Conquest : A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

1. Dreams

Sandstorm didn't want to stay at home any longer. 

No one seemed to need her; no one understood her. She couldn't wait until Jade Mountain Academy opened again. At least there she had friends, and dragons who cared for her, like her best friend Maelstrom.

Moonwatcher and Qibli were both too busy these days, what with Qibli being Queen Thorn's right-wing dragon and Moon being the principal of the NightWing school. The NightWings had moved to the Night Kingdom after Nightmare's fall, and even with Jade Mountain Academy expanding, there'd been not enough vacancies for all dragonets to attend. The NightWings had rebuilt the school, and naturally, they'd asked Moon to be the principal. They barely had time for their dragonets.

Secretwish, her younger sister, and Cougar, her older brother, mainly stuck with each other. Before Secretwish hatched, she and Cougar were best friends. They'd done everything together, Cougar only being a year older. But when they joined Jade Mountain Academy at four and five years old Cougar made his own friends and generally disregarded her. 

And Secretwish was the baby of the family, so their parents made it clear that they had to take care of her. Somehow her younger sister had inherited a special charm that was irresistible if you were a normal dragon. Cougar and everyone else who met her were immediately enchanted by her. 

Sandstorm was just ignored. She wasn't special in other dragons' eyes. Their first impression of her was quiet. Not shy, no, but someone reserved and aloof, quite unlike her bold, guileless siblings. She generally came across as a dragon with many secrets and ambitions. Sometimes it felt like her name had been accidentally given to her younger sister.

Sandstorm had inherited her father's keen intellect and intelligence. She also had the NightWing power of mind-reading, though very faintly. It was more like gauging emotions rather than reading minds.

The SandWing-NightWing dragonet looked like her father, but she had the unusual diamond patterns of King Smolder, Queen Thorn's husband, and the dead ex-Princess Blister. She had her mother's eyes, though, and small silver scales by her eyes, though mind-readers were nothing new now that the NightWings were exposed to moonlight again. She usually wore only one piece of jewelry, her favourite one - a gold locket with a diamond made of a strange gemstone hanging from it. It had been her latest hatching-day gift from Maelstrom, who had another one for himself.

Now she fidgeted with the beautiful diamond. It was a silvery colour with tongues of ice-blue and storm-grey, with patterns that made it look alive, like a leaping flame. Qibli had called it 'silverflame', a trademark IceWing gemstone. 

'Sandstorm?' 

A handsome SandWing was standing in the doorway. 

He looked exactly like Qibli, from snout to talons. But this dragon was a lot more younger than her father. Sandstorm sighed. 'Cougar.' He awkwardly shifted his weight. Cougar wasn't as easy-going and friendly with her as he was with Secretwish. 

It was as if her other two siblings felt the powerful emotions radiating strongly off Sandstorm, and took special care to stay out of her way. Sandstorm couldn't completely blame them - it was partly her fault for being such an introvert. But maybe if they even made an effort - if they even tried... 

'What do you want?' she asked, swinging off her bed. 

'Qibli says it's time,' he said. Again, Sandstorm marvelled his resemblance to their father - and now it was showing more than ever, as Cougar had turned seven a week ago - he was now legally a grown-up. 'Get your stuff - we're leaving.' 

Sandstorm had to work hard to hide the ridiculously wide grin that insisted on spreading across her snout. 'Tell him I'll be there in a moment,' she said brusquely, unable to contain the happiness that spilled out into her voice.