Cursed ~ A Wings of Fire Short Story (With Bonus Chapters)

~CURSED~

I come from a long line of amazing dragons.

Grandma Tsunami: One of the BEST queens the SeaWings has ever had, plus she was one of the Dragonets of Destiny that ended the War for SandWing Succession and and saved the world.

Grandpa Riptide: The Leader of the Talons of Peace.

Grandma Snowfall: Yet another fantastic queen. She had this ring that... let her see visions which helped her save dragons from Pantala.

Aunt Tempest: An animus dragon, who, (guess what!) is also a great queen. 

Mom: She's my mom! She rocks!

Dad: He was one of the first IceWing animuses (or is it animi?) since Prince Arctic left the Ice Kingdom.

Atlantic, my cousin: An awesome animus like her mom! Her siblings, Cascade, Bluefin, and River are so jealous. 

Sooooo, yeah. Awesome family. Also a LOT to live to. But, I didn't think I would have to worry about messing up, ruining our lineage. Three moons, was I wrong! It all started when I was two years old...

"The Festival of Coral is tonight!" my mother remarked at breakfast. Coral was my great grandmother. Every year, we celebrate her. I'm sure there's a reason other than the one I hear all the time, but we mainly celebrate her for the many books she wrote. My favorite out of all of them was The Missing Princess, which happened to actually be about my grandmother, Tsunami, who was kidnapped as an egg by my great grandfather, Webs. (That isn't supposed to sound as weird as it does.) 

Anyway, my brother and I were really looking forward to it this year. There would be food, music, just a typical fun celebration. I waited and waited and waited for the evening to hurry up and get here.

When it finally did, I knew I had to look exceptional. I wore my amulet that my grandma had left for me in her will, a pearl bracelet that my mom gave me for my hatching day, and sapphire earrings.

There was a royal trumpet, and I strode out on the pavilion like a peacock, regal as ever. 

"Is that Princess Alaska?" a voice whispered.

"She's so young, yet so graceful!" said another.

"I heard that she was going to rule the SeaWings and the IceWings one day!" 

I wasn't so sure about that last comment. I was 99% sure that Atlantic would become queen of the SeaWings, being the natural leader she was. And, one of my IceWing cousins were likely to take over after my aunt, the current queen died. 

The dragons on the pavilion kept whispering about me until the trumpet sounded again. This time, Atlantic stepped out. Her little sister, Cascade was already on the pavilion and, although she was only one, was clearly jealous.

I clapped as well as the other dragons around me. But then, one of my earrings fell out and started to roll away.

I stepped away from the crowd and went after the earring. I was so frustrated that I actually spoke to it.

"Get back here!" I hissed.

The earring stopped rolling away and flew into my talons. I was shocked to see anything like this happen. I was an animus?! Like Aunt Tempest and Atlantic? No way. Maybe someone else made that earring come back to me?

There was a way to find out. "Turn purple then go back to normal," I whispered to the earring. It did just that.

I couldn't believe it. I wanted to use this power for so much, but... I could lose my soul. I enchanted only one more thing after that. 

"Amulet," I said, "I enchant you so that your wearer is protected from any harm when wearing you."

I walked back to the festival after that and never told anyone my secret. I wasn't the perfect dragon I was supposed to be anymore. My family wouldn't love me the same way they did now if they knew about my power. I had to hide who I was.

Three years later...

"It sounds stupid, but... if you take deep breaths and focus on what's in front of you... it kind of helps." I smiled faintly and the SkyWing/ SeaWing hybrid gave me a sheepish grin back.

I understood what she was going through. She was also an outcast, but everyone could see that. No one could see my animus magic. I wanted to reach out to her, say that I was like her, but... I couldn't.

"I'm Alaska, by the way," I said, "I don't know if it was too early to introduce myself— was it?"

"No, it wasn't," the SeaWing/ SkyWing replied, "I'm Kaioa, by the way." 

She seemed nice. Was she a possible friend? I had no idea. But there was something telling me that I should trust her, and that she would need my help later on.

Little did I know that as we both walked into Jade Mountain Academy, everyone in that school's lives were going to change forever.