Wings of Fire: Holocaust of the Skies {FINISHED}

Chapter 4

Realizing that she was spotted, Starflicker leaped away from Gavin, spreading her wings to shield him from any offensive blows by the SandWing. The SandWing hissed, raising her tail in a threatening manner. "Stay away from my son, you oversized jerboa!" Starflicker demanded, baring her teeth. The SandWing laughed, unimpressed by Starflicker's attempts in intimidating her. Soon, the SandWing lunged at the NightWing, instantly clawing at Starflicker's face. Starflicker ducked before her talons could come in contact with her face, and she tackled the sand dragon, chomping down on her front leg. The dragoness hissed in pain before the pale yellow beast grapped Starflicker's wings and began tearing through the membrane of her wings. Starflicker screeched in agony as her wings were being permanently damaged and torn.
"Mother!" Gavin roared as he sprinted towards the enemy. The SandWing flew out of the cave and into the sky once she noticed Gavin trying to attack her, but she didn't leave. All she wanted was some more space, and fighting in a cramped cave isn't very comfortable. As Gavin followed the dragon into the sky, the angry SandWing shot a blast of fire from her maw. Gavin dodged the fiery projectile, diving below it and coming up underneath the SandWing to pierce her unprotected stomach with his two, sharp horns that covered the back of his head.
It knocked the breath out of the SandWing and Gavin felt warm blood drip down his face and into his scales. With the dragoness stunned, Gavin arose before her and whipped her across the face with his tail. The SandWing howled and fled while covering one of her eyes with her talons, blood leaking out between them.
Gavin didn't have time to acknowledge his triumph as he tackled by another SandWing. The dragon was twice his size and was ready to tear the dragonet apart. The SandWing opened his jaws, ready to release a jet of flames right into Gavin's face. Gavin quickly drove the heel of his front claws into the SandWing's throat, causing the dragon to choke on his own fire. He then wedged his two feet between them and kicked out with all of his strength. The SandWing was thrown off of the dragonet, but he recovered quickly. With a roar, the sand dragon launched himself towards Gavin, his ebony claws wide open and prepared to slice through the dragonet's scales. Unable to attack quick enough, Gavin flinched and turned back in a swift movement, instinctively trying to protect his face with his claws. In those short seconds, his talons severely tingled while dizziness corrupted his head once he glanced down a nearby spear dropped by a fallen NightWing soldier. He then closed his eyes, ready for his death.

Gavin heard an agonizing scream, and it sounded close, so he assumed it was from his SandWing opponent. Gavin still awaited for some type of deadly blow from the dragon, but he wasn't stabbed by a barbed tail, he wasn't getting his face clawed off and fire wasn't burning his scales.
Gavin slowly opened his eyes, beating his wings so he could hover. The blood from the first SandWing opponent had already dried and began to flake off of his scales. Gavin looked down, only to see the SandWing he was battling to be impaled by a spear.
The same spear he saw before, moments when the SandWing tried to attack him. The spear went completely through the dragon's neck, the blood heavily oozed from where the spear entered, and the head of the spear was covered in crimson red blood.
Who did that? Gavin didn't remember any NightWing guards in his area at the time, and his mother was injured in the cave. He remembered glancing at the spear for only a few moments and whipping his body away from the SandWing. But he did recall one thing: The tingling in his claws. The sensations were usually at its greatest when he uses his animus powers. Gavin widen his eyes.
Did he use his magic to kill a dragon? Gavin then glanced down at his claws.

☾

The SandWings didn't do too much damage to the island. About four NightWings and one dragonet was reported dead, and a few home caves were on fire, but there wasn't any major damage. Healer dragons tended to the wounded as Gavin watched guards drag dead SandWings away. He recognized the one SandWing that he accidentally impaled with a spear with his animus magic. The image of the blood gushing from the dragon's neck sickened him.
Starflicker crawled out of the cave, the membrane of her left wing having two large scratches across them. He knew his mother would never be able to fly again, but he was glad she was alive.
The queen soon visited the NightWing village, and she called to Gavin. The dragonet ran to the queen.
"Are you and your mother alright?" The queen asked, a concern look planted on her face. Gavin's ears turned back with discomfort. "She was hurt," he says. "Her wings were torn by a SandWing soldier."
He wished he could've helped Starflicker sooner. But he was scared, and he didn't know what to do. He was glad that he was at least able to fend off the SandWings and that he remembered his combat training. All of that tiring and hard work saved his and his mother's life.
"Gavin," the queen says, her eyes relaxed and dull. "Come to the palace. We need to talk."
Gavin was quick to respond, and he said "okay." He assumed his mother wouldn't mind him being gone for a while.

☾

In the throne room, the queen smiled down at Gavin from her throne. "This attack is a reason why we need your magic, Gavin," the queen says as she set her arms on the golden armrests of her throne. Gavin stayed silent, unable to think of a good response for what she said. The queen continued. "This attack was small compared to the other battles the other tribes had faced. But why care about them, hm?"
"Shouldn't we care?" Gavin didn't mean to say that out loud, but now that it was out he proceeded to talk. "Wasn't this war started by the SkyWings? What if the queen made the tribes turn on each other!"
"And how do you think she's capable of doing that?"
Gavin paused. He didn't know how to exactly answer that question. How did the SkyWing queen make the dragon tribes fight each other? Gavin tried to change the subject. "I used my magic to kill a dragon during the attack!"
Gavin tried not to sound too proud of what he had done, but he expected the queen to be happy, anyway. "Perfect!" The queen exclaimed, smiling and clapping her claws. "Now I know that you have the potential to kill other dragons! I am so glad you are not a lousy RainWing. Guards, bring Shadowshift to me. Gavin needs more animus training."

The guards soon brought a dark violet NightWing who had lavender eyes. He was about the same size as Gavin and his whole tail was missing. The queen looked delighted when she saw him. "Shadowshift! I'm glad you are here. This dragonet needs some magic training."
Shadowshift examined Gavin closely as if his own appearance was an important test itself. "Come, dragonet," Shadowshift says, his voice deep and raspy. "We have work to do."