Wings of Fire: The Forbidden Dragonet | ✔️

~ The Forbidden Dragonet: Chapter 18 ~

Burn stared at her. "You- Scarlet, I- My dragonet?"

Her voice was filled with disbelief.

"Yes," Queen Scarlet said, looking awfully proud. "This is your daughter."

Burn stepped closer and cupped Hare's face with her talons. "My daughter," she breathed. "You're okay."

Hare smiled and wrapped her forearms around her mother's neck. "I can't believe I'm finally meeting you."

Burn pulled Hare closer. They remained like that for several minutes. Hare enjoyed the warmth that radiated from her mother's scales. She felt oddly comfortable in the presence of this dragon she'd never met, like she'd known her her whole life. Hare couldn't imagine anything better than this.

"Where have you been?" Burn asked, finally pulling away.

Hare hesitated, then answered. "I was hidden with the dragonets of destiny."

Burn stared at her furiously. "Six-Claws gave you to the Talons of Peace?" she roared.

Hare winced. "They took good care of me," she insisted.

Burn scoffed. "Weak little worms like them kept six dragonets alive? How did they pull that off?"

"They hid us under a mountain," Hare explained. "They never let us leave. We spent our whole lives there. Well, until Sc- Queen Scarlet found us." Hare flicked her tail at the SkyWing queen.

Her mother leaned a little closer. "Well, I suppose they did a good enough job to keep you alive. That's all that matters to me, that they made sure I have a daughter to meet. Tell me, what's your name?"

Hare perked up. "Hare."

"Hare?" Burn tilted her head to one side, then the other, leaning closer again. "That's not what I would've named you, but they chose well."

Burn lifted her chin with one talon and smiled. "Would you look at that? You have more SandWing features than IceWing. I must say, that's quite the relief." Burn pulled away from her and stood tall. "I don't know if I'd be able to bear it if you resembled your father more than you did me."

My father.

Hare opened her mouth to ask who her other parent was, but she was interrupted by Scarlet.

"Now that you've arrived, the celebrations can finally begin," she said. "Come, we have a lot to discuss."

Queen Scarlet signaled for Burn to follow her. Burn wrapped her wing over Hare's back and walked beside her. Hare trotted along happily. She could hear the SandWing soldiers coming in behind them. Most of them were talking with the SkyWings they ran into, but some were murmuring to each other.

"Hare? That's an odd name."

"Her name isn't the only odd thing about her."

"I can't believe Burn had a dragonet with an IceWing. And during the war? That's so unlike her."

"Isn't it?"

Hare glanced over her shoulder at the SandWings. They glanced at her and quickly grew silent.

What? Too scared to say those things to my face? You're lucky my mother didn't hear you.

Warmth swelled in her chest, and she pressed a little closer to Burn. My mother.

"I assume you've been treating her well?" Burn said to Scarlet, looking down at Hare.

"I've been treating her like my own," Queen Scarlet replied.

"If anything, she's gotten better treatment than us," Copper chimed in. "I don't mean that in a bad way," he added quickly as his mother shot him a look.

Queen Scarlet glared at him as she turned her head away and looked forward again. "Now," she said to Burn, "in case you couldn't tell from what your daughter said, I found the precious dragonets of the prophecy. You know where I found them? Under my mountain."

"How treacherously stupid," Burn said, rolling her eyes. "Where are these dragonets now?"

"Three are among my other prisoners," Queen Scarlet replied, smiling at Burn over her shoulder. "The other is a surprise I saved just for you."

Burn perked up. "A surprise, huh?"

Hare's heart dropped. They were talking about Sunny. "You can't-"

"Yes, a surprise," Queen Scarlet interrupted.

Burn smiled wickedly. "And from the sounds of it, there's only four dragonets."

Hare opened her mouth to tell her mother about Glory, but Scarlet cut her off. "Correct."

So she doesn't plan to tell my mother about Glory. Maybe that's for the best.

"A prophecy destined to fail from the start," Scarlet said, flicking her tail. "Now, let's move on. I have some thrilling plans for tonight. The arena battles for my hatching day are tomorrow, so I figured, why not have a feast to celebrate and kick off your visit with some excitement?"

"A feast isn't exactly my idea of excitement," Burn snarled.

"She's already had her excitement," Copper added. "She just met the dragonet she gave birth to four years ago."

Hare's heart swelled with joy as Burn looked down at her affectionately as Queen Scarlet shot her son yet another annoyed look. "Your son's right, Scarlet," Burn said.

"Well there's no harm in giving you a more enjoyable start to your visit," Queen Scarlet huffed.

Burn sighed. "Alright, Scarlet. If you insist, we'll attend this feast of yours."

Copper smiled at Hare. "I call a seat next to Hare!"

Hare smiled back. "I call a seat next to Copper and my mother!"