Proboscis Book 1: Clouds Parting- A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

~ Chapter 7 ~

"Wow!" Quartz exclaimed. The palace was sparkling with jewels everywhere. The floor was made out of marble. Stratus looked out the huge glass windows, which were nearly as large as the wall itself.

"Wow!" Stratus said. Looking down, far below the glass tower of the palace, she could see the sparkling, crystal-laden trees outside.

"Hi, mom!" Basalt said as soon as he saw the queen. "These dragons I told you about want to save the missing dragons. If they succeed they might even free King Volcano!"

"Really?" Queen Tambora replied, looking up at Stratus and Quartz. "I will thank you two if you succeed, but remember, we will still be rivals. Don't think that the rivalry will end." Queen Tambora glared at Stratus and then went back to mourning for King Volcano.

"We'll do our best," Stratus said, trying to match Queen Tambora's glare. The three friends started to explore deeper in the palace.

"This place is so grand!" Quartz exclaimed, "Even though the CrystalWing palace is made out of crystals, I still think the BlazeWing palace is way more sparkly."

"I know!" Stratus replied. "It's huge!"

"So, what should we do first?" Basalt asked with a smirk on his face.

"What even can we do?" Quartz questioned excitedly.

"Let's see, there's the Fountain of Fish, the Glass Oak Garden, the Hunting Grounds, the... uhh, guys?" Basalt trailed off, looking through the glass palace.

"The what?" Quartz asked, still staring at Basalt.

"Quartz?" Stratus said, as she tilted Quartz's head toward the glass wall, where at least a hundred black dragons hovered with razor-sharp spears at their sides.

"VoidWings!" Basalt yelled, racing back towards the direction in which Queen Tambora had disappeared, "Lots of them! Right outside the palace!"

"What?" The queen roared as she leaped from her throne, leaving miniature cracks in the glass floor.

So this is a VoidWing... Stratus thought I thought it would be more of a hideous beast or monster, but no, it's just the outline of a normal dragon, but... not. It's almost as if someone cut a hole through the sky and then gave that hole life.

A VoidWing wearing a large helmet made of an odd purple-red material stepped forward and yelled, "ATTAAAAACK!"

"Run!" Quartz shouted as all of the VoidWings thrust their spears into the glass tower. Tambora shrieked as glass and marble shards erupted from the tower, and as the floor shifted, Stratus slid, slamming into the glass window and shattering it.

"Quartz! Help me! I'm slipping!" Stratus shouted, barely managing to regain her grip on the ledge, her claws digging into the smooth glass.

"Everyone take shelter!" The queen yelled to all of the innocent BlazeWings down far below, watching the Queen's tower shatter.

"Basalt, you're going to help me fight the VoidWings," Queen Tambora said in an orderly tone, though her eyes shone with worry and terror for her kingdom and dragonet.

"We'll help too," Quartz said. Stratus and Quartz fumbled in their bags for their armor.

"I'll go call the guards," Basalt said as he flew off to spread the word. Basalt flew as fast as he could to the guards, disappearing into the volcano's gloom. The BlazeWings, Stratus, and Quartz were largely outnumbered by the VoidWings, but they were prepared to fight as hard as they could. Stratus handed Quartz a sword and a shield. Then they stepped out of the palace. Stratus could see Quartz whirling and hacking away at the VoidWing army, his claws and sword slicing through the dark, void-black dragons. She didn't have much experience with battling but Quartz certainly had some training. Stratus tried copying Quartz, fumbling with her sword and twisting to slice at the dark dragons. Frustrated at the unbalancing weight of the sword, she threw it at a VoidWing, the silver blade slicing the dragon, which fell to the ground and dissolved into black smoke, swirling into the sky to join a huge, dark cloud of defeated VoidWings.