King of The Dragons (Wings of Fire X Monster Hunter)

Part 2: Chapter 14, 15, & 16

Queen Scarlet's eyes were small slits between orange scales. "Now where," she hissed. "did you hear about that particular law?" peril shifted of her talons. "I read about it."
"I bet you did," Scarlet said. "With claws that burn right through paper when you touch it. Someone's been telling you things too big for little dragon ears."

"No!" Peril said quickly. "Nobody-"
The queen was airborne before Peril could choke out another word. Queen Scarlet snatched Osprey up in her talons and shot into the sky. "Stop!" Peril yelled. "It's not his fault!" She leaped into the air and beat her wings, chasing them.

Stormcaller watched the queen rise higher and higher above the arena. Osprey writhed in her claws, his tail hanging heavily below him. Scarlet nearly reached the height of the wire net when suddenly she opened her talons and dropped the old dragon.

He plummeted like a stone. A dragon needed his tail for flying, just like monsters. It balanced out their body and it helped them turn while flying. That's why, while fighting in the air, Stormcaller would always go for the wings and the tail. It was something an old Daimyo Hermitaur had told him, "It's the wings and tails you want to go for. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon . . . is a dead dragon."

Osprey's wings were slow to extend, and when they did he lurched horribly, dragged down by the useless weight of his tail. Peril darted at him, talons out stretched, but he twisted away from her and she stopped, helpless. If she caught him, the burns would kill him just as much as the fall would, perhaps even more painfully. Stormcaller saw her claws reach out again anyway, but it was too late.

Osprey flapped his wings in one last burst of energy, but couldn't right himself. Every dragon in the arena heard the ripping and snapping of bones breaking and wings tearing as he tumbled. He collapsed near the arena wall. Peril landed beside him.

Queen Scarlet fluttered delicately back onto her perch. "I hope this has been a lesson to any dragons who were thinking of teaching my champion bad habits." she said, glaring around the arena. 

"He's not dead," Peril said, clawing at the sand.
"He will be soon." Queen Scarlet waved a dismissive claw. Stormcaller gritted his teeth in anger. The elderly were supposed to be treated with respect, not like this. "Now, I won't argue with the Champion's Shield. The champion has asked to stand for the prisoner. I will chooser her opponent, and they will battle at the end of the games tomorrow. if she wins, Kestrel goes free. If not, well I'll have a dead champion, but at least we'll get to execute Kestrel right afterward. All in all, a wonderfully bloody day for me and Queen Burn to look forward to."

Burn was coming, and she'll bring nothing good. "All right," Peril said, staring down at Osprey's last dying spasms. "Tomorrow, then." She reached for Osprey's talons and stopped, her claws hovering over his, agonizingly close but not touching.

"Of course we'll have to lock Kestrel back up." said Queen Scarlet. "We wouldn't want her to try escaping again. You understand."
"Fine." Peril turned and looked at Kestrel. They faced each other as Vermilion dismissed the crowd, and dragons began to pour out of the arena, buzzing with excitement.

When most of the crowd was gone, Kestrel pointed to the chains around her mouth. She wanted to talk to Peril.
"No," Peril said as one of the guards stepped forward. She staired into Kestrel's eyes. "You killed my brother. You left me here. And it's your fault my friend is dead. I may not want you dead, but I don't want to know you." She turned and left the arena. The guards dragged Kestrel away under Queen Scarlet's triumphant smile.

The rest of the day nothing interesting happened. There was no more activity in the arena below. The hot sun baked Stormcaller and the winds tried to play with him like how a dragonet would play with it's prey. It was almost . . . amusing to see the elements try to mess with him but to no avail. Peril never came by to visit Clay, but the guards did, and they brought them food. Clay asked them to bring a message to Peril. But the guard snorted fire at him and quite literally scared the pig right into Clay's talons.