Wings of Fire • Dragon of Secrets [2]

Chapter One

Dragon: Apprentice Guard Brisktail of the SwiftScales

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Part One - Trouble With Pyrrhia (Again)

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Three days later...

Metal flashed in the dim light as two dragons sparred. Both had similar gray splotches, however, the apprentice guard had darker scales than his opponent.

      Brisktail ran away from Keeneye, trying to outrun his father but still be close enough that he could get a good kick in. He ducked behind stalactites and scrambled up a stalagmite to run away.

     "Are you going to keep running away like a brainless moa or are you going to fight me like a tiger?" Keeneye snarled, blasting bright white flames at Brisktail's feet.

     Brisktail yelped and clawed higher. His talons were covered in training battle talons and his wrists had thick iron weights strapped around them. They were used with the fighting style Father assigned him called "Smash-and-Dash."

     Brisktail glanced behind himself and aimed for Keeneye's broad shoulders as he jumped. The weights threw his balance off and Brisktail crashed to the ground in a bruised heap.

     Brisktail groaned. Keeneye glared at him with disappointment.

     "I swear, you're more awkward than a leopard seal on land. Who raised you?"

     Brisktail sat up and shook himself. "Mother did. You only stepped in after she disappeared."

     Keeneye whipped his tail across Brisktail's horns. Brisktail reeled with the impact, his snout colliding painfully with a stalactite on his left. Stupid rocks.

     Although... they were interesting. Brisktail noted the pockmarks all along the rock, testaments of the training bouts fought in this room. A scorch mark blazed at the stalactite's base before trailing onto the floor.

     Keeneye snorted at Brisktail. "Keep dreaming, nothing will bring her back. You better whip yourself into shape otherwise you won't be able to graduate with the rest of your class." He then promptly turned on his tail and stalked out of the training room, and Brisktail was left alone.

     Brisktail sighed heavily, the stress about the upcoming events of the week weighing him down and unequipped the battle talons. He ran his eyes along the scars etched in his palms and forearms. He had received those only just three months ago when a battle that halved the SwiftScale army was fought with the SeaWings. His and Quickclaws' grade was scheduled to graduate in a few days due to their service in the Great Battle. Queen Swansong had said it was time to pay them the respect and recognition they deserved. Brisktail was indifferent. 

     As far as he knew, the battle was pointless. He could have easily stopped it but Stratusstream had told him not to intervene.

     Stratusstream was a mysterious dragon. Brisktail couldn't even piece together how her personality worked. One heartbeat she was kind and spitting riddles out of her mouth and the next (according to his friend Lightningtail) Stratusstream was "stuffing grass down your throat".

     That was another thing entirely: Brisktail still couldn't understand how the prince and princesses, Thunderclap, Lightningtail and their cousin Rainwind, had befriended Quickclaws and himself. It almost seemed too good to be true how even after the war was over and they had no reason to mingle with 'commoners', he and his friends had already planned to explore and hunt together.