What Lurks In The Shadows (WoF)

♦️Chapter 8 - Cliff♦️

His new Clawmate was nice.

After a short icebreaker, Cliff learned that Peacemaker was a RainWing and NightWing hybrid.

He had never known his father, but his mother's name was Hope.

And Peacemaker loved strawberries.

Cliff had described his life as well. He told funny stories from the castle, like when Uncle Vermillion tripped over his own tail in the throne room. Cliff had nearly burst out laughing.

Cliff was now quiet, reading a scroll. It was about NightWings, written by that Dragonet of Destiny. Starflight.

Once, a dangerous, mountain-sized NightWing ruled over Pyrrhia for a decent while. After being put to sleep forever, Darkstalker had spent two thousand years under Agate Mountain.

The scroll read. Cliff was intrigued. He kept reading quietly to himself, whispering as to not wake Peacemaker who snored below him.

"Darkstalker emerged once again. Heard in the mind of Moonwatcher, the NightWing in the original Jade Winglet." Cliff whispered, reading word for word.

He glanced at Peacemaker. The hybrid dragonet was curled up quietly, snoring as his shimmering wings fluttered.

I wonder if Peacemaker has any inner voices like that. Cliff wondered.

He turned back to the scroll and read on.

He was awakened, and enchanted every dragon to adore him. Darkstalker was then defeated by an unknown thing. It has not been found what destroyed the famous animus.

Cliff's eyes widened. "What in Pyrrhia could defeat someone like that?" He breathed.

He curled up the scroll. That was enough for the night. He slid it back into the scroll rack, settling into a ball of red scales.

The sound of Peacemaker's snoring lulled Cliff to sleep.

♦️♦️♦️

The class of the day was battle practice. The Jade Winglet was going to meet with the Gold Winglet.

Peacemaker hopped up and down as Cliff drifted from his rocky cliff area.

Cliff's wings folded in. "You ready to meet the rest of our Winglet?"

"Of course!" Peacemaker squealed. "I wonder if there'll be a Pantalan dragon in our Winglet..." He trailed off.

Cliff giggled. "Let's go, or we'll be late."

Peacemaker flicked his tail, bounding out of the cave. Cliff had to scramble to run after him.

"Wait, Peacemaker!" Cliff yelped as the hybrid pelted down the hallways.

He halted at the battle training cave, and Cliff stopped as well.

He peered into the cave, his amber eyes wide as he saw the rest of what Cliff assumed was his Winglet.

A black and yellow splotched dragonet with four wings like a bee was laughing and chatting with a small gray IceWing.

On the other end of the cave, a little purple dragonet with no wings was smiling and looking at a scroll with wide eyes.

A green SeaWing dragonet was talking with the teacher, a dark blue SeaWing.

"I saw that SeaWing! She was yelling at a student before!" Peacemaker hissed into Cliff's ear.

Cliff's wings twitched. "Really? I wonder if she's a good teacher."

"Settle down, students!" The dark blue SeaWing called. Cliff hesitantly made his way into the cave.

Peacemaker and him chose desks beside eachother.

The little SeaWing, the green one, sat quietly in the front of the class. The purple wingless dragonet sat behind her.

The IceWing and the bee-dragon sat diagonal from eachother, glancing around the room.

"My name is Tsunami." The dark blue SeaWing said. "I am one of the Dragonets of Destiny."

Gasps were heard from around the room.

"Really?" The wingless dragonet asked.

"Yeah." Tsunami's tail flicked. "Because the Gold Winglet is a bit late, let's introduce ourselves.

"You can go first." Tsunami pointed a claw straight at Peacemaker.

The hybrid ducked his head, but after a moment of silence, spoke. "I'm Peacemaker. I'm a RainWing and NightWing hybrid."

The others nodded around him.

"I've never seen a hybrid!" The bee-dragon breathed.

"You, introduce yourself next." Tsunami pointed straight at the bee-like dragonet.

The yellow dragonet's eyes lit up excitedly. "Okay! I'm Bumblebee, and I'm a HiveWing!"

Tsunami seemed to flinch at the HiveWing's positive energy.

The Dragonet of Destiny pointed at the gray IceWing. The dragonet looked started, but spoke.

"My name is Mink. I'm Snow- Queen Snowfall's sister. I'm an IceWing." She spoke quietly and hesitantly.

Tsunami nodded. "Nice to finally meet you, Mink. Snowfall told me a lot about you."

Mink ducked her head as if she was embarrassed. Then a claw pointed at Cliff.

"You next." Tsunami ordered.

"Well...um...I'm Cliff. I'm a SkyWing." He stammered.

The little green SeaWing gasped. "The prince of the SkyWings?" She asked.

Cliff nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. But you don't have to treat me differently. I don't want to be treated like a royal at Jade Mountain."

Tsunami nodded. "I'll make sure no one treats you any different. And if they do, they can deal with me."

Cliff smiled. Around him were dragons that didn't care where he came from. What his background was. Who his parents were.

"I'm royal, too!" Mink squeaked. "Princess of the IceWings!"

"Me, too." The little green SeaWing said. "I'm Coral's daughter. Princess Auklet."

Tsunami smiled at her sister as Auklet flapped her wings happily.

"The only one who hasn't shared about them is the SilkWing." Tsunami looked at the wingless dragonet.

The SilkWing looked up and squeaked pitifully. "I'm- uh... Dusky. I'm a SilkWing, and I'm gonna get my wings soon."

"That's amazing!" Auklet breathed. "You'll love flying. When you get your wings, I can teach you how to fly if you want!"

Cliff saw Dusky blush a little as he ducked his head slowly.

Tsunami clapped her front talons together. "Now. The Gold Winglet will be here in any minute. Time to learn!"