Wings Of Destiny: Book 1

Chapter 23

Iceberg gritted her teeth, covering her ears.

"Disappointing," Queen Comet said to Prince Storm, as the crowd of dragons erupted in cheers. 

"Catastrophic," Storm said. "Look, the idiots love her now." 

Dragons were leaning over to top of the arena walls to throw small jewels at Foeseer. A couple of little emeralds bounced off her scales as she dropped Gulf's head and stepped back from his limp body. 

Foeseer gave the dragons a disgusted look, but that didn't stop them.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Queen Comet said. She rubbed her front talons together. "But now it's time for the red NightWing! My hatching-day present to me!"

Guards soon went to unchain Battlebringer.

Battlebringer snarled and glanced around nervously.

Queen Comet signaled the guards with one talon, and they hauled Battlebringer off to the tunnel.

No one had chained Foeseer after her fight. She was still standing in the arena, her back turned to the IceWing corpse, which was already beginning to smell of dead penguin. Then Battlebringer was shoved out of the tunnel.

Battlebringer locked gazes with Foeseer. 

Oh no.. Iceberg thought.

"The uniquest of all dragons!" The announcer called. "A NightWing! Is he the dragonet of the prophecy? Let's see what happens when two of them have to fight each other! Foeseer of the AnimusWings and Battlebringer of the NightWings! Claws up, teeth ready, fight!"

Foeseer and Battlebringer stood looking at each other. Foeseer's sides were heaving, and she was covered in Gulf's blood. She looked a bit scarier than usual.

Slowly, they walked towards each other. Foeseer leaned into him, resting his head on his shoulder. Battlebringer had walked over to her and calmly placed his head on top of Foeseer's.

Iceberg smiled and the tensity in her body dropped.

"BOOO...ooo?" Called a solitary voice from the crowd, dropping off as no one joined in.

 "Awwwww." Went a few dragons in the upper seats, far enough from the queen that they wouldn't be recognized.

"This is getting worse and worse." Prince Storm hissed through gritty teeth.

"Aren't you going to fight?" Queen Comet called. Foeseer and Battlebringer didn't even look up. "That's very annoying. Go on, you've been stuck with each other for years. You must be ready to kill her, NightWing. Doesn't she drive you mad?"

"No?" Comet leaned forward. "Oh, fine! Be the worst gladiators ever. Falcon! Get that purple NightWing out there and release the scavengers!"

Guards soon flew to unchain Stargazer. 

Stargazer looked panicked. 

Stargazer was soon pushed into the tunnel where Foeseer and Battlebringer were. Stargazer hit the sand with a soft thud and quickly scrambled back up.

"Scavengers? To kill the Dragonets of the prophecy? Are you mad?" Prince Storm snarled.

 "Well, it only took one to get your sister." Comet said.

Stargazer yelped and backed away from the cage and the scavengers. 

Foeseer pushed Stargazer behind her and spread her wings in front of her, baring her teeth at the scavengers. 

Stargazer was frantically looking around for something to use to help them.

Three of them ran at Foeseer, while two ran at Stargazer and the other two ran at Battlebringer.

Foeseer cuffed aside the first scavenger with a swipe that sent it flying into the seats. 

Stargazer yelped and began to run from the tiny creatures.

Battlebringer knocked the one trying to get Stargazer away with his tail and he bit another one. He lifted another with his talons and whacked it hard into the crowd of SkyWings, using his tail like a baseball bat.

Iceberg struggled against the chains again, hissing.
Prince Storm snorted. "This is going well. The purple NightWing is not even doing anything."

She slid, sending a cloud of dust and sand behind as she ran past Foeseer and her scavengers.

The other two scavengers near Foeseer skidded to a stop and backpedaling out of Foeseer's reach. She flicked her tongue at them. 

One of the scavengers pointed, and they split up, circling Foeseer from different directions. They approached slowly, each holding out a silver claw. Foeseer eyed them until she couldn't watch them both at once. Then she turned and lunged at the one on her left. That one darted under her talons and stabbed at her underbelly. Foeseer yelped and reached to grab the scavenger, but it had already scurried away.

"Let me help them!" Iceberg yelled to the queen desperately. "Please! I want to help them."

Stumbling, Stargazer's tail smacked the scavenger that had stabbed Foeseer. 

"Nice hit, Stargazer!" Battlebringer complimented the violet NightWing. Another scavenger stabbed his tail and he grunted in pain and pulled the silver claw from his scales. "These things are so annoying!!"

Suddenly a scavenger was charging toward Stargazer, climbing up her front leg and before she could shake the scavenger off, the scavenger scrabbled on to her back. Stargazer had stopped running now and was trying to remove the scavenger from her back. The scavenger was clinging to Stargazer's scales like a salamander going up a rock.

Battlebringer hit the scavenger on Stargazer's back and tossed it off.

Soon, all the scavengers were gone.

Queen Comet sighed. "Your right, my dear son. This isn't nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be. Let's go straight to the IceWings!" She shouted across to Falcon. 

"Finally a smart idea." 

Falcon signaled, and guards took off from all over the stadium. They soon scattered to the IceWing prisoners. There was at least eight IceWings up there. 

The dragonets' faces paled. They were going to die.

Suddenly a cloud seemed to pass over the sun. The fluttering of wings made all the dragons look up as a wave of darkness flew overhead. One piece of the darkness separated from the rest and spiraled down into the arena, ducking under the web of wires. 

As he descended magnificently onto the sand, wings outstretched. The dragonets recognized him.

Futureseeker had arrived at last..