Wings Of Fire | #2 | The Lost Heir | Switched Dragonets AU

Chapter 19

"WHERE ARE THEY?!" A voice screamed. Anemone jolted awake. "WHERE ARE THE DRAGONETS? WHERE IS MY EGG!?" The voice screamed again. "Up here," An unfamiliar voice called. Anemone leaped to her feet, and saw it was an adult female SandWing, she had yellow and white-gold scales as pale as desert sand, with a pattern of black diamond scales running down her spine that writhed as she moved, she had cold, glittering, obsidian-black eyes and a snake-like gaze, as well as a long, cunning face and a serpentine figure, her voice was cold, hard, purring, icy, and slithering, with a strange hiss to it, her eyes glittered with danger and malevolence, she was smaller than Burn, with an eerie stillness about her, like a venomous snake about to strike, she had no scars, but her pitch-dark eyes were similar to Burn, her tail moved across the floor like a snake, she had a forked black tongue, and an aura of menace seemed to surround her, Anemone noticed that the storm finally passed, Anemone didn't need to know who it was. "Well, hello, so nice to meet you, I'm Queen Blister," The SandWing said, "Staying dry out of the storm, I presume, very wise."
"You all need to wake up, now," Anemone whispered loudly. "Where is my egg?!" Coral screamed loudly. And Tsunami was close behind her, a bit worried where the unhatched dragonet was, but mostly annoyed by Coral. "Safe and warm, like I promised," Anemone said. "You never said anything about a SandWing touching my egg!" Coral argued. "Oh, but, Coral, these are not ordinary dragonets, if they can't be trusted with our future, who can?" Blister asked. Coral calmed down, and invited them all to breakfast.
Anemone glanced around at the SeaWing guards, and noticed there were two she knew. Is that Snail and Herring? So Mother hasn't punished them yet, Anemone thought, Maybe she plans to make a spectacle of them
Well, two can play at that game.
"Mother! I have something dreadfully shocking to tell you!" Anemone exclaimed dramatically. "Oh? Could we discuss it after breakfast?" Coral said calmly. "No, this is too shocking," Anemone said. Coral, Blister, Umber, Moon, Kinkajou, Ostrich and all the SeaWing guards turned to Anemone, wondering WHAT she was talking about. "Would you believe that my friends- The Dragonets Of Destiny- Were chained up? And starved? By your dragons?" Anemone said. By the end of that sentence, Kinkajou looked away, looking bored, Moon looked down to her talons, and Umber and Ostrich looked in a different direction (Umber ate the food in front of him, and Ostrich slightly glared at Blister). "Of course I'm sure you didn't know anything about it," Anemone said. "Oh, of course not," Coral said. "I'm sure you'll want to punish the dragons who disobeyed you," Anemone said. Anemone then stole a quick glance for a certain SeaWing, and her blue eyes laid on a plump, turquoise-scaled SeaWing, Lagoon. "For instance, the one who lied to you about keeping them well fed?" Anemone asked. "Yes, yes, certainly, guards! throw Lagoon into one of the underwater dungeons!" Queen Coral demanded. "But- I was only- "Next time you'll obey my orders!" Coral interrupted. Lagoon tried to say something again, but Coral flashed something and she instantly shut her snout, and Anemone instantly knew what she said. Silence. Oh Mother, you did know, Anemone thought, disappointed. Lagoon was grabbed by two guards and taken to the dungeon. "And guess who ordered your guards to chain up Umber? Commander Shark! is that not utterly shocking?" Anemone said, "Imagine these poor guards' distress, having to choose between their commander and their queen! Naturally, they chose you."
"That's why they gave me the key, they understood that's what you would have wanted."
"It sounds like those guards are practically heroes," Coral muttered. "And Shark?" Anemone asked. "To the dungeon as well," Coral said. Anemone snuck a glance at Shark, he was also being grabbed by SeaWing guards and taken to the underwater dungeons. She'll probably let him out as soon as she can, but atleast we'll all be safer for a day or two, Anemone thought. "Such excitement, if we're quite finished with our morning theatrics, lets chat about our brave, clever Dragonets Of Destiny," Blister said. The SandWing then shifted her eyes and turned her head towards Kinkajou. "Kinkajou, I'd heard you weren't a SkyWing, but that doesn't bother me, SkyWings are overrated," She said. "You heard? How? Nobody knew, not even the other talons!" Anemone said. "Let's say I have friends, NightWing friends," Blister said, "So I've heard a lot about you."
Blister turned her head toward Umber. "You must be the burly one," Blister said. She then turned her head to Ostrich. "As for you. . ." She said, "So sweet."
Blister then put her talon under Ostrich's chin, and Ostrich was about to swing her tail at her, when Umber stomped his tail on her, Ostrich rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you've heard things about me, too, but you can't always trust rumors and propaganda," Blister said, "Please, ask me anything, I would love to help you make your decision."
"I bet you would," Anemone muttered under her breath. "I assume you have a plan to fulfill this prophecy, don't you?" Blister asked. "We're working on it," Anemone blurted. "Um, but, we think you, of course- er- you'd make a great, uh- "Moon, you can't speak for all of us," Anemone said. "Then who does?" Blister asked. "We speak for ourselves," Kinkajou said. "Yeah!" Ostrich agreed. "And we haven't decided anything yet," Anemone said. "I'mjustsayingshe'dbealright," Moon blurted. "You're quite right,  NightWing, she's an excellent queen," Coral agreed with Moon. Queen Coral then turned her head to Blister.  "Oh, Queen Blister, I meant to tell you the strangest thing happened, we found a dead SkyWing in our territory!" Coral exclaimed. Oops, I really should have found a way to tell them about Kestrel by now. . . Anemone thought. "Oh? Sounds like good news to me," Blister said. "But what's strange is she'd been venom-stabbed by a SandWing," Coral explained. SandWing venom? I didn't know that, Anemone thought, But then, who killed Kestrel?
"That is very peculiar," Blister said. "I wonder who she was, she had these odd burn scars on her face "Oh no!" Ostrich interrupted unintentionally, "That sounds like Kestrel! Anemone, what if it was Kestrel?"
"Anemone, is there something you want to tell us?" Coral asked. "Yes, I'm sorry, I saw her, it was Kestrel," Anemone confessed. Ostrich then began to cry in tears. "Your SandWing seems distressed," Blister observed. "Kestrel was one of the guardians who raised us," Anemone admitted, "She doesn't deserve your grief, Ostrich."
Coral slightly glared at Anemone. "Let me get this clear, you recognized this SkyWing and chose not to tell us?" Coral asked. "I wanted to tell my friends first, Kestrel wasn't a good parent, but she was all we had," Anemone confessed. "Forgive her, Coral, it can be very shocking, seeing the dead body of a dragon you know," Blister said, "Especially when you've wanted to slash her throat once or twice yourself, right, Anemone?" Blister asked. Slash her throat? Mother never said that part, how did Blister know? Anemone thought.