wouldn’t find much that might be usefulunless he was brave enough to open a door sometime, but he was terrified of waking up any sleeping NightWings. He kept imagining walking straight into Morrowseer’s room and stepping on his tail by accident, and the death or dismemberment or both that would no doubt inevitably follow.
He was glad to see that Fatespeaker wasn’t going in the direction of his father’s lab. Mastermind was surely sleeping like the rest of the tribe, but Starflight didn’t want to risk encountering him — or get any closer to the things he’d seen in there.
Every once in a while, as they walked, they heard a quiet snore from the rooms they were passing. But they saw no one awake. No guards anywhere.
“I guess they’re used to not needing guards,” Starflight whispered. “Since no other tribe could find this place, they were always safe from attack.” He thought for a minute. “And even now that they might be attacked, they only need to post guards at the tunnel.”
“I’m surprised everyone is asleep, though,” Fatespeaker whispered back. “I always thought being a NightWing meant you wanted to be awake all night. I mean, that’s true of me. I can never wake up in the morning, but once it’s dark, I’m full of energy. Does that happen to you? I really thought that was a NightWing thing. But maybe my friends are right and I’m just weird.” She kicked a rock sticking out of a crack in the floor.
“Or maybe it is a NightWing thing and they’re all muddled here because they can’t really see the night sky anymore,” Starflight said. “Maybe you’re more of a NightWing than any of them.”
She fluttered her wings, looking skeptical.
“As for me, I lived in a cave with no sky most of my life, so I was on whatever schedule our guardians told us to be. But once we were free … well, it’s been a strange few weeks, so it’s hard to say. But I do feel more alive when the stars are out. Does that make sense?”
“It does,” she said, smiling at him. She paused at an intersection, thinking, and then purposefully turned right.
“Are we going somewhere?” he asked her.
“Did you see the part of the fortress that collapsed?” she asked. “I want to see what it looks like from inside.”
He stopped, his heart rattling nervously. “Wait,” he said. “It collapsed because it was covered in lava. That can’t be safe to explore.”
She flicked his nose with her tail. “Oh, stop worrying. Mightyclaws told me it happened, like, eleven years ago. It’s just a bunch of rocks now, and he said it’s kind of neat-looking. I guess it covered the part of the fortress where they used to keep their treasure, so they had to blast tunnels into it to get their treasure out. Tunnels! In lava rocks! It’ll be awesome. Come on!”
She bounded ahead and he followed, more slowly, wishing he’d listened to his original stay-in-bed instincts.
Fatespeaker’s sense of direction turned out to be better than her sense about dragons, and before long they found themselves in a part of the fortress where the roof was partly gone. What looked like thick black bubbles of rock filled the hall ahead of them. Chilly air whistled through the gaps in the walls, battling with the heat from the volcano below their talons.
“There,” Fatespeaker whispered, darting up to where the petrified lava met the wall. A tunnel just big enough for a dragon had been chiseled and blasted and dug out of the rocks. Without any hesitation, she headed inside.
What am I doing ? Starflight asked himself. He really desperately wanted to melt into the shadows and stay there waiting for her. But he also felt as though she couldn’t go in there alone. And this time there was no Clay or Tsunami or Glory to do the brave thing for him. He was the only dragon Fatespeaker had.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to step into the small tunnel. Jagged rock pressed in from all sides, scraping his wings and the top of his
He was glad to see that Fatespeaker wasn’t going in the direction of his father’s lab. Mastermind was surely sleeping like the rest of the tribe, but Starflight didn’t want to risk encountering him — or get any closer to the things he’d seen in there.
Every once in a while, as they walked, they heard a quiet snore from the rooms they were passing. But they saw no one awake. No guards anywhere.
“I guess they’re used to not needing guards,” Starflight whispered. “Since no other tribe could find this place, they were always safe from attack.” He thought for a minute. “And even now that they might be attacked, they only need to post guards at the tunnel.”
“I’m surprised everyone is asleep, though,” Fatespeaker whispered back. “I always thought being a NightWing meant you wanted to be awake all night. I mean, that’s true of me. I can never wake up in the morning, but once it’s dark, I’m full of energy. Does that happen to you? I really thought that was a NightWing thing. But maybe my friends are right and I’m just weird.” She kicked a rock sticking out of a crack in the floor.
“Or maybe it is a NightWing thing and they’re all muddled here because they can’t really see the night sky anymore,” Starflight said. “Maybe you’re more of a NightWing than any of them.”
She fluttered her wings, looking skeptical.
“As for me, I lived in a cave with no sky most of my life, so I was on whatever schedule our guardians told us to be. But once we were free … well, it’s been a strange few weeks, so it’s hard to say. But I do feel more alive when the stars are out. Does that make sense?”
“It does,” she said, smiling at him. She paused at an intersection, thinking, and then purposefully turned right.
“Are we going somewhere?” he asked her.
“Did you see the part of the fortress that collapsed?” she asked. “I want to see what it looks like from inside.”
He stopped, his heart rattling nervously. “Wait,” he said. “It collapsed because it was covered in lava. That can’t be safe to explore.”
She flicked his nose with her tail. “Oh, stop worrying. Mightyclaws told me it happened, like, eleven years ago. It’s just a bunch of rocks now, and he said it’s kind of neat-looking. I guess it covered the part of the fortress where they used to keep their treasure, so they had to blast tunnels into it to get their treasure out. Tunnels! In lava rocks! It’ll be awesome. Come on!”
She bounded ahead and he followed, more slowly, wishing he’d listened to his original stay-in-bed instincts.
Fatespeaker’s sense of direction turned out to be better than her sense about dragons, and before long they found themselves in a part of the fortress where the roof was partly gone. What looked like thick black bubbles of rock filled the hall ahead of them. Chilly air whistled through the gaps in the walls, battling with the heat from the volcano below their talons.
“There,” Fatespeaker whispered, darting up to where the petrified lava met the wall. A tunnel just big enough for a dragon had been chiseled and blasted and dug out of the rocks. Without any hesitation, she headed inside.
What am I doing ? Starflight asked himself. He really desperately wanted to melt into the shadows and stay there waiting for her. But he also felt as though she couldn’t go in there alone. And this time there was no Clay or Tsunami or Glory to do the brave thing for him. He was the only dragon Fatespeaker had.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to step into the small tunnel. Jagged rock pressed in from all sides, scraping his wings and the top of his
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