I'm not dead, and neither is the story, I swear! Sorry, life has been… Life. And it just got in the way of everything, and I'm writing this on my birthday! Yay!
The duo stopped for a rest, after a few hours of hobbling along. Garnet surveyed the land, wondering how the SandWings managed to survive on a few lizards a day. Sobek had gone off to hunt, leaving the princess in the shade of a sand dune. She leaned against it, feeling the sand shift beneath her scales.
The desert was so different from the mountains, but at the same time, kind of similar. The cold, cold nights were nothing new. The way that a flat land-scape could become filled with small mountains of sand, that was mind-boggling, though.
The SkyWing began to think about her backstory. Sobek would wonder why she was here instead of the mountains. He would wonder where her parents were. Most of all, the SandWing would want to know why she couldn't go back home.
My mother was a jeweler named Dove. My father was named… Thor. Yeah. I like that. They died recently, and I went to the Kingdom of Sand to start a new life, as they were quite influential, and I wanted to make a life out of my own merits.
Just then, Sobek flew straight through the dune, scattering sand everywhere. "Hey! Did you have to do that?" Garnet cried, shaking out her wings.
"Why yes, yes I did," Sobek laughed, handing her a lizard. "Tomorrow, we'll be three days away from the town that would accept you. Today, if we're quick, we can make it to another settlement. It's small, and they don't want any newcomers. But we can stay for a day or two. Sound good?"
Garnet nodded. "Sounds good," she took a bite of her lizard. "So, you said that we're visiting a friend of yours. What's the deal?"
"Orion, a NightWing, his sister Planetseeker, and a friend of theirs, Rattlesnake. Nothing special, I just visit them every year around this time. They'll visit me in a few months. We don't see each other often, considering I live on the other side of the Kingdom of Sand. So, what's your reason. You've definitely got more to your story than meets the eye, I'm sure," Sobek gave her a searching look.
"Nothing crazy. I just wanted to try my talon at living in the desert. Is that too much to ask?" Garnet wasn't going to use her fake backstory unless she had to. She didn't want to get caught up in a web of her own lies.
Suddenly, they heard a shout from the distance. The two simply glanced at each other, and without words, they both started off in the direction of the shout.
They came across a SkyWing collapsed in the sand, bleeding from wounds made by a SandWing. "Three moons, there are guards all the way out here?" Garnet murmured. He wore an armband that signified himself as a royal guard, and he had been no doubt out looking for Garnet.
"Dusty," Sobek breathed. "Beryl, we should help him. But, this isn't good. Two attacks in one day, both pretty close to where I am. This is what he does with his more important prey. He scares them, attacking dragons nearby, only injuring those dragons, but making it clear he could make the kill if he wanted to. I think, he's coming for me," fear shone in the copper dragon's eyes.
Garnet remembered the murderous glint in Dusty's eye. No, it was more likely that he knew who Garnet was. He was sent to kill her, the SkyWing had never been more sure of anything.