He was, but he did not think it would be wise to admit that in front of Morrowseer, who had smoke rising from his nostrils. Starflight tried to study the dragonet without obviously staring.
Fatespeaker’s black scales shimmered with underscales of deep blue and purple. Like Starflight’s wings, hers were scattered with silver scales on the underside, so they looked like part of the night sky. But unlike his, Fatespeaker had several extra silver scales — one at the outside corner of each eye, a band circling one ankle, and a few lone ones sparkling along her tail like starry freckles.
“Anyway, I just know you’re terribly important,” she said to him, releasing his talons. “And that we have a great destiny together.”
We do? he thought hopefully. Perhaps he was going to survive the NightWing fortress after all. Am I actually useful in this great destiny? Are my friends there? Am I with Sunny? He wished he could ask her questions without Morrowseer breathing furiously over their heads.
“Go back to the others,” Morrowseer ordered.
“Oh, can’t I come with you?” Fatespeaker asked. She gave Morrowseer a pleading look. “I foresee that I’ll be really helpful with whatever you’re about to do! Also that I’ll find it totally interesting!”
“I — don’t think that counts as foreseeing,” Starflight said. “It sounds more like guessing.”
Morrowseer growled deep in his throat. “Very well. Keep your mouth shut and don’t get in the way.”
“As if I would!” Fatespeaker said happily, immediately tripping Starflight with her tail.
Morrowseer stomped away, muttering. Fatespeaker gave Starflight an enormous smile that reminded him of Sunny. He wondered if Sunny missed him, and whether she felt anything like the ache that filled his chest whenever he thought of her.
“Oh my, sad face,” Fatespeaker said, nudging Starflight’s wing as they walked. “Cheer up. What’s your name?”
“That wasn’t in your vision?” Starflight tilted his head curiously. He’d always wondered how much detail the visions had. The prophecy Morrowseer had delivered years ago was remarkably cryptic, but perhaps there was more information in the seer’s head that he hadn’t shared.
“Um …” Fatespeaker wobbled her head back and forth, squinting thoughtfully at him. “Oh, of course — Bigtoes!”
“What?” Starflight glanced down at his talons, a little offended. “No, no. It’s Starflight.”
“Oh,” she said. “Are you sure?”
“Quite sure.”
She shrugged. “Well, I was close. Hi, Starflight! I’m Fatespeaker. You’re probably wondering why you’ve never seen me before.”
Starflight paused midstep and frowned at her. “Am I?”
“It’s because I didn’t grow up here,” she carried on blithely without noticing his reaction. Morrowseer’s growl echoed down the corridor and they both started walking faster. “I only got to the island yesterday. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I was raised by the Talons of Peace!”
Starflight walked straight into a chandelier. He staggered back, his head spinning.
“Oh, ouch,” Fatespeaker said. She patted his shoulder gingerly. “That looked painful. Anyway, so it turns out I’m part of that big dragonet prophecy everyone is so excited about. Can you believe it?”
No, Starflight thought.
“I’m the ‘wings of night,’” she said proudly. “Morrowseer says it’s up to me to stop the war. For some reason he seems kind of grumpy about that.”
Starflight felt all his hope flicker and go out. He’d been praying quietly that maybe this was another NightWing intervention to point him in the right direction. He’d hoped perhaps he’d be given another lecture and then sent back to his friends.
But apparently Fierceteeth was right: he was here because he’d failed.
And Fatespeaker was his replacement.
It made sense. Fatespeaker had powers and Starflight did not. He’d failed to follow Morrowseer’s orders more than once. He was a useless NightWing and a useless dragonet of destiny.
“Wow,” Fatespeaker said, finally noticing his expression. “You look like someone just ate your only walrus. Are you all right?”
“I —” Starflight began. “I just thought —”
They came around a bend in the tunnel and nearly stepped on Morrowseer’s tail. He gave them a glare that shut Starflight up in a hurry.
Fatespeaker, however, was undaunted.
“labs,” she read off the door in front of them. “Oooo, what does that mean?”
“It means don’t touch anything,” Morrowseer said grimly. “We are here so Starflight can meet his father. If we’re very unlucky, he’ll have time to give us a tour of all the experiments he’s working on.” He hissed. “Let’s get this over with.”