The Rainwing held her egg in her arms, sprinting away from the fire of her village. The wooden houses went up in flames, the screeching of dying and injured dragons ringing through the air. Tears stained the Rainwings cheeks, but she needed to get the egg to safety. She camouflaged her scales, diving through the underbrush and away from the burning village.
Roars of victory rang throughout the rainforest as the attacking dragons found all of the rainwings, burning part of their body so they couldn't completely camouflaged. Shrieks of pain echoed in the Rainwing's ears, and she was shaking as she ran, sobbing. Her home was being destroyed, along with everyone in it. When she was finally far enough away from the village, she uncamouflaged, taking the egg out from underneath her wings and tucking it underneath some ferns to hide it.
"I am so sorry, my little dragonet. But this is as much protection as I can give you. Survive." Tears streamed down her face as she stroked the egg, before sprinting away.
As she was running, she didn't look where she was going and ran straight into a solid figure. She fell backwards onto the ground, and she looked up. Her scales turned pale green in fear at the Sandwing towering above her. A wicked smirk appeared on his face. "Look what we have here...a pathetic Rainwing."
He leaned down, pinning the Rainwing to the ground. "So beautiful. No wonder our Queen wanted to capture you all first."
The Rainwing hissed, spitting a stream of black venom on the Sandwing's scales. The Sandwing laughed as the venom slid off of his scales, dealing no damage at all. "Our queen made sure we couldn't be damaged by your venom, Rainwing." The Sandwing grabbed the Rainwing's chin, forcing her to look at him. "What's your name?"
The Rainwing hissed, struggling to get out of his grip. He pinned her down easily, taking his claw and pressing it against her throat so she couldn't' move her head. "I asked you a question. What is your name?" He growled, his obsidian black eyes flashing dangerously.
She whimpered in fear, but answered softly. "Toucan."
The Sandwing chuckled. "Such a pity that's not your name anymore."
He slowly held up a knife, and breathed fire down the blade until it was glowing red from the heat. Slowly he lowered the knife to her scales, then plunged it into her arm. She screamed, shaking from the pain. He traced the searing hot knife through her skin. Her forearm turned white, and she writhed in pain, screaming.
The Sandwing finally removed the knife, leaving a mark in her arm that read Subject 53.
She grew limp, everything going dizzy and her view wavering in front of her. The Sandwing clasped manacles around her wrists and legs and an iron band around her muzzle. "Goodbye, beautiful." He hissed, before everything went black.
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53 woke up, shivering from the icy cold and pain shooing through her arm and down her sides. When she tried to move, she couldn't from the pain, and assumed that she had broken her rib somehow. She climbed slowly to her feet, all of her scales a mix between pale green and white.
She looked up to see she was in a small cell, and her wings were bound painfully to her side. Cries of sorrow and pain echoed throughout the halls. She felt as if it was the Great War again, Nighwings capturing Rainwings for experiments. But it seemed much worse.
She tried to shift her colors, but couldn't from the white scales that stayed fixed on her side. The cell door opened to reveal a Sandwing that looked like she was very happy doing this job. She forced an iron band around the Rainwing's neck with a chain attached to the end, before forcefully yanking 53 out of the cell and down the hallway. The Sandwing led her into a giant cave that was almost as big as the entire Rainwing village, filled to the brim with dragons in chains. Other than Rainwing's, 53 spotted Skywings, Mudwings, Icewings, and Seawings all dull and chained, despair on their faces.
They all had a number burned onto their forearm, and they all had a Sandwing pulling them forward with chains. She spotted a few Nightwings that seemed to be doing the same job that the Sandwing's did, but barely any. The Sandwing pulling her along yanked her into a line with the other Rainwings, who were all decorated with blotches of white scales. They all looked miserable, and their cheeks were stained with tears.
53 didn't understand what was happening. A giant throne made of onyx and silver sat in front of the crowd, towering over everything and surrounded by Sandwing guards, as well as a giant Nightwing and a small, fragile looking Seawing. The Seawing wasn't chained, and in fact, looked quite content and pleased.
Sitting upon the throne was a dragon much larger than 53, a Nightwing with many Sandwing features, one being the Sandwing barb on the end of her tail, and her glittering black eyes.
A golden earring hung out of her left ear, and she had scars covering her entire body. She lashed her tail, smiling.
"Welcome," She said, her eyes narrowing viciously, "To Pyrrhia. The land under the rule of your new Queen...Shadowstep."
The Sandwings all roared with victory, and she smiled, before raising a talon to silence them. "I am your new queen, dragons of Pyrrhia. And as long as you do what you were told to do, there won't be any...casualties."
A Skywing roared from the back. "We're all the dragons of Pyrrhia, and you're just one Nightwing!"
The Queen's face grew an amused look. "You're just a pathetic insect. About time you looked like one." The giant dragon waved her talon, and the Skywing paled as he began to shrink down, his muzzle shortening and his red scales turning brown. Soon enough, in his place, was a small beetle. One of the Sandwing guards captured him in his talons, bringing him to the Queen, a new look of...fear...on his face.
The Queen stared at the bug, taking him in her talons. "You all understand now.." She said loudly. "What happens to those who disobey." Before she squeezed her talons, crushing the bug and letting its remains fall to the ground.
53 froze, one thought stuck in her mind. She's an animus. She will kill us all.
YOU ARE READING
AOAA - Sanctuary (Book 2)
Fanfiction(Please read book one before reading this book) Deathwish leaned back in his seat, clasping his talons together and letting out a sigh as the Seawing across from him sat down. "No. She has not been found yet." Said Deathwish grimly, a pained express...
