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Curled up in the rock cell that Queen Ruby had put her in, the dragon tried to focus on better times.
She closed her eyes, head lolling sideways on her neck as though she had died. The guards outside her cell ruffled their wings in alarm; should they tell the Queen?
The dragon didn't move, already lost in stories of the past that she wished she could join once again.
There was her mother, laughter echoing through the Rainforest, wings buffeted through the sudden strong wind that the storm blew in.
And there was her father, scolding her gently, wrapping his wings around her protectively, making sure the other dragons wouldn't make fun of her strange scales.
The dragon let out a ragged sigh, brushing across the dusted floors and flowing through the gates of the cell. She opened her eyes wearily, soon alight with a strange hunger as she noticed the gates were unguarded.
In their hurry to tell the Queen, the guards were so sure that she was dead that they hadn't bothered to leave anyone behind.
With a quiet bark of delight, the dragon stood up, nearly dragged down with the weight of the iron ball that had been attached to her shackles. But despite her skinny figure, the dragon dragged it across the floor, feeling as though she could carry a thousand islands.
