Wings of Fire: A Twisted Future - Broken Visions

Prologue

the sky was dark outside, clouded with monotony and rain. the rainforest was dripping with tears, one dragon's tears, as she settled down in her little wooden hut. it wasn't much, just a small platform hidden in the canopy of a huge tree, the walls columns of branches with dappled green curtains covering it all, a sturdy branch roof with overlapping leaves and mud; the inside was cosy. a wooden desk at the back of the room, scrolls and parchment and ink tucked into racks and little shelves carved into the spruce wood. there were also normal shelves with uneven, wonky holes padding the walls, more scrolls and jars of colourful fireflies filling them. a painting on one side of the shelf to the desk's right and a simple hammock that can be draped across the room or rolled up and hidden into a shelf.
a beautiful dragoness was sitting on her puff of woven leaves, arching over the desk with her dull green eyes staring at the parchment. the feather with a sharpened tip was pinched in her delicate talons, the tip black with ink. one would think that lilypad was a positive, kind dragoness. no. those dragons would look as if she'd sprouted ten heads if they knew what she was doing.
lilypad drew her claws across her face, growling.
"how does one write such good prophecies?!" she hissed, waving her talons in the air. "why can't an intelligent dragoness like me think of something good enough to even count as a premonition?"
her scales flickered as her ear shot up, and she turned her head to see a nightwing standing there, wings drooping, his shape a silhouette against the grey background of a rainy forest. lilypad sighed, turned back to the blank parchment and jerked her talon.
"come in, timeteller."
timeteller shook out his wings in the balcony outside, carefully moved the curtain aside, stepped in and pulled it back.
"do you have news from niche?" lilypad asked gently, though her eyes betrayed her irritation and her claws rapped on the desk, leaving tiny indentations in the swirly, dark wood.
"niche didn't wish to speak, so she sent a message instead."
lilypad grunted, rolled her eyes left to watch the nightwing fiddle with his fanny pack and take out a scroll with a pale brown leather casing, scoffing as he dropped it, and she leapt up. snatching the scroll before his grubby claws touched the delicate leather, the lavender and gold rainwing sat back down on her puff. a furrow appeared on her forehead.
a hibiscus-pink-red shimmered through her scales, latching onto the underside of her wings, frills and scales along her arms.
"something wrong, misses?" timeteller murmured, scraping his claws against one another. he probably had a developed-enough brain to understand that hot colours meant negative emotions in rainwing scales. or just a beautiful pattern, one or the other.
"lilypad, darling. as much as I love you and your work, you can't do this. I understand your judgement. however, this is wrong. please see reason!" lilypad snorted, eyeing the curved parchment.
she hissed, shoved the scroll across her desk and watched it roll toward the shelf. it rolled and rolled until it hit the shelf and stopped with a light 'tink.'
beside it was another scroll stuffed into its leather cylinder. had she read that one before?
her eyes widening a little, the rainwing reached for it and let the scroll drop out of its casing. timeteller stammered beside the curtain, and she flicked her tail as she rolled the scroll.
her green eyes shot wide open, and a grin curled along her snout.
"you said once that nightwings had prophecy-writing classes, correct?"
the nightwing tipped his head and nodded slowly. he obviously didn't connect the dots... even though they were right beside each other, beaming a blinding raspberry-red and literally reaching out to the other.
of all nightwings... this creature is my helper? couldn't it have been, say, spacetamer, who showed up one day wounded at my doorstep?
lilypad rolled her eyes, then turned toward timeteller.
"don't you think this is perfect?" she chuckled, reading this one scroll. while it was one out of probably many, she already felt the erudition spilling into her brain; unlike timeteller, she learnt quickly and efficient information useful for life.
"what are you doing?" the nightwing hopped up and looked over her shoulder, but lilypad unfurled her wings and shielded her desk.
"reading..." lilypad answered matter-of-factly. she nodded slowly, then nudged he scroll aside. "writing."
"misses, what are you writing?"
"your end," she retorted, turning her wrist to the left and right as she crafted the prophecy, flicking glances at the scroll to her right every once in a while to get a better understanding. "the sky will run scarlet red..."
she heard a hiccupy-gasp from timeteller, and his muscles stiffen as her tried to pull her wing down.
"misses, scarlet? like queen scarlet?"
"no — just scarlet like your blood."
"what?"
and as lilypad swirled in the last word... she suddenly twisted around with her claws outstretched, wing flinging down, and scored his throat.
"wha—"
too late. the nightwing clutched his throat, falling back, his dark eyes wide and the whites peering at the world. blood spilled from between his claws, and he tried to cry at her, but only more blood trickled from his jaws, gurgling at the back of his throat.
lilypad stared with a grin as blood dripped onto the jungle wood floor.
I won't clean it up. I'll end up dead in a few days, anyway.
timeteller collapsed with a yelp into the curtain, rolled out onto the balcony, crimson staining the green fabric almost instantly. it was only seconds before he tried to stand up, but didn't realise that he'd rolled onto edge of the balcony...
and tripped.
lilypad fluttered outside and hovered over her balcony, looking down her snout at the rainforest below. jaguars with dappled pelts stared mortified at her, their black eyes wide. after silent, awkward moments, they prowled away toward the carcass at the rainforest floor, or maybe caught in some branches in a canopy.
lilypad turned back inside and examined the blood. perfect. red blood.
lifting her wings in a shrug, the rainwing dipped a claw in the blood of her past helper, and trailed the sharp tip along the side of the parchment.
"you're almost ready, my dear," she chuckled, throwing her head back in a guffaw a hint too bright... insane.
the dragoness then stepped back outside, hopped onto the gate edging her balcony, avoiding the blood on the part of it that timeteller tripped on, and perched there, staring at her scroll.
with an almost inaudible murmur at it, she leapt into the air and tossed it away into the storm.
it can't burn. it can't melt away from water. the words can't fade. this is something that will last forever.