Falcon was a young SkyWing with a special ability; he could enchant things at his will. His mother called it "animus magic." She also told him that the Queen was afraid of animus dragons, and that if he ever returned to his home, the Sky Kingdom, he would be executed if he was ever found out.
So Falcon grew up in the Diamond Spray Delta, on a strip of pebbled beach surrounded by crowded forest. There, his mother, an animus named Phoenix, taught him how to control his powers, and make sure he knew how much magic to use and what spells would affect his soul. As he grew older, he mastered his abilities, and was a strong and wise animus.
His life was good. He had a loving mother, an endless supply of food, and no worries in the world. And if anything dared to hurt him or his mother, he could use his animus magic to defend himself.
But nothing could've prepared him for this.
Falcon awoke one morning to his mother dead on the shore. He didn't know what had happened. He tried reviving her, but his magic just wasn't strong enough.
He was filled with rage. Who would dare kill his mother?
Suddenly, before Falcon was a huge SkyWing adorned with jewels and a crown. It had to have been the queen.
Falcon remembered what his mother had told him about the queen. It had to have been her who killed Phoenix.
So he took revenge.
Falcon enchanted himself to be immortal, and once he did that, he mercilessly killed the queen and her entire army.
He didn't care if the kingdom fell into chaos. He had lost his mother.
A queen was replaceable. Phoenix was not.
He decided he would travel the continent, so no one could predict where or who he was. Maybe, in another time, he could return to his real home, and bring back animus magic to the SkyWings.
...
Eagle's story started when Falcon returned to his home, nearly 2.5 thousand years later. He loved his kingdom. It was beautiful, it was clean, and it was peaceful.
He met a nice young SkyWing named Dove, and immediately felt a strong connection to her. He had fallen in love with her, and she had fallen in love with him. They were perfect for each other in every way.
Then Dove had a dragonet. She named him Eagle.
Everything seemed wonderful at first, until Eagle started being able to do unexplainable things.
Once, Dove had fallen ill. She still had to take care of Eagle. One night, she heard him whisper, "Mommy, please get better." The next day, Dove felt her illness just cease to exist.
Maybe it was a coincidence. That's what Dove tried to tell herself.
But then she found that Eagle could move objects at his will.
One day, she walked in on Eagle laughing at the objects in his room floating in the air.
"Eagle! What is going on?!" Dove had asked, concerned, and honestly confused.
Eagle frowned and said, "ok, bedroom, stop floating."
The objects then gently landed back in their original places.
"Eagle, are you-"
"An animus," Falcon had answered. That's when Dove found out that Falcon was an animus who enchanted himself to be immortal.
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Dove had demanded.
"I was scared you would look at me differently."
"I would never! But now our son has abilities that could get all 3 of us killed!"
"Well, technically just the 2 of you, unless you want me to enchant you and Eagle, too."
"No! I wanted a normal family! I don't wanna live in secrecy with the burden of my son being an animus!"
"Oh tell the whole kingdom, will you!"
Eagle didn't understand why Dove and Falcon had fought. Not then, at least. It took him a while to realize why.
It also took him a while to realize why Falcon left the next day, and why Dove was never the same after.
It was because Dove wanted a normal life. But she could never have that. Not if her husband was immortal, and her son was an animus.
Maybe if she got her wish, then Eagle wouldn't have been found out and imprisoned by the queen. She said she'd keep him alive if he did what she wanted and kept her young and beautiful.
Obviously, Eagle denied at first. He didn't think she could do anything to him.
He was wrong.
Skyblaze had killed Dove. She claimed it was so Eagle could learn his place.
And so he became a slave to the tyrant queen. He would enchant her scales to be young, beautiful, and invincible, and she would let him do as he please.
His identity was a struggle over the years. He soon faded from the young, innocent boy his mother knew, to a dragon with a sliver of an identity. He took away his gender. It helped them feel comfortable in their scales.
They felt less guilt knowing they weren't who used to be. The old Eagle let Skyblaze take advantage of him.
But now, Eagle would make sure Skyblaze never hurt anyone again.
...
"Oh, my," the entire crew had said in unison.
Soot wrapped a wing around Eagle. "It's okay, Eagle. We won't let 'er hurt you, or anyone again."
"Yeah, that's kinda the whole reason we're all here," Cinder added.
"I guess you could say we're the Revolution," Ronin said with laugh.
"Welp, before we go back to kill Skyblaze, I need my armor back."
"It's still at my place," Comet said. "While we're there, we can gear up for the journey ahead."
The others nodded in agreement.
And so, they headed off to the Rainforest, but this time, with a plan. Soot and Eagle would go consult Queen Passionfruit, and explain everything to her. While they did that, the Ragtags would go to Comet's den and gear up. Hopefully, if everything worked, they could get Passionfruit as an ally, and get one step closer to dethroning Skyblaze.
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Cinder: In No Way, a Hero || Book 3
General Fiction|| BOOK 3 || Cinder and Angel reunited, but where are the others? Has IR returned? Has Skyblaze gotten to them? Were they even alive? Cinder was willing to find any way to know, which leads to an unexpected alliance, disturbing secrets finally shar...
