Wings of Fire: A Game for Glory

Chapter 1: Royals

Years later....

The NightWings are, and has always been, a mysterious and secretive tribe. They relied on stealth and the element of surprise to take down their enemies, and it didn't matter if their searing hot fire breath blinded them or if their large wings blocked the moons-- they were meant to be feared, and they are still feared to this day.

But, ever since the news about the Gem of Tyranny, the NightWings were a threat to their neighbor, the SkyWings and SandWings. The night dragons had already taken over half of the mountains during the years, and the SkyWings were losing more land every year. Prince Envy wasn't really fond of his tribe's plans with stealing all of the mountains in the Claws of the Clouds. The NightWings had more than enough land, and more than enough dragons all together. Envy's tribe had been gifted with foreseers and mind-readers over the generations, and all because of the Gem of Tyranny, every foreseer and mind-reader the tribe has been able to hatch has been used as a weapon, as an object. The royals had always been completely power-hungry, especially the king, King Beastslayer of the NightWings. He, out of all of the dragons in the kingdom, URGED for power as if his very life depended on it. Envy hated him for it.

The morning sun crept through the velvet red curtains, illuminating the bear-skin rug the prince slept on, making the tip of Envy's snout warm. The prince sleepily blinked, his body instinctively waking up for the day.

"Prince Envy?"

The voice of one of the queen's advisers had woken up Envy completely. He looked up, his ears perked forward, towards the dark purple dragoness. "Breakfast is ready. Her Majesty, your siblings and the king are waiting."

Envy nods, his mouth opening widely and allowing a yawn to escape his jaws. "Thank you," he says as he wiped his eyes. Envy grunts as he stumbled onto his talons. Envy trotted out of his bedroom, and into the halls. The walls were embedded with moonstone and other rare, sparkling gems. Starflicker loved to remind every dragon how rich she was-- she was third richest dragon in all of Pyrrhia, and considerably the most beautiful. At least, those were the somewhat forced opinions of the NightWings.

"Prince Envy! Your scales aren't even polished!" Another one of Starflicker's advisers came sprinted down towards the prince. Envy yelped as the other dragoness tugged at his arm. "Do you not remember what tonight is?"

Envy's eyes widen. Oh holy moons--

"...Uh," Envy starts, his tone full of doubt. "My mother's hatching day..?" Envy knew he was incorrect when the dragoness snorted angrily. The adviser took a deep breath, and Envy's ears swiveled back as he prepared for the dragon to start yelling.

"It's the MOON FESTIVAL!" The adviser exclaims. "When all of the moons are--"

"I know," Envy interrupts, raising his eye-ridges with a giggle. He's heard about the Moon Festival about a million times. When all of the three moons are full, the night dragons celebrate and praise them, as if they were gods.
"My apologies. I forgot it was today-- plus, I just woke up! Can I PLEASE eat breakfast before you start throwing outfits at me?"

The adviser chuckled lightly, her tail swaying left and right softly. "Yes, my prince. I apologize too." Envy dismissed the adviser, and he walked to the dining room, following the scent of roasted ham and cow. The stone gray dragonet pushed through the low-hanging curtains that hung over the arch of the doorway, snorting when the translucent blue fabric tickled his nostrils.

"The dragonet is finally here. How was your sleep, darling?" Beastslayer tapped his talons onto the long dining table impatiently. Envy could immediately sense his father's sarcasm-- he would never care if he had a good sleep or not. He only kept Envy alive because he didn't want to scare his subjects nor be added on the Queen's personal bounty list.

The dark gray NightWing suddenly hissed. "Are you NOT going to sit down?"

Envy flinched, walking faster to his seat, right next to his mother, Queen Starflicker. The queen was a completely different color than her son; she had midnight blue scales with bright green eyes and light gray spikes on her back. Rings with rubies and sapphires were all over her talons and horns, adding to her beauty. Her body wasn't covered in scars, unlike her mate, but she had a scratch scar on her leg, and a few other tiny scraps on her shiny scales. The enormous NightWing looked down at her son, and Envy looked up at his mother. He smiled. Envy then turned to his twin brother, Fateslayer, who playfully stuck his tongue out at him while crossing his eyes. Princess Silverday covered her snout, snickering, trying not to interrupt breakfast with early-in-the-morning laughs.

Envy giggled, reaching for some fish, before a roar had stopped him, causing him to freeze as if he was blasted with IceWing frost-breath.

"Envy," Beastslayer snarls. The royal advisers, including Starflicker and Fate, turn their gaze to Envy. The dragonet lowered his talons slowly, hiding them underneath the table in shame.

Starflicker gently set her talons onto the table. "Beastslayer, it was an acci--"

The king bared his teeth, ignoring his mate's words. "You do not eat until your mother, the QUEEN, tells you to do so. Do I have to review this again, dragonet? Give you another lesson on ROYALTY, dear? Are you really this mentally impaired?"

"You're the one who's mentally impaired," Envy muttered under his breath as he looked down at his talons.

"What was that?" Beastslayer quickly says after Envy's murmur, a grin forming on his face as he leaned towards Envy. He KNEW Envy wouldn't dare to speak such words out loud in his face.

The dragonet's heart almost leapt from his chest, not expecting the king to hear his words. "Nothing," Envy hastily responds. He faintly heard his father's thoughts: "You're so lucky that I can't snap your neck right here, right now."

"You all may eat." The queen finally announces, her tone low as she raised her talons into the air. The room was filled with chatter as the dragons began to eat, but Envy was the last one to the start eating. The dragonet's ears turned back, his heart still attempting to slow down after getting spooked by his father.

He had no right to be so rude to him! Just because he was technically useless in the royal family did not mean he deserves such cruel treatment. Envy grabbed a piece of cow leg, flicking his tongue as he tried to keep his angry comments to himself. Stupid squid-brain, Envy says in his head as he finally began to eat his breakfast, silently.