4990 would become the last year of my old life.
It started in February, with the Sandwing Plague - a foul, vicious disease that ran through the Kingdom of Sand, and the Palace in particular. You start off with a simple cough or sneeze on Sunday, and by next Saturday you were dead, lungs filled with your own blood. It was perhaps the busiest I've ever been in the Palace, as I was called upon to assist the doctors and apothecaries in the treatment of patients. I got to use my plague outfit for the first time - leather gloves and robes with a belt holding various medicines and cleaning agents, and a tight leather mask filled with lavender flowers to mask the stench of sickness. It was a prototype, laughably basic compared to what we have nowadays, but since neither I nor those who wore it working alongside me caught the illness, I'd say it did its job rather well.
Despite our best efforts, the final body count was awful. Hundreds had died truly awful, painful deaths, to the point that we had to start digging mass graves to handle all the bodies. One of those poor souls we lost was the good King Char. Perhaps it was a mercy that it hit him harder than most; he died within two days of first showing symptoms, drowning in his sleep one night. We had a funeral within a week, giving him his own pyre with many mournful speeches and token mourning bracelets handed out for everyone to wear.
Everyone took it pretty hard, especially the Royal Family. Char was a good and popular king-consort, and a loving father. Oasis and Burn spent a lot more time together, coming closer after such a momentous loss. Smolder and the Boys held a wake in his honor, and it was such a serious affair that Scald didn't even hit on anyone. Singe worked on a memorial mural, something large and beautiful that would honor his memory when it was completed. Smolder and I just sat by the bar, drinking together quietly, as I just tried to offer what support I could. Even Blaze went through the grieving process, dressing herself in black jewels and clothes, earning the support and sympathy of dragons wherever she went.
The only one who's sorrow seemed a little forced was Blister. Out of all the princes and princesses, she was the only one who had truly mastered the art of hiding her emotions. While everyone else was actually crying or looking emotionally drained, Blister seemed fine. Sure, she'd act the part when around her mother and siblings, but I'd watch her as she'd leave, and I'd see her body loosen up, her expression brighten, even her steps became lighter. That her father's death didn't seem to bother her really got under my scales. My parents still lived, and I was lucky enough to be able to see and talk to them often, since we all worked in the same place. If something had happened to either of them, I'd be devastated. The fact that she wasn't made me trust her even less. A dragon who had no emotional connections is not someone who can be trusted...
It was sometime in early May when Princess Burn decided to take me on a little vacation, as we went to the Sky Kingdom to meet her pen pal, Queen Scarlet. She also deigned to tell me this the day before we were to leave, as we were in the middle of dissecting the body of a serial killer. I was... perhaps more than a little annoyed to get informed of this at essentially the last minute, while holding the liver of a Mudwing who ate the eyeballs of his victims, but Burn didn't care about little things like "common courtesy". I asked why she wanted me to come along. As she started skinning the body, she explained, "I've been telling Scarlet about your inventions. She's going to have a tournament at her coliseum, and she wanted to see what your inventions could do. You should be happy. You're finally going to have that 'live testing' you always wanted."
She had a point. It's one thing to test out blades and armors on pig carcasses and dead dragons that don't move, but for a proper evaluation you need to see how they handle living, moving dragons that can think and improvise. If I was ever going to find out if my inventions were at all practical, they'd have to go against the real thing. Once we were done working on the body, I cleaned up and spent the rest of the night packing as many completed prototypes and designs I felt confident enough to demonstrate. Between my own paws and the various servants and guards Burn could collect to come along on this journey, we'd have enough dragons to carry it all over the mountains.
The journey to the Skywing Palace was my first trip outside the Kingdom of Sand. The trip wasn't too long, having flown with favorable winds that got us there within four days. Deserts gave way to grasslands and forests, which then gave way to mountains and sheer cliffs. Halfway through the trip, we were briefly stopped by Skywing border guards, looking more bored than anything. After confirming who we were (and who would mistake Burn for anyone BUT one of the Princesses), one of them came along with us as an escort for the rest of the way.
Compared to the Sandwing Palace, the Skywing Palace was very underwhelming. Whereas my home was like a small city, the Skywings had a few tall, thin towers around one massive tower from which the staff lived and business was done. Below these towers, a massive, gleaming coliseum stood, freshly constructed and ready for a week-long bout of bloodshed and violence. Granted, the interior of the Palace was a lot more luxurious, with an absolutely gorgeous throne room, and guest amenities just as good as the Sandwing Palace. With a couple modifications, this place could be just as beautiful or even better than my old home.
I remember the first time I met Queen Scarlet, sitting resplendently in her throne room as we arrived. With her orange scales as shiny and glossy as the jewelry adorning her horns and neck in the afternoon light, she was easily the most beautiful dragon I'd ever seen. Even Blaze, widely considered even more beautiful, was still coming into her own as an adult. But one look in her eyes was enough to convince me that the gorgeous exterior was but a disguise for a cruel, dangerous predator not at all different from Burn herself. Which is more than likely why the two Royals got along so quickly, and why (thankfully) she hardly even acknowledged my existence.
While Scarlet and Burn were busy talking about royal duties and bloodsports, I was busy going down to the prison cells where they held the gladiators, teaching them how to use my weapons and armor. Wristblades, spring-loaded projectile knives, chainmail, the spiked gauntlet, all made their grand debut to the world that week, as Skywing gladiators and criminals fought each other to the death for our collective amusement. I'm proud to say that, out of the ten matches that were held between a dragon using my inventions and a dragon without, one, my dragons won nine of them.
The one time one of my guys lost, they went up against one of the most deadly and dangerous soldiers in Scarlet's employ: her favorite "Blood Knight", the Wrath of Wolfpine herself, Hypaethral. The biggest, meanest monster of a Skywing I've ever seen, with scales the same color of the blood she so loved to spill, she made a reputation for herself as a ruthless scavenger hunter, a brutal fighter, and for (rumor has it) saying that Scarlet was "too soft on crime". Let me repeat that: She thought Scarlet was too soft on her enemies.
She went up against a dragonet arrested for pickpocketing, armed with a spear/axe variant I called a "pole-axe". He thought it would help to light the metal on fire, but while it certainly looked cool, it didn't help one bit. The former gladiator caught the wood in her mouth, snapped it in two with one bite, and whipped her tail so fast and so hard that the poor kid's neck snapped loud enough for us to hear in the suites.
"That," Scarlet observed, "Wasn't very thrilling."
"Well, not every invention is a good one, Your Majesty." I said, quickly scribbling down some notes. "That Blood Knight is one intimidating lady."
"That is a true warrior, Scarlet." Burn praised. "What I would give for an army of dragons like her."
"If you want," Scarlet offered, "Maybe I can send her over when you become Queen. I bet she could whip your fighters into shape in no time. You might lose a couple in the process, however."
"Acceptable losses." Burn sniffed. "I might just take up your offer."
By the end of the week, fifty dragons had spilled their blood in the coliseum, and I had obtained more data and insight through the tournament than I had in years of standard testing and analysis. Scarlet and Burn said their goodbyes as new best friends, and the Queen of the Sky Kingdom may or may not have remembered my name (I couldn't remember if she called me "'Philous" or "Beerus" when I left the castle), for what little good that might've done me. Hopefully, this was to be the start of a beautiful and profitable friendship between our two kingdoms.
The next time Scarlet and I would meet would be on decidedly less friendly terms...
Things got particularly hot in October, When Queen Oasis caught wind of Prince Smolder and his sweetheart, Palm.
For several months, he and the barmaid had taken a fancy to each other, meeting up in secret to "enjoy each other's company". She was a very pretty dragoness, no doubt, and while his brothers were a bit... apprehensive of how serious it was getting, I supported them. Admittedly, I was kind of living vicariously through him, seeing him find that romantic connection I felt I could never have. While I had long thought that I could find happiness and contentment in my work, seeing my friend find love struck a long-dormant cord within me.
Still, we all realized how dangerous it could be for all of us, if he ended up putting an egg in her and adding another heir to the volatile mix in the Palace. So, as a favor to him, I started supplying him with various "moon teas" to give to his bae after their encounters. I tried a variety of different plants and mixtures, checking in with him to see which ones worked, or tasted best, or caused any kind of discomfort on her end. It was exciting in a way, doing these secret experiments, knowing that getting caught could easily get us all killed. Science and discovery often came with risks, but the payoff was what made it worth it.
Even so, there's only so long you can keep a secret in the Sandwing Palace. At some point in the Fall, someone - maybe one of the Sisters, maybe a servant or even a peasant - found out about Smolder's dalliance, and told the right dragons to tell the Queen. And of course, Oasis took it about as well - or rather, as poorly - as we all feared. Sometime during the night, she called upon the Royal Guards to go out and bring Palm in for "questioning", and the Palace became abuzz with activity as they went about searching every room and combed through the nearby buildings.
By dawn, the Palace was abuzz with rumors. Some were claiming that Palm had been chased and escaped deep into the desert, while others claimed that she had been captured in the act with Smolder, if not delivering an egg that the Queen herself smashed. Every story I heard was more dramatic and outlandish than the last, building upon itself as the entire Kingdom craved to hear any juicy gossip from the Palace.
I had no idea what to think, but my first impulse was to go find Smolder. I located him in his chambers, being comforted by his brothers, hiding in the shadows.
"Hey, I heard what happened last night," I said, as I entered the room, "Are you okay?"
Smolder turned to face me, his eyes red from crying. "Palm's gone." He sniffed. "She flew into the desert yesterday."
"Oasis captured Prickle last night." Scald explained. "She doesn't know she's her twin, thank the Spirits. You might be seeing her real soon."
"...Oh." I said, unsure of how else to answer. I was happy that Palm was able to get away, of course, but should I be happy that her sister got condemned for her crimes? Should I congratulate him, knowing that he may never see his lover ever again? Was this really a happy ending for anyone?
"It's such bullshit!" Smolder spat, his tail thumping the ground angrily. "We were happy. We were being careful! Mother had nothing to worry about! She didn't have to freak out like this!"
"We tried to warn you." Scald reminded him. "We told you, 'Don't get too serious, it's not going to last, it's dangerous'. And look what happened."
"At least Palm got away." Singe offered. "Maybe one day you can see her again, once mother is gone."
"Yet Blaze can have a different boyfriend every month, and mom doesn't give a damn." Smolder snapped, steam rising from his nostrils. "Our sisters get the throne. Our sisters get to make their own choices. Our sisters get everything, while we get auctioned off to whichever random noble who kisses their ass hard enough."
"That's the way the world works," Scald said, "That's how it's always worked. This is a female's world, and you can play by their rules or get crushed."
Those words would stick with me. Dragons put a lot of value in things like tradition and power. From the days of The Scorching, all the Tribes have been ruled by Queens. Despite being Kingdoms, the number of male rulers anywhere in Phyrrian history could be counted on all four paws. There wasn't much information recorded about these Kings, the other Queens no doubt wanting to bury anything that would question the legitimacy of their reigns. Males could be expected to fight wars, do business, build things, and do everything females could except lead. This was how things had always been, and at the time, I thought that's how it always would be. If a male was to get anywhere in life, they'd have to attach themselves to a strong female to get there...
Then the moment came. New Year's Eve, December of 4990. To this day, I still don't know how it happened. How did a handful of scavengers manage to take out the strongest dragon in the Kingdom of Sand? How is it that all but one was able to slip through our grasp? What was Oasis thinking, wandering about the castle in the middle of the night with no escort? These thoughts have haunted me all these years, and for the life of me I still struggle to come to a satisfactory conclusion.
That night, I was putting the finishing touches on what was my greatest creation yet - the Xero-Model Single-Shot Crossbow. A simple device, yet perhaps the biggest advancement in draconian weapons technology ever. For most of draconic history, combat between Dragons had been an up close, brutal affair. Our wings and innate specialized abilities have given us a (completely justified) sense of superiority over all other things, but caused our advancement in the art of war to remain stagnant. The primitive shelters our kind built before The Scorching were pale shadows compared to the glorious palaces and cities of the modern age, and yet in those 4000 years, the only weapons we've added to our arsenal is… a pointy stick. Compare that to the scavengers. They may be small and weak, but their frail form belies a potent intellect unmatched by any lesser beast. It's from them, and the reported tales of metal and wood machines they used to defend their dens, that gave me the idea of the Crossbow.
After finding a suitable material to make the string, I developed the "foothold" at the front, which helped hold the crossbow as the wielder reloads. After the trip to the Sky Kingdom, I discovered a neat little trick. While intended to be pressed onto the ground for manual reloading, a dragon with strong legs (or even tail) could hold onto the foothold and pull back the drawstring while airborne. It'd be more difficult than on the ground of course, but Hypaethral didn't seem to have any difficulty with the prototype, and the finished product would be a lot easier to work with.
I had even started working on a special model for Burn herself - a massive crossbow as strong as she was, drawn back solely by the user's physical strength and weight. Building a designer weapon isn't too difficult, but it raised questions on creating the next generation. Using a tighter string will use more energy, delivering much greater force - perhaps even piercing armor or firing through flesh. But not many dragons are as strong as the Princess, and wouldn't be able to pull back the string at all, let alone quickly. It made me consider alternative ways of pulling back the string and reloading, something that'd require much less effort.
It was this very subject I was pondering on when I heard roaring coming from outside my window. I looked up, leaving my desk and walked to the window. Outside, I had a clear, if dim, view of the courtyard at night. I could see one or two tiny pinpoints of light close to the ground rapidly moving away from the courtyard and out into the sands outside. Scavengers! I thought, recognizing the lights for small torches. What're those damned things doing out here at this time of night?
There was another roar, and the sound of wingbeats. I looked back, and spotted a large, dark shape laying in the middle of the courtyard. Up above, I saw a dragon rapidly descend and land next to the shape, shaking it roughly.
"Mother! Mother, please wake up!" Someone was shouting, begging. It was Burn, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I recognized the shape on the ground as Queen Oasis. Thinking quickly, I grabbed my medical kit and hopped out the window, flying my way down to the two Royals. When I landed, my heart sank. One look was all it took to know that Queen Oasis was dead. A spear jutted out of her heart, a growing pool of blood leaking out from the wound. Her tail barb had also been removed, a trail of blood drops leading away in the direction the scavengers fled.
"Guards! Guards!" Burn cried out, getting to her feet one more, "Come quick! The Queen has been attacked!" In the distance, I could hear the flapping of wings. She looked at me, desperate panic written all over her face. "Please!" She begged. "You must-"
"There's nothing I can do." I apologized. "She's gone. I'm so sorry."
She shot me a death glare of such intensity that even I, having long been exposed to her terrifying gaze, found myself taking a step back. Her eyes sparkled in the torchlight and moonlight, and I realized she was crying bitter, angry tears. She slammed her fists onto the ground, stabbed the sand with her tail, roared her rage and pain and grief for all to hear. As much as historians try to write Burn as an irredeemable, heartless monster, in that moment I saw a daughter who lost her mother and best friend. For all her violence and sadistic tendencies, there were still things that she loved and cared about in this world.
Key word being "were".
"Mother! No! No, Please, no!" Looking back to the sky, it seemed like the entire Palace was coming out to see what was going on. Leading the charge of guards, servants and looky-loos were Blister and Blaze, the only ones brave enough to get close to us in Burn's state. Blaze rushed to her mother's side, makeup running in black streaks as she openly sobbed. Blister remained at a distance, looking surprised but not horrified or grief-struck. Maybe she was just shocked, unable to process the magnitude of what just happened. Maybe...
"Hey," One of the guards whispered to another guard, a little too loud for his own good, "Which one is Queen now, boss?"
Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the Princesses. The Princesses, in turn, stopped what they were doing to look at each other. In that moment, you could cut the tension with a knife, as it felt like every eye in the Kingdom of Sand was suddenly on us. Who would move first?
The Sandwing Succession Crisis had begun.