“MOONS, my snout is so cold!” Atacama complained. “Could we have found a better place to sleep than on a freaking GLACIER?”

I wish, Peaceflyt thought. The group had surveyed the area multiple times and the only place that wasn’t full of rocks or on a steep mountainside was a glacier. It was cold, but at least it was flat. “It was the only flat place I could find!” he protested, shivering.

“Are you sure that this is a good idea?” she asked.

“Uh-” Peaceflyt stopped, trying to figure out a decent answer to Atacama’s question. “No.”

“Yeah, I don’t think it was,” she replied bitterly. “I’m a SandWing, so if I stay out here any longer, I’ll probably die.”

“True,” Peaceflyt said. “But it’s almost completely dark now and I don’t want to fly any longer because my wings are really tired.”

Atacama looked at her wings, which were huddled close to her body, seeming to realize how tired they were. “Yeah. But I just wish I had something warm, because holy moons I am cold. Hopefully Pyramid and Sparrow will come back soon.”

Peaceflyt sat there in silence with Atacama, Walnut, and Pelican. Pyramid and Sparrow had gone off to do something. Peaceflyt didn’t know what they were doing, but they did whisper something to Atacama before they headed off.

He looked over at Pelican and Walnut, who were violently shivering. Inside, he wished that he could enchant something to keep them all warm, but he resisted the urge. I can’t believe we have to sleep here tonight, he thought. Maybe we should sleep on a rock. It would be warmer than this.

They sat there shivering for a bit longer, when Peaceflyt heard footsteps from behind him.

“GUYS! We found a cave!” Pyramid yelled, with Sparrow behind her. “Maybe we don’t have to freeze to death tonight.”

“YES!” Atacama cheered so loud that Peaceflyt cast a worried glance around them to see if anyone had overheard that. Luckily, as he suspected, no strange dragons came out of the mountains.

Walnut walked up to Peaceflyt, shivering. “Thank goodness.”

The trek to the cave was surprisingly short, and Peaceflyt was surprised that he hadn't seen it during flyovers.

Sparrow stepped aside as Peaceflyt and the others entered. The entrance of the cave was partly hidden by a boulder to the left, and was large enough for Peaceflyt, the tallest of the group, to get in without hitting his head.

“Ahhh,” Atacama said, turning toward Pyramid and Sparrow. “Thank you SO much.” She flopped down on the floor.

“No problem,” Pyramid replied.

“It wasn't that hard to find,” Sparrow added. Peaceflyt felt a tiny bit of guilt set in, as he'd made his friends wait out in the open when there was an obvious cave right where he flew over. I really suck at finding things.

“I’m going to go to sleep now,” Walnut suddenly said, settling down on the floor. “That trip really tired me out and we'll need energy for tomorrow.”

“Good idea, Walnut,” replied Atacama. She closed her eyes and a minute later, she was snoring.

Peaceflyt sighed in exhaustion. I guess I should probably go to sleep too. Walnut was right- if we want to find Peak, we'll need energy. He laid down and closed his eyes, hoping for a long rest. Of course, that didn’t happen.

. . .

Peaceflyt awoke in the middle of the night to angry thoughts bombarding his brain. The thoughts had a tone that Peaceflyt vaguely remembered... He thought for a moment and sat up with a jolt. DENEB! What’s she doing here? He looked around and realized that his skyfire had slipped out of his pouch that it was supposed to be in. That’s why I could hear her thoughts. Thank goodness. Actually, no, I’M LITERALLY GOING TO DIE if she comes in this cave.

He lifted his head up with his ears strained, trying to hear any talonsteps. Normally, he would be pretty tired right after he woke up, but the adrenaline rushing through him caused him to be wide awake.

‘According to Dacite, he was flying through the mountains with some other dragons from that stupid school,’ Deneb thought. Peaceflyt flinched. Deneb’s thoughts seemed closer now, like she was walking on the glacier that they were on before Pyramid and Sparrow found the cave.

Please don't come any closer, Peaceflyt prayed. Please just don’t see the cave. Please fly away.

‘He should be here somewhere!’ Deneb’s thoughts complained.

She means me, Peaceflyt thought, uncontrollably shaking. She's looking for revenge because Peak and I put her in that cage. Another thought shot through his mind. Wait, did Deneb get Peak? Is that why she’s missing? Peaceflyt didn’t have any time to think about that.

Peaceflyt got up onto his feet and quietly walked towards Atacama. He was trying to turn his scales invisible, but since he was pretty much having a panic attack, he only managed to get them slightly transparent. His scales would only turn invisible when he was calm (or at least not freaking out), so seriously freaking out didn't help. He prodded her lightly with his talons. “Atacama? I think-” He froze. Deneb’s thoughts were suddenly right behind him. He whipped his head around and spat venom. He heard an unpleasant splattering sound as Deneb yanked his tail backwards.

“ATACAMA! GUYS! HELP!” Peaceflyt yelled frantically. Atacama’s head shot up in alarm. “Peaceflyt! Why’d you wake me-” She halted, and when she saw what was happening, she immediately leapt to her feet and ran at Deneb.

Why did my venom not work? Peaceflyt thought, digging his claws into the ground so he wouldn’t be pulled away. He forced himself to turn his head around and saw his venom dripping off metal armor. No! She’s wearing armor! How are we gonna attack her? We’re ALL GOING TO DIE!

Peaceflyt tried kicking Deneb as hard as he could, but his claws hit her armor and sent a burst of pain spiking through his body. Deneb looked at him with a mix of pure evil and annoyance and yanked his tail upwards.

“OW!” Peaceflyt cried, a drop of venom unwillingly spilling out of his mouth. He tried struggling away, but Deneb had his tail in an iron grip, and whenever he tried to get away, she just pulled him closer.

Deneb raked her claws against Peaceflyt’s leg as she pulled him to a corner of the cave. She’s gonna kill me. And then she’s going to kill my friends! And she might have already killed Peak!

Deneb threw Peaceflyt on the ground as hard as she could. Tears sprung up in his eyes, and his vision went blurry for a moment. He lay there for a bit, still dazed. When he finally got the energy to lift himself up, he saw Atacama ram headfirst into Deneb’s ribs. Deneb fell to the ground, the wind momentarily knocked out of her. Atacama smiled at Peaceflyt, then at Pyramid and the other dragons.

She turned her head back to Deneb, but Deneb had somehow already gotten back on her feet. The NightWing leapt at Atacama and slashed her face.

“ATACAMA!” Walnut cried. Peaceflyt’s head shot towards Walnut’s voice. She was towards the back of the cave with Pyramid, Sparrow, and Pelican. Pyramid was quietly raising her tail barb, like she would stab Deneb if she came anywhere near her or her friends. She looked like she was waiting for the right chance, but that right chance hadn’t come yet. Sparrow and Pelican were both towards the back, with looks on their faces wondering if they would die. Walnut looked tempted to use her venom on Deneb.

Peaceflyt looked back at Atacama. The claw marks on the side of her head were bleeding, but not as bad as Peaceflyt thought they’d be. She was still fighting Deneb.

She’s actually pretty good, Peaceflyt thought as Atacama slashed Deneb’s face. Deneb had multiple bleeding scars throughout her body. Atacama had more, but Peaceflyt knew how good at fighting Deneb was and was surprised to see that Atacama was almost just as good.

After a while of the two dragons fighting, Atacama got lucky and landed a hard kick in Deneb’s stomach. Deneb flew towards a corner and Atacama ran after her.

“You’re really going to fight for this pathetic mess, sand-snorter?” Deneb said, snarling. She motioned to Peaceflyt.

“DON’T YOU CALL ME A SAND SNORTER, NIGHTWING!” Atacama yelled. She raised her talons above her head and pummeled Deneb’s underbelly, leaving multiple bleeding slashes along her stomach.

‘Am I really about to be killed by a SandWing dragonet? Deneb thought sourly, attempting to dodge Atacama’s claws. How pathetic is that? Her train of thought switched. Except Marble says I’m the strongest dragon she’s ever allied with. I’ve killed hundreds of dragons in battle. I can take on one SandWing.

Deneb’s brow furrowed. Gathering all her strength, she rolled under Atacama’s claws and propelled her foot into Atacama’s stomach. Atacama flew across the cave and hit her head on the opposite wall. “You don’t want to mess with me,” Deneb said as Atacama slipped into unconsciousness.

“Atacama!” Pyramid yelled. She sprinted over to her and checked to see if she was still alive.

Deneb stalked toward Peaceflyt, looking more evil than ever because of her bleeding scratches.

“Long time, no see,” Deneb said hoarsely. “It probably doesn't seem like that to you, but that's because you weren't the one who was locked up in a cage. You weren’t the one planning revenge.” She raked her claws against the stone floor.

Peaceflyt thought this was kind of an overreaction to being put in a cage for half a day until he heard her thoughts. Her thoughts told him that Deneb wasn't used to being defeated, let alone by two dragonets. Her thoughts also told him that she thought Peaceflyt made her look weak in front of her family. He could feel the rage emitting off her.

“Say goodbye, RainWing.” Deneb paused to study Peaceflyt. “Or SeaWing. Or NightWing. Whatever you are.”

Peaceflyt cast a nervous glance over Deneb’s shoulders. Pelican, Sparrow, and Walnut were watching with horrified expressions.

Deneb raised her claws to attack, and Peaceflyt instinctively shot venom at her face. He knew she had armor on, but he was hoping that some venom would slip through the armor. His heart was pounding so hard in his ears, he was surprised he could still hear what Deneb was saying.

“Good try,” Deneb said wickedly. The venom hadn't slipped through the armor.

I'm going to die.

I'm going to die.

I failed and I'm going to die.

She brought her claws down on Peaceflyt. He closed his eyes, brought his arms above his head, and prepared to be killed.