I just got into this series like two months ago and I wanted to try something. This takes place a thousand years after DoD but rejects the LC arc (because bug and plant dragons are "jumping the shark" material). Some names may be recycled but that should be understandable. OCs abound in this story, along with some minor spoilers for the WoF series. Well, nothing to say but I own nothing, R&R, and enjoy part one of my Wings of Change.
A Darkness is coming… and only five hybrids can stop it.
Since the day they've hatched, Dawn and her four friends have been trapped in an inescapable prison, their only crime: being half breed offspring to various dragons that choose to mate outside of their tribes. Why the Talons of Purity haven't killed them already is a mystery none of them want to find out. All Dawn knows is that they need to get out and the sooner they do, the better. So when a queen comes, claiming to be her long lost mother, Dawn comes with only one condition: bring her cohabitants along or leave without her.
But there are forces in this world Dawn and her cohorts are only beginning to understand: a thousand year old prophecy, even older feuds between the tribes, and a cult with eyes and ears everywhere… including her mother's royal court.
Seven in five, thrice moon born,
Raised by hate and endless scorn.
A thousand years rise and fall;
Fate awaits Halfling hands or none at all.
By dawn's frost and stardust will come
The power of the Darkstalker undone.
From the falcon's eyes you'll see
A path to peace and bloodless glory.
Seawater and salted mud shall unite
To reveal the false queen's wicked plight.
A lost power shall return to the tribe of Ice
And end the ancient feud of untrue vice.
Five halflings must see through the lies
Or the seven tribes burns and fries.
"Oh, the dragonets are coming, they're coming to save the day. They're coming to fight, for they know what's right, the dragonets, hooray! Oh, the dragonets are coming…" a male gold and pink draconic face gently sung to a clutch of three silver and pale green eggs.
The eggs were set in a large blue concave pillow beneath sunroof, currently acting as a moon-roof, built into the hut. The hut itself was unique from all the other nearby huts in that it was carved into and around an ancient broom cluster fig tree with the interior of the trunk being converted into an eco-friendly spiral staircase leading to various rooms constructed onto the branches, the nursery being situated on the top of the tree, the light of three full moons shining bright on the eggs. Surrounding the eggs' pillow were various toys and other playthings, including some carved wooden blocks.
"Oh, will you stop singing that stupid song!" a black and silver dragon yelled in a hushed voice, "That is a bar tune written for wasted dragons a thousand years ago!"
This dragon, obviously female, with midnight-black scales, dark green underscales, green eyes, black wing membrane, and silver scales under the wings that cluster around each other like starbursts and comets. Unlike the male dragon, who had a long and graceful body with a ruff behind his ears, a pair of thin, curved horns, and a prehensile tail, the female had a thicker, more compact and muscular body, shorter and less graceful neck, straight white horns, plated scales, larger wings, a black forked tongue, and short spikes that run from the base of her skull and to her tail tip.
"Oh, c'mon Stargazer," the gold and pink dragon quietly teased, "Its history, and you're always going on about all you arty-eggy…"
"Archaeology," Stargazer hissed and then quietly remarked, "Seriously Congo, you know this. You're not that ancient RainWing stereotype."
"I'm just yankin' your leg, babe. But the point remains: if you wanna teach the next generation all about the past, you gotta expose as much of it to them as soon as possible."
"You're using my occupation against me again, aren't you?"
"Are you sure you're not a mind reader?"
Stargazer sighed deeply and shook her head, her mate could be such a child. Sometimes it was so easy for her and other dragons to forget that he was the chief librarian of Queen Glory's Grand Library. She didn't need precognition to foresee that the role of the disciplinarian was going to fall on her shoulders.
"Congo, I am going to be the mother of three dragonets not four. I need you to be more serious; this isn't a game."
"I know, Starshine, but that doesn't mean we still can't have fun and enjoy parenthood. If we don't, our babies are going to become introverted shut-ins. Besides, I'm serious, they don't give the chief librarian job of the most important library in the kingdom, if not the continent, to just anyone."
And there it was, the reason she fell in love with him in the first place: his intriguing ability to make a hardnose like her smile and make her see things at a different angle.
"You are right, just remember: we're their parents, not their friends, and I'm going to need you to support me, I don't want to be the bad guy."
"Right, that's your mother's job. Hey, why are we whispering again?"
"Because these eggs are going to hatch at any minute and I don't want to scare them with your loud obnoxious voice."
"My voice isn't obnoxious."
"It's an acquired taste."
A squeaking noise caught the adults' attention, directing their line of sight to the eggs, one was already cracking.
The duo gasped and simultaneously squealed, "IT'S TIME!"
The parents quickly circled around the eggs and watched as the egg in the middle began squeaking and cracking, more and more of the eggshell becoming brittle and chipped until the egg split open, revealing a beautiful baby dragon that was a perfect blend of its parents: long and graceful but thick and muscular with Stargazer's colors, down to the comet-starburst patterns—which were gold in color as opposed to Stargazer's silver— were prominent on the underwings, Congo's horns and frill, bright peridot green eyes, a mix of its parents scales and spikes, and a tail that was actively grabbing a piece of shell; it also had silver teardrop scales by the corners of its eyes. It looked up at its parents with wonder, clumsily getting up and walking to Congo's outstretched talon.
"She's beautiful," was all Congo could muster, too awestruck to say anything else.
"Our little Starlight," Stargazer cooed.
The egg on the left repeated its sister's process, releasing a little boy that looked more like a dark blue and black version of its father with silver teardrop scales by the corners of his bright green eyes but without a frill and prehensile tail. The boy did have the starburst-comet underwing patterns like its mother but in various colors of orange; both Stargazer and Congo agreed on the name Starburst. An hour later, the smaller egg on the right started to chip and crack but after several minutes it was obvious that the little dragon inside was having difficulty getting out on its own, so, in a panic, Congo started biting at the egg, only to be stopped by his mate.
"What are you doing?!" Stargazer shrieked, "Are you trying to kill it!?"
"I'm not killin' it," Congo defended, "I'm tryin' to make it easier for the lil' one to get out!"
Two minutes later, Congo's plan succeeded, and Stargazer breathed a sigh of relief as she shot Congo her "I don't care if your idea worked, never do that again" look. This dragon was smaller than her older siblings and looked more like her mother (forked black tongue, plated scales, thick, strong, compact body, straight horns, and dark green eyes) but with a dark blue colored frill with yellow spotting behind her ears, prehensile tail, and black scales with shades of yellow and silver, silver teardrop scales by the corners of her eyes, a yellow-green underbelly, and black colored underside of her wings speckled with orange, orange-yellow, and yellow scales arrange in starburst and comet patterns.
"Stardust," Stargazer smiled, "She is definitely Stardust."
Starlight and Starburst had already fallen asleep, curled around each other as Stardust shyly stared at her parents.
"It's alright, lil' one," Congo reassured his youngest child, "You have nothing to be afraid of."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," a deep, ominous voice sneered at the family from behind.
Stargazer and Congo whipped their heads around at the source of the voice. Standing at the entry of the nursery was a large, armored male version of Stargazer but with pitch black scales and deep, dark purple underscales and a broken right horn; he was flanked to his left and right by smaller, sickly looking armored dragons that looked as though they were made of ice.
"Shadowflight, what in Queen Macadamia's name are you doing here!?" Stargazer demanded, "And where's my mother and Gorilla?!"
"I'm afraid Oracle failed to live up to her name when she was unable to foresee the consequences of letting her only daughter betray her tribe by tainting the NightWing's greatness with your… unity with this disgusting subspecies and paid the ultimate price," Shadowflight haughtily explained as he and his associates moved to surround the family, a wicked grin grew on the large dragon's face, "And as for that old fool… well, he tried to stop us and failed."
"You beast!" Congo spat, his scales turning red and black, "The Queen banished you and your Talons of Purity on pain of death! How the Three Moons did even you get here?!"
"We have our ways, but this is about you two. Out of respect for both of your contributions to Pyrriha, the Talons of Purity are willing to offer you both amnesty if you kill these impure mongrels right now and swear to never breed outside your respective tribes ever again. If you refuse… well, I'll leave that to your imagination."
"You're mad if you think we'll sacrifice our children for your archaic cause!" Stargazer snapped, she and Congo wrapping their tails and wings protectively around the hatchlings, "No wonder Phantom ditched you for that prince."
"Phantom has paid the price for her betrayal!" the intruder roared, awaking Starlight and Starburst, "And so shall you!"
The white dragons opened their mouths as an icy mist escaped their lips when suddenly, a green viscous liquid hit Shadowflight's face and one of the white dragons in the eye, causing the tow to scream, flail, and wither in agony as their scales and flesh melted and the affected white dragon fell dead.
"Show yourself, you cowardly snake!" yelled the unaffected and apparently female intruder, only for Congo to grab one of the wooden blocks with his tail and throw it as hard as he could at her, knocking the white dragon out; Still distracted by the pain, Shadowflight didn't notice a blue and green female version of Congo appear from nowhere.
"Amazon! I never thought I'd be glad to see you," Stargazer greeted.
"Yeah, I think right now ain't the time for 'hellos' and 'thank yous,'" Amazon quickly replied, "Let's get the dragonets and get out! Before Mr. Big, Dark, and Scary gets us!"
Amazon then grabbed Starburst, climbed up and out the sunroof, and took off, Congo following suit with Starlight. Stargazer picked up Stardust, cradling her in loving arms and made for the opening, only for a disfigured Shadowflight to grab her by the ankle and yank her back down. Stargazer screamed as she landed on her back, fracturing one of her wings and Stardust tumbling out of her arms. Shadowflight climbed on top of the frightened, injured mother, turning her slightly on to her side and pinning her down with his tail and his weight, one talon pressing her forelimbs down and the other clamping her snout shut. She thrashed her head and neck, trying to break free, but to no avail.
"I'm a little disappointed in you, Stargazer," the dark dragon sniggered, "I mean, you're a foreseer, how could you not know this was going to happen? You think a stupid, lazy RainWing queen and her sun high lackeys can protect you from us? There is a reason the tribes don't sexually intermix."
A pain the equivalent of several large bugs' bite caused the villain to momentarily look away from his victim and at the source: Stardust biting at Shadowflight's tail, a few scales having been pulled off.
"Well, isn't she mommy's little spitfire," Shadowflight marveled, "Stardust, is it? I normally couldn't care less about strangling dragonets, but I think this one's going to be fun."
With what little strength she had left, Stargazer pulled her arms free and clawed at Shadowflight's exposed scales on his legs and neck, trying to scratch him to death, blood dripping from where she made contact, but with one swift flick of his wrist, Shadowflight snapped her neck, ending her vain attempt to save her daughter.
"What a waste," Shadowflight muttered as he gave a quick glance at the corpse and returned his attention to the now cowering dragonet.
Stardust tried to back away but Shadowflight's remaining white dragon, who had since woken up, picked the newborn by the tail like a lizard.
"My Lord," she spoke, awaiting orders, "The dragonet."
"The traitors named her Stardust, put her with the others."
"And the RainWings and other two curs?"
"All hybrids and traitors will answer for their crimes sooner or later, put a tail on them."
Stardust closed her eyes in fright as the white dragon replied, "As you wish."
The dragonet kept her eyes closed as she was carried down the stairs of her home and then flung into a steel trap, a hundred voices echoing in her mind as a hundred thoughts of what her captures were planning to do with her flashed before her eyes. Hours stretched into eternity as she was jerked around in her cage, the carrier obviously not caring if she got her until she was unceremoniously dumped from her cage into a larger, cold room, blocking out the feeling of something cold clamping around her wrists, ankles, wings, tail, and neck. She was vaguely aware of a soft, gentle voice entering her ears until she felt a light tapping on her shoulder. Stardust slowly opened her eyes and, thanks to the light filtering through a the cell's one window blocked by eight intersecting steel bars, saw four chained dragons her age that looked nothing like her, her parents, Amazon, or her captors.
One of the males looked like a cross between her captors, having the white dragon's narrow, elegant, diamond-shaped head, white serrated claws and talons, a more compact and skinny version of the dark dragon's body and straight white horns with extra horns shaped like icicles on the back of his neck and down his back, surprisingly strong but narrow whip-like tail with extra very sharp icicle-shaped spines at the tip of the tail, stormy grey eyes, forked blue tongue, an unusual pattern of dark blue scales on his snout and upper side of his wings, onyx black scales on his legs and wing arms, icy blue-white scales on his head, body, and tail and a line of silver scales where the white and black scales meet, a gradient of light blue to white coloration on the upper wing with dark blue underwing dotted with pure white constellations of snowflakes. The dragonet that was tapping Stardust's shoulder, a female, had enormous wings, long graceful neck, short and compact snout with a nose-spike and a smaller horn under her ear and one on her jaw, horns are long, thin, and curved, body is thin, slender, strong, but small body, forked black tongue, armed with a venomous scorpion-like barb on the end of her tail, yellow underbelly, white-gold main scales with brown speckles on her wings and snout and black diamond patterns on her arms and legs, orange eyes, yellow-brown plating, a ridge going from her head to the base of her tail which became spines.
The other male, who was squished between the black and white and the bard-tailed dragonet had nostrils located on the top of his snout on a large, flat head with short tendrils coming from the bottom of his chin, long but strong, sturdy, muscular body that was small in height, large legs, green underbelly and wing membrane, thick powerful jaws and small dark brown horns near his neck, warm red-brown main scales with black spirals and dark brown plating on his back and wings, one blue and one brown eyes, brown spines with green webbing, webbed talons with hooked claws, long, thick, powerful tail, and green stripe-like glowing scales located on his tail, snout, arms, legs, underbelly, sides, and the undersides of his wings. The only other female looked more like a work of art than a living creature, with a body that was thin, slender, very narrow, very swift, and compact, enormous wings, long neck, forked pink tongue, a narrow diamond-shaded head with a nose-spike on upper snout, an extra horn on the jaw, two long, thin, and curved main horns with extra horns shaped like icicles on the back of her neck, legs like those the white dragon had equipped with ridged, extremely sharp, serrated claws and talons, the white dragon's body scales with a different underbelly and a mix of the white dragon's diamond-shaped plates and more rectangular ones), the white dragon's nose and ears, surprisingly strong and narrow—but thicker than the white dragon's and without the icicle spikes— tail, back spines that grew longer as they ran from the back to the tail tip, amber colored underbelly, a gradient of light red to light orange to pale yellow main scales with white colored plating and hints of pale pink along her claws, ears, and horns, and green eyes.
The barbed-tailed dragonet kindly spoke again, "Hey, you okay?"
Stardust nodded her head for yes then thought for a moment and started shaking it for no.
"No worry," the brown and green cheerily said, seeming to understand her predicament, "You got us now, I'm Mudslide, and these Falcon, Dawn, and Chiroco… no, Charoso…"
"Chiaroscuro," the other male corrected in an annoyed, then directed his attention to the black and green dragonet, "What your name?"
"St-Stardust," the newest prisoner frightfully stuttered.
"Don't worry, Stardust," the painted dragonet aptly named Dawn spoke, "Those meanies won't hurt you longs we here."
"Yeah," Falcon and Mudslide cheered at once.
Stardust took a quick glance at Chiaroscuro and relaxed as he gave her a small, reassuring smile. The dragonets moved as close together as their chains allowed them and curled up to sleep. Young Stardust didn't know what the future held for her, though if the memory of her mother's demise indicated anything, it most likely wasn't good. She took some small comfort in knowing that she wasn't alone in this though and held on to the hope that at least her father, her brother, her sister, and the pretty dragon called Amazon were still alive.
Not knowing where the words came from, she started quietly singing partly to herself and partly to her new friends, "Oh, the dragonets are coming, they're coming to save the day…"