Wings of Fire Book Four: The Dark Secret Read Free Page B

he thought. Or LOTS of guards. Or maybe something really creepy, like Queen Coral’s electric eels. Or a lava river like the one that keeps the RainWings trapped in their prison caves.
    A shiver of fear ran down his spine.
    “Why am I here?” he blurted.
    The little crowd of dragonets exchanged glances.
    “Because you failed,” Fierceteeth offered. “I assume.”
    “We don’t know that,” Mightyclaws interjected. “A couple of the big dragons dropped you here a few hours ago and you’ve been muttering and thrashing around ever since.”
    “Yeah, lots of worrying about Sunny. Who’s Sunny?” one of the other dragonets demanded.
    Starflight considered throwing himself into the volcano. “Another dragonet,” he mumbled. I hope she’s safe.
    “I want to hear about the mainland,” Mindreader said eagerly. “Tell us everything. We’ve heard there are trees taller than dragons and that in some places the sky is blue. True? False? What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen? What’s the best thing you’ve eaten?”
    “You’ve never been to the mainland?” Starflight said.
    “Dragonets aren’t allowed to leave the island until we’re ten years old,” Mightyclaws said. “Apparently we can’t be trusted to keep all the NightWing secrets until then.”
    Almost in unison, all the dragonets snorted impatiently.
    “You’re the only exception,” Fierceteeth said in a voice dripping with scorn.
    “Him and the other one,” Mindreader said. “I heard my mom say there was another.”
    “I don’t know any NightWing secrets,” Starflight said.
    “Oh,” said Mightyclaws. “I guess that’s one way to make sure you keep them!”
    The scrabble of claws in the hall outside heralded the appearance of a dragonet smaller than the others, perhaps three years old. She raced into the room and gasped, “He’s coming!”
    Immediately the dragonets scattered to their sleeping spots. Half of them dove into their blankets and pretended to be asleep. A few of them grabbed their scrolls and looked studious; others fussed busily with the objects around their beds. Fierceteeth sat down on her bed, folded her wings, and glared at the doorway.
    Starflight wished he was unconscious again as he heard heavy footsteps tramping toward the room. He glanced up at the skylight, wondering if he could fit through it but knowing perfectly well he was too terrified to try.
    With a scraping, hissing sound, Morrowseer slithered into the room. He frowned at Fierceteeth, then looked coldly down his long nose at Starflight.
    “Up,” he snarled. “The queen of the NightWings wants to see you.”

Starflight’s experience with dragon queens thus far had not been exactly wonderful.
    “M-me?” he stammered. “Now? You mean, right now? Shouldn’t I — I mean, I’m not really prepared to, or, I — I don’t really look — to see a queen, I mean — maybe —”
    “Stop blithering and follow me.” Morrowseer swept out of the cave with a growl.
    “Go, go, go,” Mightyclaws hissed, flapping his wings as Starflight hesitated.
    Starflight’s claws caught on small holes in the rocky floor and he stumbled as he chased after the giant NightWing. Volcanic rock, he thought, peering at the walls around him. I wonder when it last erupted. From the rumbling under his talons and the heat rising through the floor, it didn’t seem like the most dormant volcano.
    Morrowseer led the way up a winding tunnel without looking back.
    “My friends —” Starflight started to say. “Sunny and the others — are they —”
    The large black dragon didn’t turn around.
    Starflight kept walking for a few minutes, then took a deep breath and tried again. “When can I go back?”
    His only answer was a snort of disgust. Starflight swallowed his questions and nervously tucked his wings in. The walls felt like they were getting closer.
    He didn’t see any guards or rivers of lava. He didn’t see any other NightWings at all.
    But as they moved along the