Eyes of Memories

FANFICTION BY: ANIMUS_WANDERSINGER
Important note to the reader: this story is owned by Animus-Wandersinger, so do not steal or edit unless it has grammar mistakes THX A LOT
Important note to the reader 2: this story takes place in Pyrrhia, this story happened before the War of Sandwing Succession and after the Darkstalker era 
=== LIST OF QUEENS IN THIS ERA ===
  Mudwings: Queen Russet
  Sandwings: Queen Silicate
  Skywings: Queen Florid
  Seawings: Queen Rippling
  Rainwings: Queen Vibrant
  Icewings: Queen Frigidglaze
  Nightwings: Queen Blackhunter
=== PROLOGUE ===
Fatereader POV
Flare couldn’t find out about the eggs, or else the world might end. For her, at least. 
The eggs sat in a hollow dug she dug out by herself, filled with soft leaves. One egg had an ink black base filled with golden stars like a galaxy, and another one was a very dark yellow, almost brownish-yellow. The last one looked like a normal Nightwing egg; as pitch black as a starless night.
Fatereader pressed her talons to her temples—if her visions were right, the eggs would all hatch under tonight’s full moon. But her hollow was under the shade of a tree, so she would have to move the eggs into the moonlight soon.
Some of her dragonets would gain powers—the black egg with gold stars would receive future-sight, the normal black egg would receive mind-reading.
But the brownish-yellow one……her visions were fuzzy when she focused on that dragonet.
A gust of wind blew through the trees. Fatereader shivered at the sudden coldness.
Suddenly, like a dragon barreling into her, a vision hit her hard. Fatereader clutched her head in pain. There were two dragons she didn’t know, fighting a third dragon on the beach. One of the attackers leapt onto the victim and neatly slit his throat. Red blood gushed out.
As quickly as it came, the vision faded, and Fatereader removed her talons from her temples. What was that? Visions were always about dragons the seer knew. An uneasy feeling fluttered around her mind like an agitated butterfly. That wasn’t supposed to happen.
A sudden sound jostled her, and she pricked her ears—was it the crunch of talonsteps on dry leaves? Or the sound of wingbeats on an air current? Or even the scrape of claws on stone?
She had no more time to question. Something crashed into Fatereader, throwing her off-balance. Her first thought was of the eggs. As she recovered, she reared around to face the dragon.
His legs were straight and his muscles were tense. Pale gold scales mixed with a few black ones, like a scattering of burnt plants in a desert. She noticed a faint pattern in the black scales: they were clumped together, in groups of five and four.
Fatereader couldn’t afford to let her guard down. Even if he was her mate. “Please... please don’t kill our dragonets, Flare.”
Flare kept his eyes on her, his forked black tongue slithering in and out. His gaze drifted to the hollow, then his obsidian eyes narrowed back on her. Finally, he spoke. “You betrayed me. Again. For a couple of useless dragonets. Don’t you remember what happened to the last batch? I thought you remembered that night. I told you, that I do not want more dragonets with you.”
Fatereader flinched so hard that she nearly knocked an egg over. She did remember what happened to her unhatched children. She knew exactly how they died, who had killed them, and why.
Flare suddenly stepped forward, and with a clean slash, he clawed Fatereader’s neck, deep enough to draw blood but light enough that she wouldn’t be fatally injured.
She gasped and clamped her talons on her neck. She turned, and frantically looked for something to wrap the wound, but Flare took a dangerous step toward her. "Don’t try to stop the flow. Let it be a lesson to you. Ones who betray me don’t fare well. Do they?” The Sandwing gave Fatereader a sly smile.
Fatereader edged closer to the hollow. Whatever happened next, she could not let these eggs end up like her previous dragonets.
“Look at you, still trying to stop me. You can’t.”
With that, the Sandwing pounced, his tail arching like a scorpion’s. She instinctively went to bat him away with a wing, but realized he wasn’t aiming for her.
Flare landed behind her, upon the hollow, and he snatched an egg. The pitch black one.
Fatereader cried out in alarm and went for him, but halted as Flare’s barb whipped inches from her snout. The Sandwing growled menacingly: “Move, and your egg shatters.”
She was frozen in place, unable to move. Her eyes darted from him, to her dragonet, then back. After what seemed like ages, the Sandwing tilted his head.
“Hmm. This egg doesn’t look like a Sandwing Nightwing hybrid's egg. Not at all. Perhaps this dragonet's powers would be very good. Good enough to be a menace to the world.” He turned the egg around in his claws, and after a second, lifted it slightly so it could catch the moonlight.
The egg started to shift color. It started at the top, and like dripping water, a silvery color washed down the shell until the egg was encased in a faint silver glow. Flare studied the egg in his claws, then looked at Fatereader. She stared back, and finally mustered enough courage to break the silence. “Please…”
Flare plunged his tail barb straight into the egg. The shattering sound was heart-wrenching. He lashed his tail and the egg slid off, launched toward the edge of the hollow.
Fatereader screamed and leapt to catch it. The silver egg crashed onto the soil and shattered with a dull crack. The embryo lay in a pile of scattered eggshell. There was a black starburst of venom spreading across its chest and a small pool of blood gathered under it.
She stared helplessly at the pile on the ground and felt a gaping hole open in her heart. That same feeling returned. It was like the whole mountain was yanked away from underneath her talons.
Flare stepped into her peripheral vision. His eyes were narrow. She tore her gaze away and stared at him. The two looked at each other for a long time.
“You can keep the other two,” Flare said simply.
Fatereader’s heart leapt into her throat. “You’re lying.”
“No.” Flare took a step away from the scattered eggshells, “I’m not.” His eyes swept over the remaining eggs. “They can live. But you have to promise me one thing.”
She had to. “What?”
The Sandwing fixed his eyes on her once again. “They must attend when they’re three.”
Fatereader drew in a sharp breath. She knew what he was talking about. If she agreed, her dragonets would live. For a time. But if she refused… there was no chance either would survive.
For a moment she wondered if she should refuse. End their lives now to protect them from the suffering.
But what if they could survive?
Fatereader lifted her head to face Flare and nodded. She couldn’t hold back the tears, and they splashed to the ground, a glistening pool of sadness.
Notes: You mention Flare at the very beginning, meaning Fatereader is thinking about him, but there is no more description or thoughts or worrying about him until he arrives. You could add some more of that...
=== PART ONE ===
==== Chapter 1 ====
(Note: from now on, all the chapters will be in the same pov)
The dragonet sailed through the window and onto the stone floor. She glanced around, made sure that no one was watching her, and carefully slipped into a side tunnel of the cave. 
The mountain-cave house was like a labyrinth of stone and rock, full of traps mother and father set for other dangerous dragons. So naturally, the first thing her parents taught her was to remember all the hallways of the cave system. 
Suddenly, a voice yelled: “There you are!” The voice startled the dragonet so much that she nearly fell into a deep-hole pit she was trying to fly over. 
The young dragonet whipped around to find another dragonet bounding towards her. She was the color of an early sunrise, whiffs of dark gold streaked through her pale-yellow base scales, and here and there were some black starbursts and whirls, set on her wing membranes. One look at the barb on her tail and the silver tear-drop scales on her eyes, and you could see she’s a hybrid. 
The other dragonet beamed at her: “Hi, Dawnshadow! Back from hunting?” 
“Yeah,” Dawnshadow grinned down at her adorable sister, but it soon turned into an amused frown, “Were you just stalking me, Duskbringer?”
“Nope!” Duskbringer returned her sister’s smile, “I was ambushing my prey like an assassin!” 
Dawnshadow threw her sister a smirk. Sometimes, she wondered how her playful, teasing, bold, naïve, outgoing three-year-old sister was related to herself. Duskbringer was the type to get in a conversation with the strictest icewing or the grumpiest skywing. She could make friends with any dragonet, even one-year-olds and seven-year-olds. 
But Dawnshadow was the shy one in her family, always trying to hide from other dragons and trying to be invisible. However, that seemed to get someone’s attention every time. 
Dawnshadow never forgot the night when that seawing spotted her hiding in the shadow of a boulder, near the kingdom of the sea. She and mother and Duskbringer had went there for a small holiday, and the seawing had tried to attack Dawnshadow, thinking she was a threat of some sort, and was finally knocked unconscious by mother and dragged into the water. 
Her sister gave Dawnshadow a playful nudge: “Come on, sis! Mommy is cooking roasted rabbits with piglets for lunch!” Duskbringer winked at Dawnshadow, “Race ya to the dining cave!” And she was off, soaring down the long tunnel. 
Dawnshadow followed, wondering how mother will cook the meal today. 
Their mother always tried to serve up the very best food for Dawnshadow and Duskbringer, and of course, she tried to keep father happy. 
Dawnshadow really didn’t understand the tensions between mother and father. It seemed like that both her parents were vaguely angry at each other for something, and Dawnshadow never noticed any affection for each other.
Usually, mother took great care of her daughters and displayed no emotion to father, but sometimes, just sometimes, Dawnshadow saw embers of fury burning in her mother’s eyes, directed at Flare. Anger was something father displayed more. 
But on the other talon, Dawnshadow’s parents still lived with each other, which was good enough for her. She knew many dragonets whose parents divorced each other. 
Of course, Dawnshadow wasn’t a mind-reader. She just noticed all that by watching from the shadows. That was the only good thing about her personality—she could hide and discover more things about a dragon from the shadows. Sneakiness and spying skills are admired on the battlefield. 
The two dragonets landed on the edge of the main cave. The main cave had smaller tunnels leading to Dawnshadow, Duskbringer and mother father’s rooms. The main cave was where all of them dined and rested together.
A big stone table sat in the middle of the cave, and around it was four stone stools. Mother was probably cooking the rabbits in the side kitchen that was the furthest from father’s room. 
Duskbringer laughed: “Well, seems like Mommy is still working on the rabbits!” she raised her tail barb in a lazy way, “Care to have a mock battle?” 
Dawnshadow smothered a snort—when she and her sister fought each other during training, Duskbringer never won. 
Maybe it was due to the fact that Dawnshadow spent more hours working on her battle skills rather than chatting to other dragons. In a way, she was a way better learner and fighter because she could concentrate on things more than her sister.
Her sister’s tail whipped around excitedly: “I take that as a yes! I’ll get the brightsting cactus and healing leaves!”
The cactus was for sandwing venom injuries, since both Dawnshadow and Duskbringer inherited their father’s tail barb, and they still prepared the brightsting cactus even though their barbs are not fully developed. And the healing leaves could be plastered on for wounds, though they barely hurt each other seriously. 
As Duskbringer scurried to get the healing materials, Dawnshadow moved the stone furniture into a corner. None of them wanted to be accidently smashed against stone furniture in the middle of the cave and face father’s glare.
Less than a minute later, Duskbringer was back with the materials. She carefully set them on the table, and almost immediately leapt in front of Dawnshadow with her back arched and her tail high, a pretty good start to look intimidating. But the happy and smile ruined it all. Also, her pose was a bit imperfect.
“Firstly,” Dawnshadow started automatically correcting the mistakes Duskbringer had in her stance, “your back is arched too high, and it makes you look more like a scared tiger than a fierce dragon. Secondly, that smile—” 
“Okay, okay, sister!” Her sister shot forward and grabbed Dawnshadow’s talons, “That makes you sound like father!”
Dawnshadow giggled: “Well, I was just trying to correct you so you can be better next time!” But a small thought nagged at her, what if all the dragons I met think that I am too commanding and point out others’ mistakes too much? What if other dragons think I am like my father?
Duskbringer bounded towards the end of the cave. Then, quite suddenly, she whipped her head around and jumped straight at Dawnshadow, all teeth and claws. But Dawnshadow knew how to cope with suddenness. 
Dawnshadow leapt out of the way, and as her sister flew past her, she grabbed Duskbringer at the shoulder blades and smashed her against the stone wall, but not too hard. 
Her sister roared in pain and reared around again, and slashed hard at Dawnshadow, but her talons only met cold air, because Dawnshadow had already backed out of the way. 
Taking the chance, Dawnshadow bolted up towards Duskbringer and bit the vulnerable spot on her tail. Duskbringer hissed in surprise and clawed at Dawnshadow, leaving a scar on her snout. 
Dawnshadow growled, well, looks like I have to use the whipping method now. With that, she suddenly turned to the left, so abruptly that her tail left the floor and she felt something connect with her barb.
She heard a screech of surprise and immediately turned back again, and she saw that her barb had scratched Duskbringer’s neck, and her younger sister was holding the wound and grimacing. A flash of panic went through her, with a few wingbeats, Dawnshadow had reached the stone table.
She grabbed one fat chunk of brightsting cactus, which had its needles pulled out beforehand. She ripped the waxy skin open with one quick strike and scooped up a talonful of sticky goo. 
Dawnshadow rapidly applied the goo to Duskbringer’s neck, and in a few seconds, the black venom had faded out of sight and there was only a light scar. 
Her sister gave Dawnshadow a grim smile: “Thanks, sis. Although that didn’t really hurt much, because our venom isn’t as strong.” She rubbed the scar, “But thanks anyway. Though I just hate the fact that a sandwing tail barb will leave a scar. Scars make a dragon look like a villain!" 
Dawnshadow threw the grin right back: “I’m sure with a unique smile like yours, no one will think you’re the bad guy.” 
The two sisters laughed together, and Dawnshadow hoped that her sister and her will never be separated. The only two dragons Dawnshadow ever cared about were mother and Duskbringer, and Dawnshadow would happily kill for and die for both of them. 
What they didn’t see was the huge figure that was now at the edge of the cave, watching. What they didn’t hear was the soft crack of talon on stone.
Then quite suddenly, a blow stuck Dawnshadow to the ground, and it held it there. She yelped at the pain and heard Duskbringer scream, and Dawnshadow tried to get up, but the thing that held her had a strong grip, but she still had enough strength to turn her snout around and look at her opponent. 
The glare of the dragon could’ve killed a tiger, and his barbed tail glinted in the dim light of the cave. The wall torches cast an ominous light that shone on his pale-desert sand scales. 
“Father!” It was Duskbringer, who was struggling like a caged lion, “Wh……What are you……why……why are you……doing this to us?” 
Father gave her younger daughter a cold stare: “What are you doing? I said no cactus juice and leaf shreds on the dining table!” His tail swished from side to side, which often happened when father was angry. 
“And I also said no fighting in the main cave! There are some perfect dummies in the training cave and a huge wide space where you could fight!” 
The sandwing raised his tail menacingly and scowled: “If you’re so full of energy, why not practice ‘destroying the dummies’? There are now 15 new ones in there and you could each destroy fifteen before you have lunch.”
He lifted his front talons from both Dawnshadow and Duskbringer’s backs, and before both of them could attack, father pulled them up by their snouts and shoved them out of the main cave and into a side tunnel: “And I mean it!”
And he was gone down his own cave, muttering something.
Duskbringer turned to Dawnshadow with a sigh: “Well, father means it. I guess lunch might be cold when we return. The dummies are stuffed with straw but coated with a layer of a soft thing called rubber.” 
They began walking down the long hallway to get to the training room.
Suddenly, something else crashed into Dawnshadow, and a force hurled her, straight towards the stone wall.
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