Regretfully, these ending chapters are ending up to be DOUBLE the length of the double length chapters previously posted (making them four times as long in total as a regular chapter, also forgive the Ruby Speech) so I'm going to have to post each of them in two parts it looks like. So without further ado, since I know you all have been waiting for it... I present the ending Act of Far Away Home.
Act Five: The End Time
Part X: The Battle of the Sonicron (A)
The jungle runners began preparations early, and assembled before the great circle had risen fully above the horizon with haste. Ruby’s side of the gang had not gotten used to the tendency of their new friends to get up really early (unlike Littlefoot’s side which had Sky, who always got up early as birds tend to do) so the fastrunner, the egg-stealer, the spiketail, and the threehorn were sluggish and grumpy as Swiftwalker arose each of them individually.
“Argh,” yawned Cera, before turning towards Gentry “that runner is almost as annoying as you are.”
Gentry was busy brushing the dirt off his skin from sleeping on the ground, and halted mid-swipe with indignity.
“Hey now, where did I ever wake you all up so early?… I swear you like to blame me for bloody everything.”
Ruby was considerably more accommodating, and after spending almost a week with the male runner and his family she had grown accustomed to his daylight-saving nature and adjusted to it.
“We prepare for battle with Sharpteeth,” stated Swiftwalker with confidence, “you wish me luck. Maybe, I bring home much meat for pack.”
Seeing through his brave demeanour, Ruby could see that underneath he was anxious and afraid. Swiftwalker was very well learned on sharpteeth and what they did to other creatures for meat or sport, and there was a primal instinct within him that expressed he could actually die here… his eventful and fun life could end with the swipe of a claw or the clamping of sharp jaws.
“I know you will,” added Ruby, “If there is a cause worth fighting for then there is no cause worth fighting for like fighting for your family.”
The male runner looked like he didn’t understand, and he peered back at her in confusion.
“Egg-stealer right… you talk funny.”
“Hah,” laughed Ruby, “that makes two of us, doesn’t it.”
And she extended her nose toward his and licked him, right on the front of his face. It was so surprising that Swiftwalker flexed his nostrils, and rubbed his face to prove that the kiss he had just received was actually real.
“Good luck,” wished Ruby with sincerity as she hugged him, “please come back safe when you come back… I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“I come back,” replied Swiftwalker enthusiastically, “you wait and see.”
Siak was waking up as well, and she yawned loudly revealing her rows of white teeth. Licking her lips a few times to take a away the remnants of the morning she interrupted Ruby and Swiftwalker’s tender moment.
“Ah young love… I remember when I was smitten like you two. Mais used to fish for hours on end for me, even when I wasn’t hungry. I tell you, one like him doesn’t come around that often for a female like me.”
“Who are we talking about again?” butted in Cera, taking the lead into the conversation even though it wasn’t her business.
Siak looked a bit uncomfortable, and scratched the ground with one of her feet nervously. She clearly didn’t like to talk about her former mate with others, even though the subject kept coming out of her on a few occasions.
“Mais was her mate,” explained Ruby sadly, “...the sharpteeth killed him.”
“No...” whimpered Siak, “...it wasn’t the sharpteeth...”
Ruby looked genuinely surprised, but Cera wasn’t familiar with the story and insensitively pushed for more information.
“Well then who did?” the threehorn questioned.
Siak turned away, and walked rapidly in circles with a jumpy motion like she was trying to find something else to do to escape the reality of the answer.
“Don’t think that’s a good idea shera-mate,” put in Gentry with concern, “she looks kinda upset if you ask me.”
Thylo looked confused, but was otherwise unusually silent.
Siak finally stopped, and turned back towards the young dinosaurs. A tear was running down the side of her eye, but she looked otherwise in control. Ruby briefly showed a disappointed glance at Cera before hopping forward.
“I’m sorry you feel so bad,” the fastrunner said sincerely, “Cera likes to make others feel bad sometimes.”
“Hey,” interjected Cera angrily, “all I did was ask a question, and now I’m bad? ... Chomper’s been missing for several great circle rises and you haven’t even bothered looking for him.”
“They’ve been doing the looking for us,” insisted Ruby with a tone of desperation, “the jungle is so big and strange, it would be too dangerous for us to go out too.”
Cera stomped her foot in defiance.
“That certainly doesn’t sound like the Ruby I know. Chomper was everything to you and now you just let him go like he no longer matters at all? Maybe if you weren’t spending every night with your new friend...”
The comment touched a nerve, and Ruby instinctively stepped forward into a more aggressive stance and tightened her fists. Swiftwalker saw what was happening, but stood by unsure what to do. This was about things he didn’t understand. Cera crouched low and snorted, and it appeared like a fight was going to happen for sure.
Suddenly and completely unexpectedly Thylo bounded forward in between the fastrunner and the threehorn just before they met, keeping them apart with her strong arms. The dark green spiketail was always so passive and playful, the action caught both Cera and Ruby by surprise and they backed off.
“I see that you are both bad!” interjected Thylo with a bit of her own anger, “You fight and yell at each other over bad things that haven’t happened yet when the spike mouth is upset about bad things that have already happened and were really really bad! Fighting is wrong and is only making things even more bad cause everyone is feeling worse already!”
Both the would-be combatants began to feel guilty for their near fight, and their body language showed it. Ruby looked down and rubbed one of her arms, while Cera pushed some dirt with one of her feet absently. As all glances turned towards Siak, she rubbed away the second tear with her clawed hand.
“I think it’s high time I got all these ëbad things’ off my chest,” she said with regret, “you all aren’t kids anymore after all, and it’ll sure do me good anyways.”
Siak swirled around and stood up higher to regain her composure. Sitting down with both her legs at once, she began her story.
“When the sharpteeth came me and Mais were catching water swimmers in one of the rivers of the Lonely Mountains, by Oasis Valley... or at least what used to be Oasis Valley. I think they call it Fang Valley nowadays. Anyway, he saw them and we tried to run but they were Stalkers born and bred to run us down so we didn’t stand a chance with our insides full of water swimmers.”
Siak readjusted her position, twitching her tail back and forth.
“To save me and my babies, he turned around and tried to fight them off. I got away, and when he never followed I went back to look for him...and...and...”
She had to recompose herself again, as tears were starting to flow.
“If it hurts that much, maybe you shouldn’t tell us,” stated Ruby sadly, but Siak waved her comment away.
“No, I need to do this dear... it’s for me.”
Again, Siak rocked on her back legs to get comfortable while seated.
“When I found Mais he was still alive... but... since he wouldn’t join them they cut his legs. ëRun with us or not at all’ they told him, and he refused. Before he told me his last wishes, he made me promise to carry them out... and I did.”
“What did he ask of ya?” inquired Gentry, who was engrossed in the story like the rest of them.
Siak did not answer with words, but instead extended one of her claws and ran it from one side of her throat to the other about an inch off, and every one of the young dinosaurs gasped. More tears began to flow down the spike-mouth’s face, but she actually looked better now than she did before. Mais’ last wish was for his beloved to kill him, so he didn’t have to suffer death by infection or worse. It broke her heart to do it, since she had never had to use her claws or teeth on anything larger then a water swimmer.
After a long minute of silence, Cera spoke up.
“Sorry,” she admitted, which was a rare thing for her, “... I... didn’t know it was that bad.”
“Oh, I should be the sorry one,” remarked the spike mouth with strength, “getting all choked up about something that happened many many seasons ago... I like to draw happiness from raising the young ones like you to keep my mind off it... my mother’s instinct you know.”
“You had babies,” remarked Swiftwalker out of curiosity, “where they go?”
Ruby and probably the other four were expecting the worst, but the answer was quite homely.
“They hatched, grew up, and went off to make their own way in the world,” answered Siak with pride, “I like to think that in them Mais is still here in a way... even though he might be gone in the flesh.”
In a flash three jungle runners bounded through the clearing, narrowly missing the group. Siak snorted in annoyance at the sudden intrusion.
“I’ll say they better watch where they’re going next time... that’s mighty rude of them to run through us like that.”
Another adult runner bolted into the clearing, but this time he stopped in their presence.
“Sharpteeth in the woods... you all move, follow me!” he insisted.
Swiftwalker jumped up and obeyed immediately, while the others were slightly slower. Soon Swiftwalker, Ruby, Cera, Chomper, Siak, Gentry and Thylo were running through the forest, dodging branches and blasting through shrubs as fast as they could run. Drawing from her new experience in dealing with the jungle terrain, along with the lessons learned from their new friends, Ruby caught up with the adult runner. Brushing along side him and barely matching his strides, she thought to inquire about the danger of the current situation.
“Why…are we running?...” breathed Ruby.
The adult male runner, who was only slightly smaller than her dad gradually slowed down until he came to a complete stop, and she matched him. The others were farther behind, but unsurprisingly the first of them to arrive was Swiftwalker followed by a tired out Siak.
“Just what the blazes are we hustling along for?” Gentry commented as he examined one of his feet, “my foot hurts like a buzzy sting.”
“Hah… join the herd,” muttered Cera under her breath.
“Be quiet,” hissed Siak sternly after catching her breath, before whispering, “keep your eyes and ears open.”
The runner had ignored Ruby, but not because he was being mean. Word had spread about that there were sharpteeth around, and right now it was more important that he listened for their silent footsteps and low snarls to learn if danger might be near. Swiftwalker instinctively knew the procedure, and followed suit by observing in a direction of his own. After a minute, the adult runner turned to Siak.
“Not find sharpteeth,” he commented, “you go back… guard hatchlings.”
“Oh you don’t need to fluff your tail all up about them,” commented Siak in an upbeat manner, “They’re all with their mommies and daddies until the high Great Circle when we go hunting for water swimmers.”
The adult runner nodded briefly.
“Then you guard other runner friends… in case more sharpteeth –”
A sudden roar echoed through the large canopy trees. It was so loud, the small flyers in the branches scattered to the winds in fright. The cavernous call was soon followed by another, slightly softer bellow. There were sharpteeth nearby, and they were definitely really big.
“You hide, all of you,” pressed the runner urgently, but there was little need as the two legged dinosaurs in the group had already dropped to the ground in fear.
Gentry covered his head with his hands and whimpered, while Siak’s response was similar but less cowardly. Swiftwalker and Ruby had pushed to the ground together, though the male had unfortunately done most of the pushing. The sudden shock of the sound was so surprising Ruby didn’t even have a chance to recognize the slight familiarity of the pitch before she was prone on the ground next to Swiftwalker.
“I go! Must warn Alpha… sharpteeth coming!” decreed the adult runner in a half whisper as he crouched down low.
In a split second he was gone dashing through the undergrowth.
“Hey Ruby,” commented Cera calmly as he walked up next to the runner and her shaking male friend, “is it just me or do those sharpteeth sound familiar?”
Apart from Thylo, who appeared to enjoy the thunderous roars, Cera was the only one of the bunch that had remained almost perfectly calm with the exception of a small jolt of surprise. Part of her coming into maturity was that she was becoming more and more fearless, as threehorns tend to do, and was only remotely startled by the threat.
“Hey,” gasped Ruby in surprise, “you’re right… it’s Chomper’s parents!”
Siak looked up, and Gentry uncovered his eyes.
“Well I’ll be… I didn’t know that little bug eater had folks so big!” commented the white egg-stealer with a bit of relief.
The female spike-mouth brought a claw to the front of her face and tapped her scales in thought.
“You say that little sharptooth we lost had parents around here!?! By all the swims why didn’t you tell us girl… they have probably gone half mad looking for him and…”
Siak hiccuped in fright at the revelation.
“…looking for us!”
“No it’s not like that,” reassured Ruby desperately, waving her hands, “his parents told me to look after him… and I’ve been looking after him since they told me. They told me they were going away for a while, but they didn’t tell me where!”
The crashing sounds of stomping feet and cracking tree trunks could be heard through the forest, though it was still a distance away and didn’t seem to be heading towards the deep woods they now resided in.
“We’ll they’re here now girl!” shouted Siak to overcome the loudness, “do something before we all get chomped into bones!”
And Ruby did. She bounded forward towards the sounds, blasting through the undergrowth with the full speed granted to her kind. Swiftwalker found his courage too, and followed her with purpose.
“Here we go again…” remarked Cera, referring with dread to another burst of running, “I just hope this time they aren’t hungry…”
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Chomper had been walking for hours, but it was something he was pretty used to by now. After all he had been trekking for months now with Ruby and the rest so he was in very good shape. In addition, walking on his toes was proving more and more comfortable each day, to the point where he didn’t want to stand flat footed at all anymore and it hurt a little bit to do so.
Apart from all the walking though, he was in very high spirits and he followed his parents through the forest with pride and purpose. The last few days had been an adjustment, but learning to live like a sharptooth again was refreshing even though he didn’t enjoy the more gruesome aspects of it. Both his mother and father were proud of him… not only for coming out so far and finding them but also because he had proven his phenomenal strength and endurance in their eyes beyond what any of the plans they had for him were.
He learned that against his mother’s wishes his father had opted not to return to their former territory near the Great Valley, since they had found an even better region of dominance in the steppe lands just west of the Abyssal Jungle in their travels. The land was rich with prey, and more importantly it didn’t intrude on Tyron’s domain… at least not in practise. More and more frequently they were having run-ins with the fast-biters of the Tyrant King’s pack, and a couple of times they had caught the Stalkers attempting to destroy their non-existent eggs to weaken their family as a whole to make them vulnerable to any future expansions their master might attempt. For this reason, as well as the onset of old age, the sharptooth pair hadn’t mated since they left their old territory behind. Now that Chomper was here and growing up strong, it meant a new burst of hope for them and their family’s future.
The young sharptooth had told his parents all about his adventures and all the new friends he had made, but it was only a brief mention since he could tell they were hardly interested in his friendliness towards the leaf-eaters. Instead, he switched to a topic that was more interesting to them – the quest that that wingtail ëAizon’ gave Ruby to unite the wingtails and the jungle runners against Tyron to end his empire. His folks took great interest in ending the threat of the Tyrant King and his pack, and before long he had convinced them to offer their assistance to the fight… provided they didn’t eat any runners or wingtails along the way.
Glide was a bit of a different story.
The black wingtail found the company of sharpteeth both unnerving but full of reward at the same time. He didn’t like how he couldn’t hear what they were saying, and the aggressive and vulgar (by wingtail standards) nature of their speech always give him the impression they were plotting to eat him behind his back. On occasion Chomper had translated a few things for him, but for the most part he was content to remain in the air and far out of their reach. As for the rewarding side of things… let’s say that he wasn’t picky when it came to meat and his new travelling companions provided lots of leftover meat.
“The clearing I told you about it just ahead,” mentioned Glide as he swooped down over Chomper, “keep going and we will reach the meeting ground.”
The young sharptooth looked up and his flying friend.
“Thanks for guiding us…” replied Chomper with a smile, “you know you’re actually turning into a nice wingtail.”
“Hah,” snorted Glide in a friendly manner as he circled very slowly close to the ground, “watch it sharptooth… I can turn mean again in a heartbeat.”
Chomper grinned. The black wingtail had come a long way since they first met in the cave.
Chomper’s dad turned around and growled in his son’s direction, tilting his head slightly and then righting it again. An exchange took place between the father and his son, and it was odd but Glide had gotten used to it. From a vague guess, the wingtail surmised that they had finally pushed their way through the Abyssal Jungle enough to reach the meeting clearing.
Last night Glide had been up late patrolling the skies… thanks to Chomper’s parents he had eaten already, so tonight he wasn’t doing it because it was he was hungry. No, he was just flying for the sake of exercise… it was a habit he had when he came across some free time. Apart from his love for his sister and his lust for shiny objects, the one thing that Glide found his passion in was rigorous, hard training for the Fish Fights that happened every year during the Fish Festival. Being in the absolute peak of fitness not only made him feel good, but it also protected him from some of the lesser sicknesses that other wingtails often died from. Now matter what… he always had to be there in case Star needed him and the best chance of that was through being in peak condition at all times.
Through his routine of flight exercises he sighted the burning column produced by an unknown fire source in the night. Sweeping over the scene briefly he sighted both wingtails and runners, and surmised that the alliance had been made… just like Aizon had arranged for it to be. Hurrying back to Chomper and his parents, his directions ensured they would come to exactly the right place to join the fight.
Chomper’s parents halted and the young sharptooth dashed into the forested clearing they had just broken through the brush into. Looking around, his first observation was that it was completely empty… there wasn’t a trace of a single living creature in sight. Sniffing the air a few times with his powerful sniffer, it confirmed that fact.
“Where is everybody?” questioned Chomper in bewilderment as he completed his check.
“They probably ran off,” responded Glide next to him on the ground, “you’re parents aren’t exactly quiet ones.”
Chomper lowered his head, and sniffed the ground some more to find a potential trail. His thinking had only concentrated on getting them to the clearing to hopefully meet up with Ruby and the others, but he hadn’t considered the fact they might run away because of how imposing his parents are. The only solution left now was to try and find a scent to follow and hope it led to a friendly face. Unfortunately, there were tons of different smells here… to the point where it was hard to separate them. This was going to be difficult.
“Chomper…Chomper!” called out Ruby, bursting out from the underbrush of leaves in a fluttering storm of displaced leaves. Behind her was a strange runner Chomper had never seen or smelt before.
“Ruby!” cried out the young sharptooth in joy.
The two ran towards each other, and met somewhere in the middle right near the place where Ruby and Siak had sat during the Runner-Wingtail meeting the night before. Not wasting a moment, they hugged one another.
“I’m so glad your safe,” mentioned Ruby in his ear.
“Yeah,” answered Chomper agreeably, and she released him. Strangely enough, he was almost as tall as she was now.
“Sorry I ran off,” he added in regret, “but I found my folks… and they’re here to help with the really bad sharpteeth!”
Ruby shifted her gaze towards Chomper’s parents, and they looked back at her. It was hard to tell what the older sharpteeth felt towards the runner child they had so long ago entrusted to watch over their son, but there was no better time then now to find out.
Chomper’s dad stepped forward, and begun to speak in his low sharptooth tones.
“You have much explaining to do runner… why were you not guarding our son like we entrusted you to?”
Unsatisfied with her companion’s reaction, Chomper’s Mom stepped in as well.
“I agree with my mate, however I will add that we are in you and your family’s debt for keeping our son safe and fit in body to make a fine hunter someday. For this and this alone, we will grant you are sharptooth’s trust.”
Chomper’s dad didn’t like the sentiment very much, as shown by the snarl forming on his massive visage. ëSharptooth’s trust’ essentially meant that whoever earned it would not be considered an enemy over mates or territory, and it is usually reserved for immediate family members (such as a father wouldn’t take his son’s territory, or a mother would allow her daughter to remain within her territory until her offspring finds a suitable mate) or rare situations of life debts.
Chomper made ready to translate Ruby’s response, as he had done during their first encounter so long ago, but the fastrunner didn’t need it this time.
“Thank you,” Ruby managed in sharptooth.
It was hard to tell who was more surprised – Chomper’s parents, Swiftwalker, or the hundred jungle runners that emerged from their hiding places within the grasses and undergrowth at the moment they saw the exchange doing favourably. It was a fairly impressive scene all around.
“You speak to great sharptooth like equal?” shouted a great adult runner from the other side of the open grassy area, who would turn out to be the Great Alpha, “…how you do that?”
In response, Ruby laughed a little bit.
“They asked me to take care of Chomper here,” she said putting a hand on the young sharptooth’s shoulder, “…so I took care of him just like they asked.”
Whispers swirled around as various runners discussed the meaning of this new development. The Great Alpha ignored them, and continued.
“Does this mean they friend to us?” the great male runner questioned.
Ruby looked back at Chomper’s parents. Without pause, the young sharptooth next to her translated the question. The two older sharpteeth looked somewhat reluctant to associate with the smaller runners as ëfriends’ even though they had dicussed at length the mutual benefit of an alliance. Chomper’s mom just smiled slightly, while his dad rolled his eyes. He hated giving up such a massive free meal… even if it meant hitting back at Tyron.
Satisfied it was settled, Ruby turned back to the Great Alpha.
“They are friends.”
A few of the runners cheered loudly, and eventually the whole thing picked up as all the jungle runners celebrated their newfound allies. If the outcome of the coming battle had been in doubt before, in their minds it was almost a guaranteed victory now.
“I must say… you have impressed me once again my young plains runner.”
Ruby jerked her head upwards towards the sky, as did Chomper, to observe a familiar navy blue wingtail with an echelon tail circling low overhead. Aizon had arrived.
Coming for a smooth landing in front of the two runners and the sharptooth, the Grand Creator placed his hands together in both an expression of pride and thoughtfulness. Readjusting his elegantly crafted glasses, the highly intelligent wingtail stepped forward towards them.
“Wow,” mused Chomper in wonder, “…what is that thing on your head?”
Aizon smiled smugly… he loved getting the chance to explain his creations.
“This is an external vision corrector, modified from a thrice bent rod of pure volcanic glass and moulded in a thermalic vent for precisely thirty-six denticells before being shaped to fit my hornic nose… but enough about me.”
It was a good thing Aizon decided to switch topics, as he had pretty much lost everyone on the fourth word.
“I was right to give this task to you Ruby… your multitude of friends will lend us the power we need to beat the greatest of the sharpteeth that will stand in our way. I am proud of you.”
“Thank you,” responded Ruby, glad for his condolences.
Surprisingly, Aizon turned to Swiftwalker next.
“You should keep her close… she’s a nice ëcatch’ if you know what I mean.”
Swiftwalker was confused at the statement, and turned towards Ruby for help.
“What wingtail mean you ënice catch’… you not water swimmer.”
Ruby didn’t answer... not because she didn’t know what to say but because she was far too busy blushing with friendly embarrassment.
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Glide left the clearing as soon as it became apparent that all parties involved were in safe hands. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about the events transpiring there, since he had other more important business to attend.
He had seen wingtails last night, and not just any wingtails but the elders themselves – both the blessing and the bane of his current existence. A blessing in the sense that he had met friends he otherwise would never have had, and a bane in the sense that their edicts forced him into the crowd with Eybron and kept him away from protecting his sister. Now that they were so close, he wanted answers.
A few hours later the great circle was just starting to dip as the late afternoon set in, and the black wingtail came across the current residence of the most important wingtails in the world… which turned out to be a dimly lit collection of canopy trees separated from the mainland on an island in the Abyssal Lake. The elders clearly valued the protection from land attacks that was provided, and with things being so tense lately between the wingtails and the land walkers of all types it was better safe than sorry.
Glide coasted up to the biggest of the trees, and two wingtails took off to try and stop him.
“Halt,” stated one of the royal guards, a dark red wingtail, “the elders are preparing for rest, and cannot be disturbed.”
“Well I’m going in there whether you like it or not,” stated Glide defiantly, “I have given a lot in the name of the elders, and I won’t be pushed around by you guardian types anymore! If you try and stop me, I can’t guarantee either of your safety.”
Both of the guards were required by wingtail law to attempt to grab him and drive him to the ground to protect their charges, but those said laws had been broken and changed so many times recently it was hard to tell which ones needed to really be enforced. Not only did that play a role, but also the fact that Glide was a nasty opponent, and he had a reputation not only from the Fish Fights but also from his knockout punch just as the sharpteeth attacked. He was not an enemy anyway, so the guards did the right thing and simply let him carry on into the tree. A brush through the leaves, and the black wingtail was inside.
…
“Your scars are healing up really nice mother,” commented a young grey female wingtail, “if dad were still around, he would say you were just as beautiful as ever.”
“If your father was still alive I would stick my fist between his eyes for dying,” remarked Cinceel with a hint of humour, which was unlike her.
The daughter of the venomous elder had followed her mother from the Feral Forest to make sure her wounds weren’t becoming infected, and thanks to the specialized herbs she had learned to use as a healer it was looking like her mom was as cynical and as insensitive as ever. The herbs must be doing their job.
“Why do you keep putting this on me every night dear?” commented Cinceel bitterly as her daughter wrapped a large birthed leaf around the inside of her right wing.
“Because it’s good for you mother… it will make sure you heal up nice and strong.”
“Nice and Strong…. Hah… I haven’t been either of those things in many seasons.”
Running out of healing juice, the daughter turned around to get more from her small carved rock bowls, only to come face to face with an unfamiliar black wingtail.
“Can I… help you?” she asked considerably.
“Yes you can,” answered Glide bitterly, “…get out.”
A flash of fear crossed the daughter’s eyes, and reluctantly she left… hopping up a few branches and making way through the curtain of leaves.
“What’s taking so long dear?” inquired Cinceel over her shoulder, unaware of the intruder in her midst. “I’m tired and I need my rest.”
“That’s not all you need,” commented Glide aggressively, and the elder wingtail jumped around and turned to face him with rage.
“This is my private tree… how dare you barge in here and…”
“And do what?” interrupted Glide, “call you up on all the hell you and yours have put me through? It’s a good thing I’m not here to do that then. Where is my sister? Is she safe?”
Cinceel hissed in anger and flapped her wings threateningly.
“You think you can just come in here and question my judgement? I am the leader of the elder council and I will not tolerate this–”
The elder grey wingtail was stopped from speaking as Glide grabbed her by the throat and jammed her aggressively against the trunk of the tree, pinning her to the bark.
“I will not ask you again…where…IS…MY…SISTER?”
Cinceel struggled, but it was useless… he was too strong and he had her caught in a very undignified position.
“Fine,” the grey wingtail said in a tone of defeat, “just let me go and I’ll tell you where we think he took her.”
“He took her!?!” raged Glide uncontrollably, “you make up and enforce the laws of the wingtails like sharpbeaks, and you just let Eybron take my Star against her will?”
“He…betrayed us…” Cinceel managed, fearing for her life, “went…to… Eye…World.”
Against his anger, the black wingtail let her go, and she collapsed onto the branch. She would have rolled down and fallen to the ground had Glide not reached out at the last second and caught her.
“The bad things you all have done,” repeated Glide as he held onto her arm and her onto his, “I should let you fall for giving that maniac the power to do and kill as he pleased.”
“We’re sorry,” begged Cinceel quite sincerely, “we didn’t know… we wanted to get revenge on the sharpteeth and we knew he knows how to do it...”
Glide raised an eyebrow.
“We?”
Dangling for her life, Cinceel knew this was the biggest pride swallowing moment of her entire existance.
“Alright… I… I… made the mistake of trusting Eybron when I knew he was capable of such bad things, and…I… went along with it when Tenebron arranged to send you and Sky away to make room for his son to mate with your sister.”
Glide snarled with range. Every fibre of his being was telling him to let go, and let the vile elder plummet to her death, but deep down he knew that it would solve nothing. His biggest priority now was to ensure his sister was safe, and killing Cinceel would solve nothing.
“Don’t let her go, Glide.”
Surprised, the black wingtail whirled his head on the spot to turn to face a familiar brown wingtail… his Uncle Sturgeon.
“Sturgeon,” stated Glide with surprise, “Uncie…what are you doing here?”
“I was elected to the council of elders, in the wake of the current vacancies that needed to be filled,” answered Sturgeon with pride and authority, “killing one of our own will not save my niece, my boy… I urge you to make the right choice.”
It was a little bit late, as Glide had already decided to pull her up… but it certainly gave him a reason to doing it without admitting any weakness. Almost effortlessly, the black wingtail pulled up Cinceel, and she collapsed on the branch in exhaustion.
“She said something about ëEye’ and ëWorld’,” remarked Glide, “is that where Eybron has taken her?”
Sturgeon nodded.
“Yes. You must hurry to the Northern Mountains and stop him before he does whatever he is planning to do, and rescue your sister. Me and Fliela will be waiting and hoping for you, Great Glide.”
He knew what he needed to do. Glide felt invigorated by his anger, and looked forward to his final revenge. Silently, the black wingtail vowed not to rest until he stood over Eybron’s bloody corpse and had avenged the great wrongs inflicted against his family.
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