[h1][center][b]Chapter 10:[/h1][/center][/b]
[h2][center]5018[/center][/h2]
    
    Moonlight arrived at the Jade Mountain Academy sore and exhausted. It had taken her too many days to remember since she fled from the Sea Kingdom. 
    
    She had just flown straight in front of her without thinking when she saw the opportunity to escape Queen Coral.
    But she hadn’t realized how wide the sea stretched from the islands to the coast and it had taken all her energy to reach the continent and when she finally spotted it, she immediately dove to the ground and crashed.
    Her legs felt weak and shaky, she was barely able to hold herself up to move around. The dragonet noticed a small bush nearby where she could sleep safely and recover. She fell asleep immediately not even noticing her hunger.
    She woke up what she felt like was early morning the next day and emerged from the bushes and was immediately greeted with the hundreds of auras from the forest’s evergreens and pine trees. The scent of morning dew mixed with sap tickled her nostrils.
    As Tamarin had taught her, she slowed her breath, focused and inhaled deeply. She could just about tell each and every plant that were around her, but most importantly she managed to pinpoint the fruits hanging from branches and the mushrooms growing between an evergreen tree and a small bush. She rushed there and gorged herself.
    Under other circumstances she would be very mindful of her eating manners but not today, she was way too famished for that.
    Once she felt satiated, she began to look around. Sure, it shone like [i]a[/i] forest, it smelled like [i]a[/i] forest but it [i]wasn’t[/i] like the Rainforest.
    “[i]Where am I?[/i]”, she wondered
    She had flown away from the Sea Kingdom islands towards the continent -[i]as a matter of fact, she was glad she didn’t fly away from it[/i]- so if her geography was correct she would be somewhere within the Sky Kingdom, or more precisely, on its East Coast. So, all she had to do was walk down along the coast to get back to the RainForest.
    Flying alone would be easy if she wasn’t still a dragonet. She would exhaust herself in no time, and she had just done that the previous day. She wasn’t ready to repeat that feat any time soon.
    With a low sigh, she started walked down the coast.
    “[i]Since I’m here and no one seem to be looking for me,[/i]” she thought as she stared at the sky and saw no visible aura, “[i]I might as well go directly to StarFlight, not that he would have any answer but probably a hint, I don’t know...[/i]”
    She rummaged for some times as she marched southward to the sound of the waves crashing along the shore.
    She would avoid flying for the time being. 
    Despite her curiosity and the desire to learn as much as possible, she kept herself from deviating from her journey. She would come back to visit Queen Ruby’s palace another day.
    The weather was rather clement and not really different from what she was used to, and even if she sometimes missed the Rainforest’s rain, she enjoyed the gentle breeze the sea brought to her muzzle.
    Before long, she had reached a river, which she believed to be the Diamond Spray River that separated the Sky Kingdom and the Mud Kingdom. The first of three she would come across before reaching Jade Mountain.
    Soon after, she entered the Mud Kingdom and it was quite difficult for her to avoid the puddles of mud here and there. She could barely tell the difference between the water and the ground, as the mud didn’t contain any aura like a soil without plant. 
    As such, she walked a much shorter distance per day than in the Sky Kingdom and got lost a few times. Eventually, she reached the second river, which, as she remembered from her study of the map would take her from the Mud Kingdom directly to the Rainforest, from where she could recognize the land and make her way promptly to Jade Mountain.
    She couldn’t tell if it took her five, six or more days to cross the Mud Kingdom even as she followed the river. So many times, she had wished Tamarin could have been here to help her but then she realized she probably would have been in the same predicament as her.
    At least, she wouldn’t have been alone...
    As she arrived by the lake bordering both Queen Moorhen’s palace and the Rainforest, she looked up and noticed a dragon flying above her head. Something very peculiar about that dragon caught her attention, but she couldn’t quite figure it out. At first, she thought Queen Glory’s guard had seen her from far away and she had sent a spy to look after her. But this dragon was clearly flying straight into the Rainforest from up North and wasn’t really paying attention to her. She braced herself and focused, staring at the dragon intently, it turned its head as if to look at her and seemed startled for a second before it resumed its flight and disappeared in the forest.
    “[i]Spikes?![/i]” she gasped and then shook her head, “[i]...Must have been a mistake from the distance and the floating aura. Hardly any IceWing comes into the Rainforest...[/i]”
    She turned her talons and resumed walking in the general direction of Jade Mountain, since no one was looking after her.
    “[i]I wonder why Queen Glory hasn’t sent anyone, she knows I can see them but still...[/i]”
    The rest of the journey to the Academy was rather uneventful and only took a couple more days as once again, she didn’t really feel like flying. She would have plenty of time to fly and enjoy it again at a later time. For now, she was alone with her thoughts and it wasn’t an unpleasant time.
    
    As she walked through the large portal of the Academy, she felt like she couldn’t wait any longer to talk to StarFlight. She had so many questions and while she already knew that most of them wouldn’t be answered, she still had to ask them. She took a deep breath, the fact that she already accepted this possibility didn’t calm her frustration.	
    She stepped inside and walked towards the library. The Academy was buzzing with many dragonets her age and older and none of them really paid attention to her as dragons usually came and left as they saw fit.
    She spotted StarFlight at his usual spot behind the library counter, his head already raised towards her.
    “Hi, StarFlight.” She said softly.
    The librarian nodded.
    “Hi Moonlight, I saw you survived Coral, how can I help you today?”
    She winced at the dig, she hadn’t expected the news to have reached as far as the Academy, and even less for StarFlight to make fun of her about it.
    “Yeah...”, she replied sheepishly hoping just ignoring the jest would save her from more jokes, “I know we have discussed long and long about it but I need to ask again some questions about me and... my condition.”
    StarFlight’s aura dimmed and he seemed to look concerned, and it almost made her regret to have asked but she was resolved.
    [i]There must be an answer out there.[/i]
    Without raising his head, StarFlight called out, “Hey Fatespeaker, can you be a sweetheart and bring me the scroll listing for what we got back from the Lost City, please?”
    “Yup can do, StarFlight!” she replied briskly and it appeared like she dove into the deepest recesses of the library as one would do in a pool.
    A few minutes later, she came back trotting proudly with several scrolls under her wing. She dropped half of them in front of StarFlight and the rest in front of herself. They both proceeded to unroll one and StarFlight ran his talon over the parchment.
    He turned to Moonlight again as his talon continued running down the scroll.
    “This is the list of every single scroll we could get back from the Lost City. I peruse this list regularly and unfortunately there is nothing that rings a bell about seeing auras... or blind dragons.” he trailed off.
    Moonlight felt the frustration growing, she reached for one of the scrolls and started reading it beside them. She wished she had something smart or valuable to say but there was nothing really to say. Maybe if she kept reading the list over and over, something will just pop in front of her eyes.
    Hours passed but nothing actually [i]popped[/i]. It still felt to her like they were missing something.
    “If not in the title... maybe the authors?” she asked.
    “Hmm,” StarFlight put a talon under his chin and looked up. “Well, most are old writers, since before the NightWings abandoned the City, thus we only know about them what they told us in these scrolls”
    He moved his talon to the opposite side of the scroll and started reading.
    “Let’s see, Allknowing... BrightNight... ClearView... Foresee... NightFull... NightLight...” he seemed to shiver a bit and his talon quickly moved down several row before resuming, “Queen Vigilance...”
    “StarFlight?”
    He raised his nose from the scroll, “hmm?”
    “Why did you skip those?”, Moonlight asked curiously.
    “It’s...”, he sighed, “It’s the ones written by DarkStalker.”
    “Oh.”
    “I think we talked about him before, didn’t we?”
    “A bit I guess, I think mother mentioned him once or twice. He was a NightWing-IceWing animus, wasn’t he?”
    “Yes... And he was unfortunately the best at it.”
    She cocked her head, and Fatespeaker continued for him.
    “He made himself invincible, he knew the magic very well and if it hadn’t been for some clever thinking we would all be under his power today...”
    Moonlight shivered a bit at the idea.
    “But that will be a story for another time.” Interrupted StarFlight.
    “Wait!” the dragonet cut, “why is he in the list, didn’t you say the list is from two thousands years ago?”
    “Yes, that’s correct, that’s also how old DarkStalker was. As we mentioned, he made himself immortal and although he had been defeated then, he couldn’t be killed and awoke around 5 years ago... Moonlight, this is a very long story, and I don’t think we have time for it now, I’m afraid.”
    “Yes yes, right but you will have to tell me one day!”
    “Promise!” said StarFlight with a smile.
    “What are his scrolls about?”, continued Moonlight
    “Many things: [i]why the war is good for NightWings[/i], [i]NightWings and Technical Progress[/i], [i]Animus & NightWings[/i]... So many that we only chose to bring here those which we thought were relevant and left many there that seemed more like his rants or his poetries.”
    “Hmm, can I see the list of those scrolls, please?”
    Fatespeaker and StarFlight stood concerned and stared at her.
    “Well, I’m not going to turn into him by reading his books, furthermore since he was so eager to write, maybe he mentioned something that might concerns me.”
    “Well... I guess that’s worth a try but I will decide which scrolls and I will stay by your side, if you have any question, please let me know. Some of his... pamphlets are full of bad propaganda.”
    “Oh. Well, that’s fine with me!... that you pick and stay.” She grinned.
    StarFlight grabbed a few scrolls and walked with Moonlight to a nearby table where they both settled down.
    StarFlight unrolled a scroll and held his talon over the raised signs, Moonlight pressed her own next to his. The paper softly sung as they brushed over the words silently. She hoped she could just find something that clicked with her. She didn’t expect much feedback from StarFlight though as it was nigh impossible for her to express what she needed to find... She wasn’t even certain what she was really after. A Godly sign perhaps...
    “[i]Do NightWings have Gods?[/i]” She wondered.
    If only she could wish for a nudge in the right direction. Not much, just an indication, a little... thing. Then she remembered about Tidal, her animus powers and all she could do with it and a quick wave of anger ran under her skin.
    “[i]She has so much power, she could save the world and explain why I am like this and get rid of the murderer and, and, and...[/i]” she closed her eyes tightly and sighed out loud.
    “Something the matter?”, asked StarFlight.
    She shook her wings and tail.
    “Sorry, I got... frustrated. I wished...”
    “...that Animus power could solve all your problems and all the world’s problems?”
    She stood there agape and StarFlight chuckled.
    “Yes, I have wished that several times myself too. But what would we be if we relied on magic to resolve all our problems? We are what our experiences make us, not what we get from a spell. Magic should be here to help us grow, not a crutch to rely on.”
    The large NightWing rolled down the scroll and grabbed another one and they resumed reading but after repeating the same process for the remaining scrolls, they were no further than when they started.
    “That’s it... we read all the translated scrolls... All the remaining ones are not press-transcribed yet.”
    Moonlight looked up at the completely black ceiling. It felt weird not to see a hint of an aura up there.
    She pondered for a moment.
    “That DarkStalker...” she started.
    StarFlight turned his head towards her.
    “He was an Animus you said...”
    StarFlight nodded some.
    “That’s correct, in fact, he was the most powerful one. Do you have anything specific in mind?”
    Moonlight shook her head.
    “No, not really but since I can see auras... including Animus ones, I thought that maybe looking at the original scroll could bring something new...” she bit her lower lip. “Sorry, that was just stupid...”
    StarFlight wrapped a wing over her.
    “No, it’s not! I mean, I agree that it would be far-fetched that DarkStalker left a message there for you but we should not let any chance pass by, should we?”
    She nodded back with an approving low growl and StarFlight turned towards Fatespeaker and as she looked at him from the side, Moonlight couldn’t stop herself from thinking that he looked quite unique with his bandage over his eyes that appeared to her like a dark visor over his aura as if he was some sort of space engineer dragon.
    A few moments later, Fatespeaker sat on the other side of Moonlight and put a faintly glowing scroll on the black table.
    As she unrolled it, the glow increased slowly and illuminated everything around it, making the two dragons surrounding her like bathing in a dim purplish light. The more the scroll unfurled, the more she could see of the brown paper and the twisted inked shapes revealing themselves, forming letters and words, which neatly made up paragraphs after paragraphs. Each first letter of a prominent paragraph being carefully drawn with very delicate curves, thickening and thinning regularly as the curve changed direction, forming a sign that barely resembled the letter it was originally meant to be.
    Moonlight was in awe at what she saw, the sentences flowed one after another in her mind, recounting the story of some distant war at the time of DarkStalker prime youth and the Lost City’s glory, or probably the opposite. It felt like she was one of the combatants, the fierce DarkStalker -[i]ready to engage the vile enemy and use his magic any time to get the advantage[/i]-, right in the heat of the battle, where dragon claws cut through wings and ice spears penetrated limbs and bodies. The outcome could not be more uncertain as both sides struggled to find an opening until a booming voice called for retreat. They could still have won if they let him. He had pleaded them not to retreat, he had tried to let them see why he was right and yet they still refused that he used his magic, they didn’t explain why, they just refused and it was confusing to him. That meant the victory would have to wait for another day...
    As her eyes raced over the sentences, something blurry appeared to slowly cover the text and make itself more and more obvious to her. As her eyes tried to adjust to it, she read:
[center]***
“[i]THIS SCROLL WAS ONCE IN THE NIGHT CITY, COME VISIT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOURSELF[/i]”	
***[/center]
    She suddenly jumped back in surprise throwing the scroll in the air as she fell on her tail and the scroll landed on her left horn. She shrieked and frantically shook her head as if she had seen a giant spider crawling on her nose.
    The scroll slowly slid off her horn and dropped on the floor with a thud.
    As she tried to gather her thoughts, she noticed both StarFlight and Fatespeaker above her seemingly concerned. She couldn’t understand what they were saying. She looked around and the usual darkness spotted by the dragons’ white auras reassured her.
    “[i]What was that?![/i]”
    “Moonlight, are you okay?”, a soft voice called.
    She blinked.
    “Oh.. Er, yeah. I... just had a... flashback” she tried.
    She slowly got back up on her legs and wanted to reach for the scroll when she realized that StarFlight actually grabbed it and was carefully rolling it back. He appeared worried as he checked on the parchment every now and then.
    “[i]Tear a page on one scroll and it’s like you killed another dragon for him[/i]”, she contemplated.
    She looked as the purple glow slowly disappeared. The words still legible on the paper.
    “[i]OK Moonlight, breath. It’s just animus magic, right?[/i]”, her heartbeats increased as she inhaled deeply.
    She looked up again at both of the librarian NightWings, wondering if she should tell them anything about it. StarFlight was more concerned for his scroll than anything else but Fatespeaker was staring straight at her.
    “StarFlight, do you mind if I walk Moonlight to the river, I think she needs a drink.”
    The NightWing shook his head still focused on rolling his scroll perfectly.
    As they walked through the Academy, Fatespeaker didn’t say a word, her attitude impassive.
    After walking through past a corner, Moonlight realized that she had brought her to a side of a river where no dragon were present.
    “I can’t tell you what you should do but if there’s anything you want to tell before you go, it will stay between us.”, Fatespeaker eventually remarked.
    Moonlight dipped her head into the water. She wasn’t sure if she should tell her anything. Not like it would change anything but it would probably be safer that at least someone knows where she was.
    “I will be going to the Night City.” She spoke in an undertone.
    Fatespeaker stood there for a while, watching her drink, as if she was weighing her options.
    “Is that what you saw in the scroll?”
    She almost spat her water.
    “StarFlight may believe your flashback story but he has always been quite gullible, hasn’t he?”, she continued, not waiting for an answer, “As I, for one, love the prospect of new adventure”
    She noticed Fatespeaker was strangely pawing the ground as if she was excited to also go.
    Moonlight gulped down and wiped her dripping muzzle.
    “I guess I may as well tell you... As stupid as it sounds, that’s what I read in the scroll.”
    Fatespeaker looked up with a talon under her chin.
    “I’ve heard way more stupid thing, notwithstanding the fact that I was there when DarkStalker was present.”
    “Notwith... You’ve spent way too much time with StarFlight...” the dragonet smirked.
    Fatespeaker chuckled softly.
    “That’s for me to decide, young girl.” She mockingly replied, “now, shoo! And you better report to me when you return.”
    “Aye m’am!” Moonlight called out with a smile.
    She wasn’t sure if it was the right decision to take. Should she talk to an adult first? [i]Another one, that is.[/i] Should she go back to the Sea Kingdom and ask Tidal for help? And what happened to her friend after she left?
    As she rummaged through her thought, it came to her realization that she hadn’t really slept or eaten much over the last days as she wasn’t really used to live in the wild and alone... So she reluctantly turned around and explained it to Fatespeaker.
    Before she could go to the Night City, she would need all the strength she could muster. She didn’t know much about it and neither did StarFlight, or rather, all he knew of it was from the scrolls and the stories his sister gave him.
    The prospect of going willingly to the unknown was both enticing and frightening at the same time. But if that meant finding about herself and solving the mystery about her parents, she was willing to overcome her fears.
    “[i]I just hope it’s not a trap. The further away I am from Animus magic, the better, but I guess I cannot run away forever...[/i]”
    Fatespeaker had brought her to the central feeding place where she ate in the middle of other students for a short while before walking her to a secluded bedroom where no one would bother her or come to take her away in the middle of the night.
    Moonlight laid down on the bed and sighed, her eyes fixated on the completely dark ceiling above her. The sound of students running around like a far away whisper.