"I recognize that voice, Sahara. Come on out, lets have a chat on leaving our caves." The SandWing hissed.

Sahara could see his moving form slinking through the library. His barbed tail was poised over his head like a scorpion.

"Conch, your scales." Heron hissed.

The SeaWing plunged the dragonets into darkness, turning off her scales completely.

Kangaroo made another scraping noise. This time he was close. Very close.

Raptor suddenly shrieked.

"RUN!"

The library erupted into chaos. Sahara was caught up in the stampede and found herself shuffled out of the cave. She found Conch's arm and whisked her down the hallway.

They sprinted, Sahara's muscles burning. At one point the leaped into the air and started flapping through the narrow passageway towards their cave.

Sahara found their cave. She dove into her pit of sand and Conch splashed into her pool.

Sahara's heartbeat was thumping in her ears. She tried to get it to slow down.

After a while, a scrape of talons on rock notified her of Kangaroo.

Sahara burrowed into the sand a little more as the SandWing prowled the room. There was a low hiss and the scent of smoke as Kangaroo snorted a plume of smoke.

Several minutes passed and Kangaroo apparently seemed, grudgingly, satisfied. He swept out of the room.

Sahara waited for the swish of his tail to fade away. She was too drowsy with excitement to do anything, so all she did was sleep.

--------------------------------

Conch was actually the one to wake Sahara.

With the smack of a wet, blue tail, Sahara was awake.

"I've prepared my travel sack!" Conch said proudly. She gestured to a pile of layered blue-and-purple silk, weighed down by two tightly capped ink wells, five blank scrolls, and a pack of quills. Tied expertly to the silk was a line of small pearls.

"Well...can you fly with it?" Sahara asked suspiciously.

Conch bounded over to it. She pulled the line of pearls and the silk layers turned into a finely tightened and embroidered bag. The pearls lined the loop that slipped over one's head.

Sahara clapped.

"Okay, now lets hit the prey center." Conch said, flipping her tail excitedly.

The two dragonets ran to the prey center. They met, almost surprisingly, all of their winglet there.

Hibiscus and Polar were huddled by a pile of fruit and fish. Conch ran over to join them, because of the fish.

Raptor and Heron were chasing a fat goat. Sahara ran over to join them. The SkyWing cornered it, the MudWing pinned it down, and the SandWing killed it.

They all shared it, stuffing themselves until the gong.

"Have you guys got your stuff ready?" Sahara asked. Raptor nodded.

"Well, I haven't got everything quite ready, but I'm almost there." Heron said.

"Good. Do either of you know who told us off last night?" Sahara questioned.

"Er, I may have told Citrine on accident, but now I know to not tell her anything. Like, anything." Raptor said embarrassedly. Sahara rolled her eyes.

They joined Conch, Hibiscus and Polar and swept to class.

"Wait!" Polar hissed, "Wouldn't it be suspicious if we all went to class at the same time?"

Everyone nodded.

"Well, since Hibiscus, Raptor and I are usually the first, I feel we should go in first. Then Heron, then Sahara and Conch. It's only logical."

They agreed and followed that order. Hibiscus, Raptor, and Polar sprinted ahead to maintain their early status. Heron followed a few minutes later.

When the gong was about to ring, Sahara and Conch swept in, giving everyone a knowing look.

---------------------------------

It was night. Sahara scrambled to put her things in her push when-

I can just enchant it!

She put her claws on her wooden trunk.

"Hey Conch, if you want to witness an animus enchantment, look now or forever hold our peace."

The SeaWing twirled around excitedly.

"Okay. Here goes nothing. I enchant this trunk to turn into a spacey satchel that is lightweight no matter what you put in it when I say satchel. I enchant it to turn back into the trunk that it started off as whenever I say trunk."

Sahara felt the tingling in her claws enhance. The trunk had a certain aura to it now.

Sahara took everything she was wearing but the locket and set it in the trunk.

"Now watch this!" she said.

Conch leaned in eagerly.

Sahara inhaled.

"Satchel" she said.

The trunk began to morph into a dark brown, leathery bag with a clip on the front that stuck to the bottom half.

Sahara lifted it. It was a bit hefty, but nonetheless light.

"Oh, wait!" Said Conch. She rummaged around in her own trunk and brought out a cowrie-shell and blue-glass bracelet.

"I think we could sell this in the market," she said, wrapping it in silk and holding it out to Sahara.

Sahara placed it at the bottom of her satchel.

Together, ready, they headed off to the library in the middle of night.

-----------------

They were all there. Conch flared her light-up scales and Sahara did a head count. Everyone seemed to have a satchel around their neck, along with a piece of jewelery and something stuck out of their library pouch.

"Conch is here, I am here, is Heron here?" Sahara called out.

"Yes."

"Raptor?"

"Right here."

"Polar?"

"Present."

"Hibiscus?"

"Here."

"Okay, everyone follow Conch and I to the underground pool. I hope you all are ready to fly, and don't mind any water."

There was a sharp hiss of approval.

They marched like soldiers, Sahara in front, Conch second and everyone else tailing the SeaWing like ducklings.

They reached the lake.

"Alright, so when I call your name, fly up to the hole at the top and spiral around. Do not go anywhere until all of us are up there and accounted for." Conch instructed.

Sahara found a piece of driftwood and set it on fire, illuminating the cave.

"Hmm... Polar." Conch called.

The IceWing ran towards the lake and leaped into the air, unfurling his wings. He flapped in a circle, gradually making his way out of the top and into the starry night.

Hibiscus went next. Then Raptor, then Sahara, Heron, and Conch went last.

Sahara spiraled around the mountaintop, savoring the view. Her wings were outstretched, and the moonlight shone through them, casting a pale-gold light on the ground.

She was finally free.