A worldwide war that was caused by the SkyWings causes thousands of dragons to be slaugtered, all in the name of power by the new SkyWing queen. Gavin, a NightWing with an odd name and the first NightWing animus in generations, was threatened to be...
Gavin stretched his long neck as he blinked repeatedly, his eyes not used to the darkness of the waiting room. He's been waiting for the queen for about an hour in the pitch black room. He wished he could see in the dark like a SeaWing. Scraping his claws against the stone floor, he got onto his feet, eyes straining in the penetrating darkness, desperate to see some form of light.
Gavin still pondered about why he was here. In the dark, Gavin puffed a small flame from his mouth before letting the room descend into darkness. The black, while daunting and filled with the unknown, was almost soothing to his eyes. He then closed his eyes, wondering when the guards would come find him and take him to the queen. They may come now, or not for another few hours. Gavin would never know.
There was a clang of metal against metal. Gavin jerked awake from his brief reverie, his translucent green eyes flying open and widening. At last, a glowing rectangle appeared, defining the opening of a door. Four heavily armed guards entered, all pointing wickedly sharp spears at his chest intimidatingly, wearing wary and frightened expressions on their snouts.
Gavin didn't know why they bothered with so much security. He was utterly harmless.
"The queen will see you now," said one of the guards, voice trembling as they spoke in an authoritative tone. "Let's get going. The queen said she has urgent business to talk to you about."
Gavin allowed the guards to lead him from the room. He tried to look small as he walked past other dragons of the NightWing palace, but that was difficult. He was almost as large as the guards escorting him. "What kind of 'urgent business' does the queen need to talk to me about?" Gavin found the courage to ask. The guard directly to his left shot him a sideways glance, swaying his tail irritably. "We do not know."
Gavin and the guards didn't speak as much after that. Gavin just followed the guards through the halls, looking at the beautiful tapestries and colorful stained windows. With each step he took, his talons tapped against the stone floor, causing an annoying tip-tap sound.
"The queen's council is in session at the moment. Whatever urgent business the queen had to discuss with you had better not be too much of an emergency." The tremor that had been present in her voice earlier had vanished. There was more guards nearby, and it must've comforted her. Now, she was tired, commanding, and utterly in control.
"Come on, then," the dark dragon hissed, beckoning with her tail. "The rest of you, I can take care of this one on my own. Back to your other duties."
The dragon was already heading for another one of the tunnels. During the escort, the heard one dragon call the guard "Darkie". It may or may not could've been her actual name, but Gavin assumed it was.
"The queen is at her daily council meeting," Darkie said curtly once they'd reach the throne room of the palace. "If you need anything, there are guards posted outside of the throne room. Expect the queen to come shortly." She left briskly, and Gavin was relieved from the grumpy NightWing's presence. The whole walk had been one awkward moment to another. Neither of them had said anything, not attempted to imitate a conversation.
Gavin was set about waiting for the queen. Every learning session he'd had in the NightWing village was boring and tedious. Maybe the queen was going to teach him something interesting and new, and not some boring story about how all great and powerful NightWings were. In the center of the room was an ornate throne made of dark, polished mahogany, with plush red velvet lining and gold leaping dragons on the armrest. The queen's throne was on a platform, five steps above the rest of the room, so it was clear who had all of the authority. Behind the throne, on the back wall, was a dark but beautiful mosaic of the queen herself holding the three moons in her claws, inlaid with some of the royal treasury; glittering diamond, beautiful oynx, glinting white quartz, with moonstone, labradorite, and hints of ruby. On both sides of the throne lay two strange objects that was foreign to Gavin; a weird staff that had a jagged point, and a very long dagger, that Gavin assumed was a sword, perhaps from a scavenger. In the scrolls, it was said to be infused with the power of foresight; the queen and her advisories could gaze into the smooth reflection of the weapon and see what the future had in store for them.
Usually, guests or any kind of visitor would not be allowed to be alone in the throne room. Normally there were several guards waiting inside with them, ensuring they wouldn't do anything they wasn't supposed to do. But Gavin was completely alone. He could take a look into the sword if he wanted to...
Before he could make up his mind, the doors of the throne room were thrown open. In strode was a beautiful NightWing dragoness of about forty-six years of age. She had dark charcoal scales and wore golden rings and bracelets on her horns, talons and arms. Her silver eyes were sharp and calculating and filled with a bright gleam that could be mistaken for madness.
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The queen grinned down at the large dragonet in what seemed like a friendly way, and she spread her wings welcomingly. "Your Highness." Gavin lowered his body into an awkward bow, tilting his wings downwards along with his head. "Gavin," the queen said, folding her wings. "I have great news for you!"
The queen walked past Gavin and seated herself in her throne. She signaled for the dragonet to come stand by her side. "We can protect ourselves from the other tribes with your help!"
My help? How? Gavin tilted his head in confusion. How could he help an entire tribe of night dragons from six other dragon tribes? "Really?" Gavin questioned as his small ears turned back, his mind still urging to find out how he was able to help. As the queen could sense his doubt, she smiled at him softly."Do you not know about the power you hold?" She asks as she looked down at Gavin "No," he responded. What power could he possibly have? Stupidity is one kind of power he could hold. Grinning once more, the queen leaned forward as if she were about to tell a big secret.
"You're animus, Gavin."
As if an IceWing just shot him with it's ice breath, Gavin froze, his expression stuck on a shocked look. Animus? Impossible. It had to be a joke. Did he really have power in his talons? Was it true? If he would've known sooner he could've beat up all of the bullies that made fun of him throughout the years. Gavin glanced down at his talons, inspecting them carefully, and then he looked back up the NightWing queen.
