Wings of Fire: The Forgotten World

chapter 38

By thedragonshifter
Pleiades's PoV

Pleiades, Hemlock, and Velocity slipped and slid on the slippery back of the Drakous as he swam swiftly through the murky swamp. At times, a giant brown bubble full of slimy mud would rise out of the water and explode, splashing them with muck and leaving them all grumpy and dirty. They traveled for quite some time, occasionally passing what Pleiades thought were alligators. though she had never seen one before, she kept hearing Velocity discussing them with the Drakous, whose name was Gyraradar.

She also noticed peculiar stone and hardened mud-made structures that rose out of the squishy ground and stood many feet tall. And after a very long lecture from Hemlock about a typical Viperwing's lifestyle, she learned that these structures were used by some Viperwings to hibernate in. The thick stone and mud made a perfectly warm, temporary home for a couple of cold and tired dragons.

"How much longer?" Pleiades groaned as she hugged the Drakous to keep from falling off. And at that moment, Gyraradar suddenly made a sharp turn to the right, almost sending Pleiades and Hemlock flying into the nasty water, and causing a giant wave to crash down upon their heads. She couldn't help but let a growl rumble in her throat.

"My apologies, young dragonets. But we are almost at our destination." Said Gyraradar in a sympathetic voice. Pleiades looked back at Hemlock, who was glaring angrily at his mud soaked fur. "Well, that'll be easy to wash out." He said sarcastically. Instead of its usual gleaming white fluffiness, his fur was a matted, nasty brown-green mess. She could even spot places where twigs and reeds found a home. And at this moment, she had to admit that she was happy to be a Sunwing.

As the droopy, low branching trees thinned out and the mud and water seemed to vanish, they were greeted by a rather inviting grassland. It had gently sloping hills that rose and fell like a green ocean, and a seemingly never ending field of pink, yellow, and blue flowers. And through the tall grass, brown and green Viperwings raced alongside each other, there graceful back legs sending them practically gliding over the springy ground.

"This is your stop, my dear friends. The castle is not far from here." Said the Drakous,"just follow that path right over there and it will lead you to the end of your journey." Velocity hopped off first and landed happily on the ground, her feet already tapping in excitement. Pleiades followed her and then finally, Hemlock landed next to them. "Farewell, my friends!" Gyraradar dipped his multicolored snake head before turning and vanishing into the water.

Velocity wasted no time before ordering them to follow her and then racing off into the distance, leaving Pleiades and Hemlock to helplessly chase after here. However, being able to run at only half the speed of a sprinting Viperwing and having only one fourth the amount of stamina, they both lagged incredibly behind. After a few minutes of nonstop sprinting, they had to stop to catch their breath. That was also the moment that they Pleiades realized that Velocity had completely disappeared amongst the towering grass.

Pleiades turned towards Hemlock and they both exchanged faces of confusion and panic. "Great, now we're lost!" Pleiades snarled, her tail lashing back and forth and taking out a large space of plants. "Why did she think it was a good idea to rush off like that? We're her friends! What kind of friend leaves the others behind?"

Hemlock sighed and spread his wings,"i'm sure she didn't mean to. You know Velocity. She was probably just excited about going back to her kingdom. And besides, I can just find the palace from the sky. Wait here while I look really quick." Pleiades just responded by huffing a cloud of poison gas from her nose and glaring at a rock. "I'll be right back."

Pleiades watched Hemlock soar into the blue sky with a bit of jealousy creeping inside her. Why was it the Sunwings who don't get wings. Why can every other dragon tribe have wings, but it's the Sunwings who get the disadvantage. She thought bitterly, and as a stray butterfly floated lazily by, she smacked it with her talon and watched it disintegrate into blackness.

It wasn't long before Hemlock appeared and landed lightly in front of her. "I found the castle. Just follow me. It's actually just over here below this hill." Pleiades followed Hemlock towards the castle, and it was only a few more minutes before one of the coolest buildings Pleiades had ever seen came into view.

The Viperwing palace looked as if it were made of solid gold. Huge towers connected by tall walls adorned with sharp spikes rose out of the grassy ground. Atop of the towers, giant statues of viperwings stood in a protective stance, fire flying out of their stretched jaws.

In the front of the castle, a large wooden gateway blocked unwanted guests from the inside. And two giant snakes bordered the outside of the wood. Along the sides of the castle walls, ancient pictures of Drakous and Viperwings locked in deadly battles were carved into the gold only separated by more tall, twisted gold pillars that were topped with a magical looking staff smothered in flame.

"Let's go." Pleiades muttered, trudging forward and making her way towards the castle and golden city surrounding it. "Hemlock! Pleiades! I'm so sorry!" Pleiades turned to see Velocity racing towards them with two other Viperwings behind her .

"Sorry, I was just excited to see my cousins after such a long time of living with the Sunwings!" She wanted, though as Pleiades eyed her skeptically, she noticed that Velocity wasn't telling the truth. "That still doesn't make it ok to abandon your friends in an unfamiliar kingdom." She growled, her glare so harsh that they could quite possibly be shooting invisible daggers at Velocity.

"Hey, you're here now. Let's just forget what happened and take this time to introduce ourselves." Said the Viperwing to Velocity's right. He was dark brown with light green stripes. The third Viperwing, one that was slightly a lighter brown in color, nodded her head.

"Well, I'm Basilisk." She said with a smile. "And I'm Rattler." Said her brother. They both held their talons out for Hemlock to shake and then to Pleiades, who shook her head. "Trust me, you don't want me to shake your paw."

Looking slightly offended, the two Viperwings turned and began to walk towards the city. ,"come with us!" Started Rattler. "And we'll show you around what we Viperwings call 'The Golden Kingdom.'"