Turtle and Kinkajou spent the night in the healing pavilion, where the healers were pinkly atwitter with delight when they discovered Kinkajou was awake. While they checked her for any remaining injuries — and freaked out when they found none — Turtle wrote another note to Qibli.

He thought for a moment, then added,

He hoped that was enough information as he erased it, although he wasn’t sure what good it did for Qibli to know all that.

Before he fell asleep, Turtle made Kinkajou promise not to go “deal with Darkstalker” without him, however she might interpret that phrase: no “sneaking, stealing, attacking, thwacking, or pineapples,” he begged. He also asked her not to tell Queen Glory anything.

“I have to let her know I’m all right!” Kinkajou insisted.

“That’s fine,” he said, “but don’t say anything about me, or our suspicions about Darkstalker, or how much you know about him, or what we might do next.”

“Jumping poison frogs,” Kinkajou said, looking exasperated. “Why not?”

“Because he can read Glory’s mind,” Turtle pointed out, “and we don’t want him to hear anything that might make him nervous or suspicious.”

After much arguing, she agreed, and Turtle fell asleep feeling maybe a tiny iota less nervous than before.

At daybreak, Kinkajou woke him and they flew to the NightWing village. As they soared through the trees, Kinkajou tossed mangoes and bananas to Turtle, chattering busily.

“I visited my close personal friend Queen Glory last night,” she said. “Just to let her know I’m totally fine now. She was SO MAD and so happy and SO MAD at the same time. I got a seriously serious lecture about staying away from dangerous dragons from now on. La la la, irony. But she’ll forgive me when we save the world, right? Right? Turtle?”

“Oh, yes, sure,” he said through a mouthful of banana. He hadn’t realized this was a conversation he’d have to take an active part in.

“I told her I want to go back to Jade Mountain,” said Kinkajou. “Which is true. I do want to go back there. I’m just going to take a quick detour to the new Night Kingdom on the way and not mention that part to her until later, like, way much later, like maybe when we’re a hundred.”

“Do we have to go to the Night Kingdom?” Turtle asked. “Maybe there’s another way to stop Darkstalker … from here?”

“No, I figured it out!” Kinkajou said. “I was thinking about it last night. This is all about Moon’s prophecy! It’s right there in the words. He’s the thing that shakes the earth and scorches the ground, right? So we have to save Jade Mountain by finding the lost city of night, and that’s where Darkstalker is going, so we just follow him there and BOOM, catastrophe averted! Everybody safe! Why are you rubbing your forehead again?”

“No reason,” said Turtle. He’d read enough scrolls to know that no heroic quest was ever that easy — but he’d also spent enough time with Kinkajou to realize that it wouldn’t do any good to tell her that.

Darkstalker had been busy in the night. When they arrived at the village, they discovered that he’d already packed (or made someone pack) several nets full of food from the rainforest. He stood on Glory’s platform, counting the supplies gathered below him, as NightWings gradually filled the clearing in whispering clumps of twos and threes.

“I wonder how many of them are going with him,” Kinkajou said, swooping down to land at the back of the crowd. Turtle touched down beside her, folding in his wings and ducking his head to avoid the funny looks he was getting from the rest of the NightWings.

“I bet most of them,” he said. “Wouldn’t you follow a king who could give you superpowers?”

“No way,” Kinkajou said with fierce loyalty. “Queen Glory is perfect. I want her to be my queen forever and always. MOON!” she shrieked suddenly, spotting her clawmate as Moon passed by with her mother.

Moon jumped nearly the height of a small tree and turned around. Her face lit up like a thousand dragons shouting in Aquatic at once. “Kinkajou?” she cried.

They barreled into each other, wings overlapping in a ferocious hug, voices overlapping as they both tried to talk at once.

“You’re awake!” Moon yelped through tears. “You’re all right! I’ve been so worried!”

“You did everything cool without me!” Kinkajou said at the same time. “I can’t believe all the amazing things you’ve been doing! Without me!”

“I was going to come check on you today,” Moon said, wiping her eyes. “After Darkstalker leaves. I would have come yesterday, but I’ve been busy trying to convince as many NightWings as I can to stay here in the rainforest.” She sighed. “I’m not exactly the best spokesdragon, though. Nobody particularly liked me before, and they don’t like me much better now that I’ve returned with mind reading powers and ‘the Darkstalker.’”

“I like you enough to make up for ten thousand grumpy dragons,” Kinkajou promised. Moon smiled at her shyly, like that was still hard for her to believe.

“What did you tell them?” Turtle asked. “I thought you liked Darkstalker.”

“I do!” Moon said. “He’s been great so far. But Queen Glory is the best thing to happen to this tribe in two thousand years. She’s fair and generous and she’s given them a safe place to live. NightWings have always been afraid of living somewhere the IceWings could find them, in case the old war flares up, but Queen Glory made sure there was a truce with Queen Glacier first thing, to keep the tribe safe.” She shook her head. “I think Queen Glory has proven herself to be a just and kind queen. We don’t know anything about Darkstalker or what kind of king he would be. I feel like this is all happening too fast.”

Turtle noticed that several NightWings had edged closer, pretending not to listen but clearly listening to Moon.

“And plus also,” Kinkajou chimed in, “don’t forget the part where he’s totally evil.”

Moon raised her eyebrows. “He’s not evil,” she said. “Not like Scarlet was. If he were evil, wouldn’t I have seen it in his thoughts?”

“You’ve seen the thoughts he wanted you to see,” said Kinkajou. “Right? He can totally shield the rest of them, can’t he? The EVIL thoughts?”

Moon lifted her head to look over the crowd at Darkstalker. He had his head bowed and was absentmindedly shredding a mauve flower that had grown up at the edge of the stage.

“Maybe,” she said. “But I think he’s really trying to help, even if I wouldn’t do it the way he’s doing it. I think he just wants his tribe back, the way it was before.”

Kinkajou opened her mouth and Turtle stood on her foot to hush her up. If Moon were under a spell, telling her about it wouldn’t do any good. It was encouraging, though, that she could choose Glory over Darkstalker, despite whatever spells he was using on her.

“Was Darkstalker upset when you told him?” he asked.

“He said he understands,” she said. “And that he expects me to change my mind.”

“Ha! Not likely!” Kinkajou gave Moon another hug. “So what are you going to do now?”

“Go back to school,” Moon said with a sigh. “It feels a little weird, with everything happening … but that’s what Queen Glory wants me to do. And that’s where Qibli and Winter are — and you guys will be there, too, right?”

“Sure, eventually, but don’t you want to see the old Night Kingdom first?” Kinkajou asked. “Maybe just a quick visit before we go back to Jade Mountain?”

“Why would we do that?” Moon asked.

“No reason!” Kinkajou glanced around and whispered loudly. “Except maybe a prophecy reason.”

Moon flicked a fat green beetle off her tail and tipped her head at Kinkajou. “I kind of do want to see it,” she said. “I mean … I have been thinking about the prophecy … but I don’t understand how going there will stop anything from happening.”

“You never know until you try!” Kinkajou said brightly. “That’s settled, then. We’ll all go to the Night Kingdom. Not with Darkstalker, though. Definitely not with him. More like … right behind him. Yes? Yes. Settled. Whew, I thought it was going to be much weirder to try explaining why I was in the Night Kingdom, but if I’m there with you, my gifted and awesome clawmate, then it makes total sense.”

“I’m not sure —” Moon began, but the crowd suddenly parted and Darkstalker came striding through, straight toward their little group.

Turtle felt himself shrinking as the NightWing loomed over them. Kinkajou, on the other talon, seemed to be trying to make herself look bigger. She spread her wings and puffed up her chest and fixed Darkstalker with her fiercest stare.

“Moon,” Darkstalker said quietly. “Last chance. Come with us.” He hesitated, dipped his head toward her, met her eyes. “Please.”

“Darkstalker …” Moon said. “You’re my friend. You are. But Glory is my queen.”

“Then come as my friend,” he said. “I could use a friend there. And I know you will soon anyway. I’ve had visions of us flying around the Night Kingdom together.”

“Maybe soon,” Moon said. “But not this way.” She gestured at the dragons around them. “I have to make my loyalty clear.”

“All right,” he said. “All right, it’s up to you. But come soon. I’ll be there, waiting for you.” He leaned down and bumped noses with her, then turned and strode briskly back to the platform.

Standing behind him, revealed by his exit, was Anemone. She lifted her snout haughtily at Moon. “You don’t deserve his friendship. You’re not loyal at all. I say never come to the Night Kingdom. He’ll be better off without you!” She stuck out her tongue and stomped away.

“Sorry about my sister,” Turtle said sheepishly. “She doesn’t like competing for attention. She’s not used to it.”

“She can HAVE all HIS attention, if you ask me,” Kinkajou said.

Turtle looked sideways at Moon. Her face was somber, but resolved. If Moon were under Darkstalker’s control, then Darkstalker wouldn’t have had to plead with her to come with him. She wouldn’t have been able to say no.

Had she escaped his spell somehow? Or did it work differently on her? Or was this all part of a larger plan of Darkstalker’s?

“Hello, my fellow NightWings,” Darkstalker boomed out over the crowd. “Is everyone here? Are you ready to follow me to the greatest place in the world?” He beckoned to a black dragon in the front row. She leaped up onto the platform, and Turtle realized that it was Fierceteeth.

“Whoa,” he whispered to Kinkajou. “She’s out of the jail already? Do you think Glory knows?”

Kinkajou hissed softly.

Fierceteeth positioned herself at Darkstalker’s side, nudging Anemone off to a corner of the platform, which earned her a glare from the SeaWing princess.

“My new lieutenant, Fierceteeth, will be organizing volunteers to carry our supplies. We’ll have a feast when we get there! Wait until you see our kingdom!”

A murmur of excitement eddied around the tribe.

Darkstalker swept his wings wide to encompass the entire crowd. “Our wonderful kingdom is not too far away. Our glorious future is on the horizon! Come with me, NightWings!” He rose into the air just as Glory and Deathbringer appeared from the trees. They swooped down to the platform and looked up at him as he hovered above them.

“Time for all true NightWings to go, Your Majesty,” Darkstalker said to Glory. “Thank you for watching over them for me until I could get here. I wish you luck with your own tribe.”

He ascended into the sky with powerful wingbeats that shook the treetops. And dragons began to follow him.

One by one, NightWings lifted off, until the sky was full of beating black wings, lashing tails, and flashing silver scales. The sound of the tribe in flight rolled like a thunderstorm across the rainforest.

Turtle watched them in despair. He couldn’t believe so many dragons had fallen for Darkstalker already. Barely three days free, Darkstalker now had an army at his claw tips and an entire kingdom to serve him. He became more unstoppable with every passing moment.

“There’s nothing we can do,” he whispered. “He’s too powerful.”

“But not all-powerful,” Kinkajou whispered back, nudging him. “Look.” She pointed to the NightWings who were still on the ground. Moon and Deathbringer, of course, but also at least fifty others — including, to Turtle’s surprise, Mightyclaws and his mother.

“I guess some of them actually like us,” Kinkajou said proudly. “The smart ones can see how awesome it is here.”

“Or they’re just terrified of Darkstalker,” Turtle suggested.

Kinkajou whacked him with her tail.

Still, compared to the mass exodus overhead, what remained was nothing that could be called a tribe. The few NightWings left shuffled closer together, glancing around as though the forest had suddenly grown bigger and darker. They looked like refugees from a disaster. Which they are, Turtle realized. From the disaster of the volcano, first, and now from the disaster of a king stealing their tribe.

“Maybe we should go back to Jade Mountain after all,” Turtle said, a sense of hopelessness creeping over him. “It’s probably one of the safer places to be, with Tsunami and Clay there.”

“Until it falls beneath thunder and ice!” Kinkajou protested. “Because we were too boring to save the world! No way, not me. You go if you want to. Moon and I can do everything.”

“Um — I think a bit more definition of ‘everything’ might be in order,” Moon said, sounding a little alarmed.

“No,” Turtle said glumly. “I’m staying with you. I promised.”

“Nice to see that you’re completely thrilled about that,” Kinkajou said with a laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it won’t take long. We’ll be back at school learning math in no time.”

How does she do that? Turtle wondered. How can she look at the same exact thing I’m looking at, but think, “oh, here’s a problem I can solve,” instead of “everything is hopeless”?

They waited until later in the morning to leave; Moon and Kinkajou said their good-byes to Glory, and Mightyclaws told them he’d meet them back at school in a few days. Fearless and Mindreader and their families had gone with Darkstalker, and Glory wasn’t sure whether they’d be returning to Jade Mountain.

Turtle wrote another note to Qibli.

That was some advanced wishful thinking there. But maybe if he wrote it down, it would end up coming true. He brushed his talons over the slate, remembering how he used to write down everything — every passing idea or observation, as though they were pools of genius he had to capture before they evaporated. He liked the feeling of the slate pencil in his claws again.

Maybe if I survive all of this, I could try writing again.

It wasn’t hard to follow Darkstalker and the NightWings, even with half a morning’s lead; the tribe in flight was like a dark cloud in the sky ahead of them. At one point as they flew through the mountains, Turtle looked down and spotted what appeared to be a small, abandoned scavenger encampment. He imagined being one of those little creatures looking up to see literally hundreds of dragons suddenly thundering by overhead. If he were one of them, he’d find a rock to hide under and stay there for the next month.

Darkstalker led them south of Jade Mountain, over the delta where the Winding Tail River spilled into the southern sea, and westward along the coast. Below them, waves pounded against a rocky shoreline and the ocean was dark gray with hints of brilliant green where the sun slipped through.

Turtle couldn’t help thinking how easy it would be to dive into those waves. He could disappear into the watery depths and leave all these dangers behind. But he looked over at Kinkajou’s gray-blue-sky scales and determined expression, and he knew he couldn’t leave her.

Darkstalker flew without stopping, and so the tribe did, too, although as the day wore on, they became more spread out across the sky, with the weakest fliers dropping farther and farther behind. The landscape along the coast shifted from mountains to scrub-covered hills and then desert as they reached the southern edge of the Kingdom of Sand. The wind up this high was chilly, but the sun beat down mercilessly on their scales.

Turtle tried to remember the map of Pyrrhia in his head, so he could figure out where they were going. There wasn’t anything in this direction except more sand, as far as he knew, and then the western ocean. Another island?

The sun was slipping down the sky ahead of them, shining right into Turtle’s eyes, when Darkstalker suddenly dove toward the land. Like a flock of hungry crows, the NightWings swept after him.

Turtle sensed Moon hesitating beside him. “I don’t want to join them,” she explained when she caught him looking at her. “I don’t want them to think I’ve chosen Darkstalker. This is just a visit.”

“I don’t want to hang out with those dragons either!” Kinkajou said firmly. “Or listen to another endless windbag speech. Let’s find a spot to sleep where they can’t see us.”

“But where are they going?” Turtle asked, screening his eyes and squinting west. “Why stop now? How much farther can it be?”

“I have no idea,” Moon answered. They both hovered in the air for a moment, watching the faraway cloud of NightWings settle across the dunes and pebbled beach, like a black carpet flung over the ground.

Kinkajou found a small cave facing the ocean that the three of them could just barely squeeze into, and Moon caught them a few crabs to eat. It was a relief to stop and rest his wings; Turtle immediately brought out his healing stone to erase the ache in his shoulders. But it also made Turtle anxious that he couldn’t see Darkstalker and he had no idea what the ancient animus would do next. What if he wasn’t really leading the NightWings to their old kingdom? What if he was planning to smash the entire tribe into a cliff?

That delightfully morbid image wouldn’t leave Turtle’s brain as he tried to lie down and sleep. Moonlight poured into their cave from the night sky and from the silver reflections in the sea below. Kinkajou and Moon already had their eyes closed, their tails intertwined. He wondered if he’d imagined it that Kinkajou had maneuvered to be the one sleeping next to him. Her scales were warm, as though she’d been collecting sunshine in them all day, and in her sleep they’d turned indigo and gold, with flecks of citrus green.

Carefully, reluctantly, he eased himself away from Kinkajou’s side, and slid out of the cave onto the beach. Sand crumbled around his webbed talons and sharp edges of broken seashells poked his tail. The waves looked as though they were trying to reach out and drag him in, hissssss shhhhhhhh hissssss shhhhhhhh safe shhhhhhhh hide shhhhhhhhhh.

He turned his head north, toward the NightWing encampment, and watched. He didn’t know how long he sat there, staring at that small patch of stars, but sometime later, he saw a vast shadow blot them out, then soar away west.

Darkstalker’s going somewhere. By himself, in the middle of the night.

Which means I have to follow him.