Shadow Falling

From The Kingdom Of Sand

Shade cowered away from the Sandwings dropping from the sky. Their lips were pulled back in identical snarls, revealing gleaming white teeth, with tails poised to strike. Beside him, he heard Passion hissing. He dove to the side as one of the Sandwings dove at him. He just managed to avoid their tail.

He flattened himself against the ground, talons covering his head. He watched in panic as Passion flared her wings, now a bright crimson, as she stood over Vine and Hickory protectively. The Sandwings weren't stopping, swooping down on the group to grab the scavengers, despite Passion clawing at every available inch of flesh she could get to.

Her talons sank deep into the bigger Sandwing's tail, who roared in pain and rage. He turned on Passion, snapping at her face and missing by a scale's breadth.

"Stop!" Passion roared, venom dripping from her exposed fangs.

And in an instant, it seemed as though the Sandwings had been pinned to the air in which they were flying through. They each had eyes wide with terror and outrage, and Shade realized that just saying the word 'stop' counted as a spell. He scuttled over to Passion, who looked pleased with herself.

"Stop using your magic!" he hissed, glancing upward at the Sandwings hanging in the air midflight.

She scoffed. "Would you rather them still attacking us? I protected us." she was still protecting the scavengers with her body. "Because I could have let us keep getting attacked."

"Well, you can't control other dragons! Uh, put them down, I think. You still can take them without magic."

Passion shrugged, looking back at the intruders.

"You're right, Shade. I don't need magic to defeat them. Alright, I'll let you down. But you can't attack us, or I'll spit venom in your face and tear off your wings! Now, get down."

The Sandwings dropped to the ground, landing a bit hard on their sides, tails lashing. One of them, the pale-yellow female with black horns and claws, had her ears pinned against her head, lips drawn back in a snarl as she pulled herself back up. The other had black on his sides and watched Passion with a sort of wary anger. He slowly got back to his feet; head lowered threateningly.

They seemed to match the description of the dragons Vine had described. Shade looked to the scavengers and saw Vine clinging to Passion's leg, the purest of terrors on her face. The poor little thing was scared stiff.

"I don't take well to having dragons mess with my friends, even new ones." Passion said in a chill voice. "Why are you attacking my scavengers?"

"Your scavengers?" the female Sandwing snorted. "They were alone just a few days ago."

"And now they're not. So. Back. Off."

"We need them!" The other hissed.

Passion laughed. "No, no, you don't. Now, we'll be going now, I hope you have a lovely day staying out of my way."

The pale Sandwing lunged forward to attack Passion, but the hybrid merely spat a mouthful of venom in her path. The spot where the venom landed hissed and bubbled, the grass and plant matter getting burned away. The Sandwings both pulled back, eyeing Passion with newfound wariness. Passion grinned, tilting her head slightly.

"I wouldn't try it. But now I'm curious. Why risk your life over a couple of insignificant scavengers, hmm? I'm sure there are others you can find elsewhere, with less... problems." her lips turned up as she spoke.

The two Sandwings shared looks. The black scaled one nodded to his partner.

"We're from the Kingdom of Sand, on a mission from the late Queen Oasis, allowed to keep searching by Queen Thorn, to find the Sandwing treasure. These scavengers will lead us to it." she snarled, eyeing the scavengers with resentment.

There was a moment of silence, before Passion burst out laughing. They all stared in shock at her as she laughed, throwing her head back and beating the ground with her tail. After a moment, she wiped her eyes with a claw and looked back at the Sandwings.

"And you think these two will lead you to it? Look, I don't think they were even alive when Queen Oasis was killed! That was twenty years ago, right? I don't even think you were born when Oasis died! And look at how small they are! Hickory, how old are you?"

The Sandwing male rolled his eyes at the crazy dragon that was talking to the scavenger, until Hickory opened his mouth to reply.

"I'm seventeen, uh... do you have a name?" he asked timidly, holding onto Vine.

"Why thank you for asking! I'm Passion, my friend over here is Shade." she turned back to the Sandwings. "Now, how about you tell me who you are?"

"How'd you teach it to mimic our language?" the male asked.

"I didn't teach him. Now, names, please."

"Like we would tell you!" the female spat.

Passion sighed, before clearing her throat. And for a split second, Shade could see that she was going to force it out of them. Before he could say anything, the words were already out of her mouth.

"I was so hoping my politeness would work. But it didn't. So, tell me your names." she growled.

At first, Shade thought it didn't work. And he was so grateful. Then, both of the Sandwings opened their mouths, looking as though their jaws were being forced open.

"Sa... hara..." the pale dragon croaked, eyes wide in shock and anger and maybe even pain.

"Cac... tus..." the other choked.

Passion shook her head.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell me? Your fault, I suppose." She lifted Vine to place in her newly made pouch, frowning upon seeing that she didn't fit. "I guess you'll have to hang onto my back."

"Okay!" Vine cried excitedly, seeming oblivious to how cruel and terrifying Passion was being to the Sandwings.

Passion helped her crawl up onto her spine, then held out her talon to Hickory. He slowly climbed on, then settled himself behind Vine, sitting between Passion's long, curved spines. Passion tipped her head to the Sandwings, who were practically cowering away from her.

"Thank you for no longer trying to kill my scavengers. I will leave you to look for your long-lost treasure or go back to your little desert. I leave that up to you. Vine, Hickory, hold on!"

Passion spread her wings and leapt into the air, the scavengers crying out at the sudden lurch. Shade looked back at Sahara and Cactus, feeling very torn.

"I'm... sorry." He said, before going after Passion.