Chrystal weaved through the crowded market, trying to find the white tent that Heatwave had told her to find. Chrystal side stepped to avoid getting scratched with a tail barb and got smacked in the face by a sandy wing. She growled. How did these dragons live like this. 

"IceWing!" A voice hailed her off to her left. "You look like a dragon who would be dangerous enough without weapons. How would you like to trade them off for a very fashionable necklace?" The SandWing talking materialized out of the darkness, holding a tiny peridot gem sparkling on a hammered copper chain. He reached out towards Chrystal's wing, towards her weapons. Chrystal jumped away from him, shoved his talons away and hissed. 

"Back off." The SandWing slunk away, muttering under his breath. Suddenly, a glint of black caught Chrystal's eye. She turned to see three NightWings walking through the outer market, plain as day, giving the SandWing's they passed haughty looks. Chrystal began to tremble slightly, glaring ferociously at the NightWings. She stepped forward to watch them, when she noticed another dragon behind them. A small golden SandWing was watching the NightWings, shielded by a larger dragons wings. Her tail curved into a point at the end, completely harmless. The SandWing's wings kept twitching backwards, though she was puffing out her chest to look bigger. She looked nervously around, and spotted Chrystal watching her. Her eyes were like the moss that sometimes grew underneath the frost in the Ice Kingdom. Chrystal followed them until they came to a pool with, Chrystal gave a start, a white tent set up next to it. The glint of SandWing tails were just visible beyond the tent. The NightWings walked boldly into the tent, followed by the bigger SandWing and then the smaller one. Chrystal snuck past the guards posted outside the tent and stuck her in the warm tent, shielded by a low table. The three NightWings were sitting in a ray of sunlight blazing down onto their faces. It was warm, but not the nice kind of warm that made you feel cozy, it was the I-am-going-to-be-boiled-alive-in-my-scales kind of warm. The tiny SandWing pushed her way through the tent, leaping quickly to hide behind the bigger dragon who had escorted her. A burst of laughter sounded from a flap in the tent, and more dragons pushed their way into the tent. But the one in the lead stopped laughing as soon as her eyes fell upon the three NightWing's sitting in the sunshine. 

"NightWing's," She said in a voice as cold as ice. "Well well well. We haven't had any of you in out fine city in about seven years." The female NightWing said something, but Chrystal focused her attention on the tiny SandWing, she was looking at the NightWings with a look that Chrystal couldn't decipher. She turned her gaze to the leader of the SandWings who was clenching her jaw and holding her head high. She must be Thorn. Chrystal looked down, wondering how many silver disks she had to spare. 

"What?!" Thorn bellowed suddenly. Chrystal turned to see Thorn pinning the smallest, thinnest NightWing to the ground. "Tell me the truth, you lying bag of bones!" Chrystal covered her ears, shutting out the yelling, reminded painfully of how her parents talked to her pretty much every day since her sister died. 

"Moons blasted crocodile spawn!" The older dragon who had escorted the tiny one suddenly lunged at the NightWing, breaking Chrystal's thoughts, as the NightWing lashed out at Thorn's underbelly. But Thorn was too quick, stabbing her tail down into the NightWings heart. The NightWings shrieked in pain and collapsed under her, dead. Chrystal stared at the dead NightWing, gawking at how quickly things had escalated. 

"Now let's try this again." Thorn took a deep breath and turned to the other NightWings. "Where is Morrowseer?" The female one hesitated but finally spoke in a murderous voice. 

"It's an island." She said simply. 

"Fierceteeth!" The burly male one said. 

"What does it matter? It's all destroyed anyway." She continued to talk, but Chrystal was thinking about what she had said. An island. She thought, trying to figure out where their would be an island big enough to hold an entire tribe. But suddenly Thorn was talking again. 

"Why?" She was asking. The little SandWing had, for some inexplicable reason, revealed herself, and the female NightWing, Fierceteeth, was giving her a look like she wanted to rip off her wings. 

"She's one of the Dragonets of Destiny." Everyone moved at once, leaning forward to observe the tiny SandWing. Thorn stared at the dragonet with sudden curiosity. Chrystal thought about this for a moment. She almost felt...bad for the little SandWing. This is one of the dragonets I have to kill? Chrystal thought, watching Thorn inspect the little dragonet. Chrystal tried to feel no pity, but it was so hard. The SandWing was so little. And yet she was one of the Dragonets of Destiny. The dragons she had sworn to kill. 

"Put them somewhere unpleasant." Thorn hissed at a young SandWing leaning casually against one of the pillows. He was the same boring sandy yellow along his wings and side with darker yellow streaks on his spines and back. He yawned casually as one of the other SandWing elbowed him hissed,

"Dusk! She means you!" Dusk glared back at the pale yellow SandWing as he got up. 

"I know Armadillo, half-wit!" Chrystal gazed at the two hissing SandWings leading the NightWings away. Chrystal shook her head and looked back up. For a terrifying moment, Chrystal thought she had lost the Dragonet of Destiny, but then she realized that Thorn and the little SandWing had gone into the other section of the tent. Chrystal looked around for a moment before backing out of the tent and sneaking past SandWing's standing guard around the tent. She snuck into the other room of the white tent, hiding behind crates of seeds and grains. Low tables were overflowing with papers, but they were to far away for Chrystal to read. The little SandWing was standing beside a table, reading a large, yellowed piece of parchment. Thorn was staring at her with intense eyes. Surprisingly, another SandWing was sitting only a few tail lengths away from Thorn. He was only a little bigger than the tiny dragonet, though he looked a few years younger. He had dark brown scales freckling his nose, and a amber earring hanging from his ear. But the sound of voices suddenly broke Chrystal's thinking. 

"I was stolen from the Scorpion Den when I was still an egg, and raised by Dune. That dragon." The tiny SandWing pointed at something, but Chrystal couldn't twist far enough to see what was. Thorn suddenly inhaled sharply, staring at the little SandWing with a new look in her eyes. 

"He didn't find you, he stole you." As Thorn spoke, Chrystal reached silently into her pouch, grabbing the first weapon her claws came in contact with. A wickedly sharp dagger. She pulled it out and hefted it in her talons. When the little SandWing turns in my direction, I'll finish my mission. I'll throw the dagger into her heart, and escape before anyone can stop me. "He knew where I had hidden you for your own safety and he betrayed me." Chrystal aimed the dagger at the SandWing, but she was puzzled. Who are they talking about?  The little SandWing looked like she was about to faint as Thorn gripped her shoulders. "Sunny. You're my daughter." 

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Okay! 

So what did you think of that chapter. I know I skipped over a few lines, but that is intentional, I promise. Super meaningful chapter coming up! Enjoy!