“You’re unharnessed!” Tsunami cried.

“I know, isn’t it wonderful?” Anemone stretched her wings wide and beamed. “It’s only for a little while.” She tugged at the web that was still fitted closely around her chest. “I’ll be snapped in again later. But Queen Coral said I could go fly around while she has Auklet fitted for her harness, as long as I don’t leave the Summer Palace. This would be the happiest day of my life if I weren’t so worried about you.”

“Can you set us free?” Clay asked hopefully.

“And then come with us,” Tsunami suggested. “We’ll never make you use your powers, I promise.”

Anemone shook her head. “I wish I could. But Coral and Blister will be furious enough about losing the Dragonets of Destiny. Think about it- if their secret weapon disappears, too, they’ll hunt you down like sharks after prey.”

“That’s a good point,” Starflight agreed in his let’s-all-be-sensible voice.

“I don’t care,” Tsunami said. “I don’t care if every dragon in Pyrrhia is searching for us. We’ll keep you safe, a lot safer than you are here.”

Anemone shifted her wings. Even through the water, Ashley could see the mournful expression on her snout.

"I'll do it," Turtle said, stepping forward. "I'll take the blame if necessary."

Tsunami stared at him through the water for long seconds. "Who is this?" Tsunami wondered, pointing a finger at Turtle.

"This is Turtle! Our brother!" Anemone said excitedly. "He came to me and said he wanted to help right after mother left." She turned to him. "But, are you sure? I mean... Mother will be furious."

"Don't worry," Turtle responded with a wobbly smile. "I'll survive it. I think... I hope."

He sighed, and an awkward silence fell upon the dragons before Tsunami broke it.

"So, you are sure you don't want to come with us?"

“I- I just don’t think I’m ready to live my life like Webs did, never able to return home,” Anemone responded. “I’d miss Auklet. And I think the Seawings need me here. I think Mother needs me, so she’s hearing another voice besides Blister’s.”

Tsunami looked down, visibly disappointed, but understanding.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Glory asked Turtle. "They will know it was you."

"It's okay..." the Seawing replied. "I'd rather see the end of the war." He gulped. "...and my father back."

Ashley noticed Tsunami wince at it, suddenly looking a lot more distressed. She looked at her friends, seeking for help.

What do we tell him? She was probably wondering the same, considering that Gill's condition was uncertain at the moment. Ashley wanted to think of him alive, but he couldn't dismiss the other possibility either; it would be lying to himself.

Before he could think further, a metallic sound of pulled chains made itself heard, and after multiple loud clanks, the water around them slowly stopped flowing.

They found themselves staring at the two dragonets on the pathway. Tsunami started running to jump towards them but stopped when Ashley raised his arm in front of her.

"Careful," he said. "The eels are still up."

With a careful look, Tsunami leaned the surrounding water right as a serpentine shadow passed before her feet, rippling the surface.

"Alright." She looked back at her friends. "Let's go."

She backtracked, then caught Ashley with her front talons and flapped her wings hard to jump on the paved bridge, not leaving the human time to react. The other dragonets soon followed, jumping one after the other, careful not to touch the moat.

Starflight looked especially worried when jumping across.

"I didn't expect you so soon," Glory said, looking down at Turtle once she reached the other side.

"Well, here am I," he responded with a weak smile. Ashley gave a curious look at the Rainwing.

"I figured we were likely to find ourselves in trouble, so I warned our new friend while I was 'exploring' for a way out." She said in an obvious-sounding tone.

Ashley nodded in response.

"Alright, that's all very nice. Now, which is the way out?" Tsunami asked her sister.

"Wait," Anemone said. "There is something else I wanted to do for you." She lifted her front talons, showing a spear equipped with a narwhal tusk as a head. Ashley widened his eyes when he realized what was about to happen.

“Spear,” Anemone said solemnly, “find the dragon who attacked Tsunami in the entrance tunnel and bring him or her to us.” She let go of the weapon, but instead of falling, the spear rose in the air, aimed its head toward the other side of the room and took off to the entrance like a self-guided missile.

Ashley felt a shiver run down his spine, the existence of animus magic was scarier than anything he could think of. Its limitations were purely the imagination of the spell caster, who knew what they could come up with if they wanted to cause the worst harm possible.

"You shouldn't do that!" Turtle said, taking a panicked face. "Using your powers like this, what about your soul?"

Anemone raised her eyes to him. "How are we supposed to find out with Coral around then? You know she thinks she already got the attacker." She stretched one of her talons, shivering. "Plus, I'm sure I still have some time before anything happens, so I should at least use them for something useful, right?"

Turtle mumbled to himself but didn't fight her, he took a step backwards.

“Is that really possible?” Clay asked. “That it will actually work?”

“We’ll see,” Anemone said, pressing her claws together.

"Yes, it will, without a single doubt," Ashley responded. He walked beside Turtle. "Come with me."

Turtle tilted his head, dubious, but followed.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Tsunami said worriedly to her sister as the two walked away from the group. “Do you feel all right?”

"Do you have your bowl with you?" Ashley asked Turtle.

The Seawing instinctively reached for the pouch he was carrying. "How do y- oh, yes of course you know."

He opened his pouch with two fingers and stared inside. "I have it, why?"

Ashley looked around, making sure the others wouldn't see weren't seeing what they were doing. He grabbed his bag and dropped it on the floor, quickly unzipped it and took his pistol out. Then, in a quick motion, he clicked the unloading mechanism and pulled his magazine out and handed it straight up to Turtle.

"Take this and duplicate it as much as you can."

"What is it?" the Seawing inquired.

"It's a surprise. For the next dragon who's going to join us."

Turtle cautiously grabbed the magazine, looking suspicious of it, as if it would explode onto his face.

Ashley tapped Turtle's shoulder. "Try not to get seen,' he said as he went back to the group of dragonets.

"What did you say to him?" Glory wondered.

"Just instructions for the next moves." He looked at the dragonets, Tsunami was holding her sister's talons. "What are they doing?"

"Waiting for the spear to come back with the dragon I guess, if it ever works."

"It works," Ashley confirmed.

"But how?" Glory asked. "Do we even know how the magic functions?"

"That's the easy part. It just does." Glory raised a dubious eyebrow. "It's a magic without limitations, whatever she might wish for, it will work, even if it's not supposed to."

He saw Glory hide a face of disbelief. "How can you control that then? How do you ensure they don't turn evil and start causing chaos?"

"You can't, that's why the Skywings kill their animus at the first signs of magic, whatever it looks like." He stared at Tsunami and Anemone. "Whereas for the Seawings, they faced near annihilation because of it."

Glory followed his gaze. "That doesn't sound like something to play with."

"You are right, and that's something we're going to fix right now."

Glory looked at him with a wondering look. She didn't have to wait; a voice quickly echoed through the cavern's entrance.

“Ow!” a dragon came stumbling down the path toward them. The spear seemingly jabbed him in the back and wings to incentivise him forward. “What is the meaning of- why am I- ow! What- ow! Stop! Ow! I will report you to the- OW!”

“Well, that’s not Coral,” said Glory.

“And it’s not Shark,” said Tsunami. She scratched her horns, looking confused.

“Not Moray either.” Anemone stood up as he approached.

The spear prodded the dragon into place before Anemone, on the edge of the electric moat. All eyes turned to him.

“Whirlpool?” Tsunami said, astonished. “Why would you want to kill me?”

“Rubbish,” said the green dragon with a haughty air. “I would never-” The spear poked him again, a little harder this time. “Ow. My goodness. Anemone, I had no idea you were capable of such powerful magic. I must be a brilliant teacher. Of course, I’d be more impressed if it weren’t stabbing me- OW.”

Anemone shifted on her talons uncomfortably. “I didn’t think it would be you,” she said.

Whirlpool's gaze oozed through the group of dragons. He narrowed his eyes. "I fail to notice your presence within the cells," he said with his slimy voice. His head turned to Anemone. May you explain this to me, princess? Or did it happen that you committed treason on your own mother?"

Anemone squirmed, looking down.

"I did it," Turtle said, coming forward. He turned to Ashley and handed him about two dozen magazines. "Will that be enough?"

"Thank you, that's plenty." He grabbed them, and packed them inside his bag, except one which he loaded inside his gun.

"And you are?" Whirlpool inquired.

"I'm Prince Turtle," the Seawing responded half-confidently.

"I should tell the queens about such a traitorous act, your mother will be very disappointed in you. We could use this time to tell Queen Blister how accomplished you are too,” Whirlpool said to Anemone in his oozy voice. “She’ll be so terribly pleased.”

"Don't you dare," Tsunami hissed.

"Do you really think you can stop me?" he asked.

"We can," Clay responded while placing himself behind Whirlpool.

The green dragon winced, showing his teeth.

"And even if you do, I can tell my mother you tried to kill me," Tsunami said. "How do you think she would feel about that?"

He shrugged and reached up to play with the gold hoop earring in his ear. “She may find it quite admirable, actually. After all, I was merely trying to ensure that Anemone dear would be queen.”

“Me?” Anemone’s wings fluttered open and closed. “You don’t even like me that much. Why do anything for me?”

“Well,” Whirlpool said, “frankly, I don’t want to marry her.” He pointed at Tsunami.

Ashley felt his eye twitch.

“Wow,” Glory chirped. “That was totally on my list of reasons why someone might want to kill you.”

“Don’t worry,” Tsunami snapped. “I’d rather be torn apart by tiger sharks than ever marry you.”

“But I do want to be king,” Whirlpool said. He held out his talons as if imagining more gold rings looping around his claws. “So I thought if I got rid of you, I’d improve my chances of marrying a more agreeable daughter.”

“I don’t even want to marry you either!” Anemone cried.

“It’s not really up to you,” Whirlpool said, taking a step back up the path to the cave entrance. “Once I tell Queen Coral and Queen Blister about what you can do, they’ll be so grateful, they’ll let me have anything I want. But of course, then you’ll be very busy using your powers to win the war. And you probably won’t survive that. So I should really ask for Auklet instead.” He tapped his snout thoughtfully as if he was musing to himself.

"That's disgusting," Turtle said, looking even more than disgusted. His eyes gave Whirlpool a dark look. "I didn't realize you were that bad."

"You're even more fucked up than I remember," Ashley said. "She's barely born."

"So what?" Whirlpool said dismissively. "I can wait."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Ashley raised his arm to aim for the dragon and pressed the trigger.

The loud bangs immediately filled the entire room with echo and all the dragons jumped, except Whirlpool, who fell forward.

"OW! What is th- That stings! What in the Moons!" The dragon caught himself with his other arm and wobbled backwards, his eyes now wide and panicked.

Ashley walked forward and pushed Anemone away from the dragon. She raised her eyes to him, disoriented and panicking because of the noise. In front of him, Whirlpool was holding his arm and gritting his teeth. His tail was lashing from left to right in pain.

Three bullets had hit his forearm, shredding his scales into pieces. Red was seeping down in trails, and bubbles of blood were popping where the bullets penetrated.

Ow, that's an artery. Ashley stared at the languishing dragon, not feeling an ounce of pity. Good, that'll make it better.

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If you looked well at it, you could find some white behind one of the wounds, a bone that was most likely shattered at the point of impact, with a broken bullet lodged behind it.

"That must hurt," Ashley said calmly. "You're probably not very used to this kind of pain, seeing what a pathetic batch of shit you are."

Whirlpool let out a low growl and then threw his other forearm in a swipe motion to strike Ashley, but the human took a quick step back and dodged the attack. He aimed at the shoulder of the dragon, who fell again after two more shots were fired, letting out a much-desired undignified scream.

"AaaAAaAH! IT BURNS!" Whirlpool stumbled backwards and Clay jumped aside to dodge him, looking from Ashley to the dragon back and forth in confusion. "WHAT IS THIS- SORCERY?! YOU'RE A PSYCHO!"

"Just good old steel my friend," Ashley said. "I would say I don't enjoy killing people but creeps like you deserve all the pain in the world, so there it would be a lie."

A stand-off moment happened in which both parties stared at each other in silence. Whirlpool's eyes were shaking, their veins turning red with pain.

Electricity crackled on, the surface of the moat, but also in the water of all the other cells. All the eels of the room were on edge.

Ashley spat to his feet.

"You're a fucking animal."

Whirlpool threw himself forward with his back legs onto Ashley and barely missed, only managing to reach a claw on his legs.

Ashley jumped aside but felt the cut, he winced but didn't flinch. In response, he aimed straight at the dragon and fired.

BANG

Again.

BANG

And again.

BANG

Until...

click

There was no bullet left.

The Seawing was on the ground, his wings weakly folded. His chest had been shredded by lead and his breathing was now slow and jarring.

Ashley dislodged the magazine and threw it to the side. It bounced on the rock floor and fell into the moat, and was instantly surrounded by crackling electricity as it sank into the water.

In no time, Ashley grabbed another magazine and loaded it. Then, he proceeded to dump all of its content into Whirlpool again, just to make sure.

Each shot seemed louder than the previous, reverberating through the room and adding to the echo, completed by the noise of empty cartridges falling on the ground. Each shot made his sight shake more than the previous, each time, the muzzle flash seemed brighter. But every time the dragon was hit, a spasm ran through his body, and slowly, he slid toward the side of the ledge.

A blue light was crackling in down below, the eels clustered menacingly like a bank of sharks waiting to feast on a sick whale. Whirlpool, agonizing, slipped into the moat and hit the water like a lump without emitting a noise. Right where he struck the water, a sizzling flash of light blinded everyone in sight, and a faint smell of burnt flesh arose from it.

When Ashley uncovered his eyes, thick green tails were thrashing through the bubbles and sparks.

Whirlpool was impossible to find, if not for a shadow beneath the surface.

Ashley dropped the second magazine into the water.

"What a waste," he said. He turned back to the dragonets, ready to tell them to leave, but he couldn't.

They were scared.

Even, as he turned, all of them took a step back, looking wary.

Tsunami was holding her little sister and covering her with her wings, wanting to comfort her, as she was staring wide-eyed at Ashley.

"Don't worry. He's a friend," she said, almost as if she was trying to reassure herself. "...I think."

"Oh..." He stood there staring at them for a moment. Tsunami slowly unwrapped her wings to let Anemone go.

"You must leave," Tsunami said. "We’re going to escape, and I don’t want it to look like you were involved. And with all that noise, guards are probably going to show up very soon. Find Mother and hang around where she can see you so you have an alibi. All right?”

"But- what do I tell her?" Anemone asked, rubbing her hurt ears.

"When Mother realizes Whirlpool is gone, you can tell her that with no trainer, your powers seem to be getting weaker. Mess up all the time. Make sure she thinks you aren’t ready and won’t be for a long time.”

“But one day-” Anemone started.

“One day very soon, this war will be over. We’re going to end it. Trust me.” Tsunami squeezed Anemone’s front talons in hers. “Now get out of here.”

“Good luck,” Anemone whispered.

Tsunami wrapped her wings around her sister. “Good luck to you, too.”

Anemone fled up the cave path. Walking fast before taking off. When she passed beside Ashley, she lowered her head and looked down, avoiding his gaze.

"I guess I'll go with her too, make sure nothing bad happens. Right?" Turtle said unconfident, giving Ashley a questioning look but still walking as if he was heading out. Ashley made a sign with his head and Turtle quickly took off to follow his sister.

Only when they were sure the two of them had fully left out did Glory speak up.

"Ashley, what the fuck was this!?"

"That was my gun," Ashley responded. "...paired with creep control." He dropped his second magazine and put his empty weapon in his belt, keeping it close to reach. He turned around. "Let's go, we can't afford to lose time."

"Wait!" Tsunami cried, stopping him in his tracks. "We must free Riptide." She turned her gaze around. "Did anyone see them on the way in?”

“I did,” Clay said. “They’re on one island together, not far from the entrance.”

"Let's be quick then," Ashley ordered, and they all moved.

The six of them hurried along the path, staying near the middle to avoid the agitated eels' waters. They rounded the last corner and saw the greenish light of the Summer Palace up ahead. Tsunami spotted a guard ahead and pushed her friends back into the shadows.

Ashley peeked at the scene. The Seawing was walking inside as if he had just landed, carrying his spear tightly. His eyes were darting around, searching for any suspicious presence.

But Tsunami didn't have to do much, another guard quickly came into the frame, looking a lot more distressed than his peer. He shouted something at him Ashley couldn't hear, and they both turned around and took off inside the palace in a hurry.

“There,” Clay whispered. He pointed over Tsunami's shoulder. “That island, just inside the entrance.”

Ashley's gaze followed the direction. Inside one of the cells in front of them was a blue shape moving in circles beyond the wall of water. Tsunami examined it for a moment and ran to the chain near the cell.

"Do you hear that?" Sunny asked.

"Hear what?" Clay asked. "I don't hear anything weird."

"I think I'm hearing wingbeats."

“There are Seawings flying all over the palace,” Glory pointed out.

"I know," Sunny said. "But this sounds like a lot."

“Don’t worry so much,” Tsunami said. “I’m sure you’re imagining things.” She started pulling on the chain.

Sunny walked out of the corner. “No, I’m definitely sure,” she said. “I hear wingbeats above the canopy. Lots and lots of them.”

"Sunny-" Tsunami started, but she shut when Ashley walked out.

"No guards, this is why the prison isn't protected," he said. Tsunami stared into his eyes. "The Skywings are here."

Tsunami inhaled sharply, realizing what that meant.

“I think he’s right,” Clay said.

"I also smell the start of a fire," Starflight added. "It's faint, though."

"Free your boyfriend, now!" Ashley shouted. "We have to get out of there."

"He's not my-! alright." She jumped to the chain and started pulling. It moved slowly, and the metallic noise reverberated loudly through the room. Clay joined her to help pull the chain. Soon enough, the wall of water fell and Riptide was finally visible on the stone island.

When Riptide saw Tsunami, his eyes lit up. He spread his wings and jumped onto the path. His tail skimmed Tsunami's.

"Thank you," he said. "What's happening?" he then asked, looking worried.

"The Summer Palace is under attack, or will be in a moment," Ashley explained. "Burn's army is here. Skywings, Sandwings, and Mudwings"

Tsunami prepared to jump toward the entrance, she looked tense, ready to leap on anything that had a face to claw.

“Wait,” Riptide said, catching one of her talons. “Tsunami. I have to tell you something. I- I do work for the Talons of Peace.”

Tsunami stopped, stunned.

“Please listen. I joined them because I wanted to find out more about my father, but they wouldn’t tell me anything except that he was safe.” He looked down. “I’ve been working with them for a few years now, passing them information about the SeaWings.”

Ashley noticed Tsunami wince, her expression shifted from hurt to betrayed.

“You have a very bad habit,” she said, “of not telling me some critically important things.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I was meeting with one of their agents right before I met you.” Ashley remembered the scene he hadn't been present for, Tsunami's first encounter with Riptide. “He told me to keep an eye out in case the dragonets of destiny showed up in the Kingdom of the Sea.”

Tsunami pulled her talon out of his grasp. Now she looked clearly mad at him.

“I stayed close to make sure you and the other dragonets were safe.” He spread his wings and held out his talons to Tsunami. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you the truth. I didn’t think you’d trust me if you knew.”

A shout was heard outside of the room.

"SKYWING!"

"We have to go," said Glory from behind the two Seawings.

They ran toward the exit, seeing the end of the path, but stopped right in their tracks once they reached the edge.

Way up on the canopy, hundreds of dragons were waiting, all claws ready to snatch. Some of them were standing at the entrance of the highest caves, holding their spears, while others were holding onto the large roots and branches of the roof, looking toward the sky with focus.

Atop the pavilion in the middle of the palace, Shark was standing, looking up with intensity. About a dozen of mean-looking guards surrounded him, all ready to take off.

The scene was surreal, it gave the impression of a painting. An image before everything turned into havoc. Nothing was moving. Yet.

Then, faster than the human eyes could see, multiple Seawings lunged into the canopy and pulled down roaring Skywings. The red dragons were each immediately submerged by three other Seawings and dragged at diving speed toward the ground.

The noise of skulls cracking onto stones echoed through the palace. The Skywings who had survived or managed to avoid the deadly impact were quickly shoved into the water to be drowned. The ones who managed to leave the grasp of their enemies were impaled by narwhal spears from all sides. In no time, twenty Skywings fell from the air and hit the water like dead rats.

The lake started to turn red, fire arose from the Skywings that could fight. But they were quickly overwhelmed, and as fast as they were pulled down, their throats were slit open and wings cut in half.

Scared shoutings were heard at the bottom. Near the palace's tunnel, a number of Seawings were packed, rushing to flee the endangered place.

Among them, Ashley saw Turtle and Anemone leave, the princess was also carrying her newborn sister in her arms. Behind them, Queen Coral was staying to organise the evacuation of the ones who couldn't fight.

Ashley noticed many scrolls thrown floating on the water under the pavilion.

Hmmm, maybe she isn't that bad after all.

"Oh my-" Sunny held a talon to her mouth, terrified. Clay laid a reassuring talon on her shoulder, but it didn't change anything. Her eyes were wet with tears.

That's when the first bomb passed through the canopy.

Ashley watched it fall, it felt like time had slowed down. The fuming barrel made its way down straight to a group of Seawings who were holding a Skywing into the water. They didn't have time to see it. It crashed right into the middle of the group.

...and exploded.

Three Seawings were blown apart, and shredded into pieces that flew into a cloud of red mist and were spread all across the lake.

A moment of baffled silence fell upon the palace. Then, a scream of rage, and one of the Seawings on the roof bolted right through the canopy to disappear outside of the island.

"Keep them out of reach as long as the evacuation lasts," Shark said in a dangerously calm voice, but loud enough for his order to echo through the whole space. "Then, we'll make sure to drown all their bodies in the deepest pit of the ocean."

The Seawing army shouted in unison, then, Shark spread his large wings and took off at an incredible speed through the hole in the ceiling. Followed by his guards, then all the other Seawings who sent themselves through the roof.

Still standing at the exit of the prison cave, the dragonets could see the hundreds of Seawings disappear, only to start hearing it. Shouts, slices, screams, cracks. The shadows seemed to be dancing on the roof, playing a sick game of light inside the palace.

It didn't take much time for the dragons to start raining inside.

Wounded Skywings, Seawings, but also Sandwings and Mudwings crashed through the tree roof. More bombs started to drop, hitting flying dragons and spreading them throughout the palace. Fire took everything that could burn. Smoke started to rise from everywhere at once.

Ashley stared at the scene completely overwhelmed, his heartbeat running fast. Unable to fully make up the events that surrounded them. His vision had become blur, but he couldn't tell if it was due to the atmosphere or his panic.

He sporadically looked around, his eyes burned. Sunny and Starflight were both clutched under Clay's wings.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Sunny asked, shivering.

"It's ok Sunny, I'm there," Starflight said, he gulped. "I- I'm always there."

A group of Skywings pierced through the roof and created a large hole, bringing down the fight with them along with tens of Seawings soldiers fighting claws and teeth against them.

"I need to help them." Riptide finally said, he lunged forward and threw himself into the battle. Tsunami reached for him with one arm but she wasn't faster than he was and didn't manage to catch him. He flew above one Skywing and sliced the membrane of his wings which sent the soldier to the ground, saving a guard in the process, then he threw himself against a Sandwing and sliced its tail off. Then he was lost in the heat of the fight, and they couldn't see him anymore.

"Don't do it," Clay said, seeing how Tsunami was leaning above the edge, eying the fight with intensity. “I know you want to fight, but we can’t lose you like that.”

Her muscles were tense, her tail wobbling left and right in an uptight manner.

"Let's get out of here," Ashley said, but his voice was drowned by the noises of war.

"What?" Glory asked. She laid a talon on his shoulder. "Ashley, are you okay?"

He blinked then shook his head. "Get out of here! We're leaving!" he shouted. He grabbed a new magazine and hung his backpack tightly to his back. In a few clicks, his weapon was ready.

Starflight peeked out of Clay's wing and looked at all sides.

“We can’t go that way,” he said. Looking at the entrance of the tunnel.

Ashley pointed a finger upward, showing the large hole in the roof.

"You don't think-" Glory started.

"We have no choice," he responded while jumping on Clay's back. "There's a window, we have to move fast!" He took a long inspiration and closed his eyes for a second, a hand on his chest. His heartbeat started to drop back to more acceptable levels.

The dragonets stared at each other worriedly, but they eventually nodded.

Ashley looked up, they had a straight opening to the roof, and most of the fights were happening on the sides. If they were fast enough, they could get out without hitting a dragon. That's the part when they got outside that worried him.

He had to shout to make himself heard. "Tsunami and Clay, take the lead! Sunny and Starflight stay close behind Clay with Glory to protect the rear!" He turned his head to the latter and frowned. "If the enemy follows us, magical death spit. And make it rain."

She nodded fiercely. "Count on me."

He signalled to Tsunami, she pushed on her leg, spread her wings and took off, immediately followed by Clay. Ashley held tightly onto Clay's spine spikes, strengthening his grip every time he slipped. And one of his hands cramped on his gun while his eyes darted around in search of any dragon that came close.

Halfway through, two fighting dragons presented themselves before Tsunami who made quick work to punch the Skywing with her shoulders. The dragon lost balance and was quickly overtaken by the Seawing guard. The dragonets didn't stop and continued to fly higher, reaching closer to the roof.

A Skywing came on them from sideways, but Ashley quickly noticed him and fired three times at him. The Skywing stopped, stunned, then seemed to fly back in pain, then a spear struck him in the head and traversed his whole skull. Ashley heard Sunny gasp behind him.

They reached the roof hole blinded by the painfully bright sunlight only to emerge into chaos. Dragons were flying all around them without a pattern.

Ahead, Tsunami nearly collided with a Skywing holding a log, he seemed about to light it with his fire. She sent him swerving out of the way and slammed the log with her tail, sending both toward the ocean.

Ashley looked around, they were swarmed, and there was no easy way out.

A Sandwing came diving down toward them, throwing fire, thankfully Clay quickly reacted and showed him his belly, halting the flames. Ashley had to wrap his arms around Clay's neck so as not to fall. To the Sandwing's terror, Clay recovered just fine and punched him right on the jaw. The Sandwing tried to lash at him with his tail but Tsunami grabbed it then clawed his back. The Sandwing wriggled away and flew back into the cloud of dragons.

The battle seemed to be slowly going up, Seawings were grabbing their enemies and throwing them into the sea to gain the advantage, but the invading army was rising, dragging the fight toward the sky in their zone of comfort.

Ashley saw it as an opportunity for their group to escape, he showed the trees. "Fly low! We'll avoid most fights that way!" he shouted in the wind.

Clay nodded and dived toward the thick canopy of the island, Starflight and Sunny followed from close. A Seawing came down to investigate but quickly backtracked when he found Tsunami hissing at him.

Behind them, three Skywings dove down at high speed to intercept them. Ashley turned to aim at them, despite the unsteady movements of Clay flying, he saw one of them twitch and lose control of his flight to crash down right onto a tree. The two others beat their wings faster to catch up.

Glory materialised atop one of them and jumped right onto his back, the sudden weight made him dip toward the ground and he started to hit the branches. The second Skywing turned around to strike her but she jumped off the dragon a second before, who straightened up. The result was that the Skywing hit his comrade right in the neck.

He turned back to face Glory but it was too late, the Rainwing already had her jaw open and spilt venom on the fighter's face.

The Skywing dropped, holding his face and screaming in pain at the liquid melting his face and eyes. When his voice shut, it didn't sound like a victory.

The Dragonets regrouped, they weren't far enough, but at least the battle wasn't unfolding right on top of their head now.

Ashley looked behind Glory who was closing the distance, the battle was still ongoing with rage, but the number of Skywings, Sandwings and Mudwings had lowered. Even though the location was now forever compromised, the Seawings were winning.

That's not right, something is wrong.

From the start, it seemed like there always were at least three to five Seawings for each enemy dragon. If their goal was truly to eliminate the Seawing menace, they wouldn't have sent so few soldiers to take out the palace.

"Look!" Sunny cried, pointing a claw toward the Sun.

But, she wasn't pointing at the Sun, instead, she was driving attention to what was under it.

"That wasn't Burn's army," Ashley realised. "That was the scouting regiment."

A much larger cloud of dragons was approaching almost at fighting range already, hundreds of dragons, thousands, even. That was the real army, maybe all of it, and it was led by the largest dragon Ashley had ever seen. He didn't notice them while they were trapped in the heat of the battle, but now he could see clearly the threat.

In no time, the army came diving down right on the Seawings, hundreds of claws collided with even more scales, and flames made an impassable wall. The Seawings were struck like a truck by the coalition of tribes, forced to back off right in the group's direction.

"We have to leave," Ashley said, tapping Clay's shoulder. "Now!"

"The Seawings..." Tsunami said, reaching a hand forward. "They're going to lose."

Inside the cloud of enraged dragons, a Sandwing was making its way inside, thrashing and clawing at any Seawing close enough, slicing throats and tails. Its large menacing shape darkened anyone caught in its shadow.

Noticing the Sandwing, Shark dove right towards it, claws aiming right at its head, ready to claim a new victim. But at the last moment, the Sandwing dodged the blow and smacked Shark with its tail, sending it flying into a formation of Seawings in the way.

The Sandwing's dark eyes twitched, then locked onto the Dragonets, Ashley's eyes widened.

"NOW!" Ashley shouted.

"But it will be a massacre!" Tsunami said.

"I DON'T CARE! THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO! LEAVE NOW!"

Glory and Tsunami both looked at him with surprise, which turned into worry when they saw his panicked eyes.

He threw an arm behind his back, searching his backpack with a trembling hand for another magazine.

Each dragonet started to beat their wings harder, showing their back to leave the scene in a hurry.

But it was too late, a shadow loomed over them, followed by a blast of fire thrown right before their snout, forcing them to stop.

"Where do you think you're going?" the dragon asked with a dry voice, circling in front of them at a surprising speed.

Ashley felt like his skin was melting under the gaze of the Sandwing. It was scarred from head to tail, larger than anything, its bulky shape was impossible to miss, and it was missing an arm.

Ashley had barely seen her, but he had recognised her as soon as he had laid his eyes on her.

Burn was here.