WINGS OF FIRE: Kingdoms Divided

Chapter 6: The Crimson Palace

The Allwing was a beautiful tart red. Her tail had a sandwing barb and she had visible gills, unlike mine which blended in with my armored scales. Icicles were going all down her back to her tail. She had one teardrop by her eye and three black scales along her back. I saw four fangs sticking out of her mouth, two on each side, and her eyes were surrounded by six dots, each colored different colors of the rainbow. Her wings were huge with beautiful designs. Her snout was square and she looked as though she had armored scales. She was only a little bit bigger than the two Skywings. She looked a lot like me, but smaller and with some different details.

Queen Crimson had her head arched up and her body was much longer than the other two dragons. Her tail was small and she had two diamond-shaped rubies, one on either side of her eyes. Her scales were a beautiful crimson red and she had a champagne-colored underbelly. Her eyes were a deep, dark, blue.

Queen Rose was a bright red, her tail was curved elegantly behind her. Her head was raised regally, and she wore a crown made of gold. Her wings were twice the size of Crimson's and looked like she was great at flying.

All three dragons looked young, and they were all wearing tiaras.

"Who's that dragon?" I asked Jupiter, pointing to the Allwing.

"No one knows. We don't know who either of those dragons are." she said, pointing to Rose.

"That's Queen Rose, sister to Queen Crimson." Eucalyptus said, popping up behind us.

I kept walking but I heard Eucalyptus explaining to Jupiter and Saturn about the confusion of whether Rose was Queen Rose or Lady Rose.

"What should we check out first?"

"Did she have a big connection with her daughter?" Eucalyptus asked. "Because if she had a connection with her daughter, she might have hidden something in her room."

"Uh...yes, I believe she did." Jupiter said.
"I can show you her room!" said Saturn, hopping away.

We all followed her into a room with an old bed, a beautiful nightstand, a mirror, and tapestries all around the room. I looked through the nightstand while Eucalyptus was looking at the tapestries. Saturn and Jupiter were flying around, looking at the walls and roof.

In the top drawer was a stack of books. Books like The History Of The Scorching, Life As A Dragon In Other Contents, and All About Scavengers. I opened them all. I saw a small envelope in The History Of The Scorching. I took it out and opened it.

Mercury,

I am giving you this book as a birthday present but it will also be how we send secret messages. In one of your tapestries is a small box. Put any letters you want to send to me in that and I put letters in there to send to me. I feel we will need it to hide this from your father.

Love Your Mother, Queen Crimson.

"Guys, look at this!" I handed the letter to Jupiter and watched as all three read it silently.

Eucalyptus gasped and ran to a tapestry hanging on the wall. She started to pull it off the wall.

"I noticed that this tapestry was kinda torn away at this corner. It's also sticking off the wall a little bit. It has to have something hidden behind it!" She pulled it off and threw it to the floor. Behind it was a hole in the wall, with a small wooden box inside. Eucalyptus pulled the box out. It had a carving of a tree. She opened the box. Inside was a small slip of paper, folded in fourths. We took it out and read it.

Mercury,

Somewhere deep in the Crystal Cave near Mountains Galore, is... something I can not say. Please go there and see what it is and what to do about it, but you must wait until I am gone. Please, my daughter, do this for me.

-Your mother, Crimson

"Where's Mount Galore?!" I demanded, whirling toward Jupiter.

"Follow me!" She said, flying out of a broken window.

"WAIT!" Saturn called, as I jumped out after Jupiter. The spell on my necklace to make something grow when I was near it so I could fit, and shrink when I left, worked as the rubble parted so I could squeeze through. "It's so far and it's dark out! Shouldn't we wait until the morning?!"

"That might be smarter," Eucalyptus agreed, as I spurted big puffs of exasperated smoke out of my nostrils.

"They're right, it is getting dark out," Jupiter said, turning to fly back inside. "Maybe we should stay here tonight."

I growled, looking into the dark sky. Even Cactus seemed to agree as she patted my snout from her sling. "Fine! Only because I need to talk to Clearsight."
"Who?" Saturn asked.

"A dead Nightwing friend of mine."

"DEAD?!"

"I can summon my friend Clearsight. She is the one who creates the prophecies. She also guides spirits to the afterlife," I said with a shrug.

"That's...concerning," Jupiter said. I laughed.

Soon we all settled down in Mercury's bedroom. Saturn and Jupiter curled up on the bed together, while Eucalyptus slept on the floor. I was going to sleep on the floor as a wolf on a bunch of pillows, but I still needed to talk to Clearsight. I lifted a sleeping Cactus out of her sling and set her on the pillows. Her tongue was hanging out and her left wing twitched as I walked toward the broken window. I slipped out and flew toward the highest tower, hoping I hadn't been followed. I decided to try and shapeshift into a Starwing.

My wings curved and my face rounded. My tail became slim and smooth and my claws were sharp and beautifully curved, not serrated. I shook my back right leg, to feel the pouch there and all the things inside move. There wasn't much in there. I had the dreamvisitor my mother had been using before her death, some of my old enchantments, and a couple of human things. My scales became a beautiful star command blue.

I soon reached the top of the castle where I landed. I looked up into the sky to see a misty black figure headed toward me. I awaited the arrival of my old friend. Clearsight soon landed next to me.

"Hello, Blaire. Why have you summoned me this time?"

"I need information," I said, getting right to the point. "Did you know about a dragon named Queen Rose?"
Clearsight tilted her head. "I think I remember reading about her in one of the Nightwing's ancient scrolls once. Why?"

"We need to find out what happened to her and who her Allwing friend was."
"I can't remember what happened to her. I think one day she just became Lady Rose instead of Queen. As for her Allwing friend, she's actually her sister. I remember reading about her. She was the youngest sister of Queen Rose and Princess Crimson. Rumors were that her father was an Allwing. Maybe your father was an Allwing."

"What happened to her?"
"No one knows. She just disappeared one day. If someone knew they never wrote it in any scrolls, at least not ones I've read."

"Thank you. I really needed to know this." "Well, you are one of my favorite dragons," Clearsight said, nudging me. I nuzzled her back. Soon she turned and flew away. I returned to Mercury's bedroom and soon fell asleep.