Wings of Honor: Saving Grace

Chapter 11: Scouting The Kingdom Of Sky

It felt like lightning struck my veins. The paralyzing burn. This portal was not a normal one, if there ever was such a thing.
When my eyes finally adjusted from being dazzled, a huge tower rose to meet me. I banked hard to avoid it, banking again to doge dragons and buildings. I angled up, trying to climb, and restoring my camouflage. A couple minds were startled and confused, thinking they saw something, or just going crazy. I breathed a sigh of relief that I didn't raise an alarm.
Now that I was up higher, I could actually see what the hell was going on. Those dragons... they were SkyWings! That tower? It was the flight training tower. This was a Kingdom. I was in the Kingdom of Sky; more specifically, former Queen Scarlet's Palace.
I banked around one more time to see if I could see anything. The arena, the same one where the Dragonets of Destiny were held, was covered with dragons on stretchers, injured in various ways. It was turned into a hospital. There were a couple patrols that I had to weave through, but not as much as one would expect for a home guard. Still, it was enough for me to opt to glide instead of powered flight to minimize my sound.
It almost looked like things were at ease now. Sure, I spotted a few unmistakable signs of a struggle and violence, but they all looked old. Claw marks, already beginning to be worn through. Blood stains, bleached and washed brown, barely noticeable. And dragons, who just walked around, looking up to a blue sky with their eyes closed, just seeming relieved. Battle worn, scarred, weary SkyWings.
But once my recon was done, and I assured myself where I was and the situation was safe-ish, the vision came.

Peril. Unmistakably Peril. A copper dragon, flying alongside a bedazzled orange-gold SkyWing (looking almost like he was wearing the Daylight livery), with another SkyWing who just the sight of her made my blood boil over. The dark orange SkyWing, who when she turned back to see her followers, revealed a misshapen face, from her infamous encounter with Glory.

When I came to, I realized I was plummeting! I flared my wings, banking hard. I nearly blasted another SkyWing out of the sky from my maneuver. He managed to recover, but was thoroughly confused.
Alright, that's it. I need to find a spot to land, to make camp. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I need to think.
I flew higher, high enough for the air to become noticeably thinner, but I was just under the clouds. I scanned around, looking for a place where I could shelter for the time being. I migrated towards the mountains, flying along the jagged cliffs. I managed to find a cave just large enough for me to fit in.
Landing on the small overhang, I peered inside to the mouth of the cave system.
"Hello? Anybody in there!" I called, for good measure.
What?
Who's there?
Two minds responded.
Uh oh. I steeled myself. If I just revealed myself, I might need to fight them off.
I readied my breath weapons. Carefully making my way forward.
"Hello?" I said cautiously, as I pushed on. But the minds responding didn't seem like they belonged to dragons. They felt... small, and scared. Listening, I heard the unmistakable crackle of a wood fire, shaky breathing.
I said in a lot soother voice, "I'm a friend. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
And then I rounded the corner, camouflaged. I stared down a kid, holding a club, his sister cowering behind him.
Is that a dragon? The kid exclaimed with wide eyes, gripping his club tighter.
"Hen-ry?" The little girl squeeked.
"It's alright." The boy tried to sooth her, as he backed them up into their little cubby, up against the wall. Putting the fire between us.
There kids were scared out of their minds, and if I did something rash, they'd hurt themselves more than they'd hurt me.
"It's okay. I'm a friend." I said again, carefully peering around the corner.
"Go away." The boy called out.
I looked and noticed the single bird cooking near the fire. He must've only caught it earlier. Now that I noticed, hunger gnawed at the two. The bird wouldn't even be enough to satisfy one of them.
"Are... are you hungry?"
The two of them went frozen. I could see the boy wanting to reject the possible threat, but he also carried the responsibility of his sister. I grabbed my K ration boxes from my pouches.
"Here."
I slid a couple boxes around the corner towards them, just in front of the fire. After a few moments, the boy inched forward, club in hand, retrieved the rations, and retreated. The sister began to open the first box.
"There's food enough for the both of you. I can see you're really hungry."
The boy, now realized I wasn't as much of a threat, took the moment to realize the pain in his stomach. His mind was clouded over, he was hangry. His sister passed him a few of the biscuits from his own box, humming twice in approval and urgency. But he still looked up, on guard.
"Who are you? Why can't we see you."
"Because-" I caught my tounge.
"Because what?"
"Because..." I couldn't just show him. He's scared enough already? How could I do this? How would Marvin do this?
He would just round the corner and tell them point blank. So that's what I did.
To them, a ginormous shadow, scales illuminated by the flicker of a dying fire. An ever-growing shape, engulfing their already ginormous cave. Talons, teeth, a huge monster with wings. I rounded the corner, standing before them. "Because I'm a dragon." I said.
The sister cowered behind her brother. "Hen-ry! Dra-gon!" She squealed.
Her brother was at a loss for words, even his grip on the club loosened. He was terrified.
I crouched down, laying down before them.
"I'm not going to hurt you." I said, looking into their glossy eyes. "So please don't hurt me?" I pleaded.
They stayed there, taking shaky, terrified breaths. They stood, cornered for a long while.
I trusted them with closing my eyes, letting out a deep sigh. What I didn't realize, was that it accidentally put out their fire. A child's scream echoed through the mountain.
"It's okay! It's okay!" I promptly moved up to relight the fire. I could still see somewhat, breathing a blue plume, letting the amber tongues flicker back to life.
The two scared kids, looked up at me with wide eyes, unsure what to think.
"Wha... what do you want dragon?" The brother said, nigh out of breath.
"My name's Gracebringer. You can call me Grace."
"Gra-ace." The girl said.
"Yeah," I chuckled, "that's right. Grace."
She giggled, starting to walk forward towards me and the fire, only to be held back by her brother's arm. He brandished his club towards me.
"What do you want, dragon." He said, with a more threatening tone behind him.
"I just want a place to sleep." I looked up towards him with pleading eyes. "I won't hurt you. I promise."
He looked down at the K rations her sister had. "How did you get these?"
"A friend gave them to be." I said. "A soldier. A person, like you."
He eyed them with concern.
"It's food, it's alright. I got different types if you want."
He didn't put down his club per-say, but he did lean it against himself to open the box. He poured out the packaged biscuits, fruit bar, energy cubes, packets, and the meal tin, which clattered to the floor and rolled around near the fire. The sister was already enjoying the biscuits, offering another one to Henry.
"I think it's a nice dragon." She said. I smiled.
"I don't know," he said through his teeth. "What about the others? Are there other dragons with you?"
"No!" I said. "I came alone. And those other dragons, the Skywings, big red and orange ones with big wings, they're kind of looking for me too."
"So you're a bad guy?" The sister made out.
"No!" I recoiled a little. "I'm one of the good guys. They just don't like me."
"Is that why you're black?" She questioned. "Because that's what the bad guys wear."
"Emma, hush."
"I-" I started. "I'm black because I'm a NightWing. That's a type of dragon. But I can also do this."
I shifted my colors, reflecting bright reds, blues, greens, pinks, and purples in the flickering firelight.
"Woah!" Emma exclaimed. She broke free of her brother's hold, running up to me. She stared in awe at my shushing scales. But the brother still stood weary of me. I just looked at him and smiled.
"Can I just stay the night? It's dangerous to be out in the open." I half pleaded to him.
"Oh can she Hen-ry! She's beautiful!" Emma ran her hands along my scales, kind of tickling me.
"But..." Hentry started.
"I promise, I'll help and protect you guys." I looked over at Emma. She couldn't be no more than ten years old. Henry, fifteen.
"Oh alright." He relented, but not before brandishing his club at me once more. "But don't do anything to hurt us."
"I won't." I sighed. Watching Emma try and catch the colors.