The Twin Islands-Wings of Fire

Flare

Flare hadn't expected it would take so long. He grumbled as he looked back on his and Prophecyteller's conversation. 'It would be simple', She said. 'You shouldn't have a problem', she said.

Yeah, right.

It took Flare two and a half days just to find the opening. He only did so that in his sleep deprived state he ended up stumbling into it and nearly impaling himself on a fallen branch. How convenient. He honestly thought it would be easier, but his night vision was terrible, and wasn't given very thorough directions. He had been notified it would only appear at night or in the midst of a shadow. Flare found it when the sun was just beginning to set, and the stars had begun to appear.

But, he finally found it. That was all that mattered. Now, as he was staring into the seemingly black abyss, the full extent of what he was about to do suddenly whammed into him like a mountain. Not a single dragon he knew would be willing to do what he was about to.. Search literally all over Pyhrria for the one they loved-the one they thought, they loved. But barely even knew.

But Flare's dreams of finally getting to meet the real her just wouldn't go away. He had to find her.. He just.. had to..

He found himself stepping into the shadows. They pulled him in and spat him back out in a matter of seconds, causing him to trip over his talons in the process of regaining his footing. The lighting was dim, but he was thankful for it. But he snatched a torch from the wall and breathed fresh flames over it for good measure. The walls were dark, terracotta colored with mixes of different stones. He found this strange, for Jade Mountain was a light grey/brown type of mound. It was nothing like this interior. A little freaked out, he focused ahead.

But of course, what awaited him wasn't any better. The tunnel gradually snaked upwards in a tight corridor, which restricted the use of his large wings in case things went wrong somehow. They scraped painfully against the side of the walls, but he grit his teeth and moved on. His torch was still going strong, which allowed him to view the pictures carved into the stone.

Deeply etched lines drew images of dragons he'd never seen before. They looked powerful, wise and proud. He followed the pictures until Flare stopped to examine one scene, his face and eyes illuminated blood red from the shadows cast by the torch.

What looked like a whole tribe filled the vast extent of the wall nearest to him. Dying, screaming dragons filled the smooth wall. But others with haggard faces and eyes that bore into his soul roamed the etched scene. Some biting into the necks of others, some missing limbs but still standing. A vast, black shape loomed over everything, wings and talons outstretched. The thing that haunted him the most was they looked new. Compared to the others, at least. But the scene had to be made about ten years ago at the most. Flare didn't understand. Who were these dragons? What had happened here?

He couldn't believe Artemis was going to places like this, maybe the kingdom itself. She probably has faced so many dangers already..It pumped him with determination and a stronger respect for her. He may have fell in love a little more, too.

Clearing his thoughts and proceeding down the hall, he focused on the haunting stillness instead. Probably not a good idea, but it was too late to do something else now. It was seriously creepy down here. Flare continued on, only stopping when he reached a set of doors. A little confused, he examined the thick slabs of what looked like metal.

Gold, silver, and bronze glittered in each door. The first door was gold, and very tall, with a sort of curved point at the top. Delicate carving in a language he couldn't decipher were scrawled across the surface.  The second door was a glowing silver. This was like the double doors in Ruby's palace, which too had odd writing. The last seemed to be bronze, and it was rather wide as well. The writing on this was thin, but it looked to be inlaid with silver. As he studied his choices, Flare found himself reaching for the bronze door. If you want to hide something, make it the least noticeable, and the last one you'd pick, right?

He pushed it open gently, barely getting a glimpse of a bright, swirling vortex before being pulled inside. His torch clattered to the ground, sputtering out as a cold wind blew through the tunnel, it's angry fingers grasping where the Skywing once stood.

~~~~

Flare got a mouthful of sand.

He was thrown from about ten feet in the air, so he landed ungracefully on his face. So much for being regal. Flare shifted from the awkward position, spitting sand with a mix of flames so by the time the sand left his mouth, it was a tiny pebble of glass.

His wings shook to get rid of the sand, and he peered around to figure out where he was. He took a sudden jump back, startled. Staring back at him was the face of a giant dragon skull. Flare gaped at the massive ivory structure, which was easily the height of Three adult Skywings stretched out sideways, wings spread. There were two huge hollowed out eye sockets, big enough for Flare to sit in without touching the top or touching any walls, and if he concentrated hard enough he could see the faint shimmer in the left eye socket. So that's where he fell out of..

He studied the skull. The bottom jaw was missing, but that didn't make the teeth any less intimidating. Jutting out like stalactites about to fall, they were cracked and weathered, but still very sharp. They were bigger than him. The skull seemed to be slowly sinking, like the sand was alive and swallowing the massive object. Flare shivered at the thought, that and the thought of what this came from.

If dragons were that big here... Flare tried not to think about it. He guessed he must be in the 'Twin Islands'. Yet, he hadn't expected them to be nothing but vast desert with giant dragon skulls. He stumbled through the hot sand, searching for anything useful. All he found was a gap in the teeth of the skull. It was enough for him to squeeze in.

Casting a glance at the blurred horizon and the glaring sun, he decided it was probably his best bet out here to take shelter. He wanted to know where he should go and what to do before he took off into the unknown. For all he knew this desert could stretch miles and miles, and he'd run out of strength to fly so far. With the energy sapping sun beating down on his scales, he approached the gap in the teeth.

It was easy to slip inside, all he had to do was raise his wings. Inside was surprisingly cool, and clearly a few degrees colder. It was eerie, though. The only light was provided by the holes where the nostrils would've been and between tiny gaps in the teeth. Light beams seemed to dance on the sand, and the rare current of wind swirled tiny dust devils.

Flare let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, and lowered his wings to rest on the shifting ground beneath. The prince shivered again, wondering just why he was going through all this trouble to find Artemis. He felt he knew the answer: but chose to shy away from it.

He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice the slither of talons on sand, and the bigger shadow that shrouded his body. The prince was barely able to utter a gasp before a rasping voice spoke.