Wings of Fire; The Creed

Chapter 16

Starburst opened her eyes to the smell of smoke, and a faint orange glow coming through her eyelids. As her eyes adjusted to the bright lights up ahead, she got blasted with a wave of heat. There was a large boom up ahead, jolting Starburst fully awake.

Everywhere she looked, large columns of smoke billowed out of monstrous flames. The roar of the searing wind sounded as though hundreds of dragons were roaring at once.

She heard the screams of dragons coming from the flames up ahead. Ash and cinders floated down gently from the air above, which was covered in a thick, black blanket of smoke.

Starburst tried to take off, jumping to propel herself a bit, but when she tried to extend her wings, something sharp bit down on them, keeping them closed. She looked over to her wings, finding that they were bound, with claw-like things wrapping around the inside of her wings, biting down on her as she tried to open her wings.

"Oh no..." Starburst said, filled with dismay.

She started to run as fast as possible toward the fire and screaming, hoping, maybe... maybe she could save someone, help someone, or do ANYTHING! As Starburst ran, the mud of the forest floor gripped on her talons, holding her down.

I need to go faster! Come on! Stupid mud! Let me run faster! Please!

Tears sprang from her eyes as she continued to struggle through the mud, desperately trying to get out of the mud. The mud felt cold and hard, and it irritated her scales.

Finally, after what felt like eons of trudging through the mud, she arrived at the center of the flames. The air smelled like boiled blood and burnt flesh, causing Starburst to gag a little. She looked up to see the RainWing village on fire, dozens of burnt and mangled bodies on the floor, the mud red with...

Starburst looked over at one of the bodies, feeling sick to the stomach. Through the smoke and the charred scales of the dragon she was looking at, she could see dark red blood coming out of multiple cuts from their body.

Starburst looked away, not wanting to see the horror all around her. She looked up at the blazing village seeing, what felt like hundreds, of those cloaked dragons flying around, the village, lighting the whole place on fire, and everyone who managed to escape the flames, got caught by the cloaked figures and disappeared into the smoke.

I need to get up there! I need to find Firefly! How do I get up there!?

Starburst looked around quickly, the scorching heat from the blaze making her feel like her scales were melting. There were a few branches here or there that were not fully alight, giving just enough room for her to fit and be able to climb.

Starburst started to run over to the branches, hoping that she could reach enough branches to use as a ladder, however, when she tried to take a step, something was holding down her talons. She pulled and pulled, but her talons barely budged.

She grunted as she pulled on her talons, trying to free herself, but every time her talons even slightly lifted, something stretchy pulled them back down.

"Come... ON! Let me GO!" She grunted, pulling with all her fleeting strength.

She looked down at her talons, thinking that it was maybe just the mud or something, but when she looked at her talons, she saw long, thick vines slowly enveloping her legs, holding her down, forcing her to stay in place.

"NO! Let Go! Please!" she cried, pulling with all her might, but it was too late. The vines were already too thick and had too much of a grip to be able to pull apart.

She started to hyperventilate, panic overpowering any feeling of focus. She couldn't think straight. All she could think about was Firefly, and the fire burning everything.

"Starburst," a wispy, gravelly voice said from her right.

She looked over, not able to hide her fear. Her entire body was shaking, tears rolling down her cheeks, and a layer of ash partially covering her back. Even though the giant blaze above her was glowing brightly, there was still enough shadow to hide the figure talking to her.

The figure stepped out of the shadow, exposing mud and blood-covered scales. Through the patches of mud and the splatters of blood She could see black scales, but not like burnt scales, because they had a slight sheen to them, which was strange because as Starburst studied the figure, they also had a barbed tail...