“Battle planning,” Fatespeaker and Sunny said simultaneously.
Glory gave Starflight an odd, somewhat amused look, and he shifted uncomfortably, although he wasn’t sure why. He liked that Fatespeaker and Sunny liked each other, but it also made him weirdly uneasy.
Luckily, at that moment, Mangrove arrived with the elegant older dragon Starflight had seen in Kinkajou’s dream.
“Let’s take this meeting to the tunnel,” Glory said. “I need Tsunami’s and Clay’s input, too.” She gathered her wings and soared off the balcony into the trees.
Fatespeaker and Sunny went next, talking to each other as they flew. Starflight followed, trying to keep his mind on the impending attack. Only a few minutes of sunshine and fresh air, and he was already finding it hard to believe what he’d gone through on the NightWing island — or that an army of angry dragons was preparing to destroy all of this before the next sunrise.
Once they were all gathered, within sight of the tunnel but out of hearing distance to be safe, Glory had Starflight explain everything he’d heard in the council chamber.
“So at least some of them are afraid of us,” she said when he’d finished.
“I’d say most of them,” Starflight said. “I mean, I think that’s the whole reason they’ve been kidnapping RainWings and studying them, and why they haven’t attacked before. They’re terrified of your venom.”
Glory showed her teeth and hissed. “They should be.”
“Yours, maybe,” Tsunami said. “But the rest of these dragons — I really can’t guarantee that any of them will use it on another dragon, even in a life-or-death situation. They’ve been told their whole lives to never, ever use it as a weapon. I’ve done my best, but you try changing an entire tribal philosophy of life in three days.”
“I know,” Glory said, starting to pace.
“Which I’m not even sure we should,” Sunny interjected. “I like their philosophy.”
“I could do it,” Grandeur said. “Attack another dragon with my venom, I mean, for the sake of my tribe. But I agree that the others would have trouble.” She glanced at Mangrove.
“I’d try,” he said. “For Orchid. She’s really still alive?” he asked Starflight.
“And waiting for you,” Fatespeaker said. “Starflight told her you were looking for her, and she said she’d survive until you came.”
A faint wave of pink rippled across Mangrove’s scales.
“I’m worried about attacking first,” Clay said. “We’d have to come out the other end one at a time. If they’re smart, they’ll be waiting, and then they can pick us off one by one. But if we wait here and let them attack, we could do that to them instead — we’d be in the stronger position.”
“I don’t want them in my rainforest,” Glory snapped. “If they think they’re losing, they’ll set the whole place on fire just to be horrible. Besides, we have to go there to rescue the RainWings. Even if we drive back their attack, we’d still have to go through at some point, and we’ll have wasted resources on our defense. No, we go to them first. We just have to find a way to get everyone past the guards at the entrance.”
“I have an idea,” Sunny said.
“Changing your scales will help,” Tsunami said at the same time. “They won’t see the RainWings coming along the tunnel if you’re all camouflaged. Then maybe we burst out and start attacking and hope we’ve surprised them.”
“Doubtful,” Starflight said. “Once Morrowseer figures out I went through, they’ll be on high alert at the tunnel opening.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” said Sunny. “The one I have, I mean.”
“We need to choose the bravest RainWings for the first wave,” Glory said. “Tsunami, I want you to make a list for me, based on what you’ve noticed during training.”
Tsunami snorted. “A ‘brave’ list might be asking a lot. You can have a ‘less sleepy than the others’ list.”
“One does not speak to a queen that way of her citizens,” Glory said with mock haughtiness, then lapsed back into her regular voice. “Anyway, I think the RainWings will surprise you. I’ve been meeting them all, one by one, as fast as I can, and they’re a lot more complicated than they seem.”
“Doesn’t anyone want to hear my idea?” Sunny asked.
“I do,” said Starflight, but Glory was already speaking to Mangrove.
“We have to make sure that we pair up related RainWings in each squadron, so there’s always someone to counteract the venom if there’s an accident. I know Sunny’s been taking notes on that, so make sure we use her chart when we form the squadrons.”