Wings of Fire: Stars' Dawn - Prologue

Story Written by: DraconicXeno515

Based on the World and Characters from the series Wings of Fire, created by Tui T. Sutherland

 
Prologue:

There was an eerie silence to the warm evening atmosphere. It was as if the whole world had taken an anxious breath, and yet there was still nothing to fill the air but the whistle of a cool wind in the grass, and the symphony of crickets, grasshoppers and frogs. Nevertheless, Nightshade's ears twitched in the direction of every small disturbance, fidgeting like insect wings as her eyes darted towards every shadow as if to scour each dark corner for any sign of a danger she knew was not there.

"By the moons, this is a bad idea; I knew this was a bad idea! I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't have agreed!"  Doubts whirled like the winds of a hurricane in her mind, but with all of her will, she did her best to ignore them.

"Nightshade, are you alright?" a familiar voice asked and almost immediately the nervous nightwing found herself looking into the eyes of another dragon.

It was then that the whole world seemed to jump forward, realigning into focus. She was in a tent, sat on a mat, the small space illuminated by a warm fire. A squat wood frame supported its animal hide walls and a small hole directly above allowed smoke from a fire to escape into the clear night sky. Standing directly before her was another nightwing, his black scales shimmering with a faint crimson. He was also the dragon who had called her away from her fears. Duskbringer was the only other nightwing she knew after escaping the horrible kingdom the rest of their tribe called home.

Like her, he had left the island long ago and he was as used to life alone as she was. He meant more than that though; she loved him more than any other dragon she had ever met. Because of him, his sweet, gentle voice, his diligent mind and strong, star-speckled wings, she could survive all of the chaos that had consumed most of Pyrrhia. She could forget about the volcano and the stupid sandwing war and all she had suffered wandering the continent as one of the few remaining nightwings, a type of dragon most other dragons had never laid eyes on.

Right now she could stop being terrified of every little thing that hopped across her talons, because he was here with her, and nothing could hurt her while he was here. However, now she was not just afraid for herself, now there was something else. She took one look over her shoulder at the small wicker basket sat within the coil of her purple-tinged tail. Nightshade closed her eyes and swallowed, her tail tightening ever so slightly around the basket.

"Yes, Dusk, I–I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?" she stammered, but the look on his face told her he knew she was lying.

"Because I know you better than that," he said with a hint of laughter as he looked at her, "and I want you to know that nothing is ever going to hurt either of you while I'm around. So please try and relax for once," he peered over at to the basket she held behind her, and she noticed the caring look in his eyes.

It was at times like this, when Duskbringer seemed to read her like an open scroll that she wondered if he could read minds like nightwings were supposed to. Despite that, she smiled, exhaling and trying her best to let her dread escape within the tense breath. She could be strong for him like he was always was for her, all she had to do was get through this night and the two of them could be safe. They would both be under the protection of Duskbringer's companions, a group of dragons from the tribes gathering in opposition to the worsening conflict over the sandwing throne. She had forgotten what they were calling themselves.

"So much for respecting the dragons who are trying to help us," she thought. "Still, the war's been going for almost three years, is peace really an option anymore?" 

"I know, Dusk, and I trust you. I trust you with my life... It's just... Well... I'm still afraid," Nightshade began to stutter, but he silenced her with a touch of his talon to her muzzle.

"No, more being afraid remember?" he said, and despite all of the things in her mind warning her against believing that, she nodded.

Duskbringer mirrored the gesture; a very serious gleam flashed in his eyes as he turned away from her and looked to the only other dragon to occupy the tent. The large mudwing sat on another mat across from them, his ochre scales marred by scars, bruises, and burns. The sight of such a large dragon made her feel uneasy. It was not just the scars, his thick build or his grimacing face, no, she had a very personal reason for disliking mudwings. Right now, she was sure that if Duskbringer were not here then she would have flown as far as she could from this dragon or any other member of his tribe. She pushed her fear right to the back of her mind, tightening her quivering tail around the precious basket a little more. 

"So, where were we? Oh, yes about the inclusion of Nightshade into the talons?" Duskbringer asked, leaning forward and crossing his forelegs.

The mudwing sighed and shifted. Even that looked to be painful for him and Nightshade almost felt a spark of sympathy, almost.

"Look, Duskbringer, I'll be straight with you. You have been a massive help, by the moons, you're the only nightwing any of us have ever met and I'm sure two of you will be a very useful addition in the long run, but..." he trailed off, glancing at Nightshade for a second and causing her to recoil.

Duskbringer spread one of his wings, obscuring the pair's view of one another and drawing back the mudwing's attention.

"But?" the nightwing pressed, glancing back at Nightshade for just a second as she composed herself with a controlled series of deep breaths.

She could not help it if she was terrified, especially after what a dragon very similar to the one sitting before her had done. Something was about to happen, and she knew it, her terror knew that the world was too still too calm. Yet again, she wondered if she'd been born with ancient powers, specifically the power to see the future. Of course, she knew that wasn't true, no nightwing had been born with such a curse in a very long time, not that any of the other tribes knew that. She, however, was just a coward, but cowards did survive.

"But we really have no use for any dragons who cannot fight, you know that. We've been operating from random locations with hardly any dragons to lead us. We’re a force equal to traitors, deserters and even dragonets, we're already hated by almost every queen that believes we exist," the mudwing stated, shaking his head.    

"Gawial, come on," Duskbringer began to respond, putting a name to the mudwing. "You know how useful another nightwing's going to be in the long run. Plus, the little one will develop more powers, imagine how useful they would be!"

At those words, Nightshade tensed, and her tail coiling into a knot around the basket, squeezing so hard that she almost crushed it. Gawial, looked back, meanwhile, Duskbringer took some pride in his less than subtle charm. For a moment neither of them looked as if they were going to say anything, then Gawial finally grunted.    

"As advantageous as another dragon with the power to read minds or see the future would be, we simply do not have the resources," he stated and Duskbringer finally sighed.

"Then what is there to say, if you knew our tribe you'd know why we can't go back. So, you would leave them out here to die in this war, a war they have no part in! Not really the idea of peace I thought I was helping," he responded, his head sinking a little.

"Sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, Duskbringer. Almost three years of war have already claimed the lives of many dragons and I do not intend for my tribe or any other to be added to the slaughter," Gawial snapped, and Duskbringer spread his wings, backing off.

"I assure you, I mean no offense. I would not have joined your cause if I did not believe it was worth my time. All I ask now, in return for my services as the only nightwing to grace you with his presence is protection for my family," he stated, glancing back at Nightshade with a smile, ushering the dragons to smile back.

Gawial arched an eye crest at the pair, then looked at Nightshade, instantly chasing away her smile with his stare.      

"And you?" he asked.

She went as ridged as a statue, swearing if there was any spell that could turn a dragon to stone, that this is what it would feel like.

"She doesn't talk much, at least, not to other dragons. She's not been away from the night kingdom for as long as I have so she's never really interacted with other tribes yet," Duskbringer intervened, spreading his wings to shield her.

"I see, and what of the other... Can we see it?" Gawial went on, and Nightshades horrifying dread mutated into anger.

That question made her feel like she could rip this dragon apart if he dared try anything, regardless of how much bigger than her he was. Then Duskbringer was there in front of her again, his wings resting on each of her trembling shoulders like a star-studded shield.

"Dusk, you can't... I, I won't let anything..." she began to stutter, but he hugged her tight.

"He's a mudwing, they're not that big a deal where he's from, I won't  let anything to happen to it, I promise," Duskbringer assured her.

In the background, Gawial patiently watched the two of them. Then against every instinct, she slid her tail round to set the basket down in front of her. She was trembling more than ever, ready to leap into the air and fly into the hills, and to fight tooth and talon to protect the contents of the basket. She could feel the thickness of the atmosphere, the world was still holding its breath, and now it felt like the tension was so taut that her talons could cut it. Duskbringer moved to open the basket when her trembling paws failed to do so. Before his claws could reach the basket's handle, he paused, his head perked up sharply, ears twitching.              

"Do you hear that?" he asked, cocking his head to one side and looking to both Nightshade and Gawial.

The latter looked confused, even mildly annoyed that there was yet another delay.

Nightshade on the other talon felt a cold chill ripple down her spine and fan out along her wings like ice lighting as that tension in air finally snapped.  She could hear wing beats, many wing beats! Her blood ran colder than an Icewing's scales and immediately snatched the basket up in her talons. Gawial looked up in disgruntled surprise, seemingly oblivious to the disturbance that had provoked her swift action. The mudwing looked over to Duskbringer as he listened. For Nightshade there was no more need to listen, she had heard something coming and there was no need to decide between fight and flight, it was flight, she always chose flight.

"What is it?" Gawial asked, and Duskbringer cocked his head in the other direction before his attention snapped back.      

"Someone's coming, and they're defiantly not alone," his words, only served to heighten Nightshade’s dread.  

"Okay, what are we still doing here? Negotiations have failed, there is not going to be any protection, and we have to leave before it is too late!" She demanded, with no idea about who or what was coming, but if it was what she feared then every dragon had to leave right now.

However, this time Duskbringer was here with her and maybe he would see? He would see, and then he would know why she spent all of her life in fear and he would learn why it was more sensible to be terrified. Then again, maybe he could stop it. Maybe he and the rest of theses dragons could free her from the fear and she would never have to be scared again.

"Don't be ridiculous Duskbringer, no one knows we're all the way out here. There's no way any of the queens armies could have found us so..." Gawial began, only to be cut short by the appearance of a seawing’s head bursting into the flap at the tent's entrance.

"Wing leader, you must come quick, we have several dragons approaching from the north-east!" the watery blue coloured dragon exclaimed through a fit of exhausted gasps.

Gawial looked at Duskbringer before finally standing, revealing the true scale of his large body as he turned his attention to the seawing. "How many?" he demanded, and the messenger took another breath.

"I do not know, Buzzard spotted them about five minutes ago, she made out about three wings... But that's not all, she said there's a real mean looking one in the lead," he elaborated frantically, shivering more than ever. Nightshade moved very swiftly to tug Duskbringer's wing.

"Dusk, Dusk, I really think we should go, we should go right now," she almost begged, fighting the urge to simply leave him and get as far away as she could alone.

He looked back at her, opening his muzzle to speak, but before he could say a word, Gawial spoke again.

"Skywings? One of their patrols may have flown further from their place than usual," he questioned, but the seawing shook his head.

"No, they're not like any dragons I've ever seen. They're all black!" he responded, glancing at both Nightshade and Duskbringer, as did Gawial.

The latter of the pair stiffened, while the former just looked to Gawial for any kind of explanation.

"Stormsurge," Gawial stated, and the seawing stiffened.

"I want you to take these two out of the camp along the river, stay low and out of sight. I'll deal with whoever our new guests may be," and with that he took one last look at Duskbringer, an apologetic expression gracing his scarred, old face, as he moved by Stromsurge and out of the tent.

"Okay, now we all run, run, run as fast as we can!" Nightshade's thoughts filled her mind, not that she really wanted to listen to them

"Dusk, we need to leave now, we need to run!" she declared in as firm a tone as she could muster, clutching the basket tight to her chest with one of her foreclaws.     

"Come on, we can use the back entrance, the river bank is just past the trees outside," Stormsurge told them as he darted toward another small flap at the back of the tent.

Duskbringer looked between the seawing and the exit Gawial had just slipped through, then the sound of heavy wing beats thundered overhead and a draft blew through the tent as the dragon shadows began to circle.

"Dusk, now please!" Nightshade pressed, and finally, he looked towards Stromsurge.

"Lead the way, Stormsurge," he instructed and there was no hesitation from the seawing as he darted through the exit, disappearing with a flick of his tail.

With one motion from Duskbringer, Nightshade moved after Stormsurge and crept out into the evening. Without the light of the fire, the world was gloomy, shadows swarmed everywhere, pooling in the lowest points of the forest only to bubble up and consume everything as the last shreds of sunlight were dragged away below the distant mountaintops. Nightshade took in a breath of warm air, looking east to the white peaks of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains, the light of the sun causing the snow to glow like liquid gold. Then she looked to her left, down the small woody hill leading to the river.   

"Come on, river's just down this way!" Stromsurge called and Nightshade moved to follow; only to pause as she realised Duskbringer was not right behind her.

Once again, she felt her racing heart skip a beat, she looked back swiftly to see that Duskbringer had snuck his way around to a fallen log laying beside the tent.

"Dusk, what are you doing? We need to..." Nightshade began, but Duskbringer raised a wing to salience her then wordlessly motioned to the sight before them.

Ducking behind the cover of the log, she peered over its mossy surface to see the centre of the camp. In addition to the large tent they had been sitting in, three others and a series of lookout structures surrounded a mound of boulders, all illuminated by a central fire. Beyond the light of the flames, barely illuminated by the glow of the setting sun was the dark, grassy sea of the plains the camp sat on the very edge of.

From her concealed vantage point, she could only see Duskbringer crouching beside her. Although she could make out a few skywing’s, seawing’s, at least one sandwing and Gawial standing by the fire, none of those dragons was the reason this was a good time to leave. Surrounding them, like a flock of hungry crows ready for a meal, were other dragons. These dragons were as dark as night, even darker than most nightwing’s. Their wings were like ebony silk but lacked the star patterns of nightshade's own tribe. Their sharp scales gleamed like treasure in the light of the fire or at least what could be seen of their scales.

Each of the dragons wore a set of equally dark armour, distinguishable from its wearer only by the hideous blades and spikes that grew from their spines, talons, horns and tails. The incredibly sharp, sleek blades glimmered in the glow, yet even that wasn’t the most unsettling of all the dragon features. Armour wrapped up the wearers neck like a snake before encasing their head in a mask, exposing only a set of glowing, purple eyes, leaving all other features to the terrified fantasies of Nightshade's imagination.

Clearly, their look unsettled most dragons as she watched every dragon that was not one of them look warily at the newcomers, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Even Duskbringer looked at each one with a wary glare, a glare Nightshade seldom saw from her confident lover. In fact, the only dragon who wasn’t put off was Gawial, he looked up into the night towards another set of heavy wings beating the air. A larger, black dragon landed before him with the heavy clatter of armoured talons. The new comer's enormous black wings looked like those of a skywing, yet folded like an extension of living shadow. As he rose up, his long neck made sure that his wickedly horned head and mask sat high above Gawial.

"Who among you do you name as leader?" the dragon asked in gravelled voice riddled with a ghostly reverberation that rang painfully in the ears of all who heard it.

Every dragon winced, even Duskbringer faltered. Gawial on the other talon stood firm and looked up into the dragon's glowing purple eyes.

"That would be me, and do forgive my ignorance, may I ask who you are. You do not appear to be of any tribe I know," he responded. The monstrous dragon waited a moment before he laughed, a wicked, reverberating cackle that chilled Nightshade to the bone.

"Tribe, Tribe! We left the idea of tribes behind long ago," he stated as his laughter softened, craning his neck to look Gawial in the eyes.

"But I digress, we are here for a reason, if you comply with what we ask of you and we will leave you and your paltry little band of peacekeepers be," he added sourly, flicking a claw dismissively.

"Oh, and what would a group of dragons I've never seen or heard of before ask of such a pathetic group?" Gawial asked, his words reinforced by a hard glare.

The larger dragon let out a loud snort, purple embers spitting from his flared nostrils as his glowing eyes narrowed.      

"Watch your tongue, mudwing! Lest you find yourself without it," he spat, lifting an armoured talon, the metal extensions of his own claws glinting as they scraped against each other.

"Two nightwings passed through her not long ago, a male and female. Do not bother denying it; they are not hard to miss. All I ask of you is that you tell me where they went and we will leave." He stated the latter part slowly, as if to a dragonet, placing his claw down in the dirt. Gawial shifted on the spot, large talons digging into the dirt as his tail shifted. Duskbringer fidgeted beside Nightshade slipping back from the log ever so slightly.

"Gawial. He would not tell, would he? Duskbringer trusted him!" but Nightshade didn’t, no matter how good a dragon Duskbringer thought he was, she would never trust a mudwing again.

"South-east, I sent them across the mountains, we have a strong point hidden there in the south of the Sky Kingdom, you'll find them there," Gawial lied, his head drooping as if to feign betrayal.

Nightshade paused, Duskbringer smiled a little as he slipped back towards the shadows amidst the trees.

"Now we go, now we know they won't follow," he told her in a whisper, but she just spent those few moments looking out at the mudwing.

"Maybe not all dragons are bad, maybe there is still faint glimmer of hope that not everything is that bad?" Moments later her hopeful thoughts were swiftly silenced.

"You're lying," the large, black dragon announced in a low, almost disinterested tone and with one lightning fast reaction, his metal clad talons shot up in a spray of dirt and with a flash of purple flames, slicing Gawial's head clean from his shoulders.

The other dragons gasped in shock before turning to fight, only to be sliced down just as quickly. With blood dripping from his metallic claws, the largest of the pack rose up again.

"Find them, I command you to rip this place apart until you find the mistress's prize!" he bellowed, all the while Nightshade was frozen to the spot.

She looked at Gawial’s bloody body as it slumped to the dirt, his severed head bouncing around before settling at the black dragon's talons. "They should have listened to my warning, they all should have run and now it was too late!"

It was not until she felt Duskbringer's wings and claws shaking against her sides that she finally looked to him. Shock filled his eyes, but she surmised seeing one of his friends decapitated right in front of him would do that.

"Nightshade we need to go now, you were right, I'm sorry," he stated, motioning to the woodland path down the hill. "You go, I'll be right behind you," he added.

Nightshade clutched her basket tight to her chest with one talon. "You promise?" she asked, fearing he may sneak away to try and be some kind of hero again. He nodded.

"Nothing is going to happen to you while I'm here," he declared valiantly.

As the pair of them fled towards the river, she was reminded why she had fallen in love with him. "Nothing can harm us while he’s here!" She repeated in her head as she ran.

"By the moons there you are! I thought you two were right behind me... You were right behind me?" Stormsurge began to ramble as the pair caught up with him, the light of growing flames breaking through the trees causing the seawing to panic. Duskbringer took one look back at the inferno the camp had become, seizing the blue dragon's shoulders tightly, shaking him back into focus.      

"The river, where is it?" he demanded, instantly stopping Stromsurge's blabbering.

"Through the trees, just down the hill," he muttered pointing a claw in the general direction before slipping away from Duskbringer. "Follow me!"

Nightshade followed the pair as her heart raced. She really wanted to fly away more than ever, as far away from this place as she could. She would rather be anywhere than here right now, still, she followed the two dragons leading her to the river. A moment later, she could hear the distinct sound of gushing water and sure enough, the sight of reeds lining the riverbank came into view through the trees, she clutched the basket closer to her chest, they were almost there. Then a heavy gust of wind blew down into the trees, a monstrous shadow passed overhead as the brittle twigs and branches snapped.

She immediately stiffened, folding her wings around herself and coiling her tail over her claws. Her bones felt as if they were as hard as stone and the only sound to thrum in her ears was that of her thundering heartbeat. She looked at Duskbringer as both he and Stromsurge glanced back. The seawing was just about to jump into the river, yet Duskbringer turned and started towards her. The moment she saw him her terror filled mind exploded and she contorted in pain. Duskbringer's pace quickened as she collapsed to the ground on top of the basket, gasping for breath.

"Nightshade? Nightshade!" he called, crouching down beside her. "What is it?" he asked frantically as he tried to get her up, but all she could do was look up at him as tears of agony streamed from her eyes.     

"It's... It's her, she's..." Before she could spit out the last of her muffled words there was a loud metallic thud. A large dragon landed between the two nightwings and the river.

Charcoal coloured scales glinted with hints of blood red and browns. Her limbs, while elegant looked slender but firmly built, as did her thick tail and broad muzzle. Dark, metal armour, serrated plates and hooked claws concealed most of her features. A row of razor sharp spikes stretched down her spine, while blades extend from her clawed gauntlets like gleaming knives.

Her armour differed from that of the masked dragons at the camp, studded with glowing purple gems and runes that pulsed and radiated like the luminescent scales of a seawing. The light centred on one specifically large gemstone in the breastplate, surrounded by an area of orbital flickering patterns. What distinguished this dragon from those attacking the camp the most was her head as it rose on top of her long, metal clad neck.

A sleek helmet of ebon metal formed a long blade down the length of her muzzle and up over her face towards her horns. At the top and down the back of her neck was a barbed thicket of metal thorns, similar to the icicle-like protrusions of an Icewing. The metal shifted and rattled as the dragon moved, pressing flat against her head as she looked down at the two meagre nightwings before her.    

"Well, isn't this a surprise. I thought I would come here to find just one of you and here I find myself with two. You really have been busy, I never thought anyone would care about you ever again," she hissed, in a voice that was almost as terrifying as her blood red eyes..

The Nightwing dared not say anything all she could do was whimper as the look in those eyes forced the pain in her head to amplify. She felt like her brains were about to boil out of her skull, resorting to hiding her head under her wings, curling up around the precious basket as tightly as she could.

She barely caught a glimpse of Duskbringer as he looked up at the larger dragon, doing his best to resist the strain the look of her eyes put on his mind. Meanwhile, Stormsurge crept a little closer towards the water and jumped into the river, leaving the two of them.  The large, black dragon glanced back over her shoulder, flashing her sharp white teeth as she grinned.

"Going somewhere?" she asked, giving a slight flick of her tail. The water bubbled, then thrashed as Stormsurge was ripped from the river and up into the air by an invisible crushing force.  

Shifting her attention, the dark dragon held him in the air with a glare that could shatter steel as he flailed like a fish out of the water. Her gaze narrowed and blood began to weep from his eyes, nostrils, mouth and gills as his luminescent scales flickered frantically. When her grin vanished Stormsurge let out a gargled scream before he was silenced with a bone-crunching crack. He slumped, suspended like a bloody rag and with no more than a swift flick of her tail; she threw him into a nearby tree. His body struck the bark with a bloody splat, before sliding down into the bushes below. The murderess gave a snort of satisfaction then looked back down at the two remaining dragons.

"Now, where?" Her words were cut off as Duskbringer threw himself on top of her, claws scratching at any gap they could find in her armour.

When that failed, he wrapped his talons around one of the blades on her spine, and ignoring the sharp edge as it cut into his scales, he ripped the spine free.

"Nightshade, go... Get out of here now!" he shouted as she larger dragon reared back and spread her shadowy wings in an effort to throw him off.

With her eyes focused elsewhere, Nightshade felt the pressure in her head fade and she staggered forward. She looked between Duskbringer and the river as her beloved was thrown from the dragon's back along with the dislodged blade.

"Impudent fool, you know not who you so carelessly assault," she growled, in a low, frustrated tone, pinning Duskbringer down under one of her talons, slowly pressing her sharp claws into his scales.

The Nightwing grit his teeth against the pain, and Nightshade felt herself torn between to ultimatums. She looked down at the basket in her talons, at the river and, then at the dragon she loved as he fought to break free. Duskbringer stopped struggling and looked up at his monstrous attacker.

"No, but I know that whoever you are this is going to really hurt!" he spat as he seized the blade in one of his claws ramming it up into the dragon's shoulder.

She screamed as he wrenched it back and forth until her limbs were doused in dark crimson leaving it barely attached her body. She staggered back off him with the blade still embedded in what was left of her maimed shoulder. That was when her sinister eyes flashed and Duskbringer was forced down into the dirt, writhing in pain.

"Enough of this, I will take what I came for!" she declared, focused all of her attention on Duskbringer as the blood around her severed limb began to bubble and morph unnaturally.

Nightshade took one look at the two of them fighting, one look at the basket. "Fight or flight, there's no question Nightshade, it's always..."

Her brow furrowed and she slipped the basket from her talons to the coil of her tail before setting it down gently in the rivers flowing water. She took a moment to watch it drift away into the darkness before charging with all of the strength she had left into the dragon's wounded side.

All she received for her heroism was a heavy smack to the side of the head from the dragon's tail. The force of muscle and metal made her head spin and ears ring as her attacker ripped the blade from her shoulder, suspending it in the air before her. The only thing Nightshade could make out amidst the swimming sensation in her head was her attackers blood red eyes and the levitating blade. She shifted her head to see Duskbringer pinned to the floor, blood covering his face as it had done Stromsurge's. She could see his eyes staring into hers, and she realised knew why she loved him.

"I will take what I came for... Take what I came for," The dark dragon muttered to herself, then narrowed her eyes at Nightshade again.

"Isn't that right, mother!" she spat, and with a flick of her eyes she sent the blade into Duskbringer's heart.