[ I DO NOT OWN WINGS OF FIRE. ALL RIGHTS GO TO TUI T. SUTHERLAND. THIS IS A PURELY MADE-UP FANFICTION BASED OFF THE SERIES. ]

[ this contains spoilers from the series Wings of Fire, by Tui T. Sutherland. Spoilers go all the way up to the newest release, the fifth book, titled the Brightest Night. ]

You have to be kidding me.

Heat sucks. I'd rather be in the IceWing palace. With the dragonets of the prophecy. They'll be a lot kinder to me than the howling sand.

SandSeeker had had enough of blistering heat. He shoved his long, dark talons deep into the scorching sand, pushing his slim, unusual black and red body against the strong winds. They had been traveling for days, and couldn't find the Scorpion Den. His sleek black neck had sand grains riddled all over, and his normally red eyes were even redder from squinting into the sunlight and flying grains for days.

Normally, since he was half SandWing, he would love these conditions. But his NightWing tendencies were dominant and he preferred reading and quiet areas. This windy, blindingly bright biome was the opposite of what he wanted to do. He had no idea where red eyes came into his genes. Same with his red scales. Nightwings had dark scales and eyes and SandWing's were pale yellow with eyes as black as obsidian.

"SandSeeker…" an extremely bored voice called out from behind him. "It's so hot…"

That's the fourth time you've said that, Hollow.

He sighed. Hollow had been complaining a large portion of the trip. She hated the heat. Their other friend, Surge, was unusually quiet. She was probably missing her home. Not that that was a bad thing. He preferred the cool rainforest where they all grew up. He missed all his RainWing friends and the juicy fruits and the cute little sloths that hung out all over the village. He had a good friend, almost like a brother to him - Quetzal - but he had to stay back in the rainforest with his family. Quetzal wanted to come, he nearly got away using his camouflage, but his mother caught him red-handed. He got grounded and didn't even get to say goodbye to the threesome.

No matter where Surge, Hollow and SandSeeker went, they were always the odd ones out. Since all three of them were hybrids - half of one tribe, half of another. Surge was half SeaWing, half SkyWing, Hollow was half NightWing, half SkyWing, and SandSeeker was half SandWing half NightWing, just like Sunny, one of the dragons in the prophecy. They had effectively stopped the war between the rival SandWing sisters, and given the throne to Sunny's mother, Thorn.

SandSeeker snapped out of his daydream as his red eyes squinted at the howling sands in front of them.

Is that…?

A moment later, the sands died down a bit and a large rock formation jutted out of the shifting sands. SandSeeker could barely contain his excitement. This was where he was born! Maybe he could find his mother here! Maybe –

"Hey! SandSeeker! Is this Scorpion Den?" Surge suddenly asked her friendly voice making SandSeeker jump. "It's so creepy-looking though…" The SkyWing/SeaWing hybrid peeked her head around the corner of a rock pillar and yelped to find a large SandWing staring back at them. SandSeeker almost blew flames with fright.

Hollow poked her head over Surge's spiky ruff and stared the SandWing in the face.

"Hello there!" she cheerily greeted him. "You're really big. Wow I wonder if there's food here. Hey Surge, do you wanna bet what kinda food they have – "

He suddenly grunted, and stared right at SandSeeker. SandSeeker gulped and ducked his head submissively at the larger SandWing. He looked over at Surge and Hollow. Hollow was still looking at the large dragon, but SandSeeker met eyes with Surge's electric green pupils. They were usually full of intelligence, but right now they were mostly filled with fear. She shrugged her sky blue shoulders after a short time and glanced back at the SandWing.

It seemed like Hollow and the SandWing had had a staring contest for hours when Surge and SandSeeker finally interrupted. The SandWing's beady, intelligent obsidian eyes studied the odd-looking SandWing.

"You," he grunted, "What are you, and what's your name?"

Sandseeker gulped, but raised his head and stared the SandWing in the eyes. "I'm S-SandSeeker, sir, and I'm half SandWing half NightWing. That's why I have some red scales and some black ones. I still have my tail barb though." He raised his black tail to reveal a red barb at the end, its pointy stinger shining in the sunlight."

Oops. I said too much, didn't I?

Dead silence. Surge looked worriedly from the SandWing to SandSeeker, then finally interrupted. "Um… and I'm Surge, a SkyWing/SeaWing hybrid." She avoided his gaze while lighting up her scales – an unusual trait. Most SeaWings had glow-in-the-dark, illuminable stripes, but Surge had glow-in-the-dark scales instead. She also raised her humongous blue wings – a usual SkyWing trait, as they glistened like pale sapphires.

The odd-looking SkyWing flared her wings and grinned up at the SandWing, as if his steely gaze didn't faze her at all. "I'm Hollow!" she said cheerily, and gave the dragon a big toothy grin. She sat a few feet from the SandWing's front talons, and as he shifted a bit, SandSeeker caught a glimpse of a jagged scar running down his right wing.

Your father, one of the old, very wise RainWings once told SandSeeker, has a long faded scar running up his right wing.

SandSeeker knew this dragon.

He knew this dragon.

This dragon was his father.

Why is he so mean-looking. Doesn't he know who I am? Isn't he happy to see me?

The SandWing that was supposedly SandSeeker's father stared at them for what seemed like a small eternity, the growled out one phrase that made SandSeeker yelp with fright.

"You're just the dragonets I'm looking for," and suddenly leaped up and jabbed his poisonous tail towards Hollow's heart.