Sahara stared at the SkyWings in armor and then at Sunbeam. The SkyWing was wearing body armor from her neck to her tail. Her necklace dangled and would periodically click the armor when she walked. On her chest was a symbol of a fiery dragon and strapped to her side was a long spear. Suddenly, from behind the line of SkyWings, came Salamander and Owl with their groups of armored MudWings and IceWings. Instead of a fiery dragon, Salamander had a symbol of a newt while Owl had a snowflake.
"Salamander, I wasn't expecting-" Sahara exclaimed.
"To see me looking like this?" the MudWing finished. "Yeah, well, if someone is threatening my home, I won't stand for it. Also, seeing Polar die in front of my own eyes was just too much for me to handle. As much as I believed Pearl still had some good left in her, I cannot stay by and ignore what she did."
Fennec exchanged glances with Sahara and blinked. "What," Fennec said with concern. "Polar is dead? But how?"
Salamander lowered his head. "It was Pearl. She found out something terrible. I'd rather not talk about it right now."
Sunbeam rubbed the MudWing's back to try and comfort him. "It's okay, Salamander. We'll avenge Polar. Pearl will finally realize her mistakes. Don't you worry."
Salamander lifted his head. "No, that's not it." he said. "It's-" He stopped himself from continuing and cleared his throat while turning to Sahara and Fennec. "I mean. . . anyway, we need to get you two prepared for the oncoming fight. Without the correct knowledge and armor, you stand no chance against whatever Pearl throw at us."
"While you two are off, I'll take the guards out on patrol to all the tunnels." Owl told them. The IceWing started giving signals and gestures to the groups of SkyWings, MudWings, and IceWings and soon, they split up. Sunbeam and Salamander took Sahara and Fennec towards the city, but they turned off into a patch of trees that soon opened up to a large clearing. There were SkyWings, MudWings, IceWings, and a few NightWings and SandWings, all practicing their fighting skills. There were weapons lying around the area and large moss piles used for wrestling. Plus, there were replicas of smoke dragons that they could fight.
"After Pearl decided to attack us the first time, Heatwave created this training area so that way we'd be prepared in case of another assault." Sunbeam explained.
Looking around, Sahara noticed three dragons tied in ropes sitting towards the trees. Surprisingly, Sahara recognized them. It was Whale, Bear, and Toad. What are they doing here?
"Aren't those. . .?" Fennec pointed in their direction.
"Yeah, that's them." Sahara nodded.
Sunbeam looked towards the three dragons and smiled. "Ah, yes. A SandWing patrol had found those three in the Kingdom of Sand. They brought them here for questioning, but they wouldn't cooperate with us. I didn't know what to do with them, so I kept them here."
"You know them?" Salamander perplexed.
"Somewhat." Sahara said. "You'll have to talk to Falcon about it."
Salamander and Sunbeam exchanged glances and watched as Sahara and Fennec approached the trio. The first one to notice them was Whale and when she did, she nudged the other two with her tail. Bear and Toad looked up at them and growled. "Look who it is." Whale snarled. "Those two stupid SandWings."
Fennec arched her neck back and raised her venomous tail. "Who are you calling stupid? Why you-!"
Sahara smacked Fennec in her side and shook her head. Getting angry over these guys wasn't worth it. Whale rolled her eyes and snorted, clearly unaffected by Fennec's sudden outburst.
"Well, you're all in for quite a surprise." Bear acknowledged.
"What do you mean?" Fennec dropped her tail and relaxed.
The IceWing arched her brows and smirked. "You know exactly what I mean. Pearl's going to be much smarter about how she attacks. You won't even see it coming. When all is said and done, everyone will be dead."
Fennec looked at Sahara with a worried expression, but Sahara only rolled her eyes. "Don't believe anything they tell you. They're just trying to get under your scales."
Fennec smiled and glared at Bear. "Says the dragon that's tied up!"
Bear frowned at Fennec and lashed her tail, accidentally hitting Toad. "Ow!" he yowled. "Hey, watch it!"
"Sorry." Bear muttered.
"Oh, no, we're serious. We know Pearl well enough to know what she's capable of. " Whale sneered.
Sahara glared at the SeaWing, but she knew she was right. After what happened, Pearl would make sure all of them died. She wouldn't take it easy on them, either.
"One more thing for you losers," Toad added. "The only way you can successfully stop Pearl is by breaking her staff. She's so connected to it, that if it broke, all her powers disappear. So, use this knowledge to your advantage. I hope you don't let it go to waste."
Sahara and Fennec left the three and returned to Salamander and Sunbeam.
"Did you learn anything useful?" Sunbeam asked.
"They said that if we destroy Pearl's staff, she'll lose her magic. Once she does, she'll be vulnerable to almost anything." Sahara informed them.
"Oh, well we better find a way to destroy it." Salamander said. "'Cause there's no telling when she'll get here."
YOU ARE READING
Wings of Fire #1: Sahara's Destiny
Fanfic"Sahara, my dear. This is your fate, destiny even. You were given animus powers for a reason. . . You are one of my chosen." Sahara was a normal SandWing. Living in the Kingdom of Sand, her life was peaceful. She always had her best friend, Fennec...
