Fleeing
Stoneshine and Azalea walked into the Talons of Peace’s building at high sun. Stoneshine looked around the large room. He didn’t see Finch anywhere. “Where do you think he is?” he asked Azalea. She shrugged. “He’s usually here during the day, isn’t he? I don’t know where else he’d be.” She sighed, “To be honest I haven’t been here since… before.” Stoneshine and the SilkWing had yet to feel comfortable talking about their fight with Honorbringer.
As the dark brown dragon looked around the room, his head felt thick with guilt. He also hadn’t come to see Finch since getting back from the mountain. Azalea tapped his arm with her tail as she walked to the front desk.
“Hello,” she said to the IceWing, “is Finch here today?” The white dragon turned her head and bellowed to a grumpy looking SKyWing. “Summit! Where’s your little novice?”
The SkyWing yelled back without even looking up. “He’s busy mopping upstairs. Don’t allow visitors, he’s working.” The IceWing turned back to the two dragons and said, “You heard him,” and went back to looking at a scroll.
Just then, a dragon shot down the back stairs. It was Finch, the peach dragon they were looking for. “I heard someone call my name?” Stoneshine waved a timid hello. When Finch saw the two dragons, his eyes widened and he rushed over. He flew his arms and wings around them. “I am so, so, so glad you are alright. I— I— I’m so sorry. I was going to die so I told him and then I tried to tell the Talons and they wouldn't believe me, I’m so sorry!”
Stoneshine pushed the SkyWing off of himself. “What?” He asked. Azalea echoed him a heartbeat later. “I—” Finch started, tears welling in his eyes. “Honorbringer came here, after you left. He made me tell him where you were. I’m so sorry! Please forgive me! He was going to kill me, like really kill me.”
Stoneshine was taken aback. It had been Finch? He was how Honorbringer had found them? Stoneshine couldn’t think, he was too shocked. He could feel Azalea looking at him, probably wondering how he felt. He didn’t know how he felt. But as he looked into Finch’s crying eyes, he knew that the dragon in front of him would never betray them on purpose, or do anything harmful of the sort.
“I forgive you,” he said. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Really?” Finch asked, sniffling.
“Really.”
Azalea wound her tail around Stoneshines, making his stomach flutter again. He felt her warm scales against his own and tried furiously to calm his nerves. He tried to be like a stone statue, unemotional and unmoving, but failed. The SilkWing had comforted him so many times before, Stoneshine didn’t know why this time was any different. But, he didn’t want her tail to leave.
“What happened to your wing?!” Finch exclaimed, horrified, staring at Azalea’s bandages.
“It got burned.” She stated, simply, unwinding her tail from Stoneshine’s. She got showered with another round of apologies while Stoneshine felt a loss at the coldness attacking his tail’s scales. Once again, he shook off the weird feelings and buried them deep, deep, deep inside of himself.
“Get back to work!” shouted Summit. Finch’s face twisted with annoyance. “I have to go back to mopping,” he sighed. “Thanks for… thanks for forgiving me.” The peach dragon turned and raced through the room back towards the stairs that lead up to the mop. On the stairs, before disappearing into the second floor, he waved goodbye to Azalea and Stoneshine.
“Is it almost time for your appointment with Saguaro?” asked Stoneshine when Finch could no longer be seen. Azalea thought for a moment, her antennae twitching. “Yes, it’s time,” she said.
As they walked through the cobblestone streets to the Healing Center, Stoneshine wondered if his friend was worried. A week ago, at Azalea’s last appointment, Saguaro had said that one more week and then Azalea could go without bandages. Stoneshine hadn’t seen Azalea’s burnt wing since the day he brought her into the Center, but every time his gaze reached her bandages his heart sank with guilt.
They entered through the carved double doors and walked to the front desk of the Healing Center. Azalea went through the motions of confirming her appointment, and was directed to some cushions on the left wall. As they say down, Stoneshine was reminded of the day that He had first started working with Saguaro. He had been sitting in almost the exact same spot. A few moments later, the elderly SandWing Healer appeared before them and beckoned them to follow her. They walked the same familiar halls to an empty room.
“Stoneshine, can you um… come in with us?” Azalea whispered to him. His suspicions were right, she was nervous.
“Of course,” he replied.
Inside the room, Saguaro directed Azalea to lie down on the bed, angled so her wing was accessible to the Healer. Slowly but surely she began to unwrap the dirty bandages. They fell to the floor in a heap when each strand was separated from Azalea’s wing. Dark red scabs covered the exposed membrane. Azalea was watching his face, so Stoneshine tried as best as he could to hide his grimace. He must have failed because the pink dragon’s head dipped down to the side, hiding her face.
“How… how bad does it look?” she asked. Before Stoneshine could think of a reply, Saguaro spoke up. “Bad? Good? It is an injury that will heal. The only thing that matters is you and how badly you feel the pain. Over time the scar will lighten and the pain will dull.”
Azalea gazed up at the SandWing. “Thanks,” a small smile replacing her sad frown.
“One last test, before you’re released. Move your wing in a circle for me, dear,” Saguaro guided. Azalea swiveled her wing in a circular motion, using the muscles connected to her chest and body. “Good, good. Now extend your wing, so the membrane pulls taut.”
Her wing twitched and shivered, but did not expand. Azalea curved her neck to peer at it. Choking on a sob, she buried her face into a pillow. Stoneshine extended a talon and gently rubbed her arm’s scales, Trying to simulate the calming rythym of breathing he had learned from the Mind Fright lecture. Saguaro clicked her tongue.
“Although it seems bleak right now, with physical therapy there is a chance that you might be able to regain some control.”
Azalea did not look up. Saguaro continued, “Although I dislike talking about separate patients, I think this is relevant. Just yesterday, a NightWing was found right outside the town, and was brought here.”
Stoneshine’s blood slowed, every sound was heightened and time seemed to slow down.
“It was a horrible sight, and that’s saying something, coming from me. He had cuts galore, broken bones, and these scars all across his body. It looked like lightning. But, my point is, he will heal and be able to live the rest of his life. And so will you.”
The clinking of vials from Saguaro’s satchel broke the spell on Stoneshine. His mind began to do the familiar dance. Thoughts and images flashed before his closed eyelids and his heart raced. Unlike the other times, Stoneshine had a plan. He recalled the Mind Fright lecture and did what the SkyWing had said. He counted his breaths, breathing slowly. In and out, in and out. The rhythm helped his mind clear enough to open his eyes once more. Azalea was staring at him in fear.
“Is… is he awake?” Stoneshine asked, trying not to stutter. He began to look at the walls surrounding him, wondering if Honorbringer was just beyond the wood. Saguaro was looking at him quizzically. “No, he’s not, though I don’t see why that matters,” she said.
He sighed with relief. Azalea stood up from where she sat and padded over to Stoneshine. They looked at eachother, messages flying between them nonverbally. “We’re leaving,” Azalea told the SandWing. “And we aren’t going to come back for quite a while, maybe ever,” she continued. Saguaro looked at them, at a loss for words.
Stoneshine began to back himself toward the door. “Thank you for teaching me about Healing, I really appreciate it,” he told the bewildered dragon.
He and Azalea left the room and hurried through the building, escaping through the front doors. Once they were a few streets away, Stoneshine stopped on the side of the path to take a deep breath. Azalea stood next to him, looking back at the way they’d come.
“Where are we going to go?” gasped Stoneshine.
Azalea leaned toward him, “We could go to Possibility? It’s passed the mountains, bordering on the Queendom of Sand.” Her voice shook as she whispered.
“As long as we are safe,” said Stoneshine.
They started to walk again, until Azalea stopped abruptly. “Stoneshine?” They way Azalea’s voice lilted, Stoneshine knew he would do anything she asked. “Can we… Can we stop at the orphanage? I want to say goodbye to Amphitrite and the dragonets,” she said. Stoneshine’s heart swelled, he wasn’t surprised by the kindness Azalea possessed.
They made a stop at the orphanage, and then it was open sky from there.
Two dragons could be seen flying through the Sky Queendom. One was a dark brown dragon with pitch black wings and the other was a carnation pink and teal SilkWing, far from her home. Just after they passed through the final mountain on their way to Possibility, the dragon town on the borders of the Sand and Sky Queendoms, Stoneshine waved his talon to the SilkWing– so she knew to follow him. He swooped down and closed the distance between him and the continent’s surface, Azalea right behind him.
“You must be exhausted, Azalea,” Stoneshine said, giving a worried glance at her burned, paralyzed wing.
“I'm fine.” Azalea smiled to try to mask her fatigue; Stoneshine didn’t believe her. “Truly,” she insisted. Although attempting to stand tall, her body sank just slightly to the floor, too tired to obey her comands. To convince his friend to take a rest, Stoneshine circled a spot of soft grass and sat down, showing her that it was alright. Azalea almost immediately fell to the ground, still graceful despite her exhaustion. Stoneshine felt like a clunky hippo compared to her, but he didn’t mind. He wasn’t jealous of her, he admired her beauty and strength.
Stoneshine flexed his wing muscles, moving his wings in weird positions, trying to release some tension. “Even though this is much better than my flight from the Mud Queendom, I am still so unbelievably tired.”
“And even with having only three working wings, this is extremely better than my escape from Pantala.” The dragons shared a smile that spoke of hardships overcome. At that moment, beneath the orange light of the setting sun, fireflies began to flicker on their lights. Stoneshine gazed at the grassy fields painted in a golden glow. White, yellow, and purple flowers waved in a gust of wind sent from the far off river. The fireflies flitted about, making it seem as if the stars had fallen just for them. Stoneshine looked back to see if Azalea had noticed the sudden bloom of glowing insects.
Azalea was transfixed by the fireflies, although Stoneshine later learned that she called them lightning bugs. When she caught Stoneshine looking she let out a laugh and shook her head. “Here,” she said as she lifted up her large wing on her uninjured side. Stoneshine took the cue and walked over and plopped himself next to her, under her wing. Azalea lowered her wing and let Stoneshine rest against her, both of them viewing the beautiful scene.
Stoneshine was completely content at that moment. His favorite dragon was beside him, keeping his scales warm, and the sunset shone with colors he hadn’t even known existed. Oranges and pinks mixed together in what Stoneshine thought could be a mural in Queen Moorhen’s castle.