"-Okay, enough. Did you even talk to her or were you just blindsided by her beauty?" Nerosso questioned. He honestly didn't mind that Deathbringer was so amused by the RainWing; it was just frustrating that he didn't get to the point.

"Yes and no," Deathbringer rolled his eyes.

"Sounds like you really made an impact." Nerosso was used to Deathbringer's stories. Usually, they were quite interesting, but this one wouldn't end. Nerosso kept biting his tongue, trying not to blurt out what he had gone through in the past few days since they last talked. Yet, Deathbringer went on.

As he continued, Nerosso began to drift off into space, yearning to be back in the Sky Kingdom, home. He already missed the high towers of stone and gold, and seeing other SkyWings. At least they weren't as opinionated with his "condition" as the NightWings were. The SkyWings accepted him for who he was, with a few exceptions. Queen Scarlet was actually quite fond of him for being a bit different, whether it was for his looks or his personality, he didn't care. She even let him off the hook for the SandWing Succession War by not having to be on the front lines with the others. Was she protecting him? Or was she just trying to keep him close at hand to keep an eye on him? Maybe to not say something stupid? Sure enough, that's what he did.

Nerosso started to tune back into Deathbringer's one-sided conversation just as he asked, "...so what did you do?" He turned and faced Nerosso directly, folding his front arms and tapping his talons on one claw impatiently.

"Oh. I'm allowed to speak now, am I?" Nerosso sighed as he lightly punched Deathbringer's shoulder, "Queen Scarlet had called a general meeting for her subjects..."

The square wasn't much of a square. It was more of a circle, a lopsided oval at best. Nerosso didn't get why it was referred to as a square, but there were more important things to consider at the moment. Dragons were flying, walking, and limping into the wide-open area. Some had recent battle scars that still hadn't healed completely, and others had darkened scrapes. Some of them were around Nerosso's age, most of them a bit older. Most dragonettes that were ten or so were out fighting in the battles somewhere in Pyrrhia.

Queen Scarlet had called for all "able-bodied" dragons to the square for an official announcement. There was word going around that the war was expanding further, getting closer to SkyWing territory, and that they needed more dragons to fight. Rumour had it that conscription was to be put on the table; making it an obligation to fight in the war if directly called-upon, no matter your experience or skill.

Would that apply to me? I'm a hybrid, not a full-on SkyWing. His heart started pounding faster as he saw Queen Scarlet approaching with two others; one male and one female. The female SkyWing looked to be... Smoking? He recognized the male dragon instantly, but this female one intrigued him. She was-beautiful. That was all he could really describe her as. With every wingbeat closer to the center of the square, he could make out more and more detail of her appearance and perfect figure. Her scales were actually smoking. But that wasn't the only thing that was odd. Dragons within her flightpath moved quickly away and made room for her. Perhaps more than she needed.

When she actually landed beside Queen Scarlet a few seconds later, she crushed the weeds that were growing from the cobblestones, incinerating them instantly at the touch of her scales. Oh. The Firescales everyone is so afraid of; the Queen's notorious death monster. She looked... Sad, when she looked down at the ashes remaining from the weeds that inevitably died below her. Poor thing.

Nerosso looked beside him and nudged a SkyWing, "Who is that?" He pointed a talon at the Firescales.

"Beside Queen Scarlet? That's Peril. Suits her doesn't it?"

"A bit on the snout, but my name literally means 'black and red,'" Nerosso responded while hinting his claws at his body. The SkyWing rolled her eyes and went back to sitting at-attention, facing the three SkyWings in the center. Peril was looking around anxiously, taking in the sights of the now-full square. She slowly turned her head to glance at all the faces, and she met his eyes. His heart stopped. Beautiful, hurt, soft blue eyes. Nerosso was only one row behind the front, and he could see all the details in her complexion. He stared deep into those eyes; saw them flying in the same blue sky, twisting and turning, never separating more than a wingspan or two, always while locking eyes. He wanted to spend time with her, get to know her loves and passions, her regrets, her fears. He wanted to hold her, he wondered if he actually could-the necklace he wore allowed him to forgo the elements, from extreme cold to extreme heat. Would it work with her? He wanted to hold her and never let her go. He wanted to run to her. Nerosso never felt this way about any dragon, not even Cascada. Not even close. He was creating a conflict in his mind; between someone that he's been with for almost a year, and another he doesn't even know. Peril was both intriguing and divine. How could his mind suggest such things? He felt bad for Cascada, and he hadn't really done anything... Yet. His mind had finished for him. Was he 'that' kind of dragon? Surely not.

"Hello, my most loyal subjects. As you may have already heard, the war is escalating and I need more fodder-er-umm, gifted and brave dragons to step in," Queen Scarlet gave her most comforting smile to the crowd, "I now require all dragons over the age of seven to be seen and graded by my frontline commanders. Theses grades will determine when and where you will be expected to fight for our glorious kingdom."

"You can't be serious," a familiar voice said, suddenly from behind him. Nerosso turned around quickly, careful not to hit anyone with his tail or wings. He jumped a bit when he recognized his friend in front of him.

"Sandir, my dude. What are you doing here?" Nerosso asked the SandWing. How was he both so quiet and so loud? He could always make one heck of a ruckus from behind the drumkit, but yet still be able to pop out of nowhere right beside you. He had a love-hate relationship with Sandir sometimes. They often clashed with their views of the war and some topics for songs they wrote.

"Queen Scarlet called upon all of her slaves. I wanted to make an appearance and see what was up. Oh, and to make sure you're okay. That too," he said bumping his wing into Nerosso's back, "wanted to make sure it didn't involve you; but I can see that it does."

"I wouldn't go as far as to say slaves, but borderlining that more recently, yeah. Really have lost our way with her as Queen. Yet, you SandWings aren't exactly doing any better than us now are you? Anyways, I'm obviously not fighting for her war."

A murmur began to overtake the crowd; Sandir shaking his head back and forth. A SkyWing near them started in disbelief, "Are we really expected to join the fight? I thought we were safe here?" They asked quietly, seemingly to no one but everyone at the same time.

Another from across the square bellowed, "Our dragonettes aren't even flying long distances yet, how can we send them off to fight in such a bloody war?!" Heads turned in her direction simultaneously. Then some shocked SkyWing faces slowly turned towards Queen Scarlet, waiting for her surely swift response to the outburst.

"I can understand the-hesitation. But we SkyWings have the capability to outdo any other tribe that Pyrrhia can throw at us. I assure you, as the Queen's frontline commander, that dragonettes will be used only in times of desperation, and never actually on the front line of battle. Dragonettes are useful as tools for more, secretive, espionage-like tasks, where their smaller bodies can be perfect for spying and setting traps." Queen Scarlet said nothing, only nodding slowly in agreement to what the male SkyWing on her right said. He was about the size of the Queen, a few scars here and there. Nothing dramatic about his look, however. No missing talons or pieces of wing. Judging by the lack of battle scars, he was either an excellent fighter or one that cowered behind others in battle.

Some SkyWing dragonettes were being clutched closely to their parents, some hidden behind or under the larger wings in front of them. What the Commander said didn't look to change the common vibe being felt by the majority of the dragons in the square. Nerosso also felt a bit sick; he thought back to his days of being someone else's puppet of death. He thought those days were behind him. Now Queen Scarlet was changing all of that. He couldn't go back to living a life of death and decay. He wouldn't let her take another part of his life from him.

"We're doing something about this, right?" Sandir asked Nerosso.

"Damn right. Get Windchill, I'll find Vulcan." Nerosso glanced around quickly then took to the sky, catching glances from a few SkyWings around him; also Peril. He banked sharply left and landed on a fallen tree to get a better view of the crowd below. However, he couldn't spot the familiar wings of Vulcan around. Nerosso concluded that Vulcan probably found a place near the back, probably writing or sketching something while absentmindedly listening to the coming call of death.

Nerosso turned once again and flew further to the back. Sure enough, he saw Vulcan's red and orange wings twitching as he was madly scribbling something into his notepad. Nerosso plopped beside him, making Vulcan slowly glance up from his project, stare into Nerosso's blue eyes for a minute, then smacked him with his wing.

"Ow, what the-"

"You know what. Don't interrupt me while I'm writing. Especially with my anger peaking at our majesty. What 'new kind of army' is she expecting to build with a worn-down tribe?"

"We need to do something, now. Sandir is already gathering Windchill and their gear. Let's grab ours and get their attention," Nerosso pointed a claw behind him at the crowd of SkyWings, "we have two we can play, right here, right now. There's been growing discontent with Scarlet. Now is our time to show they're not alone."

"Alright," Vulcan replied, slowly putting his notepad in his carrying bad around his neck, "lead the way."

Nerosso and Vulcan flew off to their makeshift home and gathered their instruments; Vulcan his blood-red and black six-string, and Nerosso his all-black bass guitar with white trim around the edges. Still pristine as always. I hope I don't get it damaged today. We really are going to piss off some dragons. Hopefully, also change some minds in the process.

Writer's note: What genre of music do you think Nerosso's band plays? What will Peril think?