The Seven Wings - The Mountain's Heir

Prologue - The Valient Guard

Piercing white moonlight from the three moons sitting against an inky black canvas, cut through the dark marble and golden accented halls from tall, narrow windows. A deep mahogany dragon and a similar charcoal grey dragon swept through the long corridors, passing ornate tapestries and golden armour stands before slinking into a heated room. Dim torchlight flickered across the walls of intricately painted murals of flying dragons, Princess Ruby sighed with a small smile spreading across her face. She gestured for her accomplice to follow her and the two Skywings padded quietly to the other side of the room. Sitting in an ornate basket were three eggs, Ruby carefully picked up the largest egg of the clutch. Its smooth, cherry-stained surface was darker and far more ominous in the low light levels as it impatiently pulsated with pale pink, reminding the Princess how important it was. This very night had long been foretold, Ruby knew that her daughter was the one in the prophecy, the egg fit what the prophecy had described as the largest in the room and possibly on the entire mountain.

"She is the one, you must act fast and get her to Jade Mountain tonight," Ruby returned her gaze to the guard, her nervous hushed tone indicating further the importance of tonight as the Princess wrapped her egg in a cloth. The guard gently took the egg into his talons, setting it down in the satchel around his waist, checking that his precious cargo was secure before turning back to the Princess.

"I will my Princess, may the Fire Cloud be with you," the guard bowed his head in respect to Ruby, he very well knew the risks that this mission involved. It was practically treason against the Empress and the religious leaders. The Talons of Peace had planned this for years, spreading the prophecy throughout the seven tribes, but tonight the real change was coming to Pyrriah.

"You need to leave before my mother realises I am not in my room," Ruby hastily edged the guard to the balcony, he bowed once more before taking to the sky diving down the sheer flat mountainside, with the Princess watching out of worry.

"Be safe, my hatchling," she whispered under her breath looking up at the moons, their light dappling across the rocky landscape below, but the tranquillity was interrupted by talon steps from the hallway. Ruby squeaked, fearing for the worst, and quickly made her way back into the hatchery, where she was met with her mother just entering as the Princess stood in front of her basket. Ruby knew that Empress Scarlet rarely ever came into the hatchery, her mother on many occasions expressing her displeasure in hatchlings but then again, Ruby wasn't the best judge of her mother's motives.

"Little mouse, what are you doing in here?'' Empress Scarlet, stood at least a head taller than her small, quivering daughter. Her sharp poison-yellow eyes examined the Princess with mild suspicions. Scarlet was known to her subjects as insane and murderous, this became apparent in her ravenous need for blood and battle, this was why Ruby hated being around her mother with every feather on her body.

"If you were hoping for your eggs to hatch, you will have to wait, now come along little mouse," Scarlet grinned with her gleaming pearly fangs, Ruby gulped silently and nodded as she hastily walked out of the hatchery, her body low to the marble floor while she rushed to her room. Scarlet watched her daughter rush back to her room, such a frightened little mouse the Princess was, but the Empress did not care to dig deeper into why her shelled child was in the hatchery as a guard nearly slid across the floor, somehow managing to keep his balance.

"Your majesty, there's been an incident on the city border, one of the palace guards attacked two gate soldiers and he...ah...had gotten away with...one of our...umm...eggs," He stood up tall for his Queen and took deep, lethargic breaths, indicating that he had flown fast to reach the palace in a haste. Scarlet's eyes narrowed with a low growl and smoke rose from her nostrils.

"Send every single soldier we have to track down that guard immediately!" she yelled and slashed her talons at one of her own portrait-tapestries that was hanging from the wall, the guard nodded and scurried back the way he came from. A low, slithery chuckle brought Scarlet from her raged stare at the retreating guard as a large rose gold female Sandwing turned the corner, her void black eyes accessing the situation.