A Promise To The Stars

Chapter Six

Silver quickly retracted with a drowsy look in his eyes, and Sulphur tensed up, internally bubbling with rage. "Oh." He managed to blurt out, as Silver wrinkled his snout in an amused way with a triumphant snort, as if this was his destiny, and he wanted this all along. Sulphur had an expression on his face, as if he were mortally offended.

She's my sister, he growled within his head, you can't just take her away from me... Sulphur put a talon up to protest against what he had done, but quickly put it down with a sigh, twirling himself around to face the orchard.

Amber blinked up at the wolgan, and slowly crept away with her wings bent behind her back. She took a look at Sulphur and sadness filled her eyes along with a tear.

Silver frowned, but it was visibly fake from what Sulphur could see out of the corner of his eye. He spat on the floor and then proceeded to storm through the forest, leaving a path of destruction in his wake.

"Jealous?" he could hear a voice say in a raspy tone from above, and a branch shook as a whoosh was heard from above him. Sulphur's horns perked up, and he glanced around the area suspiciously, peeking around to see where the voice had come from. It was in a serious tone, yet with a hint of enjoyment, as if he was taunting him.

He shook off the feeling, and continued to trek through the tall grasses cautiously, thinking to himself.

Stupid, stupid intruders. He groaned internally, and clawed at a tree trunk as he passed, leaving deep marks within the bark. He truly felt defeated... and even worse, replaced.

One of his worst fears was replacement, he had to protect all that he had left for the sake of sanity. Alone, he'd go insane, and he knew that. It was a trait he developed, from what he guessed, from one of his family members if he had any. Well, he had to have family members, but if they were... alive.

Sulphur snapped to his thoughts, and he stared blankly at a tree, his heart pounding against his chest. Family, he said in his mind, his vision becoming dizzy. Real family, what if it is out there?

"That wolgan is a murderer." Whispered an oncoming voice, which caught Sulphur off guard, and he leaped to his talons with his tail raised above his head. "He murdered his own kin, killing his mother whilst his father managed to escape. Topaz was her name, he struck her in the skull with his talons a year ago, and he's such a young killer."

"Who are you?" Sulphur barked up at the leaves, feeling an uneasy feeling cave into his stomach. His heart pulsed against his ribcage as he waited for an answer anxiously, resting his talons against the bark of a tree.

"You may not know of me yet, but I assure that I know you, it has been a long time since I've seen you, quite a while indeed." The voice seemed sympathetic, but Sulphur knew deep down in his stomach that he must be vigilant, strong and secretive, proving his authority to be a Sagittarius hatchling.

"I can tell you more about Silver if you can prove yourself to me." The voice said in a convincing tone which sent shivers down the young wolgan's spine, twisting his stomach into knots. "For now, though, please, I advise you to keep going on with your daily doohickeys and such, do not pay attention to me. I will call you when you seem prepared to comply."

Continue with my daily doohickeys? Sulphur scoffed internally and began to glare up into the snarling branches above, his mind pondering on whom the voice came from.

He blinked through the leaves and saw Silver lying there with his sister, and he felt a spear of jealousy drive right through his chest, and he narrowed his eyes. Silver locked talons with Amber, and smiled graciously down at her.

I wonder what I could do... Sulphur said, and then glanced away for a moment to see something swiftly leap through the trees. There were vines trailing down the trunks, and he got a sudden idea. "Ahah," he blurted out loud, and quickly covered his mouth with his talons, before approaching the vines and ripping some of them from the trees above.

He wrapped the vines around in his talons, twirling them around and he snickered, throwing them to the side. I'm going to take him far away from here, he planned, and I'm going to get him away for good. He then started to run towards the clearing where the two were laying, his talons skidding across the forest floor.

"Silver," he bellowed, attempting to sound as professional as possible, and the smaller dragon peered up at him with a careless expression. "Yes?" he hissed, sounding quite annoyed with the sudden disturbance.

"Come with me." Sulphur growled, and gestured his talons into the woods, and suddenly, Silver's eyes sparked with interest and he nodded, getting off of the grass without taking a second glance back down at Amber, who was now asleep.

He and Silver trekked through the forest, and Sulphur felt a sudden burst of triumphant jubilance, as he walked. "What do you want, weirdo?" Silver asked with a cackle whilst rolling his eyes, as Sulphur whirled around to face him, then took his talons above his head and slammed them into the side of Silver's skull.

The wolgan plummeted to the ground, blinking wildly as he stared up at Sulphur in disbelief, as his talons were being bound in the vines, being strapped against the tree. "What do you think you're doing?" he roared once more before his mouth was caught within the tangling green ropes. "Mph, MMH MMPH!" he muttered, and his tail started to smack against the ground.

"You're a murderer." Sulphur admitted, and noticed what he had said, before shaking his head. Am I really going to believe that voice in the trees? It sounded familiar, but that doesn't mean I should trust it...

"Hmph?" Silver blurted out, and the dragon in front of him slammed him against the trunk of the tree, and he felt a spike of guilt being driven up his spine. "I'm sorry," Sulphur whispered, clutching the bark in his talons while shaking his head. "You... you messed with the wrong dragon." He said and turned around, his tail swaying from behind him as he began to walk away.

Silver let out a defeated sigh, and laid up against the tree while shaking his head. He blinked at Sulphur one last time before he disappeared within the bushes.

What did I just do? Sulphur wondered, his actions getting to his head. What am I doing...? This isn't right... but I can't go back now. Gah! What is wrong with me? He crushed a twig beneath his talons, and began to sprint through the trees. It was just my fears spiking up again, he told himself, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Too late to change my decision," he said aloud, approaching Amber as she slept, making sure that she was okay. "Good." He snorted, and laid down against the trunk of a tree, carving his talons deep into the bark.

He heard a rustle, and a voice calling out Silver's name, and the guilt was rushing back to him. Envy had taken total control over his body, it wasn't him who did that.

"Silver left us," Sulphur stated, the lie rolling off of his tongue, seeming so wrong. "He left us for another group of dragons, I'm sorry." He saw Amber crawl out of her sleeping position and waddle over to him, her eyes stained with tears.

She grabbed hold of Sulphur's shoulders and leaned closer, and he felt her wet feathers lean against his. Was she... crying? No, this wasn't right, he didn't want to cause any damage...

"I'm so, so sorry..." he whispered, and took his claws against her back with a sigh, glancing away from her. She sobbed into his shoulder for a while before releasing, and staring deep into his eyes.

"Did he really?" she asked curiously, and brushed the tears away from her eyes with a few more sobs. He nodded slowly, and cringed at his sick, sick lie. "Yes, he did, and he isn't coming back for us."

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