The First Empires

== Preface ==
For thousands of years, humans ruled the planet. 
They choked the skies with smoke and drove vast numbers of species to extinction. 
However, their arrogance led to their downfall at the hands of a new species, the dragons. 
Led by a matriarch known as “The Grand Mother”, known to many today as the First Dragon Queen, the dragons purged all of humankind, burning their houses, dens, and cities and eating as many as they could in an event known as “The Scorching”. 
History has forgotten of the Grand Mother’s real name, however it is known that she sacrificed much to save her kind, including her life. 
This story takes place over a millennium after her death and the downfall of humanity, when the first Dragon Empires rose. 
== Prologue ==
As night falls, the mournful group of dragons carry their beloved queen, their savior, the dragon who had helped them destroy humanity and saved them all, down from a rocky crag to a sandy clearing, gathering sticks and piling them in the center. They place her on top of the pile, gently, carefully, reverently. Her large, forest-green body is still, and her scarlet-accented snout shows no signs of life. 
They pile a few more sticks on, and then a fierce-looking orange dragon, now softened and grieving from her mother’s death, places a rosy-pink hibiscus flower in the body’s still claws. More dragons follow, one by one, first a few small dragonets that the orange dragon keeps protectively under her wing, then a large, elderly, blue, webbed dragon with a fish-like tail, then a black dragon with a golden-orange accented snout, then a spiny gray one with a tail barb. One by one, the dragons around her place the rosy flowers on the revered body of the first dragon queen. 
Then the gray dragon with the tail barb lights a torch with soft orange flames, and reaches forward, lighting the sticks piled below the body on fire. As flames begin to spread across the pyre, licking at the flowered body and enveloping it, the webbed blue dragon raises his talon in respect. The other dragons follow, raising their talons and palms, tears dripping down their snouts as the flames began to fully swallow the body. 
The elderly blue dragon’s tears flow endlessly throughout the night as the body burns. He is the only one who had known the first dragon queen before she was a queen. He was her only friend in her time of need. He is the only one who knew her real name. He whispers that name softly now, too softly for the other dragons to hear over the crackling flames. 
“Goodbye, dearest Hera.” 
== Part One: A Village of Gold ==
”Make your own judgements about situations. Do not listen to silly dares from friends. You’re nearly an adult, Kapok, and you must act like it.”
- Korro
== Chapter One ==
1500 years later..…
”Go! Go! Come on!” 
The three dragonets swoop through the treetops of the massive tropical forest, scattering rodents and small animals in their wake. Kapok and his friends need to get to the cornfield and back before sunset, or they won’t be prepared. 
“Come on you banana slugs! Are we gathering food to prepare for the ritual or sunbathing like lizards?” Kapok yells back at them, leaping and gliding across branches and vines. 
“You’re too fast! Slow down, Kapok!” Sarra calls. “Not all of us are as fast as you!” 
“Are you scared, Sarra?” Ronalo teases, tossing his head and flapping his four wings. 
“No I’m not! I’ve been waiting for this ritual for years!” 
“Then keep up! The sooner we get to the cornfield, the sooner we can get back and get ready for our ritual!” Kapok shouts. 
Sarra groans with exhaustion as Ronalo leaps over her head, using the momentum to glide past both Sarra and Kapok, laughing with triumph as he goes. 
“Haha! I’m the fastest!” Ronalo brags. 
“Showoff!” Kapok chides, catching up and whacking Ronalo over the head with his wing. 
They reach the cornfield, landing headfirst into the tall corn stalks and laughing without a care in the world. They may be entering their adulthood ceremony tonight, but they still act somewhat like dragonets. It’s just as well. Official adults in the LeafWing-BeetleWing clans are expected to act and behave rationally. Today is the last day to do anything rash or overly confidently. 
“I bet I can gather more corn than you, Sarra.” Kapok teases. 
“You’re on!” Sarra says, whacking Kapok with her tail and pulling out her bag. 
The three begin collecting corn as fast as they can. The sooner they can clear this field of edible and harvestable corn, the sooner they can leave. Kapok skillfully pulls away an ear of corn from its leafy stalk and suddenly looks over at Sarra. Now that they are entering adulthood, he realizes how beautiful she’s grown. They had both hatched together, with Ronalo being hatched about six months before they were. Aside from the slightly different hatching times, Ronalo fit in with the other two as if they were his own siblings. 
Kapok is reaching for an ear of corn when golden talons reach it first, skillfully separating the yellow ear from its leafy socket. 
“Hi.” Sarra says playfully. “Did you want this?” She nudges him, giggling. 
“Oh you little- I’ll get you for that!” Kapok yells, chasing after Sarra. 
They drop their bags and gallop through the cornfield, tackling each other and rolling through the corn. 
“We’re gonna ruin this corn! Stop attacking me!” Sarra giggles, pushing Kapok away and disappearing into the cornstalks. “Now I can sneak away from you! I’m gonna win!” 
Kapok snorts and chases her through the corn. Pushing ears of corn out of his face, he suddenly bursts out of a wall of corn and tumbles down a ditch. He’s too startled to call out or fly, and ends up snout-first into a muddy puddle on the forest floor. 
“Sarra, you sneaky- where are you? Did you lead me into this?” Kapok calls out. 
No response. 
Something moves to his right. “Sarra?” 
Something else moves to his left. Branches snap as he hears footsteps. Not talonsteps, footsteps. 
“Hello?” 
It’s at this moment that Kapok realizes he’s gone too far from the cornfields. And something is out here with him. Something big, and likely something dangerous. 
== Chapter Two ==
Kapok stands there, terrified. There are a dozen different creatures that would be able to kill a dragon. Dragonbite viper? No, he would have heard the slithering. Lion, leopard, or big cat? No, they would have been completely silent. This couldn’t be anything he had ever seen before, could it? 
Suddenly, a small creature, as tall as his shoulder, springs from the bushes. It’s an upright critter, wearing animal furs and wielding a sharp-looking weapon. This is a scavenger. Kapok had only heard of these in stories, along with the fairy tales of them killing dragons. Surely something no bigger than a deer would be able to take a dragon down, right? 
Kapok swipes at it, trying to make it back off, but it dodges the swipes and charges straight up to him. What a weird little creature. It leaps onto his leg and climbs, fast enough to avoid his claws and teeth. Kapok begins to panic, and he thrashes around, whirling and rolling over on the ground. The scavenger is getting dangerously close to his eye. He roars for help and lashes out blinding behind him-
And his claws sink into animal furs and soft flesh. He flings it off of him, where it hits a tree and tumbles to the ground. Kapok hears Sarra and Ronalo land behind him, and they all look on in awe of this small creature that almost managed to kill Kapok. 
“Is that a….. scavenger?” Sarra asks. 
“It looks like. Maybe we can eat it.” Ronalo says. 
“No, it would probably taste really stringy, like mammal. Corn and fish are our main foods, I’ll stick with them.” Kapok answers. 
“Touch it.” Ronalo dares Kapok. 
“What? No!” 
“Scared?” 
“I’m not scared. I’m almost an adult, in case you forgot.” Kapok snorts at Ronalo and creeps up towards the weakened scavenger lying in a heap on the ground. 
The scavenger groans weakly, hiding its face with its tiny, pathetic paws. Kapok reaches out with one talon. Close, close, closer..…… 
The scavenger rolls over, screams at him, and grabs its weapon, swinging it at his claw and slashing his talon. Kapok screams. 
“Run! Run! Go go go! Let’s get out of here!” Kapok says. 
They scream wildly and laugh all throughout the fly back. 
“Were you scared?” Sarra asks. 
“Not as scared as Ronalo!” Kapok answers, laughing his head off. 
In response, Ronalo whacks him with one of his wings, chuckling as Kapok spills a little bit of corn from his bag. Kapok snorts, too spooked to give a reaction. That scavenger had gotten scarily close to his eye. So the rumors were true! Scavengers could kill dragons. Imagine what a whole group would be able to do to a single dragon! Kapok shivers, shaking off the memory of that scavengers evil, cold little paws climbing up his leg. It’s a thing of the past now, and he and his friends fly towards their village. 
Kapok’s village is one of many humble hamlets under the protection of the great and mighty Golden Empire. North of them is the huge capital city of the Golden Empire, and to the east is the mountains. There are a few RainWing villages in the more tropical forested foothills of the mountains, but he has never seen a RainWing before. The RainWing’s main cities are in the Rainforest far east of the mountains. However, to the far southeast, where the mountains, forest, and river meet, is “The Forbidden Zone”. The elders of many villages have forbidden their youngsters ofrom going there. Kapok knows why, because he’s snuck a glance into that zone once. The Forbidden Zone is an ancient, overgrown scavenger city, with dens that seemed to once scrape the clouds. However, Kapok knows he can’t go back there. The one time he went, he was caught and punished. He can’t be punished again as an adult. 
He shakes off the memories once more and flies with his friends. Their humble village is a simple quiet yet bustling place. There was a time, he remembers from an elder’s story, that their forest leaves used to be bigger, so big that they could make massive houses in the trees out of plain leaves. Rains used to come more often, enriching the forest with more food. However, in Kapok’s lifetime, the rains have ceased and the wet, rainy summers are much shorter than the long, dry, hot winters. Some of his elders fear that their home will dry up, and they will have to move to the rainforest or swamps. Most elders, however, have faith in the rains. Now, at the end of the summer, things are already beginning to dry up, which is the reason more and more harvest patrols have to go out, to gather the precious corn before it dries up and withers away. They are required to pay tributes of the best corn to the Golden Empire, and whatever corn they have left they use for food alongside fish, insects, and small rodents in their meals. 
As they enter, small dragonets gather around them. 
“Kapok! Sarra! Ronalo! They’re back!” The dragonets exclaim. 
“Was it dangerous?” One of the dragonets asks. 
“Oh yes, very dangerous. A scavenger almost killed me!” Kapok says. 
“Nuh uh!” Another dragonet says in disbelief. 
“It’s true!” Sarra chides. 
“Were you scared?” The smallest of the group asks. 
“Not as scared as Ronalo! He cried like a hatchling!” Kapok laughs. 
The dragonets squeal in delight as Ronalo swipes at them playfully and gives Kapok a mock withering look. Kapok chuckles and dumps his bagful of corn into the granary. Sarra and Ronalo do the same, and the dragonets continue to pester the three friends. 
“Did you go to the Forbidden Zone?” A dragonet asks. 
“No! Of course not!” Kapok snorts. “I’m not risking getting in trouble again!” 
“Youngsters, come. Give them some peace.” A deep female voice warbles behind Kapok. 
Kapok turns and bows his head. “Mother.” 
His mother takes his talon and brings him into a hug. “My dragonet, you look exhausted.” 
“It was a long day.” Kapok answers, dipping his head respectfully. 
Kalrada, Kapok’s mother, is the Chieftess of their village. She’s always very intimidating and imposing towards everyone, but often she shows her gentler side to her husband and son. 
“Go see your father. He waits for you.” Kalrada says. “And get some rest after he’s done with you. You won’t be getting any tonight.” 
Kapok nods respectfully and heads off towards his father’s treehouse. Kapok’s heart pounds. Even he hasn’t seen his father often. Care to the dragonets is often left to the hatchery workers and mothers, and his father, the Chief of their village, was often too busy running the place to have much time with Kapok. They didn’t even sleep in the same hut. But now that he is to be an adult tomorrow, he’ll be seeing his father more often. Sarra and Ronalo march off towards their own huts. The elders of the village are each responsible for their own dragonets and granddragonets, meaning that he has to face his father, grandfather, and uncles alone. 
He climbs the spiraling inner stairways up to his father’s quarters. Of course, he could just fly up to the top, but doing that was the most heinous disrespect anyone could ever commit in his village. Only the elders and his father are allowed to enter their treehouse by flying. And so he climbed up the long, spiraling stairway. He wonders if the stairway was actually a challenge, to test the visitor’s perseverance. If a visitor was willing to climb all this way up to a place where they could easily yet disrespectfully fly up to, then they were probably worth listening to. 
Kapok shakes off the last of his fears, and reaches out with his talons to knock on the wooden door at the top of the stairs. 
== Chapter Three ==
Shuffling sounds come from behind the door. Something is knocked down, and muttering commences as more shuffling begins. Kapok waits patiently and quietly for what seems like an eternity. Just as he thinks that they’ve forgotten he’s knocked, a warbling, throaty greeting calls out from behind the door. 
“Come in.” 
He pushes open the heavy wooden door and is greeted with hard stares from his elders. His two aunts and three uncles observe him quietly as he nods to them, bowing respectfully and making his way to his father’s quarters. The Elderbirds near his father’s door squawk at him, cawing, as if mocking his fear. The door to his father’s quarters open before he can knock there, and the rarely seen yet deeply respected face of his father appears. Kapok bows and reaches his talon out as a form of respect. His father grabs his talon as acknowledgement, and lifts him back onto his feet. 
“Kapok. Son.” Korro’s wise smile eases most of Kapok’s tension. “Come in. We have much to prepare you for.” 
The door closes behind Kapok as his father pulls him in by the talon. Kapok realizes he hasn’t cleaned up the wound the scavenger gave him on his talon, the same talon his father holds right now. His father seems to realize the wound is there, and, letting go of Kapok’s talon, sniffs at the blood on his hand. 
“You’re hurt!” Korro exclaims. “Recklessness…… typical of dragonets. You must shed this recklessness if you are to properly complete this ritual.” 
Korro sniffs the blood on his hand again, and, grunting with another realization, grabs Kapok’s wounded talon again and smells it. 
“Scavenger!” Korro spits. “Did you go to the Forbidden Zone!? Answer me!” 
“I didn’t! Never! Never again! I cannot go ever.” Kapok protests. 
His father seems to believe his word, but continues inquiring him. “How did you gain this wound?” 
“The Scavenger was hurt….. and Ronalo dared me to touch it….…” Kapok trails off. “It scratched me with its weapon.” 
“Careless!” Korro snorts. “That Ronalo will be the death of you, I swear by the trees. Make your own judgements about situations. Do not listen to silly dares from friends. You’re nearly an adult, Kapok, and you must act like it.” Korro’s gaze softens as he sees the guilt in Kapok’s eyes. “I know you are inexperienced. You have much to learn, my son.” He chuckles, his eyes seeming to sift through young memories. “I have much to teach, and so does your grandfather.” 
“Of course.” Kapok nods. His grandfather. The eldest of the elders in the village. Each village had one like him, the wisest and most humble of all elders, often called the “Grand Master”. 
“I will now review your activities with the other elders. I will vouch for you. No son of mine will ever miss out on the warrior ceremony.” Korro says. “Wait here while I do so.” Kapok’s father leaves and gathers with the elders. 
Kapok, waiting for their judgement, becomes nervous and strains his ears, listening to snippets of their conversation. 
“I don’t think he is ready.” 
“He touched a scavenger! The most vile of creatures! He could have been killed!” 
“He shows poor judgement.” 
“He can learn!” 
“Perhaps he should have to wait until next year-“
“Enough.” 
A commanding voice booms through the hut. Kapok shivers as he hears the slithering, imposing talonsteps of his grandfather. The only dragon in the village that makes Chief Korro bend is Grand Master Kodok, Kapok’s grandfather and the wisest of elders in his village. He ruled the village as chief for over fifty years before retiring and passing down leadership to Kapok’s father. Now he is over ninety years old. Kapok swallows a mouthful of bile rising in his throat as he listens. 
“Korro, does the dragonet show promise?” 
“Yes, Grand Master.” Kapok’s father says, and Kapok feels the floor creak as his father bows. 
“Does he show any chance of learning or maturing?” 
“Absolutely. He is desperate to shed his reputation among us as the dragonet who went into the Forbidden Zone.” 
“He must be motivated by other things too, if he is to complete this ritual.” Kapok’s grandfather murmurs. “Go now, son. Help him with his ritual. I pray that I have shown good judgement.” 
“Yes, Grand Master.” Korro bows and Kapok hears the creaky talonsteps of his father as he opens the door. “Son, we have much to accomplish.” 
== Chapter Four ==
”Come on! Don’t put so much of your weight forward!” 
Kapok stumbles over to the wooden wall, gasping from small bruises. The spiritual training his father gave him to help him rest without sleeping was relatively easy, but now the battle training feels absolutely impossible. Kapok doesn’t know how he could ever be a fit warrior. He’d always assumed that he would be an explorer or a farmer once he completed the ritual. Now, he is facing the realization that his life might be anything but peaceful. 
Korro leaps forward, swiping the blunted training spear at Kapok and smacking him upside the face. “Come on! You have strength! I feel it! I need to see it in action!” 
Kapok pants and tries to summon his courage, balancing his weight on his hind legs, tail, and folded wings, and clutching his own training spear in his shaking talons. He digs his hind and wing claws into the wooden floor and leaps forward, deflecting his father’s spear and roughly striking his father in the chest with the blunt spearhead. Korro gasps, surprised by Kapok’s sudden force, and whirls around in a graceful circle, swinging his tail and wings around and kicking out with his hind claws. 
“Woah!” Kapok exclaims. “Will I learn to do that?” 
“In time. Have patience, son. You need this training.” Korro responds. “There are dangers beyond our village, and it is my job to prepare you for them.” Kapok’s father looks Kapok’s bruised body up and down. “Let us rest. We have a few hours before the ceremony.” Korro points to a small wooden cot in the back room. 
Kapok nods and saunters over to the cot, collapsing onto it and curling up. “Father..… I hear the Mountain Tribes are becoming more and more powerful..… is that why you train me so hard?” 
Korro hesitates. He’s supposed to reassure Kapok that the training is merely precaution. However, Kapok is not a dragonet anymore, and Korro knows it. 
“Yes. The Golden Empire sent the village chiefs a private message while you were gone today. They told us to prepare for war.” Korro sighs. “They fear and hate the Mountain Tribes, and the Mountain Tribes fear and hate them. I am worried that my village- my family- will become trapped in this hate.” Korro puts a talon to his head, rubbing his skull. “I worry it was a mistake for my great-great-grandfather to bring his villages under the protection of the Golden Empire.” 
“It couldn’t be! The Golden Empire protects us so we live our lives in peace!” Kapok responds. 
“But they also get to use our warriors for war, when they are supposed to be for precaution.” Korro disapprovingly stares Kapok down, then softens. “You are young, and your loyalty is strong. Your elders have taught you much loyalty to the Golden Empire, perhaps too much.” 
Kapok nods, bowing his head and settling back on his cot. If he was called to war, what would happen? Would his friends get to go too? Would… would Sarra get to go too? For the first time he realizes he feels something other than friendship with Sarra. Is it a feeling he gets with adulthood? He wonders if his father will give him more spiritual training to help sort out this feeling. 
Suddenly the sound of drums and bells ring out through the village. 
“The ritual performers are warming up and rehearsing.” Kapok’s father says. “Get some sleep. I will wake you in an hour when the ritual is starting.” 
Kapok nods, resting his head on the end of the cot. He can’t help the feeling he gets when he realizes Sarra will be there too. He can hardly fall asleep as he imagines them both joking about the other older dragonets in their village, or taking jabs at Ronalo’s ego..… or maybe talking about their feelings. He’s sure Sarra feels the same way, from the way she acts around him. He feels hope in his chest as he curls up on the cot, drifting off into a dream about Sarra and him dancing together in a cornfield. 
It feels like barely a minute later that his father is gently shaking him awake. “It’s time, youngster. Come.” 
Kapok drowsily gets up and scoops up some dew from his father’s washing station, splashing his face with it to keep awake and following his father down the spiraling staircase down to the village, where bonfires burn, drums beat, and flutes whistle as Kapok sits next to his friends. Sarra leans over next to him and whispers, her breath soft and smelling of cherries in his ear. 
“How was the training?” 
“Tough. Father trained me hard.” Kapok whispers back as the dancers imitate trees and the official LeafWing beginning of the world. 
“My aunt trained me as well.” Sarra says, and twines her tail with his, leaning further into him as they watch the performers dance their final act, before the coming-of-age dance starts. 
“Do you want to dance with me?” Sarra asks as the performers leave the wooden platform. 
Kapok looks into her eyes, and feels like he could fly up to the moon as her beautiful ocean-blue gaze dazzles him. “Yes.” 
They take each other’s talons, and, tails intertwined, begin to dance with each other near Ronalo, who currently has the most annoying BeetleWing dragonet in the village twined with him. He shoots Kapok a dirty look as Kapok and Sarra snicker at the sight of him with his new dancing partner. As the music slows into gentle lullaby music, he feels himself and Sarra slow down as Sarra pulls closer and rests her head on his shoulder, folding her wings around his and holding his talons tightly. At this moment, he feels more strange, confusing feelings for Sarra than should be dragonly possible. He closes his eyes as her antennae brush his snout, and they both hold each other. At this moment, nothing else exists. The cooing, awestruck crowd disappears around them, and it’s just Sarra that Kapok sees. Even Ronalo and his obnoxious new partner fade away. Kapok takes it all in, the music, the happiness, the feeling of Sarra in his arms, wings, and talons, and allows himself the wonderful luxury of hope. 
== Chapter Five ==
Kapok stares off into the night, the wind whipping around his face and causing his eyes to water. The final act of their ritual is to stand a silent vigil the whole night, and Kapok struggles to keep his eyes open. Ronalo is taking a turn patrolling around the village borders, so Kapok and Sarra are alone for a bit. She scoots closer to him. Since they cannot speak for fear of breaking their silent vigil, they lean into each other, twining their tails and waiting for sunrise. 
When sunrise finally comes an hour later, Kapok and Sarra both turn their heads towards each other. 
“The vigil’s finally over. We can speak now.” Kapok says. 
“I can’t believe we’re already adults. It seems like we were playing together in the hatchery pods just a day ago.” Sarra responds. 
“Time flies, doesn’t it?” Kapok chuckles. “This is a new beginning, Sarra. A fresh slate. We have so many new responsibilities..…” 
“Well,” Sarra says, “I think that I want to face those new responsibilities by your side.” She looks into his eyes, wrapping her wings around him and gently stroking his snout and neck with her talons and antennae. “Do you want to do the same with me?” She asks. 
Words fail Kapok, and the only response he can come out with is a nod. He wraps his wings around her as they both fold into each other, each finally able to express their feelings with the other. They both sob with happiness, holding each other tightly, with Sarra’s antennae wrapped around Kapok’s snout and their talons intertwined- 
“AHEM.” They both break apart to see Ronalo cocking one eye at them and smiling. They both cough with embarrassment and glance around as Korro approaches the trio. 
“It is time to be accepted into the village as adults.” Korro says. “Remember your teachings. Your elders are wise and kind to each help you with your ritual.” 
All three of the new adults nod and follow him back into the village. They say nothing on the way back. They don’t need to. Kapok and Sarra twine their tails and hold their heads high as they enter the village, to uproarious cheering. 
“To the new warriors!” A LeafWing in the crowd cheers. “To Sarra, Ronalo, and Kapok!”, and the rest in the crowd follow suit. 
Kapok feels Sarra lean into him, and feels hope as their village cheers their name. 
However, that same day, Kapok’s hopeful and peaceful life is overturned and beaten to the ground. 
At around midday, a GoldenWing messenger arrives from the capital of the Golden Empire, with two StoneWing guards posted next to him. He gives his brief thanks for being let into the village, and jumps right into the message. 
“As you all know, the war with the Mountain Tribes has been devastating for both sides. Many dragons have died, and his majesty High Emperor Aricon has done his best to keep his LeafWing and BeetleWing subjects out of the war. However, spies have revealed that the Mountain Tribes are beginning to amass an army to destroy the Golden Empire and its most loyal subjects once and for all. In the hopes of stopping the Mountain Tribes, His Grand Majesty High Emperor Aricon requests thirty LeafWing and thirty BeetleWing warriors from each village.” The GoldenWing messenger’s voice is high-pitched and squeaky. “Choose your warriors within the next day. An Imperial Battalion will be waiting outside your village to escort your loyal warriors to the Great Irican Wall.” 
With that, the GoldenWing messenger turns and flies off with his guards. The village erupts into murmuring and arguing. 
“The Emperor is right! We need to send our warriors!” 
“To their deaths? We cannot get involved in this war. We should segregate and flee to the rainforest.” 
“Like cowards? LeafWings and BeetleWings fight! We don’t stand to the side!” 
“The Mountain Tribes are a massive threat, we should-“ 
“SILENCE!” The bellow rings out through the entire village. Everyone turns to see Grand Master Kodok perched on a balcony in the elder’s treehouse. Kodok addresses everyone in his throaty, imperious voice. “For many generations, we have lived in the protection of the Golden Empire. I feel their iron fists too, but we cannot afford to make enemies. We are a peaceful village.” Kodok starts coughing violently, and clears his throat to say his next words. “I will decide by evening. In the meantime, I would like to discuss this with my elders and family.” Kapok turns to leave, and his grandfather utters a few more words that make him stop in his tracks. “That means you as well, Kapok.” 
Kapok turns to look up at his grandfather and feels the weight of his family’s legacy on his shoulders. Korro and Kalrada come up behind him and beckon, walking with Kapok towards the treehouse. 
“You get to talk with the elders?” Sarra tells Kapok. “So cool!” She wraps her wings around him. “Good luck!” 
Kapok doesn’t feel very lucky as Sarra struts off. For the first time in his life he has to reckon with his honorable family. He cannot act rashly during this meeting, or it would disgrace his family more than anything in the world. He swallows a load of bile in his throat as he enters the treehouse behind his parents and begins the long climb up the stairs. 
== Chapter Six ==
As Kapok and his parents reach the top, the door is already open, with Kodok standing at the entrance. He takes them inside, and they all gather around the small fire in the center of the treehouse, near the stair entrance. The elders are all silent, looking amongst each other. They have no words from the horrific message that has been dropped on their heads. Then Elder Selna, Kapok’s aunt, stands. 
“We cannot send our fine warriors. That message is badger droppings!” 
The elder next to her, Elder Tenrec, shakes his head. “We are allies with the Golden Empire. They offer us protection. We are in no position to sever this peace de-“ 
“Fireballs and Fourth moons to that! We can take anything that comes at our village.” Elder Selna says. 
“And how many dragons could die from that situation?” Korro suggests. He sighs. “I agree with you, I do not want to do this any more than you do.” 
Kodok nods at Korro, acknowledging his willingness for peace. “We must gather sixty of our finest warriors now, to appease the Golden Empire.” He looks at Kapok, and Kapok’s stomach drops into his curled-up tail. “Kapok is one of our finest warriors now, no? He should g-“
“NO!” Kalrada explodes. The elders gasp at her tone. “He cannot go! He is too young! Send someone else! Send me!” She breaks off into a coughing fit, nearly collapsing. 
Korro steadies her, concern growing on his face. “Your cough is too much. You are in no state to fight.” Korro sighs heavily. “Kodok is right. This is Kapok’s chance to prove his worth. I do not want to send him into danger either, but we cannot argue that this could be good for him.”
”Good? Good? A life-threatening battle far away from home is far from good!” Kalrada snarls. 
“Kalrada, calm yourself.” Kodok says sympathetically. “I know he is your son. But he needs this.” 
“He needs his home!” 
“Enough!” Kodok snaps, his patience collapsing. “I have given my word. Kapok and fifty-nine of our other warriors will go to the wall and fight.” 
Korro tents his wing over Kalrada, calming her down and embracing her, rumbling. “It will be fine. Kapok can survive this.” 
“The meeting is over! May Kapok will prove himself worthy of this village in the battle.” Kodok says, dismissing the elders. 
Kapok isn’t so sure of himself. He’s even less sure of himself when neither Sarra nor Ronalo are one of the other fifty-nine warriors chosen. 
As he packs for the trip inside his personal hut, movement at the doorway catches his eye. It’s Sarra. Tears fill her eyes as she looks at him. 
“So. How do you feel to be chosen for a battle, you big, tough warrior?” Her warm, joking tone catches and the tears spill down her face. 
“I’ll come back. I promise you, Sarra.” Kapok knows she’s at least a little bit angry at him for leaving. 
Sarra steps closer. “Maybe you can take me with you. What if you get hurt? I could give you the herbs and medicine you need. I could-“ She breaks down into tears, her wings drooping as she starts to sink to the floor. 
Kapok bridges the distance between them and catches her before she can collapse in sadness, pulling her into his wings and talons and twining his tail with hers. “You don’t need to be worried about me. I’ll be back. I just need to win us this battle, and we can live a new life together, I promise.” He presses his muzzle to hers and he feels her soft, sweet-smelling antennae feeling at his face. “Come on. I have to go join the battalion now. I can say goodbye there.” 
She nods, and they walk in silence to the edge of the village. There, Ronalo, Korro, Kalrada, and the elders wait. He gives them his hugs and says his goodbyes. Sarra clings to him the entire time like a dragonet. He saves the pain of saying goodbye to her for last. She wraps her wings around him and gives him the warmest, tightest embrace that she has ever given him, sobbing into his shoulder. He murmurs to her, comforting her. Some of the StoneWing escort at the battalion give sympathetic looks, giving them all the time they need. 
Finally, it’s time for Kapok to break away. “I love you, Sarra. I’ll come back. I promise you that.” 
He tells himself to pull away quickly, like ripping off a sticky bandage. Make the pain quicker yet more intense. And yet, he doesn’t. He pulls away slowly, breathing in Sarra’s sweet scent one last time before finally slipping his talons from her grasp. He looks at her for a long, long time, slowly backing away into the battalion. And then, as he hears the StoneWing escort bellow orders, he lifts off with the rest of them. As he wings away with the rest of the battalion, he glances back one last time to see Sarra’s tear-streaked face and snout getting smaller and smaller from the distance. He closes his eyes, wiping the tears from his snout, and tells himself he’ll see her again. He tells himself this over and over and over until the shape of his village eventually disappears from his field of vision. 
== Chapter Seven ==
Explosions ring through Kapok’s ears as parts of the wall crumble before him. It is seven days after he left his village. Now, he fights for his life at a horrifying battle. For the past seven days, there have been a few skirmishes, but now the Mountain Tribes are making it clear: this is their final charge, either they will take this wall or die. 
Kapok watches as a catapult launches a burning dragonflame cactus into the air. The cactus slams into a big rusty-colored dragon trying to fly over the wall and explodes on impact. The smoking body of the target comes crashing down on the other side of the wall, splattering blood and ashes everywhere. Kapok is frozen. It’s so overwhelming. He shakes his head, trying to clear the ringing in his ears, and grabs his longbow, loading an arrow and taking aim at one of the soldiers trying to push a siege tower up to the wall. He fires the arrow, striking the soldier square in the chest. The soldier crumples to the ground, dead. 
Kapok shakes himself, determined to not let his fear get the best of him. He pulls back another arrow, and fires. He continues to fire arrow after arrow after arrow. When he finally runs out of ammunition, he straps his longbow back to his strap and pulls out the spear and shield given to him by the StoneWing escort, charging down the wall with the defense and sticking his spear straight through a flame-colored dragon’s skull. The dragon collapses, dead, and Kapok turns to smack another one upside the head with his shield. He lunges forward, sweeping his spear around and killing yet another soldier trying to climb up the wall. A burning dragonflame cactus soars above his head and explodes into a siege tower. The siege tower groans, catching on fire, and then collapses. Kapok has to fly out of the way to avoid getting crushed by the burning mass of wood. Several dragons aren’t so lucky, however, and the burning siege tower crushes them all. The explosions muffle the screams. 
Kapok feels a presence behind him, through the tumult of fighting and dying dragons. He turns his head to see a scarlet red-orange dragon. This dragon is not the biggest of the attacking dragons, but he holds himself like a leader. Kapok steps back, bracing himself, and the leader-looking dragon lunges with his own spear and shield, slamming into Kapok. Kapok stumbles back and barely dodges the dragon’s spear as it misses his face by inches. Kapok smashes his shield into the enemy’s, and stabs his spear through the vulnerable area of his opponent’s tail. The dragon roars and jabs his spear forward, cutting open Kapok’s leg. Kapok yells with pain, but barely hears it as an explosion swallows the sound. As the enemy keeps slamming into Kapok, wearing down his stamina, Kapok realizes that he has to do something to get an upper hand. He thinks of Sarra, and her broken face. He will not see that broken face ever again in his life, he tells himself. 
He remembers the move that his father used, seemingly ages ago, while training Kapok. Kapok focuses, latching onto Sarra’s beautiful voice in his head, and swings himself around, spinning and lashing out with his shield, spear, back talons, wings, and tail. He feels his back talons, spear, and wings connect with his target, and he hears the roars of pain from his opponent. He regains his balance and faces the enemy and sees the damage he has caused. Blood drips from a spear wound on the dragon’s shoulder, and there are claw marks on the dragon’s chest. The enemy is shaking his head, disoriented, and Kapok uses this moment to lunge, slamming the dragon to the ground. As he raises his spear to deal a killing blow, however, the dragon flings his shield at Kapok, knocking him back. When Kapok regains his balance, the dragon has already disappeared into the fighting crowd. 
Kapok shakes himself off and realizes that they are losing. He flies back up to the wall and looks back to see countless bodies strewn across the battlefield. He realizes with a jolt that almost all of the LeafWing and BeetleWing warriors are dead, and many other GoldenWings and StoneWings are as well. He also realizes that there are many StoneWings that have deserted to the Mountain Tribes’ side, helping to use the battering ram on the main gates. Kapok’s stomach plummets as they break through the main gates, beginning to slaughter or capture StoneWings, LeafWings, BeetleWings and GoldenWings alike. 
He flies over the wall, observing the Mountain Tribes roar with victory. Suddenly, one of them, a bronze mask covering his face, looks up, directly at Kapok as he glides over the battlefield. Without warning, the masked dragon leaps into the sky, flying directly towards Kapok. Kapok flees, diving down into the forest. He swoops through the trees, leaping and gliding from branch to branch, tossing and scattering leaves and branches in his wake. He feels the masked dragon getting closer and closer and closer. He keeps flying, feeling his wings catch on thorn bushes and branches. He wrenches them free as his heart threatens to explode in his chest, pounding in his ears. He sneaks a glance behind him, and the masked dragon is right on his tail. Kapok yelps and puts on a burst of speed, tearing through a dense thorn bush. He hears a roar of anger behind him, and sees the masked dragon caught in the thorns. The masked dragon roars angrily, struggling. It will only be a few seconds before the dragon pulls himself out. Kapok whips around and disappears into the forest as the roars behind him disintegrate. 
He knows what he has to do. He has to warn his village, and other villages too, of the danger they are in. If he gets there in time, they’ll all be able to flee to the rainforest and perhaps seek asylum from the RainWings. His heart still pounds in his head as he flies southwest, his wings carrying him home. 
== Chapter Eight ==
As night falls, Kapok crawls through the overgrown forest floor. All day he has heard dragons flying overhead, scorching as much of the undergrowth and canopy as they can possibly burn. He growls inwardly. The barbarians care only about destroying the forest. They don’t want to conquer the land, they want to purge it. Kapok has had to travel on the ground because of the dragons in the sky. If he even tries to glide through the canopy, he’ll be spotted, and he could accidentally lead them right to his clan. His heart pounds as he recognizes the cornfield that he, Ronalo, and Sarra had trampled through. Those events feel like lifetimes ago. He shakes himself off and pushes on. 
It’s getting very dark now. Kapok can hardly see whatever’s in front of him, let alone a village. He starts to panic. If he continues on, he could become lost. If he decides to make camp, his village might be destroyed by morning. He shakes himself off yet again and pushes onwards, pushing foliage out of his face and crashing through the dense undergrowth. 
Suddenly, light blue flashes off in the distance catch his eye. It flashes again, and he moves towards the flashes, hearing shouts as he gets closer and closer. Then the flashes stop. He spreads his wings, curiosity winning over cautiousness, and flies to the clearing where he saw the flashes come from. 
As he enters the clearing, he sees two strange lumps on the ground. He steps forward into something. Something wet. He lifts his claws up to his line of sight and gurgles, stumbling back. His claws are covered with blood, as is the rest of the clearing. He leaps over to the lumps and turns them over to discover that they are dragon bodies. He feels twisted horns and huge, bat-like wings and realizes that these are Mountain Tribe dragons. He steps back, reeling, and then a talon comes down on his shoulder. 
Kapok barely manages to not scream as he whips around and comes face to face with a bloodied Elder Tenrec. Kapok senses something is wrong with him. Then Tenrec speaks. 
“Careful, Kapok, there are more.……” 
Tenrec collapses, dead, a knife sticking out of his back. Kapok stumbles back, horrified and disoriented, and hears wingbeats and laughter. He looks up and sees torches in the distance. He flaps madly, leaping into the foliage and hiding as figures reach the bodies. 
“Two of ours are dead!” One of them says. 
“There’s a LeafWing elder!” Another shouts. 
A masked one pulls up his mask to reveal a well-muscled, slender face. He reaches down and rips something off of Tenrec’s body, holding it in the air. 
“We are next to a cornfield, not? We must be near a village! Go! Go! Find it!” 
“Find his village! Find his clan!” A beefy brown helmeted dragon bellows. 
They all fly off. Kapok can’t stop himself. There’s no time to be quiet, no time to sneak to his clan. He would rather get caught and die than let his clan burn at the talons of these barbaric dragons. He follows the torchlight, flapping and flapping and wanting to yell. He stumbles out of the forest, collapsing in a field-
And looks up to see his village in flames. 
Kapok is frozen at first. He can’t believe that this is happening. Then, snapping himself out of his fear, he flies into the chaos. 
A LeafWing near him is struck by a Mountain Dragon’s staff that seems to spit lightning, stunning the LeafWing and knocking him to the ground as a second Mountain Dragon leaps onto the LeafWing, wrangling him and tying him up. Kapok stumbles away and is immediately almost struck by another staff. This staff finds its mark on a BeetleWing begging for mercy. Kapok scrambles away into the cabbage and bean gardens, where he crawls through the crops. On his right, a humble old LeafWing farmer is being held to the ground and electrocuted by the lightning staffs, and on his left a BeetleWing and two LeafWing dragonets are being dragged out of their hiding place like loads of earwax. 
Kapok, wide-eyed, runs out into the village square. A LeafWing he doesn’t know stumbles up to him and is quickly caught in a Mountain Dragon’s net. Kapok’s hindtalons tangle in the net and he is swept away with the other LeafWing. Both of them are dragged across the village before Kapok cuts himself free. He stumbles back upright and hears someone call his name, far off. 
“Kapok!” At first it feels like he’s imagining it. 
“Kapok!” No, that was definitely someone. 
“Kapok!!” Kapok looks over. At the edge of the village, LeafWing and BeetleWing prisoners are being tied up. Among the captives are his mother, Ronalo…… and Sarra. 
Kapok’s heart pounds as he flies towards them, landing right beside Sarra and wrapping his wings around her. He almost forgets the peril he is in before they all shake him from his dreamworld. He pulls out his knife and starts cutting Sarra loose. 
“What happened?” Sarra asks. 
“The siege became a massacre. I barely escaped with my life!” Kapok responds, managing to cut the first of Sarra’s bonds free. 
Sarra turns to touch her snout with his when her eyes widen at something behind him. “Kapok! Look out!” 
Something strikes Kapok from behind, and a violent surge pulses through his body, blinding him temporarily. He opens his eyes to see that he is on the ground. He flips over, and the masked dragon is right there, knocking aside his protesting mother and friends and raising a staff in his talons, lightning crackling at the end right in Kapok’s face. Kapok scrambles back, and the masked dragon strikes again, lightning crackling through Kapok’s veins. Kapok yells with pain, but the crackling stops prematurely. Kapok looks up to see Sarra, one of the bonds on her arm loose, on top of the masked dragon’s back, clawing at the mask and neck of the dragon. 
“Go, Kapok! Run!” Sarra screams. 
“Help your father!” Kalrada shouts as the masked dragon slams Sarra to the ground. Kapok sees no more as a huge flaming section of a treehouse roof comes crashing down in front of him. 
Kapok, his obedience winning over his care for Sarra, turns and flies up to the treehouse where his elders live. He is forced to climb the last section of it. Just before he gets to the top, he turns to see Grand Master Kodok, his grandfather, being dragged into a circle of Mountain Dragons near the captives. The beefy brown dragon from earlier walks up to Kodok, removing his helmet and reaching down to flip Kodok over, slamming a huge talon onto Kodok’s neck. Kodok, the biggest dragon Kapok had ever known in his life, now seems like a mouse compared to his attacker. The brown dragon presses down on Kodok’s neck, and Kapok watches as his own grandfather is strangled to death. 
Kapok is frozen with grief as his friends and other elders wail at the sight of Kodok’s eyes dimming. The brown dragon lifts his talon up, and pulls off Kodok’s necklace of bird bones and leaves. The beefy dragon lifts it high, proudly, and roars. 
“FOR SCIPIAN!!!” The brown dragon bellows. 
“FOR SCIPIAN!!” The dragons near him chant. 
Kapok shakes his head. He has to do one thing right in this chaos. He has to help his father. 
He climbs through the window of his father’s room and bursts into the main room of the treehouse. His father is busy freeing the Elderbirds. Kapok gallops up to his father. 
“Father!” He yells to Korro. 
“Help me! Help me free them!” He commands. 
Kapok nods, getting to work. He grabs an eagle, pulling off its hood and ripping off its foot bonds. The eagle screeches, flying out as Kapok lunges for a Hawk, untying it as well and launching it out of the burning windows. 
As Kapok goes to freeing the birds, Korro frees his own master bird, a huge sea eagle he had tamed in his younger years. He knows he might never see this eagle again, so he launches it out of the burning window and leaps to untie a crow. The crow flies away through the room. 
“Come on!” Korro says to Kapok. “They are all free! Let’s go!” They stumble out in the direction of the crow’s flight, hearing it cawing in distress-
The crow’s calls are cut off near the stairway entrance. Korro slowly turns to see a huge brown dragon, Kodok’s killer, standing in the doorway, his mouth sticky with feathers and blood. 
Korro steps back cautiously. “Fly up to the higher level.” He whispers to Kapok. In the burning chaos, the brown dragon has not seen Kapok yet. 
Kapok obeys, slipping up to a higher level near the rafters and hiding. Korro faces the brown dragon as the dragon lifts a lightning staff. The dragon opens his mouth to speak. 
“Bend for Scipian, old tree-lizard, and you will live.” 
Korro is silent, and furrows his brow, spreading his wings and readying himself to fight. 
“So you have chosen to die. Foolish old bat.” The brown dragon spits, leaping forward and striking Korro with the lightning staff. Korro rolls, sweeping a burning pile of embers into the brown dragon’s eyes. The dragon snarls, stomping down on Korro’s tail and striking Korro once again with his staff, pinning him to the floor as lightning crackles through Korro. 
Kapok watches his father being held down and snaps. He grabs a flaming chest, burning his talons in the process, and hurls it at the brown dragon with all of his strength. The flaming chest slams into the dragon’s head, exploding into ashes. The brown dragon growls, shaking off the pain, and lifts his head up to see Kapok. The dragon roars, charging towards Kapok and slamming into the wooden posts holding Kapok’s level up. Kapok leaps from plank to plank as the brown dragon smashes into the posts over and over, collapsing the level bit by bit. But as Kapok tries to leap across the treehouse, the brown dragon strikes. Lightning crackles through Kapok as he is knocked out of the air, falling to the wooden floor of the treehouse. Kapok lifts his head but the dragon stomps down on his neck, pinning his head to the ground and cutting off his breath. Kapok struggles to breath, gurgling as the brown dragon chuckles. 
Kapok is about to let go of consciousness as Korro leaps, slamming into the large dragon and twisting in midair, pulling the dragon down to a lower treehouse level. Kapok sucks in a deep breath and shakes himself off to see his father grab a piece of wood and put the large brown dragon into a headlock. The brown dragon growls and struggles, and suddenly the piece of wood breaks. The dragon snarls, reaching behind and grabbing Korro, slamming him down in front of him and beginning to beat Korro bloody. 
Kapok’s anger surges and he lunges once more, landing on the brown dragon’s back. The dragon snarls and grabs Kapok, swinging Kapok around and throwing him through the side of the treehouse wall. Kapok reaches out to catch himself with his wings before realizing one of his wings is funny. He falls slightly before grabbing a sturdy rope that had broken free from the treehouse, and clinging onto it. He sees his mother, Sarra, and Ronalo exclaim with shock, pointing at him. All the dragons in the burning village are looking at him now. He turns to see the large dragon smash his father through the wall as well. Korro, chief of the village, now hangs out of the treehouse by his hips, his feet and tail paralyzed and his front talons reaching out towards Kapok. Blood wells up on his swollen face, dripping down to the burning ground below. Kapok lets out a strangled cry, reaching for his father, but the brown dragon is already there. The large dragon opens his massive jaws to speak. 
“For Scipian.” His staff flashes with lightning and he slams the crackling end down on Kapok’s father, holding it there until Korro’s movements become still. 
“FATHER!!!” Kapok screams, and he hears the wails of the watching villagers from below. 
“Glory to our great father.” The large dragon growls, and his staff flashes with lightning again as he strikes the rope Kapok holds onto. 
A shudder goes through Kapok’s body as he is flung from the rope by the lightning-looking energy. 
All Kapok hears is the wails of his village, and of Sarra, as he falls, slamming into a burning roof and tumbling into a pile of smoldering embers. 
The last thing he sees before blacking out is the villagers being strung up in ropes and being dragged and carried off into the dark black night. 
== Part Two: Legacy of a Mother ==
“There was a time..… when humans and dragons lived side by side. Impossible, I know.” 
- Ghlano
== Chapter Nine ==
Everything..… hurts. 
This is the first thing Kapok realizes. 
At first, he doesn’t remember the battle, the raid, the death of his father and grandfather. He thinks it all must have been a bad dream, and that he’ll wake up with Sarra’s beautiful green-and-gold scales beside him. 
But he opens his eyes, looking around, and realizes it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t his imagination. 
All around him are ruins, ashes, and charcoal. The clearing he called home is now caked with the smell of burning coals. 
With great effort, he lifts his arm up, grabbing onto a crumbling wooden structure that used to be the fishmonger’s hut. He pulls himself out of the smoldering rubble and collapses onto a path, lying on his belly and lifting his head up to look around. He touches his dislocated wing, and uses the little strength he has to pop the wing back into place. A few seconds pass as he finally gains the strength to stand up. He hears an eagle’s cry and looks over to see his father’s huge black, brown, and white sea eagle hopping and flapping around a disheveled, crumpled shape on the ground. Kapok knows what this shape is long before he gets a look at it, but the sight of his father’s sightless eyes and stone-dead face still rip sharp claws through Kapok’s heart. 
Kapok curls up next to his father’s lifeless corpse, mourning alongside the eagle. He reaches out, and straightening Korro’s necklace before curling up again and letting the tears flow. 
Kapok doesn’t know how long he sits there. It feels like hours. It feels like days. 
After a while, he lifts his father up with as much strength as he can muster, and drags him carefully towards the only patch of green grass left in the village clearing. There, he rests the body down and begins gathering rocks of various sizes, piling them carefully onto his father’s body. 
After the final rock is placed on his father’s body, he steps back. 
“Father.” He says. “I swear by the trees, eagles, and leaves that I will find them. I will bring them home. I will free them.” 
Then, he turns and walks through the village, observing the wreckage more carefully. The BeetleWing’s cocooning shelter is burned to the ground, the cocoons ripped to shreds and the dragonets inside those cocoons dead and strewn across the ground. 
The hatchery pods are also scorched to a crisp, and all the eggs inside are gone or in fragments. Egg yolk stains the floors of the pods. 
The cabbage farms and gardens are uprooted and destroyed, the humble farmers and gardeners either dead or captured. 
But in the wreckage of these gardens, something metallic catches Kapok’s eye. He digs through the rubble and pulls the metal thing out. It’s one of those strange spears that the Mountain Tribes were using, that spit lightning, though this one appears to be broken. Kapok ponders over this curious object for some time before strapping it to his back. He gathers what food he can salvage from the wreckage of his village, and flies up to a scorched tree on the edge of the village. He lands in the tree, looking back at his village one more time, promising himself that he will save his clan and come back before turning and flying off into the unknown, wondering what could be in store for him. 
Wind whips across Kapok’s face as he frantically tries to hold his tent together. The storm is beginning to pick up, and the skies are gray. It is the evening after he left his village, and he has set up camp on the edge of the Forbidden Zone. He knows he shouldn’t be here, but it is one of the only lush parts of the vast forest left in his home. The tent collapses under the wind, and Kapok shakes his head. The storm is too violent to keep trying, so he crawls under the collapsed tent with his items and hopes for the best. The wind blows harder and harder against his tent and he grips the tent and the ground, squeezing his eyes shut and crying himself to sleep. 
Birds chirp as the morning sun dawns. Kapok struggles out and folds his small tent, strapping it to his back with the odd spear. A shrill cry sounds out to his right and he turns to see his father’s eagle, watching him with sharp, yellow eyes. Kapok warily watches the eagle. The eagle looks like it’s deciding whether to kill him or to adopt him. Kapok, not knowing exactly what he is doing, cautiously holds out his forearm. The eagle tilts its head and leaps, flying towards Kapok and reaching its talons out. Kapok braces himself for the eagle to land on his arm, but the eagle just slashes its talons across his forearm and flies away. 
“AHHHHHH! OWWW!” Kapok roars. “YOU STUPID BIRD! WHY COULDN’T THE MOUNTAIN TRIBES HAVE EATEN YOU?!” 
Kapok spreads his wings and flies off in a rage, clutching his bleeding arm. He shakes his head as he flies over the huge abandoned scavenger dens. 
A while later, he lands on a path next to a hill. He had seen smoke coming out of this hill and decided to investigate. Now, he sets down his tent, cloths, and food, hiding them both in a small grotto next to the path. He climbs up the steep, forested hill, his claws digging into the dirt. He balances himself out and reaches the top of the hill. Up here, he can see the smoke more clearly. It seems to be coming out of the ground. He tilts his head at it. What in Pyrrhia? He doesn’t know of any natural phenomenon like this. 
He steps forward and suddenly the ground gives way beneath his feet. He falls through, tangling himself in vines and breathing in smoke. He chokes, gasping, calling out for help. His fall clears the vines and suddenly he’s falling down towards a fire, the source of all the smoke. He screams as a vine catches on his leg. He hangs there, above the fire, swinging around and shouting for help. 
The vine holding his leg suddenly gives way, and he tumbles down, missing the fire and landing in the shadows. The spear. He needs to get to his spear. He lifts himself up to look for it- 
And nearly runs straight into the very spear he was looking for. It’s pointed at him. He lifts his head up slowly, and realizes it’s being held by a dragon. A huge, black dragon who is prodding Kapok with the spear and looking at him as if he’s an actual aphid the dragon found nibbling on his crops. The dragon opens his mouth, and speaks slowly and thunderously. 
“Who are you, and how young are you to be without your mask?” 
== Chapter Ten ==
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions