Songbird, Book 1: Sun's Arrival

Chapter 19

There were several guards stationed on the smallest volcano, setting up camp where the air wasn't too thick with smog. Thunder Strike dropped down from the air onto a dried up tree. She hoped no one could see her sapphire blue scales shining in the smoke. One downside to Stormings. The guards were standing on a dormant volcano, but all looked pretty tired. Great. That might work out for the better

Option one: Charge over there, leave one alive, and interrogate him for the keys.

Option two: Walk over there, ask very nicely and all that. Try to get the key that way.

Option three: Sneak into their tents and see if you can find the key that way.

Thunder Strike wasn't sure about any of them, but was pretty convinced that option two would be the option that got the least dragons killed. Except for myself. Tia thought gloomily. She knew she should try. Thunder Strike was all for defeating enemies, but if it had to always end with killing... no. No matter how angry Tia was at Nightmare, she still couldn't imagine wiping out thousands of dragons.

All the guards snapped to attention when Thunder Strike landed onto the volcano. "Halt." One growled. "Hey! This one is the one Nightmare's been looking for! Round her up." Another one, female, pointed a claw at Tia. "Wait..." Said a guard that was probably very sensible. "This has to be a trick. She wouldn't just stroll into our camps. Maybe it's to lead us away so someone else can come and steal the key to Horizon's cage." He continued.

"Yes! And talking about the key..." Thunder Strike trailed off, staring into the guard's eyes. Those very aggressive eyes. "Please. Don't you want a world with peace?" Tia added. All the dragons snorted. "We will be safe with Nightmare." Thunder Strike sighed. She wasn't sure how she would get them to give her the key. "Do we have to do this the hard way?" Tia asked. The female guard paused, in the middle of reaching for chains in the bag that was slung around her chest. Thunder Strike could almost hear the guard's mind spinning around and around.

Is the dragon right? Will this world be better? Will I get to go home to my parents and friends? Back to Delta? Will I get myself killed if I refuse, or will I be betraying Nightmare and all the other loyal soldiers if I agree?

That was it! Family! Tia flared her wings. "Don't all of you want to see your loved ones again? Give me the key and you can escape from this horrible place. I promise not to tell Nightmare." She told the guards. The one that had thought this entire thing was a trick had slithered into the tent. The female one was hissing at him. A minute later, he came out with a glittering silver key. "Will we get to eat again?" He said in a raspy voice, Thunder Strike had finally noticed. She nodded, feeling sorry for these poor dragons, trying to obey Nightmare's rules. "Then let's go!" exclaimed the one who had shouted "Halt". Tia Stepped back with a slight bow of acknowledgement, taking the key and soared back to where Horizon was waiting.

"You really got the key." Horizon had said when she unlocked the cage door. Thunder Strike then realized how large Horizon actually was. About two and a half times her size. Tia stepped back, letting the towering shiny dragon lead the way. "Would you mind if we grabbed a snack first, though?" Thunder Strike blurted, then immediately felt stupid right after the sentence left her mouth. Horizon paused. "Well... I suppose I could survive without food, but it depends on how urgent this situation really is." She said. Tia thought for a moment. "Very urgent, but our army is not going to attack until everyone is ready, which probably won't be until I return. Horizon flicked her tail. "Then I suppose, if you are hungry." Thunder Strike, embarrassed, said, "Well... How far is the nearest grassland?"

She had wanted to eat fresh cows for a while, and there weren't many back home at the City of Hope. She and Horizon had flown to one of the meadows that wasn't too far from Cliff Spirit, where everyone was waiting. Horizon flew with astonishing speed, until they had both spotted the trees down below and sank their claws into a cow. Now chewing on the bones, Horizon had licked hers clean and washed the blood off her talons and teeth. "I hear that Nightmare's been quite pleased with you." She said sarcastically, but with a complete straight face so it took Thunder Strike a while to figure out she was joking. "Y-yeah. Been ruining his plans and stuff. Wanted a perfect celebration to throw you off the cliff into the lava, but I guess I had to be the party pooper." Horizon chuckled. Tia was starting to feel herself getting smaller and smaller, especially next to this enormous creature. Thunder Strike set the last of her bones down, and Horizon sweeped it with her tail into the river that was nearby. "Let's get going. Maybe bring a bit more food for some of the fighters that are hungry.

And they did.

Horizon and Thunder Strike were now speeding as fast as they could toward the ravine where everyone was hiding. No doubt Nightmare had already seen them coming, because Tia could see him flinch and try to hide it as they soared past the great cliff.

"WE'RE BACK," She called over to Zea. Horizon dropped some of the dead cows onto the ground. Sunbeam groaned. "Maybe something a little less... bloody? Sorry I'm such a hassle, but I'm used to eating scorched food." Horizon snorted. "We can fix that." She let out a burst of superheated fire and everyone jumped back as it exploded on a pile of cows. Sunbeam chirped happily and began eating the hot food. Serpent pointed a tail up towards the cliff. "Uhm, we better hurry up and finish the cows. Nightmare is flying this way!" She hissed in an urgent voice. Thunder Strike yelped as she saw a dragon-no, two... or three! Or... One thousand fly into her field of vision. "We're not going to let them come, let's take this battle over to them!" Tia roared. Zea nodded. "UP AND AWAY!" Eclipse flinched. Thunder Strike felt sorry for her, and all the dragons dragged into this fight. Tia looked over at the army of Solarclaws off in the distance, as all the Stormwings and Phoenixes began to make their way across the mountains to the cliff. The two armies surged together, parting, dipping and dodging. Zea nudged her side and flew off into the distance. Eclipse hesitated, then followed Azealia into battle. Fire and ice blasted through the clouds as the Phoenixes unleashed their power. Flashes of lightning from the Stormwings as well. The Solarclaws raged up into a formation, and a dark mass of plasma and energy crackled in the sky.

The war had begun.