The SandWing smiled as he clawed across Falcon's chest. The SandWing stabbed his tail straight into the chink in Falcon's tail. Falcon howled, clawing at his attacker with his ruby-red talons. They both rolled, kicking up sand in their wake.

The SandWing pinned Falcon to the ground, both coated in blood. The SandWing leaned down, until he was nose to nose with the SkyWing. "Be glad that you are merely a demonstration. You will not die today, Sky-spawn. But you will fail to protect the princess in the end," he hissed into Falcon's ear.

Falcon surged upwards with a yell, knocking his attacker off. The SandWing stabbed with his tail, scratching Falcon's leg. He smiled, licked the blood from his mouth, and vanished. And with that, Falcon collapsed.

When Falcon woke up, the sun was rising. He remembered it being midday when he battled the strange thief, so he'd been passed out for at least a few hours.

A scarlet dragonet, covered by a brown, torn up cloak stood over him. From what Falcon could see, she had crimson markings on her snout. Just like Garnet, the very dragonet he was out in the desert to find. She smiled a little once she noticed he was awake, but did not speak. "P-Princess Garnet?" he croaked, his voice scratchy and uneven.

Her expression turned from quiet joy to one of fury. Quick as lightning, she placed her talon on Falcon's throat, making it hard to breathe. "I am not Garnet, I am Beryl now. Don't you breathe a word to anyone else, or else."

Ah, the unbridled fury of Princess Garnet. Falcon had seen it happen a few times. She tried hard to control it, from what the guard could tell, but it occasionally let it out. She must be serious about running away, if she let he fury out so easily. Falcon nodded.

Garnet sighed, and lifted her talon from his neck. She pulled her cloak lower over her face. "Sorry about that," she murmured, her rage gone.

Once again, Falcon only nodded. He tried to sit up, the world spinning when he did so. Never mind. he thought dizzily.

"You were out searching for me, weren't you?" Garnet muttered, staring at her talons.

"Yes," Falcon replied, his throat aching as he spoke.

Another dragon arrived from over a collection of sand dunes. His scales were the color of copper, and he moved like he knew every grain of sand in the desert. "Hey there. I'm Sobek, this is Beryl," Sobek nodded to the princess, who looked like she wanted to melt into the sand. She was nervous Falcon would reveal her true identity.

Falcon would not. He was a loyal solider, and if loyalty meant keeping this secret, and calling his princess "Beryl", than he would. "I'm Falcon," he choked out.

Garnet smiled, and her eyes glowed with thankfulness. "So, Falcon, what were you doing alone out in the desert?" Sobek gave him a severe look.

"Looking for something. I've found it, so I just need to get back home," Falcon looked back towards the direction he thought the Sky Castle was.

Garnet and Sobek looked at each other, and seemed to have a silent conversation. "Would you like to come with us to a village near the Night Kingdom? I'm going to be staying in that village," Garnet offered.

Princess Garnet wants to live there, doesn't she. Well, Dad would've went with her, and probably even moved into the village, too. And protected her along the way. "Yeah, sure," Falcon decided. "When do we go?"

"As soon as you're ready," Sobek kneaded the sand between his talons. Nervous. What about? Falcon considered.

"I can do this," Falcon gritted his teeth, and stood up. I'm one of Queen Olympus's royal guard. We are trained to be resilient. It isn't safe for the princess being in one place like this, especially when that SandWing sounded like he's going to hurt Princess Garnet.

Falcon felt unsteady, and it was hard to grip the sand under his talons. Falcon's wounds burned like lava, but he stayed on his feet.. He couldn't stand up straight, like he did when he was guarding the Queen, but Falcon hoped he looked brave.

Garnet gave him a surprised glance, like she didn't expect him to be able to get up.

And without a word, one able-bodied SandWing, one SkyWing princess, and one SkyWing royal guard set off.