Merging Kingdoms

Lonely Sanctuary

In no-dragon's land of Pyrrhia, tucked into a grey-green valley beside a lake, lay a blossoming new town. Trees and stone were cut and slotted together to make quaint cabins of different sizes. This town-in-progress seemed ordinary at first glance, but upon further inspection, one would notice the tiny cabins in a circle at the center of the town. Beside those houses, a SandWing and an IceWing sat.

Winter had gathered scavengers from a nearby scavenger den to populate Sanctuary. They kept trying to escape, so Winter stayed to guard them every night, until Flower taught them to behave. It was exhausting, but then Prince Smolder came to visit with his scavenger. They never ran away afterwards.

Smolder visited more and more frequently, claiming that Flower would draw pictures of one of the scavengers there and tug on Smolder's wing until he flew her to Sanctuary. This was one of Smolder's visits, which were so often that he had his own cabin in Sanctuary, draped in furs and equipped with a fireplace to keep SandWings warm.

"She drew a picture of you and Wolfheart today." Smolder removed three pieces of paper from the small pouch around his neck. Flower looked around, wide-eyed, from atop Smolder's back. Winter tilted his wings, slightly, to reveal the scavenger on his own back. The two yipped and shrieked, sliding off each dragons' back and colliding into each other with full force. Winter gazed down at the intelligent creatures, but he felt a stab of loneliness. After Moon and Qibli had flown off to Pantala, he hadn't quite felt whole.

Smolder unfolded the first drawing of the scavenger named Wolfheart. He was called Wolfheart because Flower drew a picture of him, surrounded by wolves and little hearts. The scavenger took Flower by her paw and they ran off through the streets, pointing and chattering at the new dragons. Most of the dragons there were SkyWings, IceWings, and SeaWings, but recently, a RainWing named Pineapple brought four scavengers and a blobby scavenger larva from the rainforest.

It was fascinating to study the strange creatures. The rainforest scavengers were darker than the ones who lived around Sanctuary, but desert scavengers were the darkest and arctic scavengers were the lightest. Winter often wondered if they had Queens and tribes, like dragons.

The second drawing was Winter, curled on the floor of Sanctuary and staring blankly outward. The last was Wolfheart, holding a miniature sword, soaring on Winter's back. He had an almost heroic expression, for a scavenger.

"Flower draws these?" Winter asked with disbelief.

"You ask that every time." Smolder laughed. "Yeah, she draws these. She draws to communicate. She's very intelligent."

Winter frowned. "Wolfheart doesn't do anything like that."

"Maybe they're just different," Smolder shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you."

"How'd you train Flower to come to the sound of a bell?" Winter asked.

"I guess she just did it on her own. It started as a dinner bell, but then she came even without food." He passed the bell to Winter.

The bell jingled cheerfully through the crisp air. Winter heard a series of chirps, then Flower and Wolfheart ran up behind him with wide eyes.

"I've got to return to Queen Thorn now." Smolder said, packing his bell away and bending down for Flower to climb up. The two wide-eyed scavengers held on to each other for the longest time. Before they finished, Smolder gently pulled Flower away. The SandWing lifted off into the cloudy midday sky, glimmering like a piece of gold against a background of snow.

A glance down at Wolfheart reminded Winter of himself. The scavengers, they had facial expressions. That was the same look that Winter wore when he watched Moon and Qibli fly away to Pantala, as if it was the last time he would ever see them. An icy, lonely sigh escaped the dragon. He wouldn't admit it, but he missed them.