Wings of Fire - The Curse of Magic (UNDER REWRITE)

Chapter 1

The 7th.

The day where her aunt had died with her friend, Pyrrhia spiralling into chaos, and dragons were slain. Slaughtered. The day Princess Sunrise had her trial and her execution, Princess Sunset was thrown in jail, never to see the light of day again, and everybody gave up all hope for the future. 

Shore was laid in the middle of the unease and hatched after the Harbingers took total control of Pyrrhia. That didn't mean she had any less trauma than the dragons and dragonets who experienced the battles, the Doomsday War. For goodness sake, she was six when her mother (Kelpie) was killed in front of her eyes, her father (Tide) imprisoned and herself who escaped with a broken heart, exposed secrets and healed scars. Mostly emotionally.

She had always thought the swirls on her wings were just some sort of condition that she inherited or something that was unique to her family, because her father, Tide, had them too. But she was royal! Who would've guessed, as there was, quite literally, no one to compare it to and her parents never told her! But apparently, it was for her and Tide's safety. Tide was illegitimate, born to parents who had a quick affair and then the royal parent died and the other raised him and told him to keep it a secret, so no one knew.

It was pretty complicated, and now two years later, Shore was sitting at the shoreline of an island in the Bay of a Thousand Scales, contemplating life. Her body language was tense, her ears perked up and brows furrowed. Shore dipped a claw into the warm tropical water and watched the small fish swim away from the ripples. She wasn't feeling hungry, and she stretched with a graceful sort of ease, tucking in her wings and laying down on the hot sand, burying her snout in the wet sand far below the top layer. Her eyes flickered from fish to fish languidly, and she sighed heavily, her snout muffled.

If. If. If.

What if I could've saved them?

What if I stayed instead of running away?

What if I...

What if I...

...did something?

Night fell quickly enough, Shore falling into a kind of doze, still lying in the position she had at noon, her stomach growling. Finally, she stood up, shaking off the sand that had gathered on her scales and bounding into the water.

She was only eight, and she held secrets more important than many dragons have held in their lifetime.

Leaping into the water, her gills flapping as they took in a gulp of seawater, her wings tucked in to help her speed up. Shore swooped underneath a large fish, clamping it with her long, triangular snout not unlike that of a crocodile. She bit down and heard a satisfying crunch as the fish stopped wiggling about and laid limp, the fish's blood, warm and tasting like iron floating in Shore's mouth.

She swam against the current back to the beach, her thick tail dragging on the sand after her body as she settled on the beach, the sand significantly cooler. Biting into her catch, she swallowed the bones with the meat (fish bones never bothered most SeaWings) and looked up at the stars, imagining a world where she could roam freely without worrying about committing any crimes, or someone finding her, where she could be happy and with her parents and everything was good.

She liked to daydream about that world often, but at night, she was often plagued with nightmares of her mother dying and her father screaming and kicking, refusing to go without putting up a good fight. Or maybe some dramatic acts. Both, probably.

She sighed, tears prickling at her eyes, her nose a bit stuffy, even years later. She remembered how Kelpie would always read her scrolls and books, hoping that Shore would grow up to love them, and Tide would argue that he wanted her to be a good fighter... huh. When did she start referring to her parents as 'Kelpie' and 'Tide' instead of 'Mother' and 'Father'?

Whatever, she was way too tired right now to reflect upon her miserable life. With a sigh, Shore closed her eyes, and sleep engulfed her.

Kelpie smiled, cooing at her adorable daughter, as Tide snored and turned over in his sleep. Shore waddled towards Kelpie, who smiled as she picked her up and setting her down on a mat made of seaweed. "You want me to read to you, don't you, little starfish?" Kelpie said softly, trying not to wake Tide up. "Oh, alright," she giggled as Shore bobbed her head, not understanding the strange noises that came out of her mother's mouth.

"I want to show you something, my precious starfish. Ah... here it is. My family tree. Do you know the reason I call you my little starfish, little one? You have Nightwing blood in you, precious pearl. My great-great-grandfather was a NightWing, and it shows in those little silver splashes on your wings... and of course, I wanted to name you Starfish, but your father said no... that we should name you Shore, like the shore you hatched on, out of water, something not many SeaWings can claim."

The little Shore yawned, spinning around and gazing at their little hut on the beach, and fell over, dizzy. Kelpie merely just smiled again, lifting her up, and bringing her to the entrance. "Hush little one," she murmured as Shore babbled nonsense, "Look at the stars. Do you want me to name some for you? Oh, alright then," she giggled as Shore squeaked, "That one's---"

Shore woke up, nostalgia clouding her heart. She scrubbed at the salty tears on her face---no, she couldn't cry, she had to be strong, she needed to be strong to get Tide out of prison---it was still night, and Shore rolled over, facing the water. The night sky's reflection danced on the ocean's surface, and Shore stared at it, mesmerised. Small ripples, small waves---they danced on the water, crashing into the stretch of beach in front of Shore, leaving behind a trail of cold, wet sand. The stars were beautiful that night. 

The stars... how I wish I could join them...

2023/09/04, edited 2023/04/04