AS 3012
Outcast
Prologue
Brilliant watched the blur of black scales get larger and larger. She had to warn her subjects, and immediately switched her scales to camouflage. Diving into the thick canopy of trees, Brilliant felt the twigs scrape her scales.
As she had requested, every RainWing in the forest was gathered in front of her, ready to hear the Queen's report.
"What happened?" a voice called from the back.
Brilliant shook her head, but whispered, "They're coming."
Silence.
In unison, the rainbow of colours of the RainWings became the same shade that of olive green. Brilliant looked down at her legs, which were shifting to violet.
In her mind, she was formulating a plan to get everyone out. The NightWings were coming, with their future-seeing and mind-reading, they couldn't fight back.
"RainWings! Get out! Now!"
They didn't need Brilliant to tell them, but they weren't going fast enough. In the corner of her eye, NightWings were coming in, some of them yelling "Darkstalker! He's coming to get us!"
Panic erupted.
A tsunami of terror gushed through the trees, every RainWing desperate to get out.
Not everyone was going to escape, Brilliant was sure of it. The NightWings were killing everyone. Before Brilliant could blink, some NightWing grabbed her, and her tiny dragonet was forced to watch.
Ropes.
Brilliant slowly opened her eyes. She tried to move, but nothing happened. An unfamiliar voice rumbled, "Queen Brilliant of the RainWings, your tribe is dying as we speak. There is no hope for you now."
She closed her eyes, and then everything suddenly went black.
Chapter 1
About 2000 years later. . .
Glory was 6 years old.
But to all the NightWings, she didn't even exist.
With expert skills, Glory swung from branch to branch, to get a partial view of Cursebringer sitting on her throne. The NightWings were bowing to her, and Cursebringer was used to it. Treasure was thrown onto the ground, as if it had bored her.
That should have been Glory.
She was one the few RainWings left in the rainforest, the last royal. Her whole life had been waiting, hoping to be the one to save all of them. She had a plan: kill Cursebringer, threaten her way to leadership, free the RainWings, and kick the NightWings out. Maybe today was the day. Still hanging from her branch, she held the scroll closer to her chest. The last RainWing scroll, the last clue to finding the rest of her family.
Bubbles of blush pink were appearing on her scales, and a guard barked, "Hey!"
Never being spotted before, Glory ran, and frantically, and made her way back to the RainWing camp. She corkscrewed, twisted and turned, knowing that the NightWings would be right behind her. She was too panicked to switch to camouflage, and Glory could lose them. Glory plummeted, and the camp was heartbeats away. It was home to about 10 RainWings whose parents had managed to not be killed by the NightWings.
As she fell, Glory caught glimpses of the tiny camp.
Burned to ashes.
But it had been that way as long as Glory could remember. Spreading out her talons, she landed.
And the dead bodies became visible.
Glory noticed the pink fade down, and every single scale shimmered grey. They couldn't be dead, no, they couldn't. Glory blinked ferociously, holding back tears and spreading her scroll on the ground. She couldn't mourn, not now.
The scroll's past owner was Cursebringer, so she was definitely happy about Glory stealing her most prized possession, even if Glory didn't know what it was for.
When the NightWings fled from Darkstalker, they went to the rainforest. Glory read, They killed every last RainWing.
Glory chuckled lightly to herself.
Hah, she thought, You wish.
Darkstalker had only one living relative, Whiteout. Whiteout secretly had dragonets with a RainWing named Binturong, bringing animus magic into the nearly- extinct tribe.
In more recent looking handwriting, Glory saw A few of the RainWings escaped, and Whiteout's dragonets started a camp for the surviving RainWings and there are currently plans forming to destroy it. The RainWings who managed to escape went to the MudWings and SkyWings, just trying to survive. The Queens are aware of this, and any RainWings found will be killed immediately.
Don't worry, fellow NightWings, the RainWings will be gone once and for all.
Well that's a cheerful thought.
Glory blinked once more. If Whiteout actually had dragonets with Binturong, then maybe the RainWings had magic. Or was it RainWing, singular? It was a long shot, but maybe it could wield
Glory stared at a leaf, before saying "Leaf, I enchant you to fly up and wrap yourself around my wrist."
Nothing.
"Glory!" a tiny voice called.
"Ambrosia!" Glory said, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm scared," Ambrosia replied, tears welling up in her eyes, "NightWings were coming and killing everybody, a-and I escaped."
Her voices came out in hiccups and sobs, and within moments the scroll was damp.
"Don't worry," Glory said fiercely, "No NightWing will hurt you, ever."
She held Ambrosia closer to her chest, determined to keep her promise. NightWings were all evil, every single one of them.
Ambrosia was a mix of grey and a sick olive green while Glory could feel her own scales shifting to black, as they always did. Ambrosia was young, but she'd witnessed too much death.
"No," Ambrosia added, "Don't be mad."
Randomly, Glory wasn't mad, she was just sad. But why? She tried to keep being mad, but nothing happened. How did Ambrosia do that?
"Ambrosia," Glory realised, "You're an animus!"
"What?"
"Oh, my goodness, you're an animus!" Glory said, "You can kill all the NightWings!"
Ambrosia replied, "I don't want to."
Glory managed a pitying expression. If she were an animus, then the NightWings would go back to where they came from, and everything would be perfect.
She paused for a moment, not letting her jealousy get the best of her. Glory was not an animus and nobody could change that.
Maybe Ambrosia could. . .
"Can you take the spell you put on me? Please?"
Ambrosia nodded, whispered a few inaudible words, and Glory felt her natural loathing for the NightWings return.
"Thanks."
They had to leave, Glory knew it. If the NightWings found out, Ambrosia would be killed, or worse, have dragonets with a NightWing.
Glory had an idea.
"We'll go to the kingdom of the Sea. I overheard that they have an animus! They'll help you."
"But I'm a RainWing, Coral will kill me."
"You don't have to be," Glory responded, spreading her wings and letting them shift to a soft peacock green.
"We don't have gills, or flashy stripes."
For her age, Ambrosia was pretty smart. But so was Glory.
"You can give us gills."
"I don't want to."
Glory knew Ambrosia was stubborn, so there was no point arguing. Maybe their disguise would work for a little while, long enough, anyway. Apparently, Coral didn't pay much attention to her subjects, so maybe they could slip under her defences, maybe this could work.
The Summer Palace was beautiful, and so were the SeaWings. Everything was new, and the Queen even had a council. Everything was a shade of blue or green, including Glory and Ambrosia. Everything was perfect.
Ambrosia was calling herself Sodalite, and made herself a pretty azure blue. Glory's new name was Delphini and had coloured herself a Carolina blue, with a greyish blue undertone.
They'd been hiding in the shadows for days, and Glory couldn't build up enough confidence to tell Coral that Ambrosia was an animus.
"WHY IS THERE A MUDWING IN MY SUMMER PALACE?" a regal voice barked. In unison, Glory and Ambrosia whipped their heads toward the queen, who was glaring at a cinnamon brown dragonet Glory's age.
Like Glory, Ambrosia had never seen a MudWing before and looked fascinated by the brown scales, the wide, flat snout and even the large talons.
"These are my friends," a younger voice cried. A cobalt blue dragonet leaped in between the SeaWing queen and the MudWing, trying to stop anyone from dying. She looked a lot like Coral, and Glory wondered whether they were related. Probably.
A crimson-coloured SkyWing was sitting next to them, snarling dangerously. Her two eyes landed on Ambrosia, but Glory glared back. Ambrosia was shivering nervously, and Glory put her wing around her. Shark gave Glory a dirty look, so she gave one right back. These dragons would definitely distract every SeaWing in the palace, so maybe they wouldn't notice Ambrosia.
"You can trust them," the dragonet continued, "I promise. We were all stolen from our homes as eggs. We're the dragonets of destiny, from the prophecy."
"Ha," Shark muttered, still side-eyeing Glory.
Glory knew all about the prophecy, about how Morrowseer, a NightWing with no powers, wrote it and saw how many dragons he could fool. A RainWing could never get close enough to know who was going to win. And, she honestly didn't care.
"Oh," Coral replied slowly, "I see. Yes, that was the rumour. If you believe in things like prophecies, of course. Well, Queen Blister will be so interested to meet you. We'd better make sure you don't go anywhere."
Glory turned her head away, and held Ambrosia closer. She was too powerful, being a RainWing and an animus.
That could have been Glory.
"Put these three in Blister's cave," Glory heard, "And put a guard so they stay there."
Blister's cave.
Glory knew where that was. She could sneak past the guard easily, and talk to them. If that SeaWing was the sister of the animus, then maybe she knew something about it. Next to the SeaWing, there was a MudWing, NightWing and a strange golden dragon who reminded Glory of a SandWing.
"What?" the tiny one cried, "But we came here to be safe, not prisoners again!"
She squeaked in terror, and the MudWing yelped, "Don't hurt Sun- ow!"
Is the SandWing named Sun?
Sunshine?
Sunstone?
Sunlight?
I'll stick with Sunshine.
Sunshine was screeching frantically, and the MudWing was being pinned down by three SeaWing guards. The NightWing spotted Glory and she smiled nervously back.
"Wait," the SeaWing chimed in, "Your Majesty. . . Mother."
Glory didn't need to hear anymore.
Glory left Ambrosia on the kitchen level to help out, and no one seemed that suspicious. Night was falling, but no one had stopped working. If Glory could remember correctly, they had strong night vision, like the NightWings.
A burly guard stood in front of the entrance to Blister's cave, and Glory could take him down easily.
But if I want to befriend these dragons, then I have to show that I'm not dangerous.
"Your name?" the guard grunted, his emerald green scales almost invisible in the dark.
"Delphini," Glory replied, "Coral sent me to check on the dragonets."
The guard looked up. "Cool. You don't look like much of a SeaWing."
"I get that a lot."
Glory opened her jaw, and black liquid sprayed out of her fangs before the guard could even blink, his face was coated in venom. Clamping his mouth shut with her talons, the guard died silently, and Glory tossed his body to the side.
Yeah, she wasn't dangerous at all.
"Who is it?" Sunshine's voice echoed into the darkness, "Starflight can you see who it is?"
Starflight, Glory guessed, answered, "It's a SeaWing."
It was almost pitch black, but Glory somehow managed to sense where the four dragonets were from shuffling talons and gasping breaths.
"Where's the SeaWing?" Glory asked.
"Tsunami?" Sunshine responded, "She's somewhere, but she'll come later, right?"
Silence.
"W-why are you here?" Starflight said, "Do you have a message?"
"Not really. Just wanted to check on you guys."
"You don't look like a SeaWing," Sunny said randomly, and Glory replied, glancing at the SandWing's tail, "You're not the only one who's weird."
Slowly, Glory backed away, trying to form a plan in her head. She walked out the door, gave another quick glance at the body, and flew off into the night.
"Pearl, report," Coral commanded.
Pearl was an elegant Jade green, and Coral refused to meet her eyes.
"No change, all your jewels are safe. No scavengers can get to them, and no dragon would dare try."
Coral replied, "Splendid."
Glory's tail twitched.
That would be Glory.
Pearl snuck yet another glance at Glory, but she was used to it. Tsunami, Coral's daughter, was there, surveying her surroundings nervously.
Glory stood still, watching as Coral made her way closer to her.
"Vaquita, report."
"Delphini, your majesty."
A flash of irritation and humiliation briefly crossed Coral's snout, before disappearing into the deep blue scales.
Glory looked at the label on her pool, which had an engraved message which stated, Dragonet Care. Glory knew how to read a little, and she knew what "care" meant.
"The number of sharks breaking into hatcheries has severely decreased."
"Perfect," Coral replied, her necklace drooping slightly.
"Shark, report."
Shark's eyes were full of baleful intention, and he said, "I am concerned about our defences. The intruders in our midst are a danger to us."
Shark shifted his gaze to Tsunami, saying, "We have no idea whether they might have led others to our palace, or what they might be planning."
"Now, now," Coral responded, "These are our guests, not intruders. If my daughter trusts them, then I trust them too,"
"Manatee, rep-"
"Actually," Shark chimed in, earning a glare from his queen, "Peridot was one of my best guards. Last night, while he was fortifying the cave, Peridot was murdered. There were dragonet-sized talonmarks on his scales."
Ambrosia looked up at Glory sceptically, but Glory's face was a practised blank slate.
"Send a replacement," Coral said apathetically.
"I was thinking that they could join us for breakfast," Tsunami said, "You know, the prophecy dragonets? I'm sure they're hungry, and if they could see that they're welcome here. . ."
Tsunami trailed off, and Glory fantasied for a moment. If the dragonets of destiny came to breakfast, then maybe Glory could get close to them.
"Only council members and royalty are allowed at council meetings," Coral answered, running her talons through her pearl necklace, "But they certainly won't go hungry. Lagoon, did you make sure they were fed an ample breakfast?"
Lagoon, Glory assumed, nodded enthusiastically, before looking at Ambrosia suspiciously.
Glory caught Tsunami frowning, and when the SeaWing noticed Glory watching, Tsunami shot her a glare.
The council meeting was endless.
Glory and Ambrosia had been standing in their pool for an eternity, and Glory had to poke the dragonet to s keep her up.
"Has Burn taken over?" Piranha suggested, "She would, if she was there."
"But Scarlet's daughter might not listen to Burn the way Scarlet did," Moray added.
"What could have happened?" Coral asked, "Queen Scarlet was so strong,"
Tsunami said , "Um,"
"That might have been us."
"You!" Piranha barked while at the same time, Shark snarled
"Ridiculous."
"Queen Scarlet found us under the mountain," Tsunami blurted, "She held us prisoner in her palace, and while we were there Peril kind of turned on Scarlet because Clay told her to."
Glory almost laughed, seeing the look on Shark's smug snout.
"You were at the SkyWing palace?" Coral yelled, lunging out of her pool. The Queen seized Tsunami's talons, and Ambrosia flinched slightly. The dragonet tied to the Queen squeaked.
"Did you see a SeaWing named Gill?" the Queen cried, "Green scales, big and powerful with brave eyes?"
Tsunami nodded, looking sick. Every SeaWing's eyes were on the Queen, and Glory knew the guests would distract Coral for a while.
"I did see him," Tsunami replied slowly.
"Can you tell me where he is?" Coral asked, "We've been planning a rescue mission, but he's not in the regular prison with the others. And we've got to get him back, Tsunami. You have no idea how important this is."
Glory watched as Tsunami curled her tail close to her talons. She'd seen Ambrosia do that a lot, lately.
"He's-" her voice cracked, "He's dead,"
Glory knew all about that. For a moment, she even felt sorry for this SeaWing queen. She knew Gill was the King because NightWings supposedly knew everything.
And he was dead.
"Dead?" Coral lost balance for a moment and staggered back, "How?"
"In the arena."
Ambrosia didn't need to hear this. Glory held the dragonet closer, and twined her tail around hers.
"Who-who was he?" Tsunami asked, "An important general?"
"Much more than that," Coral said in a hollow voice.
Glory knew what was going to happen. She hoped Tsunami didn't have to hear it.
"Tsunami, Gill was your father."
"Wait up!" Glory called down the hall.
Tsunami looked back for a moment, but didn't say anything.
"How polite," Glory added under her breath.
The SeaWing stopped paying attention, ready to follow Whirlpool into the water.
"Tsunami!" Glory yelled, now running toward her. Upon hearing her name, Tsunami's head shot up, but ducked swiftly when she realised Glory was talking. It was rude, and Glory had to try pretty hard to keep her scales the same colour. Whirlpool was glaring back at Glory, and it was pretty hilarious.
"Do not distract the Princess," Whirlpool oozed, "She must fill her mind with knowledge."
"You're right," Glory said, giving Tsunami a small smile, "I'm sure this is very important.""
She left slowly, and Ambrosia was waiting for her in the pool.
"Glory," she whispered, "When will we go home?"
There was the faint sound of talons scraping stone, but Glory ignored it. She crept into the pool, and was greeted by the chills going down her spine from the cold water. She held Ambrosia close, determined to never let her go.
"Soon, Ambrosia, soon."
"Ambrosia," an unfamiliar voice said from above, "What a cute name."
"My name's not Ambrosia," Ambrosia retorted, "It's Sodalite,"
Glory's head snapped up, and Moray was standing in front of their pool, her small, colourless eyes looking smug.
"I'll tell Coral all about this," she said, grinning, "Are you spies? Well, I guess we'll find out."
There was anger growing inside of Glory' scales, and she growled from the back of her throat, "You wouldn't dare. Not if you want to join Peridot."
Glory stepped out of the pool as menacing as she could, spreading her wings. Defensively, Moray took a few steps back. Glory opened her mouth, revealing a large set of fangs. She stepped closer, lashed her tail and. . . she stopped. Why?
It could have been her imagination telling her that Tsunami was watching, or that Coral was returning but it was Ambrosia' whispering in her ear that affected her the most.
"You killed him? Glory, you promised. . . "
She looked back at the tiny dragonet, and said, "Sometimes you have to."
Before Moray could even blink, she was dead.
Chapter 2
Moray was dead.
Glory didn't care.
The water was rising, and fast. Ambrosia knew she was going to drown, but they weren't leaving. No, they had to go to Blister's cave. The Princess wasn't going to save them, and Ambrosia knew Glory was certainly going to save them. She didn't know why, and she probably never would.
Clinging on to Glory's back, Ambrosia trustingly, put her arms around her neck. Glory ran to the caves, leaving a dazed Ambrosia hanging on for dear life. Glory's snout was clamped shut, but Ambrosia was taking the deepest breaths she could in case her air was suddenly cut off. The movement of Glory's legs began to slow down, and a cave was now visible.
"Blister's cave?" Ambrosia whispered.
Glory nodded slightly, and walked in. There was that MudWing, with a SandWing, SkyWing and NightWing all on top of him, avoiding the water. Ambrosia imagined Glory telling them what a terrible idea that was. It was tiring keeping her scales the same colour, but also tiring to watch Glory racing through the palace, even when she could have fled to safety. It was too late now. The SkyWing's snout was stuck in the same grimace from days ago. Glory said the golden one was called Sunny and the NightWing was named Starflight.
"Tsunami?" Sunny' s high pitched voice called, "You finally came!"
The MudWing's face brightened a little, but that didn't last long.
"It's the SeaWing from last night," Starflight said, "With a dragonet on her back."
Glory mimed silence with her talons, before opening her jaw to reveal a key, sitting right on her tongue.
"I'm surprised Tsunami hasn't come for you guys yet," Delphini said, from their storm shelter.
Skyfall found her to be extremely suspicious. From the way she only came when nobody was around, to the way she looked absolutely nothing like a SeaWing. Skyfall was furious, like always, but she was used to it. Just like she was used to the sniping of the old dragons, the way they'd tell her she was useless, not needed for the prophecy. She was two weeks younger than the rest of them, after all. Skyfall was used to thinking everything was her fault. That the SkyWings only captured them because Clay wanted to save her from Kestrel. Just like Delphini did now.
But Tsunami didn't.
Now she was mad.
Skyfall's eyes locked on Sodalite, who was already sneaking off. Sneakily, she followed, silently slipping into the water, and of course nobody saw. Skyfall was an amazing swimmer as she'd always followed Tsunami in the river to practise. None of the big dragons seemed to notice, as always. They were too busy complaining about her. Keeping her wings close to her body, Skyfall followed the tiny hatchling paddle down the halls, and nobody was there. Sodalite was definitely hiding something.
Now she was pretty mad.
Skyfall watched Tsunami the SeaWing approach the hatchling cautiously. So, Tsunami had time for her but not Skyfall?
Now she was REALLY MAD.
"Who are you?" Tsunami barked, making Skyfall send tremors into the water.
"Sodalite, G- Delphini's little sister. You're Tsunami?"
"Who's asking?"
Skyfall got Tsunami, although none of the other dragonets tried to. But the SeaWing princess was rotten, just like the rest of them. Skyfall knew she could have tried to save Clay, but she didn't.
Now she was so INFURIATINGLY MAD THAT IF SHE DIDN'T HAVE SOMEBODY TO CLAW IN ABOUT 2 SECONDS THAT SHE WAS GOING TO EXPLODE.
Sodalite shuffled her talons, while Tsunami said, "Your sister killed Peridot, and I'm gonna prove it. I know she's gonna go after my friends too, unless I stop her."
The SeaWing began to storm her way to Blister's cave mechanically, before Sodalite chimed in, "You can't. Blister will be coming tomorrow, and Coral definitely doesn't want an investigation going on."
Skyfall scowled, and dived deeper into the water. Starflight used to tease her about trying to learn, but he couldn't follow a three-year old swimming around in a SeaWing palace, could he?
Don't worry Tsunami, I'll prove you right, whatever it takes.
In a flurry of wingbeats, Sodalite was gone, and so was Skyfall.
Ambrosia was worried for Glory. Tsunami was going after her, but luckily, Blister had arrived. She was a SandWing, but didn't look anything like Sunshine. Her scales were more of a sand dollar colour, while Sunshine's cheerful golden could never camouflage into the desert. Blister's tail was barbed while her eyes were a gleaming obsidian. The dragonets of destiny, the royal family, Blister and the council members sat at their table. The smell of raw fish lingered throughout the floor, and Sunshine was snarling lightly while Starflight seemed to hold in his gags.
Wait, not Sunshine, Sunny.
Ambrosia and Glory had been trying to learn names, but they weren't the ones they were used to.
Clay, Skyfall, Starflight, Sunny.
And Tsunami.
The SeaWing princess was staring intently at two guards, whose eyes darted anxiously from side to side.
"MOTHER!" Tsunami declared dramatically, nearly making Ambrosia jump out of her seat. For a brief moment, her scales turned pale green, but everyone was too busy watching Tsunami to notice. Well, maybe not everyone. "I have something DREADFULLY SHOCKING to tell you!"
Blister rolled her eyes, and Tsunami's eyes locked on Glory.
"Oh?" Coral asked, "Could we discuss it after breakfast? In a civilised fashion?"
Ambrosia squirmed, knowing she could use her magic to shut her up. But she couldn't, she couldn't. Did all animi feel this way? That bad things would happen if they did, but also if they didn't?
"NO IT IS JUST TOO SHOCKING," Tsunami announced, "WOULD YOU BELIEVE, that PERIDOT, a LOYAL GUARD, was MURDERED, by a DRAGON, who is sitting AT THIS VERY TABLE?"
Shark angled his ears to hear Tsunami perfectly, and Ambrosia noticed Skyfall staring intently at Glory, as was Tsunami.
"Who?" he asked, "Who dared?"
Glory was unresponsive, as always she was good at that. Ambrosia looked Tsunami in the eye, mouthing Don't do it.
Tsunami growled, a fire shining in her green eyes.
"It was DELPHINI. Isn't that UTTERLY SHOCKING? Is that even her REAL NAME?"
Blister sighed theatrically, but still said, "Delphini should be put in the underwater dungeon, correct?"
Glory turned her head to Ambrosia, and the older RainWing shook her front talons. Ambrosia shook her head, biting her lip
Ambrosia knew she could save everyone, anyone. She had to. Glory needed her. Just one spell would fix it all.
Now, that was drama.
Skyfall watched as Delphini roared her scales erupting into a furious mix of red and black. Even Blister looked mildly surprised.
Guards ran into the strange dragon, pinning her down. She struggled relentlessly, and Skyfall cackled with glee. She got a concerned look from Coral, nothing more.
"STOP!" Delphini's little sister yelled, "All of you SeaWings I command you TO STOP!"
Tsunami, Coral, the guard and council stopped. Nobody moved.
Skyfall knew what this was.
And she knew it was best for her to go. As fast as she could.
Blister's eyes bored into Sodalite, and Skyfall had to go.
She frantically flapped her giant wings, determined to get out. She was nearly out. . .
but there was an excruciating pain in her chest, and Blister was the last thing she ever saw.
Chapter 3
Panic.
Screaming.
Skyfall fell to the ground, blood bubbling out of her throat.
Perfect.
Blister was too quick for anyone to notice it was her, and that didn't even matter.
Anemone now useless. The ideal war winning animus was up there, on the table, glancing around nervously. The older one, Delphini, Blister guessed, was yelling, screaming, while the dragonets of destiny had reacted in different ways. Sunny was shaking the body, hoping to wake Skyfall up; Starflight was curled up in a ball, biting his talons; Clay was stuffing his snout in the food, crying.
Pathetic.
They knew too much, and Morrowseer said they weren't good enough anyway.
If that RainWing was able to leave every SeaWing in Pyrrhia unable to move, imagine what else they she could do. . .
Ambrosia used her magic.
Impossible.
Glory knew she cared about the consequences. So why would she, Glory wondered.
"Ambrosia," Glory whispered, tears dripping down her eyes.
"Don't worry," Ambrosia replied, "I'm ready. Whirlpool, Tsunami, Coral, Shark, you may move again."
What is that supposed to mean? "I'm ready?"
That can't be anything good.
Blister spotted Coral jerking randomly, as did Tsunami. The SeaWing queen spotted all her guards and council members unable to move, she let out a pitiful squeak. Her daughter roared, but that didn't matter. Blister began to make her way toward the RainWing.
"What happened?" Coral barked, "Why are my council members frozen? Anemone?"
Blister crept closer, hiding in the shadows.
"Coral," the tiny RainWing commanded, "Look at Whirlpool, do not take your eyes off him until I say the word 'Fin,'
Now, Whirlpool, stab yourself without saying a word."
Whirlpool's body was splayed out on the table.
It was the most horrifying thing Glory had ever seen.
In an instant, Ambrosia snapped, and several more dragons around her wilted like flowers. Her scales switched to ebony, and they gleamed like onyx against the warm summer light. The worst had happened.
Ambrosia began killing off the council members one by one, and Glory knew she had to get out. It was chaos, but, for the first time ever, Glory was let herself be afraid. Her bones were brimming with energy, desperate to escape, while her mind hesitated, unable to take another step forward.
"Ambrosia," she called, her voice breaking a couple of times on tears, "Please, don't do this."
The RainWing's head whipped toward Glory, her mouth contorted grotesque grin.
"No thank you, Glory. I think I'm old enough to make my own decisions."
Tsunami roared , her gills flaring. The Princess lashed her tail, but didn't move, didn't risk getting closer to Ambrosia. The table was littered with bodies, and Glory knew she had to strike then.
Glory held a knife close to her palm, knowing she only had one chance. She leaped, and the world seemed to slow down. Spreading her wings, Glory used every ounce of her power to thrust her arms forward, and her muscles resisted as much as they could. They didn't want to, and neither did she. But she had to, she had to. As Glory felt herself drop through the air, Ambrosia turned around.
The blade went straight into her heart.
Chapter 4
As she felt Ambrosia go limp in her arms, Glory instantly regretted it. Under the midnight black scales and bloody talons, there was a tiny, scared little dragonet, clear as day.
"No," Glory whispered, "Ambrosia, no. Come back to me."
Ambrosia blinked, and chuckled lightly, knowing she only had a few minutes left.
"Please Ambrosia," Glory added, holding her closer to her chest, "You're the only good thing left in this world. Please don't leave me alone."
Glory's snout was damp with tears, and it was no
A tiny splash of pink appeared closer to Ambrosia's neck, before being blanketed by the ebony haze. Her eyes closed as she went to sleep, never to wake up again.
Glory felt talons touch her shoulder, and she turned her head to see Clay giving her a pitying smile.
"Our SkyWing is dead, do you maybe wanna be our Wings of Fire?"