Wind and Flames: Talons United

Chapter 1

Nevara look around, the hallways glowing in the evening light filtering through the windows. Curtains ruffled in the slight breeze, and birds chirped while flying in the sky. She sighed, her talons clicking softly on the cold stone floors while her tail dragged behind her.

Hearing muffled voices, she peeked into her dorm and saw two dragons: Deep and Tala. They seemed to really be immersed in their conversation, and didn't even notice as Nevara slipped into the room.

"Hey," she said, climbing up on her pile of rocks. "What are you guys talking about?" Tala's antennae swiveled in her direction, and she whipped her head around. "Nevara," she said, looking flustered. "We...erk...ummmm.."

"We were wondering about gravity," Deep covered for her, and smiled at Nevara. "Tala  commented on how if we fell from this height, we would probably die."

"Oh. That's....nice?"

Nevara narrowed her eyes at her two friends, who were now avoiding her eyes for some reason. It made her wonder what they had really  been talking about.

It's probably something they don't want me to know. Oh well, I'll humor them and not ask any nosy questions.

For now.

"Deep, aren't you supposed to be in storytelling?" Tala asked, looking at the blue dragon. He sighed, frowning. "It's not like the dragons will miss me or anything." "Come on..." Nevara nudged Deep with her snout. "You know they like your tall tales."

"No...not really."

"DEEP. Come on, it's the one job you have here." He rolled his eyes, and then stood up and stretched. "I suppose...fine. Come on then, lets go."

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When they entered the auditorium, there was a lot of noise. Dragons were crowded and crammed into such a small, yet large space and the vast majority of them were conversing with one another.

Tala and Nevara found a seat next to each other and stared up and the front of the room, where Deep would be telling his story and entertaining the Queen and King of this Nest.

There were sixteen Nests scattered all over the world. This one was called the Bronze Nest, and it was ruled by King Ignis and Queen Chalvia. Nevara hadn't memorized all the other nests (although in school she was supposed to), but she knew at least three of them were the Silver Nest, the Gold Nest, and the Violet Nest.

Deep entered the front of the room and cleared his throat. When the room didn't quiet down after that, he tried to clear his throat again, but louder.

What that failed as well, he had to resort to yelling out, "WILL ALL OF YOU PLEASE JUST BE SILENT ALREADY."

Ah. That did the trick. Nevara didn't think the auditorium had ever been this quiet. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the two seconds of blissful silence.

Deep smiled, and started on the story. "Once upon a time..." "OH COME ON." A dragon yelled from the audience. "NOT ANOTHER FAIRY TALE." It grew less quiet, and Deep scowled and said, "It is NOT a FAIRY TALE. Will everyone PLEASE just SIT DOWN, BE QUIET AND LISTEN? Is that really so hard to do?"

"You see, this is why he hates storytelling." Tala whispered to Nevara. She nodded, understanding his frustration.

When the dragons had calmed down again, Deep continued.  "A long time ago, there lived a couple of no-wings in a valley. They loved to steal treasure from the dragon nest nearby, and also the remains of food that the dragons feasted on.

"One day, the no-wings were caught by one of the dragon soldiers. They pleaded for mercy, but the soldier was on strict orders to get rid of any pests that were living nearby.

"Once they had disposed of the no-wings, they saw all the treasure that they had lost to the greedy creatures. And they raided the home of the no-wing couple to try and find any more.

"They only succeeded in finding two things: a Jade necklace and a diamond dragon carving. Not knowing what these items really meant, they flew off with them and returned to their nest.

"But the items they had taken weren't theirs...and they weren't normal. The Jade Necklace and the Diamond Dragon were cursed. The no-wings had enchanted them so that any dragon that took them would have bad luck and reoccurring disease for seven generations, until one dragon could bring the items back to the house from which they were stolen."

He sat back, and watched the faces of the dragons before him, smiling. King Ignis and Queen Chalvia looked slightly startled, but they clapped nonetheless.

Deep took a little bow and signaled for Nevara and Tala to follow him out of the room.

When they were about halfway down the hallway, they were stopped by one of the King's generals. "That was a fine story," he said, frowning. "So good it could have been true."

"Come on: It's just a story." Tala said, waving him off with her talons. "It doesn't mean anything."

The general's frown became a look of concern. "You never know. I've heard tell that there is in fact, a no-wing nest nearby."

"Really?!" Tala looked excited, and she almost started bouncing around the room. "Could we visit it? I know it seems weird, but I'd love to learn more about no-wings! I've heard that they can write stories and make art!"

The general shook his head. "Sorry miss. I'm on strict orders not to let anybody out of the Nest. You know that, don't you little dragon?"

Tala looked at the floor, trying to to let her disappointment show. "Yeah," she said. "Fine."

"Stay careful," The general nodded at Nevara and Deep, and they both shared a look as he glided away.

"Come on," Deep said, putting a wing around Tala's shoulders. "We'd better get back to out dorm. Its getting dark out."

Nevara nodded. "Is it okay if I stay here a little longer though? I'd...like to enjoy the twilight." Deep nodded as he and Tala walked away.

Nevara turned to the window, looking out of it longingly. She wanted to go outside so badly...but dragons weren't allowed to leave the nest until they were at least 10 years old, and she wasn't even 7 yet. not exactly a young dragon, but she still had a little over 3 years to go, and she didn't want to have to wait that long for anything.

She sighed, swishing her tail around her talons and caught herself wondering, Why exactly do we have to hide in the nests?

Is there a protection device in here that we don't know about?

Or is the supposed threat lurking somewhere...outside?