Wings of Fire; Beyond The Sea

Epilogue

The Night Before the Eclipse...

"We're sorry your majesty," the NightWing soldier said softly, his voice laced in sorrow and sympathy like thick honey that dropped off his black forked tongue. Queen Misfortunate already knew what he was about to say and it struck her already weeping heart. "They..... didn't make it."

The NightWing Queen had to hold back her choked sob as she nodded slowly. "What....." she had to swallow down her cries as she spoke. "What were they...my precious dragonets."

The guard was silent as he clasped his spear tightly as though afraid to tell the already heartbroken queen anymore. "A girl and a boy," he spoke at last, his voice merely a whisper, but loud enough for it to reach the Queen's ears. "Both beautiful just like their mother."

She used her talons to wipe her tears away as she gave him a nod, dismissing the guard with a soft swish of her tail, watching through watery eyes as he gave her one last pitiful and sorrowful glance before taking his leave. Leaving the Queen alone within the large and open hallway that retched out upon either side with doors lining the black brick walls.

This was her fifth and sixth dragonets, just gone like that. They had been doing so well too and were due to hatch within the next two sunrises. She'd made sure they were taken care of and watched over with the most protective eyes, yet...just like the rest. They were gone.

Her first had been a little boy, he had hardly been within his egg before he was found to be dead within the black and scaly shell with tiny white speckles like tiny stars. They'd found out because of the horrid smell within the royal hatchery that turned out to be his egg.

The next two were little girls, little princesses. They had only hade it halfway through their incubation period. Sickness had spread throughout the Kingdom after a batch of rotten prey had been brought back unknowingly. A guard had been sick and she had unknowingly passed it onto the future heirs who caught the sickness through their shells.

The fourth was another boy, he had died just within two days of being laid, dying seemingly out of nowhere.

Now there were her two newest dragonets, the two she was sure would make it out of their shells and get to have their first taste of fresh air and see the moons that shown down upon them so brightly that they made the whole kingdom glow in a dazzling and sparkling silver.

Queen Misfortunate could no longer hold in her weeping as her cries kept from her throat in choking and gasping sobs that echoed down the hall ways, bouncing back to ring within her ears. Warm tears leaked from her eyes and rolled down her face, splashing down onto the floor below just in front of her talons.

Why did this happen to her? Had her mother been right in naming her Misfortunate? This had to all have been just a nightmare. She would wake up with all of her lovely dragonets smiling around her, all alive and not buried beneath the ground in the royal graveyard.

"Queen Misfortunate?" The NightWing quickly choked back another sob and rushed to dry her tears with her wrists. "Y-yes?" She cursed herself for not being able to hide the wavering within her voice. When she had managed to clear her eyes as best she could in order to see, she saw a young familiar face.

The dragon before her was hardly any older than a dragonet, she was small and scrawny with purple tinted scales and large, bright purple eyes that sparkled like a pool of jewels that any queen would die to get their talons on. Her spines were spiked up in alarm and some were bent at odd angles, giving her a poor look. She was skinny with a long tail, her horns were short and round, just like her small snout. In the centre of the dragonets forehead, right between her eyes, was a small white dot, a white dot some NightWing's all shared.

Much like the teardrop scale that all mind readers shared, future seers all shared a white scale in the centre of their foreheads

"I...heard what happened...." the dragonet said quietly, her small wings tucked closely against her sides. It pained the Queen to see Prophet like this.

Prophet was Queen Misfortunate's personal seer, for only being five years old she could see farther into the future than Misfortunate had ever seen before. She'd heard of NightWing's with such powerful seeing abilities, but she'd never seen it for herself. The dragonet was full of potential and the Queen had hired her for the job as soon as she could, asking Prophet's parents before hand, making sure it was alright for their daughter to move into the palace.

"And I'm terribly sorry," Prophet's eyes started to water as her wings quivered. "I should've been it coming and warned you, then maybe they'd be alive and-" the dragonet stopped her whimpering rambling as Misfortunate wrapped her arms around the scrawny dragonet, holding her close and wrapping her wings around them.

"Shhhhhh." She soothes the purple tinted NightWing as she softly rubs her talons down her spiky back, lightly tracing over her bent and tangled spines. "It wasn't your fault, no body could see this coming."

She held her tight as the dragonet joined her in her weeping, the two keeping each other close as the night continued on around them, the place quiet aside from the two heartbroken dragons within its empty halls. The two stayed together until the sound of rushing talons filled their ears.

"Your majesty!" A guard shouted, her voice giving away her terror. "Come quick! The kingdom's in panic!"

"What?" Queen Misfortunate's head shot jp along side Prophet's. "What do you mean?!"

"Come see for yourself!" She didn't give the two much time to think about it before racing off towards the outlooking tower that took place within the front of the place with a large balcony that stretched out to look upon the Kingdom. Misfortunate and Prophet wasted no time as they shot up and raced after the guard, following the sounds of her clicking silver and black armour.

As soon as the two reached the main balcony, Misfortunate's eyes widened in horror and fear, bloodshot and red from her tears as she looked out upon her kingdom, but also the sky. Prophet skidded to a halt by the Queen's side, her small wings flared out slightly in alarm.

"Beware the day that turns the sky red, for a dragon is coming for all our heads," Prophet's voice shuttered as her whole body shook. She was reviving a prophecy that would haunt Queen Misfortunate's dreams. "A dragon with eyes the colour as red as blood, will come to take all that you love."

The sky was turning red with the rising sun, but it's place in the sky was already claimed by the three moons the refused to set down within the horizon. Their beautiful silver surface was turning as black as soot and ash, looking like that if haunting eyes that looked down upon the night kingdom in menace and rage.

"Beware the dragon born under three watchful eyes, for they shall come to claim your queen and reveal an evil that has yet to be seen."

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A 5k word long chapter and a 1.2k word long Epilogue in one day? I've never written so much in a single sitting!

Sadly, this is the ending for Beyond the Sea, but is also the beginning for my next wings of fire book; Blood of the Moons. I'm unsure when the Prologue will be released, since I will be working a bit on my The Scorching re-write for a few days, but it should be out soon for you all to enjoy.

I want to thank each and everyone of you for coming this far within my book and enjoying it as much as I have! It means a lot to see how many people enjoy and read my work!

This is the end for now, until the next story begins.

- MindlessTyper