Hey all, here with another chapter. I read in reviews that I moved the plot along rather quickly last chapter, and yes, that was sort of intentional. Once I'm done with the "Seawing arc" in this story, I'm planning on making more divergence from the main story, changing things up and making it so events play out far different from the original story starting in the rainforest. I've read stories many times that are just a slight change while following the main plot of the original, and I wanted to make this story more unique. It will have the same direction, but a quite different journey, and I guess I just wanted to get to that part a little sooner rather than later. Thank you all for being supportive of my little story that I've made so far, and I hope that I can continue to satisfy in making a story you all enjoy. But for now, please enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own wings of fire.

"Normal speech"

"Thoughts"

Coral looked up as she also saw the glow behind the canopy, about to scream before Wither stopped her, putting a talon on hers to grab her attention "They don't know that we've realized they're here. If we can evacuate quietly, we can get everyone out before their attack even starts." Coral looked to him, before nodding, looking to Shark. "Start evacuations, tell everyone to stay quiet. Webs... make yourself useful and help me gather my scrolls." Webs nodded as Shark flew off, gathering his guards as they went to the residents of the palace. Coral flew to her library, carrying Auklet and Wave. Webs looked to Riptide for a long moment, before flying to join Coral. Wither Turned to the five dragonets next to him. "Time for you all to leave. The tunnel is going to be packed with Seawings, so... Our only option is out the canopy, right into whatever size of an army this is..." He sighs, looking at the woven bracelet on his talon. "...I don't have much choice, do I?"

Sunny frowned. "Wither... You've already done so much for us. You don't have to do this." He shook his head. "Pretty sure any chance of me not getting involved was thrown out the proverbial window the moment it got Coral to realize how badly she was being manipulated." He sighed, looking up to the canopy. "... Let's wait inside until they start dropping whatever those things they're carrying are. We can take them by surprise when they stop to wonder why they aren't hearing any screaming." Tsunami nods. "If there's a fight, I'm fighting too." Wither gave a sad smile to the Seawing princess. "The most important thing is that you five make it out of this alive. If it gets dicey, just fly away. I'll be fine." Sunny shook her head. "No... We won't abandon you." He paused for a moment, seeing Tsunami with the same expression as Sunny, before he sighed, giving a small chuckle. "You five are going to be the death of me. Alright. Fine. We fly away together."

Coral flew past, looking towards them for a brief moment. Wither gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'll make sure they all get out safely. Go. Take care of your people." Coral nodded in thanks, before diving down to the tunnel. Thankfully, the evacuation was going quickly, but it was also quiet. There wasn't panic going throughout the palace. Wither watched as the last couple of Seawings went through the tunnel, spotting Webs, who had what looked to be about six bags, all filled with scrolls, strapped onto his back. Wither chuckled, knowing that life wasn't going to be easy for the former deserter, but at least Webs had a chance to redeem himself. He looked to the dragonets, nodding to them "Now, we wait." They waited for a long while, seconds feeling like minutes passing slowly, the only noise being the waterfalls and the faint flapping of wings outside. The quiet only helped amp up the anxiety and caution in the dragonets, until the first flaming log fell through the canopy, burning through the leaves and shattering against one of the pavilion pillars. Half a dozen more of these firebombs dropped through, making holes in the green plant film over the palace, leaving the leaves and vines singed and starting to smoke as some had caught fire. Then it stopped. They could all hear spoken confusion from outside as Skywings and Mudwings hovered over the newly created holes along with a single growling voice as a large brown Mudwing flew through the canopy, spotting Wither and the dragonets as she landed on their level. Wither got up calmly, his eyes narrowing as the dragonets tensed. Starflight was shivering, Sunny hiding behind Clay, who covered her with his wings. Glory looked indignant at this Mudwing while Tsunami growled, ready to fight.

The Mudwing scoffed. "So, we just manage to catch the dragonets... and what's this? A freak of nature? What tribe do you come from? Or are you just an unwanted monster?" Wither didn't show any outward change in expression, just keeping narrowed eyes at the Mudwing. "Crocodile I presume? Queen Coral has already moved everyone to the deep palace. Your assault on this place is meaningless." Crocodile growled, fixing her gaze on the dragonets. "I guess you all will have to be the consolation prize. Scarlet's arena has been lonely since you five messed it up." That caused Tsunami, Clay, and Starflight to shiver. Wither gave a deep breath, sighing. "Take your troops and leave now if you value their lives. I despise killing, but I won't hesitate to resort to such means if you continue threatening them.

Crocodile laughed loudly. "You? Against our army? You must be delusional. Maybe we'll have these five watch as we kill you." She stalked forward, the five dragonets watching anxiously as Tsunami growled. "Another step and I'll rip your face off!" Crocodile smiled maliciously. "Oh, I don't need to take you all back alive. The Sandwing will be perfect for queen Burn, but the rest of you are expendable." She smirked as another flaming log burst through the canopy. "Aw, are you sad that we're destroying your precious summer palace, Seawing? I'm sure it will be all better once we burn your friend's corpses." Two skywing soldiers flew down to the level they were in, flanking Crocodile as she approached, a look of glee in her eye as she focused her attention on Sunny and Starflight, who had the most fearful reactions.

Wither twisted his head to crack his neck, the sound reverberating off the walls of the palace. The sound caused Crocodile and her two guards to pause for a moment as Wither started to get up. he slipped the bracelet off as he spoke. "The thing I hate most about this war... is that it allows dragons like you the freedom to act without consequence. You find enjoyment in tormenting these dragonets, pleasure in seeing your enemy squirm... Well. know this." His body started to shift as the magic faded, his body rapidly growing until he was at his full original height, towering over the Mudwing, the skywings and the Dragonets. His voice grew louder and deeper with each word as his body grew, before reverberating off the walls of the palace as Wither glared down at the offending dragons who now stood before him, dwarfed by his size. "You aren't just threatening them, you are threatening me... and I am the last dragon alive you want to push into anger." His growl almost shook the walls of the palace as Crocodile and Skywings stared up at him, petrified by the huge dragon in front of them.

Crocodile was the first to recover. "So, you're big. So what? Just means a bigger target." Wither looked as if he was thinking, before nodding. "Yes, that is true, but... It also means that I have far more mass and weight to my body, thus... I can do this." Quick as a flash, he thrust his talon out in front of one of the skywings, stopping an inch from the dragon. Everyone froze, the targeted skywing looking puzzled as Wither had stopped his talon an inch from his face, Wither's thumb claw overlapping the first index claw. And then, Wither flicked the Skywing's chin. The Skywing's head jerked back at the force, the pure momentum of the simple flick to the bottom of his jaw causing his brain to rattle and overload in his skull. The Skywing landed in a heap on the floor, unconscious.

Wither looked to the remaining Skywing and mudwing, observing them as they stared at the downed dragon. "Well, I believe that's negotiation out of the question now... I really would prefer you just stand down. You are fighting for what you believe in... And unfortunately, that entails fighting for a warmongering Sandwing." Crocodile seethed in rage, before lunging forward, trying to claw at Wither's face. Her Talons scraped against his scales, the sound like talons on a chalkboard ringing out as her talons scratched to try and draw blood but was stopped by the scales. Wither used the distraction to grab her by the tail, spinning to hurl her over his body and into the floor next to him with a loud thud, the stone beneath her body cracking from the force as Wither continued talking. "My scales are akin to stone. It will take much more than that to harm me, Mudwing." Crocodile had a dazed expression on her as she gasped for air, staring at the ceiling with the wind knocked out of her lungs as the last skywing breathed fire onto Wither, trying to get him off her. Wither moved his head just in time to avoid it. His tail whipped around to smack the Skywing out of the level of the pavilion and into the far wall of the palace, cracks forming from where he impacted.

Wither let go of Crocodile, looking to the dragonets. "Time to fly!" He slipped the bracelet into his pouch, quickly tied it around his shoulder, spread his wings and took off. The dragonets followed behind him as they went up towards the canopy. Wither had to rip his way through, none of the holes big enough for his body to fit through. His form tore through the green foliage into the open, causing Several dozen shouts of surprise as both Skywings and Mudwings tried to get out of the way of the giant dragon, two Mudwings accidentally dropping one of their burning logs and landing on an unfortunate Skywing below. The dragonets followed after him as Wither tried to get a bearing of the situation. There were at least fifty Soldiers here. This was going to be tricky.

Loud splashes came from below as Seawing soldiers burst out of the ocean, giving battle cries as they charged towards the Skywing/Mudwing force. Wither blinked, before chuckling, his voice now far less menacing now that he didn't have the added effect of the palace making it amplified. "I guess Coral's giving us a distraction. Come on!" He gestured south towards the continent, beginning to fly that way when something scraped the scales on his right thigh. He turned, before glaring coldly at his attacker: Blister. She had attempted to use her stinger on him, but it hadn't been able to penetrate his scales. He swiped a talon at her as she dodged out of the way, circling around to breath fire on him. The flames licked at his scales, blackening some of them as he roared, spinning to lash his tail at her and clipping her shoulder. She roared as she dived towards him, the barb of her tail going in for another jab as she raked her claws against his snout, only for Wither to use his right talon to catch her tail and gripping hard as he pushed her face away with his other talon, holding her by her neck. Wither growled loudly as he glared into Blister's eyes as she frantically tried to get out of his grip, his talons drawing blood as the claws sank into her scales. She screamed in fury. "You ruined everything! You will die for humiliating me!" He growled in a voice that was both furious and threatening as he held Blister's neck in place so he could stare straight into her eyes. "Out of you and your sisters, I hate you the most. All that intelligence, and you squander it on petty vengeance and greed. If you follow us... I will kill you." Blister growled in frustration, before giving a panicked roar as Wither let go of her neck and pulled her by her tail, her wingbeats unable to contest against his advantage in size. He spun around a couple of times midair, swinging Blister by her tail, before throwing her into the green canopy of the summer palace, the sandwing queen candidate disappearing as her weight was the final straw for the whole top of the palace to cave in on itself. He frowned, starting to turn when Crocodile launched out of the wreckage, barreling towards him.

The dragonets had swung back around just as Crocodile tackled her entire weight into Wither's right wing, causing him to falter in his flight with a surprised yelp. He needed to take a second to readjust himself, but it was long enough for her to breath fire straight into his face. He roared in pain, grabbing Crocodile by her neck and throwing her off to the side, rubbing his eyes that had been singed. He panted lightly, his sight slowly returning as he saw Crocodile try to barrel into him again as she screamed. "I'm going to make sure at least four of those dragonets become stuffed in Queen Burn's collection!" Her talons raked against his snout, causing him to twist to try and smack her with his tail, but only managed to clip her. She roared more fire onto him, the stone scales on his underbelly becoming charred as he growled, swinging a talon to try and knock her away. The biggest downside of his size was that it was hard to reach in some areas, and that was proving true as Crocodile kept dipping out of the way of his talon swipes.

Crocodile shot upward, before dropping to slam her weight into his back, some the scales cracking as she gave a triumphant roar. She flew back up before he could grab her, giving a cruel smile at his panting form. "Maybe I'll request the Mudwing to stay alive. I could use a new toy." Wither stopped for a moment, letting that statement sink in. He took a deep breath before speaking in a soft voice but filled with nothing but cold apathy. "... So be it. You forced me to do this. A dragon like you is too dangerous to keep alive." He took a deep breath, seeing Crocodile about to charge. The red lines under his scales dimmed, becoming nearly black as he extended his neck, and exhaled an ominous black cloud. The miasma filled the air in front of him as she tried to beat her wings to stop herself, but it was too late. The moment she touched the black cloud, her screams started.

The dragonets had to cover their ears to try and block out the unholy screaming coming from Crocodile, each of them peeking from shut eyes to try and figure out what was happening, and it was nothing short of horrifying. Crocodile was flutily scraping at her front talons, but as she did, the black miasma that had touched her body started to spread. Where the line of the black cloud moved, scales and flesh dried and shriveled, becoming bone thin as it traveled up her talons. She screamed in agony. "It hurts! Make it stop!" She stared at Wither with the desperation that only eminent death could bring out, hoping against everything that she wouldn't die. But all she saw was Wither's cold expression as it traveled further up her body. Bolts of what looked to be dark red energy traveled through the cloud as it spread along her scales, seemingly pulled out of Crocodile where the cloud had touched. The bolts shot through the miasma like small arcs of electricity, before striking Wither's scales, being absorbed into them. It had gotten to her shoulders when the skin and scales of her talons fell off, revealing the ivory white bone underneath, before the bones themselves started to crumble away in the sea breeze. She screamed even louder as it traveled up and down her underbelly, tears falling from her face as she pleaded and begged for mercy. "Please! Please spare me! I don't want to die!" Wither remained silent, watching her body be consumed, before speaking softly in a mournful voice. "…I'm sorry." The black miasma finally reached her heart. Her breath caught as the light in her eyes faded. Then she went limp. The miasma continued to spread as her body fell towards the ocean below, the flesh and scales seeming to disintegrate until all that fell was a dragon skeleton, and even that blew away into the sea breeze, her very bones turned to dust before she even hit the ground.

Wither stared for a long moment as Crocodile turned to dust, swallowing the lump in his throat. He already felt the tears brimming in his eyes as he looked away from the dissipating dragon corpse. He swallowed again, taking a long, shaky breath to calm his nerves. Now was not the time. There were still five dragonets to make sure were safe. He started to fly over towards them when two Skywings dove after the dragonets. He saw Tsunami roar as she grappled with one of the soldiers, clay intercepting the other Skywing. Wither rushed forward as claws raked against Clay's side, drawing blood as the Mudwing dragonet roared in pain. Sunny flew behind the Skywing, her sharp teeth sinking into the soldier's tail, causing the Skywing to roar in pain. Clay took advantage of the distraction, swinging around to slam his tail into the side of the soldier's head, sending the Skywing toppling down towards the sea with what had to be a concussion. The soldier landed heavily onto an island jutting out of the water.

Tsunami was doing her best to fend off the Skywing soldier, but the size of the soldier was making things go in his favor. Tsunami had several scratches and cuts along her scales and talons, blood leaking from the wounds. Glory circled around slammed into the soldier's back to give Tsunami some leeway, letting Tsunami take a swipe with her talons at the Skywing's snout. The dragon roared as blood filled his nostrils and got in his eyes from the sea breeze. Tsunami smacked her tail across shaking his head, disorienting him until Wither's huge talon came in and slammed him downwards by his shoulder, dislocating the soldier's right wing. The soldier roared as he fell, before landing in the sea with a huge splash. Wither looked towards the five dragonets, noticing the questioning/horrified expressions on them, all but Starflight panting from their fight. He couldn't find the strength to shout, speaking quietly. "Fly now. I'll answer questions later. Too dangerous here." They nodded dumbly as they flew south-west, towards the border between the rainforest and the mud kingdom.

They flew for nearly two hours before setting down in a cave they had found, Wither sighing as he settled the bracelet on his wrist again, so he didn't take up too much space. They sat in awkward silence for a long while, seconds feeling like minutes passing as Wither avoided their gazes. Tsunami was the first to bark out. "Ok, what in the three moons was that!? What did you do to Crocodile!? That was horrifying! I'm probably going to have nightmares about it!" Starflight nods. "I-I'd also like to know... I don't know any dragons who could do... well, that." Sunny was shivering next to clay, Clay holding her comfortingly as Glory erred on caution, standing as if she was ready to strike.

It hurt to see them so cautious, but Wither didn't blame them. He would react very similarly if he were them. He took a long breath, before giving a deep sigh, settling down. "I really wish you wouldn't ask... as I said before, the less you all know about me, the better. It's better for everyone that I don't become relevant to any of what's going on." Tsunami growled. "Well, when you have a breath that turns dragons into skeletons then dust, yeah, a little late for that! What are you? Are you actually a monster like the rumor?" Wither grimaced, taking another deep sigh. "Well... Yes and no." They all gave him a 'What's that supposed to mean' look. He looked to all of them, giving a sad smile. "Alright... I can see I'm not getting out of this... If you want to know everything, I need to start from the beginning. Which... there are still details I'd prefer to keep to myself, but I can give you all a basic understanding... But can we do this after we get some food? Any louder and Clay's stomach could call a swarm of Skywings on us." As if on que, Clay's stomach rumbled loudly. The dragonets all groaned but agreed.

While the dragonets hunted, Wither went on his own towards the border of the mud kingdom. It had been while since he had crocodile, and he was starting to get properly sick of seafood. His mind wandered to the dragonets, their looks of caution and fear. All too familiar. He shook his head lightly. "They're still children, thrown into a world that has just about everyone else against them. Besides... Who am I to judge? I killed a dragon right in front of them." He threw his thoughts into finding prey, spotting a crocodile lazing in a mud puddle. Wither felt sorry for the poor, clueless creature as he descended on it, slashing through the back of its neck to sever the spine. A quick, clean kill. He grabbed it by its tail, before looking up. The sun had started to go down, but Wither could already see the stars in the sky. He stopped to gaze at the stars for a moment, remembering times just like this. Opening up to dragons. Revelations. Caution. Doubt. Fear. Was it really happening all over again?... He shook his head again, shaking out those thoughts. He looked towards where the cave was, flying back towards it silently.

It wasn't too hard for the other dragonets to get some prey from the area, but the dragonets were getting sick of crab for every meal. They luckily caught a wild boar and a couple of rabbits. Starflight and Clay started a fire to roast it all as Wither settled down in the cave, dragging in his kill. He threw it onto the pile of prey as he sat down. "Alright... while this is cooking, I guess we could get started with some of the questions." Tsunami jumped up. "How did you do that to her? And... Just what are you?" He sighed, knowing that was coming. "Well, any other questions before I start on that one? That one will take... quite a bit of explaining." Sunny looked up to him. "... Did you feel sorry for what you did to her?" Wither blinked in surprise, before giving a sad smile. "... It never gets easier. Yes... I've had to use that many times in my life... Never once have I enjoyed the prospect of killing other dragons... It hurt to watch her die, just as it always does... " He gave a sad laugh. "That's the reality. I'm this big, intimidating figure on the outside, but honestly, I'm... a rather pathetic coward, hiding away from the world. You all have no idea the heart attack I had when I woke up to you five on my island."

Sunny smiles. "... I don't think you're a coward. It took a lot of courage to put yourself out there for us... And even now, you're staying with us to keep us safe... You're a kind dragon, just like I first thought." Wither sat silent for a while, thinking on that. "...I wish I could see myself that way..." He took a deep breath. "Anymore before I start on Tsunami's question?" Glory piped up, still on edge. "How do we know what happened to Crocodile won't happen to us. You said yourself, you've killed out of anger." Wither winced lightly. "... I was young like you all were once. Young and foolish, allowing my emotions to get the best of me. It is a... habit that is difficult to break. Even now, I can't always control my emotions. I'm sure Starflight can attest since he's dealt with the brunt of that." Starflight nodded. "Sorry again for that." Wither sighed. "Don't apologize so much. You've already been forgiven, and there is no use in further blaming yourself." He looked at all of them, scanning them for a long moment, before shifting lightly as he spoke "I guess to get started on Tsunami's question, let me start off with a proper introduction." He got to his full height, looking to all five of the young dragonets, speaking slowly.

"Hello, dragonets of destiny.

Clay. Glory. Tsunami. Starflight. Sunny.

I am Wither.

Last of the Deathwing Tribe."

Yeah, as I said in the last chapter, The character and abilities I've given Wither are unique ones that I liked for him, but the name isn't exactly original for his tribe. This is the sort of end of the first "Arc" that I made for this story, and the next chapter is going to be an Epilogue for this arc, and prologue for the Rainforest arc that I have planned. This is where things will start diverging a little more heavily from the original story, and characters might start coming off as OOC, but that's because I want this story to emphasize that the dragons have learned and changed, since I have read on reddit that the characters just divert back to how they were in previous books after the one that focuses of them. I want there to be substantial character development for all these characters, but in a way that feels natural. But anyway, Review if you want, always up for advice to improve. I will be trying to make chapters longer from here on since I'm going to be using the books far more loosely after this point, so expect longer chapters after the next one. And as always, thank you for giving my story a chance. I'll see you all next week.