Wings of Fire; Creature / ✅

CHAPTER EIGHT - editing

Gleam unfurled her wings and slid into a crouch clumsily, hoping that in some way it looked even the tiniest bit that she was bowing.

"She's already here," there was a hint of surprise in Burn's menacing voice. "Wow. Scarlet must have wanted to get rid of her desperately."

Pain seared Gleam's heart at those smug words, and she tried to control her rage. Any performance would get her executed for sure.

"You," Burn suddenly snapped. Gleam peeked upwards to see the massive sand dragon whip her head around to look at a servant who was just passing by. The SandWing flinched.

"Get Marmalade to send the treasure now, before I have her executed," Burn growled. The servant nodded quickly, lifted up into the air, and flew to one of the highest floors of the castle. Burn turned her gaze to Gleam. "Now, who do we have here?" she said. The princess came over and grasped Gleam's chin, forcing her to look the scary dragon in the eye. Her talons were uncomfortably warm against Gleam's scales.

Burn turned Gleam's chin, slightly to the right, slightly to the right, examining the dragonet, as if wondering whether she was worth the amount of treasure she'd just sent Scarlet. "Hmmm," she said at last. "Black eyes, I wonder. Do any of your parents have SandWing blood?"

"I-I'm not sure," Gleam stammered. "I don't even know their names, let alone how they look."

Burn snorted. "Tough on you. Well, I guess she'll do."

Gleam tried not to bristle. She soothed herself by the thought, it would be hilarious if Burn changes her mind and gets into an argument with Scarlet.

"Hmmm," Burn said again. She dropped Gleam's jaw so suddenly it almost made it collide with the hard sandstone floor below her. The SandWing's gaze travelled down the rest of Gleam's body, as if measuring her for something. With a sickening lurch Gleam wondered if she would end up killed and stuffed, to be presented in Burn's weirdling tower as she often did with strange dragons.

"Do your monstrous-thing," Burn ordered. 

"What?" Gleam said. She didn't understand.

Burn snorted impatiently. "You know, the glowing-horn-and-eyes thing."

"O-OK," Gleam stammered. Doubtful that it would even work and scared of what Burn might do to her if it doesn't, she thought of the uncontrollable rage of when she realised that Scarlet had half-blinded her. She allowed the fury to wash over her like a river exploding its banks during a flood.  Burn's eyes widened with amazement - a sign that her horns and eyes were glowing.

Gleam suddenly wondered if Scarlet was being struck by the pain. At that thought, she stopped. She didn't particularly like Scarlet, but she didn't hate her either - well, not enough to kill her.

"I wonder if that power will work on me if I chopped off your horns and glue them to my head?" Burn wondered gruesomely. 

"Umm..." Gleam said. She didn't like how serious Burn sounded whilst saying that sentence, like she was actually musing about it.

"Don't worry, I won't, as long as you are good," Burn's black eyes were menacing. "Smolder, hand me the key for the weirdling tower, will you?"

Smolder fumbled around his necklace, examining the keys with a mutter. After a couple of moments he drew out a long silver key. Gleam was shocked at how quickly he had found it considering the amount of keys he had wrapped around his neck.  

"Thanks," Burn said smoothly, snatching it off his talons as her brother handed it. "Follow me, and don't try running away."

"Um-" one of the guards, who were still standing there, said. "She... kind of has a chain leash?"

Gleam hissed in annoyance - she'd forgotten about that.

"Thank you, Gnat," Burn said, taking it off him. Gleam wondered if she was insulting him by calling him a gnat, then with a stab of sympathy realised that gnat was his name. 

Burn dragged Gleam with her as they climbed the steps to the highest floor of the castle. After a while, they reached the weirdling tower. Burn unlocked the door and invited Gleam in. She looked around, and immediately wished she hadn't.

There were gross things everywhere. There was not a single, normal point where Gleam could fix her gaze on to not look at the sickening stuff displayed.

There were stuffed dragons, but not normal dragons. Dragons who were born with double heads and weird pink scales. A couple of dead scavengers sat on shelves - scavengers with real bat wings sewn onto their backs and pale, ugly dry skin. 

In glass cases, there were legs with six talons, and tails with double-barbs, which Gleam never knew was possible until now. 

Further along, there were distorted animals. Gleam wanted to throw up. A stuffed camel was propped up at the back, but it had a hippo's head. If you looked at the neck closely, you'd see the strings of how someone had sewn on the head. Gleam felt bad for the dragon Burn had hired to do this disgusting work. 

Beside the camel was a huge desert spider. Its head was replaced with an eagle's. 

Burn was watching her. "Do you like it?" she asked smugly. Beside her, Smolder looked sickly pale. Flower had her head buried in his scales.

"Um... it's very..." Gleam thought of a word to describe this horrid room. Freaky? Disgusting? Sickening? "...interesting." 

"Well, good, because your cage is in here," Burn let out a pure evil cackle.

Seriously? Gleam wanted to faint. Here? In the weirdling tower, with disgusting things that she'd have to look at all day?

"But... it's scary," Gleam said.

Burn shrugged. "Nothing's going to eat you. Chillax. You'll fit right in."

Gleam surveyed the nauseating room nervously.

"Come," Burn said, as if Gleam had a choice, and forced her to follow. They came to a corner in the room where there were cages embedded into the wall. There was only enough room for five steps in each direction and to stretch, nothing more.

"That is your new room!" Burn told her excitedly. "Isn't it fun? I might put in one of my toys for company..." she said, her obsidian black eyes trailing over her stuffed scavengers.

"No!" Gleam said instantly. "No, no thanks. I'm... fine how I am."

"Are you sure?" Burn asked, provoking her.

Gleam clenched her teeth. "Pretty sure."

"OK, good. Smolder, the key for this cage?" Burn invited.

Smolder sighed and opened his eyes that he'd shut tightly a moment ago and searched through his keys again, doing a lot of mumbling. Then he singled out another key. This one was, unlike the weirdling tower key, tiny and rusty. Smolder could barely hold it.

"Thanks," Burn said ungracefully and put the key into the lock, twisted it and opened the cage. "In you go."

"Um... I have a question," Gleam said as she entered.

"Yes?" Burn said a little impatiently.

"When's... food time?" Gleam asked.

Burn shrugged. "Adunno. The servants will bring you food at the approximate time of breakfast, lunch and dinner."

Gleam sighed in relief. She wouldn't starve, at least. That was a start. 

"Bye," Burn growled and locked the cage. She left the room with Smolder hurrying after her. After they closed the door, Gleam heard a click as it was locked. 

And then Gleam was left alone in the creepy, strange room.