How to Find Your Fire

(WoF) chapter 32: decision

By Tidalclaws
Tidalclaws' PoV

After his battle with Otter, Neither Tidalclaws' nor Otter's lives got any little bit better. They became Queen Ember's and at times, other dragon's personal slaves and were used to do their dirty work, such as organising her huge treasure collection under massive security, supervising the battles in the arena and cleaning up the dead bodies afterwards, and cleaning every inch of her castle. But that wasn't all, at times, they were forced to work in the Skywing mines and to slaughter the animals that they eat at dinner. And they did this on a daily basis. It was a terrible way to live, and Tidalclaws was keen to escape.

Except, escaping would be a very hard feat. The cuffs on his talons prevented any use of animus magic, and Otter was kept in a different dungeon cell then him. The queen had also taken his leather satchel with his portal rocjs, but he doubted that she could even put it together. At times, they would have the same job at the same time, but Ember always tried her best to keep them away from each other to prevent escape planning.

Now, Tidalclaws sat, miserable, in his dungeon cell. All around him, the distressed cries and screeches of dragons echoed all along the old corridors. Their begging pleads to be freed were impossible to listen to each time a guard passed by, and Tidalclaws was quite convinced that he may as well go insane from hearing them all day.

In the dungeons, they were rarely fed, and when they did get food, it was tough and spoiled. This was probably why all of the dragons looked half dead and as brittle as a stack of twigs.

Tidalclaws turned his head away from all of the tortured dragons and instead stared at the wall, mindlessly picking at the stone floors. He had been in this cell all day, and the weird thing was, he hadn't been asked to do any work at all yet. He was growing suspicious. Maybe they are planning to have me paint the Queen's fingernails or something. Maybe have me rearrange her entire jewelry collection. How fun would that be! In sooo excited. Instead, nothing happened.

After what seemed like hours, two Skywing guards finally unlocked his cell. They had the same evil glare that always seemed to be plastered upon Queen Ember's face. It seemed to make them amused to see his frightened face when they ordered him to follow them through the dungeon. Skywings are terrible dragons, I can't believe they would treat other dragons the way they do. As he followed them, he realized that their thoughts were even worse. They thought about the joy it brought them to torture the dragons into the kill ring, and to have power over others. Tidalclaws felt a chill run down his spine. How could dragons think like this? Some dragons are just evil creatures that don't deserve to live in this world.

They led him out of the dungeons and through the towering hallways of the palace. The jewel embedded walls sparkled in the sunlight that was streaming through the windows, and many dragons of red and orange flew about, passing them in fast blurs. Many other prisoners were being taken to and fro other areas in the castle. But, the guards didn't go where the other prisoners were going.

As they went, Tidalclaws began to recognize where they were, and he realized that he was being taken to see the Queen. Why would they take me to see Ember? What is she going to do to me? He grew more nervous as they rounded a corner and came to a set of large doors. They seemed to stare into his soul when they came closer, and when the guard opened the doors, he was almost shaking out of his scales.

"You have the animus?" Came an annoyed voice from inside the room. The guards shoved him inside of the room and nodded," yes, your majesty." Responded the guard to his right. Ember strode out from behind a pile of treasure, her face as evil as ever, and smiled in satisfaction. "Good, now leave us be." The guards stood in the same spot, surprised, but bolted before Ember even opened her mouth to growl.

All alone with the queen, Tidalclaws stood facing her fearfully in silence. He could tell that she could see his legs shaking, because her face was twisted with a nasty smile. It was if she loved seeing dragons scared to death, in fact, she did love it. He could hear her thoughts practically shooting laughter and taunts at him, but he tried to ignore it.

"How has your life been? Happy?" Ember walked slowly toward him, obviously enjoying herself. He didn't have enough courage to respond to her question, and instead stared down at his talons. He could hear her claws clicking on the stone floor as she walked towards him. "Is that the correct way to act in front of your Queen? You respond to her when she asks you a question." She growled.

"Umm...... I... Um..." He attempted, but Queen Ember interrupted him, "but I didn't bring you here to talk about life. Well actually we kinda are but maybe not... Who knows? But anyway, I have brought you here to tell you that you are no longer my slave.... Well actually if you agree you can be a half slave, but if you don't agree you can be a full time slave." She said.

Tidalclaws just stared at her, thoroughly confused. Ember just continued," I already have one animus on my side, and his name is Crackle. Crackle, get over here!" She yelled. Another dragon trotted out of another room connecting to the Queen's throne room and stopped at her side, his face alight with interest. "Crackle, Tidalclaws. Tidalclaws, Crackle. Now lets get to the fun stuff." Ember sighed.

"Now, no Queen can have too many animus allies, and if I can have two animus on my side, I will be unstoppable." She said enthusiastically. "If you ally up with me, you me and Crackle can rule together over the Skywing- no wait, over all of Pyrrhia!" Tidalclaws dumbfounded. She wants to be my ally so we can rule of all of Pyrrhia?! She's crazy! Why would I accept such a ridiculous idea? "Sooo? You will get your own treasure, servants, room, for-" Tidalclaws shook his head, interrupting her," no! I would never be your ally, and you are so stupid as to think that I would help you rule over Pyrrhia." He growled, surprised at himself for speaking up. Ember was also surprised, for she looked at him with her jaw slightly open, but quickly closed it and fixed him with a hard glare.

"I haven't asked you at all, and nobody interrupts their Queen." She snarled,"how about we do it the hard way? Crackle, show the girl." Ember ordered, and the Icewing and Skywing hybrid nodded his head, "yes, my Queen." He reached his talons into a small brown bag and retrieved a clear orb. Then, he looked into it and whispered something inaudible.

Tidalclaws was completely aware of Ember smiling beside Crackle as an image appeared on it's surface. It's an animus touched crystal orb! Crackle lifted the orb and then showed it to tidalclaws. At first he was confused at what it was, for there was just a swirling black color, and then it formed into a picture of a dragon, but not any dragon. It was Starscale.

     "You see this little dragon here? If you don't accept, my dragons will track Starscale down and kill her." She snarled. Tidalclaws began to panic. Kill her? She can't kill Starscale! Ember continued," however, if you do accept, Starscale will live a nice and happy life. But that isn't all. I so also allow Oyster to be freed and go back to Otter. How does that sound?"

    Tidalclaws could practically hear his heart pounding in his ears. It felt as if he were being watched by thousands of angry dragons. "So what do you say? Let Starscale die, or let her live and set Oyster free?" Ember sat, her face askew in a creepy smile, but to Tidalclaws, his decision was clear.

     So, with as much voice he could muster without it shaking, he looked Ember in the eye and stated his decision,"I accept."