Legacy - Chapter 19

Hope’s tail lashed. She knew exactly what Lumo had done. He had put all of the dragons who couldn’t fight into this ‘safe place’. Hope could fight and she knew it. Calm down, calm down, she thought to herself. Dust began to laugh loudly for no reason. “SHUSH!! BE QUIET! THERE IS NOTHING FUNNY IN THIS STUPID IVY WALL!” Wendigo yelled. Dust’s tongue stuck out at the fuming Icewing.

“Don’t yell at Dust!” Bluebell said, protectively turning the baby away from Wendigo. “It’s a baby, it doesn’t have feelings,” the Icewing said, rolling his eyes. “How dumb can you be?! Babies have feelings!” Bluebell snapped. “That’s stupid! What’s next? Scavengers? Are you going to tell me that scavengers have feelings?” Wendigo asked sarcastically. “Scavengers have feelings. Didn’t you hear about the scavenger many many years ago who spoke our language?” Bluebell snapped. “What a crazy lie! Where did you hear that?” Wendigo demanded.

“Shut up! Everyone stop!” Hope shouted. Bluebell’s scales had little bits of red flaked everywhere and Wendigo’s mouth was doing some weird frosty smoke. “We need to keep it down. The intruder will hear us,” Hope said. The sound of a twig filled the heavy silence, making Hope jump in fear.

Just break out of this place and stab the intruder through the heart, Orange Eyes whispered. No! I’m not even sure if the intruder is going to hurt us, Hope thought. Do you really want to take the chance though? Orange Eyes snapped. Hope rolled her eyes. “Hello?” a small, timid voice echoed. The voice made her entire body tense. It was unfamiliar, but the fear inside of that voice was unmistakable.

Hope touched the ivy wall and opened it around her. She resealed it as she left, stepping out into the dark corner of the cave. Her dark scales seemed to melt into the dark. Where are the others? She wondered. The speaker was in the mouth of the cave or maybe outside. Pressed against the wall, Hope could not see them. “Is anyone here?” the speaker asked. Hope’s heart beat faster. She was terrified.

What if the dragon isn’t here to talk? What if they’re here to kill us? Hope thought. What if they already have an entire army there? I’ll need to fight and kill them all, she thought. That’s when she realized that it wasn’t her thoughts. Shut it, Orange Eyes, Hope hissed. “Alright. No one is here. I guess it’s just me,” the voice said. The dragon stepped into the cave cautiously. That’s when Hope realized that the speaker wasn’t a dragon.

A small scavenger stood in the cave. She messed with her hair and put a hand on her tiny sword. She sat in the cave against a wall and threw a few sticks down, messing with them. Carefully, Hope stepped out of the shadows. “Night dragon!” the tiny scavenger exclaimed, leaping to her feet and drawing her sword. “Wait, please! I won’t hurt you!” Hope exclaimed, stepping back. The scavenger became a bit less tense. “How do I know you’re not lying? How do I know that you’re not one of them? And, better question, why didn’t you come out when I asked if anyone was here?” she asked, pointing her sword at Hope.

“I’m no liar. I don’t know what you mean by ‘one of them’, but I can reassure you that I won’t hurt you. I was too afraid to come out. If you don’t mind, I have a few questions myself,” Hope said. The scavenger put her sword down to her side. “By one of them, I meant one of those mind controlled dragons. Clearly, you aren’t though. I guess I can trust you. Is there anyone else hiding in this cave?” the scavenger demanded.

“Yeah, there are a few hiding dragons. They’re all my friends… except Wendigo, but they’re nice… except Wendigo. Anyway, I won’t let them hurt you,” Hope said. The scavenger looked around, trying to spot the hidden dragons. Hope frowned. They clearly wouldn’t come out of their hiding spots. Hope cautiously let part of Orange Eyes take over as she put the ivy wall into the ground once more and pushed stalagmites gently into the backs of those hidden in the indentation of the cave gently.

“AK!” someone exclaimed, jumping out onto the cave floor. The scavenger put her sword up to protect herself. Lumo’s flamesilk flew out of his talons and onto the small bundle of sticks that the scavenger created, setting them ablaze and creating a campfire. Her eyes became wide with awe as she sat down and stared at the glowing fire. Hope examined the awe-struck scavenger, ignoring the dragons staring at the scavenger.

“A scavenger!” Autumn exclaimed. She looked up at the grinning dragon. “Um… hello? I’m just sitting, nothing exciting,” the scavenger said. “AND IT SPEAKS?!” Autumn cried, his eyes full of joy. “Yeah? Of course I talk… ohhhh you mean I speak dragon? Yeah, it’s an elective at my school and there was no way I could pass up that offer,” she said. “An elective?! You guys have organized school systems?! This is so cool!!” Autumn said.

“Wow. I’ve never seen Autumn so excited. Not even when I walk into the room,” Falcon said. “Sounds like someone’s jealous! Don’t worry, I love you. I’m just so excited about meeting a scavenger!” Autumn said, hugging Falcon. “Anway, I have a few questions,” Hope began, “Why are you in this cave? There are no scavenger dens anywhere near here. Who exactly are you?” The scavenger placed her sword down on the floor of the cave.

“I am in this cave because those ghost eyed dragons attacked my village. There is a village near here, for your information. It’s in the forest somewhere in the Night Dragon’s Kingdom. I came here to escape. I was on the outer ends of the Kingdom, so I was able to escape. I think I was the only one who escaped. Anyway, I’m Speckle,” she said. Hope observed the scavenger. Speckle was such an adorable name for this scavenger! Hope had always been so fascinated by the small creatures.

“Told you so, Wendigo,” Bluebell said. “I’m probably dreaming. There is no way that this scavenger can talk to us. It’s probably an illusion from Nightwings who are coming here to kill us,” Wendigo said. Speckle walked over to Wendigo and slashed his arm with the sword. “Tell me, Ice Dragon, does that feel like a dream?” Speckle asked. Wendigo observed his bleeding arm and shook his head.

“Look, this all feels a bit random and odd. What are the chances that you came to this cave when we got here? Very slim. Like one in a million. My point is that I don’t doubt that you’re real. I just think that it’s a bit strange. All oddities aside, is there any way that you know to get to the palace?” Lumo asked, putting another strand of flamesilk in his lantern. “Well I do know of one. Well, actually, I know of plenty. I can show you one that I am 100% sure that dragons can go through. Follow me,” Speckle said.

She stood up and readjusted the sword on her back. Hope was a bit nervous. There were so many guards around the palace, what were the chances that they wouldn’t see them flying or walking or doing anything? Speckle lead them outside of the cave. “Follow me very very carefully,” she said. Speckle knew her way around. She jumped down and slid down the mountain, grabbing onto a ledge. The ledge had a cave entrance. Hope stood carefully on the ledge next to Autumn and Falcon, waiting for the others. Once they all got to the ledge, Speckle picked up a branch.

“Can you light this on fire?” Speckle asked. Hope carefully took the branch and set a small fire on top of it for Speckle to use as a torch. She stepped inside of the cave and lit up the walls with the torch. “Perfect. Follow this cave. It was used originally as an escape route in case anything bad happened,” Speckle said. “You sure know a lot about this kingdom. Where did you say you were from?” Lumo asked. “I… I come here a lot,” Speckle said quietly. A stalactite fell from the ceiling inches away from where she stood, making Speckle say something in scavenger.

She was probably cursing in scavenger, Hope thought. She carefully followed Speckle through the cave. It had been five minutes or so and they were still walking. “Are you sure this is the right cave?” Wendigo asked coldly. He hadn’t been happy that he was following a talking scavenger. “I’m one hundred percent sure that this is the right cave,” Speckle snapped. “Well we’ve been walking through it forever and we’ve gotten nowhere,” Wendigo protested. “We have gotten somewhere. Just open your eyes and look. I’m tired of your stupid questions. This is the right cave,” Speckle said. Wendigo shut his mouth and kept walking.

Hope’s talons kicked something metal. She recoiled her talons immediately. Slowly, she picked up the metal object. It was a scavenger sword like Speckles. “Three moons! A sword!” Speckle said, taking the sword out of Hope’s hands. “Wow! This is so carefully forged! And where did they get access to these materials?! This is truly one of the prettiest swords I’ve seen!” she said. Her eyes were wide with excitement. She took the old sword off of her back and threw it, putting the new sword on her back. “Are you sure that sword doesn’t belong to anyone?” Autumn asked anxiously.

“Finders keepers!” Speckle said. She fixed her hair and kept walking. “It shouldn’t be much further,” Hope said. “I hope not. My talons are beginning to hurt,” Bluebell complained. Suddenly, Hope saw a dead end. There were stairs on the left of the dead end. “We made it!” Speckle said, throwing the torch at Wendigo. “Alright everyone. Here’s something you need to know. We don’t know how many guards will be in there. Stay hidden and stay quiet. Bluebell, camouflage your scales. Hope, try to stay in the shadows. The rest of us will have to stay aware. Do not make a sound,” Ray said.

Hope had always admired Ray as an amazing leader. He was so brave all of the time, even in life or death situations like this. “What about the prophecy?” Canopy asked nervously. “Prophecy?” Ray echoed. “The prophecy that Hope had. One of the lines was, ‘A leader will lead them to their doom, a risk that will walk one to their tomb’. I don’t want any of us to die,” Canopy said.

“I don’t either. I know that I can’t be ‘the leader’ who kills one of you guys. That’s probably talking about someone else. We have to do this. We have to kill Sear. The full moon is in two days. Well, if you don’t count today, technically one. Tomorrow at this time, the moons will be up. We can’t risk the end of the world just because of a line in a prophecy. If anyone is going to die, it’ll be me. Now listen up, I have an idea,” Ray said stubbornly. Hope leaned in slightly to hear the idea. “We have one day until the full moons. I think that we should send someone out who can draw a map of the palace and observe where Sear goes the most,” Ray suggested.

“That’s a pretty good idea. I think that either Canopy or Bluebell should go since they can both camouflage their scales,” Lumo said. “I don’t want Bluebell to go. I volunteer to go. I want to protect you guys as much as I can,” Canopy said. “It’s okay, Canopy. I’d be more than happy to go,” Bluebell said. “No. I want you to stay here. Promise?” Canopy asked. Bluebell hesitated. “Promise,” she said, reluctantly. Canopy always had a bag around her neck like Falcon and Ray did. She looked through it.

“I have a quill, ink, and a scroll,” Canopy said. “Perfect,” Ray said. “Perfect,” Dust mimicked. Speckle’s eyes went wide as she saw the small Mudwing. “OH MY GOSH!! THAT’S THE CUTEST DRAGONET I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!” Speckle cried, hugging the dragonet. Dust squealed in happiness. “Shh! Don’t make them too happy. When Dust gets happy, they scream. It’s an odd thing,” Ray explained. “Oh sorry,” Speckle said. “It’s okay! You had no way of knowing,” Ray said. “When should I leave?” Canopy asked, clutching her bag. “As soon as possible,” Lumo said.

“I’ll be going soon,” Canopy said. She fixed everything in her bag and sighed. Hope wondered if she was nervous. I would be nervous, she thought. Why? You could just kill them all. Why don’t you just give in and let me take over? Orange Eyes told her. Stop. No. I’m not giving in. You’ll hurt the dragons I care about. Please just get out of my head and leave me alone. Leave me in peace, Hope cried. Leave you in peace? I'm trapped inside of you! I’ve been here for as long as you’ve been alive, listening to your thoughts and watching you. It’s a pain! If I could leave I would, but taking over sounds better, Orange Eyes said. “Hope, are you okay?” Canopy asked. Hope shook her head to stop the voice.

“Y-yes. I’m fine,” she said quietly. Tears came to her eyes for reasons she was unsure of. Was it because she wished she could be normal? Was it because Canopy was leaving? Was it something else? She wasn’t sure. “Canopy, promise me you’ll stay safe?” Hope said. Canopy’s light blue eyes shined in the light. “I can’t promise I’ll stay safe, but I promise I’ll make sure you will all be safe. I will map out the castle and point out where Sear goes the most so you guys can kill him tomorrow. If… if I die, at least you’ll all be able to kill Sear and save the world,” Canopy said. Hope’s eyes filled with tears. She hugged Canopy. “Please… just… if anything goes wrong, get out of there. Don’t stay. That map would help, but you’re more important,” Hope said. “The world is more important than one old Rainwing. I’ve already lived a great life. I will try and not die, but if I do, keep fighting for what’s right,” Canopy said. “Will do,” Hope whispered. With that, Canopy walked up the stairs.