Wings of Fire; The Sinking Continent

Sunwing - 4

Just to put it out there, Sunwings age slower than the other tribes. To make it easy, I put age guides in the intro chapter :]

--------------

One month ago..

--------------

Diamond cowered in the hallway, frozen by horror. Just in front of her, Flare stood over their elder sister, Copper. She could hardly recognize either dragon; a spear stuck out of Copper's chest, blood covering her scales and staining the floor. Flare, whose yellow eyes were always calm and relaxed, had a wild, unhinged madness to them.

The older princess looked at Diamond and grinned.

Her wings huddled close to her body, and her tail curled around her legs. As Flare tore the weapon out of her sister's body, Diamond was suddenly snapped back into reality and she turned sharply, tripping over her talons. Nothing else seemed to register in her head other than, I have to run! So she did, nearly slamming headfirst into several walls as she searched for the nearest exit. What exit? Where should I go? Her mind raced, just like her heart.

Oh! The astronomy tower in the library!

Diamond dug her heels into the ground, pivoting to go down a different hallway. She dove under a soldier's legs, not stopping to apologize as she was already on her feet and running again.

Some of the passageways in the Sunwing Palace were large enough for even adult dragons to spread their wings. So as Diamond came skidding around the corner into one of such halls, she flung her snow-white wings open and took off, launching herself over the heads of several nobles. They exclaimed in surprise, a couple ducking their heads as her frantic flight pattern had them fearing a concussion. Tears pricked the young princess' eyes, but she didn't notice them streaming down her face in her haste to get away. She didn't know if Flare was still after her, or if she was even being chased to begin with, but the adrenaline coursing through her system wasn't about to let her stop and check.

Shooting through the door at the end of the hallway into the library, she stalled her wings to try and make a smooth landing. Unable to slow herself, she hit the ground with a thud and tumbled to a stop as she let out a cry of pain.

With a small wince, she gathered herself up and started through the stacks of scroll-filled shelves. A spiral staircase was the centerpiece of the large room, leading up to the tower where the librarians would always let Diamond use their telescopes. They'd teach her about the stars and tell her stories; tales of the first Sunwing named Sol, who, when he died, rose into the sky and became the sun. Of his sister, Luna, who became the moon, and their dragonets who became the clouds and colored the sky with brilliant blue fire. Diamond wasn't sure how true those stories were, but since she was little, believed them.

Now, as she skipped steps going up to the same tower, she glanced down nervously. Her spine shivered as Cobalt stalked through the door and looked around. His eyes trailed up and found hers, and for once, she decided that she hated his never-wavering smile.

Flare sent him after me??

Diamond double-timed it up the rest of the stairs. When her talons hit the rugs and pillows covering the floor of the astronomy tower, she heaved a breath in and took a second to recover.

Hurrying up to the nearest window, she placed a talon on the pane of glass and pushed on it. It didn't budge. Her blood ran cold as she tried again with the same result. Slowly backing away, her face contorted in fear, her wings trembling.

I'm gonna die. Cobalt's gonna kill me and everything's gonna be horrible after.

Hide- I could- Frantically lifting up a heavy rug, she slipped underneath it and pressed her stomach as close to the cool stone floor as possible. She covered her snout with her talons, screwing her eyes shut as she quivered tearfully in the darkness.