– CHAPTER 1 –
An Anomaly at Jade Mountain
"Spot! Look out!"
Spottail flung herself to the floor right as a jet of bright purple flame shot past, narrowly avoiding being burnt to cinders. She rolled to the side, ducking behind an overturned table to regain her bearings.
It had been a perfectly ordinary day at the Alliance Academy. But, as the Sea-Sky hybrid had learned from her many adventures there, things rarely stayed that way. Her friend Greyscale – a RainWing so named for his inability to shift his scales to anything other than shades of grey – pretty accurately described her as a "trouble magnet".
The ground shuddered, the sounds of heavy footsteps echoing through the cavernous dining hall. Spottail chanced a look over the edge of the table.
Lumbering around on the other end of the ravaged hall was a horrific creature. It looked almost like a dragon, if dragons had six legs and long, snake-like torsos. Instead of scales it was covered head to toe in a tough, soot-black hide. Smokeless, bright purple flames erupted from its back, eyes, and maw.
The creature let out a raspy growl, sniffing at the mangled remains of one of the automated serving drones it had mauled moments before. Spottail quickly ducked back behind the table when it glanced her way.
The beast had once been Spottail's creepy history teacher, Madame Nightwalker. Spottail had spent her senior year at the Academy exposing Nightwalker's secret plot to hoard magical artifacts and take over the school. Unfortunately, in a desperate attempt to escape the former professor had used one of the artifacts on herself, being twisted into an unrecognizable monstrosity as a result.
Greyscale suddenly slid behind the table next to Spottail, his scales pale with fear.
"Grey, what are you still doing here?" Spottail hissed. Everyone else had already evacuated.
Grey pointed to the main exit of the dining hall; the enormous steel doors inconveniently blocked by a towering wall of purple flame which circled the entire perimeter of the chamber. Some of the flames had reached high enough to set alight the enormous silk tapestries hung about, their glamorous depictions of the academy's most prestigious alumni being charred like overcooked steak.
"Bark is still here too. I don't know if Ms. Nightwalker knows they're here though," Grey added.
"Welp, guess it's just the three of us against her then," Spottail reasoned. Not the greatest odds, but better than it just being her.
"Can't we just wait for security to arrive and deal with this?"
Spottail shook her head. "It's usually the military that deals with stuff of this level, and by the time they arrive we'll all be scorch marks on the floor!"
Grey shuddered at the mention of that.
Admittedly it would be cool to see the Alliance Air Force up close and personal. Spottail had always dreamed of enlisting and becoming a captain of her own ship.
And think of how impressed they'd be if they arrived to find the problem already dealt with?
The creature let out a thunderous roar, causing both hiding dragons to flinch. Spottail chanced another look and spotted it pacing around the hall, creeping closer and closer to their hiding spot.
That was until a piece of one of the burning tapestries tore off and fluttered past the creature's face. It stopped in its tracks; and soon it was batting at it with its claws like a giant, monstrous housecat.
Seems like it's distracted…now's the perfect chance to strike! Spottail reasoned. She still wasn't quite sure how to do so though. She glanced around the ravaged hall for anything that could be helpful and spotted a familiar wiry, dark-skinned human climbing through the steel rafters toward one of the dining hall's smoke detectors. They gave Spottail a thumbs-up, and she nodded back.
"Looks like Bark's got a plan!" Spottail whispered. "When the water starts sprayin' we jump it!"
Greyscale paused. "Wait, you don't mean you're actually planning on fighting that thing, do you?!"
"Well we're not just gonna let it bust out into the rest of the Academy and endanger everyone, are we?"
"But we don't even have any weapons!"
Spottail broke one of the legs off the table, brandishing it like a sword. "We'll improvise!"
Before Greyscale could refute, a shrill beeping rang out through the hall, followed quickly by a downpour of water. The flames surrounding them began to hiss, and then slowly fizzled out. Spottail watched as those on what had once been Ms. Nightwalker did the same.
"Yes! Nice work Bark!" Spottail exclaimed.
The creature whipped its head toward the table where Spottail and Greyscale were hiding, glaring venomously with its empty eye sockets.
"Alright Grey, make sure to aim for the eyes!" Spottail shouted, leaping out from behind the table and letting out a roar. "GRAAAAAAAH!"
Greyscale tried (and failed) to break off one of the table's legs as well. Out of ideas, he too followed after Spottail, letting out his own war cry. "Y-YAAAAAAAH…!"
The battle that unfolded that evening would go down in Alliance Academy legend. Spottail, Greyscale, and Bark became heroes to the school, albeit after a thorough scolding for their recklessness.
Their adventures were only just beginning, and in no time Spottail's name would become known across many Alliance timelines. A multiversal hero to be remembered for years to come.
But this is not her story.
Three months later, in an untouched timeline.
Bill had always been fascinated by space. Its countless mysteries had drawn his eyes to the night sky since he was just a small dragonet living with his grandma in Possibility. At night he'd gaze out of his bedroom window at what few stars managed to shine through the light pollution of the city, imagining the other worlds that existed out there, and the strange denizens that lived on them.
His imagination had narrowed somewhat as he'd grown older. The seemingly endless distance between their world and others made contact with extraterrestrial life – if it even did exist out there – almost impossible. Not to mention the still woefully limited technology currently available.
For as exciting as it could be, science could also be a real buzzkill sometimes.
Nevertheless, Bill had kept up his studies, eventually landing a job at the illustrious Jade Science Institute where he worked his tail off to win the favor of the establishment's notoriously fickle upper brass. And it seemed all his hard work was finally beginning to pay off.
He'd recently been appointed to lead a small research team that had been formed to investigate extrasolar signals with the lab's new state-of-the-art sensor array. It was one of the few teams made up exclusively of dragons, and despite its small size and relative insignificance Bill was still proud to be leading it.
Sitting on a slightly stiff cushion in front of one of the black granite-topped counters that traced the edge of his small lab, Bill stared at an old JSI-brand monitor displaying several different readings from the sensor array, none showing any signs of anomalous activity. His head rested on one of his foretalons, eyes beginning to glaze over from the monotony.
"Anything yet?" one of his teammates – a blueish purple RainWing named Lilac – asked.
Bill shook his head and grunted in response. It had become a little ritual for her to poke him every hour or so to keep him from falling asleep.
"Why do they have us doing this anyway?" a MudWing named Croak grumbled from the other side of the lab. "It's not like anything interesting comes through those damn sensors anyway! 'Oh, look! Another microscopic spike in extrasolar radiation! That's so much more interesting than the last fifty times it happened!'"
"You never know, we might just be the first ones to receive a message from beyond the stars!" Lilac replied wistfully.
"What, you mean from aliens?" Croak scoffed.
"You never know! Space is so vast, there's bound to be extraterrestrial life out there somewhere! They might be trying to reach out to us right now, and we're just not listening!"
"Sure they are. And what exactly would they want with us anyway?" Croak took a swig of his coffee. "Y'know what I think? I think the board just wanted another dragon-only research team for diversity points. They couldn't care less about us actually finding anything out there!"
Bill silently stared at the computer screen as the two bickered. Perhaps he should have been more careful when picking out dragons for his team.
Eventually the door to the lab slid open, a yellow and purple striped HiveWing stepping in hurriedly. Her lab coat's pockets were stuffed with pencils and pens and all sorts of other little things. She clutched a clipboard in one talon, a satchel stuffed with papers slung around her neck.
"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late, this place is so mazelike I still can hardly find my way around!"
"You're right about that…" Croak grumbled.
The HiveWing – Junebug – took a position near where Bill was sitting. She was about his age and had recently started working at the lab a couple weeks back. The two had hit it off pretty well, and she'd shown a big enough interest in astronomy for Bill to recommend her for his team. There were surprisingly few dragons with interest in that field at JSI. Most of the lab's work was in tech and transportation, after all.
"Still haven't found anything?" June asked.
"Nothing yet," Bill sighed.
The SkyWing shifted himself around on his cushion and stretched out his back, spine popping faintly. Despite his looks he was only in his mid-thirties. His desaturated red scales and slightly gaunt features made him look a lot older than he really was. Sometimes he wondered if it was due to working himself too hard.
The evening wore on, hour after hour passing without a single jitter out of the sensors. Bill wished they'd been given a lab with windows; he'd loved the look of the sun setting over the Jade Range ever since he'd moved here.
It was thanks to June that the evening was made at all enjoyable. She and Bill spent hours talking about the cosmos, sharing their favorite astronomical phenomena, and laughing at the latest crackpot alien conspiracies that had been circling online (earning a skeptical glance from Lilac once or twice).
"Oh, oh! And did you hear the one about the Poison Jungle ruins that's been going around lately?" June asked.
Bill frowned. "Let me guess, that they were 'built by aliens'?"
"Well, yeah…but that's not the funny part!" June continued. "Supposedly these ruins were originally built by…get this…an alien plant monster hellbent on mind-controlling the entire planet!"
Bill almost choked on his coffee laughing. "Y-You're serious? That has to be a joke, right?"
"It probably started as one, but I've seen some people online who seem to really believe it."
"Well, guess we can add it to the pile of 'ancient Pantalan structure was actually built by aliens' theories," Bill remarked. "Where do you find these things anyway?"
Before June had a chance to respond a shrill whine pierced through the lab. Bill nearly spilled his coffee from the sudden shock of it. He whipped his gaze back to his monitor, eyes going wide.
"What in the…these readings…I've never seen anything like this!"
June, Lilac, and Croak all crowded up behind Bill, peering over his shoulders like dragonets gawking at their friend playing an arcade game.
"What in the world…" June started.
"You gotta be kidding me…" Croak added.
"Ha! I knew it!" Lilac barked.
Bill turned to the RainWing. "Lilac, where are these coming from?" he asked.
"Oh, right!" Lilac bolted over to her own computer. "Looks like it's just north of Jade Mountain, only a couple kilometers in the air!"
"That close?!" Croak barked. "Th-That can't be right!"
The MudWing began pacing circles around the lab. Lilac was beside herself. "Oh my moons! This is it! THIS IS IT!"
"I've never heard of anything that produces radiation on this combination of wavelengths before," June stated. She and Bill had remained by the SkyWing's monitor, Bill still in disbelief at what he was seeing.
"I…I'm phoning this in! Whatever's going on over there, it could be dangerous!"
"I'll double check the diagnostics while you're at it, just in case this is some sort of malfunction," June added, sitting back down at her own computer.
Bill wasn't sure whether he wanted it to be a malfunction or not. On the one talon, they could very well be about to make the discovery of a lifetime! But on the other, this was something completely unknown. And to be so close to JSI!
He reached for the phone on the wall and quickly dialed up the office of his unit's manager.
"Hello? Yes, this is Bill! We might have something big here!"
Hidden could hardly contain his excitement.
The pale yellow SandWing, his SkyWing brother Ricky, and their RainWing friend Xavier had spent the past summer building a drone. Sure, it wasn't the most spectacular thing in the world; but with college about to start in the next few weeks, and the three of them moving away because of it, this would likely be the last time they could work together on something for a while.
Hidden soared on at the head of the group, tightly clutching the bag that held the result of their hard work. Behind him shimmered the bright lights of downtown Drakenon. Ahead, the looming peaks of Jade Mountain, illuminated by the many angular protrusions of the Jade Science Institute.
Hidden and Ricky's dad was probably working there now. His recent promotion had caused him to work much later hours into the night.
The outer suburbs of Drakenon gave way to the steep, forested hills of the Jade Range. Out here there was only the occasional house nestled in the hills, their lights looking almost like stars against the blackened mountain backdrop. Hidden, Ricky, and Xavier settled down on an abandoned water retention basin carved onto a relatively flat area. The trees had all been cleared away years ago, making it the perfect place to test the drone.
"Alright guys, this is it!" Hidden stated, setting the bag down on the ground and unzipping it. He reached inside and pulled out the drone, checking it to make sure nothing had broken during the flight.
It wasn't exactly the most visually appealing thing in the world. About the size of Hidden's head, the drone's body and arms were constructed mainly from fastened together metal beams from an old construction toy Hidden used to play with as a dragonet. Loose wires connected the propellors at the ends of its four arms to the exposed circuit board at its center, with a small camera mounted to the underside of it.
"Hidden…why are we out here so late?" Xavier gasped, still catching his breath from the flight.
"You said it's illegal to fly drones in our neighborhood, didn't you?" Hidden replied.
"I mean why right now. We could have waited until tomorrow instead of flying out the door the moment it was finished!"
"Come on, don't you wanna see if it works? I've been waiting to fly this thing all summer!"
Xavier groaned. "My dads will be worried if I stay out too late."
"Dude, you're 12. You're a legal adult now, so you can make your own decisions!" Hidden stated.
"This coming from the guy who drags me out of the house every week on some crazy escapade," Xavier shot back, smirking.
Ricky stepped up next to Xavier and nudged him in the side. The SkyWing was nearly twice Xavier's width, though about the same height. His big head and round, chubby features gave him the appearance of a stuffed animal.
"Look on the bright side! At least we get a chance to see the mountains at night again before we have to leave. You can see the stars really well out here away from all the buildings," Ricky offered. He turned to Hidden. "Though, maybe next time we should wait instead of rushing out so quickly."
"Alright," Hidden relented. He turned and cleared out a small circle of grass and weeds with his fire breath – Xavier readying the fire extinguisher he'd brought just in case – and set the drone down on the cleared-out spot. He stepped back, pulling out a Z-Con 4 controller from one of the many pockets on his cargo vest.
"Oh, right! We still need to name it!" Hidden suddenly exclaimed. "Any ideas?"
"I dunno, how about P-01? Since it's the first prototype?" Xavier suggested.
"Eh, I'm more thinking something like: Stealth Drone Summer Hawk!" Hidden replied.
"What about Bippy?"
Hidden and Xavier turned to Ricky, who shrugged. Hidden smiled. "Bippy…I like it!" he said.
"Works for me," Xavier agreed.
"Now then, let the first flight of Bippy commence!" Hidden exclaimed. He, Ricky, and Xavier stood side by side as Hidden jabbed the power button. A small green LED on Bippy flickered to life, the drone letting out a chirp.
All good so far.
The propellors began to buzz, the drone slowly inching up off the ground while Hidden carefully nudged the control sticks.
Good, good…
Hidden was practically beaming from ear to ear as he watched Bippy rise higher and higher, now hovering a good five meters above their heads. It was rare for something to work on the first attempt!
"Alright, now to test the steering…" Hidden started. He began to nudge one of the control sticks to make Bippy fly to the left, when…
KERSPLASH!
A bright flash of light erupted from high above, a deafening noise that sounded like an aircraft crashing into the ocean hammering Hidden, Ricky, and Xavier's eardrums.
Hidden dropped the controller, the trio's eyes glued to the sky as they watched…something…burst out of an iridescent pool of fluid suspended vertically in the air, spraying shimmering droplets in its wake. It looked like some sort of spaceship, at least to Hidden. It was hard to make out any details, but it was sort of bulky and bullet-shaped, smoke trailing out from behind it as it careened toward Jade Mountain.
The fluid disappeared, but the three dragons were too transfixed by the descending ship to notice. It quickly vanished behind Jade Mountain, a cacophonous BOOM thundering across the mountains from where it crashed.
Hidden was speechless. They all were. For a while they simply stood there staring at the faint trail of smoke that snaked up from behind Jade Mountain, not even noticing Bippy careening to the ground behind them. Finally, Xavier spoke up.
"WHAT IN THE BLAZING MOONS WAS THAT?!"
The RainWing had sat on his hind legs, foretalons clutching his head as his scales flashed between too many colors to count.
"I…I think that was a spaceship…" Ricky quietly replied, a look of awe frozen on his face.
Hidden didn't say anything. He didn't need to; his excitement was evident enough from the grin stretching wider than the goggles on his forehead to how his entire body seemed to be vibrating with anticipation. His brain raced at a million kilometers a minute wondering what that thing was, what the deal with that fluid vortex was, where it could have come from, and countless other questions.
Whatever this thing was, it was going to change their lives forever. Of that he was certain.
He had never been more excited about something in his life.
NEXT CHAPTER RELEASING 2/1/2025!
It's finally here! After more than a year of development, the latest (and final) version of Wings of Fire: Salvation is ready to release. This will be a single, ongoing story with many arcs. The first two arcs are already drafted, and I hope to upload chapters weekly each Saturday, though I can't guarantee that schedule will hold. Author's notes such as this will be used sparingly in case there's any important information to share.
A grand adventure is about to unfold! I hope you all enjoy Wings of Fire: Salvation!