The Eye Of The Storm -Wings of fire

~Prologue~

He was running for his life. If he was caught he would be dragged back to the palace, tortured and killed by the flaming demon.
Queen Scarlet was a merciless ruler with a heart of stone, and there was no doubt in his mind that if she got her claws on him again, he would die a slow, agonising death. And being a Nightwing, the dragon species Scarlet desired watching in the arena the most of any other species didn't help his chance of escape.
The sky was a blood red blur above his head, occasionally broken by large overlapping tree branches silhouetted in black against the dying sky. He stuck to the shadows of the trees, cautiously dashing between them, breaking his cover, making sure there were no vengeful Skywing guards searching for him up above in the sky.
He followed the glittering diamond spray river until he found the cave system he'd been looking for. This was his safe place, a place he hoped had never been discovered by the skywing army. Key words: he hoped.
The cave system had an opening by the diamond spray river, and the caves wind through the mountains of the sky kingdom. He had been living here for around a month and he still hadn't explored most of the twisting tunnels nearby.
Shooting star paced slowly through the mouth of the cave, passing through small, claustrophobic tunnels and squeezing through tight gaps until he finally reached his cave. It was expansive with a tall ceiling and plenty of ledges to sleep on. It had a few stalagmites and stalactites poking out of the ground and hanging from the ceiling like teeth, and a small pool of water with a trickling stream located on the other side of the cave. It was quite the humble abode. His few belongings were safely kept here, scrolls and maps were kept in his satchel which was wrapped around a stalagmite by his sleeping ledge, and a used wooden torch lay discarded by the cave entrance.
He crept up onto his sleeping ledge, shifting around until he was comfortable, when he suddenly heard his stomach growl hungrily like a wild bear. He sighed and picked up his tired wings and dragged himself to the cave entrance, before trudging into one of the entrances of the cave system scattered over the mountains.
Suddenly wingbeats sounded overhead, he jumped and took a few steps backwards hurriedly, before he came into contact with something cold and scaly. Something, or... Someone. He frantically twisted around and saw a humongous dragon the color of molten magma standing there, grinning menacingly. Queen Scarlet.
Oh no.
Her amber, yellow eyes glowed evilly in the light of the dimly lit cave as she stepped forward, wings and claws outstretched, ready to capture me once more. And this time I wouldn't ever be able to get out.
"Why do you keep running from me nightwing? It seems highly suspicious you know." Queen Scarlet mused, flickering her tongue like a snake. "If you'd just stayed with me and had a little chat perhaps you wouldn't have seemed so shady lurking around the outskirts of my kingdom, and perhaps I wouldn't have had to send a skywing spy after you to find where you were hidden away."
A lean, tourmaline coloured skywing stepped out from behind Scarlet, holding up my satchel for her to see.
"I found this in his cave your majesty, it's full of useful annotated maps and... Interesting letters. These could be considered very useful to us."
Shooting star grimaced. Giving up private nightwing information was punishable by death. This whole situation now seemed like a lose-lose for him. Get killed by the skywings or get killed by the nightwings! Great. Just what he had wanted to do with his life.
Scarlet watched him for a brief moment, obviously enjoying the satisfaction of watching another dragon suffer.
"Thank you Charcoal, you are dismissed," Scarlet hissed flicking her tail. "Now, what do I do with you? It's clearly obvious you're a spy you sneaky, spineless, salamander."
His eyes frantically flitted around the cave looking for any other method of escape. He turned around again and saw that with horror, Scarlets guards had blocked the only exit he knew of to get out of this cave system.
Suddenly a deafening roar echoed around the cave, and all the skywings turned to the mouth of the cave to see what made the sound. Noticing this sudden opportunity he made a run for it, dashing randomly down one of the dark tunnels. Shooting star didn't know where he was going. All he knew is that he had to escape.
He heard the furious roars of the skywings behind him, and he heard them thundering down the tunnel like a herd of wild boar. To his horror they sounded closer than he'd expected. He turned his head and noticed the first guard charging into the cavern he was in. With his heart thundering in his chest he charged into another tunnel, panting with exhaustion when he finally noticed light at the end of the tunnel. He put on that last burst of speed before finally charging out of the cave system and throwing himself desperately into the sky, before plummeting into the forest below.
He collapsed on the grass exhausted, before getting back up and on the run again. He couldn't risk getting caught again. He didn't want his life to end in Scarlets arena of misery and death.
He had lost his precious satchel.
He had failed the mission.
He could never, ever go back to the night kingdom.
Or he was dead meat.