The Dying World is a fanfic by TheGoldenDragoness and TheBigWingOfWind. It is set after the war as an alternative to The Brightest Night. We are looking for an editor.
WE NEED COVER ART NOW
Author's Notes[]
TheGoldenDragoness:
Sorry for there being no recent chapters. BigWing has lost her computer access
TheBigWingOfWind:
I HAVE RETURNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL SHALL BOW BEFORE ME!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!! Hehe jokes.
Part 1: The Dark One[]
Prologue[]
One night, two dragons hatched.
Deep in the RainWing Kingdom..
Someone was breathing heavily as the egg began to change colour.
"She's going to hatch!" whispered another. It was midnight, and two watchful dragons were awake, staring wide-eyed at the egg that had taken them so much trouble to get. The soon to be mother slipped her talon into her husband's, who shushed her.
"Shhhh..." The female quietened. The egg was rocking back and forth, colours racing through it. Blue, acid green, pink, moon-silver. Slowly, and painfully, a crack began to travel along the egg. It widened and became a yawning chasm. From the darkness came a spindly head, followed by a body covered in mucus. The new parents held their breaths. Two knobby studs were on the tail, which was long and thick. The dragonet slipped out and flopped to the floor. Then it slowly became pale yellow and it was soon tucked into a small blanket and a pillow case. The little dragon yawned. But just before her eyes closed, her proud parents noticed something. Their child's eyes were rainbow-coloured and they seemed to glow in the darkness.
In the mountains of the Sky Kingdom..
Two large SkyWings sat in the hatchery, awaiting their child's birth. A small orange dragon sat beside them.
"Nurse Windstorm, can you please get the blanket?" The light red female SkyWing asked. The nurse nodded and went to get it. The dark red egg that sat in front of them began to wobble and crack. A part of the eggshell came off and revealed a small wing. After a few minutes, the tiny dragonet was sitting up and cocking its head at her parents. The child's mother smiled and picked it up. She handed the dragonet to the nurse. The nurse held her and observed her.
"It's a girl," the nurse stated and started wrapping her up in the blanket. The parents smiled at each other.
"What should we name her, Flamethrower?" The SkyWing mother asked her husband. He thought for a while.
"I like Kiara," Flamethrower replied and his wife nodded. The nurse looked at the dragonet. She looked like a normal dragonet, but the nurse sensed something more. The nurse nearly fainted when she saw her eyes go dark black. They turned back to normal, but they were definitely black for a few seconds. It can't be, the nurse thought, she can't be a dark one! The nurse handed the dragonet to her parents and they bowed. The nurse smiled weakly and walked to her own cave.
It was the next morning when Kiara's mother, Firecatcher, spoke to another nurse. "Do you know were Nurse Windstorm is? I can't seem to find her," Firecatcher asked. The nurse gave her a weird look. "She's dead. Killed herself last night," the nurse replied. Firecatcher fainted.
Chapter 1[]
Pools of sun streamed into the room as a curtain was opened. A young dragon was practising rapidly changing her scales. A myriad of colours streaked through then she abruptly settled on grey. Her rainbow eyes made her different from anyone else in the Rebellion. A slender dragon entered the young dragon's private room. "Fluorescent of the RainWing Rebels, why are you still in your room?!" enquired the slender figure, who was quite put off by Fluorescent's lack of attention. Fluor just shrugged.
"So?" she retorted sarcastically.
The older dragon at the door replied,"It's the day of the attack." Fluor got up.
"Ok, ok, I'm coming!" she said. "Don't need to push me, Magnificent."
Magnificent snarled,"Then you should push yourself." Fluor rolled her eyes. She went into another room, with a few RainWings seated at a low table eating fruit. Fluor took a pineapple and slinked away into her own corner and practised her Oscar-winning pout. Someone noticed her and walked up. That someone was the Rebel's most handsome dragon. Citrus. His beautiful deep yellow scales had her in a trance. He smiled.
"Hi Rainbow Eye," he teased.
Fluor giggled,"Hi Yellow Fruit." Citrus smirked.
"But I can get someone to fix those eyes for you and you'll be perfect in no time!" Behind him, a group of female RainWings giggled. Fluor reproached herself. As usual, he had opened her heart to Citrus and he walked right through. Frangipani, a pretty RainWing Rebel, sneered.
"Looks like you were left out in the cold again," she snorted. Fluorescent ignored her. She wasn't going to put up with any nonsense anymore. Today, her assigned group of Rebels were sneaking into Jade Palace.
Kiara soared through the clouds twisting and turning on her way to school. She climbed up higher than the clouds and dropped down so low she could touch the cool, refreshing water of the Diamond Spray River. The sky was as blue as the sea and the sun smiled down on her. She flew around in circles feeling the wind rush past her. Then something landed on her back.
“Got you!” yelled a voice. Kiara immediately recognised it as her friend, Garnet. Garnet was named after one of the many SkyWing Queens. Kiara and Garnet laughed as they tumbled about in the sky. They played until Garnet remarked,
“We better go to school now,”
Kiara had forgotten all about school.
“We get to go to the Old Queen’s Arena today!” Kiara said.
The two SkyWings flew off not knowing the disaster that the afternoon would bring.
Chapter 2[]
It was midnight. Fluorescent slipped through the trees as the full moon smiled down onto the land of Pyrria. Even though she was well blended in to the trees, any sound of a leaf cracking or a twig snapping made her jump. She reached the border of the RainWing territory. The coast was clear, but she knew from past experience that it was better to wait. Her patience was rewarded as a patrol squad came marching past.
"I hope Queen Glory dies soon. We can't hold back any longer. " A SkyWing soldier griped.
"Tough enough. Someone better do something fast. " Another one grumbled. Fluorescent shrank back, melting into the damp shrubbery that the marching feet passed by.
"Coast clear," she whispered to what seemed like empty air. Immediately, 5 frowning dragons materialised beside her.
The tallest one said with a bigger frown," That took a while. "
2 identical dragons standing side by side replied together," Cypress, don't say that!" The male with the broad shoulders with white speckled scales nodded in agreement. "
It usually takes this long anyway, right Ginko?" The smallest dragon nodded until the twins remarked," His head might come off." The eldest of the pair, Magnolia, was a solemn dull green while Tulip shifted her scales to black. Cypress cleared her throat.
"Go. Everything in action. Get the venom going." Fluorescence shifted into mottled browns and greens, with an occasional pale white to match the rough patrol road. Magnolia retreated back into the trees to keep watch if anyone was coming. Her twin slipped into the shadows and lurked there. The two boys headed ahead disguised as SkyWing soldiers. Cypress made her underbelly scales turn into the starry sky, with pinpoints of light on a blue black background. She flew up and hung there to oversee all the other dragons. Fluorescent lay across the road and waited for the squad to come marching along. Ginko and Oak, the other male, stood by the road to wait for their plan to be in action. They all had their blowguns. Soon, the troupe came back along the road and stopped only a few feet away from where Fluor sat when they saw Oak and Ginko.
"What gives?" Asked one peering into the darkness. Fluor realised that they must have thought that Oak and Ginko were messengers because they were too small to be soldiers.
Oak cleared his throat and said,"RainWings are trying to cross at the rainforest closest to the palace. You should get there quickly. We will tell the rest, right Gin-" Ginko nudged Oak as Cypress shot him a warning glance. "Um, Altitude?" Oak nervously continued. Ginko smiled and flattened his ruffs which were starting to peel up a little. He was shaking slightly. The guards looked gruff and then marched away.
Kiara landed on the small ledge outside a small row of caves where dragons lived and made her way to her cave. As soon as she was home she collapsed on the bearskin rug. It had been an exhausting day. She yawned, displaying her long sharp teeth and spread out her oversized wings. Kiara then took her satchel that was slung over her back and pulled out a small scroll. She normally hated reading but this was homework. She unrolled it and started reading.
The History of Pyrrhia
- From the SandWing Civil War to the present
It all started when the Dragonets if Destiny broke out of their hidden cave. They were captured by the SkyWings, nearly killed their queen, turned Queen Coral of the SeaWings against her allies and disappeared again. They had gone to the rainforest where the RainWing substitute became queen of her tribe. When the NightWings secret home was destroyed and they lost their queen, Glory invited them to live in her rain forest under her rule. When a Queen Coral killed her adopted daughter, Kinkajou, Queen Glory killed Coral and left the SeaWings under the rule of Coral's eldest daughter, Tsunami, who was also a Dragonet of Destiny. Tsunami left them under the rule of Glory. The Queen of the RainWings felt satisfaction in ruling three tribes and wanted more. But first they had the SandWing sisters to deal with. Blaze was an easy target and was killed by a NightWing assassin. Glory herself killed Blister. A group of ten RainWings killed Burn, spraying her with venom while she was sleeping. The SandWings then surrendered to Glory and so did the MudWings. Queen Glory locked all of the other queens in jail and threatened to kill them unless they surrendered to her. Soon Glory had all of the tribes under her rule. One day all of the SandWings died out. No one knew why. 5 years after, Queen Glory of Pyrrhia built a palace on Jade Mountain. She is a harsh ruler and has the Dragonets of Destiny under her control. Dragons can only hope she will die soon.
The Dragon of Jade Mountain.
"Hmmmmm," Kiara said. " Interesting,"
She heard a thud and a the sound of wings flapping. Kiara raced out of her cave into her family's main cave. Then she saw it. Standing in the corridor, just outside of Kiara's family's cave was a SandWing.
Chapter 3[]
Oak and Ginko melted into the rainforest again. Ginko pointed at Cypress. She ducked down and swooped towards the place where Glory's palace was stationed. Fluor followed her. They stood outside rubbing their scales with black chalk until there were dark markings on them that were identical to the ones on Queen Glory. Then they walked to the palace door.
Cypress flared her ruffs to show she was a RainWing and cried," Guard on duty! Please grant the new soldiers entrance to the Palace!" A head popped over the battlements, and a MudWing opened the door. SkyWings greeted them and showed them to the guard room. 2 SeaWings flopped about in a pool. Fluorescent noted that they were chained to the wall. The bigger SeaWing pointed to a hallway marked "Guard Room". Underneath it there was another sign marked "Prison".
Cypress nodded grimly and whispered," Fluor, clear your mind of any rebellious thoughts. There are NightWing security guards ahead." Fluor made no sound, but mentally prepared herself for a quick escape and a swift flight. They stopped at the guards, who pressed their talons to their heads and let them through. Fluor looked with interest at them as they passed. She wouldn't have seen these three years ago. She was new to the rebellion. Three years ago, she wouldn't have even known the outside world's violence and cruelty as she was kept inside and her parents never let her out. Until the one fateful day. The day she turned 3. The day her parents were killed. Fluor could still hear the screams of her mother as the cold hearted murderers assassinated her father. She remembered hiding behind the curtain in fear as three or four masked NightWings burst into her room. She had watched her mother plead for mercy and the stone, unchanging eyes behind those black masks. Fluor had forced herself not to scream as she watched the body of her father slump lifelessly to the ground and her mother's cries as the NightWings dragged her away. Probably forever. That day Fluor would never forget. She switched her mind back to the present where Cypress was turning down corridors and gliding ahead of her in the faint darkness.
Kiara had to bite back a gasp. 'But...but... they're extinct!' She thought. She blinked a couple of times to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but there was defiantly a SandWing standing there. But when Kiara looked a little closer she could see that this SandWing was different. She was undersized with grey - green eyes and much too yellow scales. But worst of all, no barb.
"ATTENTION SKYWINGS!" She yelled and lashed her tail. Kiara pressed herself up against the cold, stone wall, trying not to be seen. Kiara saw some other SkyWings emerge from their caves, including her best friend Garnet and her parents.
"Queen Glory of Pyrrhia, has announced that every year, there will be the RainWing Games. A dragonet from each tribe will be chosen to compete. The rules will be discussed at the games. It will be held at Queen Glory's new arena at the Jade Palace on Jade Mountain. As a Dragonet of Destiny, it is my job to choose. Since there are no more SandWings I will choose the SkyWing dragonet," she said gruffly.
"Parents, please bring out your dragonets,"
Kiara sighed in relief. Her parents weren't here. She wouldn't be chosen.
" Hmm, lets see..... you. What's your name" the SandWing demanded. Kiara couldn't see the chosen dragonet from her hiding spot.
"G-g- Garnet," the dragonet said.
"NO!" Kiara screamed and jumped out from her hiding spot. All of the SkyWings around her gasped.
"I'll go! I'll go instead!" she shouted.
The SandWing turned around and looked at Kiara. She studied her dark red scales and determination in her eyes.
"All right. You will do," She said.
Suddenly four masked RainWings appeared and grabbed Kiara. They dragged her out of the palace and started flying off. She was going to the Jade Palace.
Chapter 4[]
The cells smelt musty and her eyes soon picked up a pattern in them. SkyWing, RainWing, MudWing, IceWing, SeaWing then a NightWing. She saved that bit of information for later. Cypress had now come to a particular corner where no guards could see. She stooped low to talk to a RainWing, then she motioned for the dull grey drooping dragon huddled in the gloomy cell to look at Fluor. Fluor gasped. Then wept tears of relief.
"Mummy!" It was her mother. Seconds later, Fluorescent was in her mothers arms, crying, telling her everything she had never told her before. Her mother raised her dark, tear filled eyes to Fluor's and squeezed her tightly. "I'll never lose you again. " Cypress blinked absentmindedly as she watched Fluor hug her mother over and over again. Then Cypress broke down into tears.
She flew to Fluor and cried," Why can't I have my mother back too? Fluor you are very lucky. Both my parents died when I was four." Fluorescent looked around wildly.
"Cypress, hush. You'll alert the guards!" True to her words, three armed guards rushed in. They were mostly flame breathers. One of them shot a plume of flame towards Fluor and her mother. Cypress called a warning which only Fluor's mother heard. She pushed her daughter out of the way and was charred to death by the burst of fire. Fluor felt anger boil up, swelling up inside her as she watched her mother's crumpled body flicker with flames.
"I HAD MY MOTHER TO MYSELF UNTIL YOU INSOLENT GUARDS CAME IN!!!" Fluor stretched out her talons. There was a grinding sound. Then a huge crack as all the prison cell doors crumbled. She made a heavy stone levitate and it struck the guards, knocking them over till she turned to the last one. Cypress drew in a heavy breath.
"Animus!"To her surprise, the last guard pulled off her helmet, showing her trademark black scales where she had been scorched and her gleaming, black, twisted crown on her head. It was a RainWing. Queen of RainWings. Glory.
Glory flicked her talons lazily as 4 NightWings surrounded Fluorescent.
Glory remarked plainly," She'll be good for the Games. Take her to the stadium. We need the other for service." Glory herself clamped Cypress's neck and shook her violently.
"Where are the others?" Fluor let out a muffled cry of despair. She couldn't take them, she couldn't! Tulip and Magnolia were only five! Ginko was mute and he wouldn't last a day by himself! And as for Oak, oh Oak, he was just too..... Fluor was lost for words as Cypress nodded and opened her mouth.
Dragons bowed as Glory walked through the halls of the palace. She turned and glared at Cypress. Cypress had tried to shot venom at Glory but when it hit one of Glory's black marks, it had fizzled up. Glory was taking her to the testing cave to find out information about the RainWing Rebels. Glory hissed. Just like the Talons of Peace, Glory thought, trying to ruin my life. The small hall they were walking through opened up to a large room with windows on the ceiling and moss everywhere. Glory sat on a large throne decorated with flowers while Cypress was chained to a large stone block in the middle of the room. "Where are the others?" Glory asked. "I don't know. Hopefully far away from you," Cypress spat.
"Names please," Glory hissed.
"I'm Cypress. The one that's going to be in the Games is Fluorescent. Then there's Magnolia and Tulip, the twins, Ginko who is deaf and Oak. That is the group that attacked today," She answered.
"Guards! Take Cypress here to one of the special prison caves set up for the Rebellion," Glory instructed. Cypress hissed but let the guards take her.
Kiara was thrown into a small cave with bars on the edge of the stadium. She looked around and saw more caves lining the outside of it. There was a small window on each side of the cave allowing her to see the prisoners beside her. One cave was empty but the other held a small blue SeaWing who was sleeping. She heard a commotion as a RainWing was thrown into the cell next to her. Once the RainWing had regained balance she looked through the window and asked a question.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Kiara of the SkyWings. 6 years old," Kiara replied.
"I'm Fluorescent. 6 years old. Part of the RainWing Rebels," Fluorescent said.
"The RainWing Rebels! I was taught stuff about you guys! Didn't your leader battle with Glory once and leave all of those black marks?" Kiara asked.
"Yes but I never met her. Glory killed her before I joined the rebellion," Fluor said.
"So why did you join?" The SkyWing asked.
"When I was three a few guards killed my father and took my mother to prison. I never knew why. Both of them are dead though," the RainWing Rebel said.
"Oh no. Poor you," Kiara remarked.
Six NightWings suddenly appeared out of the sky and landed at the entrance of each prisoners cave.
They each had a scroll in their talons and gave one to each prisoner.
"The games start in two days so practice, practice, practice! These scrolls contain the rules. Good luck," a burly NightWing announced. And then the prisoners started to read.
Chapter 5[]
Fluor struggled as the burly guards threw her into a dusty cell. After regaining her balance, she studied her surroundings.
To the right of her a grouchy MudWing stomped around his cave muttering things like,"Stupid RainWing interrupted my reading lesson!" and ,"I need to get out of this place!" She then turned to the prisoner to the left of her cell. It was a SkyWing. The SkyWing looked friendlier so she tried her luck. "Hello?" The dragon lifted up her head. "Hi? Who are you?" Fluor called again. The SkyWing smiled at her.
"I'm Kiara of the SkyWings, 6 years old." Fluorescent replied rapidly and a friendship began to form.
It was the day before the Games and Fluor was quivering with nervousness. The MudWing, Crevice, on the other hand was quivering with eagerness. He roared majestically once until Kiara told him to shut up. Then he had growled at her and slunk to the farthest corner of the cage and stayed there. A trumpet blew as dozens of guards piled into the room. They unlocked the cages and put shackles on everyone and a metal band around the RainWing, SkyWing, MudWing, NightWing, IceWing and the strange little SeaWing who was pearly white with blue stripes on her forehead.
The biggest SkyWing announced clearly," You will know who you will be fighting today. Seasalt of the SeaWings, you will be fighting Crevice of the MudWings! Fluorescent of the RainWing rebels," the announcer called. Everyone looked at her. Fluor wished the ground would swallow her. "Your opponent is Darkwing of the NightWings! Avalanche of the IceWings, you will fight Kiara of the SkyWings!" The announcer stopped and rolled his scroll. Fluor felt icy fingers of fear curl around her neck. She studied the NightWing stretching his wings. He looked flexible and probably had some kind of vision power. It would be an interesting fight.
The next day, the prisoners were allowed to watch the other battles. They were chained to rock towers surrounding the arena. The animus dragons had done a pretty good job of constructing it. The arena floor was tiled with strange tiles that changes colour depending on how you looked at it, or if there was blood on the floor. Fluor had been pacing around her rock tower until a deafening sound nearly threw her off the tower and to what was certain death.
A SeaWing yelled," There has been a change of plans! You will all be released into the arena until one of you dies! Then we will keep you or another day!" She marched back inside as Fluor squirmed uncomfortably. She whispered to Kiara," Aim for the IceWing."
Kiara woke to the sound of cheering. She opened her eyes and peered out the of her cell. It was the first day of the games. Kiara finally noticed that there was a moat outside of the caves and a bridge at the entrance to each of the prisoners caves. Thousands of dragons filled the seats. Then Kiara saw the two SkyWings. The SkyWings that looked just like her. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. It was her parents. Kiara hasn't seen them since she was chosen. She then saw an amazing looking RainWing. All colours of the rainbow were shifting through her scales. The only ugly thing about her were the twisting black marks on her face.
"Let the games begin!" She cried. Six NightWings descended on the caves and pulled on chains. The bars lifted and all of the dragonets walked into the stadium floor the bars were put down again. Crevice charged into the centre of the arena and hissed at the others.
"Quick, lay down," Fluorescent's voice echoed in Kiara's ear. Kiara did as she was told and Fluor lay on top of her. Fluor's scales shifted to the colour of the ground. They were both hidden well. Kiara could still see a bit though. But she didn't like what she saw. Crevice, Avalanche and Darkwing were closing in on Seasalt, who was shaking and backing off. Crevice lunged at her and she stumbled back into the water.
Thank goodness she is a SeaWing, Kiara thought.
"Crevice! You let it get away! I would have done much better," Avalanche snarled. Crevice shot her a glare.
"I'll go in and catch her. She can't be faster than me she's two and I'm seven," Crevice grumbled. Darkwing looked at them and sighed. Crevice dove into the water. A few minutes later, Crevice emerged with the tiny SeaWing. She was crying.
"Don't kill me!" She pleaded. Crevice just smirked.
"Darkwing, hold her down," Crevice commanded and Darkwing zipped over and did what he was told.
"Kill it Avalanche," Crevice said.
Seasalt burst into tears again. Avalanche opened her mouth and started charging up her Ice breath.
That's not fair! She's only two! Kiara thought and before she knew it, Kiara had heaved Fluorescent of her back and was running towards Avalanche and Seasalt. She grabbed Seasalt and pulled her out of the way just in time.
"Go to Fluorescent, she'll protect you," Kiara whispered to Seasalt. She lunged at Avalanche and started to fight. Kiara blew fire at her underbelly and Avalanche screamed at clawed her back. But Kiara was stronger. Kiara roared and clawed at the IceWing princess. They grapled until Avalanche was laying on the floor with blood pouring out of her.
"Crevice! Help!" the IceWing protested. Crevice shook his head and turned away.
"Would you like me to rip out your heart? Actually, you don't have one since you were willing to kill a two year old dragonet. But, I'll do it anyway," Kiara growled. Avalanche screamed. Then she was dead.
"Very good, dragonets," A queenly voice said.
"This was a battle of Survival. Next will be a battle of Skill. Return them to their caves," Glory said.
Kiara let the guards escort her to her cave. She ate her dinner then went to sleep.
Chapter 6[]
After the battle for that day, Fluor rested her head on her talons. She lazily let her scales change to match Kiara's and called out," Hello Kiara!" Kiara turned around and yelped in surprise then smiled as she recovered from the shock. Fluor glanced at the empty cell across her cage. Avalanche had been killed in that battle. Good for her. She was a stuck up pig. Fluor yawned as she lay down. She was safe for another day, but for how long would her luck last?
The next day dawned clear and bright as the remaining competitors sharpened their skills. Darkwing studied a form of NightWIng Martial Arts, Crevice stomped his foot and demanded to be let out,Seasalt played with the water in the moat, Kiara practised impressive fighting skills on the training dummy but they were all blown away as Fluorescent picked up a discarded scroll, placed it two feet or so away from her and made it burst into flames. Kiara stared wide eyed at Fluor.
"You never told me you were an animus!" Fluor shrugged."I didn't?"
Glory put on a disgusted face as she walked through the prison. It smelt like dead fish down here. Then she reached the cell she was looking for.
"Glacier," Glory stated. The IceWing queen lifted her head. "I really did expect more from your daughter. She's dead," Glory remarked.
"No!" Glacier cried.
"Goodbye," Glory said and strutted off.
It was midnight when Glory visited the stadium. RainWings announced her arrival by blowing trumpets then flying off. The dragonets woke up slowly. Glory went to see each of them.
"Crevice, you are storing and deceiving but trickery may cost you your life later in the competition," Glory moved on to Fluorescent."Disappointing. You didn't do a thing! You didn't use your venom or Animus powers!" Glory fumed then looked at Kiara. "Now you are good. After hiding for nearly the whole battle you jump out and kill one of the enemy's best! I expect a lot from you," Glory said and moved on. "What a pathetic SeaWing. You would have been dead if Kiara hadn't jumped in and saved you," Glory turned to the last dragonet.
"Quick, agile if only you were strong," Glory completed her comments and flew off.
Fluor was fuming mad after Glory had given feedback on them.
"I was the one who protected you! She is really annoying!" Fluor muttered and stomped around her cage. She was really cranky today since Glory had been telling her to use her animus powers or her venom. "Doesn't she know what might happen if I use too much of animus power?"
Kiara looked put apologetically from behind the bars. Seasalt was sleeping again. Crevice sharpened his talons on the metal bars. Fluor clenched and unclenched her claws. "Soon I'll show them!"
Chapter 7[]
"The Battle of Skill!" Glory cried as she perched smugly on her throne. Millions of spectators cheered and screamed as Glory flew down with a trumpet blast to announce the next stage of the Games. "Competitors must fight with my Champion all together. The aim is not to kill someone, but to take her medal from around her waist. If she kills a dragonet, the rest are spared. If someone takes the medallion before one is killed, then the thief is granted Immunity for the next round. The winner is the one who can inflict the most damage! Ladies and gentledragons, I present the challengers!" The dragons walked out in single file. Fluor changed her scales to a bright blue and green. She snarled at Glory as she watched Fluor with an odd look. "I present the Champion..." cried Glory.
Oh no, thought Fluor. It's probably one of her good guards or something. Glory smiled evilly down at Fluor.
"PERIL!" Fluor was shocked. The calm went from her scales and they turned a acid green, then hurriedly dissolved to a determined grey.
"Mum!" yelled Crevice. Fluor looked around for Crevice's mum. Crevice pointed at Peril proudly. "She's my mother!" Fluor thought she would faint. But she didn't have any time. Peril was descending on them soon. Her gold and diamond medallion dazzled Fluor. She patted Kiara's shoulder.
"Save yourself. " Fluor edged to the front and stuck out her tongue at Peril. Peril laughed. Then flew slowly down. This insolent, stupid dragon would pay the price of insulting her. Oh yes. Just wait. Few more steps....... Fluor aimed a gust of wind at Peril's face and moving out of reach of Peril's talon. If she touched them, she would be burned to a crisp. Meanwhile, Crevice was flying to greet his mother. Fluor looked over her shoulder. Kiara's face was a mixture of terror and disgust.
"STOP HIM!" she cried, waving her talons at Crevice and Darkwing who had creeped behind Peril. Glory smiled at Fluor. Kiara flew to Peril and attempted to scorch her. She succeeded in singeing her tail. Peril kicked Kiara and sent her sprawling a few meters away where Seasalt was hiding in the moat. Fluor fought hard to stay sane. She could still stop Darkwing but there was no hope Crevice would survive this. She created a barrier between Peril and Darkwing but she was too late to save Crevice. He had touched her talon. But then, nothing happened. Fluor blinked a few times before realising the truth-Crevice was born from a bloodred egg and thus was immune to Peril's fire. Peril turned around and crashed through the barrier that stopped Darkwing from his prize and ripped Darkwing into two. Crevice backed away. In an instant, Fluor spat venom into Peril's talons as they slashed Darkwing. Fluor didn't exactly like him, but it was sad to see another dragon die. Glory screamed with anticipation.
"Now that is what I call a fight! The winner is Fluorescent of the RainWing Rebels," she glanced out at the large number of NightWings. "And the loser is Darkwing son of Fierceteeth." A barrage of boos erupted from the grandstand. Glory bared her fangs. The dragons recoiled in fear.
Fluor watched as Glory came strutting through the prisons to give them feedback. Glory turned to Crevice.
"I know she's your mother but YOU NEVER TOUCH SOMEONE WITH TOO MUCH FIRE. It doesn't even matter if you were born from a red egg!" Glory sneered at Seasalt. "Useless SeaWing. Nothing like Tsunami. " Then she turned to Kiara. "Good effort my friend. Your singeing was a little off but I shall get the palace healers to treat that burn. " Glory nodded at the black burn on Kiara's stomach. "And you," Glory lifted her neck a fraction of an inch higher. "Well done. You get Immunity." Fluor could feel the fury in her opponent as Glory handed her a silver pin with the letter I on it and a carved Glory flying to the sun. Fluor smiled sweetly.
"Hello dragonets!" Glory said. It was the middle of the night again. "I have a very special surprise for you all!" She cried. Glory opened her wings revealing a SandWing dragonet in chains. She smiled at the looks of confused but horrified dragonets. He'd better be worth it, Glory thought, one if my best soldiers died bringing him here.
"DustFang of the SandWings! The very last real SandWing in all of Pyrrhia!" Glory announced. DustFang hissed when he saw Fluor's Immunity badge. Glory threw him into DarkWing's cell. "Tomorrow will be a test of Intelligence!" Glory flew off wondering how everything had gone so wrong.
Chapter 8[]
Fluor glanced at DustFang.
"Hi?" she asked cautiously. He looked longingly at her Immunity badge. Seasalt snored from the corner of the cell. DustFang blinked his golden- brown eyes. He swivelled his neck around and stared at Kiara, who was nursing her burn. Fluor tried again. "Hello? Are you mute?" The SandWing blinked at her. Fluor sat down with a bump. She tried growing flowers in the dirt near the moat. A few of them survived. She threaded them into garlands and hung them all over her cell.
"What are you doing?" Fluor stooped low to plant more flowers then turned around to stare at the young dragon sitting there. Fluor had never heard him talk. DustFang said again in his husky voice," What are you doing?"
Fluor bustled the rest of the seeds into the ground and replied," Trying to make this prison," and she spat at the ground." look like my home. " DustFang shook himself.
"Can't you get out?" Fluor sighed deeply.
"No." He sat up straight.
"I never got your name."
Fluor felt his interest and responded,"My name's Fluor. Short for Fluorescent. Part of the RainWing Rebels." She considered telling him that she was an animus but she figured that he would soon find out. DustFang stared wistfully at the Immunity badge. He mumbled something about Glory taking him from the sea then DustFang went to sleep.
"Where did she find that stupid lizard?" Fluorescent remarked as Glory flew away.
"Don't talk like that!" Kiara hissed. "He was being nice!"
"Pfft. You call that nice? Me trying to talk to him and he completely ignoring me and then when I'm trying to work he annoys me?" Fluorescent growled. Kiara didn't know why Fluor was acting this way. Anyway, Kiara thought that the newbie was handsome. She smiled at his light golden scales. Then she turned around.
"Seasalt," she whispered. Seasalt lifted her head. "Will you survive the next battle?" Kiara asked.
"I don't know. I hope so," she replied.
"I hope so too"
When Kiara woke up she was already in the stadium. All of the competitors were. They were in giant metal clamps that went around their snout, body and back legs.
"Today is the Intelligence test. You all will be asked questions. Get it wrong and your clamps tighten. Soon they will kill you if you get too many wrong," Glory announced. "The winner is the one that gets most if their questions right. Begin," A large NightWing landed in the arena whom Kiara recognised as Starflight. He had a large bandage over his eyes. He turned to Crevice who was the first one in the line and read something from the card.
"Name the Dragonets of Prophecy," he said.
"Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight and ummm Tiny or something?" Crevice answered. Starflight looked highly offended. Crevice's clamps tightened and he screamed in agony. Starfight turned to Fluorescent.
"Name 3 of the old RainWing queens," he grumbled.
"Magnificent, Fruit Bat and Grandeur," she answered. He moved on. It was Kiara's turn. She felt sick.
"Who made up the prophecy?" Kiara panicked. She could never remember this. It had cost her a bad grade at school by now it would cost her her life.
"Umm, Morrow-morrow... Morrowseer! That's right Morrwseer!" She answered. He moved on to Seasalt. Kiara winced when she saw her clamps. They were extra small to fit her but maybe a bit too small. Kiara blocked her ears. She didn't want to listen to this. A few minutes later, her clamps tightened. Seasalt started crying again. Kiara's eyes wee welling up with tears as well. Seasalt shouldn't have to do this! Kiara thought. Starflight turned to DustFang.
"Name the tribes that can breathe fire," he said.
"SkyWings, SandWings, MudWings and NightWings," he answered. It continued like that. Crevice got a lot wrong Fluorescent got most right and so did Kiara. Even though Seasalt had only got 3 wrong, she looked like she was having a lot of trouble breathing. DustFang had gotten all if his right.
"The winner is DustFang! Now the bottom two's clamps will continue to tighten until one of them dies," Glory said. Suddenly, Crevice's and Seasalt's clamps began to tighten. Crevice struggled and Seasalt began to scream. Soon Seasalt had closed her eyes, waiting for suffocation. Then Crevice screamed. He was dead. But Seasalt's clamps kept getting tighter. Without thinking, Kiara broke free of her clamps and ran over to Seasalt. She ripped off the clamps and grabbed Seasalt. She cradled the young SeaWing in her talons then realised what she had done. Kiara had broken metal with her bare talons.
"Wow! You dragonets never cease to amaze me!" Glory said while the guards dragged them back to their cells.
"Your strong!" DustFang complimented.
"Thank you," Kiara replied with butterflies in her stomach.
Chapter 9[]
Fluorescent woke to a strange alarm clock. It sounded like cheering and trumpets. And it smelt like Glory. Not glory, but Glory. She shook herself awake.
"Oh no. " she groaned. Fluor was in the stadium. Again. After the Intelligence battle (and the death of Crevice) she didn't think they would do that again. Glory stepped onto her balcony into the sun. She stretched her wings and yawned.
"Today is the battle of Stealth. Competitors must find their way around a maze filled with ghostly animus creatures. Touch one, and you die. The winner is the one who can get to the portal in the middle of the maze which will transport them to their cell." Glory announced, putting much emphasis on the word transport. Fluor rolled her eyes and kept her focus on the goal.
"Ready, Set, Go!" Fluor raced off like a bullet. As she ran, she changed colour. She also remembered what Cypress had said about Glory.
"She's a vain queen. Like Blaze. Wants everything to be about her." Then Fluor knew. The maze was shaped like Glory, with the teleporter at her heart. Fluor ran and dived into a small dead end to escape one animus creature striding towards her. Fluor sucked in air as it advanced towards her.
"I'm gonna die!" she cried as it walked straight down the alleyway. There was no escape. Goodbye Oak, goodbye DustFang, goodbye Kiara, goodbye Cypres- oof! She blinked at golden grey eyes. DustFang smiled.
"I couldn't leave you there. I've got to save Kiara now!" Fluor returned it with a nod. "Stay alive!" Fluor ran off into the maze again.
Kiara started to panic. She turned the corner and let out a sigh of relief.
"Stay alive for me ok?" Kiara asked. Seasalt nodded slowly. They walked through the maze not running in to any animus creatures. Then Kiara felt something grab her. She struggled against it’s grip.
“Shh,” the capturer whispered, “ It’s me, DustFang,”. Kiara looked around, trying to catch a glance of Seasalt. DustFang, with Kiara in his arms, touched down on the portal as two dragons came around the corner. Then an animus creature appeared. One of the dragons screamed but Kiara couldn’t see which one it was. She could only see the walls of her cell. She looked round frantically. DustFang and Fluorescent appeared in their cells and Kiara burst into tears. The something snapped at the back of her head and her eyes went dark. She grabbed the bars of her cell and ripped them off. She raced into the arena, flames bursting from her mouth. She ran through the burning maze until she reached the middle. She stopped when she saw Seasalt’s body. The SeaWing was lying on a red tile with one claw on the dim portal. Kiara picked her up and cradled her in her arms. As if on queue, all of the burning maze walls collapsed around her. No one said a word. Kiara raced over to Fluorescent’s cell.
“Revive her,” Kiara commanded. Fluorescent shook her head.“What?!” She shrieked. Her eyes were now fully black.
"If I revive her it will kill me!" Fluor shrieked back. Fluorescent's calm cell then turned into a nightmare. Kiara grabbed the bars, tore them off and raced inside. She started to attack Fluor. Kiara breathed fire on Fluorescent's underbelly and raked her talons against it. Fluor struggled and tried to fight back. They grappled with each other until they heard Glory's voice.
"STOP!" She cried and the competitors froze. "You both will be going to the torturing room tonight. You for starting a fight and you for fighting back," Glory smirked, pointing to each of them respectively. She turned to Fluor. "But first I have something for you,"
Glory shook the chain that bound Fluor to the stone block.
"Do you know why I brought you and Cypress here?" she queried. Cypress glared defiantly at the tall slim dragon sitting pertly on her throne. "Because." Glory continued with an air of grace. "I have someone who means a lot to BOTH of you." Glory clicked her talons and a heavy curtain was pulled aside to reveal four dragonets. Fluor's mind raced to work out the possibility of this happening. The smallest of the lot opened his mouth to say something, but Fluor realised he had no tongue. Then the reality hit her like a twenty pound sledgehammer. Glory had caught the rest of the group. Ginko was the one without the tongue. Oak strained uselessly against his bonds when he saw Fluor. Magnolia and Tulip growled at Glory. She laughed mockingly. "You funny things. I can track you down easily." Cypress sat up straight.
"I don't know how you did it or why you did but I'm gonna snap your little mockingbird head right off your neck." The gloating look went right off Glory's face and twisted into an expression of spite. "We'll see about that." Glory seethed at Cypress.
"Bring Cypress and the boys to the prisons. Put the competitor back in her cell. Keep the twins here." Guards scurried to do her orders. Magnolia hugged Tulip close as Glory motioned for a servant to hand her a thick fraying rope. "So, you're twins. Identical. I knew your mother." Glory fingered the venom stains on her neck. "Have you ever thought of being triplets?" The twins gasped as another dragonet was pulled out. "I stole her when she was a tiny dragonet. Put identical burns on her too. Friends, met your triplet, Lily. " The little dragonet raised her eyes to meet Magnolia's.
"Same green eyes!" breathed Tulip. Magnolia pulled forward to grab Lily but she was yanked back by a SkyWing guard. Tulip hissed at him. Glory waved her talons carelessly.
"Take them back."
Magnolia screamed," NO! LILY COME HERE!" All three triplets were now pulling at their bonds, straining to touch each other.
"You'll see her tomorrow, calm down." Glory muttered irritably. She blocked her ears as the screams and swearing of the twins echoed down the hallway. "Annoying dragons." She shook her head.
That night...
Glory laughed as Fluor screamed.
"You didn't know the hot metal spikes?" Glory turned to Kiara. "Now you get to use the Rack!" Glory grinned in the eerie light of the red hot coals that waited for metal spikes and chains to be heated upon. Kiara gulped as a guard chained her to the Rack. It was an evil looking device that would pull the victim's arms and limbs until they seperated. Glory smiled infuriatingly. "Just two more punishments for the both of you." She strapped Kiara to the Rack and motioned for her guards to start punishment. For Fluor, she picked her up and threw her into an iron box.
"Whew!" came Flour's muffled voice. "I thought it would be worse." Glory considered stuffing her cloth into her mouth as to prevent herself from laughing. She pulled a lever. Then a sharp cry came from the box. Swearing and cursing came from it as dozens of nails shot into the box. Fluor wasn't cursing anymore, she was bucking about and making the box jerk about.
Glory called to Fluor from outside the box,"Do you feel hot?" Fluor swore at Glory as Fluor felt cold water seep into the holes. Then, it was plugged up. Fluor shivered as the icy water stung the places where fresh wounds had opened. Kiara strained to see what Glory was laughing about and was rewarded with a stinging blow from the whip. She roared in pain. Glory whirled around. "Maybe you feel hot too." In an instant, Glory poured icy water down Kiara's throat. "Something to quell that anger." Glory curled up into a snug chair, watching them.
"More like smug chair," Kiara muttered. She coughed harshly and another blow of the whip landed on her throat, which felt like it was stuffed with wood shavings. More like metal scrapings.
Fluor couldn't see what was happening, so she called out," Hello? Is it over?" The NightWing that stood over her cracked his whip.
Fluor, unaware of him, said again in a strangely childish manner," Was that firecrackers?" The guard looked over his shoulder to Glory. She nodded. He opened the box.
Fluor groaned,"It's not over." He cracked his whip and hit her with it repeatedly. She kicked him and was going to run off before the guard scrambled to his feet but the Fluor suddenly felt herself being picked up off the ground by a RainWing. An impossibly large one too. Fluor was going to swear again and kick him like she had done with the other guard but then she stopped. Something in his face made her stop. She studied it. Then she screamed. It was Glory's dangerous older brother Jambu.
"Missing something, sis?" He and Glory laughed evilly. Jambu was the best tree glider in Pyrrhia! There was no hope Fluor could escape him. He tossed her lightly back to the guard and torture started again. Again.
"Tell me," Glory raised a hot metal burner close to Fluor's scales. She shifted uneasily in her chains. "Why did Kiara fight you?" Fluor looked with wounded eyes over to Kiara, whose eyes darkened. "TELL." Glory ordered, dipping the scorcher into a pot of fire. Fluor shook her head. "Why not?" Glory prodded her. Fluor cried out in pain and agony.
"Oh... I see!" Glory circled them, lashing her tail. "You think Kiara would do the same for you. You're being a, what's the word?" Glory tapped her chin in an irritating manner. "Aha. You're being a loyal friend. Loyal." Glory sneered. "You're not going to get anywhere with it. Kiara is just using you." For Fluor, those last words stung her more than the fiery blow. She blinked back tears. Kiara snorted. Glory whirled around to face her.
"What is with your-" Glory stopped in mid sentence. She studied Kiara's eyes, which were fully black. "You go to my throne room." Glory jerked her head towards Kiara. "You go to your cell." Glory gave Fluor one last prod, then looked away.
Chapter 10[]
"Kiara." Glory handed her a cup of water. "Drink. I have something to talk about you." Kiara eagerly drank the water, not thinking a single thing about if there was poison in the cup. She wiped her snout dry. "You have something precious." Kiara raised her eyebrows. "You have the opposite of Fluor."
Kiara replied sarcastically,"What? A non-animus? I already know that, thank you very much." Kiara turned to leave.
"No!" Glory cried. "You have Dark Animus." Kiara turned around.
"Tell me about it." And then on, Kiara's world changed.
"Dark Animus power are the opposite to Animus powers because it affects strength" said Glory. Kiara stared up at her with dark black eyes.
"Dragons can't control Dark Animus power. It is triggered by any big emotion like anger or sadness," Glory continued. Kiara started to tremble and the glass of water she was holding shattered. One of the pieces hit her wing and she whimpered. Glory stared at her and shifted her wings. Her wingtips went green but it went as fast as it came. Kiara was a mix of emotions. She didn't know what to say. Glory was still staring at her. A small tear formed and trickled down Glory's snout. Then she broke down in tears. The older dragon fell to the ground. She howled. This went on for about 10 minutes. Then Glory stood up and sniffed.
"Please excuse me," she said and disappeared behind a red curtain. Kiara walked around the throne room. There were no guards, so Kiara figured that she could do whatever she wanted. She circled the throne twice before sitting on it. She immediately got off. She got a weird tingling feeling when she sat on it. She walked around the room. The room was made of marble. Vines hung from the roof. Flowers and moss covered the floor. Kiara finally had the sense to look behind the curtain that Glory had gone behind. She saw Glory crying her eyes out. She stood next to a crystal coffin with the name Kinkajou engraved on it.
Oh, Kiara thought. Kinkajou was the name of Glory's foster daughter. When they were travelling to the Kingdom of the Sea to visit Tsunami. One of the SeaWings had killed Kinkajou. It was Queen Coral. Glory had killed the Queen that day. Glory turned around to see Kiara standing in the doorway.
"You remind me so much of her," Glory said. Kiara walked slowly up to the Queen. She was still trembling. Glory wrapped her wing around Kiara but removed it quickly.
"Oh my! You're freezing," She exclaimed. Glory led her through a door to another room. Glory lit the fireplace with a blowtorch that was the shape of a dragon's head. She sat down and gestured for Kiara to do the same. She laid her wing over Kiara and Kiara snuggled into her.
Glory flew to the arena with sleeping Kiara cradled in her talons. She set Kiara down in her cell. Her dragons had replaced the bars. She looked at the other dragonets. DustFang was sleeping soundly at the back of his cell. Fluorescent was growling in her sleep. Glory had never liked the RainWing. She was just another dragon trying to ruin her life like the Talons of Peace did. But she knew what really would be ruined. The world. That was if she let the Dark Animus live. But Glory couldn't kill her. She didn't want to. Every few centuries a dragon like Kiara was hatched. Dragons would kill them instantly. But on the rare occasions that they lived to adulthood they had nearly destroyed the world. One hero would always sacrifice them self for the good of the world. Glory flew away knowing that hero would never be her.
Fluor gazed over at DustFang. He smiled in return. Kiara was surprisingly quiet. Fluor poked a piece of fruit.
"I wish they brought pineapples," she grumbled. "I like pineapples better than apples."
DustFang said,"Can you give it to me? I'll exchange for a mango?" He tossed a red green mango to her. Fluor sat up and tossed the apple to him.
She cheered,"Yay! I love mangoes!" She peeled the skin then ate it, juice running down her neck. Kiara snorted.
"I want cow," she groused. "Not fruit." Fluor looked highly offended.
"Fruit is nice," she insisted. DustFang crunched the apple.
"Look!" he cried. The girls turned their heads. Glory came down, her arms full of fruit.
"Here," she said, pushing fruit into everyone's cage. Fluor grabbed the first pineapple she saw. DustFang sighed.
"I still want meat," he groaned. Kiara nodded. She peeled a yellow fruit and ate it, grimacing.
"What's this fruit?" she asked Fluor. Fluor looked at it.
"Banana," she said. Kiara made a face at it. "I don't like this bananananananana," she said. DustFang picked up a mango.
"Mango?" he asked Fluor. She nodded and tossed an apple. He threw the mango at her, forgetting Glory was still there. Glory smirked and stopped both fruit from reaching their destinations. "Aww..." groaned Fluor, reaching out for the mango. Glory just picked it up and ate it.
"Hmpf," grumbled Fluor.
Glory said,"You all better sleep well tonight because tomorrow I'll give you a tour of my wonderful kingdom!" she cried, throwing the apple to Fluor. Glory left. Fluor still threw the apple to DustFang. He ignored it.
"Not kingdom, queendom," he corrected, giving the apple to Kiara absentmindedly. She ate it.
"What's this one?" Fluor didn't look.
"Apple," she mumbled, still annoyed at losing her mango.
"Nice,"said Kiara, with her mouth full. DustFang was a bit put off.
"How did you get that?" He asked.
"You gave it to me," Kiara replied.
DustFang said in amazement,"I did?" Fluor laughed.
"Yes,"she grinned. She picked up a papaya. "Yum," she said, waving it in front of her face. She peeled it and ate it in one bite.
"Hey!" cried DustFang.
"Did you want that?"said Fluor, embarrassed.
"No," DustFang said. "What will we do for the next round?" he asked.
"I dunno," Kiara shrugged. Fluor looked around. She spotted a scroll in Crevice's empty cage and made it levitate towards her.
"Hmm.." She scanned it for the little slip of information.
"Here," she said, cutting up a dragon fruit and smearing the juice onto the scroll.
"Read the highlighted words," Fluor said, throwing the scroll at DustFang. He picked it up and read the words.
Kiara asked,"Can I have that fruit?" She pointed to a dragon fruit.
"Yeah," Fluor mumbled, trying to peel another banana. She kicked it and sent the fruit flying into Kiara's cell. Kiara peeled it and ate it.
"Yum," she said, getting her talons stained with the red juice. "What's this?"
Fluor answered," Dragon fruit." Kiara grinned.
"I like this one too," she said. Fluor smiled. Then she frowned. Kiara never liked fruit that much. She was different, a dark veil hung over her. Fluor ignored it. Probably just missing her parents. But no, it wasn't. Kiara didn't miss her parents. She hated them.
Chapter 11[]
Fluor got up groggily. She had the impression that DustFang's snout was hanging above hers. She sat up and promptly smacked her head on the roof of her cell.
"Wha...." she mumbled vaguely, still drowned in sleep. Fluor saw that someone overnight had installed wooden planks to sleep on. DustFang was up and happily eating his breakfast. Kiara just sat staring into empty space, ignoring DustFang's humming as he scanned a scroll and Fluor's ravenous appetite. Fluor realised that a scroll was sitting in front of her and she delicately picked the seal off while eating a mango. She read the words with little interest. It was all about the sightseeing tour and all about Glory's wonderful queendom. Fluor sniggered.
Ha, she thought. It probably has beauty salons every ten metres and a private booth to change scales. She spotted Kiara's untouched breakfast.
"Hey!" Fluor yelled while holding the scroll in her teeth because she was attempting to peel another banana.
"Can I have your share?" she asked, successfully failing to peel it and instead squishing the yellow fruit. Kiara flopped a talon at the fruit.
"Help yourself," she mumbled. Fluor shot to the right side of her cage and started pulling as much fruit as possible into her cage. She stopped when a trumpet sounded and Fluor nearly died of shock. Glory slowly flew down, a weak smile plastered on her face when she saw Kiara. For DustFang she gave him an acknowledging nod but she peered at Fluor as if inspecting a nasty bug. Fluor just snarled softly in return.
"I expect you have realised that the tour is today," Glory announced, inspecting their cages. "And from today onwards you will be expected to keep your cages clean, not like this one," she said, pointing at Crevice's empty and messy cage.
"But it should be like this one," Glory continued, her face twisted into an expression of spite and hate. She pointed at Fluor's cage, with the scrolls piled up neatly and fruit peels were surprisingly absent from the cage. Flowers flourished in the soils near the moat. Fluor grinned cheekily.
She whispered,"Let's say I dug quite a few holes!"
Glory left to make some arrangements about the tour then came back.
Kiara, Fluorescent and DustFang were standing outside of their cells with no chains or battle going on for the first time in weeks. Glory stood in front of them and walked up to the middle tile on the arena floor.
"Watch this," the Queen stated. She started sweeping her tail across the tiles turning them different colours. She hopped from one tile to another, using her wings, tail and claws to create patterns. The Queen was dancing. Kiara stared in complete awe. Glory landed on one of the outer tiles and they all began to cave in. The tiles were gone.
"Follow me," she said. Glory dove into a hole in the middle of the arena. The dragonets exchanged glances and followed her. They followed her through them hole into a tunnel. They came to a door marked MUSEUM. Glory pushed it open. The room was enormous. Glory went through everything with them. One of the cabinets held a weird looking spear.
"This spear was used to open the RainWings chains when the NightWings abducted them," Glory said. It went on like that. Finally, when they where finished with the Museum they walked through a long tunnel.
"Is this tunnel ever going to end?" Fluor remarked. Glory turned and hissed at her. The dragonet rolled her eyes. Suddenly Glory shot upwards and the others followed. They were greeted with blinding sunlight.
"Welcome to the RainWing village," Glory announced. Dragons of all colours swarmed the village. "I will show you the theatre first,"
The NightWings guards moved aside as Glory came through. There was a sign that said, PLAYING THIS AFTERNOON: THE NIGHTWING ISLAND They walked through the double doors sat down in the V.I.D. Section. The show was about how Glory had discovered the NightWing's special home and how they almost started another war. At the end, the RainWings saved the NightWings from their crumbling island. Everyone stood and cheered.
"Wasn't that just great?" Glory remarked. She showed them around the village, teaching the dragones it's history and growth and what she has done as Queen. Glory showed them the statue next. It was made by an Animus dragon. It was gold and it's pedestal revolved.
"This is the most important part of the whole village," Glory told them. "When it is gold it means I reign and everything will be okay. If it is grey it means something terrible is going to happen,"
"Stupid statue," Fluorescent hissed. Glory flared her wings and ruff at the younger RainWing.
"You know, I really would love to get rid of you," Glory stated.
"Your majesty!" A dragon cried. "We need you now! The prisoner has told us new information!" Glory followed them as three guards descended on them and started to take them back to their cells. Kiara was to only one that noticed the statue was starting to go grey.
"Fight, fight, fight!" chanted the crowd, bloodthirsty for another Round in the Arena. Glory stepped out onto her balcony, positively glowing. Her pretty scales were a golden glow and orange streaks. Instead of her black crown, she wore a string of flowers. She looked like the real queen of Pyrrhia. Her voice was cool and clear like the morning dew.
"We are going to have the next fight another day. Please also whoever put salt instead of sugar in my deserts please own up." At the last sentence, a hornet's nest of snickers erupted from the grandstand.
"But we want a fight!" whined someone in a not so pleasant voice. Whiny Dragon continued,"We want fights and battles!" Glory's scales drained to an intimidating red and black.
She reared up and screamed,"NO MORE FIGHTS UNTIL I SAY SO, OKAY!?" The whole crowd was silent.
"Can I at least see my daughter?" asked a timid voice. Glory turned, drained of her anger towards Firecatcher.
"What?" Glory rasped, barely audible.
"I would like to visit my daughter, Kiara," repeated Firecatcher, this time more forcefully. Glory's eyes went grey. Oh, of course. Kiara. But this mother sounded so much like the dragonet that used to be inside this corrupted, controlling queen. Glory turned away. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.
"PLEASE YOU HAVE TO LET ME SEE KIARA!" howled Firecatcher. "DIDNT YOU FEEL WHAT I FEEL NOW!?" Glory shook her head. This was too much.
"No. I will not allow you to see Kiara unless in battle. "
Chapter 12[]
Kiara felt so alone. In the next two days, only one of them would be alive. Seasalt was long gone by now. She didn’t talk to Fluorescent or DustFang. Growing closer to them would only make it harder to kill them. She didn’t tell them about about her dark powers. Fluorescent would surely kill her if she did. Animus and Dark Animus were complete enemies. She held her claw between the bars and felt the rain patter down on her open palm. Then, Kiara sat in the far corner of her cell and sobbed.
Glory knew something wasn’t right. She could feel it in her scales. Something very bad was going to happen. She sat in her room on her bed of moss and flowers and looked out the window. It was pouring with rain, matching her mood. But the queen didn’t care. Rain was calming for her, as long as she wasn’t in it. She looked down and saw the arena, where three dragonets were going to be forced to fight to death tomorrow.
Kiara ignored the cheering as she walked into the arena for possibly the last time.
“FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT,” they chanted. Kiara saw Fluorescent glaring at the stands and DustFang just looked straight ahead. They walked slowly to the middle of the arena and lined up facing Glory’s balcony. The screams of the crowd got louder as Glory stepped out onto her balcony. Her scales were bright purple and her wingtips and tail was golden.
“Welcome! Welcome! Hello everyone!” Glory exclaimed. She clapped her wings three times and the crowd fell silent. “Welcome to the Grand Finale of these wonderful games! I welcome the final three, Kiara Of The SkyWings, DustFang Of The SandWings and Fluorescent Of The RainWing Rebels!” Glory addressed the dragonets. “These brave dragons have survived to this point, at the end of today one of them will be crowned champion!”
“Your challenge today is the Battle of Strength! All you have to do is kill the others in the arena!”
“Isn’t that the same as the first one?” Fluorescent growled.
“It’s not actually,” Glory hissed. “The first one was survival because there were more dragons in the arena so you could team up and survive. There are no allies in this battle,”
“LET THE GAMES BEGIN!” Glory roared.
The dragonets looked at each other. Kiara knew she couldn’t kill these dragons.
DustFang whispered, “Come on, put on a show for the audience. Lets scratch each other a bit while I figure out a plan,”
Kiara knew he was smart so she nodded and Fluorescent did the same. They circled each other, occasionally jumping in and scratching each other. Kiara looked up at the audience. They looked bored. She scanned the dragons, looking for her parents. She found her mother. She was clawing at her neck. Then she noticed the dragon sitting next to her. Anemone. Coral’s daughter. Tsunami’s sister. The animus. She was choking her mother with her powers while the rest of the audience watched the dragonets intently. Then Firecatcher dropped. Dead.
Kiara roared and her eyes turned back. She reared up on her back legs. Her scales turned so dark they were almost black.She charged at Fluorescent and DustFang. She blew dark flames at Fluorescent’s underbelly and pinned her on the ground. DustFang tried to pull Kiara off her but she grabbed him and flung him across the arena. She turned back to the RainWing. Kiara raked at her face and dug hr claws into Fluor's wings. She grabbed her horns, rolled her over and thrust her face into the sand.
Fluorescent weezed, "Dark one,"
And one of the dragons in the front row heard her.
“DARK ANIMUS!” the dragon yelled. Then it started raining fire.
Chapter 13[]
Dragons screamed as they tried to clamber out of the stadium. Meteors rained from the sky. Most of the dragons had already evacuated by now but there were a few that lay dead on the seats. Kiara had snapped out of her Dark Animus and was looking around wildly at the flames. She didn’t notice Anemone and the dragon beside her. Auklet. She was the third daughter of Queen Coral and an animus like Anemone. She was creating the storm. The storm that covered all the other dragons from seeing Glory being knocked out and dragged inside the palace, unconscious.
Fluorescent screamed and Kiara whirled around to watch a patch of fire hit her on the back. She slumped to the ground. Kiara ran over to her and tried to drag her out of the stadium. Kiara couldn’t see DustFang anywhere. Normally, Glory and her guards were seated in the stadium, so that if a dragonet tried to escape, they wouldn’t get far. But now that the guards were gone and Glory was no where to be seen, they were safe to escape. Kiara carried Fluorescent in her talons as she beat her wings and rose into the sky. Kiara looked around and spotted the Rainforest Kingdom in the distance. She flew towards it. She could see that it wasn’t raining fire in the Rainforest Kingdom just normal rain, although it was very heavy.
Dodging the fire Kiara flew all the way too the Rainforest Kingdom. She landed in a part that wasn’t part of the village and dropped Fluorescent on a patch of soft moss.
What have I done? Kiara thought. I caused the storm and killed hundreds of dragons. And maybe even my best friend.
“Fluorescent! Wake up!” Kiara cried. Tears poured from her eyes. “Please wake up,” Kiara whispered and lay down beside her, giving her warmth. Kiara heard a sharp breath and the coughing.
“Fluor!” Kiara beamed. She rushed to hug her but the RainWing pushed her away.
“I don’t hug monsters,” Fluorescent wheezed. “Especially ones that try to kill me,”
Kiara felt like someone had knocked the air out of her.
“B-but that wasn’t my fault!” Kiara cried.
“Of course it was. Just your plan to try and win the games. I should have known. Animus and Dark Animus are enemies anyway. I suggest you get out of here before I kill you,” Fluorescent growled.
Kiara took to the air and flew. She didn't know where she was going. Until the guards came after her. Five SkyWings zoomed towards her. Kiara went the only way she could go. Out to sea. Where more fire rain was. She beat her wings like crazy trying to escape the guards and the storm at the same time.
I am going to die tonight, she thought.
After hours of flying, and having fire rain nearly kill her the guards were still on her tail. Kiara was exhausted. She couldn’t go anymore. The guards would catch her anyway. She closed her eyes and let herself drop into the ocean.
Part 2: The Misunderstood[]
Chapter 14[]
Kiara groaned as she came to her senses. She was laying on her stomach on some soft bedding. There was a bright white light above her. A huge black dragon stepped out from the shadows.
“Hello, young one. I thought you would never wake up,” he said.
“Who are you?” Kiara asked.
“I am Morrowseer,” the dragon answered. Kiara drew in a sharp breath. Then two more dragons stepped out of the shadows. Two SandWings. One had scars all over her and the other had a cunning look in her eyes. The SandWing sisters. Burn and Blister.
“This is my mate, Blister and her sister Burn,” he explained.
How is that even possible? Kiara thought.
“I-I thought you both died,” Kiara said, her voice quavering. Morrowseer nudged Blister, signaling that she could tell Kiara.
“A dragon can’t just disappear from thin air. We had a back-up plan all along if anything bad was going to happen. And we managed to squeeze the poison out of Burn’s wound. Morrowseer survived the eruption and Whirlpool wasn’t killed by the eels,” She explained.
“Whirlpool?” Kiara asked.
“Whirlpool is one of the other leaders, along with all of us and a few others,” Burn answered.
As much as Kiara liked the new place, whereever she was, something else was on her mind.
“What’s happening in Pyrrhia?”
Blister drew in a sharp breath and Burn took a step back.
“There is war. A war so big that it could destroy all of Pyrrhia. On the Night of the Fire-Rain, Glory was kidnapped. She is being held in captivity. There are three sides to this war. The side that wants Glory to win, consists of most of the RainWings, SeaWings, NightWings. The second side wants Glory dead and there to be tribe Queens again. That consists of SkyWings, MudWings and IceWings. Then there is the third side. This consists of dragons from all tribes. They have the most dragons. They are holding Glory in captivity and are blaming you for the start of the war. They want everyone to stop fighting and want a Pyrrhia with no queens,” Morrowseer explained.
“Fluorescent,” Kiara breathed.
“She’s on the side that blames you,” Burn snarled.
“No,” Kiara whispered and fainted.
Chapter 15[]
Fluorescent arched her neck and hissed. Cypress backed away quickly.
“I mean you no harm,” she said in a soothing tone.
Fluor eyed the huge bulky figure of the dragon who had kept her here for the last few days.
She hissed back,”I don’t trust dragons that hit me on the head with coconuts.”
The other RainWing flinched. “I regret the coconut, but you were raging through our outpost screaming like a mad dragon.”
Fluor didn’t lower her neck or let the fierce look leave her rainbow eyes. “I don’t care.”
She changed color slowly, letting Cypress feel her emotions. She landed deftly on pure white and melted into the background. Fluor watched with satisfaction as the dragon’s calm mask shifted into a look of pure amazement. There was a long silence before Cypress spoke.
“You’ve grown.”
Fluor snorted. What did Cypress think she was, a stone statue?
“Hi Fluor.”
A shadowy figure stepped forward. Fluor blinked in amazement. Oak! But surely, he was dead in Glory’s palace?
Cypress smiled. Oak didn’t die. He was strong enough to survive. That was what Cypress wanted for her group.
Oak grinned. “Meet the rest of the group, and Lily.” The other RainWings stepped forward in turn but kept their distance. Another dragon entered the room. He spoke in low tones to Cypress in low, muted tones. The dragons all filed out except for the newcomer. He smiled to Fluor.
“Welcome. My name is Opalescent, but you can call me Ops.”
Fluor wrinkled her snout slightly. Opalescent? she thought. He's friendly at least.
Ops bowed, then a slender IceWing came into the room. She arched her neck demurely.
“I'm Antarctica. Nice to meet you, young one.”
Two more dragons entered. One was a huge MudWing with dull brown scales. Next to him stood a SeaWing with odd marks on her wings. The MudWing bowed stiffly.
“Pandowdy.”
Fluor was getting tired of all this bowing and names and stuffs.
“Who’s the slimy fish?” She snapped fiercely.
The SeaWing drew herself up to full height and glowered at Fluor.
“I am ThunderWave! You are speaking to Tsunami’s cousin, Shark’s young daughter!”
Ops looked worried. Fluor saw him muttering to himself about ThunderWave being sensitive, then stepped aside to reveal an amazing dragon, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. Ops cleared his throat, and let the RainWing pass.
“This is Rainstorm. She is my mother’s brother’s daughter, in other words, my cousin.”
Rainstorm looked at Fluor. The younger RainWing suddenly felt faint.
“Don’t let me die,” she croaked, then she fell to the floor.
Chapter 16[]
No. It can't be true. No.
But it was true. Kiara woke up with tears in her eyes. She stuffed her face in the pillow and screamed. Then she looked up. She wasn't in the same place as before. She was in a proper room. Bookcases lined one wall with shelves on the other wall. The third wall had the bed in the middle of it and more shelves. The last wall had a gigantic balcony. Kiara slipped out of bed and spread her wings. They still had holes in them. She touched her head, which was aching a lot. There was a bandage wrapped around her head.
That wasn't there before , she thought.
Kiara approached the balcony and opened the glass doors. Water lapped at the bottom of it. Then she saw the rest. Thousands of dragons were flying around. Rock towers surrounded a giant flat piece of rock in the centre. Every tower had a natural bridge to the centre. Kiara looked down and saw hundreds of glowing SeaWings.
They must live in the underwater parts of the towers, Kiara thought.
She saw that the centre plate also stretched down to the ocean floor. She spread her wings, forgetting that they were ingured, and took off. She flapped her wings as hard as she could when she remembered about the inguries. She landed on the centre plate just in time. Morrowseer was waiting for her there.
"Welcome Kiara. Welcome to the Island of the Misunderstood. When I first spoke to you we were at an outpost. This is the real settlement. We give homes to dragons that others hunted and tried to kill for the wrong reason. But most of all, we are the home of the Dark Animus. They have bred here and now there are enough to call them a tribe. This is your new home," Morrowseer explained.
"Wow," Kiara breathed. Morrowseer smiled.
"For the next few years we will be training you and your power. In three years time, we will enter the war with you as our greatest weapon. Training starts tomorrow. I have to go now, so Icicle here will show you around," Morrowseer said. An IceWing that was Kiara's age emerged from behind him. Morrowseer flew off leaving Kiara and Icicle alone together.
"Hi! I'm Icicle, Dark Animus IceWing. At your service," He said then grinned and bowed.
"I'm Kiara, Dark Animus SkyWing. Morrowseer said you will be taking me on a tour?" Kiara asked.
"Yes, I am. But only if you promise me that you'll tell me about the mainland," Icicle said.
"Of course. You've never been there?" Kiara asked.
"No. None of us Dark ones are allowed to. They'll kill us all," Icicle replied.
Kiara and Icicle walked off, chatting as a NightWing watched from her balcony.
She is a not just a Dark Animus. She is a Dark Shadow Animus. She must be destroyed, she thought then NightWing turned and walk back into her room.
Chapter 17[]
Fluor's face crumpled as she stared at an ivory sculpture she created with her Animus powers. It looked so much like her...like them... It could've been a mistake... They could have remained friends... Fluor dashed the statue to pieces and wiped the tears away angry. No, there is no mistake, she told herself. We were never meant to be. Now I must concentrate on helping Cypress and train for battle.
Opalescent blitzed into the room, interrupting her thoughts.
"Hey Fluor!" he said, smiling at the stormy dragon swinging on her hammock. Fluor groaned and vanished.
"Go away, Fluor isn't here she's...um...talking to Citrus." she replied. Ops grinned again.
"Citrus left," he replied.
"WHAT!!!" yelled Fluor, materialising again,now one the roof.
"Oh, he's alright. He found it annoying because he wasn't anyone important in our army," Ops continued cheerfully. "Cypress couldn't stand him and gave him the sack." Fluor dropped down from her perch up in the rafters and tumbled awkwardly onto her bed.
"But why must I go to lessons?" she complained, flopping one wing over her head. Ops smiled.
"To tell the truth, you remind me of someone," he said. "Your eyes, they are-"
Fluor interrupted,"Weird?" Ops stared at her and shook his head.
"Not weird. Unique, like someone I used to know a long time ago." Fluor leapt up onto the roof again, swinging back and forth by her tail.
"You still haven't told me why I have to do lessons," she replied, giddy and a bit nauseous.
"Well, for one thing, you don't know the forest well enough to navigate through it on missions by yourself," Ops reasoned.
"Then what do you suppose I do?" Fluor shot back, flinging herself off the roof and performed a somersault, landing right in front of the older dragon. Ops grinned mischievously.
Ten minutes later, Fluor was blindly trying to weave her way through the trees without hitting any and the only thing between her and her smashing her face into a trunk was Opalescent's voice.
"Left!" he shouted. "No! Too far left! Duck!" Fluor snorted with irritation and focused on protecting her face from the trees. She ducked, slide, hopped, tree glided, and ran her way through the course. "Ok now thread the needle!" Ops shouted. Fluor was puzzled. What did he mean by thread the needle? What kind of stupid instruction was-THUMP!
"Owwww..." moaned Fluor. "I think I prefer Battle Training than this." Ops hurried over, concern and worry written all over his face, which was a pale shade of ghostly white.
"I'm so sorry!" he gushed. "I thought you would understand and dive through the hole!" Ops pointed to the hole in the tree trunk and mimed diving through. Fluor marched away, nursing her sore head. She flared her ruffs up, making her look fierce and proud. She was a blazing orange red, exactly like fire. Defiance radiated from her in all directions. Ops watched her leave and approached Rainstorm. "Doesn't she remind you of someone?" Ops asked her. Rainstorm shuffled her wings and observed,"I like her eyes."