Lunaria Willowbloom's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

The smoking peak rose ahead, closer now but still too far. Lunaria beat her wings and climbed the mountain path. She managed a short flight, then dropped to a rock, chest heaving. Her light had faded to a dull spark. Each rest lasted longer than the last. At this pace she would reach the dragon empty, with nothing left to fight him. She pushed off again. Ten wingbeats, then her wings quit. She landed hard beside a still pool tucked in the stone. A single flower floated on the water. Its petals spread in soft pink and gold, wide and calm. Lunaria had no strength to wonder at it. She only wanted water. She crawled to the edge and dipped her hands. The pool moved. A great head lifted from beneath the flower. Scales the color of storm clouds. Eyes like yellow lamps. A serpent, longer than she could see, uncoiled from the water and towered over her. Lunaria froze. She had no spell left to run. "You crawl toward the fire-beast's den," the serpent said. Its voice was slow and deep. "Small and dimming. You will not last the climb." "I have to reach him," Lunaria said. "He took my flower. Without it I fade." The serpent studied her a long moment. Then it turned its huge head toward the blossom on the water. "This bloom is not yours," it said. "But it holds light too. One petal will carry you far. It is not free." Lunaria swallowed. "What do you want?" "A promise. When you take back what is yours, you return here and tell me its name. I collect names. I have waited long for the fire-beast's." It was a strange price. But she had no time to bargain and no strength to refuse. "I promise," she said. The serpent dipped its head. "Take one petal. Only one." Lunaria waded in and plucked a single petal from the blossom. It glowed warm in her hand, light like her own heartbloom once gave. She pressed it to her chest. Heat spread through her wings. They flared bright, brighter than they had in days. She lifted off the pool and hung in the air, steady at last. "Fly," the serpent said, sinking back beneath the water. "The petal fades by nightfall. Spend it well." Lunaria did not wait. She shot up the mountain path, her wings strong and sure. The rock walls blurred past. She climbed higher in minutes than she had all morning. The smoking peak loomed close now, and she could see the dark mouth of the dragon's lair cut into the stone. But the serpent's warning beat in her mind. The petal would die at dusk. She had bought speed, and spent her rest to do it. She would reach the dragon with fresh wings and no way back down. There was no turning around now. Fireball waited at the top, and so did her flower.