Wings of Fire: Clouded Visions

Chapter Twenty

Every dragon stopped. 

Eerily, all of the dragons' heads turned around and the RainWings' mouths closed. Sunbeam squinted from the sun when the dragons hovering above them drizzled away, letting the sun shine down on the group. 

But why did they stop?

Sunbeam saw her answer almost right away. It was the CloudWings. All of them. Every CloudWing dragon was shielded in sleek, gray armor that covered their chests and necks and legs. 

Mightily, they soared down, talons outstretched and teeth barred. There were hundreds of them, glittering and shining in assurance of each other's company and the Creator's protection. The wing carried them gracefully and their broad wings eased through flight. CloudWings were the ultimate warriors. It was as though time slowed down and Sunbeam glistened at the sight of these mighty soldiers.

Sunbeam remembered a story right then and there. A story of what her aunt had told her that had been passed on from the start with Queen Hurricane.

Three Thousand Years Ago:

Thousands of dragons dead. Every tribe wounded from battle. All the queens dead except for Queen Drizzle, Queen Sleet and Queen Hurricane. 

Not many dragons stood behind their queens and Vespa, Butterfly and Aspen were all bruised and bloodied from the war that raged on for hours. But the new Pantalian queens still stood with fierce, reckless, loyal armies behind them.

"We have to send in the backup!" Queen Drizzle cried desperately at her friend, Hurricane. 

"I already have. They're coming." Replied Hurricane, grunting as she gashed her talons into a SilkWing and ending his life right there.

Backup did come but hundreds of CloudWings were slain under the talons of the ruthless tribes under the rule of the three, blood-thirsty, evil-driven queens. 

The Pyrriah tribe barely scraped their way out of that war with victory. Numbers were frighteningly low. 200 SeaWings left of what used to be a tribe of 700. 163 MudWings of what used to be a tribe of 650. 204 NightWings of what used to be a kingdom of 676. 230 IceWings of what used to be a tribe of 836. 130 RainWings of what used to be a tribe of 912. 100 SandWings of what used to be a kingdom of 619. 129 SkyWings of what used to be a kingdom of 571. And finally, 89 CloudWings of what used to be a Kingdom of 1,000. 

But the other three tribes still surrendered. And they left. They left to go back to Pantala. 

"I'm sorry, Drizzle. I--I can't do this anymore. I won't allow my dragons to go to war ever again. You can come with me now and not fight anymore or...or you can stay here and stare at your dead tribe and all the dead tribes."

Drizzle gazed at her friend then slowly turned in a circle, tears pricking her eyes. The war was brutal. It was more than anyone could handle. 

"I'll come with you. Our tribes will not fight anymore. Everyone else can do what they wish." 

Hurricane nodded, and with that, the two queens and their tribes helped clean up the war. Years later, the RainWings never fought after that and the CloudWings disappeared...forever.