“I’m pretty sure you’re down there,” she said. “Because it’s a crazy-smart and crazy-brave thing to do, which sounds like you.”
HA, Starflight thought. Crazy-brave is the opposite of me. Crazy-brave is Tsunami. Crazy-brave would have been turning around to fight all four dragonets at once, which is what she would have done. Sitting in a dark hole? Waiting for someone else to deal with my problem? She’s right about one thing: that does sound like me.
Fatespeaker sat quietly for a moment, but he could still hear her breathing. “Of course, if you’re not down there, I sound totally insane right now,” she said. “There’s a RainWing sitting next to me who is giving me the weirdest looks. Hey there. What’s happening? Nothing weird, just talking to a pit. Carry on looking miserable, don’t mind me. “Oooo, his ears went a little yellow,” she reported. “Does that mean amused or terribly annoyed? What do you think?”
Amused, Starflight thought, if his very limited study of RainWing scale-shifting was any guide.
“I wish I could let you go, sad dragon,” she said to the RainWing. “I’d need one of those long pointy sticks, though. Starflight, come on, get up here so we can talk about how to help all these sad dragons. I checked a few of the other caves and there are at least ten of them here, can you imagine?”
Fourteen, according to Kinkajou.
“Oh, I promise I’m not going to kill you,” she added. “Is that what you’re worried about? Pffft. My visions say we’re going to do amazing things together. That’s hardly going to happen if you’re dead, right? I don’t mind telling Morrowseer that my prophecies are just as good as his prophecies and my prophecies say you get to live forever, so there.”
Starflight smiled into the dark. He would love to be present for that conversation.
“All right,” he said. “I’m coming.”
Together they flew back to the cave, where Viper and Squid were huddled sullenly against the wall and Morrowseer was pacing back and forth.
“Oh, did you lose some dragonets?” Fatespeaker said to him with mock sympathy. Morrowseer glared at her.
“It’s not funny,” Squid hissed. “There were about a thousand NightWing guards chasing me!”
Viper rolled her eyes. “Try four,” she said.
“They nearly burned my tail! One of their spears could have taken an eye out! And when I told them I was a dragonet of destiny, they got even more mad. I want to go home.” Squid folded his wings and sulked. “Plus I haven’t seen any sign of the treasure I was promised.”
“We keep our treasure safe,” Morrowseer rumbled, “instead of on ostentatious display like the other tribes.” He rubbed his forehead. “Perhaps I could have done a better job of warning my tribe that you were here.”
“Perhaps you could have,” Viper snapped.
“The council has been told, but apparently the news hasn’t spread. It’s going to take some explaining to get Flame and Ochre out of the dungeon.” Morrowseer tapped his claws on the rocks and tipped his head at Starflight. “A clever way to foil your attackers. Whether you intended it or not. It’s not what I would have done, but it worked.”
“Now can we kill Fatespeaker instead?” Viper asked.
“Sometimes you’re just horrible,” Fatespeaker said to her.
“Seems like you had an opportunity to kill him and didn’t take it,” Morrowseer said darkly.
“Look, destiny is destiny,” Fatespeaker said. “I don’t know why you’re so worried about who’s in the prophecy. You delivered it; now you can sit back and watch it happen. Whether it’s me or Starflight, who cares?”
“The NightWings care,” said Morrowseer. “The queen has decreed that I should choose one of you and then kill the other.”
Fatespeaker opened and closed her mouth a few times. “Really?” she finally said in a small voice. Starflight felt sorry for her. Starting with what Glory had told him in the rainforest, he’d had a few days to adjust to how different NightWings were from his expectations. Fatespeaker was getting it all thrown at her at once.
“Not today, though,” said Morrowseer. “For now, I’m moving you all to the fortress so I can keep an eye on you.”
He ended up dumping them in the same dormitory where Starflight had first woken up. Then, to Starflight’s relief, Morrowseer stomped off to the evening council meeting without him.
“Are you sure you don’t want to take me?” Fatespeaker asked him. Starflight guessed she was hoping to meet other NightWings — ones who might give her a better impression of the tribe than Morrowseer and Mastermind.
“Very sure. Stay here,” Morrowseer growled at her. “And try to speak as little as possible.”
She watched him leave, her wings drooping. “I was hoping to see the queen,” she said to Starflight.