Chapter 15

                                    

                                          
It occurred to Eclipse, somewhere deep inside the mountain, that perhaps following Turtle off to a dark secluded spot might not be the best idea. 
Based on the fact she couldn't read any of his thoughts, that vision about him Moon had, and the fact that Eclipse hardly knew him was making it all the more difficult to trust him at all.
But his mind was so quiet, cozy even, that she could help but let herself sink a little bit into the calming hum his mind provided. Dipping into his mind like this was like dipping into a pool of cool water after a hot, sunny day. The voices around and above her began to fade into the fuzz. 
Eclipse was still leaning heavily onto Moon and her back had begun to burn hot sometime after Turtle had told them to follow him. Moon didn't seemed to be burned anywhere, which was a relief. Along with the burning, she could feel tiny stings everywhere across her shoulders, neck and back, pulling and tugging every time she moved. 
The voices got quieter as they walked, putting layers of rock and space between her and the thinking going on up above. None of them spoke, although Moon had millions of questions and things she wanted to talk about circling around in her head. 
There were few torches down this far, but Eclipse's eyes adjusted to the dark, and Turtle's scales glowed just enough for them to see the floor beneath their talons. 
Here and there she saw slick, glowing trails along the rocks, and after a while she realized they were left by luminescent snails as long as her claws. 
Soon after that, she noticed a faint dripping sound up ahead, and then all at once, the passage opened up into a huge cavern studded with stalactites, shimmering with glow worms - and surrounding an enormous underground lake. 
"Oh," Moon whispered. 
At first Eclipse thought there were glowworms in the water, too, and then she realized she was seeing the reflections of stars. Far above them was a hole in the roof, big enough for a dragon to fly through with her wings outstretched. Big enough for the moons to shine through, casting broken silvery-green light across the still water. Two of the moons were visible through the hole, half full and swathed with clouds in the growing twilight. 
Moon looked around for a moment, as if looking for someone. Tamarin and Pike, Eclipse guessed. Although there was still a faint smell of burnt scales hanging in the air, there was no sign of the injured RainWing or the dragons taking care of her. They must have immersed her and then taken her to the healing cave. 
It was where Eclipse should have been going, but she had declined Turtle when he tried to take her there. She wanted to give Kinkajou the time she needed without having to re-locate again. 
Turtle nodded at the lake. "You should soak yourselves. I'd take you to the infirmary, but -" he glanced at Eclipse. "- I imagine Clay is busy with Tamarin right now."
The blistering burn that painted over her back had dulled from a sizzling burn to a tender ache. Soaking it in cool water sounded like heaven. 
Leaning heavily against Moon, the pair waded slowly into the water. It was colder than Eclipse had expected and she jumped when the water rippled around her talons. When the water hit her wound, Moon yelped, tensing against Eclipse. 
Eclipse drifted from Moon, the water holding her up just like any dragon, and when she dipped her back under the clear surface she hissed. The stinging was trickling through her veins and made her shiver in pain. It only lasted a moment though, the cold water smoothing over the burn and small cuts that zigzagged over her body. 
There was a small splash as Turtle dove into the water behind Eclipse. He surfaced and studied Eclipse closely then dipped his talons under the water and splashed her neck with the cool liquid. 
She groaned as the stinging shot through her neck but quickly relaxed as her muscles began to ease into the comforting chilly feeling. 
After a moment of washing away the dried blood, and the new blood that trickled down her body, Turtle hummed. "This might hurt," and without any more warning than that, he pincered his claws around one of the objects on her neck and yanked it out of her scales. 
"Ah!" Eclipse yelped. Turtle pressed his talons over the wound as another spurt of blood fountained out. Eclipse felt as if she was going to pass out. How much blood had she lost? It had to be gallons by this point. 
He lifted his claws, checked that the blood had stopped, and then dipped his talons in the lake to wash them off. He was still holding the object, and now he rinsed it off and peered at it. 
"What is that?" Moon asked, scooping water over Eclipse's neck. Eclipse groaned. She could see that it was a blackish-brown misshapen sphere, about the size of a rainforest frog, and covered in those sharp thorns. 
"I think I know," Turtle said, "but I should look at it in better light, and maybe check the library. How's your neck? Can you move it?" 
Eclipse nodded, turning her neck left and right, up and down. 
Turtle spent sometime yanking out all the small objects that had injected themselves into her scales, blood squirting out of every scratch. Eclipse could feel herself growing more and more exhausted by the second. The relaxing chill of the water and Turtles gentle talons not making her tired eyes droop any less. 
As Turtle and Moon talked, Eclipse faded into unconsciousness and before she was asleep she felt the scales of her sisters back press against her front, holding her above the water.