Wings of fire: Smoking land (fan fiction) book 1

Chapter 4

The forest was a beautiful tint of orange as the sun rose in the early morning. Velvet stepped out of her hut, the animal skin bag hanging from her shoulder. She took a deep breath, smelling mangoes and breakfast meat.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of orange, and Velvet looked down and saw Firefly, slinking through the trees like a panther. Where is she going? She wondered. And just like wanting to find her mother, the curious side of her got the better. She stealthily flew down from the hut, trying very hard not to step on a twig as she landed.
The jungle was already bustling with dragons, Velvet was narrowly avoiding colliding with a couple of wrestling rainwing dragonets. She followed Firefly all the way to a large open space with a HUGE tree with a hole in the middle about the size of a hut. The tree looked to be hundreds of years old, with bark peeling off and millions of bugs crawling in the rotting wood.
Firefly lifted into the air and zipped into the hole of the tree, so velvet did the same. As soon as she drifted through the hole, the smell of smoke hit her in the face like fire. There was also the lingering smell of animal flesh. It looked and felt quite the opposite of the rainforest; black and dead with not even a hint of color to the place, as if all life had been sucked out. (Which was probably true). After twenty years, the island wasn't as terrible as she had originally been told, but nevertheless, she still wouldn't live here even if her life depended on it.
The two dragonets soared over the ash terrain for several minutes, Velvet once again, struggling to keep up with Firefly's confident wing beats. They flew into a narrow tunnel on the side of a rocky "mountain", until it opened up into a space that could probably fit at least ten dragons. There was a glint of something deep red that moved in the corner of the space. The light was very dim, so Velvet couldn't see what or... Who it was at first. The figure stepped into the light of one of the torches; they were a bulky Skywing with tiny bits of gold embedded along their wings, and an over confident grin on their face, Velvet didn't like them already.
"You came back... I knew you liked me, just admit it." The arrogant dragon said slyly. "Then again maybe―maybe I shouldn't have casualties with a Rainwing." they chuckled. Firefly lashed her tail at the bars enclosed around the Skywing. "Oh shush, Crimson," she snapped. Maybe it was Velvet's imaginasion, but she thought she heard a hint of joy in Firefly's voice. "You know, if you want me to keep bringing you your dinner instead of one of the boring guards, you best not annoy me." she said hotly. Crimson held up their talons dramatically, their canary yellow eyes glowing in the torch light. "Oh no! Anything but the boring guard!" they joked. "I shouldn't even be in this cellar," Crimson started. "I'm an assassin, murdering dragons is what I do. I don't care who it is, as long as I get my payment." They held one wing to show off the gold embedded in their scales. Firefly inched closer to Crimson, and whispered under her breath, "well then, who sent you to kill my mother?"
Crimson suddenly became very serious, "can I trust you?" they asked in a low voice. "you tell me."  Firefly replied.
Crimson barked a laugh, "ha! Well if I can't, I'm about to make the biggest mistake of my life." Velvet shuffled closer to Firefly and Crimson, but then, she heard a sound from beneath her talons. Firefly whirled around immediately, in a battle stance. The orange dragon stood normally once she saw it was Velvet, but still had a look of pure rage on her face. Velvet winced, then looked down at what had made the noise, it was a sapphire about the size of a dragon's talon, and it was shaped like a star. She quickly hid it before Firefly could see it.
"Mudwing," she growled, "what are you doing here?" Velvet opened her mouth to reply but then she heard Crimson shout, "how could you?!" they had a look of betrayal on their face. "I was about to tell you something important, I―I trusted you!" Firefly whirled back around to look at the Skywing. Now, the Rainwing-Nightwing looked pained, she took a step towards Crimson. "But I... But I..." she started to protest. Crimson flared their wings out and their eyes turned to slits. "You were just using me the whole time, coming back to build my trust, I can't believe I fell for it." they pressed one talon to their forehead. "You had someone spy on me!" they yield, shooting Velvet an angry glare. "I had no idea she was here!" Firefly protested. "Likely story," they growled, "you made me vulnerable and weak!" they hissed. Suddenly, Velvet no longer saw the skywing that was cracking jokes, and grinning just a minute ago. "Get out of here." Crimson demanded. "Crimson..." Firefly started. "OUT!!!" they yield, smoke rising from their nostrils.
"Fine," Firefly started towards the tunnel, "I'll go, and I won't be coming back." she snarled. She stormed out of the room with Velvet right behind her, though something told Velvet that she wasn't in a great mood. Once the two dragons were out of earshot, gliding towards the rainforest, Firefly turned to Velvet. "You," she whispered. Velvet winced, Firefly's voice was as sharp and dangerous as a dagger.
Firefly's scales turned bright red with flashes of mango orange. "You ruined everything!" she cried. Velvet shifted in the air, "I'm... I'm... I'm sorry" she stammered. "Well why don't you just mind your own business." the princess snapped. Firefly steared down her snout at Velvet, with a disapproving look.

***

Velvet, Firefly, and Stargazer were standing outside of Queen Glory's hut, it was almost noon, and the dragonets had been summoned here.
"You may come in," said Glory. The Queen was sitting on a green hammock decorated with hibiscus flowers, and purple Orchids. "Now, I know you're all ancy to leave, but I'm afraid I've discovered some loose ends in your plan..." The Rainwing glanced at Velvet. A sloth crawled around one of Glory's arms. "It seems that I have not been informed of where you plan to go first." she continued. Velvet stared guiltily at the floor, she hadn't thought of that.
Luckily, before the dragonets could admit to their mistake, Stargazer stepped in. "I had a vision," he declared. "We're supposed to go to the Seawing kingdom, I see fire there." he said, a little more casually than Velvet would have liked. Like, HELLO, how can you not be worried about a kingdom that is about to go down in flames!
Suddenly, someone bursts through the door. "Glory, your skywing prisoner is attacking, trees are on fire!" the Nightwing exclaimed. The queen turned red with flecks of lime green, "Crimson," she growled. "Any deaths so far?" she asked, trying to hide her fear. "Two Rainwi―" the black dragon stopped abruptly, when he saw Velvet. "Intruder!" he yielded, throwing himself on top of Velvet and pinning her to the ground. Firefly and Stargazer jumped back in surprise.
"DEATHBRINGER!" Glory shouted. "She's our guest" she said through gritted teeth, peeling the dragon, Deathbringer, off of the dragonet. When he letgo, Glory righted herself. "I apologize for my husband's behavior," she said, shooting a glare at him. "And bodyguard," Deathbringer added.
Queen Glory's face went serious once more, she turned to the three dragonets. "You three have to get out of here, now" she ordered. She turned to her husband. "Deathbringer, get everyone to evacuate, but get twenty of my soldiers to go down to the river, and use the water to try and put out some of the fire. If it's not working, leave." she said in a very queenly way. "As for me, I have some unfinished business with a certain Skywing," she said in a low voice. "I'm not leaving you," Firefly and her father both said at the same time. "No," Glory said sternly. "You will both do as I say." she snapped.
Stargazer tugged at Firefly's tail, "come on," he said softly. To velvet's surprise, she listened reluctantly, and the three started to make their way towards the door. "Mother," Firefly started, "please don't hurt Crimson." she said. Glory paused before answering, "I'm going to do what I have to do." she replied.
Firefly was about to protest, but they were already outside, and before they knew it, they were winging their way out of the rainforest. Leaving the worried queen with a burning kingdom, the home of two tribes.