Sparkling 1
I hadn't put any serious thought into leaving the Rainforest before I met his "Majestic Holiness" - Xerophilous, I mean. It was my home, my entire world. Sure, I was curious at times about things beyond the trees, beyond the distant mountains or the endless sea to the south. But I didn't have any need to leave. There were plenty of things to do in the jungle.
But then I tracked a clumsy Sandwing trampling through the foliage, and he caught three mangoes with one arrow, and the whole world changed.
I've always been something of an outsider among the Rainwings. Before the Animus King entered the Village, I was the only dragon I knew that preferred meat to fruit. Not that I hunted other animals only to eat them - I enjoyed going after other predators the most. Tigers, panthers, crocodiles, dragonbite vipers. I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, the threat of danger as two lives hung in the balance. Before you ask, no, I hadn't killed another dragon before, and hadn't thought of it until the day Xero called me to the Palace. But when asked if I could, I realized that I had no qualms about it either. I didn't know these dragons, and as I looked at their pictures, I was already coming up with plans on how to do it.
So of course I accepted Xero's mission. I carried with me Xero's wristblade, a cloak, a satchel, some ink and parchment, several gourds full of water and a few bags of guava, lychee and mangos for barter - I could provide my own food easily enough. Most importantly, of course, I brought a blowdart gun with many darts and over a dozen of Fruit Bat's various concoctions, capable of paralyzing, drugging or even killing any target.
It took a few days to fly over the Jade Mountains and into the desert, following the directions Xero provided me. I'd never before been or seen a place as desolate or miserable as the Sand Kingdom. There was sand, rocks, more sand, the occasional cactus and camel, and literally nothing else for an entire day of flying. The heat was unpleasant as well - it can get warm in the jungle, but here the air was so dry I could feel my scales drying out and getting itchy. I don't know how anyone could live there, but then again I've heard dragons complain how hard it is to breathe in the humid rainforest air, so to each their own.
I was starting to fear that I'd somehow got turned around and started going in circles, when I finally found the Scorpion's Den. This was before the barbarians of the Coven started raiding water shipments, so the Seawing Army was still occupying the town for Blister and Coral. Several guards flew up to escort me, and they might've even captured and interrogated me as some kind of spy, had the wind not blown off my hood, and revealed my brown scales turning a wary dark-purple. Realizing that I was but a friendly, simple Rainwing merchant, they immediately relaxed, and after providing a few canteens of water and some lychees as a bribe, I was basically given free reign to move about the town and Seawing camp as I wished.
One might think that the Seawings were being rather cheap and lazy, letting a stranger just flit about their base with no supervision. But one must remember: a) I was a Rainwing, and in those days we were viewed as being but a step above a "special needs" hatchling, and b) The Seawings were well and truly desperate. Their shipments of food and water were being cut off by the Coven's attacks, leaving them on the verge of starvation and water sickness. Even Admiral Tempest had started to go gray and wilted, going on half-rations with the rest of her fighters. Because of Desperado's cruelty, Rainwings were quickly becoming the most popular merchants in town. Xero had a point, when he wanted to stockpile fruit. He always had a point.
A little fruit went a long way, and a pawful of lychees was enough to get unfettered access into Blister's Camp. Once in, I turned invisible, and began taking notes. What I hadn't counted on, however, was that my King had been influencing things long before I arrived. A little bit of eavesdropping quickly revealed that Smolder had gone into the command tent that morning, and in front of Queen Coral and the rest of command challenged Princess Blister for the throne. Between her own arrogance and wanting to save face with command, she accepted, and a challenge was set for noon that day.
The Royal Challenge in other kingdoms, I soon learned, was a lot different than it was in the Rainforest. We Rainwings don't do anything to the death; there's not a lot of things that we value enough to fight and die over, least of all that we aren't willing to share. The Royal Challenge, after all, is just a series of obstacle courses or displays of natural talent: camouflaging, flying between trees, gathering mangoes of course. The rest of dragonkind, it seemed, took things a lot more seriously. No, if someone wanted to be Queen, it was a literal duel to the death. Strangers could challenge for the Crown, but more often than not it was sister killing sister, daughter killing mother, niece killing aunt.
And they called us uncivilized? All their Queens are family-killing monsters!
Anyways, as preparations for the duel were being made, I found a hiding spot among a gathering of large boulders outside the camp. I prepared my blowgun and darts, and waited. By 3 or 4 in the afternoon, a crowd had gathered. Sandwings and Seawings made up most of them, but between Hallowglide's henchdrakes and various travelling merchants, I could see dragons from every single Tribe in attendance. They cleared out a wide circle of dirt, plenty of room for a duel to take place. On one end I saw "Baron" Hallowglide and Admiral Tempest, looking rather nervous and confused. On the other end were two male Sandwings I took to be the brothers, Scald and Singe, looking downright terrified.
Finally, the combatants arrived. First came Blister, the black-diamond scales shining in the afternoon sun, glistening as she moved like a viper. Long and lean, the way her eyes would linger and stare on certain dragons and things reminded me so much of the most dangerous snakes. Her gazed passed over me as I hid in the rocks, and it took all my courage and nerve not to turn white in fear and fly away. I dare not think what Xero's boss was like - I might've crapped myself on the spot. On the other side came Smolder, a large, regal looking drake with a confident smile. From a distance he looked a lot like Xerophilous, to the point that I wondered how he managed to beat me here.
"This is your last chance, brother." Blister warned, as she stepped into the arena. "If you apologize right now and walk back to your tent, we can pretend this didn't happen, and be one big, happy family again."
"Funny," Smolder replied, as he joined her in the ring, "I don't remember us ever being a happy family. You and Burn were mom's favorites, and you never let us forget it. We were always passed over and ignored while you and our sisters got all the attention. And look where it got us? The people support a transformed Nightwing puppet more than you! Even if you beat him, you'll never keep the throne or the Eye!"
"Then I'll make them accept me." Blister growled, her tail raising to a striking position. "I'll show them what happens to those who challenge me. Starting with you, brother.
Smolder matched her stance, baring a ferocious, toothy grin on his face. "Bring it, bitch."
They started to circle each other, and I readied my shots. I had two darts at the ready. Each was coated with particularly deadly and fast-acting poison created by Queen Fruit Bat and Xerophilous - powerful enough to take a dragon down in less than a minute, loaded onto darts small and fragile enough to break and hopefully be undetected. I steeled myself for the task at hand, and brought my blowgun to my mouth.
Dragon-on-dragon violence is a troubling affair to watch. There's claws and teeth and fire, intermingled with roars and screams and swearing. Blood flowed from scratches and bites, but both siblings held off from using their stingers right away. I wondered if stingers are particularly fragile, or if, at some level, both were still reluctant to use their most dangerous weapon against their flesh and blood. Not that it mattered: After a few minutes of light strikes and parries, both struck each other with their tails - first Blister, then Smolder.
Now was my chance. I intended to kill both of them if both were struck by their barbs - it would've been suspicious if Blister went down from one strike, yet her brother didn't. It would also throw further confusion to Coral and Hallowglide's side, as they'd be out the two best heirs left. I brought the tube to my mouth and fired, Pitoo-Pitoo! They both struck home, hitting them in the jugular, right next to where they stabbed each other. If they felt my darts, they gave no sign. They continued to circle and growl for a few more seconds, and I began to worry that I'd got the poison or doses wrong. But, sure enough, Blister began to wobble and stumble about like a drunkard.
"Wha-, *gag* what os thish?" She slurred, drooling and gagging. "What've yoush, what'sh dun ta me-"
Smolder ended her suffering with a quick tail strike. His barb cut deep into her neck, slicing through her throat and arteries, nearly decapitating her on the spot. The Princess dropped, bled out, and was no more.
"Heh, heh, I won!" Smolder panted, starting to stagger himself. His brothers rushed over to him, just as leaned and fell onto the sand.
"Smolder!" The larger drake cried, "Hold on! We're going to get some brightsting cactus juice! You're going to make it!"
"Palm," I heard Smolder say, already fading, "Palm, I did it. I won, for all of us..." The Prince - no, the King - passed mercifully quick, surrounded by his brothers and onlookers, having proved to the Court and the world that he was worthy.
Even without learning about his connection to King Xero, his life is the one I regret taking the most...