Jewel held on to her promise, and not an hour later, two guards came to escort Moonsky and Floatleaf to a new cell. Miraculously, the HiveWings didn't question Floatleaf's looks or Moonsky's tribe, although there were probably countless eyes on them from the other prisoners.

"Here," a guard said, shepherding them into a new cell next to the entrance. The other guard took out a key and locked Moonsky and Floatleaf in as they stepped into the cell, barring them inside. They left, talons scraping on rock and echoing across the prison.

Floatleaf calmed when the guards went out of sight. "Do you know how the other Cloudlings are going to rescue us?" he asked.

Moonsky shook his head. "I told Jewel how to signal Cloudlings, but I don't know what it's for. Maybe she'll signal them and get the soldiers to free us?"

Floatleaf nodded, but said nothing. For a while, both dragonets were silent.

Eventually, as night began to fall(At least, Moonsky though night began to fall) and the light of the lanterns faded slowly, Floatleaf curled into a sleeping position. Moonsky's NightWing half nagged him to stay awake longer, but he didn't have anything to do other than sleep, and he'd barely gotten any recently.

"Hey, Moonsky?" Floatleaf asked.

"Yeah?" Moonsky answered as he turned around.

"Dad usually tells me a story before I go to sleep," he said,  "but he's not here, so... could you tell me one?" He gave the older dragon a hopeful look.

Moonsky thought for a moment, before he sighed and said, "sure, why not?"

He settled next to the maybe-two-year-old while racking his brain for a good story to tell. There's the story of the first Skykerians, although that's very complex... Or maybe the Battle of Horrkon - no, that's way too gory for a two-year-old... maybe the story of Chief Fomhä? Sure, let's do that.

Moonsky took a deep breath. "Some day, back before Cloudlings, Skykeria, kingdoms, even the Scorching, an animus built five stelas in a circle and enchanted them to cover the world in a snowstorm, before he disappeared into the wind. And indeed, the world was covered for decades in a great snowstorm, covering the ground in snow higher than the dragons.

"Many came to the circle of stelas, looking to free the world from the curse. None of them succeeded. Then, one day, a dragon named Fomhä came to the circle. She wasn't like anyone who came to the circle before - she was a warrior, a leader, an iron-willed challenger, some even say she was an animus herself.

"Either way, it was her that ended the blizzard and freed the world from the curse. Dragons praised her and gave her gifts, and she was the first chief of the legendary Oru'benur warriors. Under her rule, great monuments were built, harvest was better than ever, even ore they mined seemed to be richer than usual."

By then, Floatleaf was already asleep. Moonsky chuckled to himself and found a far corner of the cell to sleep in.

For once, he fell asleep very quickly.

-----<-->-----

Moonsky awoke to cold, and voices.

"Moonsky, wake up!" That was Cricket, maybe. It was still early. "Come on, I don't know how long the guards will stay distracted!"

"Just pick him up and let's go!" came the vaguely familiar voice of Sundew. Now he remembered everything - falling from the island, again, talking with Lady Jewel, telling the story to Floatleaf.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Moonsky said in a hurry. Floatleaf was also awake, standing petrified in the dark, muttering again about how there would be others coming, and they were going to kill him.

"Alright then, let's go!" a third dragon said - a NightWing Cloudling. Based on his armor, shoulder pads, and the grappling hook on his waist, he was a grenadier - Jewel must have signaled the fleet and gotten them to break out the two dragonets. He felt bad for the ruler, who would probably feel the wrath of Wasp, but he was thankful.

The group of five sprinted across the hallways and corridors of Jewel's palace, passing by one or two terrified SilkWing servants. 

At the garden, there were six other Cloudling grenadiers, each with some unique twist to their guns. Two of them were suspending themselves in midair by a grappling cord while the others were perched on rocks or statues, but launched into action at the sight of their commander.

"Get the Cloudlings aboard the airship," the Commander said, "And keep an eye on the Terrans. I assume that Governor Funnelweb has been informed of our status?"

The grenadier nodded. "The fleet is ready for a fight, whether defensive or offensive."

The commander made a motion with his talon and started climbing one of the grappling cords. One of the other grenadiers told Cricket and Sundew to get on. Moonsky, on the other hand, was already climbing up a different cord.

As everybody climbed in through a widow or cargo door, the vessel lurched and rose into the air, back up to the Pantalan town of Dornid. The talk was already all over the ship, and everybody knew what was happening as other ships spread out across the continent.

Operation Harvest had begun.