Wings of Fire: Beyond the Horizon

Chapter 3

Daybreak    701 CT

A small, feline-like dragon sprinted through the Groves. He nimbly dodged trees and ducked under branches as he made his way through. Gray snow was stuck in his otherwise dark maroon fur, forming stripes through it. Suddenly, with a grunt, he collided with something big.

What happened? That didn't feel like a tree...

Daybreak looked up to meet the eyes of a big black dragon. His eyes went wide.

"Eeep! I'm so sorry!" Daybreak squeaked. This dragon looked...scary. It was big and black, with straight horns and olive green eyes. It had strange spikes down its neck and sparkly things on its wings.

That dragon looks...weird.

"I know," said the black dragon. Judging by the softness of its voice, Daybreak guessed it was a female dragon. "We came from another continent, but this is our home now."

We? Wait, was she...? Daybreak thought.

"Yes, my daughter and I. We came from Pyrrhia, and I flew here with her egg before she hatched," she answered.

Daybreak met the black dragon's eyes. "H-how are you doing that?"

"I'm a NightWing," she explained. "When we hatch under full moons, we gain powers. One full moon means mind reading or telling the future, two means both, and all three means both are stronger. I hatched under one full moon and became a mind reader." She pointed a claw to the silver teardrop scale next to her right eye. "That's why I have silver scales."

Daybreak wasn't listening very well anymore. The fact that a dragon could read his mind was terrifying.

Please don't hurt me, Daybreak thought, shivering.

"I don't want to hurt you, little one," said the black dragon. "What's your name?"

"Daybreak," he answered.

"It's nice to meet you, Daybreak. I'm Moonlight." She smiled.

Daybreak felt relieved, but not entirely ready to trust this dragon yet. A small purple dragonet walked up to him and peered down at him curiously. She seemed to be wincing a little, like she was in pain. Her eyes were orange like the color of her head, studying him all over. "Daybreak?" asked the purple dragonet. "I like that name. It sounds...pretty."

Daybreak giggled a little, looking up to meet her eyes. "Thank you," he squeaked. "And what's your name?"

"Primrose," she responded. She held out a talon, offering to help him up. He took it, and Primrose pulled him up to his feet. He reached down and licked the snow off of his legs.

"Why are you licking your legs?" asked Primrose. Her expression looked confused and intrigued at the same time.

"We always do this" he explained. "We clean ourselves by licking our fur."

Primrose slowly nodded. Moonlight gave him a strange look that he couldn't exactly decipher.

"Do you...live here?" Daybreak asked nervously. "In the village?"

Moonlight shook her head. "We're...homeless right now, but we would like to go to that village and ask to stay for awhile."

"Oh! I live there!" he suddenly yelled. Primrose looked at him with a startled expression. "I could ask my mommy if she would let you live with us!"

Moonlight and Primrose exchanged looks before returning their focus to Daybreak. "Okay," answered Moonlight. "You can go ask her. We'll wait here."

Daybreak nodded. "I'll be gone and back so fast, you won't even realize I left!" He turned around for a moment. "I'm really fast," he added.

"What an odd little dragon you are," Moonlight said with a warm smile.

"Am not!" he exclaimed angrily. Primrose started laughing, almost falling over in the process. "You're the weird ones! You're all purple and black and your wings are sparkly!" Daybreak explained haughtily.

"You're the only one who's covered in fur," Primrose pointed out. "Looks to me like you're the weird one."

Daybreak made a noise that was something between a growl and a hiss. "No! I'm not weird!"

Moonlight was now giggling as well, and Daybreak followed soon after. The three lay on their backs in the snow beneath a big tree, watching the snow fall through the interstices of the white canopy above them. They talked for awhile, sharing stories and playing with each other.

 As night began to fall, the gray light from the sky became a dark green. Daybreak jumped to his feet and said goodbye, promising that he would see them again. He ran back through the forest, just as he had done earlier, now with a smile on his face.

His heart did a little flip as he dashed through the forest, back to his home. 

Weird dragons...friendly dragons. Who are they? Why are they here instead of their home? It doesn't matter. They need my help. I'll make sure they're safe, no matter what.