Wings of Fire; Creature / ✅

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"SkyWings! To me!" Scarlet shouted, and in an instant the wing of SkyWings were at her side.

Gleam hissed a long hiss of warning, and fear spread across some of the dragons' faces.

"Isn't she the one who can kill without laying a talon on the dragon?" one of the SkyWings whispered to the dragon beside him.

Darn right I am, Gleam thought. Out loud, she said, "get lost! All of you!"

Scarlet growled, circling her, Elk and Blue - who had just appeared - as if debating whether or not she should land. "You don't command them. I do."

"I'd rather listen to anyone else's orders in Pyrrhia than yours," Elk piped up.

Scarlet hissed, smoke pouring out of her nose. Suddenly she dived down right towards Elk. Before Gleam could react or gather herself, Scarlet was in the air again with a writhing Elk in her claws. The SandWing roared and twisted, blasting fire around him, but couldn't manage to burn Scarlet.

"No!" Gleam shouted. "Let him go! He hasn't done anything to you," she said desperately.

"I'll let him go once you return my rubies," Scarlet responded.

Gleam stamped one foot. "Rubies! Since when have I known where you keep your treasury?" she spat.

Scarlet shrugged. Suddenly she loosened her grip on Elk completely and dropped him... from five metres.

Blue roared from beside Gleam and leapt forwards in an attempt to save Elk, but it was too late. Elk's wings spread in an effort to save himself, but by the time they opened he was already a centimetre off the ground. He hit the ground with a loud thud. 

"No!" Gleam screamed and leapt forwards. Elk, she could already see, was knocked out, and would be for a couple of hours. Blue turned a shocked pale-greenish white colour as she nosed their SandWing friend. "Elk?" she whispered.

From above them, the SkyWing smirked. "Arrest them."

---

And just like that, Gleam was back in the SkyWing palace. She had never felt so miserable. Blue had been dropped off at the prisons at one of the lowest floors, and Gleam was back in the birdcage in the corner of Scarlet's throne room.

Elk had been sent to the nurses to help him. Gleam knew with a sickening lurch that Scarlet didn't treat just any dragons for their wounds or pain - she treated them if she was preparing them for the arena.

As Gleam walked into the room, she suddenly noticed a beautiful RainWing draped across a white claw-shaped tree. The tree was placed in the sunlight shining through the windows, and vibrant colours were spreading across her scales. She looked like she was in a coma.

Scarlet saw Gleam's staring and smirked. "Like my new art? They call her Glory."

Glory. That name seemed somewhat familiar. Gleam wracked her brain, wondering why she felt like she'd heard that name before. Glory. 

Glory! The realisation came to her quickly. The RainWing from the prophecy - well, the replacement for the SkyWing, but technically she still counted as being in the prophecy. But Glory! How had Scarlet managed to get her claws on the Dragonets of Destiny?

"She's my special pet," Scarlet told her. "She doesn't eat much - all she needs is sunlight and a mango here and there. Cool, am I right?"

Gleam didn't respond, and suddenly felt a twinge of jealousy. But why? Was it because she wanted Scarlet to adore her and only her?

"Also, speaking about RainWings," Scarlet continued. "That friend of yours would be perfect for the arena. I've never seen a RainWing fight. Won't last long, but still going to be funny."