Wings of Fire: Holocaust of the Skies {FINISHED}

Chapter 6

The queen sat on her throne, admiring her golden bracelets on her arms and her new silver rings on her talons.
She looked up, finally, and smiled at Gavin when he entered the throne room. "Come, Gavin. I have something to show you." the queen picked up the foretelling sword from next to her. The sword looked even bigger when it was being held. It was almost as long as the queen's tail. Gavin slowly walked to the queen, unsure about what to expect next. On the second step of the stairs to her throne, he sat down, answering the dragon with a simple "yes?".
She pointed the sword's blade to Gavin. "What do you see?"
Gavin looked into the sword's silvery blade, and he immediately began to see lots of big, bulky brown dragons flying. They were MudWings. The gigantic chestnut brown dragons were heading for the NightWing island. "MudWings? Why-"
"Queen Andesine told the mud dragons that we were going to kill their queen and steal their land, which is not true at all. They were outraged and now they're coming to kill us," the queen interrupted him.
According to the scrolls, Queen Andesine of the SkyWings is a ruthless and dangerous queen. The scrolls say she is a violent, maniacal dragon who isn't afraid of going into conflicts. She killed many of her daughters, and even her own husband, King Alizarin. Gavin swore he wouldn't plan to see that queen.

"That cruel, horrid dragon is telling lies just so the tribes can kill each other! Now the MudWings are coming!"
Gavin's eyes were widen, and his ears turned back. He already survived the SandWing attack, but now he has to survive an army of big, strong MudWings who could step on him like a bug and kill him. Gavin shivered.
"What am I supposed to do about it?" Gavin said as he swayed his tail, almost knocking over a colorful blue vase that was on a small platform. "We need your magic, Gavin!" There was a small tinge of anger in her voice, but she forced a smile at Gavin so she wouldn't frighten the dragonet. Gavin lowered his head, already having a fearful look on his face. "I do not want to lose my soul," Gavin cried, trying to cover his face with his wings so he wouldn't see the queen's reaction. He knew the queen was going to be mad.
The queen roared with fury, opening her wings and making her look three times bigger than before. "You WILL use your powers to protect the NightWings! Who cares if you lose your soul? Thousands of NightWings depend on you!"

Gavin's tail went between his back legs like an alarmed dog as he looked up at the enraged queen. "No!" Gavin blurted, slowly beginning to back up, carefully moving down the throne's steps. "NO?!" The Queen bellowed, roaring at the dragonet again. Gavin jolted backwards from the queen's booming voice. He collapsed down the last step, hitting his head. When he opened his eyes, he immediately saw the Queen step towards him. Gavin scrambled up onto his feet, terrified. He understood that the queen only wants to protect the kingdom, but forcing him into something he didn't want to do wasn't the best option. "Guards!" The guard yells. "Seize him!"

Multiple armored NightWings burst though the doors, holding more spears in their dominant claw. Gavin shook as they inched closer, but instinct caused him to hiss at the guards, threatening to harm them.

Suddenly, something slapped against his side and he crashed into a nearby wall. he saw a white flash and tiny white dots and his vision slowly blurred until he went unconscious.

☾

Gavin woke up to the stench of death. He stood up, soon panicking once he noticed that he had shackles around his ankles and an iron collar that was bolted to the floor. The yanked on the chains, trying to see if they could be broken. Unfortunately, they did not budge. The iron muzzle around his snout prevented him from yelling for help, and casting any spells. Frustrated, Gavin sat down, lashing his tail angrily. He wished the queen would choke on an electric eel.

Was the queen going to leave him in a prison cell forever? Maybe being in prison would protect him from attacks on the NightWing island, but he wanted to help. At least without losing his soul and turning into a complete maniac. He wanted to help all of the dragons, and not only the NightWings. That's something he could risk his soul and life for. But what if he could still live without going insane, but still save the tribes? Could another animus enchant his soul? Gavin tried to remember animus dragons from the scrolls. Albatross the SeaWing, Prince Arctic the IceWing, Princess Frostbite the IceWing, Anemone the SeaWing....

All of the animus were from different tribes. He knew they wouldn't want to help a dragon from another tribe. Maybe, Gavin thought. Maybe I could enchant my own soul. It could actually be possible. Animus dragons can enchant nearly everything and any one, and their own bodies is a thing, so, wouldn't they be able to enchant themselves? He obviously couldn't do it now. He needed the muzzle off of his snout.

Some time had pasted and some NightWing guards came into his cell. They began to take off the chains and muzzle, though all of them wore armor and held more spears. "Don't try anything stupid, NightWing," one of the guards hissed as he pushed Gavin out of the prison room. Some of the guards had wary expressions when they were near Gavin, but most were calm and confident, ready to defend themselves if he ever decided to attack.

Gavin was taken to the throne room, where the queen and her council waited for him in the center of the room. "The MudWings attack tomorrow," the queen said, just loud enough for Gavin to hear. "We need your powers, Gavin. The MudWings are basically bringing their whole tribe to attack us." Gavin stomped his claw. "I want to help, but I do not want my soul to be los-"
The queen hissed and glared at the dragonet. "Sacrifice yourself, Gavin! For the NightWings!"
"I'll sacrifice myself for every tribe! Even the SkyWings themselves!"
The queen went silent, before a dragon, Gavin recognized as Thetis, spoke up. "Sacrifice yourself for all of the tribes?" Thetis says. "How will you do that?" Gavin opened up his wings, showing off the sparkly green membrane of his wings, and he stood up tall. "I'll stop the SkyWing who started this mess," Gavin says. "Queen Andesine."

Thetis and a few other dragons laughed and chuckled, doubting his intentions. "I don't even think you'll survive a day outside of the island," a NightWing that had only one horn said.  "Plus," the queen added. "The other tribes do not matter. We must save our own scales."  

Gavin flared his wings, angered at the NightWing's selfishness and large ego. Someone had to stop the war. If no other dragon was going to, then he would die trying. The other tribes were considered "enemies", but those "enemies" were also living dragons. Gavin may have never met the dragons personally, but he had a feeling that all of them were innocent, even the cruel ones. But that didn't mean that Queen Andesine shouldn't die herself. She had caused so many dragons to die and suffer, and she needed to die. She needed to be stopped. 

"And you are not leaving, Gavin," the queen glared at Gavin again. "You will help the NightWings! and if you don't cooperate-"

Gavin yelled, and with his animus power, he snatched a spear right out of a guard's claws and threw the spear right into the queen's chest. One guard tried to tackle the dragonet, but he feint to the left, where he swatted at the guard. The guard yelped and hissed, before Gavin finally blew a gust of fire directly into the NightWing's face. As the guard was blinded and most of the guards distracted on aiding the injured queen, Gavin saw his chance to escape, away from the NightWing island. Away from the suffocating smoke, away from the selfish NightWings and their egotistical ways, and sadly, away from his mother. 

Gavin sprinted towards the exit, feinting away from guards who tried to grab him and digging his talons into the stone floor and forcing himself forward for extra speed. He took no notice of the queen's pained and angered cries as he pulled the silver, curved door-handles to open the door, and he spread his wings as far out as he could and shot into the sky.