Jade Mountain Mysteries 1: The Hidden Sceptre

Chapter 1 - Jade Mountain

(Begins just after part 3 of the epilogue in Darkness of Dragons and right before part 4)

“The Science of RainWing Camouflage.” Ostrich presented grandly, throwing her wing out importantly towards the poster she’d helped create. “By Ostrich, Thrush, and Barracuda with some data collected from Boto.” She glanced towards Boto who backed away slightly nervously like: Don’t drag me back into this. He seemed content to just watch their presentation.

Ha, my lines worked out fine! Ostrich thought triumphantly. She was fine with having less lines than Thrush and Barracuda. Although she enjoyed talking to other dragons, she didn’t want to be the center of attention for long, at least in a large group. Luckily, they were presenting in the library rather than the bigger main hall.

Thrush cleared his throat and began his section of the presentation. “So the obvious question to ask is: how did this power of camouflage come about? I found several recent scrolls about the theory of dragon evolution which say that all dragons must have once looked the same, but living in different environments required the dragons to adapt and change.” He spoke this quickly but clearly. “The need for camouflage hints at one of two things. Either RainWings needed to hide from predators, or so that they could sneak up on their prey. It’s possibly both.

We also wondered whether their diet, amount of sleep, and sunlight affects their camouflage. As far as we can tell, diet has little effect upon camouflage. Amount of sleep certainly does though. We heard about a dragon named Chameleon, a RainWing with a sleeping problem, who was only able to obtain about one hour of sleep a day. His scales weren’t able to change colors. From this information, I’ve concluded that changing colors requires some sort of inner exertion that sleep reinvigorates.”

Ostrich noticed that when Thrush was nervous, he sometimes started to use larger words and right now he was losing the audience’s attention. Therefore, she jumped in bravely. “He means that more sleep equals more ability to change colors.”

“Right.” Thrush gave Ostrich a slight nod of appreciation and she felt her heart jump. Thrush continued. “We also realized sunlight increased the brightness, or contrast of the colors.”

Barracuda stepped forward and the presenters shuffled around to let her be in front. “Yes, the sun gives off radiation which heats the scales allowing them to become brighter.” Barracuda took the poster in talon and pointed at a model of a scale with sunlight lighting the surface.

“Constant sunlight causes a glossy sheen to appear on the surface of the scale. Another question to be raised is: how do they change colors? We predict that it’s like leaves changing color. Cells, the small structures of life are sent signals from the brain telling them which pigments, the sciency term for colors, they should become. This results in all cells, or types of cells, to change to a certain color.”

She moved to the other side of the poster confidently and showed the audience their big image of a RainWing and a large image of a scale. She traced the path of the signals down to the claws of the RainWing.

“If we could have a RainWing volunteer.” Ostrich asked the crowd. “ME!” Kinkajou from Jade Winglet announced excitedly, shooting her talon up from the back. Next to her, Turtle, a SeaWing, wrinkled his snout, surprised at her sudden movement.

Weren’t those two a part of Qibli’s winglet? Ostrich recalled the various adventures of Jade Winglet. You’d think students would’ve stayed at school more. Then again, She added with an afterthought. I left with Onyx to hear an ‘urgent message’ from Queen Thorn. A flash of righteous anger came with her next thought. Really, kidnapped twice to get past my father. Onyx and Addax, those slime-licking toads.

While she was thinking all this, Kinkajou had walked up to the front, scales changing colors vibrantly all the while.

“One of the interesting things,” Barracuda continued. “Is the ability for them to blend in with their surroundings on all sides.” Kinkajou complied by shifting her scales to the hues of their diagrams and models. When Ostrich stepped back, she saw the book drop and a section of Starflights office through her scales.

“So far it’s a mystery to understand how RainWings blend in like this.”

Kinkajou pranced back to her spot and Ostrich might’ve heard the faint whisper of her climate Anemone saying, “Showoff.” In an annoyed tone. I wonder what that’s about. Ostrich thought. Well now I know one more dragon who annoys her. She added bitterly.

She remembered that it was her turn to speak. “Another thing we wanted to cover real quick was how emotions affect scale color. In the brain, each emotion sends a certain signal to scales, possibly certain groups of scales.” Next to Ostrich, Thrush held up a color wheel showing RainWing emotions. “The main emotions are: yellow for excitement, pink for joy, black and red for anger, and blue for sadness.” Thrush lifted it higher to make sure everyone could see.

“To wrap it up,” Ostrich said. “RainWings likely received their camouflage through evolution to help them hunt or hide. Sleep increases their power to change colors and sunlight makes their colors brighter. Finally, signals or emotions from the brain make scales change color. Thank you for listening.”

Over the clamor of clapping wings and conversations beginning, Starflight came up to them. “Well done. That was a nicely organized presentation. I’ll put it in your scrolls counting as extra credit.” He headed off around the library counter into his office. About half the dragons had already left but several held back to complement the group. Eventually Ostrich, Thrush, and Barracuda departed as well.

“I guess that went well.” Barracuda told the others. “We did better than I expected.”

“I agree.” Ostrich replied and Thrush nodded his consent.

Suddenly Anemone poked her head around the corner leading towards the underground lake. “Barracuda! Come swim with me and the others!” She disappeared in a flash and Barracuda turned to Ostrich and Thrush. “Gotta please the princess.” She said, annoyed and amused. “So see you later.” She headed off while Thrush and Ostrich walked the opposite way.

They stayed silent up until Thrush asked, “What was it like, being able to support any SandWing Sister during the war?”.

“Well, since the best option was none of them, I felt like I didn’t really need to worry about picking one of them. I did sorta feel stuck in The Scorpion Den because everywhere else you would have to support a queen. But at the same time, The Scorpion Den’s my home, you know?” Then Ostrich paused and added thoughtfully. “Though on the other talon, not making a choice is still difficult.”

“Huh, then I guess there’s ups and downs to living in every tribe.” Thrush replied, taking the meaning of Ostrich words and applying them elsewhere.

The couple came to the main hall where they split up, Thrush towards the Music and Art hallway and Ostrich going to the outside air.

She breathed a sigh of exhilaration when the sun slid onto her scales. The inner caves were spacious and well lit, but sometimes it felt a little stuffy. She spread her wings and soared out under the clouds. SandWings were made for open skies. She thought.

Ostrich saw several other dragons flying closer to the peaks including Peril and Clay, Fearless from her winglet, and Arid. Ostrich arced down towards the patch of sand and lumpy boulders the SandWings claimed. Pronghorn was already resting, curled up on the sand with his back against the outer boulders.

Seeing the SandWing, Ostrich remembered with a stab of disappointment that Qibli had returned to the desert to help Queen Thorn. She had always thought of him as an older brother and she wished he was at Jade Mountain.

She was observant enough to tell that he was madly in love with Moonwatcher, the shy NightWing mindreader and seer. And it seemed to be working out for him because Moon always seemed to be hanging out with him or Kinkajou.

Ostrich stifled a yawn, revealing that she was ready for an afternoon nap. The sun beat lazily down on her and eventually she settled into a quiet slumber.

“Wake up sleepyhead. It’s about time you woke up, the gong just sounded!” Ostrich woke up to find Arid shaking her awake. She yawned and stretched her wings. “What gong?” She asked, confused. The sand below her feet made her think she was back in The Scorpion Den. “Um, the school’s big gong which tells you if you’re about to be late for class, and you two are.” Ostrich opened her eyes and noticed Arid was now shaking Pronghorn.

“Did anyone tell you that you sleep like a rock? A very bulky rock?” Arid puffed out as Pronghorn finally woke up. “What, who, why?” He mumbled.

“The what is me waking you up, the who is Arid, by the way, and the why is: you don’t want to be late for class!”

“Late for class!?” Pronghorn stood up, alarmed. “I basically told Queen Thorn I’d never be late for a single class! Uh, thanks for waking me up!” The SandWing set off hurriedly into Jade Mountain with Ostrich and Arid flapping behind. Ostrich remembered that she had English which meant returning to the library. The dragons split their separate ways in the main hall and Ostrich arrived at the library just as the gong sounded.

The library, of course, was roughly rectangular in shape, organized so that the long rows of bookshelves and classroom area could fit together. Across the far wall was the fiction section. The nonfiction section stood perpendicular in front of those books. The closer half was currently occupied by Starfilght’s librarian desk and the open presentation/class area which was currently crowded with desks and dragons. Starflight quieted the combined Gold and Silver Winglets and began the class.

“Has everyone gotten a blank scroll?” Starflight asked as Ostrich was about to sit down. She scrambled up to fetch one before realizing one was already at her desk. With all the eyes in the room on her, except for Starflight’s, she awkwardly said “Um yes.”, sat back down, and fixed her eyes onto the blank scroll. She tried to ignore the stares that surely would stop paying attention to her in a second.

“If everyone has their supplies, let’s begin.” Starflight told the class. Ostrich saw Fatespeaker leave Starflight’s office and she remembered that Fatespeaker always helped him teach.

“At least I have music class next.” Ostrich told herself, focusing on getting through the class.

The long lesson finally concluded and Ostrich rushed to music class. Phyrrian was boring and not a class where you move around that much. She preferred to DO something. Like play the harp. The ring of the instrument as she slid her talons across the strings was bliss.

The Outclaw band she had joined before going to Jade Mountain was wonderful. The pounding of the drums, harmonious sounds of the flute and bassoon, and her harp of course. Kindle, her mother, had made her start learning harp earlier. And although she had disliked it then, she loved playing it now.

Changbai was surprisingly adept at playing the reed flute. And Thrush was trying the drums again. Silver Winglet liked improv-ing in music class. Changbai would play a melody, Thrush would keep the beat, and Ostrich would harmonize. Sepia and Anemone played whatever while Boto curled up and somehow fell asleep despite all the noise the others were making. Today, Anemone was beating out a rhythm on the tambourine and Sepia was testing out the sitar.

After a while, the music class fell into a steady line of music. Ever so often, they changed things up.

Thrush suddenly started a drum solo. Pum-rum-rum-da-ri-o-dum-dum-ra-da-ra-da went the drum. As he played, Ostrich discovered Thrush was surprisingly adept with drums. Obviously Qibli was better, but then again, Thrush was self-taught.

After class, Ostrich realized she could go to the prey-center now. Before the whole Darkstalker fiasco, Anemone had ordered her to follow her around and help her with whatever princessy stuff she needed to do. Recently, when Ostrich found out Anemone had animus magic, she had a slight suspicion something wasn’t right. But now Anemone had told her that she was sorry for making Ostrich have to

The prey-center at dinnertime was really loud, something she handled easily. Ostrich exited the music and art tunnel and joined the group of dragons clustered around the main prey pile. Thrush and Sepia filed in behind her. In front of her, a Skywing selected a goat and left, leaving room for Ostrich to grab a pair of birds to eat. She took them over to the other Sandwings and began munching on one.

“So how was your day? Did you make it to class on time?” Arid asked conversationally.”

“Barely.” Pronghorn replied. “You know the history cave is the farthest cave from the entrance,” Arid nodded and he continued. “So I got there right as the gong rang and Webs almost wrote me up as late, but I got lucky because he forgot where the late scroll was. That was a really close call. Then during class, we learned all about the key dragons of the scorching.”

“I reached the library just in time as well. Starflight… obviously couldn’t see me, and Fatespeaker was doing something in the back, so I had… no trouble.” Ostrich considered telling them what the lesson was about, but decided it wasn’t worth telling them about.  “And the lesson was boring, which is all you need to know about it.” She said mysteriously.

“My ‘group discussion’ class was very interesting. We talked about animus magic and its limits. What’s strange is we never were able to determine if animus magic had that many limits, despite Ermine having one of the heavily-sought-after library books about animus magic.”

They continued their discussion of animus magic until they finished eating their meals. Ostrich considered picking up another bird, but she felt full enough already.

As she was saying her goodbye’s and was about to leave to go to her sleeping cave, a quick gasp behind her made her look back. “Oh no,” Arid cried, looking down at her arm. “I’ve lost my bracelet!”

“I’ll help you look for it.” Ostrich offered. Arid seemed really worried about it. “Where do you last remember seeing it?”

Arid scrunched up her snout and replied, “I don’t remember. It… it was my dad’s last gift to me before leaving to fight in the war. He di-didn’t return.”.

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Ostrich responded. She hesitated before saying more. “It, the bracelet, must be nearby. What was your last class? Oh right, the group discussion class. Or was there another class after that?”

Brightening, Arid answered. “No, it was a double period. So yeah, let’s check there first.” Arid, Ostrich and Pronghorn headed out of the prey hall towards the main entrance.

“Maybe you should ask Sunny, or one of the other teachers if they’ll help you.” Pronghorn suggested.

“No, I’d rather not bother them. Hopefully, I can find it with you guys.”

Coincidentally, Sunny was in the group discussion classroom tidying up. She looked tired, probably worn out from the day’s work.

“”Have you seen a bracelet around here?” Arid asked. “Sorry, I haven’t seen any jewelry at all around here. But I did find this.” Sunny held up a necklace. “Is this yours?” Arid shook her head before thoughtfully saying: “Maybe there should be a place where lost things are collected to be picked up.”.

“How about in the library?” Ostrich added.

“We could do that!” Sunny said, not looking all that excited. “I’ll work on that if I can find any things to go there.”

Arid began searching among the desks. Ostrich looked around the room and could see that the bracelet couldn’t be there, but helped her search for it anyway. Pronghorn started in another corner of the room, though it wasn’t long before Arid gave up. “It isn’t here.” Arid said sadly.

“Do you need any help?” Sunny asked sympathetically.

“No, I think we’ll be able to find it ourselves, if it’s nearby, no need to worry about it.” She didn’t sound confident about that, but Sunny brightened anyway. “I’ll make sure to tell you if I find it. If you need any help later, come ask me.” She left the room casting one last glance at the other SandWings. “What about your sleeping cave?” Ostrich suggested. “Is it there?”

“I guess I haven’t checked yet.” Arid replied, unsure. She took several hesitant steps before making up her mind. Pronghorn and Ostrich followed her to her cave.

“I have a SkyWing clawmate, Garnet.” Arid’s cave was just off the main tunnel. It was tidy, for a pair of dragons, which made the bracelet Arid was looking for obvious. It was right next to Arid’s bed of sand, glittering because of the small onyx stone in the center. Arid lit up with relief and punched towards it.

“It’s here!” She said gladly, cradling the bracelet in her talons close to her heart. “Thanks guys.”

“You're welcome.” Ostrich acknowledged as Arid slipped on the bracelet. She was glad she could help solve this small mystery.

After saying a few goodbye’s, she trudged tiredly into her sleeping cave, which was only a few caves down from Arid’s.

Anemone was already curled up, snoring softly. Ostrich stepped over some of Anemone's treasure this time, which wasn’t as much as before. Anemone was apparently getting better at putting away her jewelry, Ostrich realized. Not sparing another thought for anything besides sleep, she settled onto her bed and slept.

Chapter 2?

The next morning, Ostrich woke up early, if not quite as early as Anemone and her early morning swimming habits. Yawning, she headed out of the cave and entered the prey hall. Boto and another of Ostrich’s clawmates were there, as well as Pronghorn, who was absentmindedly gnawing on a lizard.

“What are you thinking about?” She asked, sitting beside him. He stayed quiet for several moments before replying. “Home.” He shifted uncomfortably, deciding something. “Do you know why I asked to come to Jade Mountain Academy?” He asked.

Puzzled, Ostrich guessed. “To learn?”

“Partly. I also just wanted to get away from my family. My parents always expect so much of me. They hired a private tutor, even. I did want to learn, but it felt like my parents were unreasonable, always expecting me to be perfect at my studies. And my older sister never liked me because I tried.”

Ostrich was surprised. He didn’t seem like the type of dragon who would mess up on anything academic related.

“When I heard about Jade Mountain Academy - from my parents, actually - I decided that going here was a good excuse to leave home. Ironically, my whole family was supportive of this, me most of all. I guess coming here was the best option for all of us.”

“Oh, I see.” Ostrich said, understanding. “You’re too smart for your sister to like you, but not enough for your parents.”

“Yeah. Basically.”

Ostrich thought of her family which was nicer than nearly every other family she’d ever heard about. “I guess my family doesn’t have many struggles compared to yours. I can be a little more grateful.

“Are you hungry?” Pronghorn apparently wanted to change the subject, and Ostrich let him.

“Not really. In the mornings, I always feel… not that hungry. I think I need sunshine instead at this hour.”

Pronghorn laughed. “Is this your suntime? Do you need a nap?”

“Yes, of course. I’m secretly a RainWing. I’ve been pretending to be a SandWing ever since Jade Mountain Academy began.” Ostrich replied wryly. “I’m on a secret mission to infiltrate the SandWing palace and gather information for uh… Queen Glory.”

Pronghorn sputtered in protest, laughing. “How would that work? And how can you forget the name of your queen, RainWing?”

“Queen Glory is a very unmemorable name!” Pronghorn looked unconvinced, so Ostrich continued. “Did you always remember the names of all the SandWing sisters, SandWing?”

“Of course. Blaze, Blister, and Burn. Quite easy to remember,” With the words, he breezily waved the remains of the lizard in false superiority, causing Ostrich to giggle and almost miss the questioning glance of Boto nearby.

“Quiet! Or face my venom! My venom that SHOOTS out of my FANGS, SandWing!”

Still laughing, Pronghorn put up his talons in defeat. “Okay, RainWing, you win. But I have to say: SandWing venom is more deadly.”

“No, RainWing venom is the better weapon because it’s stronger and has a less available cure.”

“You could say the same of SandWing venom.”

The debate continued until they agreed that RainWing venom was generally better, although SandWing venom was deadlier.

Pronghorn decided to go outside, but Ostrich hung back, debating whether she wanted to eat something before going outside or not.

Before Pronghorn got very far, and Ostrich hadn’t decided yet, the gong rang three times.

After the first one, Ostrich momentarily thought that class was about to start, but two more bongs came which meant that there was a meeting in the main hall.

“Oh we’ve got to go!” Pronghorn beckoned her towards the short tunnel leading to the main hall.

To be continued...