“Are you all right?” Sunny asked Tsunami. “I mean, about Riptide? Have you forgiven him for lying to you about being a Talon?”
Tsunami gave her a rueful look. “It’s complicated,” she said. “I hate being lied to and the Talons are the worst … but when I saw that he was alive, I was just — really, really happy. Is that weird?”
“No,” Sunny said. “I know what you mean.”
“I’ll see how I feel after the war is over,” Tsunami said. “When everything’s a little more normal. Not that we know anything about normal or what that’s supposed to look like, right? But then I think — well, we’ll see.”
“I hope Blister shows up,” Sunny said as they soared up over the cliffs. “I hope this works.”
“It will,” Tsunami said confidently. “We’ll get all three sisters to the stronghold. I’m not worried about that. What happens once we’re all there, though…. That part worries me quite a lot.”
In some ways, Burn and Blaze should have been easier to send a message to. They both had a fixed home base — Burn at the stronghold, Blaze in her fortress in the Ice Kingdom. But Sunny was not about to waltz into either place, and she didn’t want to send anyone she knew to face them. She didn’t trust Burn or Queen Glacier not to just kill the messenger.
After a lot of arguing, though, Glory had offered a solution for Blaze: send a RainWing disguised as an IceWing to pass the message along.
“Send me,” was her actual suggestion. “I could be there and back in a couple of days.”
“Absolutely not,” Deathbringer had said. “You are the dragon holding this rainforest together. Two tribes depend on you; if anything happens, you’re leaving chaos behind. And Blaze will probably recognize you.”
“True,” Clay had agreed. “But you could send someone else. Maybe Jambu?”
“He’s been there before,” Sunny pointed out. “He knows where Blaze’s fortress is. He’s already changed his scales to look like an IceWing, so he should be able to do it again.”
Glory snorted. “As long as he doesn’t fall asleep or get distracted by something shiny.”
“Or I could go,” Deathbringer offered. “I know where it is, too.”
“Absolutely not,” Glory had echoed back at him, only half teasing. “Remember the part where you tried to kill Blaze? You’re the last dragon she’d trust. Glacier probably has soldiers prepared to kill you on sight. She’s probably told them to kill any NightWing who comes along, just in case it’s you.”
“Aww,” Deathbringer said. “You totally care if I live or die, too.”
Sunny could practically see the struggle in Glory’s scales as she tried to stamp out any bits of pink that were trying to sneak through. “Well, sure,” she said. “A dead messenger wouldn’t do us much good at all.”
Deathbringer laughed, and Sunny realized that he was deliberately provoking Glory because he liked the way she shot him down. If that’s what he’s looking for in a dragon, she thought, he’s certainly picked the right one.
“Send Jambu and Mangrove,” Sunny suggested. “They both know the way, and they can keep an eye on each other.”
Everyone had agreed to this plan, including Jambu and Mangrove, but Sunny still felt anxious as she watched the two RainWings slip into the tunnel that led to the Kingdom of Sand. It was the day she and Tsunami got back from the Talons of Peace; the flight had taken them three days with almost no stops. Seven to go, she thought.
“Be safe,” Glory said to them. “That’s an order from your queen.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Jambu answered, grinning in a way that suggested he just liked saying those words, not that he was actually listening.
“Stay camouflaged as much as you can, the whole way there. And you don’t have to go into the fortress, or even all the way to the fortress. If you find an IceWing patrol before you get there, tell them to tell Blaze and then you come home. Right away. Understand?”
“Yup,” said Mangrove. “We still understand. Like we did five minutes ago when you last explained it. And five minutes before that. And —”
“All right, go away,” Glory said, flicking her tongue out at them.
“Remember to tell them she has to show up!” Sunny called. “Or else she doesn’t get to be queen! Make sure that part of the message gets to Glacier!” She was the least sure about Blaze, who seemed perfectly happy to hide in her fortress and let other dragons do all the fighting for her. If she was going to show up, Sunny had a feeling it would be only because Queen Glacier dragged her there.
As soon as their tails had disappeared, Sunny turned to Clay. “Ready?”
“Sure,” Clay said. “I mean, I’ve eaten breakfast. What else do I need to do? Oooh, maybe some more breakfast. That’s a good idea.”