Wings of Fire: Forever Hoping

Chapter 1

Beetle curled his tail along his side and glanced at his parents, who were sleeping peacefully on some leaves next to each other. He then turned to Digger, who laid on the cold stone floor and curled up to keep warm. He turned to the small hole in the wall. Man, wish I could still fit in that. Beetle looked at the size of him, almost the size of his parents. Haven't been able to in moons. Quietly getting up, Beetle stretched his body and unfolded his wings.

He slowly making his way to the exit of their cave and took off flying to second he got out. The familiar sea, fishy breeze filled his nostrils. As he glided down to the ocean shore, a red-orange Hivewing gently hit him in the shoulder and laughed.

"Hey, Bettle!" the Hivewing snorted, glided next to him. Beetle looked at the dragon and rolled his eyes. 

"Horntail, you know how I am with dragons hitting me," he growled under his breath. 

"Okay, sorry," Horntail responded flapping a few tail lengths away. The two then landed onto the seashore, Beetle digging his talons into the sand. He flicked his tongue and tasted the salty, fishy sea air. Beetle watched as Horntail slowly crept into the water and pounced into it, coming out with a fish. 

"Nice!" he exclaimed.

"Let's see you do better," Horntail responded, smiling and setting his catch in his talon. Beetle turned to the water and watched for any movement or shadows that lurked. 

"I don't see anything. Perhaps we head further out?" Beetle suggested. Horntail nodded and responded with a sarcastic response. 

"Yeah! And we can probably catch a Whale Shark!" he snorted. Beetle laughed and turned to Horntail, waiting for him to open his wings and fly. It's nice to have a friend like him, Beetle happily thought. The two spread their wings and within a single flap, they both took to the air. Beetle turned his focus to the water, searching for any shadows in the water. Within a few minutes of flying the sea, Horntail pointed out something.

"Look!" he said, pointing to a large creature in the water. "Perhaps it's a big fish. We can take it!"

"I don't know Horntail. By the way it's swimming and its fins, I'd say-"

"Ah, you worry too much. Come on, this will impress the Queen for sure!" Horntail began to dive into the water. 

"Wait!" Beetle yelled, diving after him. Once he hit the water and his eyes adjusted, he could see Horntail biting at the animal. I was right! A shark! Beetle did his best to quickly swim to the battle and help Horntail. Grabbing onto the shark's skin, he bit into it and attempted to stab it with his tail toxins, but it dodged. It has the advantage, and it knows it. He turned to Horntail and pointed to the surface of the water. The Hivewing understood the assignment, nodded, and swam to the top of the water. Beetle followed closely behind before he felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his tail.

Quickly turning to fend off from the shark, his vision began to become blurry. The shark started to drag him deeper into the water. Horntail hovered over the water, looking for his friend, worried. The last thing he saw before blacking out was a light green blob speeding past him.

~~~

Beetle awoke in a startle and coughed up water, gasping for air. Horntail rushed to his side and comforted him, spreading his wing over his head to shade him.

"Easy there, Beetle. You nearly drowned, so slow down." The two Hivewing exchanged smiles to each other before turned to the new dragon. A green Seawing sat with his tail wrapped around his talons on the beach. 

"What're you doing here?" Beetle growled. "This is Hivewing territory."

"And the ocean is Seawing territory," he growled back. "Plus, I saved you. I deserve at least a thank you, so I waited for you to wake." The Seawing stared at Beetle, waiting for a response. 

"Thanks," he muttered under his breath. 

"You're welcome. Now, would you mind telling me why you were out in Seawing territory and attacking my sibling's pet?"

"That's a pet?!" Beetle exclaimed, coughing again. Horntail spread his wing over Beetle to shade him again. 

"Yes, it's a pet. A royal Seawing family member's pet. And they won't like it when they see the scratch and bite marks on him, so make it easier on me and tell me the reason why you'd attack a shark in the first place." Horntail looked at Beetle as he sat up. He then folded his wings along his back and looked at the Seawing.

"We were trying to catch him for our Queen. You see, we have this law for anything we catch, we must give to the Queen. Then, she'll distribute out the food for every family each moon. If we eat it too fast, we have to buy more. We wanted to catch it not only to impress her, but so more families get more food. We've both had problems with starvation problems in the past." The Seawing shuffled his wings and looked into the ocean and turned back to face Horntail and Beetle.

"I can't help you with the law that your Queen orders nor am I allowing you to hunt in Seawing territory. At least not that far into the ocean, but along the shoreline. However, I can see what I can do." As the Seawing started to walk out to the ocean, Beetle came running to him. 

"Wait!" The Seawing turned his head, the sun glistening off his scales and almost made him glow. "We didn't catch your name." 

"Serpent," he responded and smiled before diving into the water. Beetle lifted his head and looked at the horizon, admiring the view. The sun was at its highest peak. How the waves crashed together, and the water shined brighter where the sunrays had beamed; it was surely beautiful.

"I should probably be heading back," Horntail said. Beetle sighed and turned to face the Hivewing territory.

"I should be heading back as well. My father is taking me and Digger to be presented to the Queen to see if we become soldiers or not."

"Wait, haven't you guys had any training?"

"My father is going to try and persuade the Queen to get us trained under real soldiers. He says he'd rather not waste any more time with us than he has."

"Harsh. But know that I'm here for you and Digger. Come by our cave any time you need too." Beetle hugged his friend and waved him goodbye before flying off to his cave where his father and brother waited for him outside. 

"You're late," his father growled. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Digger ashamedly looked at his brother. 

"I'm sorry, sir. I just got caught up in hunting." 

"That is no excuse! You were born for one thing and one thing only: to become a soldier. You're not born to be a hunter. So, stop wasting your time and learn how to fight instead. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."