Wings of Shadows
Prologue
A dusty dragon was asleep in a snowstorm. She was right on the border that divided the SandWing and IceWing kingdoms. A tattered, brown blanket was wrapped firmly around her. She snored quietly, her chest heaving up and down rhythmically. A small, birch chest was pulled close to her chest, peeking out slightly from under the blanket. Slowly, four menacing IceWing patrol guards clad in sleek metal armor approached her. Hail pelted their bodies, ricocheting off their armor with small metal clanks and shattering like glass as they hit the permafrost below their talons. One of the guards, a thin white female with a long, jagged scar over her left eye and a disfiguring burn sealing a corner of her mouth shut, shoved the guard next to her, a light blue male with a few scars pockmarked on his snout and small tears in his wing membranes.
The male looked over at the female with a curious expression. "We should wake her up." she said, wincing in pain from opening her mouth. The male glanced down at the sleeping SandWing. "Hmm…perhaps. But what would we do if we were to wake her?" the male asked, flicking some snow off his wings. Another guard, a white and light purple male with many tears and burns on his body, let out a scoff. "We kill her obviously. That's what we're supposed to do when we find intruders." he hissed, his tail lashing slightly. The blue male looked down at the SandWing again. "But she might have useful information on the whereabouts of that traitor, Caribou. He might have fled into SandWing territory." he said, his claws digging into the permafrost. The purple male let out a loud laugh. "Ha! Why the hell would an IceWing, of all dragons, go into the desert!?" he said, glaring at the SandWing. The last guard, named Mink, nodded. "North's right. Caribou would never run to the SandWings. One, it's much too hot there for an IceWing to survive for long and two, SandWings hate IceWings so he would've been killed on the spot if they found him." Mink said.
"Let's wake her and see what she knows. If she's no help, then we can kill her." the blue guard said. The other guards nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. Let's do it, Pinecone." North replied, flicking his tail with a small clatter of spikes. Pinecone walked forward and shook the SandWing lightly to wake her up. "Mnngh...no, five more minutes." she groaned. Pinecone shook her harder. The SandWing's golden eyes peeled open slowly and she eyed the guards warily. "Shit..." she whispered under her breath. "What are you doing in IceWing territory?" North asked gruffly, trotting forward. The SandWing sat up and pulled the chest closer, tucking it safely under one of her wings. "Well...This isn't quite IceWing territory yet. I'm still on the border." she said, tilting her head slightly. North snarled. "You're close enough. Now answer my question." he hissed. "I'm just trying to get back to the SandWing kingdom. I had business with the IceWing king and queen so now I'm leaving. I was just resting so I could leave in the morning." she answered, flicking her tail and shaking some snow off her head. The female guard eyed her suspiciously. "What kind of business?" she asked. The SandWing looked down and wouldn't answer. "Answer!" North roared. The SandWing flinched. "I'm a medic. The king and queen needed my help with something, honest. They told me I wasn't allowed to tell anyone." the SandWing replied.
Pinecone tilted his head. "We won't tell them we know." he said, smiling softly at her. The SandWing let out a great sigh. "The king is infertile, or at least just became infertile. They needed my potions so that's why I came here. I swear it's true." she responded. All the guards looked at each other. "Can I go now?" the tawny SandWing asked, standing up and tucking the chest under a wing. "What's in that chest?" Mink asked. The SandWing clutched it tighter. "That's not any of your business." she hissed, arching her tail up a bit. North walked forward. "Then we'll kill you. Tell us what's in it!" he snarled. Suddenly, the SandWing dashed off, spreading her wings to lift off. "Seize her!" Pinecone roared, chasing after her. All the guards followed, building up their deadly frostbreath. North was the first to reach her, blasting her barb with frostbreath. She screamed in pain and fell forward, toppling head over talons into the snow. Pinecone tackled her, digging his claws in. The chest had fallen out of her talons and onto a patch of ice. "Get that chest." he ordered. The SandWing immediately began thrashing and clawing to get to it. With a swift crack, Pinecone snapped her neck. He clambered off the limp body and trotted over to the three guards. North opened the chest. He roared in anger, flinging it away. Herbs and potions spilled out of it and onto the ice. "Useless. Nothing good to bring back to the king and queen." he said, lashing his tail.
"What's this?" the scarred guard, Silver, asked, lifting a scroll wrapped with a red ribbon out of the pile of herbs. Pinecone walked over and sniffed the herbs as Silver examined the scroll. "This is the seal of the Talons of Peace." she said, surprised. "That means that SandWing works for that useless peace movement. Must be valuable. Let's bring it to Hail and Gypsum." Mink said. The guards nodded and lifted off, flying in the direction of the IceWing palace. As they left, a NightWing approached. He sniffed the body quietly and hissed. He looked over to the pile of herbs and potions. He began searching through it, looking for something. He roared. "Where's the stupid scroll?" he hissed. The NightWing looked down at the SandWing's body and sighed. "Poor Vulture." he said, lifting off and flying towards Peridot Mountain in the Sand Kingdom. He landed outside a large cave blocked by a boulder. He looked around for a moment and lifted a talon, pressing it against a square slot next to the boulder. The moonstone around his neck glowed white and the boulder slowly rolled aside with a loud scrape. The NightWing crept inside, walking along some tunnels and into a large cave. The boulder moved back with a low slam. The NightWing looked around. There was a large crackling fire in the center of the cave. Seven dragon eggs were set around it, one from each tribe. A scarred IceWing stormed out of another cave, limping on his three legs. "Iceberg, are you okay?" the NightWing asked, walking towards the fire. "No, Nightwatcher, I'm not. I'm furious." he growled. Nightwatcher tilted his head. "Why is that?" he asked, sitting down. "Swamp is dead. Fury found her body in the rainforest when he was off getting berries." Iceberg said. The large blue IceWing was missing a talon and a wing. A long frostbreath scar ran along the side where his wing and talon were missing. "Dead? How?" Nightwatcher asked. "Either the SkyWings or those RainWings." Iceberg responded, sitting with him. "Please tell me you have good news about Vulture and the scroll." Iceberg said. Nightwatcher flinched.
"Nope. Vulture's dead and four IceWings stole the scroll and are bringing it to Hail and Gypsum." Nightwatcher said. "DAMN IT, NIGHTWATCHER! We needed that scroll! That was our only hope of stopping Mamba!" Iceberg roared, spraying out a plume of frostbreath at a stalagmite. Nightwatcher flinched. "Well, it's not our only hope." Nightwatcher said, motioning to the circle of multicolored eggs. "We have them, remember? The prophecy that Barracuda spoke about said we needed these seven dragonets to stop Mamba, not an old animus scroll from 500 years ago." Nightwatcher said. Iceberg snarled. "Do you not understand what animus means, Nightwatcher? We could have stopped him immediately and not even need to gather these eggs." he fumed. Nightwatched flinched again. "Well, we're stuck with them." Nightwatcher said. Iceberg rubbed his temples. "Dear moons, give me strength." the maimed IceWing sighed, standing up carefully and limping into the guardians' cave. Nightwatcher sat alone for a while, simply watching the eggs and listening to the fire crackle and snap. "I hope they can save us. Or Mamba will kill us all..."
