Chapter 1

The Skywing Palace

Inferno hated being small. Granted Inferno hated a lot of things but being small was one of the things that Inferno hated the most. Because he was small and runty, he could not fight in the war. He was stuck working with the prisoners, who were going to fight in the arena and die. Inferno had been trained extensively as a special soldier as that he would be able to handle and restrain dragons of all tribes. However, most of the time all Inferno did was to give them food and water, as well as to clean the prisoner towers. He hated cleaning up dragon leftovers of the towers. But what he most hated was the fact that he had to be the dragon who took the prisoner to the arena, he had to be the dragon who brought them to their deaths. Inferno had seen too much death, he had watched countless times as the Queen's champion, Peril, burn dragons to death. He had heard their dying screams after he had brought them there. Inferno wished he would be out in the war, fighting the enemy of an equal setting without chains and wing bindings. At least Inferno would be able to face them is some pride and fairness.

Inferno growled at the thought as he scrubbed a recently emptied tower. He was frustrated and angry already and this train of thought was making it much worse.

"What are you growling about," trilled a voice from behind her, "wasn't it a thrilling fight?"

Inferno twisted around and came face to face with Queen Scarlet.

"Yes, your Majesty," stuttered Inferno,

"Then why the angry growl?" asked the Queen suspiciously

"The prisoner left a rather an unpleasant gift for me," said Inferno truthfully

Queen Scarlet laughed and asked, "aren't you the dragonet who was almost born on the Brightest Night?"

"Yes, your Majesty," replied Inferno looking down

"You, narrowly missed being in a prophecy, didn't you?" said Queen Scarlet

"I narrowly miss becoming a pile of ash," Inferno grumbled under his breath

"What was that?" asked Queen Scarlet suspiciously

"I said I was a good thing that I did, your Majesty," replied Inferno quickly, "prophecies are too much work."

"Your so right," said Queen Scarlet, "well keep scrubbing, we will need that tower for another prisoner soon, it will be thrilling,"

Inferno bowed and stayed that way until the Queen was out of sight and then returned to scrubbing and grumbling.

After he finished his tasks for the day and gave the prisoners dinner, Inferno returned to the barracks for his dinner. While eating one of the palace guards walked past him and dropped his plate of meat next to Inferno and bent to pick it up.

Inferno ignored this since it happened fairly often, but suddenly a voice hiss next to his ear,

"Don't move, and don't speak."

Inferno froze, looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guard who had dropped the plate was whispering to him.

"Act normal," the guard said

Inferno turned back to his plate, he recognized the guard as Ozark, he was the guard who had brought the Skywing egg that was going to hatch on the Brightest Night to Peril to kill. He had spared his egg because it was runty. Ozark had always been kind to Inferno and had recently become his stepfather.

"Meet me in the waterfall cave at full dark, tell no one," said Ozark as he picked up the last piece of spilled meat,

"Good to see you Inferno," he said in a normal voice as he sat down next to him at the table like normal, "how was your day at the arena?"

"The usual," said Inferno

Ozark nodded and began to eat. The rest of the dinner was normal although Inferno was very confused. Ozark never acted like this, why did he want to in secret?

When it was fully dark, Inferno was sitting in the waterfall cave waiting for Ozark.

"Thank the moons you came," said Ozark entering the cave

Inferno came forward and wrapped his wings around Ozark and he did the same.

"What is with the secret meeting?" asked Inferno

Ozark sighed, sat down, and began,

"This afternoon, after the arena fight, I was patrolling that palace like usual when I heard the Queen talking to some of her most trusted guards, about you, she said that she did not trust you. Your hatching was too close to the Brightest Night with only your mother's and my testimony that you were hatch early. The Queen has been keeping you close and under her watch in the palace. But when Queen Burn learns about you and the questionable nature of your hatching, she demanded that you be killed just in case. Queen Burn said that while you might not have been hatch on the Brightest Night you were born close enough to it to be used as the Skywing Dragonet by the Talons of Peace. Queen Scarlet had agreed with Queen Burn and was ordering her guard to make you disappear tomorrow with hunting."

Inferno was silent, stunned. His Queen had ordered his death. Scarlet considered him a threat. Him. A small and insignificant dragonet who cleaned up the messes the prisoners made.

"I need to leave, tonight," he said

"Yes, you do," agreed Ozark, "return to your room and pack only necessities, go to the Rain forest, lay low, no one will look for you there and the Rainwings are not anything to worry about."

"What about you," asked Inferno, "did the Queen know that you overheard her?"

"No," said Ozark, "she did not see or hear me, and no one knows I was there. I will be a suspect, but I have covered my tracks. I did everything like usual, even sat and eat with you like usual. And I have an alibi that I never alone with."

"Thank you, father," said Inferno wrapping his wings around his stepfather

"Anything for you, little bird," said Ozark, teasingly

Inferno grumbled at his old nickname,

"I am not a little dragonet anymore," he complained

Ozark looked him over and snorted affectionately

"I had better go," said Inferno

"Before you go," said Ozark, "there is one more thing I should tell you,"

Inferno turned back to him

"Your mother and I lied to the Queen, you were not hatched on the day before the Brightest Night, you hatch on it."

Inferno was speechless, which was not a state of mind that was usual for him.

"Go!" said Ozark urgently

Inferno turned again and flew out to the cave.

It was a short flight back to his room, upon arrival, Inferno quickly sized a bag and slung it around his neck and back. In it he packs a map of Pyrrhia, a couple of gold and jeweled bracelets and horn bands from her mother, he thought they might be useful as bribes, a pen-an- ink drawing of him, Ozark, and his mother, and as much dried meat as he could find, he could not waste time hunting.

Inferno then when to his writing desk and wrote a letter to his mother and Ozark telling them he was going to the Skywing town on the Great Five-Tail River because he needs a break from the war and the arena. Inferno knew that Ozark would know that the letters were lying, and he also knew that Queen Scarlet would find them, in fact, he was counting on it. The Queen would suspect them both less if he thought Inferno left by his own volition. It would also send Queen Scarlet on a fake trial, which would give him more time. Inferno sealed and addressed the letter. Inferno considered writing to his best friend Carnelian but decided against it since he did not want to bring unnecessary attention and possibly danger to her. He knew that Ozark would tell her what had happened to him and why he had to leave the palace.

Letters in claw, Inferno silently flew to mail drop where he left the letters. He knew that a Skywing message would take them to their addresses at dawn. It was almost midnight and Inferno knew he needs to leave as soon as possible, to avoid the guard. Inferno turned and looked over the Sky Kingdom, his home for all his life, the only home he had ever know.

Inferno sigh and took to the air in the direction of the Rain Forest, leaving his whole life and everything and everyone he had ever loved behind, probably forever.