Opal sat by the tunnel entrance, nibbling at her Aythem. She decided she'd go outside for a bit after she had finished, just to get some air. The nightmare she had still clung to her mind like cold spider webs. Two dragons came to sit with her, two of which left to sit with someone else. Opal didn't notice them. She was so deep in thought, in fact, that she didn't notice someone coming up behind her.
"Opal!" Someone yelled. She was suddenly shocked out of her thoughts as Sea leaped on top of her. She had a huge smile that stretched from ear to ear.
"Do you know what today is!?" She said excitedly. Opal shook her head absently and went back to look at her crystal.
"It's the races today!" Sea finished flinging a wing around her.
"Wha-what!" Opal stammered in surprise. She had completely forgotten. Today was the group races, where each group races to see which learner has learnt flying better. Opal's face lightened up. This would definitely take her mind off of the nightmare.
"When does it start?" She asked. She couldn't keep track of the times.
"After noontime." Quartz said flicking her tail with fake irritation, "you should know this."
A smile then snaked it's way through her frown. Opal couldn't help it either. Today was an exciting day. She sat with Quartz while Sea and Shulker went out to hunt.
"I can tell something's troubling you." Quartz said straight after they'd gone, "you've been looking glum all morning."
"It's just . . ." Opal trailed off, wondering whether Quartz would think it's silly. Nobody really worries about dreams that much, since it's not real. But this felt important.
"I had a dream last night." She continued, "I was walking around Diamond lake before the ground fell beneath me and I landed in a cave with lots of little eyes. Then it all fell away and I saw Stardust but she didn't seem like herself. Then she said something strange."
Quartz looked at her now even more interested.
"What did she say?" Quartz asked. Opal hesitated for a moment, then continued.
"Something like:
A storm will rain across the land,
To bring you dragons from across the sea,
They will show you shadows, they will tell you secrets,
And nothing will be as it sees."

Opal couldn't remember that part but she definitely remembered the next part,

"A secret buried beneath the earth,
A secret ignited in the stars' sight,
A secret hidden in the mountains,
A secret changing from dark to light."

"Whoa." Quartz said at this bit, "continue."

"A terror hides in the cave,
An evil lurks in the night
Face the rift with wings and fire,
Or none of the tribes will see the light."

Even as Opal said it, it felt as chilling as the top of Unakite.
"That sounds like a prophecy," Quartz said, "but I happen to know we don't have prophets in the GemWing tribe."
"I know." Opal agreed. Which made this extremely suspicious. Opal looked up at the entrance as she heard wingbeats. Shulker and Sea had both caught something. She lowered her voice to Quartz.
"Do not say a thing to anyone about this!" Opal hissed, "not even to Sea or Shulker!"
Quartz nodded solemnly and then took a bite out of her Aythem. Sea glided down next to Opal.
"So," she said flicking her tail so it hit Quartz's, "what were you two talking about?"
Opal froze for a millisecond. She was terrified that Sea had guessed what their conversation was. But then she realised that Sea's question was casual, not curious.
"Uhhhh," Opal said, "we were talking about gemstones."
Quartz facepalmed and shook her head slightly.
"Alright," Sea said dismissively, "nothing that interesting then."
"Hey gemstones may not be interesting to you," Opal said, "but they are interesting to us."
"Alright, alright," Sea said holding her wings up, "I get it, GemWings like to talk about rocks."
"How about we go for a fly around Unakite?" Asked Shulker finishing his meal, "together, I mean."
Opal felt relieved. Shulker had saved her from saying anything else to Sea. Opal shot a grateful look at him.
"Sure," Quartz said, "after we have all eaten, we can go."
Opal looked down at her Aythem and started taking actual bites of her crystal. A short while after, the four of them had finished their meals. Opal let Shulker take the lead as they weaved through chilling GemWings, all chatting to each other. At one point, a sparkling red dragonet rolled over and Opal nearly stepped on him.
"Sorry." She had said to him. They finally reached the main entrance and spread their wings. One by one, the four of them took off, soaring high above the ground. The top of Unakite still towered above them, casting a massive, long shadow in the rising sun, across the grasslands. White, blue, purple and pearlescent all dove and spun and soared in the sky. Quartz dove and then shot back up with just a few flaps of her wings, almost colliding with Sea. She laughed as Sea looked remarkably surprised, then dove again. For the first time that day, Opal felt her worries ebbing away as she flew with her friends, chased Shulker around it's perimeter, laughed at jokes with Quartz and dodged incoming dives from Sea. Close to midday, they came to settle on one of the many, small entrance-ledges to catch their breaths. Opal had completely forgotten about her worries and she felt like she could fly to the ends of Pyrexia, if her friends asked her to. She was just about to head in, when Sea pounced on her and pinned her to the floor.
"You can go in just yet!" She cried, "you have races to participate in."
"Oh yea . . ." Opal trailed off. "Well then, we'd better get going then!"
She took off toward the canyons behind Unakite. She saw the other three take off after her. As the landing ledge came in sight, she saw six more dragons perched there; Jasper, Jade, Sugilite, Holly-blue, Celestine and Kyanite. Which meant they had to only wait on three more dragons; Hematite, Rhodonite and Zircon. Opal looked behind her to see the metallic form of Hematite, winging his way to the ledge. She waved to him as she soared down to land on the ledge. Sea and Shulker all flew to land with the other watching dragons. A few turned to give him some suspicious looks, but then they shrugged and turned to watch the racing dragons. Opal went up to greet the other group.
"Hey." She said shyly. Celestine turned to her.
"Hi!" She said enthusiastically, "I'm so glad I'm racing your group this year."
She couldn't stop bouncing from one side to the other.
"Not that I'd think we would win," Celestine corrected herself, "but because I think it would be more exiting than last year!"
"Last year we had to race his group." Kyanite said looking over at Flint's group. "Flint was the only one who didn't claim that he was faster than anyone."
"All the dragonets in his group all claimed they were faster." Said Hematite sidling up behind them.
"The only one who would do that in this group is Holly." Opal told them, "but she's getting better."
Malachite suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Alright dragons!" He bellowed, "it's time for the race!"
Opal went back to sit beside Quartz, looking back at Celestine's group. Rhodonite and Zircon had arrived. Opal could see them beside Kyanite.
"Remember the rules! No pushing! No attacking! And definitely no cheating!" Malachite reminded them. Quartz looked at Opal with a determined look on her face.
"When you hear the crystal, begin your race!" Malachite continued in his loud voice. He flew over the a large crystal jutting out the mountainside.
"Ready!" He said. The two groups nodded. Opal had her gaze on the course. It was a narrow canyon with large stalagmites rising from the ground. This was to test their dodging in flight. Opal was nervous. But then she looked over at her group and felt determined to win for them. Suddenly a loud "clink" sounded as Malachite hit the large crystal with another smaller one he was holding. Almost instantly, all the dragonets on the ledge took off, toward the stalagmites. Opal was one of the first. She dove toward the jutting pillars, getting ready to turn. Reaching the first one, Opal turned left, then right, weaving through the rest. At one point, Zircon crashed into one, but he flapped his wings to continue on. Quartz and Kyanite were in front of Opal, and were the first two to complete the obstacle. Following them, Opal saw the next one was the test of altitude. Below her, the canyon dropped away, into a deep ravine. Water about three dragons deep filled the bottom, to catch dragons if they crash and fall. A hole in the far wall, marked the exit, however, it was close to the water. If you were too high, you wouldn't get low enough in time. If you were too low, you wouldn't make it. Opal chose the altitude a little above the middle. She could feel the wind whipping past her as she glided across the ravine. She looked behind her and saw Holly not far behind. Jasper and Celestine were behind her with Sugilite just behind them. Hematite and Jade were trailing at the back, and Zircon was dead last. Jade looked sick as she saw the dive, remembering the fall with Quartz's first lesson with them. Opal turned her head back to see, Kyanite and Quartz starting to dive below her. Opal crossed her claws and tucked in her wings. The wind shot passed her as she plummeted toward the water. She looked at the cave exit and flung out her wings when she was only five dragons above the water. Opal held her breath at the ravine closed over. The small cave opened drew closer and closer. She heard a splash behind her and turned to see Jade rising to the surface crying. Opal looked at the cave, then back at Jade. She did this a few times before she settled on a decision. Opal sharply turned and headed for Jade, ignoring the bewildered stares of the other dragonets. Jade was floundering around, trying to keep her head above the water. Opal led her to a small patch of pebbles that rose out of the water. Jade lay on it gasping for breath.
"I'm sorry!" She blurted, before she realised it was Opal standing beside her.
"It's ok," Opal said, "I knew how frightened you were about this."
Jade's face was wet with water and tears. "I was." She admitted. She stood up and shook her wings.
"I'm sorry I—" Jade began before Opal cut her off.
"I understand." Opal said. "Do you want to continue?"
"Yes! Yes I do!" Jade said, getting over her fear.
"If we fly now, we will be able to catch up to the others before they get to the end." Opal said spreading her pearl-yellow wings. Jade spread hers and they both took off into the tunnel. A few stalagmites and stalactites jutted out from the ceiling and floor. A few times, the two of them had to weave around pillars that connected the ceiling and the floor. Eventually the cave widened out into a canyon that was strong with wind. It was hard to fly when the wind kept trying to slam you into the walls. Opal angled her wings until she felt a push from the wind. Jade did the same and they both shot through the canyon to the other side. Down below was a resting point where dragons could stop and rest. Opal and Jade just flew over it. At the other end was a tunnel that was higher than they were. Below them, smoke rose so that dragons who weren't high enough, had that smoke to rise them higher. Opal flicked her tail at Jade and they both saw Hematite and Zircon not to far ahead. Just in front of them were Jasper and Sugilite. No one else could be seen. They must have gone through. Opal angled her wings to catch the lift of the wind. Jade did the same. The duo came high enough to just scrape the floor of the tunnel. They shot past the other four into the tunnel They left the wind chasm along with the other four dragons behind. With a spasm of realisation, Opal just realised what the last test was. It was testing how far you can glide without flapping your wings. She sighed. This was the last test, and she and Jade had to complete it. She looked back at Jade who had a determined face on. The tunnel ended into a long narrow canyon with smooth walls and a river cutting through the bottom. She could just see the gemstone at the end of Celestine's tail. It was very foggy. Opal kept her wings spread and followed Celestine. They glided for a while and Opal's wings began to feel heavy. She looked behind her and saw that Jade felt the same. Soon, Celestine dove downwards and they followed. They reached the end of the fog and Opal looked down. Her heart sank as she saw the starting ledge below them. Quartz, Kyanite, Holly, Celestine and Rhodonite. She landed beside Quartz with Jade not far behind.
"You made it!" Quartz said flinging one wing over Opal. Sugilite and Jasper came to land on the ledge. Celestine came over to congratulate the dragonets who had made it.
"Who won?" Jade asked. Quartz looked at Kyanite, then at Holly.
"It was a close call," Quartz said, "but I think Kyanite won. She was the one who's talons touched the ledge first."
Jade bounced over to congratulate Kyanite.
"Where's—" Rhodonite began. Hematite crash landed beside Jasper, gasping for breath.
"You were great!" Celestine said hopping over to him. Then all of a sudden, a flurry of wings enveloped them as the watching dragons came over to congratulate the racing dragonets. Sea and Shulker stood out as they came over to Opal.
"How was it?" Shulker asked, putting one talon on Opal's shoulder. He gave her a warm smile that lit up her heart.
"It was great!" Opal said. She told them about Jade and how she helped her. Sea flicked her tail in amusement.
"That's our Opal." She said with a grin. Suddenly a hush fell over the crowd as someone's voice yelled over the noise of the speaking dragons;
"Where's Zircon!?"