Sunny knew things would not end well when she saw the second dragonbite viper leap out of the box.
She definitely knew it was the end for Clay when she got up, dazed, and saw him limping, fang marks on his leg, the black ink of the viper's venom spreading quickly beneath his scales.
But when Peril arrived, Sunny dared to hope, dared to believe that things would end well for once. Fate and prophecy had not been kind to the dragonets, not since they first escaped their guardians' cave mere weeks ago. They had all suffered through trials and heartbreak; and now, with their goal in sight, everything was falling apart. Everything they worked so hard to achieve, gone with two viper bites.
Peace was dead. But as Peril's fiery orange figure rocketed into the Sandwing Palace, Sunny dared to hope that Clay wouldn't join peace in death. That Peril could carve the poison out of his leg, painful and dangerous as that sounded.
Sunny nearly fainted with relief when she felt Clay's chest rise and fall after Peril's impromptu surgery. Her relief was short-lived, however, when Blister's voice broke the silence that had befallen the Palace.
"To the victor go the spoils of war."
Sunny whipped toward the source of the voice, as did every other dragon in the vicinity. Blister stood behind Blaze, claws gripped tightly around her sister's snout, muffling her cries of pain as the tip of Blister's barbed tail sank deep into Blaze's heart. Within seconds Blaze's protests quieted—Blister nonchalantly released her hold on her sister, who flopped to the ground, squirming feebly in her death throes.
"Of three queens who blister and blaze and burn," Blister said, quoting the prophecy, "two shall die and one shall learn..." She reared up, flicking her tail. Sunny saw a posse of Sandwing guards flank her protectively.
"...that the Sandwing throne belongs to the one cunning enough to earn it, prophecy or not."
Shouts of alarmed echoed through the crowd. Queen Glacier whipped toward Blister, icy teeth bared. Blister glanced back casually, as if saying: Go on, I dare you. Attack me when you've lost your only ally. Give me an excuse to kill you.
"No!" screamed Sunny. "This is a peace meeting! We're supposed to decide the next Sandwing queen without any more fighting."
"Was a peace meeting," Blister corrected. "Instead, it became the very opportunity I needed to kill my sisters and win the throne that I deserve."
"You don't deserve the throne, Blister," said Tsunami, gills flaring as she stepped forward. "You've never deserved it and never will. The Sandwings would be better off with anyone other than you."
"Would they?" Blister turned to the dragons gathered along the walls of the Palace.
"I ask this of all of you—who would make the best Sandwing queen? Burn, the cruel, heartless tyrant who thrives off others' pain? No. She would bring ruin to the Sandwings, treat us like the oddities she keeps in her wretched weirdling tower. She would crush us into the sand, lord over us as if we were mere gems in her treasury."
Looks of confusion spread through the crowd. Sunny spotted Thorn perched ready for takeoff. Her mother met her eyes and Sunny saw the silent message: this will end horribly, get ready to run.
"Or what about Blaze? My ineffectual, vain, idiotic excuse for a sister? She wouldn't care about the Sandwings, oh no! She'd be like a spoiled Rainwing, dithering and prancing about the Palace all day, ordering everyone to pamper to her every whim. She wouldn't govern us, wouldn't step in to lead should another tribe attack us. In fact," Blister turned menacingly to Queen Glacier, "Blaze planned to give almost half of our territory to Ice Queen here for helping her to gain the throne. Tell me, what self-respecting queen would betray her tribe like this?"
