Chapter Four
Scorch stared up at Queen Mahogany incredulously. "You think…. You think I'm the Scorching Heir?" she asked. Queen Mahogany glared down at her, wings flexing.
"Oh yes. Let's face the facts. First, there's the obvious one: your name. Your name is Scorch. And you're the reddest dragon in all of Phyrria. Plus, you're an heir," she said. She paused for a moment. "Do you know how I got the throne?"
Scorch shook her head. A lump was rising in her throat. What would Queen Mahogany do to her if she actually believed Scorch was in this prophecy?
"The queen long ago was nearly unstoppable. None of her daughters could kill her. Eventually, they stopped trying. As the queen was nearing old age though, and was about to stop producing eggs, her youngest daughter challenged her at the age of eight.
What nobody knew was that her daughter was an animus. She used her magic to kill her mother. She became one of the best queens in the history of SkyWings, but she went crazy from using her powers too much. She was so crazy that the rest of the SkyWings overthrew her and spread her eggs out among the villagers to grow up as common SkyWings. Then there was a tournament to see who would be the next SkyWing queen. I myself won that," she said. She turned to Tabir. "Fetch me Phoenix's Egg List," she barked.
Tabir nodded and scampered off surprisingly quickly. He returned with a scroll and gave it to Queen Mahogany. The SkyWing queen was careful not to touch his slimy, wrinkly talons.
"This is the list of Queen Phoenix the Animus' eggs. The ones that were given to commoner SkyWings."
"Heat
Torriel
Sunset
Mountain
Jagged
Talon
Cliff
Scorch"
Scorch looked at her queen skeptically. First of all, the SkyWing queen wasn't actually royalty. Second of all, she was suggesting that Scorch was royalty.
"So," Scorch said slowly. "Flame isn't my brother?" Queen Mahogany rolled her eyes.
"No. But that's what you're worried about?" she scoffed. Scorch glared at her. She looked at Tabir, who was looking at her with big eyes.
"Didn't you know?" she asked him. He looked surprised to be spoken to.
"No," Mahogany said. "Nobody but the parents and myself knew whose homes the eggs went to. The parents knew that if they ever told anyone they'd be killed immediately, no questions asked." Scorch thought of her parents, Iron and Lava. No, they weren't her parents. Her mother was dead. Or was she? Was she actually crazy? Or was Mahogany the only crazy one?
"What happened to Queen Phoenix?" Scorch asked. Queen Mahogany leaned closer, peering at her suspiciously.
"She's in a securely guarded prison somewhere within this castle," she said. "Why?" Scorch stared back into her dark, almost-black eyes.
"Curious," she said coldly. Queen Mahogany leaned back and picked at one of her talons.
"Ah…. Well, back to the prophecy. Now, we can't have somebody that may, well, spoil my reign. And since you're the first-hatched and the strongest, we need to do something about you…. How does a comfy dungeon right next to your dear mother's sound?" she said happily. Scorch's eyes widened.
"What? No!" she cried, stumbling off of the cushion. Queen Mahogany looked up, her eyes round.
"Oh? Not your style?" She smiled cruelly. "How about death?"
Scorch gasped and took off across the hall.
"Oh, don't be like that!" Queen Mahogany whined. "Guards!" The doors burst open and spear-wielding guards blocked Scorch's path. She opened her mouth and threw a ball of flames at them, but they dove out of the way, clearing her path. She sprinted down the hall and jumped into the air, soaring down the castle halls.
She felt heat from the guards' flames lick her hind talons and she thrust herself faster.
The guards at the entry door turned around at the clamor, surprised. She was flying fast enough to knock them away with her wings and glide out the door, off of the mountain.
"Don't let her get away!" she heard Queen Mahogany snarl. Scorch glanced over her shoulder and saw the Queen herself leading a troop of SkyWing soldiers.
The RainWing village. Swiftflier will be there, she thought desperately. She had no idea how she was going to lose the Queen and the soldiers. She dove towards the ground, her wings pressing against her body. She streaked past her mountain village and leveled herself right before she hit the treetops. She banked to the right and veered into a valley between two mountains. She looped and dove and climbed until she was sure she'd lost Mahogany and her soldiers.
Now off to the RainWings.
She soared over Phyrria towards the rainforest, all the while thinking about the prophecy, and royalty.
When the sky queen the color of wood has ruled for 20 years,
A burning, fiery force will rise
To take back what is theirs.
With the help of Night, Ice, and Rain,
they will break the strongest cane.
In the end, the Queen will meet her match:
The Sky of the truest ruby,
The Night of the deepest dark,
The Ice of the sharpest glint,
And the Rain of the brightest mark….
Beware the forgotten...
Beware the Scorching Heir...
