Wings of Fire; Creature / ✅

EPILOGUE

A couple of months later... 

Scarlet sat in the caves of her kingdom, watching the rain pour and pour outside, her claws drumming on the lump of rock beside her. From time to time, her eyes darted to her palace sitting not far away, almost fully enveloped in fog. 

After that RainWing had demolished her face and ran away, Scarlet had fled her kingdom. She did not want her subjects to see her face and think how disgusting she looked, so instead she went into hiding. Scarlet felt seething rage every time she thought of that incident, the way Burn had shoved her in front of the venom to protect her own precious scales, the unforgettable pain,

the betrayal...

Scarlet didn't know why she felt betrayed by Glory. It might've been because of how long she had spent with the RainWing, so long that she had begun to quite like Glory. But now it didn't matter because Glory's scales were ugly and dull anyway, and Scarlet had never thought she was pretty in the first place.

Except she had.

"Where is that poor, snivelling dragon!" she suddenly roared, unable to take her thoughts anymore. She had been waiting on a specific dragon for ages now. 

"If I am the poor, snivelling dragon, then he's here," a dragon said wryly, peeking his head into the cave. His scales were slick and wet from the showers, and rain dropped from his snout. He looked as if he was waiting to be invited into the cave.

Absolutely not.

"What took you so long?" Scarlet snarled.

"Sorry, I was delayed on my way here. Anyways, what did you need?" the dragon asked.

"I want to ask you a favour," Scarlet said.

"I am just saying, favours require payment," he said firmly. "If you need me to do something, you'll have to give me something in return."

"How dare you!" Scarlet roared in outrage. "You come to my kingdom and demand treasure? Who, exactly, do you think you are?" 

"Technically, it isn't your kingdom anymore," he said coldly. "Ruby took over. And if you want someone to do something, you must pay them. Nothing is for free. It's just the way life works."

"No." Scarlet hissed. "I will not pay you."

The dragon shrugged and turned, opening his wings as if about to take off.

"Wait!" Scarlet cried. "Of course, I didn't mean that. I will pay you."

"Good," he said, folding his wings again. "Now, what do you need?"

"Do you know this dragon, perhaps?" Scarlet pulled up a portrait of a sketched dragon: a SkyWing. 

The dragon peered at it closely. "Huh. Yes, I happen to know her, actually," he said, nodding thoughtfully.

"Good," Scarlet said, putting it away.

"Why?" the dragon asked.

"You know why you're here, right? It's your whole job," Scarlet said, a smile forming on her lips.

"Ah, yes, of course," the dragon nodded.

"Do you accept treasure as payment?" Scarlet asked.

"Yup."

"Good. You will receive your payment... after you bring her to me."