The Cursed Island

Prologue
Emerald swam away swiftly. There was no way in all of Pyrrhia that she was going to marry Algae. He was such a slimebag! No. What Emerald needed was an escape. So she swam and swam for hours upon hours.
Emerald eventually stopped and climbed onto a small tiny deserted island that she found. It was quiet and quaint and was just what she needed. By now she was far away from the Kingdom of Sea, and far away from Queen Isle and Algae. 
Emerald was exhausted. She eventually fell asleep and never even noticed. Clouds and storms were brewing in the distance, but the soft rolling of thunder and the scent of rain only relaxed Emerald further, drowning her in an even deeper slumber.
The waves soon began dangerously crashing onto the beach until it grasped Emerald and yanked her under. Emerald let out a gasp of bubbles and nearly choked on the water in her lungs. Once she inhaled through her gills and caught her breath, another wave sent her tumbling deeper into the currents. She managed to peek her head out of the water to see the storm. She couldn't fight a storm! 
But she tried either way. She fought and nearly broke her body to the point of exhaustion. The waves tumbled her and thrust her around like a piece of driftwood caught in a waterfall. She continued to be thrown around until she hit her head on a rock and everything went black. 
[...]
Emerald woke up on a strange shoreline. Her nose was filled with sand and her eyes were sparkling from seawater. Pieces of seaweed and rocks were caught between her scales and the sand made her entire body itchy.
"You're awake," a voice said above her. Emerald peaked up and through the glaring sunlight, she saw the silhouette of a sitting dragon right next to her. The voice was obviously a male's, but Emerald couldn't make out anything else.
He then shifted position to pick off a piece of kelp when Emerald saw his wings. They were feathery. She couldn't withhold her gasp of shock and the dragon chuckled. 
"I'm guessing wherever you're from you don't have these, right?" he said before stepping back and spreading out his feathered wings. From here, Emerald could see that he was broad-shouldered and handsome with square yet sharp features but soft large eyes. His entire body consisted of shades of rocky earthy gray and his eyes were a soft blue-gray. 
"What are you?" she asked. 
"I could ask you the same thing," he replied. "Around here, we don't have anything quite like you." 
"I'm Emerald," she said. If this dragon didn't know who she was, then she didn't need to tell him that she was a princess. He would probably send her back either way. 
"Graybird" he responded. 
Emerald choked back a laugh. "What kind of name is Graybird?"
"It's a type of bird."
Emerald couldn't hold it back anymore. She began to giggle. "What kind of horrible mother names her son Graybird?"
"Well, my original name was Storm, but after I discovered the graybird, I was renamed Graybird."
Emerald paused and looked up in confusion. "You, changed your name?" 
"Technically, the queen changed my name. After I discovered the graybird, she renamed me Graybird to show my accomplishments. It's why I didn't resemble any birds that we knew before on the island. I was destined to find the graybird."
Emerald scoffed. "Some great accomplishment I'm sure."
At this, Graybird huffed in frustration. "Actually, it's quite a big deal to BirdWings, we only discover a new bird species every four generations. And the graybirds are actually quite useful. They are easily domesticated and can create tiny storms that we call "grays" which can help during droughts." 
"BirdWings?" Emerald echoed. "Never heard of them."
"Oh," Graybird whispered, a show of realization dawning on his face.
"'Oh' what?"
"You're a Pyrrhian dragon, aren't you?"
"Yes?" Emerald said hesitantly, she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing in Graybird's eyes. 
"And I'm assuming that you're a Seawing."
"Yes again. Are you sure you've never seen anything like me?"
"Yes. But I have read about you. Everyone has."
"Really?" Emerald said. "What about SeaWings does everyone read?"
"Well," Graybird shifted uncomfortably. "It's in our history books, you and the IceWings captured our king and threatened to kill him unless we handed over....." He paused as if he was unsure whether he could trust Emerald or not. 
"Can I call you Gray?" Emerald interrupted, hoping to break the tension. "Saying Graybird over and over again might be a bit of a mouthful."
Graybird chuckled lightly. "Go ahead, it's what everyone calls me anyway."
"Thanks," Emerald said. Gray had this wrinkled conflicted expression on his face that made Emerald want to slap him with her strong tail. She withheld herself. 
"I should probably take you to the queen. She'll sort out what to do with you." Gray didn't look her in the eye. Emerald was hurt. She liked him, she really did. Though they had only known eachother for a few minutes, she really did like him. Either way, he was much better than dumb old Algae who was nearly three times older than her. 
Gray shuffled over to brush some sand off of Emerald's face which caused her body temperature to go nuclear before motioning her to follow him. He spread his wings ever so gracefully before taking to the skies. 
Emerald followed him as the sun began to dip low beneath the mountainous horizon, ready to meet her destiny, wherever it may take her. 
Chapter One
"HAPPY HATCHING-DAY STORM!!" Feather shouted, jumping up from her hiding spot behind the bush in front of their nest-home.
Her brother didn't react that much, but he gave her a loving smile. Feather had done this "surprise" hatching-day party so much that it was no longer a surprise. Storm watched as she kicked another dragon from beneath the bushes as well.
"Ow!" Storm heard. "What was that for?"
"You missed the surprise shouting!" Feather said before promptly shoving their brother up to his talons. 
Seagull looked grumpy. "You made me miss breakfast so that we could decorate the house at dawn, do you expect me not to try and get some rest?" 
Feather huffed. "Either way you should try and put in some effort for this super special party!"
"What's so special about it?" Seagull retorted. "We do this every single year."
"Well, Storm officially turned four which means he's going to start testing for his animus assessment," Graybird said before walking out of the house. 
"Has he really grown that much?" Emerald asked following her mate to meet her dragonets. Emerald clutched Storm to hug him. "Happy Hatching-Day Storm. Watch your step when you step inside, Feather went all out this year." 
Storm could tell that his mother wasn't lying. The minute he put a talon over the doorstep he immediately stepped into a bundle of irises. The entire house had been either painted or decorated with some shade of blue or gray or even blue-gray. It was rare to find any other color except for green. Storm knew that Feather had dedicated this year to his looks. He had their mother's dark green eyes but their father's dark gray scales. He at first didn't understand where his blueish scales came from until Emerald told him that her mother, his grandmother, was a blue SeaWing. 
As he continued to journey the house his feathered wings nearly snagged on some thorns. Those had to be for Feather's new game that she invented called "Tumble-Weed." 
Their father must have helped some parts as he saw some of the flowers weaving in and out of the house's branches. Those could not have grown overnight while he was at Crane's house. They had both been studying non-stop to prepare for the assessment and it was seriously doing some damage to Storm's sanity. Luckily, coming home to one of his sister's little hatching-day parties seemed to make up for his lost fragments of sanity. 
"Time for the first activity!" Feather shouted after sneaking up behind him. This startled Storm so much that he jumped up and nearly banged his head on the roof. 
Feather giggled as she dragged Storm into the family room where everyone was waiting. "So Storm," she began, her excitement uncontainable. "within the perimeters of our side of the cliff, a certain object of specialty is hidden. That object being many objects, your presents! They are all wrapped in brightly colored feathers so they shouldn't be too hard to identify. Everyone but I will be looking for them since I'm the one who hid them! You have two hours to do so before we move onto unboxing. Good luck!" With that, everyone began to scramble around the house first. Storm went out alone to search the cliff ridges. 
He first found a shiny package on the roof of the nest-home before discovering another gift in the large cave by the lagoon. 
When a large gong sounded two hours, everyone raced back home to count up the presents. According to Feather, there had been 12 presents in total. Altogether, they had 12. Storm opened each one up to find little presents such as a drawing from Feather, some pottery from Seagull, study guides from Dad, and scrap-books from Mom. 
After that, they played Tumbleweed which was a game invented by Feather after visiting the desert region on Avesla. It consisted of staying in a stone maze constructed by Dad while occasionally, one or two thorny bundles would be unleashed into the maze. The winds would push them around and you weren't allowed to fly. It could be an exhaustingly exhilarating game. The only way to win was to either find the exit or to be the last dragon standing with no thorns on you. 
After several more party games, Mom had a surprise for all of them. "Now, you've heard the stories of the SeaWing tribe, but none of you have ever actually gone there. Well, today was the day that Scallop, my sister, ascended to the throne. Unlike my mother, she has cordially invited me back to the Kingdom. She is well aware that I have three children and has allowed all of you to visit as well." 
"But I thought that you couldn't communicate with the other SeaWings," Seagull protested. 
"My sister and I were secretive about that part," Emerald explained. "Before I left, we had discovered an old ruin which used to be the old Seawing Island Palace. Among there were hidden treasures that no one bothered to pick up since no one wanted to go back there. Do you remember the story of Albatross? Well, that's why no one wanted to go back. They believed he haunted the place. Either way, there were some conch shells in there that we discovered had communication magic placed on it. We would use it just for fun, but we now use it to keep in touch. So, do you guys want to come with me to see the Kingdom of Sea?" 
"YES!" all of the children shouted in unison. 
Gray chuckled from behind them. "Going to leave your old Dad behind now aren't ya?" 
"Come on Dad, you know we've always wanted to see the Kingdom of Sea!! Besides, I don't think we'll be gone for long!" Feather chirped. 
"Well, we should probably start the way there," Emerald said. "Queen Scallop has ordered some guards to escort us to the Kingdom of Sea once we reach Seal Island which is near the continent of Pyhrria. Gray my dear, could I please have the compass." 
Graybird nodded and handed Emerald a little ruby. Emerald clutched the jewel in her claws and watched as it let out a long beam of light pointing the way. "Come along, we don't want to be late." 
At once, all four of them took flight and followed the light into the unknown. 
Chapter Two
 They had been flying for hours, and Seagull was sick of it. He wanted to be in the Kingdom of Sea already! "Are we there yet?" he whined. 
He watched as Feather rolled her eyes at him so he stuck out his tongue in response. 
"Patience Seagull," his mother chastised. "We'll be there eventually. It will only feel longer if you continue to complain." 
"Mom, how did you even manage to get this far out into Avesla if the Kingdom of Sea is really this far away?" Storm asked. 
"Haven't I told you kids this? No? Well, my Mother, Queen Isle, had arranged for me to marry this dragon named Algae. He was horrible so I refused and ran away. I don't know how long I flew for, but long enough that I could not go back even if I wanted to. I found an island to take refuge on and fell asleep. While I was sleeping, a storm came and swept me away, knocked me further into unconsciousness, and washed me up onto the shores of Avesla. Oh quit groaning Seagull, it hasn't even been an hour!" 
"But we've never flown for this long back home!!" 
Emerald opened her mouth to scold her youngest son again before she heard thunder. Seagull looked to where he saw everyone else stare and saw a huge storm coming their way. 
"Mom, should we head back?" Storm asked anxiously. 
"We can't out-fly a storm. We're going to have to find a safe place to land. We'll keep moving forward. There's bound to be an island somewhere!" 
So the family pushed forward. Seagull shrieked as the first bits of rain landed on his feathers. He knew that he and his sibling were able to fly better in rain than most BirdWings and that their mother didn't have to worry about wings at all, but he still felt like they were making a grave mistake. 
He didn't want Mom to yell at him again though, so he said nothing as he continued to be pelted with water. The flew for perhaps five minutes before Seagull could feel his wings begin to fail beneath the rain. He could swim underwater just fine and then leap straight into flight, sure. But it was a whole different feeling when the water continues to push you down. 
"Mom, I-" 
He never got to finish his sentence. Out of nowhere, a strike of lightning hit Seagull's wing and he shrieked in pain. He felt the heat of the blast on his wing be quickly replaced with hot, blistery pain. 
His weight was unbalanced and Seagull struggled to stay airborne. When he finally managed to kind of fly, another blast of energy struck him square in the back and hurtled him down towards the water. He could faintly hear the screams of his family and saw a blurry green shape hurtle after him, but it was no use. He was out before they could reach him. 
Chapter Three
Feather shrieked as she watched her brother and mother hurtle towards the dark waves. She tried to dive for him but she quickly felt the strong grip of Storm hold her back.
"Let me go!!" she screamed. "They'll die!!" She continued to struggle and squirm against her older brother's grasp. 
"And so will you if you go after them," Storm scolded. His voice was strained and cold, as though holding back his own tears. He looked around quickly. "It's best we seek shelter soon. Once the storm clears, we'll go looking for them." 
"But what about now?" Feather whimpered. "How do we know they aren't already dead?" 
"Mom was born in the sea and was brought to Avesla by a hurricane. If anyone could survive a storm with someone else, it's her."
Feather nodded weakly. Storm let her go and he began to scan for islands. They found a little thing almost no more than a patch of sand and made landing there. Shivering, the two siblings curled up against one another, for both warmth and comfort in the fearful landscape. 
By the time morning came, the storm was nothing more than a soft drizzle and some sharp winds. They stung Storm's eyes and dried them as quickly as the tears had wettened them. 
Soft gray light came from over the horizon, matching the dull and damp mood that was set. Storm nudged his sister awake but realized he didn't need to. She hadn't slept a wink all night. In all fairness, neither did Storm. It was hard to rest when your family could be dead corpses floating in the sea. 
"Are you alright Feather?" Storm asked. 
Feather gave a stiff shake of her head. She didn't need to say anything more. 
"Come on, I remember which way we came from," Storm said. He hoisted himself off of the sand and shook out the little grains from his scales. 
Together they took to flight, searching the churning waves for their brother and mother. It almost seemed hopeless. They looked and looked for hours before Feather broke down into tears. 
"They're dead!" she wailed. "They're dead and we didn't do anything to save them!" 
Storm wanted to say something, anything to comfort his baby sister. But there was nothing he could say without lying. 
"There you two are!!" a voice called.
They looked up to see none other than Graybird flying towards them. 
"Dad!!" Feather cried. She raced to their father and hugged him tightly, shaking from her sobs.
Graybird gingerly held his daughter, stroking her scales and trying to comfort her. He looked up to Storm. "Stop looking, I found them."
Storm was overjoyed until he saw the grim look on his father's face. If he found them, they were probably..
No. Storm shook his head. He shouldn't jump to conclusions. Perhaps they were, just unconscious? 
No one would believe that. 
The two children followed their father on the path back to Avesla. Did their bodies wash ashore? But that was very wrong. Graybird stopped about halfway. 
There was some oddly placed fog where he stopped. What was going on? The fog began to clear in the early morning light. As the rays cut through the mist, Storm was horrified by what he saw. 
Large, sharp black rocks protruded from the waves. They were massive, glimmering, and held a strangely dark beauty to them. Spikes scattered all over the strange structures. On one of those spikes, red splattered everywhere from two corpses, a mother holding her youngest son tightly to the very end. 
Chapter Four 
Category:Wings of Fire
Category:Fantasy
Category:Original Stories