On the Horizon

=== This fanfiction was written by Dotholly for Cloud of the IceWing's Canon Side Character Fanfiction contest. Please don't steal! ===
==Prologue==
If you told Horizon that one day, he’d be killed in a sadistic SkyWing queen’s arena, he would have laughed in your face. Now, he felt stupid for even thinking it outside the realm of possibilities.
       He pulled his wings in and crouched, watching Queen Scarlet’s monster, Peril, soak up the crowd’s applause. He growled, his tail twitching as she turned her eerie blue eyes to meet Horizon’s soft brown ones. A grin played on her snout as she watched him try to keep his shaking wings under wraps. Horizon barely noticed the SkyWing officiator until he started blabbing.
“After four wins, Horizon the SandWing- formerly, and unwisely, a soldier in Blaze’s army- has been challenged to a match with the Queen’s Champion, Peril!” Ah. So, the real reason for his capture wasn’t going to be revealed.
       “Claws up!” Horizon’s wings started shaking uncontrollably again. He hissed to try to cover up his wobbly wings.
       “Teeth ready!” Peril bent her head down, keeping her unwavering blue gaze locked on his.
       “Fight!” The SkyWing guard in the arena flapped out in a rush. Horizon knew why- no one would want to be caught in this dragon’s crossfire. He darted to the back wall and hissed again, painfully aware of Burn’s SandWings that sat in the stands above him, taunting and jeering.
       His attention was jolted back to the firescale as she began stalking towards him, her golden-veined, coppery wings tilted to reflect the sunlight. Her long tail elegantly curved behind her, leaving huge swathes of half-moons and tiny piles in the sand behind her.
       Smoke rose from her scales, the fire inside begging to be let out. Let out on me. He panicked, terrified of death and the fire that would bring it. He crouched and surged over Peril, keeping his venomous tail well out of the way of her scales. He’d seen what she’d done to his friend Shale’s a day prior. Shale.
       He thought of his best friends fondly. Shale shouldn’t have even been in the arena in the first place; it was all Horizon’s fault. It was the same with his IceWing friend Fjord.  
       He should have known when he saw that gorgeous SkyWing that she’d be bad news. He should have known not to sneak out and see her. He should have known not to fall out of favor with the general of Blaze’s army.
       But he did all of those things, stupidly enough. And it had landed him in a dusty arena facing the epitome of certain death.
       How had that happened? Oh, yes. It began deep in the MudWing swamps…
== Chapter One ==
“It’s. So. Gross.” Horizon complained to his big sister, Gila, shaking the mud off his talons. “Why did General Burrow decide that an invasion on the MudWings would be a great idea?” Gila shrugged, her pale dark brown and black patterned scales splattered with mud.
       “I don’t know, Horizon. Maybe stop complaining and continue marching.” She growled, her gruff voice thick with annoyance. Gila made a big show of disliking her younger brother, but Horizon knew that secretly, she loved him and cared very deeply for his wellbeing.
       Horizon moaned. “Why do we have to walk through it instead of flying over it?” He knew he was acting immature, but he really hated the mud under and between and on top and just generally everywhere on his scales.
       Gila rolled her eyes. “Grow up, little brother. And shut up too. Don’t forget we’re in the middle of enemy territory.”
       That shut Horizon up. He trudged through the mud, swatting the nagging mosquitoes and gnats that buzzed around his ears. His stomach grumbled.
       He was about to ask Gila when they were stopping when the SandWing marching in front of him suddenly stopped. Horizon crashed into him from behind.
       “Hey!” He protested, using his wing to push Horizon back. “Watch it, youngster!”
       “Sorry!” Horizon stepped down and shoved the wing away. The older SandWing made a grunting noise under his breath and turned away. Gila raised an eyebrow at him.
       “What’s happening? Can you see?” He asked Gila. She stretched her long neck up and glanced at something in the front.
       “IceWings. I guess they’ve come to join the fight.” She replied, sounding annoyed. IceWing slackers. Horizon was a bit annoyed himself as a whole wing of Icewing soldiers streaked across the sky above him and hovered by the front of the army. He turned to say something to Gila but she held a muddy talon up to his snout. “Don’t say anything. We have orders. They have orders. Shut up about it.” Horizon frowned and wiped the mud off his snout with a grimace.
       They stood there for what seemed like centuries and waited for the IceWings to do… something. Finally, a SandWing, not General Burrow but one of his aides-de-camp. “SandWings! We fly off to battle tomorrow at dawn!” Horizon wasn’t sure what the aide-de-camp expected, but it certainly wasn’t the response he received, because his wingbeats faltered and he nervously flapped back down.
       Horizon and the rest of the SandWings stood in that moons-blasted swamp for the rest of the night. Horizon was torn between being too exhausted to stand, and not wanting to lay down for fear of getting his pristine scales muddy. Eventually, he settled for leaning heavily on Gila, who had plopped down into the mud without a second thought.
       He was awoken from his semi-sleep by a battle cry.
       The SandWings ahead of him suddenly jolted forward and Horizon scrambled up from the mud where his sister had dumped him and galloped forward. Whom are we fighting? MudWings? SkyWings?  
       His questions were answered as an orange dragon was flung over his head with a scream. Horizon shuddered as he heard the cracking of bones as the SkyWing crashed into a tree.
The sounds of battle played all around him. Gila surged off with a roar to help a nearby SandWing with two SkyWings attacking him.
Horizon stood in the middle of the battle, unsure of where to go. The SandWings and IceWings outnumbered the SkyWings, but the SkyWings fought like lions. Each SkyWing had three dragons fighting with them, but yet more SandWing and IceWing corpses littered the battlefield, charred and smoking, than SkyWing corpses.
A SkyWing pushed a SandWing about Horizon’s size off her. The SandWing dragonet was the only one fighting the full-grown SkyWing, and he looked like he was having difficulties.
Horizon sprang forward and raked his white claws over the SkyWing’s eyes, taking the beastly red dragon by surprise. Scarlet blood stained Horizon’s claws as he landed by the SandWing. He shot him a grateful glance as the two of them teamed up on the temporarily blinded SkyWing. The SandWing darted under the SkyWing’s chest and clawed his underbelly and Horizon jumped over his head and lit the SkyWing’s wings alight.
With a scream, the SkyWing took off, beating his wings in a vain attempt to quench the flames. Horizon watched with a satisfied grin as the SkyWing flapped off loopily toward the north. He grinned at the other SandWing and threw himself into the sky, looking for another target.
== Chapter Two ==
The battle was long and hard, and great casualties occurred on both sides. Eventually, the SandWings and IceWings had to retreat, because the MudWings showed up in huge numbers and the tables turned against Blaze’s alliance. They ended up fleeing the wretched swamp and regrouping on the edge of the Ice Kingdom.
Horizon stood in the horrid frozen land and panted. They had just flown over the desert in a few hours, not stopping for anything. Gila had collapsed beside him, too exhausted to even stand. The flight had been hard for Horizon, but Gila had been wounded much worse than Horizon had. He had a small slice below his wing, above his eye, and a nasty bite above his tail barb.
Gila, on the other talon, was bleeding profusely from a gash across her whole chest and underbelly, she had a burn across her left wing, and half of her right horn was snapped off. Her right ear had been ripped off as well. Horizon crawled over to her.
“Gila? Are you alright? Do you need anything?” He asked, genuinely concerned. She shook her head, her eyes still shut. He stood up and looked around. The rest of the troops didn’t seem to fare much better. Dragons, blue and sandy alike were lying on the ground, bleeding. He spotted the SandWing he’d fought with during the battle and trotted up to him. The SandWing dragonet was laughing at something with an IceWing dragonet.
“Hello!” He said, reaching them. The SandWing looked up at him.
“Oh, hey! I never caught your name! I’m Shale, by the way.” Horizon smiled.
“I’m Horizon.” He turned to the IceWing, who was awkwardly staring at the ground. “What’s your name?” The blue dragon looked up in surprise.
“Fjord, third circle. Pleased to meet you.” He said stiffly. Wow, that’s one uptight dragon!
“Eh, it’s alright. You don’t have to do formalities with me, I’m pretty go-with-the-flow.” Horizon plopped down next to Shale.
“I never got to thank you for helping me with that grumpy old SkyWing.” Shale said, his tail barb twitching. “So, thanks.” Horizon chuckled.
“It’s all good! To be honest, I wasn’t sure which dragons to target, so seeing you really helped.” Shale laughed.
“Well, in that case, your welcome.” The three dragons sat in awkward silence for a moment.
“So, um, too bad those MudWings showed up.” Shale said, trying to initiate a conversation.
“We would have won if you SandWings were better trained. MudWings are easy to fight; you just have to unbalance them and bam, they’re finished.” Fjord said haughtily. Horizon rolled his eyes. IceWings.
Shale laughed, though. “You’re probably right. Most SandWings are just plucked from their homes and trained to follow orders. Usually, with these, we don’t really need to be taught how to fight.” Shale lifted his tail barb, which was a dark shade of brown, still stained red from the battle. “It would be cool to know each tribe’s fighting styles. How do you keep them all straight?” Shale asked, sounding genuinely interested.
Fjord looked a bit embarrassed. “Well, I don’t technically know all the tribes’ fighting styles. I know the MudWings’, SkyWings’, and most of the SeaWings’. Lots of flashing from them.” He shuddered. “I hate fighting SeaWings.”
“Really? I’ve never fought SeaWings before.” Horizon spoke up.
“SeaWings are horrible. They like to flash their stripes and hit things with their tails. It really, really hurts when you get hit with one of their tails.” Shale winced, feeling his wing. “I think I still have a bruise from the last time we fought with them.”
Horizon shuddered. Yikes.
A yell caught his attention. “That’s General Snowstorm, I’d better go.” Fjord grinned. “See you guys around, though. I’ll to get guard duty at the SandWing base, though.” He waved and flew off towards the mass of glittering ice dragons.
“Phew.” Shale said, laying down. “I like Fjord, but IceWings are exhausting to talk to, with all their ‘second circles’ and ‘rankings’ and ‘We’re better than you’s.” Horizon chuckled. He like this dragonet already.
Another yell sounded. “That must be General Burrow. We’d better go.” Horizon said. He waved to Shale and went to wake Gila up.
A few hours later they arrived at the base, sweaty and freezing cold. It was a huge relief when they stepped into the warmish base.
SandWings scurried all over the place, looking for food, medicines, and other things. Horizon led Gila over to where they shared a barrack. He grabbed a medic, who was making rounds throughout the barracks to tend to the wounded, to come help Gila.
He set off walking without purpose through the base, looking for something to do to take his mind off his older sister.
== Chapter Three ==
Days were slow as we waited something to happen. Blaze’s SandWing army was too far north for any tribe in their right minds to attack. So, they were waiting for word from the IceWings before they could do just about anything. Queen Blaze should be able to decide for herself, not wait for Queen Glacier’s approval. Horizon though grouchily.
He'd visited Shale nearly every day; Gila was too tired to ‘put up with his moons-blasted shenanigans’ (whatever that meant) and Fjord was usually in the Ice Kingdom (though he came down for guard duty twice).
Horizon was pacing the halls, waiting for something to happen. He glanced up at the stone walls where his favorite tapestry hung, a desert sunset scene with a few SandWings twisting through the sky. Horizon stared on enviously as the two stitched dragons seemed to taunt him. We’re warm and filled with sunlight and lizards and you’re stuck in arctic base defending a Queen you don’t really believe in. Horizon glared at their happy and strangely accusative faces.
A SandWing wearing a few mailbags walked down the hall. Horizon quickly averted his gaze from the tapestry and turned to face her.
“Excuse me, are you Horizon?” She asked, opening a bag. He nodded and she handed him a letter with Blaze’s royal seal- a large gemstone in front of a fire- stamped in red wax. He glanced up at the mail dragon and she shrugged before striding down the hallway in search of her next letter’s recipient.
Horizon slitted open the top of the envelope and pulled out the piece of crinkly parchment. A message in Blaze’s curled, loopy handwriting looked up at him.
Dear Horizon,
The SandWing army is moving out to attack a SkyWing base not too far off the coast of the Sky kingdom. Please report to the SandWing military station tomorrow at sunrise.
                                       Signed,
                                               Queen Blaze of the SandWings
Horizon chuckled. He pitied the dragon who had to make Blaze write each of these messages. He trotted into around the corner and into his and Gila’s horrible living quarters, curling his nose and the stench of infection and sickness.
She was laying on one of the wooden cots in the room. Both of them couldn’t fit in there if they were both standing up, especially not with Gila’s hulking frame. They’d been assigned to bunk together because, for his age of seven years, he was small and could fit in with his burly sister.
She looked small, balled up and bandaged on the cot. Her chest wound had gotten infected and had gotten progressively worse… Horizon worried about her. She was asleep more than she was awake, and she was awake, she was grouchy and irritable- not terribly worse than she was when she was not delirious from fever and infection, but she never apologized, which was definitely unlike her. Horizon sat down on his cot and pushed her wings out of his way, careful not to move the burnt part too much.
Gila’s eyes fluttered open. “Horizon?” She snapped. “Turn the lamps off.” Horizon frowned and glanced at the two oil lamps they had. They were off.
“Um, alright.” He closed the curtains.
“No!” She snapped. “Not the curtains, the lights!” Horizon flung the curtains open and lit the lamps with a scowl at her. Gila relaxed, just slightly.
“Okay, now chill. I got summons to fight in a battle, a sneak attack against the SkyWings.” Gila struggled to pull herself to her feet.
“I’m coming.” She announced. “No one gets to fight SkyWing filth without me.” Horizon winced.
“Yeah, ok, but you’re not well. You can’t tell the off from on in your current state, let alone fight SkyWings. You need to stay here and, well, um, guard the base.” Gila froze, her face twisted in a confused expression.
“Guard the base?” She asked, like she couldn’t figure out what he was talking about.
“Yeah, we need to you stay back and guard the base so that no SkyWings get in. Protect Queen Blaze.” He said, but perhaps he said it a little too lightly, like he was excited for her to stay back, because she reared into her fell height and growled.
“I won’t be convinced by an inferior soldier that I need to stay back and guard our helpless queen!” She roared. Horizon tried to shut her up- saying that Blaze was at all incompetent or dumb was considered treasonous, and the last thing Horizon needed was to have to babysit his full-grown sister from all the overzealous Blaze loyalists.
“Gila, Gila! No, that’s not what I’m trying to do. You are in no condition to fight; you’d be killed in an instant!” Gila snapped her teeth inches away from Horizon’s snout. “Fine! Fine. You need to be at the SandWing military station in two days at sunrise.” Gila nodded. “But, you have to be well-rested by then.” Gila frowned but slumped back down on the cot and, shivering, closed her eyes. Horizon frowned.
He slid out of the room and ran into Shale. “Oops, sorry.” He said, stepping so that Shale could pass. Shale held up a piece of paper- a battle summon. Horizon held up his own with a tiny grin.
“Are you excited?” Shale asked as the two of them weaved through the fortress to the mess hall.
“Excited? Not really. Nervous? Definitely.” Horizon answered, twitching his tail. “I guess I just don’t feel right leaving Gila. After out parents died, it was just us two. She wasn’t much, and neither was I, but we looked after each other.” Horizon looked away, unwilling to let his best friend see his eyes filling. “It just feels so wrong to leave her here. And I die, then who’ll take care or her?”
Shale put his wing around Horizon. “First off, you’re not gonna die. Not with me around. But in the off chance you do, well, I’ll take care of your sister.” He bumped his hip against Horizon’s. Horizon grinned at him.
“Thanks.” Then her curled his lip. “Ew, smells like they’re serving fried whale blubber again.” Shale gagged.
“Maybe we should just skip lunch.”
== Chapter Four ==
Horizon’s stomach clenched nervously as he flew next to Shale, off to surprise the SkyWings. Shale bumped his wing against Horizon’s.
“Quit worrying! You’ll be fine. And Gila will be too.” He reassured Horizon, smiling.
Horizon frowned and kept his gaze ahead. “You don’t know that.” Shale groaned.
“Again with the ‘you don’t that thats’? You’re driving me insane, Horizon.” He growled, light-hearted. Horizon grinned, just a tiny bit, and looked over at him.
“Thanks, Shale. You’ve been a great friend.” Shale rolled his eyes.
“You’re not dying. Stop sounding like you’re going to your own funeral.” He moaned.
“Hey! Shut up back there! This is supposed to be a surprise attack, not a chatfest!” An IceWing ahead of him yelled. Shale rolled his eyes.
“Yeah? Then why are you yelling?” He roared back. Horizon tried- and failed- to stifle a chuckle as the IceWing shot him a glare.
They flew, silently, for what seemed like years. Finally, the mountain base they were to be attacking came into view.
Panic shot through Horizon as he saw all the red and orange dragons milling around. It was a lot bigger than the SandWing who’d briefed them on the mission had made it seem.
One of them looked up at the cloud of SandWings and IceWings and shouted something.
Roaring, the two united tribes shot down at the unprepared SkyWings. With a feeble battle cry, Horizon dove after Shale, who had already started grappling with a SkyWing twice his size.
“Why do you always pick on someone way bigger than you?” Horizon roared at Shale as the SkyWing swiped his claws across Horizon’s chest. Shale bit his tail tip, where SkyWings are sensitive, and replied, “Because it’s just so much fun!” The SkyWing turned and glared at Shale.
“I’m going to make you wish you’d never been hatched- then we’ll talk about fun!” he growls, then shot a blast of red-hot flames with a hiss in Shale’s direction.
The two SandWings continued to tag-team the SkyWing. One would bite and the other would distract. This went on for a while.
A roar, sounding distinctly feminine, sounded from across the battlefield. The SkyWing they were fighting stopped shooting flames and shot off, fear in his eyes. “Blue Jay!” For a moment, it made Horizon feel bad that this SkyWing’s lover had most likely been killed. But then he looked at the beige figures of SandWing corpses and hardened his heart.
Shale dove down to join the fight. Horizon followed him, slower. He was not cut out for fighting, that much was certain.
Screams and roars surrounded him as he followed Shale into the thick of the battle. A SkyWing shot by his ear, hot in pursuit of an IceWing, flames trailing from his lips. Horizon barely had time to grimace before a SkyWing collided into him.
He snapped at the dragon’s ear and surprised himself by biting it clean off. He spat it out in disgust and watched as the SkyWing screamed in pain, his wings faltering.
Horizon turned and emptied the contents of his stomach onto a battling SkyWing and IceWing below him.
Shale flew up beside him, a fresh scar across his cheek. “Hey, are you alright?”
Horizon wiped his mouth. “Just fine. Let’s just get to the ground.”
The two shakily made their way to the ground, the battling dragons ignoring them. Horizon landed on the rocky mountainous ground and panted.
“That was horrible! I watched you bite that dragon’s ear off and I was like ew and then you threw up and I was like, ewww. Are you alright? You’ve gone pale. I mean, paler than usual.”
Horizon was staring straight ahead, his soft brown eyes intently watching a dragon through the chaos as she fought… swirling and slashing and breathing fire… she was beautiful.
Shale shook his head. “Don’t go there, man. You can’t have her.”
Horizon turned his head in Shale’s direction, but his eyes stayed locked on the beautiful dragon. “But..” Shale pulled him away.
“C’mon, let’s go find some other dragon for you to bite the ear off of.” Horizon retched, but his stomach was already empty. Some soldier I make. He thought miserably, wiping his mouth. He ripped his eyes from the dragon and followed Shale.
The two fought for what seemed like hours before Horizon stood before the beautiful dragoness.
Her eyes were a soft, warm amber, blazing with the fire lit by battle. She was scarred, blood dripping from a few new wounds as well as old. She approached Horizon at a run, snarling at a dragon who crossed her path.
Horizon watched, awestruck at her rippling muscles and smooth, shiny scales as she sprinted toward him.
He stood and watched as she leaped towards him and bit into his shoulder.
== Chapter Five ==
“Oww! Stop! Why are you doing that?” Horizon shrieked, clawing at her underbelly.
The SkyWing didn’t waste any time looking confused. “Because we’re not on the same side of the war, idiot!” She growled, swiping at his snout. Horizon paused, for some reason unable to grasp the concept of this beautiful dragon on the wrong side of the war.
Horizon pushed her off him and stood, panting. The SkyWing, poised to lunge, bared her teeth. Her muscles rippled ad she was about to pounce-
“Wait! What’s you’re name?” He asked her. She paused long enough for Horizon to get his bearing again.
“I don’t have to tell you anything!” She snarled, and lunged at him. He stepped aside and she flew past him, crashing into a different SkyWing. She turned around, shaking and rubbing her head.
Horizon watched her as she turned around and flew off with disappointment. He turned around, wishing she’d stayed longer when he felt a sharp pain in his tail.
“OW!” He whirled around to see the SkyWing biting his tail, just above the barb, in the sensitive spot. Quick as a snake, he lunged over her, pulling his tail from her jaws and swiping his claws over her back. She roared in pain and leaped at him.
He jaws came within inches of his throat. In a rage, he grabbed her horns and slammed her head into the ground. He watched as her amber eyes blurred, and he knew she was fighting to stay conscious. He pulled her over and pinned her.
A cry echoed across the clearing. “Blaze’s army, retreat!”
Horizon stepped off the SkyWing and turned to walk away.
“W-why? Why didn’t you just kill me?” She asked weakly. He glanced around, then leaned down and whispered in her ear,
“Meet me where the Ice Kingdom meets the Kingdom of Sand tomorrow at midnight.” The SkyWing looked up at him, her eyes clear but confused.
Horizon flew away from the battle, deep in the throngs of Blaze’s grumbling army. His wings were flapping along with the rest of the army’s and his voice matched the army’s grumbles, but his mind was elsewhere. Deep in the amber eyes of the SkyWing.
Shale flew up to him. “What’s happening in your head, Horizon? You look like you’re contemplating the meaning of life.” He cracked. Horizon shot him a look and Shale raised his talons in defeat.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to offend his highness.” He joked. Horizon shook his head, but his lips curled into a tiny smile.
“Am I going to get the pleasure of hearing his majesty’s voice?” Shale asked, grinning.
“You will hear my voice when you say something that deserves a response.” Horizon said, making his voice sound dignified. Shale cackled.
“Okay, but seriously, what’s on your mind? You’re usually a lot more talkative.” Shale said, dropping the lighthearted tone.
Horizon sighed, “That SkyWing… I didn’t even catch her name! She was beautiful.”
Shale frowned. “Horizon, you can’t be with her. There’s supposedly only a few years until the Dragonets of Destiny come and save us, but until then, you can’t be having a relationship with an enemy!”
“You can if it’s true love!” Horizon spat.
Shale looked a little surprised at his outburst, maybe a little sad. “Horizon, what do you know of true love?”
Horizon narrowed his eyes. “Shale, what do you know of true love?” He spat back.
Shale glared at him. “More than you.” And with a slight snarl, he flew away.
Horizon instantly felt horrible. “Shale, wait!” But Shale didn’t come back, didn’t look back, didn’t even flick his tail in recognition of Horizon, just flew over to fly next to Fjord.
Horizon sulked the rest of the way back to the base, but visions of the dark red SkyWing danced through his head, distracting him from his fallout. 
== Chapter Six ==
Horizon was laying in his cot, next to Gila’s snoring figure. He was supposed to be sleeping, but his muscles just jittered in excitement.
He lifted his head. Gila was sleeping soundly, and not a sound was heard from the hallway. Horizon crept up and slunk out of his barrack, closing the door softly behind him.
He crept through the silent hallway, keeping to the shadows.
“Hey, what are you doing?” A voice demanded. Horizon jumped and whipped around.
A SandWing guard stood behind him, talons on the spear strapped against his back.
“Uhm, just gong out for a, er, stroll. Feeling a little cramped in here, with my sister and all.” The SandWing raised an eyebrow. “Don’t worry,” Horizon reassured him. “I’ll stay within sight of the IceWing guards outside. Seeming satisfied, the SandWing guard nodded and moved away.
Horizon breathed a breath or relief and continued creeping. He reached the door to the stronghold and grinned.
Horizon’s ear twitched and he whirled his head around, thinking he heard something, but there was no one there. He narrowed his eyes and pushed open the door.
The two IceWing guards immediately held up their spears, but relaxed them it was just Horizon.
“Horizon? What are you doing out here so late?” One of them asked.
“Oh, Fjord! Nothing, just got a little, um, stuffy and hot in there.” Fjord raised a crested eyebrow but didn’t ask any more questions.
“Alright, just be careful.” He warned. Horizon nodded and took off, flying towards his home, the desert.
A half hour later he landed in the tundra, shaking the horrible white, cold powder off his talons. He glanced around. The SkyWing wasn’t here.
He sat down, waiting to hear her soft but powerful wingbeats.
What felt like an eternity but what was really just a half hour passed. He was laying on a branch, letting his wings and limbs flop down when he heard her wings beating in the chilly early morning air.
“You came! I wasn’t sure if you would!” Horizon spluttered, nearly falling out of the tree.
“Yeah. I came. So, what do want me to do?” She asked, sitting down and picking at a claw.
“Do? W-what do you mean?” She glanced up at him.
“So, let me get this straight. You called me here and you don’t know why?” Her wings fluttered, like she was debating whether or not to fly away.
Horizon shrugged, inwardly panicking. “Um. Yes?” To his surprise, the SkyWing let out a tiny chuckle.
“At least he’s honest. Alright, then. I figured this might happen, so I brought a game. I didn’t want to fly out here for nothing.” She pulled out a small pouch. “Scales. Do you know the rules?”
Horizon shook his head, a little baffled by the chain of events. She grinned, but it wasn’t a nasty, horrible grin like some of the SkyWings he’d seen, but a genuine, if not a little excited grin.
As she taught him the rules, he couldn’t help but notice how young she was- probably a whole year younger than him, but she had scars all over her body, her deep red scales overlaid with fleshy pink scars. He grinned inwardly when she leaned over him to grab a piece, her scales warm to the touch.
She noticed his gaze, and she scowled. “Keep your eyes to yourself, SandWing.” Horizon quickly averted his gaze, his mouth in a thin line. She squinted at him and resumed teaching him how to play.
Finally, after an hour or so of playing the game, she leaned back on her haunches, sniffing the air. “It’s going to rain.” She said in a monotonous voice. “And it’s nearly dawn.” She swiped all the little wooden scales and neatly piled them into her bag. Horizon frowned as she lifted her wings to fly away.
“You’re not going to even ask my name?” He asked, standing up.
She glanced back at him, something like pity or sorrow in her eyes. “Why would I? This is a one-time thing.” Horizon quickly stared at the ground, his brow furrowed.
“Alright,” He answered after a second, preventing her from leaving, “what’s your name?” She looked momentarily surprised, but her calm façade reappeared.
“Fine, then. Tell me your name.” She turned around so that her back was no longer to him.
“Horizon.” He said, without hesitation. She raised her eyebrows at his quick response.
“Well, Horizon, I wish you all the best.” And quick as a snake, she was up in the air, flying away.
“Wait!” He roared, “I didn’t get your name!” He heard her laugh.
“It’s Carnelian!” She yelled back, not even turning to look back.
“Meet me back here tomorrow at midnight!” He roared, but she was so far away he wasn’t sure if she heard him.
== Chapter Seven ==
Horizon sat down, watching her dark shape wing away, silhouetted in the massive moon.
“Carnelian, huh?” Horizon jumped to his feet as Shale and Fjord slid out from behind a few bushes. One looked furious, the other hurt.
Horizon opened his jaws to respond but Shale interrupted. “No. Don’t say anything; we heard the whole thing.” He snarled. “You could have told me? I wouldn’t have reported it; that would mean your death.” Horizon stared at his talons. “And it wasn’t like you were planning a night away from the base, you decided to go ahead and ask that moons-blasted SkyWing out on another date!”
The rain started falling faster, pounding on the heads of the three battling friends.
Horizon burned with fury. Who were Shale and Fjord to follow him and then lecture him on what he should and shouldn’t do? He bared his teeth. “Me personal life is not your concern!” He spat, but he knew it was a faulty argument from the moment it escaped his snout.
Fjord stepped forward; his ice-blue eyes hurt but not angry. “I understand where you’re coming from,” he said gently, pushing Shale back, “but what you’re doing is technically treason. You get caught, you’re dead. We’re your friends, we care about you and don’t want you to die.”
Both Horizon and Shale narrowed their eyes and turned the heads away from each other. Fjord sighed. “Well, okay, keep fighting, but you’re not going to get anywhere. You two are both stubborn as a couple of polar bears.” He glanced up at the sky as a flash of lightning lit the sky and a peal of thunder cracked above. “Yeah, you two keep arguing, I’m going home.” Fjord took off, then turned to watch as his two best friends flew after him, keeping a safe distance between them.
Horizon glared at Shale through his eyebrows. What right did the SandWing have to tell him what he could and couldn’t do?
Horizon knew, deep in his heart, that Shale was right, that meeting with Carnelian was treason and he shouldn’t do it again. But he’d enjoyed himself, and he knew he was under Carnelian’s spell.
But he didn’t stop. Every other night, he met Carnelian under the cover of darkness. Slowly, the sour SkyWing became less sour, and Horizon melted in her presence.
“Ha HA! I win again!” Carnelian yipped, standing up with a flourish of her wings. Horizon grinned, sweeping all the pieces into a pile with his tail. Carnelian edged away. “Careful where you point that thing.” She said in a sour voice.
Horizon laughed. “My tail is totally safe. We’re trained from the very moment of our hatching to be safe with these things,” he said, grabbing his tail barb, “plus, there is an antidote, but it’s top secret.”
But Carnelian didn’t look like she was in a joking mood. “My whole family was killed by SandWing venom.” Horizon dropped his tail.
“How?” She looked away, a single tear sliding down her snout. “Was it the war?” She nodded.
“Every last one of them. Both my parents, my two brothers, and my sister. All younger than me. Dead. Gone. Because of this stupid, stupid war!” Her voice rose to a low roar. Horizon tried to respond but she flung her head towards him. “I can’t keep seeing you,” She hissed, “I need to advance to general so that I can take revenge! If we get found that, I’d be lucky to stay a soldier in Scarlet’s army, let alone advance anywhere past a private.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Goodbye, Horizon.”
Horizon watched as she flew away. I knew this was going to happen eventually. We couldn’t possibly be a thing; we’re on different sides of one of Pyrrhia’s deadliest wars. 
But still, something gnawed at him as he watched her wine-red scales glint as she flew away. I have to see her again, whether we’re enemies or not.
== Chapter Eight ==
Horizon knew it was stupid.
Stupid, stupid, STUPID.
But it was love, and love made dragons do stupid things.
At least, that’s what he told himself as he flew through the pelting rain one moon later, heading towards the SkyWing base where he’d first met Carnelian. After Blaze’s most recent success, a large IceWing-SandWing battle against a small but important island between the two kingdoms that he hadn’t personally been involved in, he had to apologize for the slaughter of all the SkyWings.
       He squinted as the freezing cold rain shot down at him like needles. He was flying so low; he was close enough to the ocean to smell the salty seawater and see the colorful fish lurking just below the frothy grey waves. And close enough that when a particular wave shot up at him, he took it straight to the snout.
       Finally, the land came into view. From the tip of the land, it was a fairly short flight to the base, nestled among a few small, unnamed mountains.
       Horizon swooped and perched in a large tree, watching the base.
The base seemed overly populated for the middle of the night, with several orange and red dragons flapping around like chickens with their heads chopped off.
       Horizon waited for a break in the calamity and slipped in through the opened doors.
       Luckily for Horizon, the busyness seemed to be outside and on the other side of the fortress, leaving this end practically unguarded.
       He slid through the fortress, checking every room he came across. None contained the raw beauty and power that was Carnelian.
       “Horizon!” Someone whisper-shouted in his ear. He jumped and whirled around, raking his claws blindly across the air. The red dragon ducked and avoided his claws.
       “Carnelian?” He asked. She grabbed his snout and pinched it. Hard. She nodded and looked around, then pulled him into a room.
       He pried her talons off and grimaced, moving his snout around. “Ouch, what was that for?” he growled.
       He wasn’t prepared for the wrath that followed. Her tail whipped around and connected with his snout. Stars danced before his eyes, and his vision darkened around the edges.
       “You moons-blasted, featherbrained, no-good, hunk of rotting vulture meat!” She cursed. “When I said ‘I can’t see you again’ did you think I meant ‘come find me in the middle of the fortress on possibly the worst nights ever’? I might not have wanted to see you again, at least while the war was on, but I don’t want you to die!” She growled.
Horizon rubbed at his jaw, propping himself up on his elbow. “I don’t know, maybe? I can’t think straight right now anyways, you hit me so hard.” Her sharp eyes softened the tiniest bit.
“I’m sorry,” she said, stiffly, “You took me by surprise, that’s all. And you chose possibly the worst night in the history of Pyrrhia!”
“Why? Why is it so horrible that I chose tonight?” He asked.
“Because I’m here.” A spine-chilling, lilting voice growled. Carnelian’s gorgeous eyes widened and she flung herself into a bow.
The unlit torches in the room lit with a whoosh, and Horizon whipped around.
In front of him, wearing fur-lined robes of red, her sickly orange scales encrusted in rubies and yellow eyes glinting, sat the terrifying Queen of the SkyWings.
Horizon threw himself into a clumsy bow. The queen grimaced and picked at a talon for a minute before speaking.
“Well, at least the handsome brute has manners,” She said, her lips twisting into a sneer, “bind him.” She growled at the guards that surrounded him.
Horizon flung himself up with a growl, ready to defend himself, but the guards were on him before he could do so much as lift his talons.
“Let me go!” He howled. Scarlet rolled her eyes and made a binding motion around her won snout. The guards responded by wrapping Horizon’s snout in a thick canvas muzzle.
“Let him go!” Horizon managed to twist his head out of the soldier’s grasp. Shale and Fjord stood at the entrance of the room. Scarlet raised an eyebrow.
“And get them too.” She said with a bored flick of her talons, rolling her vengeful yellow eyes.
A minute later Fjord and Shale were tied up next to him. Horizon didn’t know whether to be angry with them for following him or glad for the companionship.
Scarlet sighed. “So much loss for Blaze’s side. Oh, well. Much more thrilling fun for me and my court! Take them away, put them in the dungeon, and you and I, little missy, are going to have a chat.” She growled, grabbing Carnelian’s jaw and pulling her closer. Horizon let out a strangled yell through the muzzle.
The SkyWing guards roughly dragged the threesome down countless corridors into a damp, horrible dungeon, filled with mold and rats. They talked amongst themselves cheerfully as they ripped the chains from each of the dragonets and tossed them into the cell together.
As soon as they left, Horizon wrestled the muzzle off of his snout and chucked it across the cell.
“Why did you sand-snorting idiots follow me?” She snarled. “Now we’re all stuck!” He flung up his wings in frustration.
Shale narrowed his eyes. “We care about you! And I knew you were planning on leaving, so I knew we had to make sure you wouldn’t do anything stupid.” He let a tiny grin slip. “And of course, that’s what you did, but we followed you, and then you practically put on your own chains when you let that moons-blasted SkyWing drag you into a room very clearly labeled ‘throne room’.” Horizon turned his face away.
“I don’t understand why you didn’t tell us,” Fjord said. “We could have covered for you.”
Horizon averted his gaze. “Shale and I haven’t been on the best terms with each other since the last battle we fought together.” Fjord rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, well, you better make up, because I have a feeling we’re going to be going through a whole lot more together.”
== Chapter Nine ==
“Horizon. Horizon, wake up.” Horizon slitted his eyes open against the moldy light that filtered in through the translucent window.
Fjord was shaking his shoulder. “Horizon, there’s someone coming.”
Horizon sat up and wiped the bleariness from his eyes. “Huh? Who?” Fjord shrugged and moved to on to wake Shale.
Horizon wrapped his wings around himself and sat down. He could hear the pitter-patter of footsteps coming down the ridiculously long stairs, but he could tell it was only one dragon and not a horde of unruly guards.
Then her head peeked around the corner, her vibrant red scales looking out of place among the drab stone of the dungeon.
“Horizon?” She called out uncertainly.
“Over here,” he rasped. Her eyes darted to his cell and she quickly trotted past the rows of prisoners, both alive and deceased. Grimacing, she stepped over a small pile of what looked like dragonet bones and set her talons on the crisscrossed bars. Horizon stuttered sleepily towards her.
“Are you all right?” he asked her, placing his talons on hers, “Did Scarlet punish you badly? Does she even know you’re here?”
Carnelian shook her head. “I’m not the one in a dungeon. How are you?” Horizon frowned at her.
“I’ve been better,” he admitted, “but I’ve also had worse.” She nodded.
“Did Scarlet punish you badly?” He asked, breaking the silence. She shrugged.
“She said that things would have been a lot worse for me if I hadn’t been trying to break up with you.” Her voice caught at the word ‘break’. “She sentenced me to kitchen duties for the next three months.” Horizon grinned, squeezing her talons.
“That’s not horrible; it could be worse.” He consoled her. She shook her head.
“It’s horrible because I can’t get into battles and fight for my dead family until the three months are over! I can’t take my revenge for them behind a stove with potatoes and gravy!” She turned away, clearly upset.  
Horizon bit back a growl. All she seemed to care about was revenge for her family on his tribe, but he bit his tongue and listened to her rant about the SandWings needing to be killed.
Eventually, though, he grew tired of it; his self-control fading fast. Finally, he snapped.
“I’m a SandWing, too! Do you think I should die?” He snapped. Carnelian shut up quickly, and Horizon could see her jaw muscles clenching as she realized her error.
“I’m sorry,” she said stiffly, after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “I just…meant other SandWings. Not like you, you’re fine, I guess, but…” she trailed off.
Horizon narrowed his eyes. “Oh, I see. Other SandWings. Like my family, like Shale, or Queen Oasis. Other SandWings, right.”
Carnelian reeled back, hurt flashing in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said indignantly. “I thought you’d understand. I’m sure you’ve never killed any SkyWings, huh?” Horizon scowled at her- she had a point, even if it was smaller than the life expectancy of an ice cube in the desert.
He turned around, his back to Carnelian, but turned his head so he could see her eyes flashing. “Whatever. I’m going to be dead soon anyways- Scarlet will see to that. So go, kill the SandWings; I don’t care.” He let his head hang and his wings drooped the tiniest bit.
Carnelian snorted but he heard her sit down by the bars.
A moment of tense silence passed, and Horizon could hear his friends’ breathing.
“I’m sorry,” Carnelian said, defeat wringing through her words. “I was insensitive and didn’t think of whom I was talking to.” Horizon felt his face softening but her didn’t turn around. He tipped his face upwards to look at his friends. Shale had an eyebrow raised in a ‘well? You got us into this mess because of her; are you going to let her think you hate here?’  and Fjord’s face was one of vague interest.
With a heaving sigh, Horizon followed his friend’s silent advice and turned around. “I’m sorry too, I suppose.” He grumbled stiffly.
The light returned to her eyes, just a tiny bit. “Is that all you can do?” She teased, watching him as he turned around. He narrowed his eyes playfully and gave an alluring grin.
“I can do much better, but you have to earn it.” He snarked. She grinned back, her eyes relieved.
A clattering sounded at the top of the dungeon stairs. Carnelian drew back, worry clouding her eyes. “I only had a few minutes. I have to go, but I’ll see you later.” He nodded as she turned and walked away, shooting him one last flirtatious smirk. 
== Chapter Ten ==
Life was rough in the dungeons, and some days, Horizon thought the Queen and her guards had forgotten about the three unimportant guests in her dungeon.
Every other day, stale bread, a small cup of murky water, and, if they were lucky, scraps of leftover meat from the kitchens. One time, the three of them got to split an only slightly rotten pig carcass, leftover from Burn’s hatching day party that Scarlet had thrown.
Life was surprisingly all right in the dungeons, despite the disgusting food and damp cell, but Carnelian’s visits and constant attention from his friends made it slightly better.
Of course, the inability to leave trumped everything.
Horizon, Shale, and Fjord were all sprawled across the stone floor of the dungeon, playing a game they’d made up with a few pebbles and bones they’d found.
Horizon grinned, moving his little whittled bone piece to hop over Fjord’s smooth brown pebble. “Ha! I win!” He said triumphantly, knocking Fjord’s pebble into a pile of all of Fjord’s other pebbles Horizon had collected.
Fjord moaned and Shale snickered from the corner he was watching from.
Talonsteps, heavy and thunderous, sounded coming down the dungeon steps. Not Carnelian.
Horizon slid the pieces of their game underneath a stack of hay as the wing of at least a dozen soldiers marched into the dungeon.
Horizon scrabbled up and stood beside Shale, who was already at the bars, watching the SkyWings with caution.
“The Queen wants you three to accompany her to the SkyWing Palace.” A large, burly guard said in his oily voice. “You are to fly with us in complete silence. Speak only when spoken to.” He growled as a soldier opened the door with a key around his neck. Soldiers streamed in, pinning Horizon before he had a chance to react. A large metal band was clamped around his throat, and Horizon swallowed, feeling the SandWing claustrophobia set in. One glance at Shale’s pale face told him that he was suffering too.
Each band was attached to a different large, burly SkyWing.
Horizon didn’t bother resisting the SkyWing’s pull on the chain as he walked forward. Fjord did, however, and it ended in a team of three SkyWings putting on metal bands to drag him along.
As they emerged into the light, Horizon bit back a hiss. How long had it been since he’s seen the unfiltered light of day?
The wing of soldiers didn’t waste any time; meeting another wing of soldiers and the queen herself, who groaned at the ‘wasted time’.
Horizon gathered his atrophied wings and sprung after the guards, Shale following him. Fjord just hung limply, gagging himself in the process until he gave up and soared grumpily behind his captors.
       They arrived at the Sky Palace a few hours later.
       Horizon gawked at the sheer size of it; nearly twice as big, from what he could see of it, than the SandWing stronghold in Burn’s talons.
       “Impressed, huh?” Scarlet sniveled, see Horizon’s jaw drop. “Don’t worry; you three will get front row seats to all the thrilling bloodletting!” Horizon grimaced.
       “Will we, by chance, be doing the, er, bloodletting?” He asked nervously. Scarlet chuckled, grabbing his jaw roughly.
       “An intuitive one, huh? Well, since you asked, SandWing, yes. You and your boring, silent friends will be battling for glory and honor- but mostly your life.” She snickered. Horizon shuddered.
       He watched as Scarlet flapped away, flanked by a few guards. Horizon’s guard yanked on his chain and took off, aiming to fly over the mountain. Horizon followed and his friends flew on either side of him. He shot Shale a reassuring smile as the smaller dragonet glanced at him, a trace of barely contained fear in his eyes.
       Horizon was terrified too; but he had to put on a brave face for Shale and Fjord- well, probably not Fjord. The ice dragon was shooting a look that could have frozen ice at the guards flying above him.
       Beyond the mountain, a kingdom emerged, full of SkyWings, their scales shimmering reds and oranges. Horizon thought they’d fly down, towards one of the shadowy passageways, and was pleasantly surprised when his guard flew up. He followed the guard’s trajectory with his eyes and spotted a circle of stone pedestals connected to a sinewy silver wire. He didn’t say anything as the guard hauled him up and deposited him onto a platform on top of the pedestals, replacing his metal band with one of a lighter shade. He connected that to a couple of wires that were strung across the air connecting his wires to the other prisoners, and then to a large ring in the center of the clearing. He clamped Horizon’s wings shut and gave a satisfied grunt, looking him over.
       The guard flew away, and Horizon flopped down, busying himself with looking for Fjord and Shale. There- he spotted Shale, his wings and tail hanging lazily over the edge of the platform, but his face was turned away. Fjord was a bit harder find, but Horizon spotted his friend snapping at a guard flying past, delivering scraps of meat. He was only a few pedestals from Shale. Lucky, Horizon thought, I’m on a totally different side.
       He laid his head down, ignoring the SkyWing who dumped the remainders of a pig by his face.
== Chapter Eleven ==
“Traitor to the SandWing crown and soldier in Blaze’s ranks, Horizon of the SandWings faces the unholy offspring of a SeaWing and a NightWing, Fastflier the hybrid! This ought to be an exciting fight, folks! This hybrid may be a traitor to nature, but who knows what special abilities he possesses?”
       Horizon stood in the center of the arena, his bound wings pulled up tight behind him, the warm sun beating down on him. The hybrid stood before him, cowering. His scales were a deep maroon, speckled with droplets of blood red and white. His underwings were a pale pink, speckled with black stars. The poor thing looked like he wasn’t a day over four, and Horizon towered over him.
       “Claws up, teeth ready, fight!” The announcer sprang up out of the arena and hovered above it, ready to narrate.
       Horizon took a step towards the dragonet, Fastflier, and he fled to the corner of the arena, eyes wild with fear. The crowd booed.
       “D-don’t hurt me! G-go away!” He called, shakily. Horizon glanced upwards, hearing Scarlet’s sigh of boredom. He looked back down at Fastflier, heart breaking for the poor thing.
       “I won’t hurt you, I promise,” Horizon called. A few ‘aww’s rose from the crowd but were quickly silenced by a nasty glare from Scarlet.
“Go on, kill him! Snap his neck!” she encouraged. He glared at her, squinting, and trotted towards the dragonet. He squeaked and galloped away.
        A groan from Scarlet. “Neither of you is leaving until one of you kills the other or so help me I’ll come down there and kill both of you.” She growled. “This is supposed to be a thrilling battle, not a moons-cursed wingery.”
       “Maybe, if you wanted a ‘thrilling’ battle, you should fight alongside your tribe on the front lines, like Burn,” Horizon jeered up at her, “and not pit adult dragons with hearts against dragonets!” Scarlet snarled, showing her teeth like a caiman about to strike. Suddenly, she relaxed her snarl and sighed.
       “Fine. We’ll have to take drastic measures. Bring in the alligator!” She called, and a gate shifted, releasing a massive brown alligator. It shambled forward, beady black eyes fixed on Fastflier. The little thing darted over to Horizon and threw himself onto Horizon’s shoulders.
       “Kill it!” he shrieked. Horizon let loose a blast of red-hot fire at the alligator, who raced out of the way just in time.
       This moons-cursed thing is fast. I need to come up with something craft, quick. The alligator ran towards Horizon, jaws slightly parted. Horizon waited until it was really close and leaped over it, spewing flames as he went. It roared in pain, rolling to extinguish the flames. This thing is smart.
       “Stay here,” Horizon ordered, setting Fastflier onto the ground. The dragonet sat down without a sound.
       The alligator let loosed a bellow and charged, beady eyes set on Fastflier. Horizon intercepted the gator and bit down on its tail. It thrashed, one of its long claws catching his eyebrow and barely missing his eye. He recoiled, and the alligator, who had lost all interest in Fastflier, paced, keeping its eyes on Horizon.
       It was a near-fatal mistake to glance up and search the crowd to find Carnelian’s lovely face, because when he finally spotted it, the alligator charged and clamped its jaws on Horizon’s bound wing, barely missing his throat.
       Horizon loosed his own bellow and whirled around, clawing and biting the horrible reptile. How to MudWings live with these things?!
       A small blast of fire flew above his head, hitting the gator in the eyes. It whimpered and retreated. Horizon turned to see Fastflier. He grinned toothily and tore after the gator, flames flickering at the edges of his mouth. Horizon watched with awe as the little thing engaged the gator, dancing just out of its reach while shooting flames down its gullet and flank.
       Eventually, the gator flopped down, roasted from the inside out. Horizon grinned at Fastflier, who grinned right back.
       “My threat still stands,” Scarlet called, “neither of you are leaving until one of you is dead!” Horizon growled as the gate opened again and a SkyWing trotted out. He was wearing a metal band around his neck and his wings were bound, so Horizon could only assume he was an enemy to Scarlet’s crown.
       She grinned nastily and loped over, her gait carefree, like she wasn’t worried about anything.
       Horizon bared his teeth and she pounced, motions fluid as a wildcat’s. She grabbed his horns, and he had to twist his head to avoid her breaking his neck. She leaned forward and bit the back of his neck. Hard. He yowled in pain as he felt her teeth tear into his flesh. Bucking like a bronco, the SkyWing held on tight, talons clamped tight onto his horns.
       Suddenly, her weight disappeared. Horizon whirled. Where did that dust devil go? A roar sounded behind him and he caught a glimpse of the orange scales of the SkyWing. Attacking Fasflier, who had his tiny teeth embedded in her tail. He started towards the pair, but as the SkyWing slashed Fastflier’s neck, he knew he would be too late.
       Satisfied with her work, the SkyWing trotted back out of the arena, the gates closing behind her.
       Horizon propped Fastflier’s head up in his talons. The little dragonet was struggling to breathe, blood gurgling up from his wound. A tear slid from Horizon’s eye, dripping onto Fastflier’s forehead.
       Grief overwhelmed Horizon as the hybrid’s form slumped, his eyes dull. Glowering at the queen, he gently slid the dragonet’s eyelids close.
== Chapter Twelve ==
It wasn’t fair. Fastflier had barely been three when his life had met a violent end. Simply because the queen of one of his parent’s queens had been bored.
He folded the dragonet’s limp limbs in a way that suggested he was just sleeping and would wake up as soon as his mother called. He folded himself over Fasflier’s limp form, wings tented over his body.
He could practically hear Scarlet roll her eyes. “Some of these SandWings… they have the weakest backbones. Anyways, I have a very exciting array of fun planned for tomorrow, and this guy is going to be more exciting tomorrow! Guards, get him out of there and bring in the SeaWings!”
Horizon planted his feet into the ground and refused to budge. It took four SkyWings to haul him back up to his platform.
Scarlet had one more battle that day, between two SeaWings. One of them cracked the other’s neck and that was that.
The next day was horrible for Horizon. Or any dragon who wasn’t as sadistic as Scarlet. Horizon fought against two dragons separately. An IceWing, who gave him a scar across the snout, courtesy of her serrated claws, before Horizon clamped his jaws onto her throat until she was no longer struggling.
The other dragon he fought was another SandWing, from Blister’s army. Apparently, Blister’s soldier rarely got caught, so Scarlet was overjoyed at having one in her arena. He was fairly easy to kill. After ripping off his tail barb, simply snapping his neck and putting him out of his misery was a mercy.
But now, Horizon, having bored the queen after a while, was perched on his platform, watching the gladiators fight. An IceWing killed a SeaWing, and he was brought back to his platform.
“And now, since one soldier in Blaze’s army has satisfied her Majesty, perhaps two will please her! Now fighting is Fjord of the IceWings! After one win, Fjord is just getting started! But his opponent, another one of Blaze’s soldiers, has had one win already also! Who will win? I guess we’ll have to see! Introducing Fjord of the IceWings and Shale of the SandWings!”
Horizon watched in horror as the two of them stumbled out of the gate.
Horizon wasn’t sure what was happening. Fjord and shale were keeping their distance, pacing around in a circle like a couple of caged cats. He knew they were talking.
Every muscle in his body tensed as Fjord stalked toward Shale. His SandWing friend’s face was turned away from Horizon, so he couldn’t see his face. Fjord stopped just short of Shale and wrapped his wings around him. Shale leaned into the embrace, two friends trapped in an arena of death. Scarlet let out an enraged growl.
“Soldiers in Blaze’s army are all soft-hearted, spineless worms! If you won’t kill him, I will!” Horizon watched in terror as Scarlet shot off her platform and rained down fire upon the two of them.
Horizon threw himself off his platform, but the wires connected to him held him aloft, the band around his neck making it hard to breathe, and his wings were tangled up. The other prisoners around him complained as they were pushed around by the wire connected to them all.
Below him, Shale had thrown himself as Scarlet. She stopped breathing fire and, quick as a snake, sunk her teeth into his throat.
Horizon froze. Scarlet’s snout, still in Shale’s throat, crinkled into a sneer. Her yellow eyes met Horizon’s as she pulled back.
Blood was everywhere as Shale’s throat was exposed. Horizon threw up, the vile stuff splattering all over the guards who had come to help him back to his platform. They scowled at him as they pushed him back to his platform.
Below, Scarlet flew back to her platform and Fjord was spewing frostbreath everywhere. Guards were trying to contain him and dragons were fleeing the stands with panicked cries.
Finally, after three SkyWings and a SandWing worked together, they were able to knock him unconscious and drag him back to his platform.
       Shale… dead. His goofy, lighthearted, loyal friend, killed by a ruthless queen because he didn’t kill his friend. Horizon’s stomach clenched in grief at the thought of never seeing him again.
       Tears flowed freely from his eyes and though he made no sound, he felt like tearing the wires around him off and stabbing them into the soulless pits that were Queen Scarlet’s eyes.
      
He didn’t complain the next day as the guards practically dragged him to the arena. They dumped him unceremoniously into the middle of it.
“Horizon of the SandWings, a fan favorite, has been challenged by her Majesty, the Queen, to fight in her honor against three SeaWings. Please welcome the mercenaries Tide, Tang, and Tentacle of the SeaWings! They were caught ambushing a patrol of SandWings and SkyWings in one of our very own cities, Kestrelville! Can Horizon win against three trained SeaWings? We’ll have to see!”
The gate sounded behind him. Three SeaWings, almost the same colors, strolled out. Triplets! Horizon realized. It almost never happened. Wow, that must have been a massive egg. Too bad these three hatched way before the brightest night. 
The three paced around him, snapping like dogs. Horizon growled, baring his teeth. Finally, one flung himself forward, jaws snapping. The other two followed suit, trapping him in the center of a lethal circle.
Horizon leaped into the air like a stag and rained fireballs down onto them. One of them took a direct hit and collapsed, breathing heavily. Horizon knew he’d be dead in a matter or minutes without medical attention, so he flitted to the other side of the arena.
One of them jumped forward, attempting to bite at his throat. Horizon pulled back but stepped right into their trap. The other one ambushed him, and the two worked together to back him into a wall. He growled and snarled and snapped but the two of them kept dodging his attacks. Finally, he unleashed a long breath of fire- right into the face of one of them.
It was a good minute before Horizon dared to stop breathing fire. The one who’d caught Horizon’s fire in the face was dead, but the other was pacing, eyes slitted.
“I’m going to kill you for that,” she growled, and Horizon got the sense that she was the most dangerous one, “They were my brothers!” With that, she lunged forward, jaws open. Horizon dodged and ran straight into her tail, which was positioned to trip him. He laid sprawled out on the sandy ground and she leaped on top of him. She pinned his arms and legs down with own.
“Not so strong now, huh, Sandwing?” He bared his teeth in response. Her breath smelled like rotting fish. She laughed. “Don’t like my breath? Don’t worry, you won’t smell it in a minute!” Quick as a snake, her talons came forward and closed around his throat.
Horizon had never been choked before, and he never intended to be again. Her talons were wet, from where, he had no idea, but they were strong and callused. No doubt from wielding weapons.
She crushed his windpipe, the sadistic sneer on her face making Horizon wish she’d just snap his neck.
Suddenly she stopped, her face a frozen mask of shock. She fell off Horizon and with a final gasp, died.
Horizon pulled his tail out of her chest and gasped for air.
“So be it! Horizon of the SandWings has destroyed those SeaWings as if they were no more than dragonets! Congratulations, Horizon!”
Horizon glanced up at the queen and spat. She recoiled, a look of disgust gracing her face. She waved her talons and three guards brought him back to his platform.
When is this ever going to end? 
== Chapter Thirteen ==
“Horizon! Horizon, get up,” Someone hissed into his ear. He leaped up, teeth bared.
“Who is it?” he snarled.
“Just me,” Carnelian whispered. “Keep your voice down.”
The sight of her made Horizon so relieved, he couldn’t do anything other than cry. He melted into her arms, sobbing silently. She laid he head on his and rubbed his back reassuringly.
“I’m so sorry about Shale,” she said, “I know you two were close.” He nodded, wiping at his eyes.
“Thank you. I’m sure I’ll meet him soon, courtesy of Queen Scarlet.” Carnelian winced.
“I’m also sorry that I made you come to the base to get me; I was self-centered and rude, I should have kept coming.” Horizon smiled.
“You couldn’t keep me away even if you tried. It’s not your fault.” She was crying now, just a tiny bit.
“Hey. Listen. I know I’m going to die soon; it’s only a matter of time. But when I do, make sure you’re one of the guards who removed my body. Take something from it. A scale, a tooth, moons, take my tail barb if it pleases you. I want to always be with you, even when I’m dead.” Carnelian blinked tears from her eyes.
“What?”
“A keepsake, call it. Take a tooth or a scale and turn it into a piece of jewelry. There’s no saving me, I won’t let you damage your reputation.” He interrupted her.
Finally, she nodded. “All right.” It was barely a whisper. He motioned for her to go.
“You’ll be noticed. You need to go.” She nodded.
“Horizon- I,” She got choked up and had to stop.
“I love you, Carnelian.” He said, cradling her head in his talons. She looked up, eyes tearful.
“I love you too, Horizon.” He smiled and watched as she soared back to the palace.
But after she was out of eyesight, he flopped down, the weight of what he had just told her crashing down on her. I know I’m going to die soon; it’s only a matter of time.
The next morning, a group of dragons, including the queen, a bunch of guards, a SeaWing, a MudWing, a NightWing, a RainWing, and a SandWing thing with no barb. The MudWing was brought up to be clipped in beside him. He glanced at him, an eyebrow raised. Traitor to the crown?  He wondered. The poor thing was clutching the sides of the platform, eyes squeezed shut. A dragon scared of heights?
No dragons died in the arena below him that day, but the next day he was woken by chatting dragons. He glanced over at the MudWing and immediately scrabble back, as far as the platform would allow.
The Queen’s Champion, Peril, the firescale who had killed so many dragons, was amiably chatting with the MudWing. He, naturally, looked terrified and confused. Horizon watched as he threw up over the side of the platform. Had they poisoned him, or what?
Remembering last night, Horizon sprang up and began pacing furiously. He knew he was going to die, but he hadn’t quite made peace with it yet. He’d already decided that the next time they came to take him to the arena, he would fight like hell. He was tired of being a pawn in Scarlet’s talons. Tired of taking lives. So when the guards came to collect him as he feared they would, he spat curses that could have curdled milk and fought. The guards seemed surprised and barely managed to contain his tail before he drove it through their hearts.
They dragged him down to the arena, barely able to get him there because of his squirming. They plopped him into the arena and flew away before he could snap at them.
A trumpet sounded and a vibrantly colored dragon paced through the gate. Fear shook through Horizon’s whole being.
He pulled his wings in and crouched, watching Queen Scarlet’s monster soak up the crowd’s applause. He growled, his tail twitching as she turned her eerie blue eyes to meet Horizon’s soft brown ones. A grin played on her snout as she watched him try to keep his shaking wings under wraps. Horizon barely noticed the SkyWing officiator until he started blabbing.
“After four wins, Horizon the SandWing- formerly, and unwisely, a soldier in Blaze’s army- has been challenged to a match with the Queen’s Champion, Peril!” Ah. So, the real reason for his capture wasn’t going to be revealed.
       “Claws up!” Horizon’s wings started shaking uncontrollably again. He hissed to try to cover up his wobbly wings.
       “Teeth ready!” Peril bent her head down, keeping her unwavering blue gaze locked on his.
       “Fight!” The SkyWing guard in the arena flapped out in a rush. Horizon knew why- no one would want to be caught in this dragon’s crossfire. He darted to the back wall and hissed again, painfully aware of Burn’s SandWings that sat in the stands above him, taunting and jeering.
       His attention was jolted back to the firescale as she began stalking towards him, her golden-veined, coppery wings tilted to reflect the sunlight. Her long tail elegantly curved behind her, leaving huge swathes of half-moons in the sand behind her.
       Smoke rose from her scales, the fire inside begging to be let out. Let out on me. He panicked, terrified of the horrible death and the fire that would bring it. He crouched and surged over Peril, keeping his venomous tail well out of the way of her scales.
She turned in a lax way, her eyes tracing his movements. She stalked over, muscles fluid. He hadn’t realized he’d put himself into such a dangerous position and she had him cornered.
There- a gap. He leaped around her deftly and made a break for the tunnel.
Suddenly she was there in front of him, and he skidded to a halt to avoid running into her lethal scales. She leaned forward and ripped a claw lightly over his chest, a warning of the pain she could inflict. Fiery hot pain shot over him, bad enough it made him feel like vomiting. He screeched and fell back, scrabbling for a hold on the sandy ground.
The SkyWing followed, smiling devilishly. She drew her claws along his side, barely missing where his wing membranes connected to his body. He screamed, desperately trying to get away. He flapped his wings, as if he was trying to extinguish a particularly large candle.
Almost gently, she reached forward and pinned his wing to his body.
Holy MOONS it hurt. Horizon howled even after she removed her talons, leaving a smoking black print behind. Branded, he thought miserably, for death.
He couldn’t do this anymore. He lunged forward, even though he knew it was futile and had seen her kill multiple SandWings like this. He drove his tail forward, on a trajectory to pierce her heart. She whirled and his tail bounced off her scales, incinerating it. He beat his tail into the sand to extinguish the flames, biting his tongue to keep from screaming, but they escaped anyways.
He was vaguely aware, through the pain, of Peril feinting around him.
This HAS to stop. I can’t do this anymore, and I won’t give Scarlet the satisfaction of having a perfect gladiator, willing to fight until the end. 
So when she lunged forward to toy with him again, to wound him nonfatally, he grabbed her forearm.
Fighting through the pain, he flung his wings around her and threw himself into her, without a scream.
She froze, and he heard her whisper “I’m sorry,” just before the world faded to black.
== Epilogue ==
Carnelian hated every minute of her life after that one moment. Horizon had thrown himself into Peril’s arms and burnt to a crisp. He hadn’t even tried to defend himself.
So after he died, she followed the guards who went to collect his body, and right before they threw him into the Valley of the Dead, she yanked a tooth out of his scorched jaw. She had it made into a necklace, claiming the tooth to be her dead mother’s, and wore it every second of every day.
She dedicated herself to her training and tried her hardest to quell the anger, the hurt, the sorrow in her as she tried to achieve her goal. After Scarlet had been killed, she gladly accepted Ruby as queen. She did good for the kingdom, and Carnelian was glad that she banished the monster that had killed Horizon, though some part of her told her Horizon wouldn’t have wanted her to be.
It all went to hell when she’d received the order to go to Jade Mountain Academy.
JADE MOUNTAIN ACADEMY.
She was enraged. After all she’d done, all she’d been through to advance to general, Ruby had seen it fit to send her to a peacemaking academy. Run by the Dragonets of Destiny. Who were younger than her.
But it turned out to not be as bad as she’d thought. She’d still rather be home, training, but it seemed like the kind of place Horizon would have liked. So she suffered through it for him.
Her clawmates, Moonwatcher and Kinkajou, were mildly annoying. Well, Moon was all right, but Kinkajou made her want to rip off her own ears so she couldn’t hear her toxic-ly cheerful babbling.
Currently, she was prowling to the history cave to learn about the history of the continent, scowling.
“Hey, Carnelian, don’t go in there. Torch got all smokey, it needs to air out.” Qibli, a SandWing who reminded her too much of Horizon, said. Moon and Kinkajou, as well as a few other dragons, stood around her. Moon looked like she was having a panic attack or something, leaning into Qibli. She rolled her eyes.
“Smells fine in here, SandWing.” She said, walking in.
She set down her sac of things and sat down. Two other dragons were in there with her, a RainWing named Tamarin and a NightWing named Bigtail.
Bigtail was draped over a few seats, snoring. Tamarin had a strange look on her face and was sniffing the air. RainWings were weird.
She took a scroll off a shelf and settled down to read.
It happened so fast that Carnelian barely even realized it. Tamarin tipped a shelf over on top of her and then the cave, with a whoosh and a boom, exploded into flames.
She watches as the flames rise around her body, charring her remains. She died the moment the dragonflame cactus exploded, and so did Bigtail. And yet her spirit lingers, watching the fiery carnage. 
Peril bursts through the flame and grasps her body, pulling it out of the flames. Carnelian watches it as it slides away, then looks down at her own talons.
They are translucent, a faint wine-red shimmer in the smoky air. 
“You get used to it after a while.” Carnelian’s head whips around to see the dragon she never thought she’d see again. 
A sandy translucent shimmer in the shape of Horizon. With a sob, she leaps forward into his embrace. He wraps his wings around her in a huge, warm hug. 
After a moment, he pulls back, grinning. “I missed you.” She sniffs, causing a few embers to stir. 
“Me too.” She admits, and he motions for her to sit. 
“We can’t stay like this forever, they’ll see us.” He says, motioning to the entrance. 
Remembering something, Carnelian darts over to the bookshelf Tamarin tipped over herself. Carnelian spreads her wings over Tamarin’s burnt body and shields her from any more harm. 
“What are you doing?” Horizon asks, sounding a bit suspicious. 
“Protecting her. Clay will come in soon, and he won’t be able to see us through the smoke.” 
As if Clay could hear her thoughts, he came in and dragged Tamarin out of the cave. Horizon’s brows shoot up. 
She turns to him. “Now we can go.” He smiles and walks over to one of the windows, covered with a burning leaf. He reached out a talon toward her. 
“Shall we?” He asked, a chivalrous smile on his handsome face.
“We shall,” she says, taking his talon. Together, the two lovestruck dragons, finally reunited, flew off into the night, leaving the continent and all its problems behind them.
Category:Content (Dotholly)
 
 Category:Fanfictions
 
 Category:Fanfictions (Canon)
Category:Genre (Tragedy)
Category:Genre (Romance)
Category:Genre (Short Story)
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)