Chapter Text
Windseeker's POV
Three days passed by in a blur since the tribeless decided to split up from Death PACT. Though Ebony said that they'll still be around if Death PACT needed anything. Albus hadn't stopped mourning Lightspeaker, and Chestnut hasn't stopped mourning Pinkstar either. Though Albus was taking this worse than Windseeker expected. She thought that it would get easier for him as time went by, but apparently not. I hate coping in unhealthy ways! And for a good reason too.
Fallow and Tiger Eye would usually go to Jade Mountain everyday to spy on what Iris was planning next so they could go back and update Death PACT, who would try to come up with a plan to stop her, but there was a strange pattern. Every time they finally come up with a plan, Tiger Eye and Fallow would go back and tell them that Iris was doing something completely different, and Death PACT would have to change their plan again. This happened for three days.
"I told you, we have to go all in and just kill her!" Windseeker had growled. "I hate a change of plans!"
"But if we just barge in and try to kill Iris, we'll be slaughtered!" Blackdeath had said. "Didn't you see what happened to Pinkstar?"
"But if we don't, Iris will just pick us all off one by one while we'll just be sitting ducks," Windseeker had pointed out. "And Pinkstar tried to fight Iris alone. We won't be alone this time."
"Well said, Windseeker," Evergreen had agreed and Windseeker silently thanked him. "If we do attack Iris, we'll at least need some help."
Blackdeath had reluctantly agreed, and that was good enough for Windseeker. At least for now. Windseeker would still see Shrike and Copper doing whatever they wanted to do together, and she and Evergreen had to agree that the two skywings were even more sappier together than Windseeker and Evergreen themselves, but some dragons (*cough* Beluga *cough*) disagreed.
But to put that all aside, if had been more than an hour since Fallow and Tiger Eye left to gather more intel on Iris, and they still weren't back. "What if Iris kidnapped them?!" Chestnut panicked.
Windseeker was about to tell him that it was quite unlikely, before realising that this was Iris they were dealing with here. Iris, who had kidnapped innocent dragons just so she could steal their animus magic, if they even had it that is. "We should rescue them, shouldn't we?" said Gecko.
"But we're still so vulnerable!" said Shrike.
Evergreen rolled his brown eyes. "Yes, but we're not that vulnerable. It'll take us more than a few deaths to stop us from going against Iris."
Almost as if on cue, Windseeker's ears picked up a rustle from outside. "Did you hear that?" Everyone looked at Windseeker and then at the entrance as an orange and black dragon stumbled in, limping and her black star-speckled wings drooping heavily beside her. She flopped onto the floor, groaning.
It was Tiger Eye.
"Three moons!" Shrike gasped. "What happened to you?"
Tiger Eye let out a shuddering gasp and tried to stand up, before Evergreen gently laid her back down again. "Don't get up. Just rest." he said soothingly. "Can you explain what happened?"
Tiger Eye coughed slightly and hoarsely whispered, "Iris..."
Windseeker sighed. "Of course it was Iris. Who else could've done this?"
"Done what?" Fulgurite asked. Windseeker pointed at a scratch on Tiger Eye's left thigh, which was red and raw along the edges and jagged black lines were spreading slowly from it. Sandwing sting. I'd recognise that anywhere.
Tiger eye continued. "She's... taking control of some of the students of Jade Mountain Academy, even some of the Dragonets of Destiny. One of the sandwing students got me in the leg, but I kept on running."
"What about Fallow?" Nightshade asked anxiously. "Where is she?"
Windseeker had a sinking feeling that she already knew the answer, and it was confirmed when Tiger Eye said, "Fallow's dead. She bought me time to escape." She gasped, out of breath, and slumped forward, her injured thigh splayed out awkwardly beside her.
Windseeker bit back a roar of rage, stomping her foot. "Not again! I hate losing so many dragons in the span of a week!"
Albus sighed. "Me too."
Copper's eyes widened. "It's already been a week? Three moons!"
"Three moons indeed," said Blueberry blankly.
"What are we gonna do now?" Beluga asked, serious for once. "You heard what Windseeker said before; we can't just sit here while Iris kills us all off one by one!"
"But what about Tiger Eye?" said Albus. "We need some of that brightsting cactus, Fulgurite!"
Fulgurite blinked. "Don't ask me! I'm part tempestwing too, you know! I don't have scaled talons like some of you do!"
"We can just get some from the desert. It's not too far from here." Blueberry suggested.
"Oh, good point," Fulgurite realised. "I'll go get some."
"Oooh, me too!" Copper agreed enthusiastically, though he isn't a sandwing or a lightwing.
Evergreen nodded. "Right. The rest of us will go get everyone who's willing to stop Iris with us, once and for all."
If anyone left who's willing to stop Iris is even still alive... Windseeker thought. No. Surely there most be some dragons left still alive that are willing to help us. If we survived, so have they. "Right, but who do we go to first?"
"The tribeless."