Wings of Fire; The Scarlet Sunrise

Chapter 11

"Lydia," the air felt tense, suffocatingly so. "Moonglobe said, right?" Quickstrike said softly as he and Lydia walked side by side down the pathway, passing dragons on either side. She felt her voice die off in her throat, so instead of trying to force herself to speak, she just weakly nodded her head from where it hung, her earring bouncing against her scales, almost like it were giving her pats of encouragement. Though, right now Lydai felt like no amount of encouragement could help her in this moment.

"That's a pretty name," The older NightWing hummed, his pace steady as one of his large wings put a little more weight on Lydia's shoulder. She's grown used to it over the last few days, she thinks he dose it to help remind himself that she's real and not a fragment of his imagination. She wished it were that easy for her at times, to be able to tell what's real and what's not. "Do you know what it means?"

Lydia never knew why she was given the name she has, she just knows that Charming named her, he always told her "a beautiful name for a beautiful daughter" whenever she asked.

Qucikstrike chuffed lightly, a reassuring sound as well as one of amusement. He must've already guessed that by her silence, she didn't know.

"It means beautiful one." he smiled softly towards her, his eyes warm. When Lydia met his golden honey coloured eyes with her own sparkling scarlet ones, she couldn't find any hidden malice or conflicting emotions, all she could see was overwhelming love and affection.

"I've also heard some say it also means dark one, but I think those aren't fact as I've only heard it from others, not from scrolls or books."

"You're not upset?" Her voice felt dry, but she managed to get it out, shocking herself in the process that she had managed to find her voice even with her heart pounding loudly in her ears, trying to drown everything else out.

"Upset?" A look of confusion flashed across his features as he looked down at her while they walked down the trail, moving out of the way for a pair of passing SkyWing's who's scales shimmered like polished rubies and amber. "Why would I be upset?"

"My name," she managed to chuff out, her ears pinning back against the sides of her skull, "it's not what you wanted. It's now Swiftrunner, what you've been calling me."

"I already guessed you had been given another name," he sighed, "I just, got so lost in the feeling of finding you that I didn't take the time to really, well, think." he chuckled to himself, "If you were a mindreader, you'd be able to see how jumbled my head is. But then again our family isn't really the luckiest with getting abilities from the moons."

"What do you mean 'isn't really the luckiest'?"

"It's been generations since someone in our bloodline has hatched under one or more of the moons, we've always hatched at weird times. Whether it be sunset, the early glimpses of sunrise, or on moonless nights where only the stars light up the sky."

"Mom's side wasn't so lucky either for the longest time."

"Your mothers side? What did she tell you about her side of the family?"

Lydia felt hesitant, almost cursing herself for bringing it up, but she kept going.

"She hasn't told me much, I haven't heard anything about living family members, all I know is that they're also unlucky, she calls it a curse, but she's told me that I broke it."

"You broke it?"

The two stopped in what looked to be a town square. There was a large fountain made of polished marble. It was carved to look like a large bowl, as smooth as a ring fit for royalty made of crystals as its surface had cuts in it like jewels. In the center were two dragons, both MudWings tightly circling each other, to the point the scales along their sides were scraping against one another. They each had one of their front talons grasped tightly around the others, their heads pressed up together in a welcoming embrace, like how one would greet their family after not being able to see them for months on end.