Gift or Curse?

Prologue

"There is no time. The queen's soldiers are coming for me. They will not be content with my death. They will scrutinize my dragonets intensely to ensure they have not inherited my abilities. This is the only way they can survive."

"But you can change their minds. You can make them forget about animus magic, or make them think you don't have any. You can make the queen stop hating animus dragons. This isn't the only way."

The first dragon shook his head vigorously. "I won't. If I do, I will essentially be confirming what they think about animus dragons. I'm not an evil dragon. I will not mess with a dragon's mind, especially not when they have no defense. I will not become what the queen fears I am."

"Frog spit, Eagle, I don't want you to die."

"Just take care of my partner and my dragonets, my friend. None of my descendants will be hatched as an animus; I've made sure of that. The queen will have no reason to harm them. But make sure they don't fall apart after I die."

"Maybe we can talk to the queen. Convince her to let you live. If we have animus dragons, we will be at an advantage if another tribe invades us. If she kills you, she leaves us vulnerable. She has to think of the good of her subjects."

"I have tried those arguments and more, Owl. But you are right; I do not want the tribe to be left vulnerable in the event of an attack using magic. Take this, keep it safe. Pass it down to your descendants." he dropped an amulet into Owl's talons.

"But why, Eagle? What does this have to do with anything? Why don't you just run away? To where the queen can't find you?"

Eagle sighed. Then, he told his friend everything.

"If I were to run, the queen would use my dragonets to threaten me," he finished. "I would be no better off, and my family might be killed along with me. This way, only one dragon must die."

"But that one dragon is you, Eagle. You can't die."

"I will, if that's what it takes to keep you and my family safe. Now, go! The soldiers are coming."

Eagle shoved Owl towards the trees at the edge of the clearing.

"No! I'll stay with you!"

Eagle forced Owl down, behind a thick shrub. The branches moved around him, creating a barrier between Owl and the clearing.

"Live well, Owl," Eagle said with a sad smile.

He stepped back into the clearing as seven of the queen's soldiers thudded down onto the dirt.

"Eagle of the SkyWings," the lead dragon said in a rough voice.

Owl watched as Eagle opened his wings wide, his orange eyes calmly meeting the soldier's. The soldier lunged forward, and drove a thick spear into Eagle's chest. Eagle collapsed onto the ground like a tree that had been cut down. His dying gaze sought out Owl, and the branches around Owl silently moved away, back to their original positions. Then Eagle's eyes closed, and Owl collapsed to the ground, weeping silent tears.

He didn't know how long it was before his tears had run dry, before his shaking sides stilled. He lay there, behind the bush, berating himself for his cowardice. He should have done something, should have fought off the soldiers and given Eagle a chance to escape. But Eagle hadn't wanted to escape, had he? Even with his death approaching, even with his life on the line, he had thought only of his family, and of the future of his tribe.

Owl felt something hard in his talons. It was the amulet Eagle had given him. He had been clutching it so hard that one edge had opened a tiny cut between his scales. Eagle had entrusted him with that amulet. Owl would do everything in his power to not betray that trust.