It was almost hard to believe that this would be his life for the next few years. No more running from one campsite to another every few days. No more mingling with fellow IceWings and SandWings. No more living in constant fear that the group of soldiers nearby would spot them out and capture them.

No, Diamondback would be stationed under the Claws of the Clouds mountains, tasked with raising the Dragonets of Destiny. It felt strange, knowing he'd be stuck to one place for so long, but he was ready. The war would be over soon, he knew. These dragonets would be the key.

They had collected almost every egg, save for the SeaWing. Where were Dolphin and Farcaller?

Diamondback shifted his talons nervously. Three of the Talons' leaders, Cinnabar, Barkfly, and Voyage, had come to inspect the cave they chose. And they'll soon find the nest, where they'll see there's only nine eggs, instead of the ten they required.

"What is this room?" Voyage questioned. Diamondback glanced over, just as Goliath answered.

"That's the play room," he smiled. "We figured they'd want a place to relax and hang out whenever they need it."

"I hardly think there'll be time for play," Cinnabar grumbled.

"Shouldn't you focus more on teaching them than letting them goof off?" Voyage huffed.

"You've never been around a dragonet, have you?" Canopy sighed. "The youngest have no patience for learning. Those things are for when they're older and understand their purpose."

"We agreed to let the Guardians design the cave," Barkfly added. "If you wanted to complain, you should've thought about that before you left it to them."

"Whatever," Voyage sighed. Diamondback lashed his tail. He of all dragons should know the difficulty of raising a dragonet. His own son preferred drawing in the snow and chasing foxes over learning the proper behaviors of a Second Circle IceWing when he first tumbled out of the egg. Of course Diamondback could assume these dragonets would be no different.

Canopy was in the same boat, having worked in the Wingery before joining the Talons. The playroom and the abundance of toys was her idea. Then there was poor Dolphin, who had an egg left in the Kingdom of the Sea with her husband. It was definitely hard for Diamondback, leaving his wife and son behind for the Talons, but she didn't even get to meet her child.

"Place seems livable," Barkfly commented. "Now where's the nest?"

"Er-- the nest!" Mallard exclaimed. "Yes- the nest. You see, the nest is--"

"Your stalling isn't doing you any good," Cinnabar interrupted. "Don't tell me you haven't collected the eggs by now? They're due very soon."

Mallard paused, before sighing. "Right this way," he said.

Diamondback lowered his head as he followed after them. This couldn't end well.

The nest was kept in a cave under a skyhole, allowing the outside light to shine through. Because of this, the NightWing egg had long since turned silver under the moonlight. Each night, one of the Guardians would sleep with the nest to keep the eggs warm (thanks to his SandWing blood, Diamondback's scales didn't radiate cold like pureblooded IceWings).

Voyage sorted through the eggs, scooping up the IceWing egg and inspecting the dark spots all over it.

"Be careful--" Leafstalk started.

"As if I don't know how to handle an egg," Voyage huffed. "This one looks.. diseased."

"It is not diseased," Canopy glared, snatching the egg out of his talons. "It's just as healthy as the rest."

"There's only nine," Cinnabar pointed out. "Where's the SeaWing?"

"Yes, er-" Aardvark started. "About the SeaWing-"

"We sent Dolphin and Farcaller to get it seven days ago," Robberfly said. "Either they're dead or taking their sweet time."

"Way to be blunt," Frog muttered.

Smoke rose from Cinnabar's nose. "I hope you understand the dragonets are due two nights from now," he hissed.

"Yes, we're aware," Mallard sighed.

"It's not our fault if they were killed," Robberfly huffed.

"Then send someone else to fetch the egg!" Cinnabar growled.

"Yes, because that would be so easy," Leafstalk rolled her eyes. "Don't you remember? The SeaWings got rid of most of their land villages after the MudWings raided them. The only few left are hidden."

"And now our SeaWing is lost," Frog huffed. "None of us can go after her. We'd get killed in a heartbeat."

"Surely you'd put more effort into ending the war," Barkfly frowned.

"You don't get it," Leafstalk huffed. "Sneaking onto one of their islands isn't like sneaking into the Rainforest. They'd see us coming from a mile away."

"Why can't you send one of the SeaWings back at camp?" Diamondback spoke up.

"Now hang on," Goliath interrupted. "We don't even know if Farcaller and Dolphin are dead yet. We shouldn't-"

"They've been gone for seven days," Robberfly huffed. "It doesn't take that long to get to the Kingdom of the Sea and back."

"Still, we need to have faith in them," Goliath frowned. "They wouldn't go down that easily."

"Well it seems like they have, unfortunately," Voyage sighed. "We'll ask for volunteers, I'm sure there'll be a few SeaWings willing--"

A loud noise from somewhere in the cave alerted the group. Diamondback's head snapped up, his muscles going tense.

"Is that them?" Frog asked.

"Guard the eggs," Barkfly commanded. She headed off through the tunnel with Cinnabar and Voyage.

The dragons quickly blocked off the cave entrance. Diamondback raised his spiked tail. If it was an intruder, they wouldn't be making it out alive.

After a few seconds (which felt more like an eternity), Barkfly called out, "It's Dolphin and Farcaller!"

The Guardians scrambled through the tunnels in an instant, meeting the SeaWing and NightWing in the entrance cave. The two were covered in scratch marks, and Dolphin held a greenish egg close to her chest.

"There you are!" Mallard exclaimed. "What took you so long?"

"Er.. lots of things?" Farcaller frowned. "We tried to take an egg from one of their land villages, but they caught us and took it back. Then we went to another village- They caught us again. Egg accidentally got crushed.. We tried one more, but by then the Queen figured out about us. She ordered every egg in the kingdom to be sent to the palace for protection, So Dolphin had to go in alone.."

"You snuck into the palace??" Robberfly asked. Dolphin shook her head.

"This is my egg.." she said quietly.

"Yours!" Cinnabar yelped.

"Trying to get into the palace would've been a death sentence," Dolphin explained. "I- I went back to our- Discus's den to see if he still had our egg, and he did.. He was gonna come back to the Talons with us, but apparently we were followed- He told us to run while he fended them off.. they killed him-"

"Oh, Dolphin," Canopy frowned, pulling her close. Dolphin wailed, clutching the egg close to her chest. Diamondback's wings drooped.

"Well," Barkfly started. "You have all ten eggs now. I suppose our inspection should be complete."

"Indeed," Cinnabar nodded, turning to the Guardians. "This is where we say goodbye," he said. "We'll send visitors twice each year, to make sure nothing's gone wrong."

"That sounds good," Goliath nodded. "Thank you- for everything. We won't let you down."

"I'd sure hope not," Cinnabar commented. "Let's go." The SkyWing turned and headed for the entrance, Voyage and Barkfly following suit.

"Come," Canopy said softly, raising a wing over Dolphin. "Let's put it with its brothers and sisters." The RainWing guided her back down to the nest.

"We should make our last few adjustments to the cave," Aardvark piped up. "We only have two more nights until they're here."

"Right," Goliath nodded. With that, the Guardians dispersed.

Diamondback stood in his place, his mind too busy to think about going anywhere. It hadn't fully hit him until now that there was no backing out. This was his life now. He was about to be a father all over again.

The room suddenly felt too hot, and his heart was practically pounding out of his chest. Was this all worth it? Leaving his family, who he loved so dearly, behind for a new family he'd only known a few months? What if he never left it all behind? If he had a chance to see his son grow up? To grow old with his wife?

Diamondback supposed it was too late for any of that, now. This was his mission now, and by the moons, he hoped it would work. Or Pyrrhia and Pantala would destroy eachother.