Wings of Fire #1: Sahara's Destiny

Chapter 3

Animus. Sahara echoed. So that's what the queen was talking about when I was a dragonet. Animus dragons had all the power in the world to do absolutely anything. They could use their power to create large structures, heal wounds, and maybe even create new dragons. But you could also use your magic for evil. Three moons. I have the power to do anything. Good or bad. Sahara realized. Heatwave walked up to her and put one wing over her back. "Even though your an animus," he warned. "you must use your magic wisely. If you overuse it, you'll lose your soul." He gave her a concerned look and she nodded.

"But you can always enchant something to protect it." another voice suggested. Sahara glanced up and beamed.

"Dolphin!" she cried. The SeaWing was hovering above them and had a smile on her face. Dolphin landed and Sahara rushed up to her. She hugged Dolphin and the SeaWing hugged her back.

"I see you've made your first animus-touched object." she observed. Dolphin examined Sahara's pouch and mused. Dolphin took a pearl from her necklace and held it between her claws. She closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

"This pearl should keep your soul safe as long as you keep it in your pouch." Dolphin informed as she put the pearl in Sahara's pouch. Sahara's eyes widened as she stared at Dolphin. Was the SeaWing an animus, too? Dolphin whispered something in Heatwave's ear and he nodded.

"Sahara please, come with us." he insisted. Heatwave and Dolphin lifted into the air and Sahara glanced back at the Scorpion Den. She was leaving Fennec unexpectingly, but she wanted to go back and tell her. But she'll be asleep once I get back too. She remembered. So Sahara figured Fennec wouldn't need to know where she was going. Sahara lifted into the air and joined them. "Where are we going?" she wondered.

"To a place. . .A very special place." Heatwave answered.

Only two of the three moons were visible. One was a quarter full and the other was a small crescent. As they flew east, Sahara could only imagine what the place looked like. Was it like a normal forest or a magical hidden palace that only animus dragons could see? How many dragons were there? Sahara had so many questions to ask them, but she decided to wait. It had only been a hour into their flight and the two started to descend to the ground. They landed in open desert. No plants, water, or other dragons. Just, lots and lots of sand. Sahara frowned and snorted. "There's nothing here." she pointed out.

Dolphin and Heatwave laughed and they turned towards her. "There's something here." Heatwave grinned. "Just be patient." He eyed Dolphin and she nodded. She turned back around and straightened her posture.

"Oh, great sands." she announced. "Please open the tunnel we desire to enter."

The sand shook and Sahara's eyes widened. A large stone tunnel rose from the sand and a pathway was created along with it. The tunnel had two torches on the sides of the rims and lit themselves up, along with more torches on the inside, one by one. As they walked through, Sahara started to see light show up on the other side. On the other side, Dolphin and Heatwave stopped before the exit of the tunnel. Sahara kept walking and soon bumped into something she couldn't see.

"Oh, my!" a female voice laughed. "Watch yourself now."

Sahara frantically shook her head and stared at where she heard the voice. Suddenly, a RainWing with her wings spread wide appeared. She was a light blue with darker blue horns. She had a dark blue face pattern and purple spines along her back. Her fins were purple with yellow on the inside. She had yellow pattern spots along her neck, legs, and tail. Her underscales and undersides of her wings were a light blue and she had yellow eyes. Her claws and wingtips were black and down to the end of her tail, it became a light purple. The RainWing was hanging upside down from the tunnel exit and smiled at Sahara.

Sahara yelped and jumped back. The RainWing flipped down to her talons and grinned. "Ivy, don't scare our guest." Dolphin giggled. Ivy rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Well, it's not my fault the poor SandWing didn't see me." she said.

"You were invisible!" Sahara clarified. "How was I suppose to see you?" Ivy glanced at her and curled her tail upwards.

"Technically, I was camouflaged." she corrected.

"We were only testing you to see how you'd react when we stopped." Dolphin informed.

Sahara glared at her and sighed. "Okay, but next time, no more surprises from anyone."

"I think we can do that." Heatwave nodded. Ivy led them up to tree platforms and Sahara had a thought.

"Are we in the rainforest?" she wondered.

'Cause, she remembered seeing a random tunnel once while she and Fennec were flying. Fennec said it went to the rainforest and Sahara was really tempted to go look, but they didn't have time.

"No, we're not in the rainforest." Ivy said with a tone of sadness in her voice. Sahara studied the glorious place and saw lots and lots of lights, tropical colors, and buildings. There were streets and bridges and lots of dragons flying around. There were tall structures made from stone and wood and had all colors worth of fire globes on them.

There was trading posts, shops, and food stands. Some dragons were sitting on logs by a campfire while some were just walking around along the streets. Sahara saw mostly SandWings, but she could also spot RainWings in hammocks, MudWings and SkyWings wearing armor, SeaWings swimming in lakes and ponds, NightWings with other dragons gathering around them, and IceWings using their frostbreath to freeze trees. This place is like a paradise. Sahara gasped. Ivy took them to a large hut in the trees made from thick vines and flowers. Inside, it had a wood floor that was polished and IceWings, NightWings, and SkyWings were sitting in places around a small fire.

"Won't this place catch on fire?" Sahara worried. Ivy barked a laugh and shook her head.

"This place is animus-touched." she explained. "It will never burn on the inside and out. Plus, so is everything around here." Ivy gestured back outside and Sahara became astonished. This whole village was made by an animus dragon who knew how many years ago. She wondered who. If only Fennec could see this.

"Now, time for a little history on this place, in the library."