Lost and Dead - a Wings of Fire FanFiction [Book 1/5 of The Corrupt Continent]

Prologue

It was the day that would change the world forever.

Mallard looked out to the horizon, where the sun was slowly slipping out of the ocean. Seagulls called in the sky and the scent of salt filled her nostrils. White-capped waves lapped at her claws, making the sand under her talons sludgy. All her tribe was gathered around her - the queen, her sister, others from her village, everyone. The SandWings and NightWings had driven her whole tribe off of Pyrrhia, as well as the SkyWings. Because of them, she had to leave behind her home. She hated them.

"Get ready to fly!"

Queen Lily's voice carried over the silent crowd. Dragons adjusted their pouches, or lifted slings from the ground. They were filled with dragons who couldn't fly - the old, the young, the sick, the injured. A quarter of the population was carrying a sling.

Anger filled Mallard once again. How dare they force her tribe out when they were so weak! The Emperor War had only ended a year ago - leaving many, many injured dragons. And so many dragons had unhatched eggs - including Mallard. She had to make huge pouches to be able to carry all eight of them, and even then she had to give some to her sister.

"Hurry up already!" snarled Emperor Diamondback. "We want you gone!"

He stood on a wooden dias behind the crowd, with a cohort of guards surrounding him. Many disdainful glances were sent his way, but no one dared speak up. It was better to be alive and banished than dead.

"MudWings, to the sky!" Queen Lily ordered. Mallard crouched and spread her wings, doing one last check of her pouches. Yes, all of her eggs were secured. With a huge beat of her wings, she launched herself into the sky, along with the rest of her tribe.

"It'll be okay," her sister told her, just as Queen Rook took off with the rest of the SkyWings.

"I hope so," Mallard sighed back. Amber gave her a sympathetic smile and brushed her wing tips against Mallards.
"Just think, your eggs are the most mature of any of the others," Amber said. "They could be the first dragonets to hatch in our new home!"

Mallard forced a smile. "I guess that's cool. I just wish. . . I wish we didn't have to leave our old home."

Amber's smile faded. "I know," she sighed. "But I suppose this will give us new opportunities. We can make new traditions! Advance our societies! Increase our knowledge! Invent new things! You just have to look on the bright side."

Mallard smiled - for real this time. "I suppose," she said. "And I guess I would rather my dragonets grow up on a peaceful continent, instead of one which is struck by war every fifty years."

Amber laughed. "Like, seriously! Wasn't the longest time we went without war like sixty-one years or something? Since the Brightest Night Prophecy, I mean."

"It was actually sixty-eight-" Mallard was cut off by a scream next to her. Twisting, she saw the dragon that was next to her falling rapidly towards the sea, his wings on fire.

"KILL THEM!" Emperor Diamondback's voice shouted. Looking back, Mallard saw that his dias was on fire - one of the SkyWings or MudWings must have lit it before they flew. His cape was a smouldering mess on the ground and his guards were washing seawater over the burns that covered his body.

"FLY!" Queen Lily and Queen Rook ordered at the same time.

Mallard pumped her wings, watching dragons all around her fall. The SandWings were hurtling burning spears and arrows at them, and some were even flying through the crowd, stabbing dragons with their tails. For the first time, fear for her life shot through her veins. Fear for her eggs came with it.

She kept flying, hoping that she wouldn't be hit. It took her almost ten seconds to realise that Amber wasn't next to her anymore.

Grief almost made her fall. She and Amber had been the only females in their sib clutch - not that that meant anything, but it made them closer together than to their five brothers. All of them had died in the Emperor War. And now her last sib was dead too.

One second laughing beside her, the next falling silently to her death, along with three of Mallard's eggs.

Choking down her sobs, Mallard continued flying. It would be no good to break down and weep - she needed to keep going. For her eggs, and for herself.

Focusing straight ahead, she powered on. She ignored the screams of the falling dragons around her and just. Kept. Flying.

Yeeeah, a bit of a short start, I know, but I promise the other chapters will be longer! Chapter 1 is 1.7k and Chapter 2 is 1.8k I think. They won't be more than like 2.5k though, as I found that that was what made me stop writing Shadowing Peaks -  I couldn't make myself write so much without a chapter break in the middle.

ALSO, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE POINT OUT ANY MISTAKES!!! Don't be afraid to go 'hey, you spelled ____ wrong here' !!! I really appreciate when you do it!