Smoldering Palms

Chapter 1 - Oasis

It was a typical day small oasis. Palm was happy. Onyx was playing with her father, and all was well. Smolder had just taken Onyx to the market, and they had gotten all sorts of fruits from the continent. Onyx loved the Scorpion Den, because it meant she could see her friends. Growing up in the middle of a desert, there weren't a lot of dragonets around them. Onyx had a few friends from the Den, most of them she knew from where she learned to fly. Palm looked at Smolder who was happily splashing around like a child next to his child.

"Ha ha! I'm a SeaWing!" Onyx giggled, and dove into the water.

"Oh no, where'd she go? I think I know!" Smolder shouted, and wrapped his talons around her, pulling the laughing Onyx out of the water. He spun her around in the air, as she screamed with joy.

"Look, mommy, I'm flying!" Onyx shouted, and Palm lovingly looked at them. Smolder brought Onyx out of the water. They were soaked to the scales.

"Make sure to use the camel towels." Palm reminded them as they walked into their house. Palm and Smolder had built the house from the ground up. It was right after they had eloped, they decided to find an oasis and make a home for themselves away from the royal life. They'd never told Onyx about her heritage, about her aunts, her grandmother. All Onyx knew was that she had a mother and a father who loved her, and it seemed that was all Onyx needed. As Smolder dried off Onyx, Palm began to make dinner. She decided to make one of Onyx's favorites, a cooked rattlesnake. Onyx ate the food quickly, and started to get ready to sleep.

"Something's off." Smolder whispered to her after Onyx had already fallen asleep. "I can sense it. Have you heard? Singe and Scald met 'unfortunate endings' to Burn." Palm wasn't particularly interested in Smolder's brothers or the ongoing SandWing war.

"It's fine. Why would Burn care about us? I bet she doesn't even know where we are. I bet she's forgotten you and I even existed." Palm responded. She was tired, she had never been a night owl.

"She wouldn't forget. Blaze may have, but Blister and Burn definitely haven't. And Burn doesn't care about me. She cares about you and Onyx. You two are heirs for the throne. It's not three SandWing sisters fighting for the throne, it's 4 sisters and a granddaughter." Palm shuddered at the idea that she was their sister. Palm couldn't picture being in the same group. She was not those horrible dragons' sister, she was Smolder's wife. The only royal that Onyx was related to was Smolder. Not Burn. Not Blister. Not Blaze. Not Singe. Not Scald.

"It's okay, no one's going to hurt us. We are safe, Smolder." She placed her wing around him, and she could almost feel his paranoia. He was scared that someone would try to hurt them. Palm had grown up in the SandWing palace as a cook, but she hadn't grown up in the royal family. If there was one thing Palm knew about SandWings' it was that there were no secrets within the tribe. Everyone knows everything about everyone. It would be an insane thought to think no one remembered them, but Palm tried to stay positive.

She walked to their bedroom, and laid in the bed. She could hear Onyx snoring in the next room. Almost an hour later, she felt Smolder climb into bed, and twist his tail around hers. She grinned, as she knew nothing could never stop their love.