Wings of Fire: Owl's Rise

Chapter Two

       Owl woke up to a bright light shining in her eyes. Very annoying, bright lights. She struggled up to a sitting position, and looked around. She was in what looked like a small cell, with three walls made of some kind of stone, and

. She tried to spread her wings, but she couldn't spread her left one. She twisted her head to look, and saw that her left wing was covered in bandages. Ew. I don't need bandages. She thought and started to try chewing the bandages off. She recoiled quickly. It literally tasted like someone dipped it in rotten deer guts!

She gave up trying to take off the bandage, and looked around her prison. In a corner there were some blankets and next to it was a bowl full of water and a bowl full of gross looking hunks of meat. She snorted. they expect me to eat that? And sniffed at the food. Owl went up to the wire door. Outside she could see other cells like hers with dragons that looked nothing like her. She saw red and orange dragons with huge wings and smoke rising from their snouts sleeping in blankets, blue and green dragons with glowing stripes and gills, sandy yellow dragons with tails that looked like the scorpions she saw sometimes, black-as-night dragons with sparkling star-like scales on their wings, icy white dragons bristling with spines, small fanged dragons with prehensile tails and colorful scales, green and brown dragons with leaf shaped wings, dragons of all colors with butterfly wings, and yellow, orange, red, and black dragons with four wings that reminded her of dragonflies. What she didn't see was white, feathered dragons like her.

She heard voices down the hall. She saw many dragons come up to the wire door and look out. Outside she saw a female scavenger, leading one of the small dragons with a prehensile tail, and scales who's color constantly shifted. Owl hissed as she saw them approaching her cell. She went to the back of it, spread her one good wing to look intimidating and lashed her tail. No way this scavenger was exploding her wing again. The door opened, and the scavenger gasped, like she'd never seen a Cloudwing before. Quick as lightning her paw went to a rope at her waist and threw it over Owl's neck. Owl snarled in fury. They're capturing me! Like I'm just some common horse or mething! I'll show them. She thought, but she heard hissing and glared at the dragon behind the scavenger.

"You don't want to do that." The dragon said,as if she'd read Owl's mind, clouds of dark red gathering ominously on her scales. " I'm Hummingbird, by the way. Come with us" She bared long, six inch fangs. Owl saw something black dripping from them. Venom? Better not mess with her, just in case. The scavenger started walking out of the cell. Growling, Owl ruffled her feathers and followed.

After what seemed like HOURS of walking, They came to a door. The scavenger opened it, and a riot of leaves and green greeted Owl. "This is the Aviary." Hummingbird said. "This is where you will live for now. You will learn about the other dragon tribes, and how to defend yourself."

"I can very well defend myself." Owl said indignantly.

"Not against other dragons, but humans." The Rainwing said.'' Humans kill dragons for their scales, and are sometimes forced to fight against other dragons, and tested on for many products. "This is the Dragon Sanctuary, where we are safe and protected by-" "Humans? Owl interrupted,"What are humans?"

Hummingbird sighed and shook her head." My master here is a human. Don't you know anything?"

"Yes, of course I do, it's just I always called them scavengers."

"Scavengers? You make it sound like they rummage around, looking for scraps to eat. No, scavengers have become the top animal here. You are a CloudWing. You don't know anything about the world below the clouds."

"Actually, I never lived in the clouds. I have never even met another Cloudwing. I have always lived in the forest, ever since I hatched."

"Oh?" Said Hummingbird in surprise, completely throwing off her act of being dignified and powerful. Flashes of yellow shot through her scales. "We found you in a clearing with a shot up wing, and we assumed that you had been flying unusually low and gotten shot by a hunter."