Chapter 10: Queen Scarlet

Cynder awoke to a sharp slap across the face. She glowered at the guard who'd done it but couldn't retaliate because of the chains wrapped around her snout and limbs.

"Get up," the guard ordered. "The Queen wishes to speak with you."

She struggled to her feet to face the dragon she assumed was Queen. How was she supposed to speak if they had her gagged like this? The Queen was rather small but strikingly beautiful, her orange scales glittered like gems in the light. On a closer look, Cynder realised that there really were gems embedded in the Queen's scales.

The chains around her snout were roughly yanked off and she snarled. The guard paid her no heed, keeping a firm hold on the chain around her neck like a leash.

"Ooh, thrilling," the Queen remarked. "She's feisty. The Arena would suit her."

"Who are you?" Cynder asked, breathing heavily. "What do you want with me?"

The Queen looked taken aback. "I'm almost hurt," she purred. "You were caught trespassing in my domain and you don't know who I am?"

Cynder could only shake her head.

"I'm Queen Scarlet, of course," she said grandiosely. "The Queen of the SkyWings! You're saying you've never heard of me?"

Cynder shook her head again. So that's what these things were. She'd never heard of any SkyWings.

"How un-thrilling," Scarlet said, sounding mildly disappointed.

"Now, what manner of monstrosity are you?" Scarlet continued. "You look like a SkyWing but you're all black. Are you a NightWing spy?"

"No," Cynder said, offended. Why did everyone she'd spoken to think she was a monster? "I don't even know what a NightWing is! The Assassin brought me here to show me the place I was born!"

"An assassin!" Scarlet exclaimed. "The plot gets more thrilling by the moment! And who was your target?"

"No, that's just what he's called," Cynder said exasperatedly. Was the Queen even listening? "He brought me here to show me my birthplace."

"Thrilling. But you're a bad liar," Scarlet said flippantly. "Now hurry up and tell me who you were sent to kill."

"Nobody!" Cynder cried desperately. "I'm only four years old for crying out loud! Why would I be trying to kill anyone?"

Scarlet's eyes narrowed. Had she said something wrong? "I've heard enough, take her away!"

"Wait! Please! Let me go! I haven't done anything wrong!" Cynder pleaded as she was dragged away. Queen Scarlet was no longer paying her any heed. She was glaring at the floor as her worst enemy had just emerged from it. What was wrong with her?

Cynder kept struggling. Then, she felt a heavy blow to the back of her head and she slipped back into peaceful oblivion.

Cynder eventually came to. Before she could even ask where she was, it all came back to her; the flight to Pyrrhia, the dragons, her capture. She tried to fly but a sharp pain in her wings made her stop. The wires that her captors had jammed into her wing membranes were still lodged there, pinning them together.

She glanced around in a panic, trying to figure out where she was. She was standing on a high stone column, one of many that spread out all around an arena. Atop each one was a dragon, each bound the same way as her. Cynder realised that the wires were connected and went the whole way around the pillars. If she was going to escape, the others would have to come along too.

There was a roar from the arena and she jumped, startled. She looked down. There were dragons of all colours in the stands. And watching from an elaborately-decorated balcony, was none other than Queen Scarlet herself. A bright-red dragon stood in the centre of the ring.

"Loyal subjects, visiting MudWings and honoured SandWing guests," he announced in slightly shrill voice. "We have a thrilling battle lined up for you today!"

The dragons in the stands roared collectively, a deafening sound that nearly drove Cynder to her knees. She gathered her thoughts enough to figure out that the brown ones were MudWings and the yellow ones were SandWings.

"In one corner of the arena, we have Dirt of the SandWings who unwisely chose to fight on Blister's side instead with our ally, Queen Burn." A medium-sized SandWing was led into the arena and his wings and tail were unclamped.

"And in the other corner," the red Skywing continued. "We have Freeze of the IceWings!" On the other end of the arena, a white dragon was led in and unchained. Were they going to spar with each other like she and the Assassin had done so many times before? Why would the crowd be so excited about that?

"Claws up, fire, or ice as the case may be, ready, fight!" The red SkyWing announced and he took off for the safety of the air. The SandWing lunged at the IceWing, his tail whipping viciously. Cynder realised there was something sharp on the end of it-a barb of some sorts.

The IceWing, Freeze, dodged and blasted a sheet of ice straight at her attacker. The SandWing met the ice with a gout of his own fire. As the IceWing reared up to loose another blast of ice, Dirt struck!

He stabbed forward with his tail, embedding the barb into the IceWing's throat before she could even so much as cry out. Then he twisted and raked his claws across her chest, sending crimson blood gushing out onto the sand.

"NO!" Cynder screamed. The dragons in the stands laughed and cheered and Scarlet glowered up at her.

"You're all monsters!" she screamed, still staring in horror at what had just happened.

"Shut her up, Garnet," Scarlet ordered one guard. The soldier, Garnet, flew up to Cynder's column.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your mouth shut," she said urgently. "Queen Scarlet's not in a good mood now and you might be next if you earn her ire." She flew back down, leaving Cynder speechless.

She retreated to the centre of her column and curled up miserably. What was going on? No wonder Malefor and the Apes were at war with the other dragons! They were all evil! How did it all come to this? She just wished she was back in the mountain. Somebody help me, she thought, though no one could hear her.

Then, as if in answer to her silent pleading, a voice rang out in her mind. One word was clear.

'Cynder!'

Author's Note:

Okay, the reason this chapter's coming out a little early is mainly because of my guilt at leaving you guys with a cliffhanger. Plus my friend was pressuring me for another chapter.

To show how sincerely sorry we are for last week's cliffhanger, Scarlet and I decided we'd leave you with something thrilling! Another cliffhanger! Isn't that thrilling? XD

And now the question is what next? What is going to happen to Cynder? Is she going to be thrown into the arena? Will she find out the truth? And how will she react to it? I would love to tell you more but Scarlet is giving me her death stare

Anyway, we want to thank you all for all the feedback you guys have been giving! Please do leave a review to tell us how you like the story so far and be back next week for the next thrilling instalment of Cynder's story!