If Glory Missed

Chapter Three - First Punishment

Glory paced restlessly in her cell. It was probably early morning, but instead of the sun lighting her dark prison, there were only a few torches. What 'special' thing does she have planned for me, Glory wondered angrily. What would she want to do to me? Obviously cause me pain, that's how Quee- No! She isn't my queen. Scarlet. That's what I must call her from now on. That's how Scarlet thinks. Then a disturbing thought came to her about what that 'special' thing might be. Before she got a chance to dwell on this, however, footsteps sounded in the hallway.

"It's your lucky day RainWing," Glory heard the dragon sneer and knew he could only be referring to her. "Queen Scarlet, out of the kindness of her heart has decided to let you live... For now." He smirked and opened her cage, only to wrap a chain around her neck. Glory tried to resist, but it was hard to do when your wings were clamped to your sides, your mouth clamped shut, and your tail had a weight tied to the end of it so you couldn't whack the annoying dragon in the face.

He pulled on the chain and led Glory through the maze-like palace belonging to Scarlet. Many of the dragons quickly jumped out of the way when she walked near them. Glory hissed in annoyance at being led like a young dragonet. Then she remembered Tsunami and how they had been separated after the fight. What did they do to her? Are they just going to make her fight more in the arena, or use her against me?

The dragon stopped, and Glory almost ran into him. He knocked on the door, where Scarlet was no doubt lurking.

"I have brought the RainWing for you, Your Majesty." He shouted through the closed doors.

"You may come in Vulture."

The SkyWing -- Vulture -- opened the doors and marched into the room head low. Once he was several wing-lengths from Scarlet, he bowed deeply, until she gave him the order to rise. Scarlet had taken off her jewels and other accessories, replacing them with thin black chains around her neck and right wrist. She sat on her bejeweled throne, her tail over her claws and sitting up straight with the posture of a queen. not that she deserved to be one that is.

"You may leave now," Scarlet told Vulture, angling her wing towards the giant stone doors they had come through earlier.

"Yes, My Queen. Thank you." He bowed again then walked away, ignoring Glory.

"We haven't formally met," she heard a dragon slither out of the shadows. Burn.

"Hello, RainWing. I am the future queen of the SandWings. Queen Burn." The SandWing smiled when Glory's eyes flickered to her bloodstained claws.

"As you obviously know already, I am Queen Scarlet of the SkyWings, and I believe there should be a punishment for trying to murder two queens on the same day." Glory flicked her tail furiously, unable to speak a word.

"I am well aware that communicating would be nearly impossible in his state," Scarlet gestured to the metal binding her snout, "Luckily, you won't need to speak. You have probably guessed what your punishment is at this point. We can't let a rogue RainWing fly around with her fangs out, shooting acid at undeserving dragons whenever she feels like it. Obviously, to avoid the unfortunate consequences of burning acid, we have decided that removing your fangs is the only way to keep other dragons safe from you."

Glory muttered something under her voice that sounded a lot like "coward".

Scarlet was on her in an instant. Her claws gripped tightly around Glory's neck and dug into her back legs. Scarlet put her snout only inches from Glory's face and whispered into her ear.

"Don't ever call me a coward again," she spat furiously. Then she jumped off of her and in one fluent movement grabbed her tail in her mouth -- the weak spot on a dragons tail -- and bit down as hard as she could. The sound of a muffled scream bounced off the palace walls.

"Am I clear?" Scarlet questioned, face-to-face with Glory again.

After a few painful seconds, Glory muttered through clenched teeth, "Crystal."

"Then it is final," Scarlet turned around to leave," Part one of your punishment will happen tonight." She smiled to herself, then walked out with Burn after signaling the guards to take Glory back to her prison cell.

                                                                                   ~        ~        ~

It had all happened so fast. Wait, what happened so fast? She couldn't remember, in fact, she couldn't remember anything. Her body ached all over. Peril tried to open her eyes, but it was blurry. She had already tried to stand up, but that hadn't worked. Peril. How can I remember my name but nothing else? She closed her eyes and just before falling asleep she noticed how much her body was shivering.