If Glory Missed

Chapter Thirteen - Repercussions

"Oops." Peril looked down at the lazulite dragon in her talons, then back at Burn's body.

"I cannot BELIEVE you right now!" Harrier roared at her. "Do you have any idea what sort of repercussions might come from this disaster?" Peril opened her mouth to say something sarcastic back, but the fiery SkyWing continued. "No, of COURSE you don't. You never think about the consequences of your actions. Take a look at the stadium right now. What do you see?"

Peril squinted at the crowd. "Err, dragons?"

"Wrong."

"Well technically she's righ--" Hawk tried to point out, but Harrier didn't care.

"This fireless dragon is wrong in my eyes because what I see are three distinct tribes sitting in peace together. And do you know why all these different tribes would do this in the middle of a war?" She shook her head. "What am I saying, of course you don't know." Harrier took a deep breath. "These dragons are only together because they are allies. If Burn is dead, then that means she isn't going to be queen. If she isn't going to be queen, there is no reason for Queen Scarlet to ally with all these tribes."

"Now that leaves two tribes -- the MudWings and the SkyWings if you've been listening -- that have two choices: pull out of the war and become a neutral tribe, or stay in the war but support a different SandWing sister." Harrier pointed to the MudWings. "Queen Moorhen only allied with Burn because of threats to her own tribe, so she will likely stay out of the war from now on." She pointed to Queen Scarlet. "We were never told what the SkyWings were promised, but knowing our queen, she will probably want to stay in the war just so that her arena can remain full of war prisoners and her thirst for bloodshed can be quenched."

"The most important part of this history-in-the-making lesson is that, assuming all these theories are correct, this means that Queen Scarlet will likely ally with one of the other sisters. I know it won't be Blaze because Queen Scarlet believes she has no stomach for death and would make a terrible queen. This leaves only one conclusion: not only does Blister have the SeaWings on her side, but now she has the SkyWings as well. The IceWings will be smart enough to stay on their side of the Great Ice Cliff so as to NOT DIE, while Blaze is left completely exposed for Blister and her forces."

Harrier exhaled. Both her brother and Peril had their mouths hanging wide open. "Congratulations," she spat at Peril. "You just chose the next SandWing Queen."