Shifting Winds

A fanfiction by CrookedstarAmazing.
A war threatens to tear the seven dragon tribes apart . . .
There is nothing to stop it . . .
And with no NightWing foresight to guide them . . .
What will stop the destruction of the tribes?
But when three dragons come together, all different and tribe, personality, and age . . . can they be the ones to put an end to the War of Darkness, once and for all . . .
== Prologue ==
The cave-in happened with no warning. Queen Cleverness strode into her throne room, thinking about what a wonderful queen she was. She had led her NightWings to a new home, to another island, a rocky mountain range full of caves. A perfect place for her tribe to settle. She had made them feared once more. I don't see how I could do better, she thought to herself, running her midnight-black talons along her throne, which was silver and studded with polished moonstones.
The throne room was large and decorated, with gems of all colors shimmering on the walls and floor. A smaller throne was built besides the queen's. It belonged to Cleverness's only daughter, who the queen didn't give much thought to. She'll challenge me one day, and I'll kill her then. No need to worry about it now, she frequently told herself.
It had been a fine day. First, she had a meeting with her Council. That had gone very well. She had feasted upon a chicken as the members discussed territory and expanding the treasury. She had taken that suggestion, provided by one of the Council members, and presented it as her own, so of course, the whole tribe had believed in her great intelligence. She was sure of it. They all knew how very smart she was. It could have easily been her idea.
I am indeed clever. I have done great deeds. I will be remembered as the finest queen the NightWings- no, the finest queen that any tribe has ever had! Yes, I truly am a splendid queen. That will be my name in the scrolls, a hundred years from now. Queen Cleverness the Magnificent, Queen Cleverness the Feared, Queen Cleverness the-
Crack. The stone roof of the cave above her crowned head suddenly split. A wide crevice opened up. Gravel fell in streams, the tiny pebbles bouncing off of her hard scales. Queen Cleverness gave a yell of shock and pain as a pointed stalactite fell and pierced her tail. The stone spike shattered, sending shards of rock flying. The NightWing queen made a break for one of the exits. And the cave collapsed.
Queen Cleverness shrieked as the cave ceiling broke open. Chunks of rock, soil, and more gravel rained down upon her. Desperately, she flung her gem-studded wings over her head, but it was no use. She uselessly clawed at the heap of stone and earth that surrounded her. Tilting her head up, she glimpsed a sliver of light far above her. The top part of the mountain where her throne room was located had opened to daylight.
Cleverness stretched her neck towards it. I'll escape, I'll escape, she assured herself wildly. Then a jagged piece of rock crashed into her head, and everything went dark.
Another NightWing winged towards the throne room. When the newcomer spotted the ruins, he gasped. "You Majesty?" he roared, landing on the edge of the destroyed mountaintop. "Queen Cleverness!"
Piles of clay, dirt, and pebbles completely hid the elegant thrones from view. The torches had been smothered, and the entrances blocked. The NightWing saw no trace of the queen at first, and he scanned the debris for any sign of her.
Glimpsing a flash of black scales, the NightWing scrambled down into the buried throne room. He dug his dark claws into the gravel and dug it away. More inky black appeared. He scraped away rock and soil, blunting his claws until they were dull and scraped uselessly against rock and he lifted pieces of it away. Finally, he uncovered a snout. Lifting away one last large, heavy stone, he gasped.
The queen was completely limp, her head resting on the heap of rubble. A huge, sharp fragment of rock had embedded itself in her head. The NightWing wrapped his talons around the rock and tugged it free, trying not to accept what he already knew. Queen Cleverness was dead.
Breathing rapidly, he tried to pull himself together. It would be okay. The kingdom would survive. They had an heir. Warfighter would inherit the throne. She was the only living NightWing princess. So there will be no conflict. Right? he assured himself.
Of course, right. Queen Warfighter will rule. There should be no trouble. I'll just have to bring the news. Tell her that she now commands the tribe. Easy. Right.
"Well, well." The NightWing turned, heart sinking, at the sound of a cold, harsh voice. Prince Powerseeker fixed his dark gaze on his mother's body. "Such a tragedy."
"Should- should I fetch Warfighter, sir?" the other NightWing asked.
"Oh, but Messagebearer. So much extra work for you. I think I'll go find Warfighter," Powerseeker offered.
Messagebearer backed away. He had a horrible feeling about what would happen if Powerseeker found his sister. "I insist, sir. It is my duty, sir." Before the prince could reply, he flapped away into the fading sunlight. As he winged away, he thought he heard Powerseeker speak.
"You can try and stop me. But it won't change anything. Warfighter will be dead by tomorrow."
Very nervous now, Messagebearer glided into the unharmed sector of the palace. Cautious, he glanced at the roof of the caves, expecting to see cracks spreading along it, but it seemed that the top of the mountain had been the only area to suffer damage. Still worried, he ran down the dark, winding tunnels, crashing into the walls several times.
He finally located Warfighter's room. Rapping on the door, he called, "Princess, I bring an urgent message! This is of utmost importance!" He forced himself to sound dignified and dutiful, when on the inside he felt like he was going to collapse.
The NightWing dragoness opened the door and looked down upon Messagebearer. She was completely black, save the small silver scales spotting her wings. A small silver band, like a miniature crown, encircled her pitch dark horns. "What is it?" she demanded.
"She- Queen Cleverness- the mountain- your mother is dead," Messagebearer blurted, stumbling over the words.
"What? Does Powerseeker know this?" Warfighter snarled, baring her teeth. "Speak!"
"Yes, Princess. He saw her body. He- he awaits you," Messagebearer reported.
With a roar of fury, Warfighter's claws sliced through Messagebearer's scales. His scream was cut off, and he flopped to the floor of the stone tunnel, lifeless. "This cannot be!" Warfighter growled, moving as fast as she could to the nearest exit. "He has been after my throne for years. He wants a king instead of a queen! That will never be! He is not taking what is rightfully and traditionally mine- not tonight!"
== Chapter One ==
"Race you to the next dune!"
Simoom charged ahead of Loess, kicking sand up her snout. Loess scrambled after her, trying to keep up with a larger dragonet. Simoom easily outpaced her. "Hah! I win!" she crowed, standing atop the dune.
Loess caught up with her. She flared her wings, dislodging grains of sand that showered Simoom. "Hey, watch it!" Simoom brushed the sand off of her pale, dusty yellow scales.
The sun was hot, beating down on them. It was a pale, blazing orb in the bright, cloudless blue sky above them. There was no water in sight, but the Scoprion Den was visible at the horizon. To Loess, the warmth was the best feeling in all of Pyrrhia.
Simoom continued to brag about her victory. "You're so slow! You really need to learn to run faster than that! What if an enemy attacked? They'd catch you easily!
"That wasn't really fair," Loess pointed out, flicking a beetle off of her talons. "You began running before you announced the race."
"Aw, Loess. Come on. I finally got you away from your precious scrolls. Have some fun! Don't spend your life curled in a corner with a scroll in your talons!"
Loess's spines lifted. "I can spend my life however I wish to, Simoom!" she growled. She hated when dragons like Simoom brought her fascination with scrolls up.
Simoom shoved her playfully. "Come on, don't get so defensive!" the SandWing dragonet told her.
"I'm not defensive!" Loess inhaled deeply. She knew that Simoom was right. A thin trail of dark gray smoke rose from her nostrils, and her venomous, barbed tail twitched rapidly.
"Uh-huh," Simoom answered, looking skeptical.
"I-" Loess began, but Simoom cut her off.
"Let's go into the city! My mother gave me a few gold coins!" She tapped a small, brown leather pouch that hung from a a thin cord around her neck. Loess heard a soft, muffled jingle of metal within it. "We can buy whatever we want!"
"Alright," Loess agreed, still ruffled by the 'precious scrolls' remark.
They strode into the Scorpion Den. SandWings in battered stalls and tents sold items varying from foods to carpets to scrolls. "Busy day," Simoom remarked, pausing besides a stall that offered dates.
The SandWing selling them turned towards them. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Good business. You interested in getting any?" she asked, her dark gaze hopeful. She held out a plate of them.
"We're fine," Simoom replied, walking past the stall and onto the next. "Come on, Loess. Let's see if we can find anything good." Squeezing between two heavily scarred SandWings who were in mid-conversation, Simoom moved ahead.
Loess peered into another tent. Heaps of scrolls were stacked atop each other. Loess opened her mouth to address the seller, but Simoom grabbed her arm and steered her away. "I said we're looking to buy something good."
"Scrolls are good!" Loess argued. She couldn't believe that Simoom didn't like scrolls, and barely even knew how to read.
"No. I mean really truly actually good," Simoom insisted.
"Scrolls are-" Loess started to protest, then closed her jaws. It wasn't any good to quarrel. Anyway, they were Simoom's coins.
"Here!" Simoom pulled Loess to another stall. Strange objects were on display. Spears, amulets, camel-hair rugs. "Wow, cool." Simoom selected a long spear that ended a a wickedly sharp point. It looked like it could easily kill a full-grown dragon. "How much for this?"
"Why do you need a spear?" Loess inquired.
Simoom shrugged. "You never know. The world is at war. She handed the seller her coins and took the spear, the dangerous metal tip glittering in the sunlight. The seller, looking pleased, swept the round discs of gold into a sack.
Loess stumbled as Simoom pushed her. "You are aware that there are battles going on as we speak, right?" she teased, as if Loess didn't know perfectly well that, at that very moment, the NightWings Powerseeker and Warfighter were waging war upon each other, sending armies to invade.
Well, if she wants it, I suppose. Doesn't seem very logical, though. The Scorpion Den is a place to avoid the war, not be in it.
Leaving Simoom to admire her new weapon, Loess dodged the barbed tail of another SandWing and searched for her mother's tent. Nyala sold all sorts of roasted prey, and spicy cooking smells could be scented long before a dragon cam near the tent.
Quickly locating it, Loess strode towards the tent. "Would you like any- oh, Loess. Come inside." Nyala was pale golden, with old burn scars on her talons from years of cooking. She let Loess help her sometimes, but it wasn't really Loess's favorite thing to do.
"Where's Courser?" Loess asked her, wondering where her brother would be. He often played with the other dragonets outside of the Scorpion Den, but spent much of his free time in the tent with Nyala, feasting on something charred.
"With Arroyo. They're hunting," Nyala replied, setting bag of scorpions above a crackling fire, which spewed thick dark smoke that escaped the tent through a gap in the ceiling. When they had cooked, she seasoned them with some sort of powder and put them up for sale, spreading them out along a wood table along with several dried lizards and a camel.
"Will they be back soon?" Loess persisted. She hoped not. Courser often annoyed her, and she liked it when Arroyo took him to hunt prey for Nyala to sell. She usually sat and read and the corner of the tent, nibbling on some of Nyala's grilled crickets.
"Probably. It's about time," Nyala responded. Loess poked her head outside of the tent. What she could see of the horizon beyond the rickety stalls with tinged pink and orange with the beginnings of a sunset. As she watched, two sand-pale shapes winged into sight, one smaller than the other.
"I think they're here now!" Loess told Nyala, who looked skyward. "See, that's them!"
Arroyo descended in front of them. Courser thumped behind him, a cloud of dust engulfing him. Arroyo briefly touched his wing to Nyala's, then turned to her. "Hello, Loess. You're brother and I brought dinner."
Courser grinned, and showed Loess a bloody piece of meat. A coyote, she guessed, from what was left of its tawny fur. "It nearly got away!" he declared. "But I caught it in the end! It was this close from diving into its burrow!" He held his talons a short length apart.
"You did well, but be neater next time," Arroyo instructed. He prodded the meat with a pale yellow talon. "You can hardly tell what it was."
Loess suppressed a smile. Arroyo was an Outclaw, a well-respected one, raised learning that the only way to be strong was to push yourself to the limit. He was hardly ever satisfied. As if she had read Loess's thoughts, Nyala spoke up. "Oh, Arroyo. Is anything ever good enough?"
"Of course!" he blustered, looking surprised. "But we aren't there yet!"
"Can we eat it now?" Courser broke in. He was observing his catch with a hungry gleam in his dark eyes. Nyala divided carefully. Loess set a small flame besides her portion. scorching it. Scraping sand over the blaze, she ate the meat in quick, small bites. Pushing away the remainder, she announced, "I'm not very hungry. Courser can have the rest."
As the sun dipped below the skyline, the SandWings disappeared into their tents. Some took their supplies and soared away. Soon, the Scorpion Den was quiet. Courser's tail flopped onto Loess's shoulder, and she pushed him away. As soon as his snores filled the tent, Loess slipped to the corner of the den and chose a scroll.
She squinted, trying to make out the ink lettering. If only I could see in the dark, like a SeaWing. They're lucky. They can read regardless of what time it is.
Finally, she gave up and returned the scroll to its proper place. With a sigh, she rested her head against Nyala and drifted into sleep, her dreams peaceful and undisturbed. That is, until she awoke at dawn, just in time to watch as the first soldier alighted.
== Chapter Two ==
Loess's head shot up. Through the opening of the tent, she could make out a large SandWing. He signaled with his talons, and a row of soldiers descended behind him. Quickly counting, Loess could see that there were evenly a dozen. Twelve soldiers, all big and scarred and vicious-looking. "Arroyo!" Loess prodded her father until he awoke.
"Loess? What's wrong?" Then he spotted the soldiers. He inhaled sharply, and pushed Loess behind him. With a roar, he burst out of the tent.
The soldiers faced him, claws and tails lifted. One of them stabbed at him with their venom barb, but he dodged, reared up, and sent a fireburst at the lead soldier, who bellowed and reached for his eyes. Arching his tail, Arroyo aimed for another soldier, but two more slipped behind him. One pinned his tail, the other swiftly clawed his back.
Suddenly, something warm and sand-pale shot past her. Courser, awaken by the noise of the battle, snarled and flung himself to Arroyo's defense. He slashed his claws across the wing of one soldier, and his tail swiftly plunged into the shoulder of another.
Realizing that they now had two attackers, the soldiers backed away, then regrouped, surrounding Courser and Arroyo. They dove in, teeth and claws flashing. When they withdrew, Courser was bleeding from a deep cut on his snout, and Arroyo hissed with pain, clutching a venom wound on his thigh.
Loess glanced behind her desperately and saw Nyala watching, paralyzed with fear. Unable to stand it, Loess leaped out of the tent and raised her claws. She aimed for the neck of the nearest soldier, but another glimpsed her and lunged. Before she was truly aware of what he was doing, he had dragged her into the center of the ring of soldiers, with Arroyo and Courser.
"Loess!" Arroyo gasped. "You were supposed to stay safe!"
"I couldn't leave you. There's no one else to help."
Loess could see Arroyo look around, and notice that she was right. All of the other dragons, who, like Courser, had awoken, hearing the fight, had fled. Loess could see them, light shapes against the clear desert sky. She doubted they'd return for some time.
The lead soldier, who's face was burnt and blackened, clutched his talons to one eye. Gingerly, he removed them, and Loess blinked when she saw that the eye was gone, and the scales around it badly scorched. He surveyed Loess, Courser, and Arroyo with his remaining eye. After a long moment, he spoke.
"Take the dragonets."
Loess summoned a flame and shot it at one of the desert dragons that reached for her. She avoided it, and it hardly singed her snout. She quickly leaned forward and clamped Loess's jaws shut with one talon, and used the other to hold her tail safely out of the way. Out of the corner of her eye, Loess saw Courser writhing and two soldiers pinned him down. Arroyo prepared to attack, but three dragons pounced on him from behind, trapping him.
Another soldier produced some chains, and with them he bound Loess and the others. Loess tried to escape, but the SandWing clutching her had her snout and tail in a firm grip. The soldiers wrapped chains around her last, then turned to address the lead soldier.
"What about this one, General?" He jabbed Arroyo with a claw.
The general looked down at Loess's father. "Kill him," he ordered.
"No!" Gazing in the direction of the voice, Loess could see that Nyala had finally come to her senses. "Don't kill him!" She thrust herself in front of Arroyo.
The general growled. "Kill her, as well."
Three SandWings closed in. Nyala hissed, lashing out with her claws. One soldier snapped at her throat. She fought with tooth and claw and tail. But as they overwhelmed her, Nyala gave Arroyo one final, despairing look, then took of. She flapped her wings quickly, without looking back.
"Don't pursue her. It isn't worth it," the general instructed. "In fact, let's take this one prisoner, too." He gestured to Arroyo.
The soldiers ascended, carrying their prisoners. Loess felt helpless. If she fell from this height, she would die. But would that be preferable? she wondered.
Close by, she could see the palace. It was encircled by huge, thick walls, and sand dragons flew in and out of it. Loess felt as though she was going to be sick. She had read enough scrolls to know that Queen Calcine didn't welcome Outclaws.
Out of nowhere, there was a commotion. The SandWing holding Loess fumbled and dropped her. Loess yelled as the sand drew nearer. Then, suddenly, something appeared beneath her. Another SandWing. The newcomer caught her on their back. Stunned, Loess felt the dragon tilt, and she slid into the sand.
The other SandWing landed in front of her. He was pale yellow, with dark brown freckles down his back. He carefully melted the chains using fire, and Loess winced as the metal scalded her scales. He appeared to be one or two years older than herself. "Come on," SandWing ordered. "We have to go."
Loess spread her wings shakily. Looking back at the SandWing soldiers in the air, she watched as a body fell. It was too small to be a soldier, and crashed in front of them, the pale, sand-colored scales smeared with blood. "C- Courser?" she breathed.
But the SandWing shook his head. "No. He's still with them." Scanning the skies, Loess could see he was right. Courser was there, fighting to break free of his chains. "Who-" she started, but the other SandWing cut her off.
"My sister," he answered, examining the corpse. "It's too late for her, we have to go," he replied in a gruff voice. "Fly, now. Please."
"But Courser-"
"There isn't anything I can do for him now. I'm sorry." He hung his head, and Loess realized that he was right. "We have to go."
As they lifted off, Loess studied him. She doubted he was an enemy, since he had just rescued her from the soldiers. But she hadn't seen him around the Scorpion Den. When he palace had vanished from sight, Loess decided to ask. "Who are you?"
He slowed slightly when before he responded. "Me? I'm nobody."
"That isn't an answer."
"It pretty much sums me up."
"You just attacked a wing of soldiers to rescue a dragon you don't even know," Loess countered.
"That wasn't exactly planned," he replied.
"Can you just tell me your name?"
"Okay, fine. I'm Shamal. And you are?" he questioned.
"I'm Loess. Where are you taking me?" she asked him.
"How about I tell you when we get there?" he suggested. "It isn't very far, don't worry. Are you tired?" Loess noticed that he sounded genuinely concerned.
"No, I'm alright." Loess was struggling to keep up, but refused to admit it. She flapped her wings as hard as she could and caught up with him.
He glanced towards her, then focused his dark gaze back on the horizon. It was evening now, and the first stars were becoming visible. "We'll have to stop here."
Loess nodded, and they descended onto the sand. Feeling exposed to enemies, Loess asked, "Um, so, are we just going to sleep in the open?"
"Sort of. Just bury yourself in sand, and you'll blend in." He dug a ditch, lay down in it, and scooped talonfuls of sand over himself, even though Loess doubted a dragon flying at night would be able to distinguish his pale yellow scales from the it.
Mimicking him, Loess soon was disguised, part of the desert. She curled her barbed tail beneath her and closed her black eyes. The sand was cooling quickly, but her warm scales kept it at a reasonable temperature. Her head, which was open to the air so she could breath, felt freezing in contrast.
She didn't sleep much, and when she awoke, the sky was pale with dawn light. Rising from the sand, she located Shamal by finding a patch of sand that rose and fell as he breathed. Clearing it away, she whispered his name. "Shamal, come on."
"Huh?" He blinked and stood up. "Right, thanks. You need to hunt, or can we keep moving?"
"I'll catch a lizard, that'll be enough." She tracked a set of tiny prints. They led her under a rock, which she flipped over. A brown lizard darted from underneath it, and Loess hooked it on a claw. Its tail had disappeared by the time he had returned to Shamal. He nodded and spread his wings. A minute later, they were gliding through the air.
"So, um, can you tell me where we're going now?" Loess questioned. "Please? I like being friends with dragons, but it's a little hard when they tell me they're bringing me somewhere without telling me."
"Soon, I promise," he responded, sounding sincere. Loess decided to stop asking and just trust him. He was strangely easy to trust, but that didn't unsettle her.
She soared ahead and faltered. If she continued, she'd be leaving the desert. It changed to hills, which grew higher the farther away they were from the Kingdom of Sand. "Come on, we're almost here," called Shamal.
"Um, we aren't going in IceWing territory, are we? I've read that it's really cold there, and I don't really think-"
Shamal waved a talon. "No, we aren't going that far north. I wouldn't be able to stand it, either. Come on, we can land now."
They alighted on a bare, rocky slope. "Here we are," Shamal pronounced. He led her to a cave at the base of the hill. "Come inside," he invited.
"This seems like something a sinister sort of thing an evil kidnapper would do," Loess pointed out.
"True, true. But I assure you I am no evil kidnapper," he replied, and laughed. At that moment, Loess couldn't help but notice how handsome he was. She laughed with him, and decided that, since he had saved her, she could trust him enough to go in the cave.
Walking several steps behind Shamal, Loess looked around. The cave was dark, but Shamal guided her to a tunnel. I never would have noticed that. This was made by dragons who want to stay hidden.
Farther down the tunnel, a torch illuminated their surroundings. The tunnel was wide enough for an adult dragon to fit, wings spread. But as they moved down it, it narrowed. Loess began to feel trapped, and hated the feeling. Then, they entered another cave.
The walls were smooth gray stone, and torches gave off light. Loess took a step back when she saw another dragon in the cave. But it wasn't a SandWing. This dragon had red scales, and its wings were massive. A SkyWing. Besides the red dragon, one more dragon emerged from the shadows. The dragon's black scales had been impossible to see. In the torchlight, Loess could see that it had silver scales spotting the undersides of its wings. The NightWing started when it saw Loess. "Shamal . . ."
"She was being taken to Calcine's palace," Shamal declared. "I had to."
"But what about-" the SkyWing began.
"Dead. They killed her, and took Loess's friends," Shamal answered.
"They were my brother and father," she added, sorrowful at the memories. She pushed them out of her head. She would formulate a rescue plan later.
The NightWing dipped her head. "I understand. Loess, right?"
"Yes. Nice to meet you," she replied, trying to squash the nervous feeling she always felt around dragons of other tribes and be friendly.
"I'm Wishgranter. This is Cuprite." Wishgranter inclined her head towards the SkyWing. "And Tadpole is somewhere around here . . ."
"Did someone say my name?" Another dragon appeared in one of the tunnels branching off from the cave. "Who's that?" He focused his dark brown eyes on Loess.
"This is Loess," Shamal introduced her.
The dragon, which Loess noticed was a MudWing, squeezed out of the tunnel with a grunt. He was muscular, with brown scales and gold underscales, which were barely visible in the gloom of the cavern. "Where will she stay?"
"She can sleep in my cave," Shamal offered. Addressing Loess, he asked, "Will that be alright?"
"Okay," she agreed. "But first you're going to tell me everything."
== Chapter Three ==
"Who are you? What is this place? Why am I here?" Loess began interrogating him the instant they went inside of Shamal's cave. It was circular, with several pointed stalagmites protruding from the floor. A single torch burned above the doorway.
"Hold on, hold on!" Shamal objected. "One question at a time!"
"Start with the first one."
He sighed. "Why not? But I will warn you, it's a little complicated."
"I'm sure I can handle it," she replied breezily. She liked Shamal, and he had saved her life, but she needed to know what was going on right this very second.
"I didn't think you couldn't. Anyway, we've been here- well, I'll start at the beginning. The war has been going on for eight years, as you know. About three years after it all started- three years after the death of Queen Cleverness- a small group of dragons united to stop it.
"Now, over two centuries ago, there was another war. It was between three SandWing princesses, but that isn't important. What is important is important is that some number of dragons of every tribe, forty or so in all, joined together to stop the war. They called themselves the 'Talons of Peace'. Now, when this war, you know- the War of Darkness- started, Wishgranter found out about them in a scroll and decided to try and replicate the idea of a peace movement."
"Is it working?" Loess wanted to know.
"It was going well, for a short time. Dragons were joining to escape the war and bloodshed, including me and my sister. We were thriving, and then . . ." Slowly, he trailed off and stared at a stalactite.
"Then things changed for the worse. One of our most dedicated dragons, Crayfish, was killed by Warfighter. He was a MudWing, and while he was carrying a message to one of our NightWing spies, she found him and killed him. Even if he had told her that he wasn't part of Powerseeker's MudWing army, she would have done it anyway if she had found out what he had really been doing. So he lied, just to protect the movement."
Loess was rather awed. She hadn't heard of dragons doing noble things like that, except in scrolls about heroic dragons who went around saving the world. Maybe if we tried harder, there could actually be dragons like that, she thought. "So what happened? Why is it only you and Wishgranter and Tadpole and Cuprite?
"Then we fell apart. Dragons were dying left and right, or being taken prisoner. We don't think any of them revealed our secrets, though. But, that asides, it was terrible. First, Crayfish's whole troop died, weakened by their sorrow. Then others fell. Now it's just us. We try to rescue dragons when we can, but most of the time, it just gets us killed. You saw what happened . . . to my sister."
"I'm sorry," Loess told him, feeling the need to apologize.
"It isn't your fault. Sandgrouse knew it was a risk. So did I. But we agreed to take it," he responded, his gaze clouded with grief.
"So, what about my next question? What is this place?" Loess prompted, trying to clear her head. She hoped this one would have a simpler answer.
"Oh, here? We used to move around a lot. Stayed in one place for about a month, then left. But we've settled here, now that there are less dragons to fit," he explained.
"And I guess I've figured out why I'm here." She was almost completely sure. "You want me to join you."
He hesitated, then shrugged. "You had just lost you family. I thought you wouldn't object to being around other dragons. And . . . well, let's arrange where you're going to sleep."
Loess decided that was as much information as she would get. It enough. More than a start, that's for sure, she told herself, as Shamal studied the cave.
"Hmm . . . you can sleep in this corner. It's the closest one to the torch, so it's warm." He pointed with his scorpion-like tail.
"Thanks." Loess had no idea what time it was. It could have been midnight or noon, but it didn't matter. She felt tired enough to sleep. "Can I . . ."
"Yes, of course. I suppose you're exhausted. I have to go, anyway." Shamal paused at the cave exit, glanced back at her, then hurried out.
Loess closed her eyes and fell asleep at once. Shamal was right. She was exhausted. But only an hour later, she awoke, groggily blinking open her eyes. She heard hushed voices down the tunnel, and felt a strange urge to listen. Cautiously, she made her way down the hall and hid in the darkness.
"- what you were thinking, bringing her here! It was a foolish thing to do! She could be a spy!" It was Cuprite. Loess supposed she must be talking to Shamal. Sure enough, it was him who spoke next.
"She was being taken prisoner!" he objected.
"But was it worth it? You went and got Sandgrouse killed!" Cuprite retorted.
"Enough, Cuprite! Please!" Wishgranter broke in. Cuprite was silent, which surprised Loess, since she looked bigger and older than the NightWing.
"We couldn't just sit and watch!" Shamal growled. "We joined to help dragons, and that's exactly what we were doing!"
"Sandgrouse died bravely. She will not be forgotten," a deep voice, Tadpole's, added.
"I still say-" Cuprite started.
"Let's stop this! Tadpole and I will hunt. Can you two please find some way to busy yourselves?" Wishgranter inquired.
"Probably." Loess heard Shamal begin to pace. When the footsteps of Wishgranter and Tadpole had faded, Loess stepped into the cave, pretending she had just gotten up.
"Oh, hi Loess," Shamal greeted. Cuprite acknowledged her, then turned and went down another tunnel. "Rest well?"
"Yes, thanks. So, um, what's it with Cuprite?" she asked, wanting to see what he would say.
He shook his speckled wings. "She thinks that it was a bad idea to save you. It isn't very important. She's upset that Sandgrouse died when we've already lost so many," he replied, without looking at her.
"Do you agree?" Loess prompted, eager to hear what he would say yet at the same time not wanting to find out. What if he says yes?
He looked her in the eyes when he answered. "No, Loess. I told you before, we knew what we were doing, and we knew what it might cost."
Loess clawed the stone floor in frustration. She had been in the cave for three days now. She had only left it once, on a quick hunting expedition, and was desperate to feel the wind under her wings again. "Is there anything I can do around here?" she demanded. Shamal was lying next to her, reading a message scroll that Cuprite had intercepted.
"Huh? Don't worry, I'll take you hunting today," he told her. When she opened her mouth to reply, he gave her the scroll. "Read this to pass the time."
At least it's something to do. And it is a scroll, even if it's just a message. She took it in her talons, shifted into a comfortable position, and began reading it.
Attacked the SandWings. Many lost. Rumor is that they are planning a counter strike. Reinforcements may be needed. Be prepared to send in soldiers. King Powerseeker arrived last week. He says the IceWings and NightWings may help the SandWings retaliate, and that Queen Coquina will bring the SeaWings to aid us as well. 
Finishing it, Loess rolled the scroll neatly and handed it back to him. "Who's it from?" she inquired.
"The MudWing queen. It's for the SkyWings," he responded.
"So Powerseeker visits the MudWings? I thought he mostly stayed in the Sky Palace."
"Sometimes. Come on, let's go hunt."
He slid through one of the tunnels, the one that led out of the caves. Loess followed behind him, longing to feel the sun on her scales. The tunnel widened, and opened op to daylight. The air was cool, but the sky was clear. Small, wispy cirrus clouds were sprinkled across it. Relieved, Loess spread her wings. Her scales glinted like white gold, and she stretched her head towards the sky.
"Sorry you had to stay in there so long," Shamal apologized.
"It's fine. Will I be able to come out more often?"
"I hope. Come on, let's go hunt."
Before he could say where, Loess flew closer to the desert and the heat. Patches of sand dappled the rocky ground, and she could smell prey nearby. Fixing her gaze on a courser, she stalked it carefully and lashed out, swiping her claws across its neck.
"Nice catch." Shamal approached her, a limp mountain goat in his talons. "We'll need more, though. Think you can find any?" he challenged, his eyes gleaming.
"Of course!" she replied. Taking flight, she scanned the ground beneath her. Spotting a brown hare with patches of thicker white fur nibbling on a tuft of grass, she swooped downward. Startled, it took off, but she shot a poorly-aimed burst of fire at and, as it stumbled, caught it in her teeth.
"This'll do," Shamal approved the prey, once she had returned to him. He had caught a small lizard, and added it to the small pile of prey. "We can't risk staying out here any longer."
"Why?"
"That's why," he answered, pointing to something in the distance. Squinting, Loess made out a pair of white IceWings, not too far from where they stood. They appeared to be patrolling the outskirts of IceWing territory. "Come on, come on." Shamal ushered her back to the caves.
"Why do you care what happens to me?" Loess demanded, when they were safely inside.
"Because . . . never mind that." He looked at her in a nervous way. "I just- you're a good- you don't deserve to be killed."
Loess gave a small laugh. "And why would you care?" she teased.
"Don't even start," he responded. But as he disappeared down another tunnel, she caught his smile.
A minute later, Loess perched atop a stalagmite, thinking. She had to save Courser and Arroyo. But she had a feeling Shamal and the others wouldn't be too keen on storming Queen Calcine's palace. She had to think of something else. Mentally, she assessed her options.
Tell them what I need to do and hope they'll help me? No, that wouldn't work. Do nothing? Definitely not. Leave here . . . by myself? 
She blinked, considering. If she left at night, they wouldn't know. She could be long gone before they even noticed. She'd rescue her father and her brother, bring them back here, and they'd all be safe. Ha. Easier said than done, she thought to herself.
It did seem like her only plausible option. If I can even call it plausible . . . but I have to do it. They'll kill them if I don't do anything. But I'm not sure if I should leave. They've been so kind to me . . .
"Loess! Time to eat!" Tadpole yelled down the tunnel leading to Shamal's cave. Loess sighed and joined him in the main cave with Cuprite and Shamal. "Wishgranter'll be out late," the MudWing explained. "More for us, I suppose."
Loess ate the prey without even tasting it. She ate only the lizard Shamal had caught, declining the hare that Tadpole offered. "No, really, I'm fine. Just a light eater," she insisted.
Shamal narrowed his pitch-dark eyes. "Most SandWings are light eaters. I am. But I've never seen even a SandWing eat that little prey."
Loess felt her heart jump. Does he suspect something?
Cuprite snorted. "Do you hate us so much you're trying to starve yourself? Really, I didn't think we've been that bad!" the SkyWing emphasized. Loess laughed, but Shamal gave her a slightly nervous look.
"You, um, don't actually hate it here, do you?" he queried.
Just a little. "Of course not! I . . . just . . . don't like hare."
Shamal's worried expression shifted. His suspicion had returned, judging by the skeptical glance he gave her. Tadpole didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't say anything. "Would you have preferred the bird? Sorry, Curprite ate it instead," he told her, as the red dragon scowled.
"May I remind you, Tadpole, that you ate more than half of the goat and left barely any for Shamal!" Cuprite retorted.
"It's fine, I had enough," Shamal broke in hastily.
Loess forced an amused expression on her snout. She excused herself an went down to Shamal's cave. He didn't spend much time inside of it, so it was a good place to be alone. She stared at the wall as she considered. She knew that if she wanted to change her mind, she'd have to do it now before she worked out the details of her plan.
Exhaling slowly, she made her decision. I have to do this. Courser and Arroyo need me.
That night, she feigned sleep, closing her eyes and letting her chest rise and fall evenly, as if she were in deep slumber. But as soon as Shamal's soft snores filled the cave, she slowly crawled from the cave corner to the tunnel. Creeping down it, she checked for any sign of Cuprite, Tadpole, or Wishgranter. None of them were in the main cave.
Turning into the exit tunnel, Loess wished her scales stood out less in the shadows. But the gold-tinted white color was impossible to disguise. She tried spreading rock dust over it, but it did nothing to conceal her. Giving up, she stepped out into the night.
The stars glittered coldly above. Two of the moons were crescents, one nearly a half, and the third was a tiny sliver of pale light in the sky. A cool breeze stirred the branches of a single, stubby tree that grew atop one of the mountains, its roots spread into cracks in the rock.
Loess launched herself into the air, flapping her wings as quietly as she could. She could see the desert- a pale streak of sand on the horizon. She glanced back at the hill and the cave, then winged away. The air became so cold that she might as well have been in the Ice Kingdom, except here it was dry and dusty instead of snowy.
A strong wind threw her off course. Trying to regain balance, she was forced to land. When she tried to fly again, more winds pushed her back, closer to IceWing territory. I'll never be able to fly properly now. I'll have to wait for the winds to die down. 
Settling at the base of a slope, she tried to be patient. Every second I sit here Courser and Arroyo could be getting closer to death!
At last, after midnight and nearing early morning, she tried again. The winds had faded into a light breeze, and she found herself gliding back closer to the desert with ease. She was getting nearer to the cave again when talons closed around her tail.
Loess thrashed, twisting in midair. She whirled around, flaring her wings to stay airborne, and found herself facing Shamal.
"Three moons, Shamal, why'd you have to go and do that?" she hissed.
He glared at her seriously. "What are you doing? You're close to IceWing territory! This is dangerous! Come on, you have to get back!"
She growled. "I can do what I want!"
He was tense, she could tell, but his voice was calm. "I know, I'm sorry. But please, we need to-"
"Why, what do we have here?"
Loess's head whipped up as she heard an cold voice speak. She faltered, fear taking over. An IceWing patrol. They surrounded the two SandWings in seconds.
"What is it?" the leader asked. Her scales were very, very pale blue, like ice. She regarded them in a way that seemed neither welcoming nor unfriendly. "Does Calcine have a message for us? Any news from Queen Warfighter? Has she decided to make the IceWings more of her priority?"
Loess remembered that the IceWings and the SandWings were on the same side in the war and breathed a tiny sigh of relief. But quickly, panic closed over her once again. What do I say? She peeked at Shamal out of the corner of her eye. She glimpsed him nod his head ever so slightly, and answered immediately.
"Yes. It's very important, so, um . . ." She didn't know what to say next. The IceWing studied her, then spoke to the other three.
"Bring them to Queen Windchill."
Loess's wanted to bite herself. Why did I say it was important? Why? She followed helplessly the the IceWings glided to the palace. Shamal flew at her side, their wings touching as they flapped them.
The whole palace appeared to be solid white at first, pointed towers of ice. But as the light hit it, pale colors flashed on its surface. It was beautiful, but Loess found it difficult to appreciate the splendor as they were herded through the entrance.
IceWings in pale shades of silver, blue, and white peered at them from around every corner. They were clearly not used to having SandWings in their palace, and Loess was forced to ignore their quizzical looks. Shamal stiffened beside her.
They were guided to a large, wide room. The walls and floor were completely ice, and Loess slipped, crashing into the opposite wall. Growling at herself, she straightened up, her wings splayed out awkwardly before she folded them at her sides. One of the IceWings sniffed arrogantly, and strutted after her, his serrated claws gripping the ice with ease.
"You can await Her Majesty here," he told them. His scales were completely white, and he watched them as if unsure if he should be there or not. Turning to the lead IceWing, he asked, "Can you send someone to fetch her?"
"I'll do it myself, thank you." She retreated deeper into the palace, the other two IceWings following.
"So, you said you had news? Is it anything about Warfighter? I mean, Queen Warfighter. Has she finally decided to let the NightWings do more of the fighting instead of just showing up every time we're already winning?" His light blue eyes were bright with interest, demanding an answer.
The sound of a dragon approaching saved Loess from having to answer. A strikingly beautiful IceWing with silvery white scales and frosty blue eyes swept into the room. She wore a large silver crown, studded with sapphires. Loess knew at once she was the queen; not because of the crown, but due to the way she carried herself- with the authority of a ruler.
Without thinking, Loess bowed. Shamal copied her, dipping low to the ice floor. Queen Windchill nodded approvingly. "Gelid, you are dismissed. Wait outside." The white IceWing left the room, gazing at the two SandWings. "What message do you bring?" the queen questioned.
Loess and Shamal were silent. Loess didn't know what to say. One wrong word and they could be killed. "Speak, SandWing."
"We come from the desert," Shamal blurted finally.
Queen Windchill looked distrustful. "I could have figured that part out myself." She inspected them, studying Loess from her talons to her horns. "Why would you feel the need to tell me you are from the desert . . . unless you aren't." Loess noticed how suspicious she looked, and realized that they weren't going to be let off easily.
"Where do you come from, then? This one," she hissed, poking Loess with a serrated claw. "This one is a dragonet. And you- you're hardly full grown! Why would Calcine send you two of all dragons, especially since you seem to have forgotten your message?"
Loess felt any hope she had drain from her. Queen Windchill was smart. She was putting together that they weren't messengers sent by the SandWing queen. "We . . . we . . ." She closed her snout, not knowing what to say.
"Where do you come from?" Queen Windchill demanded. She edged closer to Loess, her eyes seeking an answer. When they both said nothing, she growled before she spoke. "Very well then. If you won't comply . . . then I'll just keep you here. If you are messengers, Calcine will send for you, correct? Good." Loess could tell that she knew perfectly well that there would be no word from the SandWing queen.
"Gelid!" she called. The white IceWing hurried into the room at once, bowing low.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Put these two in the dungeon."
== Chapter Four ==
Colds chains wrapped around her snout. Bars of ice forming a cage above her and Shamal. More chains trapping her talons. Loess shivered. The prison was made of ice. It was freezing and dark. The only light came from what leaked through the many layers of ice above her head.
The entire dungeon was filled with prisoners. SkyWings and SeaWing and MudWings, in separate cages. Loess saw a troop of MudWings huddled together in one. The largest one tried to breathe a plume of flame through the chains around his snout, but only a curl of smoke appeared, which quickly faded. The smallest MudWing, who was curled into a tiny ball, grew limp. The large MudWing gave a roar of grief and horror, muffled by the chains, and the other three crouched behind her, hunched over with defeat.
A SeaWing locked his fierce green gaze with hers. "SandWings?" he hissed around the chains on his snout. "Haven't seen that before."
Ignoring him, Loess pressed herself against Shamal without thinking. He didn't pull away, but instead supported her, wrapping a warm wing around her shoulder. "We'll get out of here soon. I'll get us out of here," he promised.
"If we survive that long," she whispered. She had no idea what Queen Windchill had planned for them. The faint light was dimming as night fell.
Loess shut her eyes, knowing that she would never sleep properly. She fidgeted, trying to get into a semi-comfortable position, but it was impossible. The chains weighing her down cut into her scales as the night wore on. She could feel a bead of blood oozing from the edge of her snout, where they cut the deepest.
After what felt like an eternity, a light touch of daylight brightened the dungeon slightly. Against her, Shamal stood up. He gently nudged her head with his snout. "You awake?"
"Yes. I didn't sleep." Loess stretched best she could with the chains binding her. She was stiff, and it took some time until she could move properly.
Two IceWings appeared at the dungeon entrance. One was the white dragon, Gelid, if she remembered correctly. The second was pale blue. The white one stalked over to Loess and Shamal. "Her Majesty wants you for questioning," he announced. "Come with me."
Removing the chains from their legs using some sort of spear, he watched their every move as he led them through the palace. The pale blue one caught up to them and trailed behind. Loess knew there was no chance of escape. Shamal walked at her side, locking eyes with every IceWing they passed. Loess felt incredibly nervous. She had always been unconfortable around dragons of different tribes, and IceWings especially, from the one or two that sometimes came to the Scorpion Den.
They went down a curving tunnel that led to a huge room. Balconies surrounded it, and dragons clustered in small groups. Loess estimated that there was about thirty of them. On a separate balcony at the back of the room, where every dragon could see her, the IceWing queen waited. She was perched on a throne that appeared to be made almost entirely of ice. Like everything else here, she told herself.
"They're putting on us trial. Don't worry, we'll be fine. Let me handle this. I'll get you out safely," Shamal whispered softly into Loess's ear, so Gelid couldn't possibly overhear what he was saying.
"Okay," Loess agreed, in no position to doubt him.
From the floor of the room, two large, raised chairs had been placed on either side. In each one sat an ice dragon, looking regal and important.
For several moments, the room was silent. Then the queen spoke, her voice echoing in the large ice cavern. "Today, we are to decide what is to be done about these two SandWings found within our borders. They claimed to be messengers, but when brought to me had nothing to say."
Three or four of the IceWings in the room hissed, and the queen waited until it was quiet to continue. "Prince Muskox will be speaking for the defense, and Icecap will speak for the prosecution."
The prosecution dragon, Icecap, was sleek, with frosty white scales. She scowled at Loess and Shamal, then addressed Queen Windchill. "I will be first, correct?"
"Yes. You may begin." The queen appeared to be listening intently as Icecap began her argument.
"They were found inside our territory-"
Before she knew what she was doing, Loess heard herself calling, around her chains, "Technically, we were on the border."
Both Queen Windchill and Icecap glared, but when Icecap continued, her voice was smooth and calm. "They were brought to Her Majesty, claiming they had an important message, but once she asked them to speak, they said nothing."
Icecap sat back. "They deserve a punishment. I recommend we keep them prisoner until- well, as long as we need to," she finished with a smirk.
Queen Windchill looked as though she had already made up her mind, but gestured for the other IceWing, Muskox, to speak. He was big and bulky, and his scales were silver. When he spoke, his voice was low. "As the little SandWing said, they were not found inside of our territory. They were found on the border," he pointed out.
Loess was rather indignant that he had referred to her as 'the little SandWing', but decided that the worst thing she could do was argue with a dragon who was defending her.
As Muskox started speaking once more, Shamal cut him off, to Loess's surprise. "Is there any way we could defend ourselves? I'd like a word with Your Majesty."
Queen Windchill raised a brow. "That may be arranged," she answered silkily. "Snow Goose, bring that one to me. Leave the dragonet."
The pale blue guard removed the chains from Shamal's wings, and warily let him glide to the queen's balcony, her blue eyes fixed on his poisonous tail.
As he and the queen vanished down a hall leading from the balcony, Loess trusted him to get them out. She didn't know what he would say, but hoped it would be enough.
After a short time, Shamal reappeared. He took flight and landed beside her. Queen Windchill stepped back out onto the balcony, looking thoughtful.
"The prisoners are to be released!" she called. Shamal gave Loess a warm smile, which she returned.
"What did you-"
"I used my wonderfully charming persuasive skills. How else?"
Loess touched her wings to his, then waited as the two IceWings called Gelid and Snow Goose unbound them. Ignoring the cold look Snow Goose gave her, Loess spread her wings.
"Follow me. I'll see you out of our territory," Gelid stated.
When they had passed the palace exit, Shamal turned to Gelid. "We can escort ourselves out, thank you."
Without waiting for an answer, he launched himself into the air. Loess followed him beating her wings to keep up.
"Really, though," she started after some time. "How did you get her to free us?"
"That isn't important. We're free now. That's what matters."
Loess was still curious, but she let it drop and changed the subject. "We aren't going back to the cave, are we?"
Shamal shook his head. "We'd give Cuprite and Wishgranter and Tadpole away. We'll have to find somewhere else to go."
Loess's wings drooped, and she flapped harder. I wish I had gotten a chance to tell them I was leaving. I might never see them again. They were friendly, and took me in. I hope they'll be alright. I hope they survive. I hope the IceWings don't find them. If they do . . . it will be all my fault.
== Chapter Five==
They were miserable that night. Loess shivered as another gust of icy wind chilled her. Shamal wrapped his wing around her, his warm scales against her's. The wind continued to howl above their heads, carrying tiny snowflakes.
"Are you okay?" Shamal asked her.
"I'll manage," she answered, trying to stop her teeth from chattering. "It isn't that bad."
"Can I please hunt? I'll never fall asleep here," Loess pleaded. She hoped the movement required of a hunt would warm her up.
"Just don't go far. Stay safe. Avoid IceWing guards."
"IceWing guards? It's midnight, Shamal," she pointed out. The moons shone silver above their heads, high in the sky as black as Wishgranter's scales.
"Can never be to sure," she heard him whisper, just before he fell asleep. Loess ascended, the frosty air becoming steadily colder as she flew in search of prey.
At last, she swooped downward and caught a hare in her talons, killing it at once. The frigidity of the snow almost made her drop it, but she held it carefully, and she soared upward slowly, fighting the breeze. Suddenly, a fierce, snowy wind sent her sprawling into the snow. Hissing in annoyance, she righted herself. Blinking snow out of her eyes the whole way, she finally glimpsed Shamal, alighting beside him.
"I brought food," she announced, nudging him awake.
"Huh? Oh, thanks. How did you even get anything?"
She smiled at the surprised expression on his snout. "Barely! I could hardly see a thing!" She neatly sliced the hare in two and pushed a piece towards him.
"No, thanks. You have it," he replied. She shook her head firmly, and at last he sighed and took a bite. "I'll hunt next time," he mumbled around a mouthful.
"Shamal, where can we go? If we aren't going back to the cave . . ."
He nodded. "I thought of that. Maybe we will have to."
"Is there anywhere else? Anywhere?"
"Well . . ." He hesitated.
"What?" she questioned immediately.
"Just thinking, if we flew over a stretch of ocean somewhere south of here, we'd reach SkyWing territory. But I'm not sure that would be preferable. Rubellite isn't the most merciful queen."
"Shamal, we won't survive out here. It's our only choice."
"I guess you're right. We have to get out of here. Before we freeze to death." He spread his wings and prepared to take off.
"Wait, right now?" Loess queried, surprised.
"Why not? Come on, we can make to the ocean by tomorrow night."
Loess flapped her wings harder. Thick fog blocked Shamal from sight, but she could hear his wingbeats. She called up to him, her words almost carried away by the wind. "How much longer?"
"I think we can land now!" he roared back.
She alighted, and sighed when relief when she felt sand beneath her claws. It was wet, and clumped uncomfortably between her talons. At least she could rest her wings. Shamal landed beside her with a thump, and she walked to his side.
Flaring her wings to clear the fog, she could make out blue-gray water that stretched to the horizon. "We're here," Shamal declared. "Should we keep going? I doubt there's any prey here."
"Good point. Let's keep going." Loess flexed her wings, muscles shrieking in protest. A choppy wave crashed over her talons, and she launched herself into the air, scattering freezing droplets.
Above the ocean, the mist was so thick that Loess couldn't see a thing. She knew Shamal was in front of her, but even so, it bothered her. She hoped the flight would be short. Her wings were beginning to ache, and she forced herself to remain airborne.
As the day wore on, she was hoping the sun would break through the clouds, but it remained bleak and chilly. "Are the mountains close?" she asked Shamal.
"I think so. We should be able to la-" Suddenly, his voice was cut off. Loess tried to glimpse his pale sandy scales through the wall of mist, but saw nothing.
"Shamal?"
She listened intently and heard his wings hitting the air. Then why isn't he answering me? There isn't much wind, he must have heard me! And that's when something grabbed her from below.
She screamed and raised her tail. A flash of orange scales caught her eye. SkyWing! The sky dragon lunged upward and pulled her down. She grappled with him, clawing his shoulder, but, using his huge wings, pinned her against a jagged boulder emerging from the sea.
A short distance away, a rough female voice called out, "Did you catch the other one, Starling?"
"Yes, General Pyrope! I have her here!" the orange SkyWing, Starling, replied.
"Good. Come on, let's go."
Fear coursed through Loess. She attempted to stab Starling with her tail, but he avoided her easily, then gripped her tail in one talon and used the other to hold her snout shut. Producing a pair of metal clamps, he used them to prevent her from flying. He took off, carrying her beneath him. "The queen will be pleased," she heard him mutter.
Loess thought hard. She could still use her claws, but if she struck he might drop her, and she couldn't fly. Her fire and her tail were trapped in his talons. She writhed, trying to free herself, and he hissed. "Any more of that, and you'll be dead."
She hung limply, defeated. Rain began to fall, soaking her scales. Starling was slowing down. Squinting, she tried to see ahead, and made out some sort of structure. Queen Rubellite's palace!
Starling soared past the palace, over a bowl-shaped rock area filled with sand. She saw a net of wires above it, each leading to a rock spire. On most of the spires, dragons with scales of blue and white and pale yellow were all connected by the wires.
Starling glided to an empty spire. "Find some wires!" a red SkyWing ordered. Loess recognized the voice as the dragon Starling had called Pyrope. The smallest SkyWing flew to the palace at once.
Loess peered at Shamal. He was snarling and clawing at Pyrope, but she held him firmly in her talons, carrying him to a spire across from Loess.
The small SkyWing reappeared, clutching a tangle of silvery wires. Starling took several and clipped Loess's legs and tail, ignoring her struggles. When both SandWings were safely attached to the web of wires, Pyrope gave a satisfied nod and winged away. Starling and the other SkyWing followed her without looking back at the prisoners.
Loess growled as the sun began to break through the clouds. What can we do now? We're stuck here!
She observed the prisoners around her. One was a golden-orange SkyWing who crouched with wings drooping and a somber expression on her snout. The other was a NightWing who was bellowing curses to no dragon in particular.
Loess paced, the wire making eerie noises as they slid together. The sound was swept away by the fierce wind, and Loess shivered. This is almost as bad as IceWIng territory!
About two hours later, she spotted a red dragon approaching her spire. Pyrope hissed at her, then untied the wires. "Try anything and I'll kill you," she warned. She took Loess in her talons and glided towards the palace.
Behind her, she could see another SkyWing bringing Shamal. Pyrope landed on a balcony decorated with gold talon prints, and pushed Loess forward. "Move."
Loess obeyed, walking forward along the path of the talonprints, level after level. The balconies finally led to a big room, one wall open to the sky. Gold was gleaming everywhere. At the opposite wall, a throne seated a magnificent crimson dragon. Two gem-studded SkyWings were talking to her. Queen Rubellite and her daughters, Loess realized. The SkyWing with Shamal shoved him inside, then stalked away.
Queen Rubellite studied them, her golden-amber eyes glaring. "Spessartine, Padparadscha, you are dismissed," she ordered the other two SkyWings, who left the room quickly. "SandWings all the way out here?" the queen hissed. "How interesting." Turning to Pyrope, she inquired, "Where did you find them?"
"Over the west ocean, You Majesty," the big red dragoness answered, bowing low.
Rubellite growled. "Returning from IceWing territory, I presume? Probably they delivered a message from Calcine, then decided to come here and attack our patrols," she guessed. "Hmm. Put the handsome one in the arena today. He looks like he'll make it very thrilling."
She casually worried the rings on her talons.
Pyrope took Shamal and began to drag him away. He snapped at her throat, and she ducked to avoid him. She pulled him out of the room, leaving Loess alone with the SkyWing queen. "Scrawny," Rubellite observed. "I bet you'll lose your first fight."
Loess opened her mouth, then quickly closed it, not wanting to give anything away. If she was even brave enough to speak.
She yawned, then waved her talons dismissively. "Take her away."
Loess paced anxiously on her spire as two SkyWing guards dropped Shamal into the arena. He clawed the sand angrily. Loess locked eyes with him for one instant, but his attention was diverted when another SkyWing released the NightWing Loess had been clipped to across from him.
The princess Queen Rubellite had referred to as Padparadscha swooped into the arena, descending onto a mound of sand. SkyWings began to fill the rows. Here and there Loess could see a brown MudWing or a green SeaWing alongside their SkyWing allies.
"Welcome, SkyWings subjects and SeaWing and MudWing guests!" declared the SkyWing called Padparadscha, flashing the assembled dragons a white-toothed smile. "For today's battle, I give you- formerly a general of Warfighter's army- Ferocity!"
The NightWing bellowed and clawed at the stone arena walls. He aimed a fireburst at Padparadscha, and she swerved to avoid it. "And now, this young dragon we found flying over the ocean! I give you- Shamal of the SandWings!" Padparadscha called. Shamal flexed his talons in an apprehensive way, and Loess tried to give him a reassuring look.
"Claws up, fire ready! Fight!"
At her command, Ferocity charged at Shamal, breathing fire. Loess gasped, but Shamal dodged, the flames scorching the edge of his bound wings. He hissed in pain and fastened his teeth in the vulnerable spot at the base of the NightWing's black tail.A Seawing up above,the animus one castes at spell,on Ferocity.
Ferocity snarled and raked his claws down Shamal's back. Loess could hardly bear to watch as blood welled, scarlet against pale yellow, from the wounds. Shamal yelled and arced his tail over his head. Ferocity moved back, but not quickly enough.
Shamal met his mark. Ferocity crumpled as Shamal lifted his tail away from the NightWing's head. The NightWing's claws slashed blindly, and Shamal stepped back. Ferocity opened his mouth to roar or breathe fire, but his black eyes closed and his head lolled.
The dragons in the audience burst into cheers. Shamal hissed at them, and as two soldiers descended to take him back to his spire, Loess watched, surprised at his daring, as he dug his claws deep into the face of one. The fire-colored dragon howled and shrank back.
"Get him under control!" Queen Rubellite ordered another guard, who fluttered down from her balcony to help the second soldier, who was trying to push Shamal back with her massive wings.
Shamal bared his teeth, but the SkyWing struck his head, hard. He faltered, dazed, and in that moment they gripped him in their talons and soared up to his spire. Loess studied him anxiously. There were long, deep claw marks down his back. The edges of his wings were charred. He was panting heavily as the SkyWings clipped the wires to his legs.
Queen Rubellite was watching with interest. "Entertaining," she remarked.
Discontinued
== Characters(in order of mention)==
Queen Cleverness
Messagebearer
Prince Powerseeker
Princess Warfighter
Simoom
Loess
Nyala
Courser
Arroyo
Queen Calcine
Shamal
Sandgrouse
Cuprite
Wishgranter
Tadpole
Crayfish
Queen Coquina
Queen Windchill
Gelid
Snow Goose
Prince Muskox
Icecap
Queen Rubellite
Starling
Pyrope
Princess Spessartine
Princess Padparadscha
Ferocity
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)