Conquest : A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

24. War

There were so many dragons.

Thousands of MudWings and SandWings and SeaWings. Dusky earth brown, pale golden-yellow, shiny sky-blue and rippling sea-green all merged together to form one huge mass of scales.

Sandstorm watched the army march forward with narrowed eyes. She was ahead of the assembled dragons, perched on a high rock ledge.

Queen Thorn, Queen Lotus and Queen Tsunami, their ministers, and Sandstorm's Winglet were seated next to her, talking quietly. 

She felt an ache in her heart every time she looked at Tsunami. The SeaWing queen looked tired and irritated, barely saying anything.

She missed Maelstrom. A lot. So much it actually hurt.

He could be lost. In pain. Dead. And she wouldn't know.

How long had it been since he left? Several days, certainly. Perhaps a week. 

What kind of challenges did he have to complete? What horrors did he need to face? What obstructions did he have to overcome? 

The legend said that Prince Kraken was extremely clever and shrewd, not to mention way older than Maelstrom. The challenges were difficult and dangerous.

Internally scolding herself, she turned around to face Moonstone Valley, away from Queen Tsunami.

It was a beautiful place. Lots of greenery, plenty of flowers and trees on the lush, gently sloping hills. In the centre was a round lake, silver in the moonlight, looking exactly like the moonstone pendant of Moon's necklace.

Sandstorm had been in turmoil because of Swiftclaws' words for the past day. What if he was lying, and was actually still in league with the Mutineers?

Queen Thorn had told her that he felt betrayed because they didn't come to rescue him once he got caught. Besides, he wouldn't do anything that would help Viperfang and Azure's combined efforts.

Judging by the empty valley, she had been wrong.

'Where are they?' muttered Ivory distractedly, twisting her talons together. Sandstorm shrugged. 'It's a trap. Distraction. Ambush,' she said, without any real emotion in her voice.

Ivory gave her a quick slanted glance. 'Stop worrying about Maelstrom,' she scolded. Before Sandstorm could say anything, she continued,

'If there's anyone who will survive for the sheer looks on the faces of the dragons who want him dead, it'll be Maelstrom. I bet you he'll come back alive and victorious just because it'll annoy the brains out of Azure and her minions.'

Sandstorm smiled at her. 'Thanks, Ivory.' And for once, she meant it.

One of the scouts who were circling around Moonstone Valley suddenly hurtled towards them. 

Puzzled, for a moment Sandstorm thought that the MudWing had news to share. Then she realised that she wasn't diving to the ground - she was falling.

Several dragons had already realised that and were speeding towards the soldier to catch her before she hit the ground. Sandstorm dived off the ledge to help them.

She and two soldiers reached the MudWing the quickest. Thankfully, she had been quite high in the air, so they managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

Lowering the soldier to the ground, Sandstorm found what had caused the sudden freefall - a wound on the wing. An arrow wound.

At that moment, the scouts began blowing their horns in a short, three-minute staccato - the signal for enemy in sight.