The sky was grey and dull in the early morning light. Smoke rose from the chimneys dotted across the swampy fields, the wisps floating hazily into the air. The chimneys themselves were attached to various brick houses. Despite the day just awakening, the town was unusually bustling with activity. In one of the houses, a muddy-brown dragon was packing a bag. He sighed, mild fear in his eyes. Not the fear for himself, but the fear for what he loved. The dragon's mate walked out of the kitchen, followed by two young dragonets. His mate, a light clay color, looked at what he was doing. "It's happened, hasn't it?" She asked.

The other dragon nodded, a solemn look on his face. "Yes my love… it's happened. I've been called up to the front, and I have to leave by this afternoon."

The clay-colored dragon looked at him for a bit, then rushed up to him and put her wings around him. He didn't stop her as she let out her tears, and soon they were both crying. The dragonets knew they were upset, but they didn't know why. On the cabinet next to them, sat what resembled a phone, or an MP3 player. In it was the electronic data for a recording made earlier that day.

Voice log one…... It looks like I'll be doing a lot of these in the future...

It's been 6,719 years since the scorching, and we dragons have come so far as a species. We now live comfortably in our homes; we have plumbing and heat. We have all anyone would want! Almost no one's hungry, we have highly advanced hospitals, we're more sanitary than ever, we even have government funded schools! But what good is it all when no one learns anything? What good is history if we never learn from it?...

It all started at the Meeting Under the Moon, a meeting at midnight for all queens to come together. That was the first murder. Without warning, the queen of Icewings was dead. Dead. Outrage ensured, but people held back their protests enough to make sure another war didn't happen. The next afternoon, in broad daylight, my queen, the queen of Mudwings was slaughtered. Blood flowed down the streets that day. And then only a few hours later, we got word of the Skywing queen being dead. The Skywing was a tyrant, she deserved it, but everyone else was completely the opposite. There was no reason for anyone to kill them; They could just ask for an audience with the queen to settle any disputes. But they didn't.

It was like the world was torn apart. Each kingdom swore it was the other who killed their queens, and before you could curse the three moons, war was declared, treaties were signed, and armies were mobilized. No one cared about peace anymore. Pyrrhia was suddenly spit into three. The Eastern Alliance, consisting of the Seawings, the Mudwings, and the Rainwings; the United West, with Icewings and Sandwings, the opposites, but fiercer than all the rest; and the Pyrrhia Republic, with the Skywings and Nightwings. I'm going to be honest… I wished we came up with the name "Pyrrhia Republic," for that's what we are, right?

Now I have a question, a simple question; What can we possibly make that's deadlier than Sandwing barbs, Icewing claws, and Rainwing acid? Firearms. No matter our strides in greatness, we must always find a way to make it easier to take someone's life away from them. It's range is farther than fire, it's easy to use for the inexperienced, and you can kill with the twitch of a claw. Maybe you're thinking about Dragonflame cacti, and I can assure you we've made worse. We've even made tanks; giant, moving, metal shells of mass destruction that shoots metal shells of mass destruction. Downside? They can only be used on the ground. The other side? It's not like we can go in the air anyways; we'd get blown out of the sky. You see what I mean? History repeats itself, just more bloody than before. What has our world come to? People's lives torn away, for something half of them don't give a damn about! My mate… my dragonets… I might never see them again…

It's time for me to pack up, I need to be at the station by ten. Goodbye.

The muddy one spoke first. "Look… Estrill… if I… if I don't come back… I need you to take care of Lael and Quec for me… Let them know that their father fought for them… to ensure they lived and loved for the days to come…"

Estrill nodded, tears flowing from her eyes. "Can't you stay? Just tell them you won't do it…"

"Sweetie… you know that's not how it works. I don't want us to get in serious trouble. I love you… but this is something I can't get out of. I have to leave soon, so let's have one last breakfast… as a family…"

The dragonets were greatly confused. The smallest one, Quec, spoke up. "Dad… What's wrong? Where are you going?"

His father smiled sadly. "I'm going away on a journey. I might not come back, so I need you to look after your mother, ok?"

"You're… you're leaving us?..." Lael asked.

"Not because I want to, but because I have to. Now let's go and have that breakfast of ours, I'm starving." He tried to put on a face of happiness and excitement, but both he and Estrill knew that he was only delaying the inevitable.

The inevitable came of course. The Mudwing stood on a platform, his bags strapped to his chest. On each bag was a nametag that read Uili on the thin metal sheet. He sighed and looked around. Everywhere surrounding him were dragons, mostly Mudwings, with either hardened or frightened looks etched onto into their expressions. The blare of a train echoed across the land. A blast of wind hit Uili before the train rode into the station. Metal grating on metal, and another blast of the horn, as the train slowed to a stop. It was an interesting train, being a mix between a cargo train and one ment for passengers. Designed for minimum comfort, and maximum space, the metal doors rolled open. Uili stepped in, and sat in a corner. Even though dragons were perfectly capable of flying to their destination, trains were still created due to their speed and ability to move many large objects around with ease. He put his bags down beside him, and waited for all the people to enter. Where am I going now? Training I guess… but there's no way I'll survive the harshness of the field! I've never done anything like that! I'm just a simple writer… He looked at the electronic device that was in his bag's front pocket and smiled. Well, if I'm going to perish… I might as well document it as I go along. Give the people back home something to listen to… The scraping of metal hit his ears, and he looked up. The doors were closed. The only light came from a dim glow on the ceiling, produced by a low power bulb hanging on a wire. Not a single word was spoken, as no one could bring themselves to break the silence. He sighed, then a shudder ran through the train. He looked around. Right before he relaxed, the entire train lurched forward. Uili stabilized himself as the train started heading forward. He had never been on a train before, and was unused to all the different motions that occurred without his will. The drone of the wheels on the track increased in intensity until it was the overriding sound. Every now and then, the tracks would dip, or would merge with others made at a later time, and the train would let out a shudder. To waste time, Uili took out a cube. The cube was divided into three pieces on each side, and each side, when matched up correctly, had a different color. But try as he might, he could never figure the puzzle out. He had just solved the white side when a Mudwing shuffled next to him. The newcomer had hazel eyes, a chubby snout, and a light smile in his face. "May I try?" The Mudwing asked, looking at Uili and the cube.

Uili shrugged, and handed it over to him. "If you wish." The Mudwing took the cube, and started spinning the pieces around with his claws. In less than two minutes the Mudwing gave back the cube to Uili, complete. Uili looked at him in shock, trying to figure out how he did it so quickly. "How did you?..."

The Mudwing smiled lightly. "It's not as random as you think, there's a certain order you're supposed to do each step in. It just takes practice." He stuck out a paw. "My name's Zueq. Your's?"

Uili took his paw and shook it. "The name's Uili. Looks like we're both here on the train to hell."

Zueq chuckled. "Well then we better buckle up, because hell ain't gonna hold back."

Uili grinned at him. "So? If defeating the devil himself is how I get back to my home and family, then I'll gladly take him on in a duel of death."

"Impressive. I wouldn't want to be your enemy." Zueq paused, then thought out-loud; "With how the world is, it would seem that the government has gone mad."

The thought surprised Uili, and he sat up all the way. "What do you mean?"

"Well… we're getting pulled out to fight for things not all of us believe in, just because someone important died to a criminal like countless numbers do everyday. Does it not seem corrupted? And then the question that everyone asks: Why did they kill her?"

Uili fiddled with the cube some more, before responding. "I… I don't know the answers. To any of them. But what you say is true. Why should thousands die just because one died?" He paused, then thought of something. "I just answered my own question. It's simple: Power. She had power, power someone else wants. So she had to be disposed of." His sky-blue eyes, a rarity in Mudwings, stared at Zueq, waiting for him to answer. Zueq opened his mouth, about to answer when the train's horn went off, cutting his response. The blast of sound lasted a few seconds, and then stopped. The sound of old brakes screeching ripped through the air, and Uili was fighting for balance again as the train slowed to a halt. As soon as the train stopped completely, a hissing sound filled the air as the various machinery shutted down. A few minutes went by, in which everyone was completely silent, and then the doors grated open. There was a blast of sunlight, and then Uili adjusted to it. The landscape was bare, save for a few tents and trenches. The muddy ground was trampled, and rifle shots echoed through the air. A Seawing with armor attached to his chest stood in front of the door. On the armor was a few lines, dictating his rank. He cleared his throat, and then yelled, "Okay folks! Get off the train and I'll tell you what we're doing next! This is the army, no dilly-dallying! Remember, this is just training!"

Uili stood up and walked out of the cart, with Zueq beside him. Uili smiled grimly, and said to his new friend, "Welcome to hell. You've only seen the entrance of it. I hope you're ready for the grand tour."

The doors closed, echoing their fate across the makeshift station. Uili stepped onto the worn ground, a squelch coming from his paws. The mud sifted over his claws, and brought the first of many hardships.

The war had begun.