“Quick, into the water,” Tsunami ordered. It was closer than the trees, and would hide them just as well.

“No way,” said Glory. She sank to the ground, spreading her wings, and shifted color. Her scales flowed into the rocky, sandy pattern below her until she was impossible to see, especially from the air. It happened so fast, Tsunami nearly lost track of where she was. Glory was getting better at that trick.

“Fine. Come on, Sunny.” Tsunami reached for the little SandWing.

“I’d rather not,” Sunny squeaked. “I can make it to the trees. I’ll fly really fast.” She jumped off Clay’s back and flapped after Starflight.

Tsunami stamped her foot, spraying ocean water across the sand. Glory made a muffled, grumpy noise.

“It’ll be safer in the sea,” Tsunami huffed. She cast a worried look at the sky. The specks were getting closer fast — maybe faster than Sunny could hide. But it was too late to catch her now. Tsunami turned and dove into the ocean.

Clay was already burrowing into the shallow mud shelf, displacing startled flatfish and sending up clouds of minnows. The MudWing didn’t have a problem with water like the others did, since he could hold his breath for up to an hour.

Tsunami breathed in and salt water rushed into her gills. It surprised her how sharp it felt, like inhaling smoke. It was nothing like the crystal clear water of the underground cave. What’s more, the current kept trying to shove her back to the beach, then yank her out again.

But she plowed forward and down, past Clay, beating her wings as the water got deeper. Schools of tiny purple fish whirled away from her like stars exploding. Over the edge of the sand shelf, the deeper ocean floor was covered in bundles of eel grass. Waving dark green tendrils reached up to brush Tsunami’s underbelly.

She glanced up at the sky above her — still empty — and decided to risk surfacing. She had to be sure Sunny was safely hidden.

The thunder of wingbeats echoed in her ears as she poked her head out and turned toward the beach. The little SandWing was almost to safety. Tsunami could see Starflight standing under the trees, reaching his front claws out to pull Sunny in.

Overhead, an orange shape shot past, flying at full SkyWing speed — faster than any other tribe could fly. A red dragon flew close behind the first, followed by three more. Their enormous wings nearly blotted out the sun as they whooshed over the dragonets’ heads.

Tsunami sank a bit lower in the water, but it seemed like the patrol was going too fast to notice a lone SeaWing in the ocean. Maybe these soldiers weren’t hunting for the escaped prisoners.

Then she saw the last dragon — sunset orange, flames flickering from his nose, with a jagged tear on the tip of his left wing. He flew slower than the others, bringing up the rear, and his head swung back and forth, dark eyes searching the ground below them.

Tsunami found herself holding her breath. The SkyWing’s snout swung toward the trees just as Sunny’s tail whisked out of sight.

He paused, beating his wings back to hover in the air for a moment.

Was he staring at the trees?

Had he seen Sunny?

What if he called the others back? The patrol dragons were several wingbeats away already — but one shout could bring them hurtling around at lightning speed. Sunny and Starflight were no match for six full-grown SkyWing soldiers.

Actually they were no match for one SkyWing soldier. The two of them together would probably have trouble fighting a sleepy bat.

A curl of smoke rose from the SkyWing’s nose, and he opened his mouth. If there was any chance of saving her friends, Tsunami had to shut him up.

She burst out of the water in a great leap, smashing her tail behind her for momentum. Her wings powered her up to ram right into the SkyWing’s underbelly.

He coughed out a puff of fiery smoke and clutched his midsection, the breath knocked out of him. Tsunami had a few moments before he could recover enough to call for help. She ducked around him, slammed her tail into his head, and landed on his back as hard as she could.

The SkyWing nearly fell into the water, but he fought back up into the air. Tsunami kicked at his wings with her claws and slid back toward his tail, trying to drag him down with her weight. He was too big and too strong for her up here; only taking him by surprise had given her a temporary advantage. She needed to get him in the ocean to even out the fight.

The orange dragon snarled and twisted, shooting a blast of flames out of his snout, which barely missed her. Tsunami yanked him down toward the water, but his massive wings beat harder and harder. It felt like a hurricane whistling around her ears. She could tell that he was gaining height, and in a moment he’d be strong enough to call the other soldiers back.

You’re not getting my friends! Tsunami thought fiercely. She found the vulnerable spot on his tail and sank her teeth in. He convulsed with pain, nearly throwing her off, and shot another blast of fire under his wing at her.

At first Tsunami thought he had missed. Then she felt a searing trail of agony spreading along her neck. It felt as if someone were trying to saw through her scales with a scalding-hot wire.

She closed her eyes and clamped her jaw harder, determined to hang on although spots were starting to dance in her vision.

Suddenly the dragon lurched toward the sea. Tsunami’s eyes flew open.

Clay had flung himself between her and the dragon’s snout, spreading his fireproof wings. His claws clamped on to the SkyWing’s back, and the extra weight drove the soldier down and down, toward the sea.

Together, Clay and Tsunami dragged the SkyWing into the ocean. He fought wildly the whole way, but his flames couldn’t hurt Clay’s fire-re sis tant scales, and his giant wings couldn’t help him once he was underwater and cut off from breathing.

As soon as they hit the water, Tsunami swam to the SkyWing’s head and held it below the surface until he stopped thrashing.

She let go and so did Clay. The dragon’s body began to drift slowly toward the seafloor.

A shudder rippled through Tsunami’s scales. Him or me.

This didn’t feel right.

Why couldn’t she be ferocious and not care?

She swam after the dragon and grabbed one of his wings, then looked back up at Clay. He met her eyes, and to her relief, didn’t even hesitate before swimming to the other wing.

They dragged the SkyWing up onto the beach. The current had carried them farther away than Tsunami had guessed, and it was painfully hard to swim back to shore, especially with a full-grown dragon weighing them down.

She gritted her teeth, ignoring her exhaustion and the pain from the burn on her neck. She was a SeaWing. This was supposed to be her element. She was the boss of the ocean, not the other way around.

By the time they reached the beach, the rest of the patrol had vanished from sight. She wondered how long it would be before they noticed this one missing and came back to look for him.

Tsunami collapsed onto the sand beside the SkyWing. Clay peered into the dragon’s snout, then started thumping his chest.

“What is wrong with you?” Glory’s voice snapped. The RainWing materialized from the sandy background, turning her scales a darker shade of brown so they could see her. She glared at Tsunami. “Why did you do that?”

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Tsunami said. “Just saving your life, as usual.”

“By attacking random dragons?” Glory cried. “In another moment they would have been gone! And what are you doing?” She jabbed Clay in the side with one of her wings.

“Uh,” Clay mumbled. “Fixing him.” He kept thumping the SkyWing’s chest.

“What?” Glory yelped. “You can’t let him live!” She tried to grab one of Clay’s forearms, but Tsunami shoved her away.

“We don’t have to kill him,” Tsunami said. “We’ll tie him up and leave him here.”

“Great,” Glory said. “How about a trail of cow parts, too? And a map of where we’re going? Or perhaps we could set this part of the forest on fire, just to make sure everyone knows how to find us. Would you like me to spell out ‘DRAGONETS WUZ HERE’ in giant rocks?”

“Fine!” Tsunami said. “Here he is. You kill him.”

Glory looked down at the unconscious dragon and hesitated. “I don’t kill dragons who can’t fight back,” she said finally.

“Why not?” Tsunami said. “Just splat some venom on his face and melt him, if it’s that easy for you.”

Glory sank her claws into the sand, scowling. Bubbles of dark purple began spreading across her scales.

Sunny and Starflight landed on the beach beside them. Sunny gave the SkyWing a horrified look, and Tsunami remembered that she’d been trapped in another part of the palace during the arena fights. She’d never seen her friends battle another dragon.

“Is he all right?” Sunny asked Clay.

“Try this,” Starflight offered, coming over to help. Clay shifted aside, and they rolled the dragon onto his stomach.

“Why did you attack him?” Sunny blurted at Tsunami. The little SandWing’s harmless tail flicked back and forth anxiously.

“To save you!” Tsunami said, stung.

“But he wasn’t even doing anything,” Sunny protested. “He was just flying by.”

All four of them were looking at Tsunami like she was the kind of dragon who hid under rocks and bit innocent passersby for fun. She arched her neck indignantly.

“I thought he saw you,” she growled. “He was about to call out to the others. I saw him open his mouth!”

“So did I,” said Glory. “I’m pretty sure he was yawning.”

“Pretty sure?” Tsunami said. “Would you risk our lives on ‘pretty sure’?”

Was he yawning? Did I attack him for nothing? That can’t be right. I saw danger and reacted appropriately. Didn’t I?

“Maybe if you’d just stopped to think for a second —” Starflight said.

“Or forever? Like you? Think think think, worry worry, never do anything?” Tsunami cried.

The SkyWing suddenly coughed, and seawater flooded out of his snout. Clay ruffled his wings with a pleased expression.

“Oh, wonderful. Our enemy will survive. Well done. We have to get out of here,” Glory said. She took a step back and glanced at the sky where the other soldiers had disappeared. “So what do we do with him now, O Great Leader?”

Tsunami had no idea. She glanced around frantically. Maybe if they could find some vines to tie him up with . . .

“There’s a tree,” Starflight said, jumping to his feet. “In the forest.”

“No way,” Glory said. “A tree in the forest?”

“Being sarcastic is not helping!” Tsunami snapped at her.

“I mean, a fallen tree,” Starflight said. “We can use it. Glory, stay and guard him; Clay and Tsunami, come on, quick.”

Clay charged up the beach behind him. Tsunami paused for a moment — she didn’t like leaving the soldier, even if he wasn’t fully awake yet. She also didn’t particularly like taking orders from Starflight.

“Go on, hurry,” Sunny said, nudging her with one wing.

Not far into the forest, a large tree had fallen, with the top of its branches brushing the sand. Clay and Tsunami shoved and rolled it onto the beach and dragged it back to the SkyWing while Starflight flapped around squawking instructions. As if we need to be told how to move a tree, Tsunami thought grumpily.

The soldier’s eyes were blinking awake as they reached him. He coughed and coughed again, lifting his head to peer groggily at the dragonets.

“So how does the tree help?” Tsunami asked.

“We put it on top of him,” Starflight said. “So he’ll be trapped in place, at least long enough for us to get away.”

Tsunami hated to admit it, but it was a good idea. She helped Clay wrestle the tree over until it lay heavily across the orange dragon’s back and wings. The SkyWing tried to push himself up, but the tree kept him pinned to the sand.

“What if he’s stuck here forever?” Sunny worried. She reached over and brushed some sand off the SkyWing’s snout. He snorted a puff of smoke, and Clay pulled her back. “Maybe we should just let him go.”

“We can’t do that,” Tsunami said.

“I wish you hadn’t attacked him,” Sunny said, ducking her head.

“Me too,” said Glory.

“It wasn’t the smartest move,” Starflight agreed.

Tsunami’s gills flared, and she spread her wings. “You don’t know that!” she said. “Maybe I saved us! Again!” She looked at Clay, but he only shrugged as if he wasn’t sure. Thanks for the support, guys, Tsunami thought angrily. When all I’m trying to do is keep everyone safe.

“Don’t worry, Sunny,” Clay said, patting the little SandWing’s head. “His friends will come looking for him eventually.”

“Eventually or soon,” Glory said. “So like I said, let’s seriously get out of here.”

“Wait,” the SkyWing rasped. His voice was hoarse and deep. He wriggled, lashing his tail across the sand. “Don’t leave me like this.”

Starflight stepped into his line of sight and gazed down at him. “Remember we could have killed you,” he said. “Remember that the dragonets of destiny were merciful. We want peace, not more death. We have come to save Pyrrhia.”

“Oh, good grief,” Tsunami said as Glory rolled her eyes. “No more hanging out with NightWings for you.”

“I thought it sounded nice,” Sunny said. Starflight shot her a grateful look.

“Sunny, don’t encourage him,” said Glory.

Carefully Starflight draped a few large leaves over the dragon’s head, so he couldn’t see where they went. He pointed toward the forest and mouthed, “Just to be safe.”

Tsunami sighed. More flying in the wrong direction. She wanted to go home already. Home to the ocean and the SeaWings and her royal parents.

But she couldn’t argue about it with the SkyWing listening, and the others were already nodding. All of them were ready to follow anxious, overly cautious Starflight yet again. And none of them thought she’d done the right thing by attacking this SkyWing, even though it was to save their stupid scales.

As they lifted into the sky, she cast a longing look over her shoulder at the ocean.

Soon, she thought. Soon I’ll be with my own dragons.