Darkness of Dragons

  Because he genuinely likes her. I bet he wanted to have one dragon in the world who likes him for real — not because of a spell. She’s important to him.

  They’re really friends.

  But she doesn’t know everything he’s done.

  Can I tell her? Is it safe? Darkstalker can still read her mind. Anything I tell her, he’ll find it there. The spell on Winter — threatening Kinkajou, imprisoning Turtle — the plague killing the IceWings — his alliance with Vulture. Will it put her in danger if he realizes she knows about all of that?

  I need to find skyfire for her. Then I can tell her everything.

  He shivered suddenly with a realization. As soon as he sees her, he’ll know about the earrings, too.

  “Don’t worry, Qibli,” Moon said. “We’re together now. We can figure out the prophecy and save Jade Mountain. I’m sure of it.” She clasped his talons, her face lighting up. “Oh, and the best thing ever happened! Kinkajou’s awake! She’s all right, Qibli!”

  “I know,” he said. “That’s awesome. And Winter’s here, too.”

  He watched her face intently for a reaction, but she just looked happy. Happier than she’d been to see him? Or the same? Did she feel anything more for either of them? He couldn’t tell.

  “Our winglet,” she said with a smile. “Now we just need Turtle.” The smile faded from her face. “I haven’t seen him for days. There was a — a problem with Anemone.”

  “I know about that, too,” he said.

  “You do?” she said. “How —”

  A soft thump from outside interrupted her. They both turned toward the door, and Qibli heard talonsteps slowly approaching through the central hall. He reached out to twine his tail around Moon’s (carefully, carefully, the way SandWings always had to because of their venom barbs). He remembered the crawling feeling of being watched by something in the palace.

  But it was no ghost who poked his head into the room.

  It was Darkstalker.

  “There you are,” he said cheerfully to Moon. “That party was SO boring without you. Don’t worry, I get it, you don’t like parties like that. Clearsight didn’t love them either.” He transferred his smile to Qibli, looking thoroughly unsurprised to see him. “Welcome to the Night Kingdom, Qibli. I was wondering when you’d show up. I didn’t think you’d be able to wait very long before coming to find Moon.” Darkstalker winked, and Qibli wondered if he looked as flustered as Moon did.

  “This is a really cool library,” Qibli said quickly, spreading his wings to indicate the vast space around them. “So … am I supposed to call you Your Majesty now?”

  Darkstalker shrugged. “You’re not one of my subjects, so it’s up to you.” He wriggled his shoulders slightly. “King Darkstalker. It’s weird how it kind of feels exactly right and kind of doesn’t fit.”

  And then he froze suddenly, with his ears pricked as if he was listening to something. A small frown crossed his face. He stepped forward and ducked his head way down to peer at Moon.

  “New earring,” he said flatly. He shot a sideways glance at the one in Qibli’s ear.

  He knows, Qibli thought with a twist of fear in his heart.

  “Don’t be sad,” Moon said, meeting Darkstalker’s eyes. “You know it’s just a precaution. You’d do the same thing, if our situations were reversed. Wouldn’t you?”

  “Hmmmm,” said Darkstalker. “It just … reminds me of a bracelet I made for someone once. Because she didn’t trust me. Which, turns out, should have been the other way around.”

  “You promised not to put any spells on me or my friends,” Moon reminded him. “So these shouldn’t make any difference.” She tapped the earring with her claw.

  “I promised your friends would always be safe,” Darkstalker corrected her. “What if you get attacked and I need to heal you, like I healed Stonemover? What if Qibli gets kidnapped and I can’t get him back for you? And all the beautiful magic I’ve made. No more dreamvisiting? I was going to fly you to one of the moons — dragons standing on an actual moon, can you imagine?”

  “Let’s see what happens,” Moon said, kindly but firmly.

  Darkstalker swiveled his head to focus on Qibli. His gaze was intense, and yet Qibli got the impression that Darkstalker was looking through him as well — like he could see all the Qiblis that had ever existed and all the ones that might ever be.

  He’s checking my future.

  Qibli didn’t know if it would do any good, but he bent all his willpower toward imagining the future he wanted most — and a future that would alarm Darkstalker the least. A future where Qibli was a loyal advisor to Queen Thorn, living in the SandWing palace. With Moon. She appeared in his vision without him realizing it at first. He was imagining walking the palace grounds, and there she was beside him, brushing his wing, and they were flying over the desert, laughing, and they had a suite of their own that she filled with scrolls …

  He couldn’t delude himself that Darkstalker would really find this idyllic dream in Qibli’s actual future. But hopefully he’d see only Qibli trying to help Thorn and nothing about Qibli trying to stop Darkstalker’s plans.

  He wished he knew more about how future-seeing worked.

  Unexpectedly, Darkstalker chuckled. He dipped his head to Qibli as if he’d just eaten a particularly delicious goat that Qibli had caught for him.

  “Well, do what you feel you have to do,” Darkstalker said to Moon, sounding much more cheerful. “Can you come outside for a moment? I want you to meet someone.”

  He turned and padded away, swinging his tail back and forth to some music in his head.

  That was the most ominous thing I’ve seen him do yet, Qibli thought. What did he see in my future? Why did it make him stop worrying?

  Moon gave Qibli an amused shrug, like, well, that went better than I’d hoped. She flew up to get her torch and they went out through the central room, through the arched doorway, and into the moonlit square.

  Darkstalker had paused by one of the scroll-like columns, as if he’d been arrested by the sight of something ahead of him. The expression on his face … the closest Qibli could get to describing it was the way Winter looked at Moon sometimes.

  A beautiful black dragon was walking through the toppled statues and overgrown weeds of the square. Her wings reached out to brush across the stones, as if she needed to touch them to believe they were real.

  She looked up and saw them, and saw Darkstalker, and Qibli thought, OK, that is what seeing someone you love looks like.

  “Moon, Qibli,” Darkstalker rumbled. “I’d like you to meet Clearsight.”

  Moon reacted first, while Qibli was still trying to fit Darkstalker’s words into something that had meaning and reality. He could hear music playing from the distant palace, eerie and remote, like it was actually coming from the stars.

  “Clearsight?” Moon said in a startled voice. “Clearsight? Like … the Clearsight from two thousand years ago?”

  “My Clearsight, yes,” said Darkstalker. He reached out one of his talons and the NightWing came forward to take it, smiling at him. A gust of wind swept down from the mountain peaks, blew through the square, paused for a moment, and then diverged around the two dragons as if it didn’t dare disturb them.

  “That’s … not possible … how is that possible?” Moon took a step closer, blinking at the new dragon.

  How could it be possible? Qibli’s mind began hypothesizing. Maybe he enchanted her to be immortal, too, all those centuries ago. Which seems like something he would do — but then where has she been all this time? Lurking around the ruins? Waiting for him to return? Is she the presence I felt watching me earlier?

  Or perhaps it wasn’t Darkstalker; maybe Fathom did something to keep her alive … or to bring her back to life if Darkstalker ever returned! That would be an interesting plan. Maybe she’s what we were supposed to find in the lost city of night — the only dragon who has ever been able to stop Darkstalker.

  He studied her hopeful
ly. Was this the meaning of the prophecy, revealed at last?

  Hmmm. She doesn’t exactly look like she’s planning to stop him from doing anything right now. She looks more like she’d happily set the world on fire if he asked her to.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Moon,” Clearsight said sweetly. “Darkstalker’s been telling me all about you and how you helped set him free.”

  “That’s not exactly —” Moon hesitated. “How are you alive right now?” she asked.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” Clearsight blinked large dark eyes at Moon.

  “How she’s alive isn’t important,” said Darkstalker, who looked as though he’d found literally all the treasure in Pyrrhia. “What’s important is that she’s here now. She can rule the tribe with me. We’re getting married tomorrow.”

  “That’s right,” said Clearsight with a dreamy expression.

  Darkstalker doesn’t look surprised, Qibli realized abruptly. Even if he had a vision of this — shouldn’t he still be surprised to find his long-lost love here? This should be a miracle.

  Not to mention she’s the one who betrayed him and trapped him under that mountain. He should be surprised and mad at her.

  Instead he looks … triumphant?

  “Married?” echoed Moon. “After everything that happened with … the bracelet and … the murder … ?”

  “All forgiven,” said Darkstalker, looking at Clearsight fondly.

  There was a pause while Clearsight gazed affectionately back at him.

  “And you?” Qibli prompted her. “You forgive him, too?”

  “For what?” she asked.

  “Darkstalker?” Moon said incredulously. “What —”

  “I mean yes, of course,” said Clearsight. “I forgive him, too.”

  Moon and Clearsight regarded each other with mutual confusion for a moment.

  “Your visions of the future are legendary,” Moon said slowly. “I’d love to learn how you do it — how you can send your sight down each possible path and study all the futures at once.”

  “Oh,” Clearsight said, flicking one of her wings at a moth flying by. “You know, I’m not really interested in studying the future anymore. I’d rather live in the present.”

  Moon wrinkled her snout at Clearsight. “Seriously? You?”

  “She’s a little different after two thousand years, that’s all,” Darkstalker said hurriedly. “This is better, though. She always worried about the future too much. Now she won’t worry and we can just be happy and everything will be fine.” He nudged one of her wings with his and she nodded, smiling.

  “But — I still — how —” Moon started.

  “Enough questions. Clearsight is tired,” Darkstalker announced. “I’m going to show her around our palace and find her a royal suite of her own. Please join us for breakfast in the morning. We’re all going to be great friends. You can come too, Qibli.” He ducked his head at Moon and Qibli, then put one wing around Clearsight to steer her back across the square. She waved brightly to them, and a moment later, the two black dragons were soaring up to the palace together.

  “Nope,” Moon said to Qibli as soon as they were gone. “Nope. No no no. This is not happening. WHAT IS HAPPENING?”

  “Very weird things,” he agreed.

  “More than weird! Clearsight is suddenly back from the dead? With the personality of a sun-dried tomato?”

  “Maybe she was always like that?” he said. “We don’t know.”

  “I know!” Moon protested. “I’ve been reading everything I can find about her. I found papers she wrote in school and stories written about her by a friend named Listener. Clearsight was brilliant, maybe the most brilliant NightWing who ever lived. No one’s ever been able to navigate multiple futures in their visions the way she did.” She flapped her wings at the looming palace. “That’s why Darkstalker loved her. He wouldn’t love someone like that.”

  “Maybe she’s just waking up,” Qibli tried. “Or maybe she’s manipulating him to change the future. I was thinking she might be the heart of the prophecy — the one we’re supposed to find in the lost city of night.”

  Moon twisted her front talons together, thinking. “That might make sense,” she said finally. “If she can warn us about something so we can stop it. But she didn’t even want to talk about the future or her prophecy gift.” She shivered, and Qibli sidled closer to give her the warmth of his scales. “I’m just worried,” she admitted. “Something about this worries me. I mean everything. Everything about this is super weird. Why wouldn’t he tell us where she came from?”

  Qibli could imagine a few reasons, but all of them would only worry Moon more.

  “I should get back to Winter,” he realized out loud. “He’ll be wondering why I’ve been gone so long.”

  “Yes,” Moon said, flaring her wings. (Don’t be selfish, Qibli — you wanted to make her smile. If taking her to Winter would make her happy, isn’t that what you want?) “I’ll get Kinkajou and we can all brainstorm about the prophecy. And maybe you can talk her off whatever moon she’s on; she won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

  A dozen new anxieties stampeded across Qibli’s mind. He did want to talk to Kinkajou about what had happened to Turtle — but he couldn’t do that in front of Moon. He also couldn’t take Moon to Anemone’s room, because Anemone was there. Darkstalker wouldn’t be able to hear any thoughts Moon had about the SeaWing princess, but to explain why she was there, they’d have to tell Moon about Turtle’s imprisonment, and THAT would show up in her thoughts.

  Arrrrrrgh, mind readers.

  “I’ll get Winter and come to you,” he suggested. “How will we find you?”

  “I’ll mark our balcony,” she said. “You’ll know it’s ours.”

  “All right,” he said, spreading his wings. “See you soon.”

  “Qibli,” she said, and he stopped short of launching, turning to her with his momentum instead.

  Her smile was all the moons and the sun together, warm as gold coins on desert sand. “I’m really glad you’re here,” she said. “And I think our matching earrings are pretty cool.”

  “Me too,” he said with an answering grin.

  It was strange, he reflected as he flew back to the castle, how it could feel like the world was falling apart and yet he could still be happier than he’d ever been before.

  Except … there was Winter.

  Winter, who also loved Moon. Who became his best self around her. Winter, Qibli’s friend.

  Save the world first. Sort out complicated feelings later.

  When he reached the balcony — which took a few moments, finding the correct one — Anemone was still asleep, curled in the blanket and breathing peacefully. Winter was pacing the length of the room, twitching his spiky tail back and forth.

  “You’ve been gone a long time,” he said to Qibli.

  “I found her,” Qibli said softly, glancing at Anemone. “Come with me.”

  They flew out from the palace and banked around so Qibli could scan the balconies. “Listen,” he said to Winter as they wheeled about in the sky, “be careful what you say to Moon, all right? She doesn’t have skyfire of her own. Darkstalker can read her mind as easily as a scroll. So I haven’t told her about Turtle or the IceWings or anything else. She thinks we’re just here to figure out the prophecy, and it has to stay that way until we can find a way to shield her thoughts. Do you understand?”

  “I hardly think I need a lecture on discretion from you,” Winter said.

  Qibli spotted movement on one of the balconies — wings unfurling and then incandescent patterns spilling across them, like the glow-in-the-dark stripes on a SeaWing, but spiraling across her scales.

  “Kinkajou,” he said, nudging Winter.

  They dove for the balcony. As they got closer, Kinkajou saw them and waved excitedly. Qibli adjusted his trajectory and speed so he could swoop right into her, catching her in his front talons and tumbling her backward into the room in a giant hug. She erupted in g
iggles as they slid and crashed into a pile of cushions.

  “Ack, sorry!” he said, helping her up.

  “Are you kidding? I wish everyone said hi to me that way!” she said, shaking out her wings.

  Qibli turned toward Winter and Moon and immediately wished he hadn’t.

  They were just … looking at each other. But Winter had a way of looking that any tragic hero would die for. His face was full of such tortured longing that even Qibli wanted to go wrap his heart in furs to protect it.

  That’s what I should have done, he thought sadly. I should have tried to put how I feel in my eyes like that, instead of joking around like her goofy friend.

  Why would she ever choose me when she could have that?

  And how can I even fight for her, knowing what it would do to Winter if I won?

  “I can’t believe you two are here!” Kinkajou chirped, breaking the spell. She bounded over and gave Winter a hug as well. “Oh, BRRRR, I forgot how cold you are,” she said, jumping away from him and whacking herself with her wings.

  “I’m very relieved to see you’re fully recovered,” Winter said to her.

  “I know, it’s awesome,” she said. “Anemone totally healed me, except it’s also not awesome because she also —”

  “And you,” Winter said to Moon, smiling. He reached out to touch the earring in her ear. “Although we can all agree these are hideous, at least you’re free now.”

  “I don’t think they’re hideous!” Kinkajou interjected. “Hey, wait a second. Why does everyone have a matching earring except me? Is this some kind of secret club thing? Can I be in it? Why aren’t I in it already?”

  Moon’s smile had faded and she was giving Winter a concerned look. “What do you mean, I’m ‘free’?”

  “Of Darkstalker’s evil spells,” Winter said. “You see what he’s really like now.” He paused. “Don’t you?”

  “I wasn’t under any evil spells,” she said, taking a step back from him. “He’s just my friend.”

  “Your friend?” Winter exploded. “What is wrong with you?” He backed away from her, lashing his tail until it knocked over an antique-looking vase on a side table. Kinkajou jumped to catch it but missed. The porcelain shattered at her feet, scattering white petals and pointed shards in a spreading puddle of water around her claws. Kinkajou looked down at it with a helpless expression.