Burning Flame

Chapter Two

A sleek, purple female dragon shot through the air like an arrow, her eyes narrowed to menacing slits. She suddenly dived towards the trees below her with a determined grace to her movements. Her wings exploded out from her sides as she neared the ground and there was a violent drag on het body, but she flapped her wings hard and quickly countered it. Then she slowly descended downward until she landed on the ground so softly that hardly anything stirred.
She tread lightly in the sparse forest, her body moving with a certain stealth and discipline. After a short while she stopped and stared ahead of her.
At the edge of the tree line a crowd of dragons was moving about and talking amongst themselves idly. A few were laughing and seemed to be strutting about the other dragons, their chests puffed up and their frills that lay on the sides of their heads were on vibrant display.
The she dragon growled something to herself and walked out from the trees towards the crowd.
A sudden hush came over all of them as they saw her, and the tension in the air became unbearable.
She surveyed the crowd as she came closer, but she kept her focus mainly on four dragons with a deadly glint in her eye.
One of the dragons, a green male with bright blue eyes, looked away as if there were something interesting happening everywhere other than where she was. The gray male next to him shifted nervously and his frills lay flat against his head. A large black male behind them stared straight back at her, as did the dark blue female next to him.
She came forward again and this time the green male kept his eyes on her and the gray male stood stock still. The others froze behind them, their muscles tensing and straining beneath their scales.
"That's what I thought," the female growled, raising her clenched fist for everyone to see, " now come clean or you will feel my wrath; no mercy."
The green and gray's eyes became glazed over with utter fear. She unclenched her fist and the four dragons all seemed to bend over and catch their breath in one unanimous motion. The black male caught his breath faster than the rest and his eyes came up to meet hers in an icy glare.
"We don't owe you any explanations," he growled.
"Don't argue!" the green male whispered desperately, " Solaris will only make your punishment worse... she might even leave you to Siege."
"That's General Solaris to you," the purple female snarled, " and I might just leave you to General Siege. I know he has no qualms about losing a soldier or two."
The dark blue female shuddered, as did the two males in front of her. The black male just stood there, but there was a new fear in his eyes.
The green male suddenly crouched down and exposed his throat. The gray quickly followed suit and soon the blue female did, too.
"Please have mercy, General. We were blind and rash and filled with a blood lust that only battle could quench. We were hardly in our right minds. Forgive us," the green male pleaded.
The black male said nothing. He just stood defiantly behind the others with his tail lashing out furiously behind him.
"I accept your apologies, but you will pay for your actions when you least expect it," Solaris growled eerily.
"As for you," her eyes locked on the black dragon, " you can visit with General Siege. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to have some company."
The male snarled at her, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"If you were the warrior you always claim to be, then you would beat me yourself!" he roared.
With that, Solaris pushed her outstretched talons towards him and he flew back onto the ground. He shook uncontrollably and foam streamed from his mouth as his eyes rolled back into his head. He screeched in agony and his tail lashed out and whipped wildly at the dragons in front of him.
Then Solaris dropped her hand and he stopped thrashing. He took in deep, ragged breaths and his eyes gradually came back into focus.
Every dragon glanced back and forth between Solaris and the stunned male. When their eyes finally came to rest on their General, they all flinched and seemed to step away from her ever so slightly.
She uttered a low warning growl and everyone besides the male quickly took the hint. They all hurried away and went about their own business while Solaris was left behind to carry out hers.
She walked over to the black dragon and hovered over him. Her eyes bore into his as he gathered himself and his thoughts.
"Time for a little journey," she growled.
The blank, stunned fog in the dragon's eyes suddenly turned into such an unsettling look that Solaris had to stifle a shudder.
It was the look of defeat, and nothing could ever get lower or more sickening then a creature who had that look in their eyes.
She turned away.

***

Siege lay sprawled out under a large, leafy tree with one of his heads' eyes wide open and alert. The other heads were asleep, and loud snores frequently erupted from him as he lounged in the shade.
Other dragons milled about farther away and his one head watched them intently as they went about their duties.
Some of them were training and practicing their skills in battle, while others were talking amongst themselves and sharing stories or bits of information. He only caught a portion of what they were saying, but he could easily guess that it was about the battle that they had won the day before. Just as he was gathering more information, a murmur rose up amongst the crowd. All conversations had stopped and a name was being whispered throughout the mass of dragons.
"Solaris," each of them whispered, and their focus shifted to a place that was blocked from Siege's view.
Then he saw her, clear as day.
She was walking towards him with a large black dragon following silently behind her, his head low and his eyes wandering about with a scared and shameful look to them.
Siege knew immediately what she was going to ask of him.
He straightened up lazily and stretched, a terrifying yawn revealing all three sets of dagger-like teeth. Everyone's focus suddenly turned to him and Solaris smirked devilishly. His middle head winked back and she rolled her eyes with a disapproving look.
The dragon behind her didn't seem to notice, for his expression seemed blank and distant.
When she reached Siege she bowed her head slightly. Since she was his equal, she would do no more and no less. He bowed all of his heads the same amount in return.
When he came out of his bow, he growled,
"Good afternoon, General Solaris. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
His voice dripped with a sly sarcasm, for he knew exactly why she was standing in front of him now.
"This soldier has acted against my direct orders," she replied, "therefore he must be dually punished."
Suddenly Siege looked up to see the crowd watching them with silent curiosity. It was as if he had just noticed their presence in the conversation.
He waved them off with an impatient snarl.
"This is none of your business! Get away and close your ears! Go about your responsibilities and don't crowd around like excited hatchlings!"
All of the dragons began to shuffle off quickly and quietly so as not to disturb Siege even more.
As soon as all of them were out of earshot, Siege turned to Solaris.
"A warning beforehand would have been nice," he growled, " and it looks like you're done enough to him already. What did you do...a Mage Hand? Or a Mind Seize? Or both?"
"A she-dragon does not reveal her secrets," whispered Solaris before releasing a light laugh.
Siege rolled his eyes.
"So what did he do?"
"He led a group of my soldiers into your battle against my direct orders. So I thought you could have this one, since he fought alongside your soldiers," she said, " In fact, you can keep him. Just make sure he has a tight schedule. He needs the discipline."
The dragon's eyes widened and his heart dropped into his stomach.
"Fine," Siege growled, " I needed an extra soldier anyways. A few were lost in the battle yesterday and he'll fit right in with the others."
"Good. I need to return to Queen Magma now. I've kept her waiting long enough."
With that, Solaris lifted her strong, elegant wings and she propelled herself into the air with a mighty push from her muscular legs.
Siege had to give her credit, since most dragons could only get airborne with a running start and a great leap that took almost all of of their legs' strength.
When she was gone, he turned his attention back to his new soldier.
The dragon stood up straight, his muscles tense and his jaw set.
Siege uttered a thunderous laugh as he assessed the dragon. Then he lashed out and pinned him down with all three sets of fangs hovering precariously over the dragon's face and throat.
"You think you're so tough? You need to learn a lesson, hatchling!" Siege hissed, his eyes glowing and streams of smoke flowing from his mouths and nostrils.
The dragon snarled.
But then he saw the infamous scar on the side of Siege's middle head and he stopped. No one knew where that scar had come from, but he had his own terrifying theories. Cold fear ran through him and he knew he had to escape.
Siege was battle-hardened and mysterious, and there was absolutely no winning in this battle.
He tried desperately to escape then. He clawed and bit and screeched, but it was useless.
Siege bit into the dragon's throat with a vicious snarl. Thick acidic liquid coated his tongue and the dragon choked out another screech. He felt his throat constricting and he knew it was over. He shut his eyes, waiting desperately for the end.
Suddenly, the pressure was gone.
Siege drew away and the dragon was left gasping for breath, his neck bloody and torn apart. He stared at the hydra in disbelief.
"That's it?" he choked, his eyes wide.
"Fear is your worst enemy, hatchling, and so is your pride. Do not cross me again. This is your first warning," Siege growled as he turned back to his spot under the tree. He sprawled out there again with his eyes closed and his throats exposed.
Instead of retaliating, the dragon just stayed on the ground.
Siege kept his eyes closed, but his mouths twitched up at the corners until a sly grin sat teasingly on each of his faces.
The dragon did nothing.