Sunny glanced up at Six-Claws and saw the fury and fear contorting his face. He sank his talons into the sand, raising his tail. Beyond him, in the shadows, she saw four more SandWings slide out from behind the tent to stand menacingly between them and the pool.
“Ostrich,” Six-Claws growled, his eyes fixed on his daughter. “Don’t be scared. I won’t let them hurt you.”
“Don’t make a mistake here,” Addax warned him. “My friends’ tails are much closer to your dragonet than you are to me. If you attack, or even shout for help, she’ll be dead in an instant. But this doesn’t have to get all violent, Six-Claws. We want the dragonet of destiny. It’s a simple, fair trade.”
“There was no dragonbite viper, was there?” Six-Claws said. “You set that fire to draw Thorn away. Do you know how many dragonets you could have killed?”
“Yes,” said Addax. “Don’t make it one more.”
Six-Claws growled again, and Sunny saw his eyes dart from her to his daughter. He loves her so much, she thought. That’s what I always wanted. That’s what I might have, now, with Thorn. Family, and answers, and a place to belong.
But only if I deserve it. I can’t take it at the expense of another family.
“It’s all right,” she said to Six-Claws. “Make the trade. You have to. I’ll be fine.” She glanced up at the palm leaves that blocked the view of the stars. Addax had smartly cornered them in a pocket of shadow where they couldn’t be spotted from across the pool.
“What do you want her for?” Six-Claws asked.
“Burn wants the dragonets pretty badly,” Addax said. “She’ll take me back if I show up with one of them.”
“Back into her army?” Six-Claws demanded. “Why would you want that? You could be safe here. The war never comes to the Scorpion Den.”
Addax shifted, firelight gleaming in his dark eyes. “I was thrown out of her army, but my family wasn’t. There are dragons there I need to get back to.”
Aw, sad, Sunny thought, and then her brain added, in a voice much like Tsunami’s: Sunny, by all the moons, quit feeling sorry for dragons who want to abduct you and sell you off.
She glanced down at the six wickedly curved claws that were carving gouges in the sand beside her. She had a bad feeling that Six-Claws was planning to fight, which couldn’t possibly go well for either him or Ostrich.
“Six-Claws,” she said firmly. “I said make the trade. My mother will understand.” She wanted to jump forward herself and wrench the little dragonet out of their claws. Ostrich was trembling so badly that Sunny could hear her teeth clicking together.
“But Thorn —” Six-Claws said, twisting around to glance back at the flickering lights by the pool.
“Doesn’t have to know,” Addax said. “Tell her this one ran off. Woke up, decided she didn’t want a criminal thug for a mother, and flew for the hills.”
“Don’t tell her that!” Sunny protested indignantly. She smacked her tail against the sand. “That’s so mean! I wouldn’t do that!”
“If he tells her the truth, Thorn is likely to get herself killed trying to rescue you,” Addax said. “Would you prefer that?”
“No, but at least come up with something believable,” Sunny said spiritedly. She looked up at Six-Claws. “You can tell her I had to go back to my friends, to let them know they’re safe from the NightWings. Tell her I’ll be back.” Six-Claws stared at her, his face unreadable.
Addax flicked his tongue. “You won’t be.”
“You don’t know that,” Sunny said. “Now release Ostrich and I’ll go with you.” She was starting to worry that the little dragonet would have a heart attack and collapse right there.
“No,” Addax said. “She flies with us until we have an hour’s head start, and then I’ll send her back.”
That made practical sense, although Sunny didn’t want to drag Ostrich any further into danger. But if they left Ostrich behind, Six-Claws and the others would chase them down before they could reach Burn’s stronghold.
“All right, then let’s go,” she said. Even more than Ostrich, she was worried about what Six-Claws might do. She didn’t think he’d stand a chance against seven big dragons.
And what if he is my father? And Ostrich is my half sister?
I don’t want them to die before I get to know them.
It wasn’t until they were aloft, winging north through the cold desert night toward the stronghold of one of the most dangerous dragons in Pyrrhia, that the thought occurred to Sunny that she might be the one who was about to die.
The outer walls of the palace were dripping with blood.
Sunny had read the scrolls about the SandWing stronghold, and she’d seen it from afar, but nothing could have prepared her for the smell of the decapitated dragon heads that studded the top of the walls, or the gruesome stains on the stone below them.
They were still more than a mile away when the horrible rotting smell first reached her, making her choke and nearly driving her out of the sky. Addax caught her as she faltered toward the sand.
“Shallow breaths,” he advised. “You get used to it.”
“Do you? Really?” Sunny asked.