Wings of Fire: A Pale Moon Rises

Prologue: Light and Beauty

(5,007 AS)

Trueheart sat in Mastermind's lab. A variety of experiments cluttered the walls, but Trueheart's eyes were only on one thing: a RainWing egg.

It was a light purple colour, and glossy like it was a polished precious stone.

Trueheart had never seen an egg before, not since he was born and emerged from his own. Even then, NightWing eggs were different. They held all the glorious darkness of the night.

RainWing eggs held something else. The light and beauty of a world Trueheart had never truly known, but only glimpsed the times that he was permitted to leave the NightWing island.

The egg shook, and began to hatch. Both Mastermind and Trueheart watched it with great curiosity, but Trueheart noticed a glimpse of something else in Mastermind's dark eyes. It was not only curiosity, but a thirst for knowledge so strong that he would do anything to satiate it.

Trueheart watched the dark blue and purple nose crack open the top of the egg, he watched the little dragonet stumble out and flop onto the ground, gazing up at him with large green eyes, he knew that he had to do whatever he could to free this dragonet from Mastermind's experiments. He would not let Mastermind hurt her, no matter what.

***

(5,008 AS)

Wrathful exited the tunnel, taking a long inhale of the fresh rainforest air. Much better.

Wrathful hated being cooped up on the island: anyone would. She hated going hungry, she hated the awful air, and she loved the rainforest.

Mostly, she loved not having to be around her annoying dragonets. Her and her partner, Bloodspiller, had been lucky with having dragonets. Most NightWings on the island struggled with infertility, due to the terrible conditions they had to spend time in. Wrathful loved the extra hunting days her family got, and the other benefits for a family with five dragonets. Only three of them were really Bloodspiller's, though all of them were hers, with different mates. He always helped take care of them, though. He was the most useful partner she had ever had.

Wrathful explored the area of the rainforest near the tunnels, looking for prey. It was dark, and the three moons were out, all in different stages of their moon cycle. Pale moonlight reflected off of the dewy leaves of the large rainforest trees, creating an effect like walking through a world of illuminated, shattered glass.

Something shone brighter than the leaves, though, and it caught Wrathful's eye.

A glistening oval shape: an egg.

When she approached, she could see the colour.

It was silver.

Is this a RainWing egg? She wondered. She had never seen eggs of other tribes, but she knew NightWing eggs were black, perhaps with some tiny silver flecks. Nothing like this.

It was in a clearing, where there was a gap in the canopy. Rain fell through the gap, as well as the unfiltered light of the three moons. Two were full, and one was a crescent.

She looked up at the moons and felt something overtake her. She was not a sentimental dragon, but feeling the light of the moons on her scales felt right. This is what a NightWing's life should be. Wrathful thought angrily to herself.

A cracking noise erupted, drawing her attention back to the egg. Out of the silver egg, a white nose peeked out. White? She thought, Aren't RainWings supposed to be colourful? Maybe they start out like this...

She noted to herself that the one year old dragonet that escaped from Mastermind's lab was purple, not white.

Maybe this one's defective.

Then, the dragonet started using his talons, toppling the egg over from his weight. He struggled and wriggled out of the egg, and to Wrathful's horror, it was a NightWing.

She widened her eyes, A NightWing? White scales and pink eyes, this thing is a monstrosity...

She leaned forward and poked him on the tip of his nose. He giggled, and grabbed her talon. "Mama!" He yelled. "Hrgbllfff Mama!"

"Hmmm..." Wrathful considered, last year she swore she would never have eggs again, but she would appreciate more hunting days and more grants from the queen. "One more dragonet couldn't hurt..."

Wrathful scooped up the dragonet, placing him between her neck and her wings, where he held on tightly. She made her way back to the tunnel that led to the island.

At least this creature won't be totally useless. Maybe I can make him into a real NightWing.