It all happened so suddenly. Quartz wasn't sure what, but she could hear dragons screaming in the main cave. Opal had only left not that long ago. Quartz clutched the orange GemWing egg in her talons, wondering where she could put it. By the fire agate crystals are too warm and I can't take it with me. She thought, perhaps Moonstone could look after it again while I'm gone. Quartz looked around her room to find it empty. She looked at the fire agate crystals, their nests even by the scroll rack. No Moonstone.
"Moonstone!" Quartz called. "Where are you?"
Quartz hugged the egg tighter in her snow-white wings and kept looking. She heard hurried talon steps coming toward her, in the tunnel behind her, and lifted her head. Moonstone came suddenly bursting through the entrance, her face full of terror. She looked around frantically and then settled as she saw Quartz with the egg.
"Hurry!" She said coming toward her, "we have to get out of here!"
Quartz looked confused. She looked left then right then back at her sister.
"What's happening," Quartz finally said, camly, "what's going on?"
"It's the purple dragons," Moon panted gently pushing Quartz to the tunnel, "they are attacking!"
"What!?" Quartz burst out digging in her claws to stop her sister from pushing her any further. Small white crystals started to grow. "how many?"
"We don't know." Moon said lowering her voice, "it seems as though there are a lot."
"Then we have to get this egg out of here!"
Quartz got to her talons, curled her tail around the egg, to hold it, then raced down the stoney hallway to the main entrance. When they reached the main cave, Quartz stopped dead. It was chaos everywhere. Dragons shrieking, claws flying, wings flailing and things being scattered among the dragons scrambling to avoid the VoidWings' claws. There was no way to escape.
"This way." Moonstone said beside Quartz. Quartz turned her head and saw Moonstone heading toward Amethyst's tunnel.
"Good idea." Quartz said. She reached the tunnel and gestured fir Quartz to go first. She was about to run up the tunnel when she turned to her sister, who didn't move.
"Aren't you coming, Moonstone?" Quartz asked reaching for her foreleg. Moon shook her head and drew away.
"I'll stay here and protect our parents." She replied, "you go and protect the egg."
Quartz nodded, but she knew she might not see Moonstone again. Quartz went up to Moonstone and wrapped her wings around her in a tight hug.
"See you sis." Quartz said heading back to the tunnel, waving her tail. Glancing back at Moonstone, she raced up the tunnel to the Queen's room. A few other GemWings tried to escape that way but one of the VoidWings barred the way. Quartz burst through the entrance making Amethyst jump. The egg almost flew out of her tail.
"Amethyst!" Quartz called grabbing firm hold of the egg with her tail again, "VoidWings are attacking Mt Unakite!"
Amethyst blinked then leaned toward the tunnel, with her ears angled toward the tunnel. The screams pierced the silence.
"We have to go out there and fight back!" Amethyst said jumping back. "Those dragons cannot harm my tribe!"
"There is too many of them!" Said a voice firmly from behind them. Quartz turned to see Peridot standing by the entrance looking into the eyes of his Queen.
"We have to find a safe place to hide until this dies down." He said. Amethyst looked from the tunnel to the outside to the tunnel to the main cave and back and forth.
"I won't leave my dragons to die!" The Queen argued closing her eyes. "Those dragons need me, they need their Queen!"
"Right now I think it's better to escape before we are found." Peridot made a valid point.
"If you die, who's going to be queen?" Quartz asked, "we have to get out of here!"
Amethyst looked distressingly at the tunnel to the main cave.
"Those dragons are depending on us, on me." She took two steps toward it before Peridot came forward and seized her, starting to drag her to the tunnel exit.
"No!" Amethyst said, thrashing around, trying to throw of Peridot. "NO!"
"Amethyst, please, let's go before the VoidWings find us!"
Quartz looked at Peridot confused, but she'd ask that question later. She held the egg close
"But my tribe." Amethyst reached for the tunnel. But it was just out of reach and getting further away, because a second pair of talons were dragging her back. Then a third. Tanzanite and Holly were helping to save their Queen. Amethyst took one more look at the tunnel before she bowed her head and stopped struggling, letting the three dragons pull her to safety. Quartz started after them then paused. Turning back she dug in her claws to the soft earth and let her crystals grow, sealing off the tunnel, so none of the VoidWings could follow. But it also meant none of the GemWings could escape that way either. Quartz sighed. She raced to the mouth of the tunnel to see Peridot, Amethyst, Tanzanite and Holly had already taken to the sky. Quartz took off after them. It took only a few wingbeats to catch up. She then turned to Tanzanite.
"Tanzanite, I need you to go and find Opal," Quartz said, "maybe her powers can help."
Tanzanite nodded and peeled away from the trio, with Holly following close behind.
                                                                . . .
"We arrived at Jade Forest to find that no VoidWings were there." Quartz finished stroking the egg. "So we found a good place to hide just in case."
Opal nodded grimly. She thought hard about the story. Why would the VoidWing Queen launch an attack on the GemWings so suddenly? What happened? Opal couldn't pinpoint the reason why, nor could she imagine what had happened. Or didn't want to. What was the VoidWing Queen wanting to achieve by this? It all sounded so off. She wanted to find out what was happening.
"I'm going to find out what is happening." Opal said looking over to where the Abyssal Mountains were. "Sea? Stardust? Quartz? You coming too."
"I have to stay here and look after the egg." Quartz said.
"And I have to look after the tribe." Amethyst chimed in, "since I'm Queen and everything."
"We're coming." Said Sea putting a wing around Stardust. "We would like a bit of adventure to add to our boring lives, am I right?"
"But I have to go to the BrightWings to let them know." Stardust told them suddenly inching back, "they could get pretty worried if I left for too long."
Stardust then spread her wings and took off toward the Bright Forest, leaving Opal, Sea, Quartz and Amethyst alone.
"Let's go back to Unakite to check on the other GemWings." Opal said. Amethyst brightened up at this. She started hopping in that direction.
"We need to see if they are alright." She said, and suddenly leapt into the air, arrowing for the looming mountain. Sea glanced at Quartz and the egg before shrugging, then leaping into the air herself, close behind Amethyst. Quartz and Opal were left alone. The wind rustled the bushes and trees around them.
"You're not kidding." Quartz said finally, after a moment, "your actually going to leave for this?"
"You know I have to." Opal said looking back at Unakite, "If I don't, who else is?"
"Please stay a little longer then." Quartz pleaded putting her talons together. "I know I can't stop you."
"You mean you aren't coming with me?" Opal asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"As I said," Quartz replied sitting back up, like a mother dragon would, "I have to look after the egg since no one else is going to."
"Ah." Opal said as they took off. It was a short while before they were touching down and entering Mt Unakite. Opal saw instantly that her crystal wall had a opening hollowed out of it, for an entrance. Quartz went straight to her room whilst Opal looked around for her friends. Another dragon came up to her. And she realised it was Bismuth the tribe's animus. He looked at her, in a shy sort of way.
"Opal," he began, glancing at the wall, "you know why the VoidWings didn't just rift into here after you put that wall up?"
"No," Opal answered, "I just thought they rifted away because they didn't like me putting that crystal wall there."
"But they could have just rifted past it right?" He asked. Opal looked at the wall for a moment, then back at Bismuth. He made a good point.
"You're right!" She said, "why was that?"
But the answer came to her before Bismuth told her.
"I may have put a little spell on it," Bismuth admitted shuffling his claws, "just one. So VoidWings can't rift into Unakite while that wall is present."
Opal nodded. "So if I were to break it, the spell would be broken?"
"No. The spell is embedded deep within Unakite," Bismuth explained, "so if it were to break, you could put another and the spell would not be broken."
Opal nodded proudly. She felt good that she could finally do something to protect her home. With just a little help from their animus.
"So you used the whole mountain to support your enchantment!?" Opal exclamed looked about the massive cave in surprise. Bismuth looked at Opal in her eyes.
"Yes." He answered sighing, "yes I did."
"That's a big spell!"
"I know, but I did it to help you, help our home."
"Thank you anyway." Opal said grinning and waving her tail. Bismuth smiled and waved his back. Opal turned to look for Sea again. She found her chatting to another GemWing, Ruby. But Ruby was poisoned, on the brink of death, how is he alive!? The thought made her head spin. Alexandrite strode up to him. Opal looked around and then joined them. Sea put her wing around Ruby and grinned.
"I'm so happy you are back Father." Alexandrite said. Fluorite came up and nuzzled Ruby.
"I'm happy too little gem." Ruby replied wrapping his wings around both Fluorite and Alexandrite. Opal looked back at the cave and saw Bismuth grinning at them. Opal made a face at him saying, 'I know it was you!' and he burst out laughing, shaking his head.
"What happened? Who attacked you?" Sea asked hissing, "and how did you recover."
"Well," Ruby began, "the attack was blurry, I can't remember what happened, but, I was in the nest about to die, when I saw a purple dragon standing above me."
Alexandrite gasped and Fluorite put her head on Ruby's wing.
"This purple dragon looked like he was draped in fruit juices," Ruby continued shifting his wings and sitting down, "Then the weirdest thing happened. I was just about to call out when I saw some herbs in his talon. He crushed them up and then breathed some weird purple stuff onto the paste then rubbed it on my wound."
Shulker, Opal's mind went. She knew it was him. It wouldn't be any other VoidWing with that description. And no other VoidWing would be kind enough to help another dragon.
"The purple frost!" Sea burst out, "that's what was on my tail! But how did it heal you?"
I wish Shulker were here to answer that. Opal thought.
"That's how I healed." Ruby finished, "the healers were astounded."
"I'm glad he did that father," Alexandrite said, "I thought all purple dragons were mean."
"I agree with Alexandrite," said Sea, flicking her tail, "this is strange."
She slithered off toward the sleeping caves with Opal not far behind. Opal headed to her cave to see Emerald looking intently at the marking crystals. Rainbow Quartz was beside him sniffing the crystals and then looking around. Opal went up to them and put her talon on their shoulder. Her parents turned around and looked at her in the eyes.
"Is this yours." Her father asked.