The dragons all hissed. This was not something they cared about.
“She — she said you have RainWing prisoners.” Please tell me she’s wrong. Tell me it’s all a mistake.
But no one corrected him.
Should he tell them Glory’s plan? That she was trying to become queen of the RainWings so she could build an army to come rescue their lost dragons? That they shouldn’t underestimate her?
Would he be betraying his friends if he said all that to the NightWings?
Or would he be betraying his tribe if he didn’t?
The close, smoky air of the cave pressed down around Starflight.
What if I can fix everything?
This is the chance you wanted. You asked Glory to let you talk to the NightWings. You wanted to give them a chance to explain themselves — you wanted to find a peaceful solution, so you wouldn’t have to pick sides in a war.
But now that he was here, facing their dark eyes, he couldn’t find any of the brilliant words he’d meant to use.
Suddenly one of the nearest dragons snapped, “Just tell us if they’re planning an attack!”
“Yes,” Starflight blurted. “I mean — I think so.”
This met with such an uproar that Starflight had to sit down and cover his head with his wings. He’d said the worst possible thing. He’d made everything worse for Glory and the RainWings, and he couldn’t even bring himself to speak up and try that famous “diplomacy” he’d always thought was such a good idea.
They wouldn’t listen to me anyway, he told himself, but he didn’t know if that was true. He wasn’t brave enough to find out.
“It doesn’t matter,” rasped a hoarse, wet voice. “RainWings are no match for us.”
A horribly disfigured dragon pushed past Morrowseer, slithered into the cave, and glowered at the other dragons. His snout was twisted and deformed by a terrible scar that had closed one nostril, melted several scales, and left nasty oozing bubbles along his jawline.
The dragon with the diamonds frowned. “Vengeance, you were not invited to this council.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” he hissed. “And yet I know more than any dragon about RainWings and what they can do.” He gestured to his face. “And I can tell you that this was a fluke. RainWings are too stupid and cowardly to be dangerous. Most of you know I got this when I grabbed their queen — well, turns out, just one of their queens — stupid tribe — and she had no idea what she was doing, or I’d be dead. She didn’t even mean to spray me. They never do.” Vengeance shook his head, breathing loudly through his mouth. “They have Pyrrhia’s most powerful weapon and they’re too pathetic to use it.”
“Maybe they were before this Glory came along,” said one of the other dragons. “From what Morrowseer says about her, she’s not as weak as the rest of them.”
You have no idea, Starflight thought.
“And it’s your fault they found out about us,” the diamond dragon said. “You’re the one who brought her here, even though Deathbringer warned us the dragonets were in the forest, and that we should stay away until they were gone.”
“Deathbringer.” Vengeance smirked. “Oh, yeah. How is your pet, Greatness? I’ve heard a very interesting story about him.” He turned and beckoned with his tail.
Starflight recognized the NightWing assassin who was dragged into the cave by four guards. It was starting to get crowded on the ledge by the door. Vengeance seized Deathbringer’s ear and virtually threw him onto the stone outcropping with Starflight. They knocked into each other and flung out their wings for balance.
Deathbringer wasn’t much bigger than Starflight, after all — he’d looked larger when he was attacking Queen Blaze and threatening Glory. But here, in the same lava predicament as Starflight, with everyone looking just as displeased with him, he seemed a lot less intimidating.
“Ah,” he said to Starflight in a friendly way. “You’re here, too.” His eyes looked as if he wanted to ask something but didn’t dare.
“This dragon,” Vengeance bellowed, pointing at Deathbringer. “This pet assassin of Princess Greatness was actually conspiring with the enemy. He is the one who brought the MudWing here and he helped them both to escape.”
Princess, Starflight thought. So the diamond dragon — Greatness — speaks for her mother, for some reason.
“Hang on,” Deathbringer said, hopping neatly over Starflight’s head so the dragonet was between him and Vengeance. He looked around at the other dragons and spread his wings with an innocent air. “Conspiring with the enemy? Do you have any proof?”
“Yeah, I have witnesses,” Vengeance hissed. “One of the guards she attacked on the way out saw you helping them. And the guards you distracted from the tunnel so the MudWing could come through — they can tell us all about that.”