The False Prophecy, by Nightshadow

Note: This story was written by Nightshadow. Please don't edit without permission. Warning: This contains partial spoilers for The Dark Secret, and is not canon. Hope you enjoy!
== Summary ==
Flame starts out life as an innocent SkyWing dragonet, hidden in the Talons of Peace at birth, and he consistently blames his ruined destiny on the Great War. When his entire life turns upside down, and he is separated from his loving mother because of a possible great future, Flame begins to rethink about his purpose... but how can he do so, with so many challenges about to strike?
== Dedication ==
For all the people of the world, and my family, who would never act so cruel or desert me like the NightWings did. ~ Nightshadow
== A NightWing Guide to the Dragons of Pyrrhia ==
=== SandWings ===
Description: pale gold or white scales the color of desert sand; poisonous barbed tails; forked black tongues
Abilities: can survive a long time without water, poison enemies with the tips of their tails like scorpions, bury themselves in the desert sand for camouflage; breathe fire
Queen: Since the death of Queen Oasis, the tribe is split between three rivals for the throne: sisters Burn, Blister, and Blaze
Alliances: Burn fights alongside SkyWings and MudWings; Blister is allied with the SeaWings; Blaze has the support of most SandWings, as well as an alliance with the IceWings
=== MudWings ===
Description: thick, armored brown scales, sometimes with amber or gold underscales; large, flat heads with nostrils on top of the snout
Abilities: can breathe fire (if warm enough), hold their breath for up to an hour, blend into large mud puddles; usually very strong
Queen: Queen Moorhen
Alliances: currently allied with Burn and the SkyWings in the great war
=== SkyWings ===
Description: red-gold or orange scales; enormous wings
Abilities: powerful fighters and flyers; can breathe fire
Queen: Queen Scarlet
Alliances: currently allied with Burn and the MudWings in the great war
=== SeaWings ===
Description: blue or green or aquamarine scales; gills on neck; webs between talons; glow-in-the-dark stripes on tails/snouts/underbellies
Abilities: can breathe underwater, see in the dark, create huge waves with one splash of their powerful tails; excellent swimmers
Queen: Queen Coral
Alliances: currently allied with Blister in the great war
=== IceWings ===
Description: silver scales like the moon or pale blue like ice; ridged claws to grip the ice; forked blue tongues; tails narrow to a whip-thin end
Abilities: can withstand subzero temperatures and bright light, exhale a deadly freezing breath
Queen: Queen Glacier
Alliances: currently allied with Blaze and most of the SandWings in the great war
=== RainWings ===
Description: scales constantly shift colors, usually bright like birds of paradise; prehensile tails
Abilities: can camouflage their scales to blend into their surroundings, prehensile tails used for climbing; no known natural weapons
Queen: Queen Dazzling
Alliances: not involved in the great war
=== NightWings ===
Description: purplish-black scales with scattered silver scales on the undersides of their wings, like a night sky full of stars; forked black tongues
Abilities: can breathe fire, disappear into dark shadows, read minds, foretell the future
Queen: a closely guarded secret
Alliances: too mysterious and powerful to be part of the great war
== Prologue ==
Avalanche felt excitement and tension rise in her body as the stadiums cheered for the SeaWing Dragonet of Destiny. She loved the daily battles in the SkyWing Arena, and Queen Scarlet always made sure that her hatching day was absolutely thrilling. It made her heart pound with apprehension and excitement at the same time. Who would win? Surely, Tsunami of the SeaWings.
The contender, Gill, a former king of the SeaWings who was dehydrated and mentally unstable, lunged at Tsunami, giving out a soundless roar. Avalanche scowled as her rusty SkyWing friend cheered for the former. His eyes were locked on Tsunami, and he began picking out the spare blue sapphires in his small gemstone collection.
"You'd better not bid for that dehydrated brat," Avalanche snapped, flicking her tail when Tsunami lashed out a swift and accurate blow onto Gill's neck, before lunging at his shoulder and pinning him down to the ground. Gill struggled under his opponent, but her weight had knocked his body down, and her claws were gripping his shoulders tight as she churned him against the sand.
"You can all see that I've won," the victorious SeaWing announced, her talons a blow's away from his neck. "I ask you to let him go." Avalanche growled impatiently. Why was Tsunami being so hesitant? Fighting was supposed to be satisfying. Especially when you have to chance to sink your claws into their wounds, or break their necks in a snap. Wasn't that satisfying enough, or did Tsunami need three dragons to kill instead?
Scarlet narrowed her eys with pleasure, and she began to taunt the young SeaWing dragonet, but Avalanche paid no attention. The rusty SkyWing beside her had his shoulders drooped, and his eyes glared with comtempt as Tsunami snapped Gill's neck in a single swift blow, her eyes locked on Her Majesty. How dare she! Avalanche thought loyally. "She shouldn't be treated Her Majesty like this," she hissed into Ember's ear.
Ember picked out one of his tough crimson-scarlet scales, each smooth and with a metallic gold lining. Avalanche rolled her eyes. "Are you serious?" she asked, narrowing her sharp yellow eyes. Throwing out one of your scales was considered a sign of value for the receiving dragon. "She may be a Dragonet of Destiny, but it was an easy fight anyway..."
The rusty SkyWing growled. "She had some exceptional fighting technique there..." he started. "Not like a SeaWing at all. More like a SkyWing. That was... a very interesting fight. Are you sure she was raised by a SeaWing?"
"Her Majesty didn't mention," Avalanche responded, silently admitting that he was right. SkyWings had that fierce fighting aura in a battle, tending to lunge for the weak spots and dodge the next attack the moment they launched one themselves. Tsunami didn't even bother to use her powerful tail as a weapon during the entire fight.
"Could be because she wasn't raised by a SeaWing," Ember finished for himself. "She's in the prophecy, right? She wasn't raised in the Kingdom of the Sea, or else Her Majesty would've had to discover the Summer Palace on her own and find her there, before making a long trip back to the palace. Besides, she probably was raised by... I don't know, another special member of the Talons?"
"Stupid Talons of Peace," Avalanche cursed the spoiled peace-loving worms, smoke rising from her snout once more as she tossed a small ruby towards the center of the arena, which was followed by another shower of gemstones from the crowd. "Whatever. What's next? It's Her Majesty's hatching day, after all, and she's determined to make it as 'thrilling' as possible."
Ember shrugged. "Whatever happens next, as long as it's actually more interesting than an easy fight aginst a dehydrated SeaWing, I'll likely find it as thrilling as I can. Also, couldn't she release that NightWing? Wasn't he part of that pathetic prophecy as well? I want to see him read minds and predict every single thing in his next battle. Perhaps he could even win against Peril!"
Avalanche winced. Peril was Scarlet's famous champion, daughter of the disobedient runaway Kestrel, and she could burn anything in her path simply by touching it. Whenever she was sent in a fight against someone, it was clear that she won, no matter how hard her opponent tried or how skilled or trained or experienced they were.
The dark, rusty-scarlet SkyWing was so caught up in her thoughts about the horrendous monster champion that all she saw next was Starflight, the NightWing captive, fighting against Tsunami. Oddly enough, the two didn't even dare to fight each other, only simply wrapping their necks around each other in a protective hug. What in all the moons... Avalanche thought, but she didn't open her mouth to speak.
Then, both dragons were ordered to fight against four scavengers, and they won shortly after, followed by being sent to fight against eight IceWings altogether. Avalanche narrowed her eyes. It was impossible for two dragonets to fight against eight fully-trained IceWings, even if they were in a prophecy. Later, a huge NightWing flew in a claimed that the young NightWing dragonet was his, and swooped out without much of a farewell.
"How dare he!" Ember snarled, tightening his face into a scowl. "That ancient NightWing thinks he's so amazing and powerful, but he just stole one of our precious contendants that could become our new champion one day!"
Avalanche nodded her head in agreement, and smokes were fuming out of her nostrils now. She shifted her weight against the smooth stone material providing seats for the arena. "If he dares to return," she growled. "I'll snap his neck, and he'll wish he'd never been born!"
Scarlet stepped forward, announcing that Peril was going to fight Clay, the MudWing in the prophecy. Surprisingly, Clay was immune to Peril's fire, and he was much better trained with more experience with wounds, so he was getting the advantage. Avalanche inhaled sharply. If Peril was killed by the MudWing Dragonet, Kestrel would be executed. Not that I liked her, anyway.
Just then, so swiftly that Avalanche could barely take notice of, Scarlet let out a horrible, throat-piercing shriek, and the rusty SkyWing could only turn her head to see splatters of venom dripping across her face. Avalanche drew in a gasp of shock and soared upward along with Queen Burn and the other SkyWings, and a dangerously cold chill rippled through her spine as she realized what just happened.
Scarlet, the powerful queen who ruled the SkyWings for more than several generations, was dead. 
And the venom had come from a RainWing.
== Chapter 1 ==
One year later...
Flame's earliest memory was in the Sky Kingdom. Although his mother and father were never truly mates, Avalanche and Ember somehow loved each other enough as friends to act as parents to him as a dragonet. He was born in a rusty-scarlet egg, like his mother, in a small medical room before being sent out in the nursery to play with the other SkyWing dragonets.
"Why can't you just catch up with us?" Ash, a dark, rusty SkyWing growled impatiently. "Is it that hard? If you can't catch up with us in tag, and if you don't learn to fly just like us soon, you're not gonna be in our games anymore. Too bad, Flame."
The other dragonets snickered in a mocking way. "Come on," Whirlwind rolled her eyes and rested her tail gently with fake sympathy. "At least show the others that you can pounce on my tail. Come on, try it. I bet it's fun."
Flame actually fell for the trick, but the copper-lined SkyWing immediately jerked her slender tail away the moment he sprang. "Perhaps you just aren't ready for our difficult, advanced, totally complex games of tag," Whirlwind's sister, Scorch, laughed sarcastically. "Hmm, perhaps starting out by trying to chase us in midair would be nice."
Scorch lifted her elegant red-orange wings, which shown like deep rubies and were tinted with a metallic gold lining. Her eyes, a sharp yellow color, gleamed coldly as her dark shadow loomed over him. "I don't think you're ready for us yet," she scowled. "Go away. We don't want you-"
She broke off and backed away as a huge reddish SkyWing entered the room. "What is going on here," she asked, her voice dangerously low. The question sounded more like a demand. "Leave Flame alone. He is better than all of you combined if you go on acting like this."
Flame let out a sigh of relief, and realized that he had been holding his breath the entire time. He trailed after his mother, his tail drooping, as he almost felt the scorch of his fellow SkyWing dragonets' gazes landing sharply on him. Whirlwind and Scorch huddled together like a single looming shape. Ash's piercing green gaze passed through him coldly and clearly stated that this wasn't the end of their taunting.
Once they were out of the nursery, Avalanche shot him a sympathetic look. "Listen," she told him. "I get that the others may be cruel to you, and that may affect your life later on. However, don't let that change your personality. You were meant to be the strongest, fiercest SkyWing soldier in Her Majesty's army, and you'll never regret that path once you set your talons on it."
Flame nodded. "But what if they start being mean again once I get back?" He shifted nervously on his talons, and felt his claws scrape against the rough stone below. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a plump ram edging against a cliff, and he lunged for it with his claws oustretched, and came back flying with it between his talons.
"You'll be like that," Avalanche responded. Flame tilted her head in confusion. What did she mean? Obviously seeing her son's puzzled expression, his mother took the time to explain.
"Show them your strengths," she growled. "Show them who you really are, and prove that you're worthy. They'll regret being so cruel like that once they take notice of who you really are. Now, do you want to start some training?"
Flame nodded. "Training" was the term that Avalanche used to describe learning a new battle move or strategy, and practicing it over again until he got the hang of it. Though his mother was harsh on him during training, she told him that it ensured his chances of being in an important military force one day, which she was obsessed with.
"The military is very strict when it comes to fighting in battles," she had told him about a year ago. "We are currently locked in a war with about two or three of the other Pyrrhian dragon tribes: the SeaWings, the IceWings, and some members of the SandWings. We all support Burn, the obvious choice for strength, and she promises a great future for her allies once she wins."
Avalanche had went on, telling him about the war and SkyWing military structure. "I don't understand why other tribes support Blister, who is truly manipulative, or Blaze, who only cares for herself. But that's none of our business. We fight in the war. Our loyalties are to Queen Burn, Her Majesty, and the SkyWing tribe. No one else, except perhaps the MudWings and some SandWings. To become part of the military, you get tested and put into a specific rank in the military, with the higher ones for the dragons who impress Her Majesty in an exceptional way. This training is to ensure that you get into an excellent rank in the military. None of the other SkyWing dragonets have this special, early training."
That last sentence had made Flame feel special, so he had trained hard until he reached the age of three. That was when the most horrible thing happened, when all the possible futures were snatched from his own talons, by the Talons of Peace.
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Canon)