Raised of Fire (a WOF story)

Chapter Three: Vengeful Heart

Amaranth had calmed from her constant anger in the past couple of days, but she was still grieving. Her heart had felt like it was ripped from her chest and crushed before her eyes. The day after her hatching day was the day that the only one she loved had been taken from her.

Amaranth stared down at the stone floor in her room. Relatives that she'd never met had wafted by her, speaking to her as if she was so idiotic that she didn't realize what had happened. No one believed that she had seen it. No one believed what she said had happened. Why would two SandWings be handing around the outskirts of the Sky Kingdom with two NightWings? Amaranth couldn't find an answer. Thieves? Outlaws? A gang? She had no idea.

She had hardly moved from her rock bed since that day. Her wings were slumped over her and she no longer even tried to speak. No one would hear her anyways. Every now and then someone would try to get her to eat something. She only would take a few bites at most.

One of these times, however, an uncle that she didn't know she had came into her room and sat beside her. She did not look up.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this," he said in his gruff voice. "You are a SkyWing. SkyWings do not grieve. We are warriors, designed to kill and burn, not to mope and cry. How will you ever grow strong if you don't eat or move? It's time for you to stop wallowing in your own misery and do something about it," He then dropped the limp body of a bird beside her and turned to leave.

Amaranth had heard him, but only then did it register in her mind what he had said. She was a SkyWing, born to fight. She would grow strong. She would do something about it. Her vow had vanished from her thoughts, but it had returned in a fiery storm to the front of her mind. Amaranth felt her hunger twisting inside of her and knew that he was right. She clawed the feathers from the bird and charred the body before ripping it up with her teeth. It was gone in less than a moment.

She stood on shaky legs that had grown weaker. Her heart began to pump faster as she walked out of her room. Glide and her uncle were having a chat in fierce whispers that she could not make out. Her other family members had left.

Amaranth appeared shyly beside the two of them, though with at least a cow length away, and flicked her talons on the floor, unsure of what to say. After realizing that they hadn't even noticed her, she look the time to listen to them.

"But she's so lazy," Glide whined.

Her uncle spoke next in his harsh, raspy voice. "Perhaps she would stop being so lazy if you gave her something to do other than your chores."

Amaranth smiled. She was beginning to like her uncle. He was practical.

"But Peak," the pale orange dragoness said. "What can I give her to do? She hasn't done a thing lately."

Amaranth decided that it was time for her to make herself known. She came closer to them and looked up. "I want to practice my flying," she said. Flying? Really? What was I thinking? Amaranth questioned herself. Flight had been the first thing to come to her mind. She glanced down and flicked her claws on the ground.

They both looked down at her, startled. Luckily for her, Glide was too unprepared for her arrival in their conversation to chastise her for undermining her opinions.

Peak glanced between the two of them. Amaranth thought that he was probably going to carefully pick his words so that a "No," would sound a bit nicer. When he spoke, however, he had carefully picked his response to solve another issue.

"I'd be glad to take her off your talons, Glide. You won't have her distracting you, and you can get your work done," he said with a sheepish grin. Amaranth had to battle laughter.

The two of them had left Glide annoyed and speechless as they whisked out the entrance to the cave. They stood on the cliffs that were just outside. Amaranth spread out her wings and let the gradients of gold and orange catch the sunlight. It had been ages since she had enjoyed the sun, but she would not loose focus on her goal.

"Do you believe me?" Amaranth said.

Peak looked somewhat distant for a moment. He then met her gaze. Amaranth hadn't really gotten a good look at him. His scales were red, like hers, but he had a lot more orange on him, like in his underbelly scales and the thick, armored platings along a SkyWing's spine and shoulders. His eyes were a striking yellow.

"Yes," he said and did not elaborate.

Amaranth nodded silently. She was glad to have at least one dragon on her side.

"I want to be a fighter. How can I get strong?" she asked somewhat naïvely.

He was silent for a moment before he spoke once more. "So you what to join the war, ey?" he rumbled.

Amaranth nodded. She didn't really know that much about it, but she knew that the warriors were fighting the other tribes in it. That would include the ones she hated most. She felt a seeping determination rising through her.

"You must first read. Learn what you can about combat and how this conflict began. Then, you must grow. Exercise and push yourself to your limits. Your real strength, however," he said as he put his talon to her heart, "comes from within. You must find what your fighting for. Only then will you discover your true strength. Now, spread those wings of yours and show me what you've got."

Amaranth leaped into the air and began flying laps around him, trying to do as he said and push her speed. She was growing tired fast and had to slow down, but still kept going. She was a SkyWing. She would be a great flier.

Peak had told her to find strength from within. Well, she thought as she flapped as fast as she could. I've got my strength in my vengeful heart.