for maybe two or three seconds, then out of absolutely nowhere Thunderhawk suggested, “Hey I don't know why but..” He stopped to look around “I think we should go North” He’s got to know where it is… but even if that’s not it, he’s got to be hiding something… Clover thought silently. Then Clover had a stunning realization. Does he look sad?….. Clover had many realizations after that, or she thought of them as questions. Why would he be sad, he said there are other LightWings like him, right? “Come on, let’s go!” Shouted Thunderhawk over his shoulder. Clover hurried up to him. “Hey, Thunderhawk, you said that my father was in the resistance. Do you know where there base was?” asked Clover. “I do, but it is not going to be easy to find, because it will be so overgrown with vegetation,” Thunderhawk said. “Hey, you guys, over here!” Shouted Pigeon “I think I found it," "You did,” Thunderhawk replied. “I’ll get the others,” Thunderhawk said. “You two should see if it is safe,” Clover could see sadness in Thunderhawk´s eyes he looked like he wasn’t telling them something. I wonder what’s East of here… Clover thought. What could make Thunderhawk sad… It took a few long, tiring hours, but they finally found the base. Thunderhawk is right, it is covered in vegetation. “I wonder who else was in the rebellion,” said Pigeon. “I don’t know, but the king would have killed them all by now, unless they were really good at hiding and running,” Clover said. “Hey, I think I found the entrance,” The entrance was a small door that looked old and cracked, it was covered in thick vines and it was wet. First, Clover tried to pry off the vines herself, but they were stuck in place, then she tried to venom the vines, but it was taking too long, and the vines were huge. Thunderhawk sheepishly threw a lightning ball at the door, and it created tiny hole. “Okay, let me try again,” he said. Thunderhawk tried again, and then, this time, the door broke open. Clover peered inside, but all she could see was darkness. “So... do we go in?”  Pigeon said, but he surely couldn’t hear anything either, although... she could feel someone watching her. Thunderhawk took a step inside, and the light coming off his scales was enough to see weapons like spears, daggers, and other assorted sharp things, as well as supplies like fruit and meat. She still couldn’t see anyone, but the feeling of someone watching her was as strong as ever. She looked around the place it was wet and mossy. Out of all the weapons she found a lot of daggers, gold, silver, and everything in between. She looked around the assortment of weapon stands, and as she looked around, she saw a particularly shiny dagger. She took it out of the stand, and it was green like the pears she sometimes found on her fruit gathering trips for the scavengers, but it was glimmering. She started to stab the air with it, as if there was a invisible warrior in front of her.

He fell to the ground with a muffled “Oof," "Thunderha-” She felt a sharp, yet painless stab in her neck then she fell unconscious.

 

 

 

Chapter 10

When they awoke, the were tied to chairs with their mouths wrapped in a thick cloth. “WMMFTS GMMF NN!?” said Pigeon, through his gag. Thunderhawk started to try making an electricity ball, but then a voice came from the shadows that said,”I wouldn’t waste my time if I were you. That material is resistant to all types of venom and heat,” “Hmm mrr mmm?” said Thunderhawk. Then the dragon stepped out of the shadows and glared at them menacingly, or at least what barely passed as a menacing glare, he was a little older than Clover, about a few years or so. He was a RainWing, but unlike most of the RainWings Clover had ever met; he was mostly bright scarlet, for anger, but flecked with bland yellow scales, like a SandWing’s. Clover wondered why those scales didn’t change color. If he were trying to disguise as a SandWing, why didn’t he change all his scales to that pale yellow color? “Why were you creeping around in our bas- uh, I mean, this random place in the middle of the woods? “Mmfmm?” said Clover, annoyed. “Oh, uh right,” he said, removing Clover’s cloth. “Who are you and why are you holding us here!?” shouted Clover. “Well, you were snooping around this... random place… which is suspicious… because… okay fine, why were you snooping around the old resistance base?” he said. “We were trying to find the resistance, before you came and knocked us out for no reason!” said Clover. “Now please remove these chains and let me and my friends go,” “Fine, but don’t try to run away, because the doors are shut, and they can’t be reopened from inside or out without a key,” he said, then removed Pigeon’s and Thunderhawk’s chains. As soon as he removed Pigeon’s, he said, ”What do you mean by ‘the old resistance base’?”. After removing Thunderhawk’s chains, he let out a sad hiss and said ”,That power hungry excuse of a king invaded and killed all of them,”. Then, a new figure came from the darkness. She looked around the same age as their captor, and was also RainWing. The dragon said, ”Hibiscus, are we capturing innocent dragons again?” Their captor, apparently named Hibiscus, then said back, ”Apple, I was just being extra precautious, you never know when the king could send his few royal followers," "Wait, Apple?”  Clover said. Apple looked at her with a piercing glare, “How do you know my name?” she asked. “My-my sister was named Apple, but she was stolen from us as soon as she was hatched,” said Clover. “and so was our other sister, her twin. Her name was Cherry,” Apple looked at Clover like she had just said “The moons are floating balls of rock flying around Pyrrhia”. “What’s your name?” she said “Um, Clover,” Clover said. “Come with me, and be nice to our guests here, Hibiscus” she said. Clover looked back one more time at Pigeon and Thunderhawk, and followed Apple into the room they had come in to before they were captured, the one with all the weapons and supplies. “What do you know about the resistance?” she asked. “I know they are rising up against the king, and since my father was murdered by the king, and my mother would have been if we hadn’t rescued her, we wanted to help,” Clover said. Then Apple looked at her and said, “Welcome back, Sister,”

 

Chapter 11

Clover couldn’t put the words that had just been said into actual meaning. Sister? What did she mean, Sister? Have Cherry and Apple been hiding here, all these years!? Without me even knowing!? “Apple? It’s really you?” asked Clover, bewildered. “Last time I checked,” said Apple “What happened, Clover? Where have you been all these years?" "Being a slave for the scavengers, like most dragons,” Clover said “What happened to you? Why are you here, I thought you and Cherry were taken away!” Clover said. A flash of sadness crossed Apple’s face. “We were, but we escaped,” she said. “Where is Cherry?” Clover asked. “She-she was the reason Hibiscus and I got out of the last scavenger attack,” said Apple “No, please don’t say she-” Clover could barely choke out the last words. Apple slowly nodded, a tear running down her snout. She took a long, shuddering breath, and said, “They attacked, she said she would hold them back until we got out, I didn’t want to leave her, but she said we would have to. It was my fault. I was too stubborn to leave her, and as she was looking at us, a scavenger group came out from the corner and threw a spear right at us. It would have killed me, but Cherry grabbed it, and threw it back at them, then the scavengers shot of of their sleeping darts at her, and tried to shoot us, but we got away. If I hadn’t been so stubborn, she would have heard that group coming, and killed them before they captured her," "Well, if she was just captured, maybe we can just rescue her,” Clover said. Apple shook her head. “Why would the scavengers keep her alive? To them, she was just another rebelling dragon,” Apple said, wagging her claw, “We can’t give up hope that she may be alive,” said Clover anxiously. “We have to attack the Scavenger Palace, and rescue her!" "We’re in,” said Pigeon from the door. “Pigeon! Thunderhawk!” shouted Clover. “We couldn’t miss out on the big, dramatic scene,” Thunderhawk said back. Then Hibiscus emerged and looked at Clover like Clover was the key to everything he ever wanted.

“Oh, right, Clover, meet your other older sibling, Hibiscus. Fun fact, he is actually your half brother, because we had the same mother, but his father was a SandWing" "Why haven’t I ever heard of you?” asked Clover. “Well, his father was a loyal servant to the king, and our mother didn’t exactly want to admit that,” said Apple. “But we figured it out eventually, about the same way we found out about you. Sleep darts, being tied up, dramatic family scene, that kind of thing,”

“Well, when are we rescuing Cherry?” said Clover. “Um, I don’t know, tomorrow night?” Apple answered. “Okay, that gives me time to tell my friends what happened,” said Clover. As Clover, Pigeon, Thunderhawk, Apple, and Hibiscus headed back to where they started in the base, Clover remembered, everyone is still in the rainforest “Guys” Clover yelled “We have to go back to the rainforest!" "We can’t go back until tomorrow,” Hibiscus said confused “Why?”  “Because everyone is there,” Clover said even more scared, “mother, and my friends" "Okay, we can go” Hibiscus said angrily. Apple, for maybe a second, looked terrified like something bad was to come. “On the second talon, maybe I should go,” Apple said slowly. “Okay, fine you go,” Hibiscus said “But you better come back quick," "And don’t get spotted”

 

Chapter 12

After leaving “the totally random place in the woods” as Hibiscus put it earlier, Clover realized it was already very late. Apple was suggesting they go back. Clover didn’t move. “We should go back, it’s too dark out here,” Apple said worriedly. “No!” Clover said “If we don’t find them, they might get captured," "Okay, but remember what Hibiscus said, we have to be very careful," "Sure,” Clover said quickly. They then decided to walk through the rainforest, the dense trees and bushes would provide good cover. Clover tried very hard to remember which direction to go, and then she remembered to go South since North is the way they got up to the base. Clover recognized the trees that beared mangos somewhere near a small marsh, they were only a couple yards away. Clover then saw the patch of land that was covered with banana trees. This is where they had started. They looked around the banana trees for any of Clover’s friends. Nothing. “Where are they?” Clover asked anxiously to herself. She looked everywhere, near the trees, around the marsh, in the marsh. Nothing again. Then above her she saw a silhouette, it was extremely small, because some of the scales fit perfectly into what was now night, the others where a bright yellow. The figure landed, it was Cheetah. “Cheetah, are you okay” Clover asked anxiously. “Yeah,” Cheetah said worriedly “But I’m afraid that I’m the only one who is,”  “What do you mean?” Clover asked anxiously “Where are they?" "Just about an hour ago, we were exploring this place seeing if we could find something,” Cheetah started “Then these scavengers wearing armor came out of nowhere in every direction, I tried to escape into the bushes but they were already after me," "So then I flew as high and as fast as I could, so I wouldn’t get spotted," "But I saw below me everyone was getting captured," "Seaweed, your mother, and Alligator,” When Cheetah’s story ended, it started to rain. Hard. “We have to go back to the base,” Apple said after regrouping with Clover. “Who’s that," "This is Cheetah” Clover explained, “But we have to go so-," "Wait, who is that Clover?" "Oh, um, my long lost sister that I thought was taken away from me and my mother along with my other sister, who we have to go rescue right now also there’s Hibiscus he’s my half brother and, he’s half SandWing?” Clover tried. Cheetah looked at her, eyes wide. “We found them at the resistance base,” said Clover. “But we have to go now, we won’t be able to find the base much longer in this rain,” said Clover “Okay, but we have to go fast, it might get worse,” Apple said. Clover was slightly anxious that Cheetah might be easily spotted, because of his yellow scales. I can’t let him go out of the tree cover, they are our only place to hide. They didn’t fly in the same direction that they came from because the way they came didn’t have enough cover on that route. She looked around for the mango and banana trees that she had used to find where she came from, but it was too dark. I”ll have to rely on instinct. They patrolled through the mud and the unseeable trees. After what felt like hours of searching, they finally found the resistance base. Cheetah started to pass out, so they had to get inside. Everyone was still there, but then Pigeon came, when he saw Cheetah he ran over and asked “What happened?" "I don’t know,” Clover said “We were walking in the rain and he passed out" "All SandWings hate rain” Hibiscus said “Trust me, I can barely tolerate it being half RainWing”  Cheetah laid down on a small couch in the main room. Clover remembered the jade dagger she had found before, and went to look at it. Apple was telling Hibiscus, Pigeon, and Thunderhawk what had happened to Alligator, Seaweed, and Pomegranate. “Hey Apple, where did this dagger come from?” Clover asked. Apple came over to see what Clover was holding. “That was our father’s dagger. When he was killed, we found it in the woods where the scavengers found him. We took it back here to honor him.”. Hibiscus scoffed. “It’s supposed to be hanging on the rack. Where did you find it?” Apple asked. Clover pointed a claw to one of the many weapons tables where she found the dagger. “It was over there,” Clover said. Cheetah started to wake up slowly “Uhhr, I’m so tired" "Oh look, the sleeping log awakes,” Clover commented. “Hey, I’m tired too,” Thunderhawk said in a suspicious way. “Now, why don’t we all go to sleep?" "Okay,” Hibiscus said, obviously seeing right through him, “But you will have to keep guard," "Yes!” Everyone looked at him. Then Thunderhawk quickly said “I mean, uhh,”  “Why do I have to do it?” Thunderhawk is being really suspicious. So either Hibiscus is really tired, or he doesn’t care. Clover thought the latter. “Are there any beds?” Pigeon asked. “We should have a few..,” Apple said “But we might have to share." "Okay,” Thunderhawk said “Now you guys should all go now” Thunderhawk exclaimed “It’s really late" "Okay, what’s the rush?” Apple asked. “I’m just so ready to guard” Thunderhawk said impatiently “Now go!” Everyone had left after a couple of minutes, but Clover decided to stay behind. She saw Thunderhawk near the door supposedly “guarding” then he looked both ways to see if anyone was there. Then he walked out the door and closed it.

 

Chapter 13

Clover went to the door to see through one of the cracks in the wall. Huh, no sign of Thunderhawk, guess I can go. She opened the door very carefully to make sure he couldn’t hear her. After walking a couple of feet she stopped, it was Thunderhawk. He was lighting the way with one of his palms. He looked to be looking for something. “Is it this way, or that way?” He muttered to himself, “I’ll go that way.” He started running in the direction he had avoided when they were looking for the base. After a while of running, they had ended up in a field that barely had any trees. There were some buildings that looked like the small huts she had seen the less wealthy scavengers living in, but much larger, similar to those at the Scavenger Palace. Thunderhawk was looking at one hut in particular, then he breathed a hefty sigh. He looked up at the sky, covered with many stars, all a light blue or yellow. He closed his eyes, then chanted “Summon the power of the ancients.” He then opened his eyes, and they were completely white. Thunderhawk’s whole body became covered with electricity, it was a tan yellow. He then throttled himself into the air, all the electricity covering him went into his talon, he then put it into a fist, then punched the ground. It sent Clover flying back about a yard. She looked at where Thunderhawk punched the ground, there was a huge crater in the ground, sparking electricity. Thunderhawk jumped out of the crater. Ordinary Thunderhawk. Should I confront him? Clover thought. I mean he had all this power and he never told us about it. We could have ended this war, that punch is powerful. Clover went over to talk to Thunderhawk. “Hi Clover” Thunderhawk sighed. “Aren’t you unnerved at all that I followed you?” Clover asked. “No,” Thunderhawk said “I’m a terrible liar" "I’m more confused about why only you followed me," "Anyway, WHAT WAS THAT!?” Clover asked loudly. “Before you found me, every night I would come here and do, the punch” Thunderhawk answered. “Why here?” Clover asked. “Because, this” He paused to groan “This is where my tribe died”  “About a year or so ago I was outside in the forest playing with a few of my friends, then I heard my aunt screaming, I thought “Have we been found by another tribe, the scavengers, Falconshade himself?” at that time only a few of us were left, so we were always on alert" "From what?” Clover asked. “From anything really, it was terrifying, having to worry about losing your whole tribe, slowly but surely" "And I was right, the final wave of scavengers coming to finish us off, it was inevitable really," "I found my mother and she told me to run as far as I could," "I did, and I was the only one" "That sounds terrible,” Clover said sympathetically “Yeah, but after a year you kind of get used to it" "So, um, why do you punch the ground?” Clover asked. “Because we kept ourselves secret until my family was killed, Clover,” He responded. “Why can’t you tell me?” Clover prodded. “Because the spirit of my family still rests here” replied Thunderhawk. “Only with their power can I do the punch." "That is why I am still here, so I can finish of the scavengers." "We should probably head back now." "Yeah, we should.” When they got back, it was nearly morning. ¨Where have you been?” Cheetah asked. “Scouting, in case any scavengers are nearby,” Thunderhawk replied. “Oh, OK. By the way, Hibiscus saw Clover leave and is freaking out. You should go talk to him." "We will.” Clover said. When they found Hibiscus, he was not happy. “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" "IT HAS BEEN HOURS!!" "Scouting.” Thunderhawk replied. “WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!?" "Scouting." "YOU COULD HAVE BEEN CAUGHT!!” Roared Hibiscus “Calm down, Hibiscus, no one saw us.” Clover replied. “You should be more careful. By the way, we saw webbed talon prints in the mud, and we are going to investigate soon." "They must be Seaweed’s talon prints, then.” said Clover. “Where did they lead?" "To the Palace, and a few more talon prints are beside Seaweed’s. They were probably caught," "By how many scavengers?” asked Thunderhawk. “Too many to count. The scavengers did not want them to escape.” replied Hibiscus. “We have to find them.” said Thunderhawk determinedly. ¨They probably got caught again, but they might be close" "Guys, you do know it could be literally any other SeaWing, or any Seawing hybrid," "Yeah, but we should take the chance, I mean how many other SeaWings would wander off here” Clover reasoned “But still I don’t want you to take the chance” Hibiscus pleaded “I just want you to stay, be safe, and be smart” “But, Hibiscus, we want to end this tyranny as much as you do, but to do that we’ve all got to be there” Clover said. “I just don’t want to lose everyone” Hibiscus said “Then why don’t we all go?” Thunderhawk said. “Okay,” Apple said “I’ve been waiting to do something fun," "Fine,” Hibiscus scoffed, “But we’ve got no time to waste,”

 

 

Chapter 14

Well, that didn’t go as planned. Instead of trying to find Seaweed and the others, it was more like hiding in a bush every time the most miniscule sound reached their ears. “CAW” sounded a bird from the trees. “Everyone, get to cover!” Hibiscus ordered. “Three moons, Hibiscus, it was just a toucan,” said Apple. “We don’t know that for sure!” Hibiscus complained back. “Oh, no, you’re right! Scavengers are known for chattering with the birds! We have to hide!” Apple said sarcastically in a spot-on impression of Hibiscus’s voice. They had left the base at the crack of dawn, and it was already midday. As an added bonus, they weren’t even halfway to the Scavenger Palace. “I’m serious! What if it wasn’t scavengers themselves? What if the scavengers startled a toucan and it called?” Hibiscus continued. “Hibiscus, if we hid in a bush every time a toucan called, we wouldn’t even be halfway to the Scavenger Palace by midday-oh, wait,” Apple joked. “Rrrr raer”  a jaguar coughed.

Hibiscus jumped four feet in the air. “Ahh” Hibiscus said startled. “Are you afraid of, “km” Thunderhawk snickered “ANIMALS!?” He started laughing in the background. “Let’s just keep going” Hibiscus said ashamed. “This is ridiculous, why don’t we just  fly to the castle?” asked Clover. “The other dragons don’t know the scavengers are looking for us yet, so if anyone sees us, we won’t look suspicious," "We could do that, but the scavengers will be told what we looked like,” replied Apple. “So, we’re basically stuck watching scardy-claws here leaping like a frog at the sound of every toucan.” snickered Thunderhawk. “I am not afraid of animals.” growled Hibiscus. “You’ve jumped at every single noise in the forest. Your record is six and a half feet,” retorted Thunderhawk. “I AM NOT AFRAID OF ANIMALS!!!!!!” roared Hibiscus, scaring almost every other animal in the forest “Okay,” Clover said, “Then go pick up that snake” Clover pointed at a Precatus Flower snake, completely non venomous. Hibiscus started to tremble while walking to the snake “Be careful, you might lose your talon….” Clover started “Or even your life” Hibiscus walked as slowly as he could toward the snake. The snake looked back at him with a startled expression, and started hissing, making Hibiscus flinch away. “What are you waiting for?” Pigeon asked jokingly. “Fine, we’ll fly, if you all are so intent on getting caught,” Hibiscus agreed without even touching the snake. “No. You have to pick up the highly venomous snake” Clover joked. Hibiscus then picked up the snake, threw it at the ground, and ran back to them, all, in a fraction of a second. “Hibiscus, say sorry to the snake" "Okay, sorry sna-” Hibiscus started. “What is it?” Clover asked. “Buh, buh buh” Hibiscus said petrified. “Well?” Apple asked. “BIG SNAAKE!!!” Hibiscus said, ready to get out of there. “Waa-”  Just then an enormous, 30 foot, angered Precatus Flower Snake stormed out of the bushes. “AHHH” Cheetah hollered, flying away from the massive snake. The rest followed, but after about twenty seconds in the air, Clover turned around and spotted nothing except the tiny snake from before. Wait a minute, wasn’t that the snake from before. Should I tell the others? Nah, we’re already going in the right direction, and the winged coward might even be at the base. Thunderhawk started snickering again. “What’s so funny?” Clover asked. “I’m sorry I’ve just never met anyone, in my entire life, who is afraid of ANIMALS!” Thunderhawk answered, “AHAHAHA!”

 

They arrived at the scavenger palace a few minutes later. “So what do we do now?” Hibiscus asked slightly ashamed. “I don’t know Animalphobiac” Thunderhawk said jokingly, “Why don’t we go inside" "But the door is locked.” Apple said confused. “Trust me,  I can get us in” Thunderhawk said with overconfidence. Thunderhawk put his talon in a fist, then he raised it straight up, it got charged, turning completely yellowish orange and covered in sparks of electricity. He then put the charged hand back and punched the door down with a massive blow of electricity. “Come on, we have to move fast, I doubt no scavenger heard that hit.” Thunderhawk said. “I thought we were sneaking in, not storming the castle.” Hibiscus replied. “Deal with it, sheep-brain. Hold on, wait a minute, didn’t mean to scare you, Animalphobiac.” Thunderhawk chuckled. “I AM NOT AFRAID OF ANIMAAAAAAAALS!!!!!” Hibiscus roared, scaring every scavenger near them, who ran into the forest, screaming. “Ooooookay, that was impressive, Hibiscus.” Thunderhawk said, amazed that he had just roared and allowed them safe passage into the castle. “Come on, you two, stop arguing and get a move on,” Apple called over her shoulder, “We’ve got dragons to break out." "Where are they going to be?” asked Clover. Mabye they are where we found my mom. “Hey, you guys, I see them!” Cheetah whispered, peeking through a hole in a door. “They’re chained to the chairs, and they all have on really thick cloth, except for Seaweed, she has a loose cloth. They probably did that so she can’t talk, but they didn’t need the thick cloth because it isn’t like she’s part Icewing.” Then, a scavenger came running in with ice water. He tripped, and some of the ice splashed on Seaweed. Then, she did the unimaginable -- She started to breath ice. That was so strange, seeing Seaweed of all dragons, breathe ice. It’s like she’s part Icewing…

 

Chapter 14 (Seaweed)

Why did we wait. Seaweed thought. We got caught because they were trying to find some resistance base that probably doesn’t even exist. Ridiculous. Seaweed was squirming in her chair. “Hey, you guys, I see them!” Was that Cheetah?! Seaweed was going to reply, but she suddenly got a massive headache, she felt like her skull was being pounded into a tree over and over again, then she saw an odd vision in her mind. It was an IceWing, standing in a storm with white, beautiful snow. The IceWing beckoned her closer, and Seaweed felt the urge to walk right out of her chair. Then the dragon got an enormous spear to her neck, and Seaweed was overcome with anger for this random dragon. Then Seaweed felt the cold icy wind of the arctic. Then she had freezing cold water poured on her back, and she breathed ice water all over the room. “What. JUST. HAPPENED?!” Clover gasped. “Doesn’t matter, come on, let’s get them and get out of here and SCRAM!!” Apple said. “I think I have that covered.” growled Seaweed. “Now, who are you?” Seaweed asked confused “Are we going for “the more the merrier?”. “Long story, come on let’s fly!” Thunderhawk replied, already running for the door. When they got outside, the scavengers were just coming back from the forest, where they hid when Hibiscus roared. Hibiscus growled at them, and they ran right back into the bushes, screaming in their little voices.

About twenty minutes later, Seaweed looked over at Clover who seemed to have an empty sash on her. “Hey, Clover?”  “What is it?" "You have an empty sash, did you have anything in it?” “Yeah, I have a--” Clover trailed off while looking at her sash. “Hibiscus” Clover asked, “I think I lost the jade dagger,”. “Was it stolen by an ANIMAL!!!???” Hibiscus shouted. “Uh, I mean-HOW DID YOU LOSE IT!?”. Thunderhawk pretended to hide his laugh. “I don’t know!” Clover responded “I had it at the base and I put it in the sash!”.”Clover, when did you put it in the sash?” Apple asked, as if she knew the answer but hoped she was wrong. “The night before we left,” Clover replied. By the look on Apple’s face, it was the answer she was dreading. “I was afraid of that,” Apple said with a sigh. “Why?” Thunderhawk said slowly. “I saw a scavenger running from the base when we got up the morning we left. I chased it, but it had more scavengers ready on horses to carry it away. I’m sorry I should’ve told you all, but I didn’t want to worry everyone when we are already all stressed,” Apple admitted. “Well, if it’s just a dagger, then why are we worried about it?” Alligator asked. “Because that dagger was stolen from the king years ago.” replied Hibiscus. “And we think it has a lot of power.” Clover’s mother was fazed. “But what does it do, is jade really strong, or does it have some special properties?” Seaweed asked confused. “We’re not sure what it does, but, it was found at Jade Mountain,” replied Hibiscus. “So, we shouldn’t need to worry about it, because if it was found at the Jade Mountain, which didn’t get its name from a ruby,” said Alligator. “Something else odd about the Jade Mountain is, it’s like the only place in Pyrrhia where there are no Falconshade bases" "That is odd” Clover remarked. “How do you know that, Pigeon?” Seaweed asked. “Well, I’ve been studying and there was this one book an-” Pigeon started. “Hey, can we have chit-chat and small talk when we’re somewhere safer, and not being chased by a huge horde of scavengers” Cheetah asked. “Hey, you guys, I think that if we hurry, we can intercept those scavengers and get the dagger back,” suggested Apple. “After all, we are not going to get to it unless we want to storm the castle and get the dagger now." "I don’t think we should mess with those scavengers” Cheetah started, “One, they have weird, purple, glowy eyes" "And two, they are literally superfast, and probably have more superpowers, that I, personally don’t want to deal with” They started to gain more muscle and mass, and were smashing through the trees now. Falconshade spell Seaweed thought. �

 

Chapter 15

Well, we’re dead, thought Clover. “RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!” roared Cheetah at the top of his lungs. “WHAT DO YOU THINK WE’RE DOING, Cheetah?!?” a strange voice yelled back. “Who are you?” Pigeon asked. “Cherry!” Apple exclaimed. “HEY GUYS, LESS TALKING, MORE FLYING AWAY FROM CRAZY SCAVENGERS!!” Seaweed roared. “WE ARE, Seaweed!” Hibiscus yelled back.

A few minutes later they found a field as far away as they could from the scavengers, and pretty close to the base too. Clover saw something green and glimmering in a bush, Clover edged toward it and saw a handle, she picked it up and it was the dagger, but it was missing the wrapping that covered the handle. Clover looked through the bush to find it, she did, but she saw the leather covering was ripped in half, but it had words on it. She picked them up then she heard Hibiscus getting angry. “Cherry’s saying that we have to go back to the palace, she says there are still more prisoners in there,” He said. “More prisoners? Who cares about them? “Let’s get out of here!” yelled Seaweed. “Where would you go” Cherry asked. “Cherry says some of them helped her escape,” Hibiscus replied. “Oh, fine, but if this goes wrong, which it will, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Seaweed replied, exasperated. “Umm, guys, I found the jade dagger,” Clover said. They all looked at her. She held up the dagger to show everyone. “Where’s the grip?” Hibiscus asked. “It's ripped in two” Clover said, looking on the side with the words. She gave it to Hibiscus. “How did it get here?” Hibiscus asked. “The scavenger must have dropped it” Clover guessed “It’s about the size of its head." "Well, we have to go back,” Cherry said, slightly annoyed. “No we’re not” Hibiscus said more annoyed. “If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here” Cherry reasoned. “Why did you think we were at the palace! ” Apple said kind of angered. “How do you think I knew that!” Cherry said. “We have to go back, or I’m going alone." "Okay, we’ll come with you, but if there is ONE singular sign of danger, then we are leaving and we’re not going back,” Hibiscus muttered.

A few minutes later they hid behind the palace and Thunderhawk started to tease “We might as well head back to the palace now, because Animalphobiac here will run away from a mouse, wait, don’t run, there really isn’t a mouse, Hibiscus.” Thunderhawk teased. “If you make one more joke then I will personally make sure you get some venom in your eye." "Do you really think you can compete with a Lightwing? Here is a small example of what I can do,” Thunderhawk snarled. Then, he leaped into the air, and he flipped himself around and hit the ground with so much electricity and force, he sent them flying backward, revealing a tunnel. “That leads to Falconshade’s fortress!” Cherry Exclaimed. “How do you know?” Apple asked. “Cherry walked a little bit into the tunnel. “Because of these symbols here, this is the symbol of Falconshade. I saw it a lot in the fortress,” she said. Apple and Clover walked into the tunnel with her. she was pointing to a purple glowing series of dashes with a line going through them. How did she see those? We had to walk into the cave to see them. Clover thought. She looked around, but there were none of the symbols near the start of the tunnel, where they could have seen them. Hibiscus got up first and stared, jaw dropped, at what just happened. “Okay, I was just expecting a small hole in the ground” Thunderhawk said extremely confused “But that was epic" "Let’s go in” Cherry asked. Then Clover remembered something odd, How did Cherry know Cheetah’s name. She then followed the rest of them into the tunnel, a little bit confused and suspicious. The tunnel got darker the farther they all went in, and they could barely see after walking a few seconds. “Ooh, a highly venomous deadly snake” Thunderhawk pointed. “AAHH,” Hibiscus screeched while jumping and hitting the top of his head. “Hehe,” said Thunderhawk. “That’s hilarious,” Pigeon said. “Can you guys stop?” Apple said facepalming herself. Clover looked at the ground and heard a soft cracking. Her feet felt wetter the farther she walked into the tunnel. She looked at the ground and saw that it was as stable as mud. She looked at the ground, and then at the very small space of the opening they came in. The ground was crumbling into the perfect scene of a trap.

 

Chapter 16

“Um… guys… small side note, but, um, the floor is falling in…,” Clover said. The others looked at her and jumped to attention as the cracks is in the floor came closer and closer to where they were standing. “RUUUUUUN!” Cheetah yelled. “No, don’t” Cherry said “If we move the whole cave will collapse in on itself and we will all suffocate" "Seaweed, cover the ceiling with ice, that should stop it for the time being” Clover ordered. She covered it with a thick ice, but not enough to cover the whole ceiling. “Guys, I’m out” Seaweed said, worried. “What do we do now?”  Seaweed asked. “I doubt we can go back through the entrance way” Hibiscus said. “Why?” Thunderhawk asked shakily, mainly because the ground was shaking. “Because it’s probably covered with scavengers” Hibiscus said “Isn’t that right, Cherry” “Yeah” Cherry replied “But how was I, supposed to know that" "I don’t know” Cheetah thought out loud “But you seemed awfully eager to get in this hole" "Can you guys shut it?” Clover said, “We should probably be trying to get out of this stupid hole instead of playing the blame game" " I have an idea” Pigeon said “Lets just go the other way" "Why would we go the other way?” Cherry asked “This is clearly a trap," "If this was really a trap then there would be spikes or something at the bottom” Pigeon reasoned “But there aren’t any, so you guys gotta trust me,”  “If you don’t, I’ll go myself,” Pigeon said, disappointed. He squeezed past Thunderhawk and Hibiscus. “I trust you,” Clover said, walking to Pigeon’s side. “Same here,” Said Alligator, Seaweed, and Cheetah all at the same time, all of them walking to stand next to them. At that moment, the ground rumbled, as if telling them to hurry it up and decide. “Thunderhawk?” Clover said. “Are you coming?”. “No, Clover, I-I can’t,” He said. “Why not? You know that if you stay there, you’ll die,” Clover said. “Because this is how my family died Clover! We can’t just walk into Falconshade’s base and hope to survive! We stand more of a chance fighting those scavengers! He could kill us right here if he wanted to! But it’s all just a game to him! He’s keeping us alive for his own amusement Clover! There’s no point! We can’t win!” Thunderhawk exploded. “How could he kill us right here? He’s all the way at his fortress. Where we have to fight him!” Clover yelled back, hurt. “You don’t understand Clover! He’s an animus! All DarkWings are!” Thunderhawk argued back. “What’s an animus?” Clover asked, suddenly intrigued. “It means he can enchant any object to do anything! He could just say, “Enchant this palace to kill all rebelling dragons when they enter”, or “Enchant this spear to hunt for all rebelling dragons and spear them through the heart” and it would all be over!” Thunderhawk yelled back. Could he really do that? Clover thought, shivering. She was at a loss for words. If he was really that powerful, what was the point in fighting him? No, I won’t think that way. There is always a chance. Clover thought desperately. “We have to try. If we don’t, then there is truly no chance for the rest of dragon kind.,” Clover said back. She could see the struggle on Thunderhawk’s face. Finally, he said, “Okay, I’ll go with you, but this will turn out badly," "I wish my tribe wasn’t so stupid, that they didn’t just kill him or something" "I guess we have no choice,” said Hibiscus. “We can’t go back, and we can’t stay here," "You’re right,” Apple said. “Come on, Cherry, let’s go,” The ground rumbled again, as if saying “Finally,”. They began running through the tunnels, hoping not to find what they thought they would.

 

Chapter 17

When they arrived at the fortress, all was quiet. The tunnel ended in a room that looked like the entrance to a mine. Then Clover realized, We must have been in one of Falconshade’s mines. It seems to small for dragons to mine in, but perfect for scavengers. They walked into a larger room that had a long table in the middle with a majestic chandelier hanging from above. Torches burned in cleverly hidden holes around the room, and the whole place smelled of ginger. Some of the niches were empty, giving the room an air of mystery. To be honest, Clover had expected dark hallways, lined with dragon heads, or something as menacing. She sure wasn’t expecting magnificent rooms like this. I honestly have no idea about how they built this. Suddenly, they heard dragon voices coming from the next room. “Quick! Hide!” Hibiscus whispered loudly. Clover looked around, and finally decided on one of the larger empty niches, just large enough for her to squeeze into. The dragon voices got close enough for her to make out what they were saying. “-escaped with the help of other rebels. Can’t believe none of the scavengers shot them down. How come the king trusts them to defend the place when they keep failing? We would be much better,” the first voice said. With a shiver, Clover realized they were talking about them rescuing Seaweed, Alligator, and Pomegranate. “Pfft, you’re just saying that because you’re jealous that the scavengers have better living quarters than us. We’re just dragonets, who would trust us to defend the king’s palace? Plus, the king is a scavenger. He sees all dragons as useless and weak,” A second voice said. Then They walked around the corner, and Clover saw her first glimpses of them. They were dragonets, barely older than her. One was a fiery orange SkyWing, the other was a deep blue SeaWing. Huh, I didn’t know any dragons lived in the palace, their parents must be loyal to Falconshade. Clover thought. As they walked by, Clover wondered how many other dragons lived at the palace. After a few moments, Hibiscus signaled from his hiding place under the table that it was okay to leave their hiding spots. As they left the room, Clover thought of how big the palace was, and how hard it would be to find Falconshade.

Later, after the repeated process of walking, hearing dragons or scavengers, hiding, and walking again, they found the throne room. The throne was empty, but it was so dark, even a dragon the size of Falconshade could be hiding in one of the bigger shadows. The whole room radiated creepiness. Then a voice echoed through the room: YOU DARE ENTER MY THRONE ROOM? It sounded like it was coming from all parts of the room. Nevermind, I will just call my troops to capture you. Thank you for making my job so much easier. “Oh no,” said Hibiscus. “RUN!” Apple shouted. Hibiscus was first out the door, and he immediately dropped to the floor. “HIBISCUS!” Clover yelled. Then the scavengers entered the room. They had blowguns at the ready. Clover watched, helplessly, as each and every one of her friends were shot with a darts. Apple, Alligator, Thunderhawk, Pigeon, Seaweed, Cheetah, so it was only Cherry left when Clover was shot.

 

Chapter 18

When Clover woke up, she was in a prison. She was on the second level of a large hallway, with prisoners on both sides. There were two levels, and a large open balcony on the second, with stairs leading up to it. Clover could see Cheetah and Alligator on the lower level across from her. On the top level across from her, was Apple. Seaweed, Hibiscus, Pigeon,  and Cherry must be on my side. She remembered about Beach and her mother, I guessed they both escaped while we were at the base, I almost forgot about them. I hope my Mother doesn’t get caught again, and I wonder what happened to Beach, I hope we didn’t get him roped up in our ignorance. When she looked, she saw a singed pig sitting across from her in her cage. She hungrily went to eat it. She was too hungry to even care that it might be poisoned. When was the last time she had hunted? Wasn’t it before they went to rescue her friends and mother from the palace? No wonder she was so hungry. I guess that was for nothing. She thought, thinking about their pointless rescue. Maybe trying to stop Falconshade was really pointless. Maybe there was no chance for them to win. Whatever the case, Clover had never felt more empty and defeated. She wondered how she would get out of this one. She was so sad that she felt like there will never be good in Pyrrhia, in the whole world, she felt that getting away was foreign. She felt dying was better than this, that the tiny, miniscule hope left in her, after her terrible life was over. She sat down in the large prison desperately wanting to eat, She then heard a slight chatter in another room. It sounded like Cherry’s voice, slightly, Clover didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but Cherry had been oddly suspicious. She then heard something that sounded like Falconshade, Oh, the prisoners are still awake He said angrily. Well, we can’t have that, can we. Laberetur in somnum, quem cepissem. He chanted. Then Clover fell asleep on the floor.

 

Chapter 19

Clover woke up from her weirdly forced slumber from the ground. Clover then looked around the room for something, anything to escape. Then she found it, a key, a bright gold prison key! She looked for where the lock was outside of the door. She ran through all the long endless corridors for what felt like forever and ever. But she found her sister Cherry and later found Pigeon and Thunderhawk. They all looked farther across the palace, and then she found Hibiscus. “Where’s Seaweed and Apple and Cheetah” Pigeon asked “I think that’s Seaweed” Clover said. “Nope, that’s a bunch of scavengers” Cherry said. “I’ve got them” Thunderhawk said while charging up a lightning blast. “These guy better not be as much cowards as the ones outside, ‘cause I want a real fight” Thunderhawk said. This is strange, he’s not thinking like he was before. That’s a good thing though.

They looked more around the area looking for someone else, then she remembered to go on the other side of the prisons. She saw an empty cage surrounded by scavengers from around a corner.“We have to go a different way,” Clover whispered. “Is that Seaweed?” Pigeon said pointing to the empty cage. Except it wasn’t empty, it had Seaweed in it. “Wha-" "I know right” Pigeon said “It’s like she came out of nowhere, I’m confused too”. Pigeon shot a fireball this time and it melted the scavengers to bones, “I didn’t know you could do that!” Clover said, “I can’t” He said “This is a dream…” The word repeated in her head… A dream it can’t be a- She woke up. “Great, now even dream Pigeon is annoying” She muttered to herself. She then saw Cherry being escorted by eight scavengers across from her, she saw Cherry glance at her briefly. Then, feeling tired for some reason, she fell asleep.

EPILOGUE

Cherry got “escorted” by the scavenger guards to Falconshade’s throne room, though she could easily push them off her, it was a ruse for her sister, Apple, and all her friends to believe Cherry were still on her side. She passed her younger sister, what was her name… oh yeah, Clover. She remembered her and Hibiscus and Apple, betraying her, to go with “Dodo” or something. She felt like she wasn’t lying good enough to be accepted into the group. She could ask Falconshade about that. Or whatever his birth name was, “Intuitusestumbra” Cherry couldn’t imagine having such a long name like that. She would have to be called “Falconshade” too.

After a few minutes of “scavenger escorting,” they found the throne room, it looked as if it was laced with gold and silver. The room was filled to the brim with spell books and each looked ranged to an age of three-thousand to fifty years ago.

“Care to take a seat?...” Falconshade asked in that weird way of talking from all parts of the room. “No,” Cherry replied shivering, though she was turned evil, she couldn’t side with Falconshade immediately. “I see that they have a LightWing,” He said, waiting for a reply, sipping tea. “Yes, they do indeed, and they also have my brother and sisters," "But may I ask, what bone do you have to pick with Storm?”  Cherry asked politely. “Storm and I were the opposing kings, but before I even did anything with my power after my father finally died, Storm cursed a necklace to turn me into a scavenger. Overtime, the enchantment to keep it on my neck has faded, and now, once I have finally full grown, my powers will come back to me, and I shall DESTROY THE LAST LIGHTWING!!!” He curled his talon into a fist and smashed down  on the table. “AND WHEN HE IS DESTROYED, I WILL SCOUR THE FOUL ISLAND OF PANTALA AND, BRING BACK THE DARKWINGS FROM THEIR PRISON!" "But then why do you have to capture Hibiscus and Apple and Clover?” Cherry asked. “Because they are a part of that scummy resistance, and I will not rest UNTIL I have full power." "Why do you need him?” Cherry asked. “Because of his animus powers. I will feed off of him. No one will stop me. Now go, you know what you have to do." "Yes, Falconshade.” Or Intuitusestumbra. TRAVEL TO PANTALA AND BRING BACK THE DARKWINGS FROM THEIR PRISON!”

 

To be continued in:

Legends: The Storm; The Burning Betraya