Wings of Fire: Glistening Amber

Chapter 1

Amber stared down past her talons at the floor of the balcony. It was laced with gold, tracing all the way back to the throne room. It was an unusually windy day, and her eyes had started to water slightly from the breeze whipping at her face. Stretched out below the balcony was sand stained red, surrounded by rows upon rows of SkyWings, MudWings, and SandWings, their allies in the great war that had started about 10 years ago. 

And on that sand, for everyone to observe, were two fighting dragons. A SeaWing and an IceWing battling to the death. The gory scene was so familiar and yet so foreign all at once. They slashed at each other's scales, now dripping with blood, adding to the dreadful color of the sand that innocent dragons had been slain on for centuries. With one last hurrah, the IceWing shot a blast of frost breath. The SeaWing wasn't fast enough. 

It was all Amber could do to keep from throwing up. She turned her gaze to the dragon beside her: A burnt orange SkyWing, the malevolent Queen Scarlet. She had rubies inlaid along the ridge of her wing and a somewhat pretty face, which was usually obscured with a malicious grin. Scarlet looked extremely bored, staring down at the sands with distaste. 

"Well, that was boring. I haven't done a SeaWing and an IceWing in a while; they should have at least tried to entertain me." She tapped her claws on the gold inlaid in the floor. "I really need to find myself a champion." 

"May I leave Mother?" Amber said, finally speaking up. She couldn't bear to stand here any longer. 

Queen Scarlet narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "And why would you want to do that? I think this is much more thrilling than painting, don't you?" 

Amber's thoughts quickly wandered to the hatchery. "Of course, mother. I just- Could I go check on the egg? It's due to hatch in a few days now, so we wouldn't something to happen to it, would we?" Amber waited eagerly for her response.

Her mother sighed angrily. "Fine. I need an heir, and I know you won't be around much longer." 

A shiver went down the young SkwWing's spine. She slunk away through the yawing exit behind the queen. Once she was out of view, she darted away as fast she could to the hatchery. 

*           *          *

Emerging into the cozy room, Amber went out in search of the egg. It wasn't that hard to find. Unlike the room designated to the very young dragonets, full of the high rock walls, places to test their wings, and a whole lot of screeching, this place was quiet and serene, a place Amber went quite often to escape the screams. 

The egg was in the corner on of the pedestals. It was alone, with no siblings. Amber had siblings once. She thought in dread of her sister Falcon, who had died while trying to help an entrapped SandWing escape the prisons. Amber thought Scarlet rather hated that execution. Not because she liked Falcon, but because during the trial the Princess kept talking about forgiveness and how she was happy to die in her pursuit of justice. If anything, Amber hoped she could have a noble death, just like her sister. 

Then there had been Robin, but they had never been all that close. She had died when Amber was about 9 months old. She knew there was more of them, but Amber hadn't gotten the chance to meet them.

Shaking the memories out of her head, she gingerly reached forward to touch the fragile object. The shell was a deep and vibrant red, the same color as the rubies along her mother wings and the ridges above her eyes. Amber could see a small form squirming inside, waiting for the right time to escape from the enclosed space. 

"Not yet little one," Amber whispered to her unhatched sister. "Not yet."  The warm breeze blew in the through the small holes in the walls, and torches hung by the entrance. The floor hear was also inlaid with gold, but not as much as the throne room or the balcony leading to the arena. 

Amber wondered what Queen Scarlet had meant when she had said: "You won't be around much longer." It was a terrifying, and Amber thought she already knew the answer. It was the one thing Amber had worried about most when Coal once took to places through the night, places she would never have known existed without him. 

Whenever she thought about him, tears always threatened to fall, even though it had happened over three years ago. 

When they were caught that one day, she couldn't help thinking, over and over again, about what she could have done, for she wasn't the one that had died that night. 

Amber turned back to the egg. "One day, you will become queen and rid the world of Scarlet. I know you will."

Author's Note

I feel bad for her. Well, I guess I could change that, but I don't really want to, because this becomes a big part of her life. Hehe. So evil. I HAVE JOINED THE DARK SIDE! Has anyone done one of these yet? About one of the previous princesses? Probably. I've never really had any original ideas. Sorry, this is short, I just wanted to get something on the plate. I haven't updated in a while, so I'm trying to do as much as I can before the weekend ends since I can't have electronics during the school week. Anywhoville, please vote, comment, and follow if you enjoyed and want to learn more about what happens next!

P.S. 

That picture at the top is kind of what I'm envisioning she would look like. Just a heads up!