Wings of Fire; Destiny

Chapter 2

Kestrel stared at Shard, who was trembling in front of her. If Wildfire was indeed being serious, and that a dragonet amongst them already committed murder... The only reasonable thing would be to kill Shard. But how could she? He was innocent, young and did not deserve to die. Especially not in this way. Kestrel couldn't possibly betray her friend- but what other choice did she have? Maybe she could fly away and never come back. No. Kestrel thought. Then I would never become a general. Let alone a soldier. And I would be disloyal... I would be punished. She came to her senses and knew what had to be done.

"Kestrel... you- you aren't going to attack me, are you?" Shard stammered. The sound of fire blasting on another dragonet rung in both of their ears and made them shiver. Kestrel felt sick, and just wanted to be with her parents again. Shard continued nervously, looking down.  "Can't we just fly away? Together? And get out of here?" I wish we could. Kestrel did not respond and started filling up with guilt for this miserable dragonet. What would Wildfire think of her if she just flew away? What would happen to Shard if she did? A part of her wanted to kill Shard, but another wanted to leave him be. Was getting the role of a guard more important than another dragon's life? No...

"I don't want to kill you, Shard..." Kestrel said quietly, looking away. "But I want to become a guard. And make my family proud." She hesitated for a moment. Would my family be proud of me for killing an innocent dragonet? Shard's response wasn't what she expected. He let out a nervous laugh.

"I want you to become a guard, too, Kestrel." He smiled. His eyes were dull and sad. "But I do not want to die. Or having you kill me." Shard lifted his chin, narrowing his eyes. Kestrel stared at him blankly, sorrowful. She looked down. Questions and questions fizzled inside her brain. They got interrupted by a flying dragon that landed roughly on the sandy arena. He quickly stumbled between the dragonets and the bloodbath, scurrying to Wildfire.

"General! We have bad news! Very bad news!" He shouted. The dragonets' attention all went to the new guard. Wildfire signaled them to stop fighting, narrowing his eyes. 

"Go on." He responded, with a slight head jerk. Kestrel looked at them, confused, and glanced at Shard. The guard nodded and started speaking.

"Queen Oasis of the SandWings- well, Ex-Queen Oasis, is dead. But none of her heirs killed her." The guard said quickly. "A scavenger killed her, we don't know how, and stole their treasure... including the Eye of Onyx." There was a long pause.

"Oasis has three heirs..." Wildfire whispered, his eyes wide. 

"Exactly..." He said, stressed. "The SandWing tribe doesn't know who to follow anymore. Blister, Blaze, or Burn? Some have chosen sides... some have started fights. Blister has declared war against her sisters. She says the surviving sibling will become Queen of their tribe." The nervous guard continued. "She's allied with the SeaWings already. We don't know how many tribes know about the war... but we should start making allies. And fast."

"We must inform Her Majesty. I think she is in a meeting with the IceWing Queen... She isn't safe. What if the IceWings are informed about the war- what if they kill our queen?" Wildfire looked worried, his voice getting louder. "Dragonets. This session is over- return home and warn every dragon you know. Leave immediately!" He ordered. Kestrel flew away as fast as she could with the others. War? That's terrible! We could all die! She thought, worried. Maybe I won't have time to fulfill my dream after all.