Dragons Rising: My Mistake Changed My Kingdom {Book One}

Chapter Twelve: The Talons of Power

    As it turned out, Vulture had an entire base full of SandWings who weren't loyal to anyone but him. I swear they're brainwashed, I thought with a wary look at Vulture. The Talons of Power, as they called themselves, were waiting for Vulture when he got back.
    "Friends!" He bellowed. The Talons of Power bowed to him. Vulture smiled. "Friends, she's finally here. The newest SeaWing heir!"
    The Talons' roar of triumph almost made me deaf. I had to cover my ears by curling into a tight ball.
    "And she's not only a SeaWing heir," Brunette started forward. Vulture looked at her with a calm but slightly confused at the same time.
    "She's also . . . ?" He asked.
    "She's also an animus."
    This time the dragons roared so loud, not even curling into a ball would help. Vulture smiled at Brunette and turned to his guards.
    "You two. Grit, Tombolo. Take this dragonet into our . . . guest room." He smiled at the two SandWings, who bowed low and grabbed me. As they started to drag me toward what was presumably the dungeons, I heard what was happening back at the main area.
    "Now, we can't exactly trust you all," Vulture said to the MudWings. "We don't know that you're going to free the dragonet or take her for your own. Loam, Shoal, you take this MudWing." He gestured to Brunette.
    "Camel, Sandstorm, you take Slake. Torrid, Sultry. You take Auburn. Roadrunner, you take Pewter. Mirage, you can take Fender. Serir, you can take Squelch, and - " Vulture stopped, confused. "Weren't there more of you?"
    That's all I heard before I was dragged out of earshot.
    But out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw Sienna flap her wings and fly away.

    "Here." One of the guards - Playa - said. She threw some sort of desert rat at my feet and walked away through the dark hallways of the dungeon.
    "This is great," I mumbled.
    "Shut up, SeaWing." Brunette hissed from the cell beside me. I rolled my eyes. "Hey, if you really do get out of here, though, why don't you free me as well?"
    "So you can capture me?" I snorted. "No way, MudWing. If I'd be getting anyone out, it'd be getting out no one. Unless, of course, I got out all of you, and . . . ah, yes. That would be great."
    "Stop saying your plans out loud," Pewter complained.
    "Yeah, it's annoying!" Fender said. Squelch moved around his side of the cell behind me.
    "Well technically I wasn't saying it out loud, so there." I said, sticking my tongue out into the darkness. The darkness rolled its eyes at me.
    Wait, how was that possible again?
    "Sienna?" I whispered. The MudWing nodded excitedly.
    "Sienna?!" Auburn said. "Where were you?! Why are you here now?! Are you getting us out?!"
    "I'm sorry, sister." Sienna said to her coldly. "But I'm here for one dragon and one dragon only, and that dragon isn't a dragon. She's a dragonet."
    "YOU'RE HERE FOR THE SEAWING HEIR? YOU'VE BEEN A TRAITOR THIS WHOLE TIME?!" Brunette snarled.
    Sienna smirked. "You see, it's quite easy to claim you're Auburn's twin when you look just like her. It's easy to claim that you were born far away and you only just found out. You have to test your dragons better, Brunette. And you," She turned to Auburn. "You were never my sister. Because guess what? This. Is. Mud."
    Using her front talon, Sienna scraped off the mud that she had plastered on herself.
    "YOU'RE EVEN LESS A SISTER TO ME THAN YOU EVER WERE!" Shrieked Auburn. "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO LEAVE ALIVE!"
    "I'm guessing it's pretty cold in those cells, otherwise you'd be burning me with fire, wouldn't you? Well guess what? That wouldn't bother me either."
    "Born from a blood-red egg?" Squelch asked. Sienna nodded and stuck her claw into the key-hole.
    "There's no way to pick it . . . " She mumbled so that only I could hear. Just then, I heard shouting. It was Playa and Camel, spotting Sienna.
    "Well that's great," She muttered. As the two reached toward her, she went full out battle mode. Using her tail, claws, teeth, and fire as a weapon, she defeated the two SandWing guards easily.
    "Here," She said, tossing a pair of keys at me. "Use those while I take care of any other guards."
    I nodded obediently, and, unlocking the cell door with the key, I stepped out, quickly closing it behind me so that Squelch couldn't escape. I didn't think he wanted to escape, actually, after he saw what Sienna could do.
    "There!" Someone shouted. "The SeaWing heir and a MudWing!"
    "And two dead soldiers!" Called someone else called.
    As the dragons came out, Sienna roared and lunged at the two of them; Serir and Torrid. Soon they were also dead.
    And then Brunette roared out of triumph. She's broken out again, I thought. The MudWing advanced toward her not-sibling. "You," She started. "YOU - "
    Brunette never got to finish her sentence when I ran toward her at lightning speed and pinned her to the ground. Brunette struggled, but couldn't get up. I still had the topaz in a pouch that gave me full-grown dragon strength.
    Brunette's eyes widened in fear as I held up my talon.
    "Sorry," I said without meaning it. "But when you try to kill Sienna, you kill yourself."
    I slit her throat as she roared in pain and fury.
    That was the first dragon I killed.