In the Shadows of Evil ~ A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

Chapter 1

Present Time (5013 A.S.)

~~~Inferno~~~

Two pairs of piercing eyes watched her. Judged her.

Inferno's parents - Thrush and Peregrine - were harsh at the best of times, but when it came to her assessments, they got ten times worse. Peregrine watched with eerie stillness, not moving a muscle as she appraised her daughter's every move. Thrush flicked his tail back and forth, his face stuck in a permanent scowl and his bright yellow eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, Inferno made her way around the various obstacles placed in the stone maze she was running through. Every week or so, she was forced into the labyrinth and told to find her way to the end. Her parents watched from above, making sure she didn't try to fly out.

As Inferno ducked under an archway, a pair of scavengers rush out of a rocky nook, waving their tiny little swords. Without hesitating, the bright orange SkyWing smashed them into a stone wall, either killing them or knocking them out, she wasn't sure which.

A grunt of approval echoed down to her, meaning she'd done good by Thrush's standards. Peregrine never said or did anything to show what she was thinking during the assessments, so it wasn't her.

A flash of light spun towards her, and Inferno ducked. Booby-traps again, she thought venomously, watching as the shing axe stuck into the stone behind her. 

After making her way passed the trap, she bounded past a confused-looking hippopotamus and into a large cavern. The end of the maze. 

Even though she was finished, Inferno didn't relax, and with good reason. A plume of fire descended on her, and she just barely managed to scramble behind a rock to avoid it.

With a loud whoosh, Peregrine and Thrush landed in a flash of dark red scales, flames still trailing from the former's mouth. 

"Good job," Thrush announced, although he was still scowling. "You can go. Your battle lessons will be held in fifteen minutes."

Inferno nodded and then bolted, happy to have fifteen minutes of freedom. Normally her parents followed her like shadows, trailing her every move. The only free time she had was after her assessments, when they talked about what to do in the next maze, and how she performed compared to her previous scores.

Sometimes Inferno dreamed of escaping, but knew it was impossible. Her parents had spent the last seven years working on her, and wouldn't give their most prized warrior up so easily. Inferno wasn't even sure why they bothered. All she knew was that Ex-Queen Scarlet had ordered them to, as a fail safe or something. But now that she was dead, Inferno saw no reason for the plan to continue, although her parents still kept it up.

Sighing, she made her way to her room, hoping for a quick nap before battle training began. There wasn't much to do around the cave system she called home, since leaving posed the risk of being spotted by Queen Ruby's soldiers. Other than that, all she had to do was use the assessment maze, fight against her parents or bribed dragons from other tribes, listen to normally boring lectures about the weaknesses and strengths of different tribes, eat, or sleep.

It didn't take her long to pass out, since the assessment had been exhausting, to put it lightly.

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~~~Tidal~~~

"Hey, Tidal," her brother called, walking into the house they lived in.

"Hello Storm," Tidal replied, her indigo scales glimmering darkly in the shade.

"You should come outside," he suggested, smiling as he offered her a claw, but Tidal shook her head. 

"Scallop doesn't want me to leave until I've...well, uh." She trailed off uncomfortably, glancing over her shoulder at the back room.

Storm shook his head. "You should be over this by now," he admonished her. "They're just scavengers. Not even intelligent."

Tidal sighed. "I'm not too sure about that. It just seems cruel." She grimaced, thinking of the two scavengers her mother, Scallop, had captured and ordered her to kill before she did anything else.

"You'll have to get over it sooner or later," Storm said slowly, like he was talking to a three-year-old dragonet. "They wouldn't hesitate to kill you."

"But..."

Her brother cut her off. "No buts. Just go and do it. I'll wait." He sat down and curled his tail around his back talons, watching her expectantly.

Seeing no other option, Tidal went to the back room and closed the door tightly behind her. Two scavengers sat huddled in a dark corner, watching her with wide, frightened eyes. 

Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat, the SeaWing dragonet stepped forwards and did the dreaded dead, wincing at every shriek and cry. Soon it was done, and she left the go explore with Storm, still disgusted by her actions.

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~~~Sandstorm~~~

The desert was empty. Sandstorm had come out of the protected Black Claw base hunting for the dragon he'd seen spying, but now that dragon was gone.

Where did you go? the muddy-beige SandWing wondered, swinging his head left and right. He could have sworn he saw a MudWing spy, but now the dragon was gone. Disappearing as suddenly and completely as they'd arrived.

A sudden rustling off to his left caused Sandstorm to jump, whirling around to face the perceived threat. But nothing showed itself. There was nothing but sand in every direction.

"Who's there?" he yelled, trying to mask his nervousness. The wind blew past him, carrying his voice across the dunes. Nothing happened.

After waiting a few long moments, Sandstorm turned around in defeat, only to find himself thrown backwards into the sand. His attacker snorted in amusement, and Sandstorm caught a flash of beige scales. 

So not a MudWing after all, he thought. A SandWing, maybe?

"Who are you?" the SandWing dragonet growled, scrambling to his feet only to realize his attacker was gone.

"I am Shade," a voice announced out of seemingly nowhere, and Sandstorm realized what dragon tribe his assailant was from.

RainWing, he thought with a spark of fear. Slowly, the air rippled and a black RainWing with navy-edged scales appeared, grinning smugly. 

"Why are you spying on us?" Sandstorm asked, trying to sound menacing. He flicked his tail barb in front of him, keeping it between him and the spy.

"Because you're a potential threat, of course," the RainWing replied. Already his scales were rippling back to clear blue and gold, matching the surroundings. Their chat wouldn't last much longer.

"I'll show you just how threatening we can be!" Sandstorm hissed, lunging at the spy before he disappeared completely.

The RainWing reared up when the smaller SandWing dragonet landed on his back, trying to knock him off with no luck. Sandstorm twisted his body to the side a little and sank his teeth into a weak spot where the RainWing's neck met his shoulders. 

Immediately, his multi-colored foe turned almost completely bright white. I guess he isn't used to getting hurt, Sandstorm thought grimly, pulling back to look for a new place to bite. Before he could, however, the RainWing threw him off and into a pile of sand, knocking the air from his lungs.

As Sandstorm pulled himself up, he caught a glimpse of the RainWing flying off in the direction of the rainforest, his neck hanging dangerously.

Maybe I did more damage than I thought I did, he realized with a glint of pride. Jackal will be happy to hear about this!

And so, he began the long task of stumbling his way back to the camp.

A/N

Yeah, I know this isn't the best chapter, but bear with me for now! Also, which of the three dragonets did you like best? Inferno, Tidal or Sandstorm?