Wings of Fire: The Prequels

2.4

When Cloudwatcher turned five years old, he met the two dragons of great influence and power.

Patroling the halls, Cloud let out a small puff of smoke that conveyed his annoyance. Cloud and his wing had been posted to be guards at the palace, Jet deciding that they deserved a small break from the battlefield. It would also delay a few of the rumors that had been pouring out of the rumor mill since Cloud's rank-up.

They had only gotten worse as Cloud continued to lead his wing to victory. Some of them were of ridiculous fake kill counts, others were of Cloud's origins, others of the secret behind his power, and so many more. It had truly been a storm when there was news that Cloud had killed not one, not two, but three high ranking officers.

'Grimly setting his face, Cloud narrowed his eyes at the sea of SandWings and SeaWings. His wing followed him loyally, trusting in Cloud without a hint of doubt. After leading them through four battles, they knew that Cloud would lead them to victory.

A glint of gold caught Cloud's attention, making him focus on it. A large SeaWing was shouting at the nearby soldiers, their arm marked with a gold and sapphire armband. If Cloud remembered correctly from his training, gold and sapphire among SeaWings meant that they were an officer.

The battle was leaning towards defeat at the moment but if Cloud killed an officer...

"Compact blaze!" shouted Cloud, preparing his fire as the others got into formation. They created a pyramid with the tip facing the crowd, breathing their fire as they charged directly into the mass of SeaWings and SandWings. Dragons darted out of the way, yelping as the flames grazed them or caught them full on. This cleared the way to the officer without any hiccups.

Cloud paused his fire for a moment, darting in and clamping his jaws around the officer's throat before she could react. Around him, his wing held off anyone who tried to help the SeaWing. Flames that were earlier stopped raged forth, making her scream in pain as Cloud's nose filled with the smell of burning flesh and fish. Her claws reached for him but before they could touch him Cloud bit down with all his might, the weakened scales giving way easily. She stopped trying to claw at his shoulder, her claws digging into the side of his snout which held the chunk of flesh.

He hissed at the pain, ripping both himself and the piece of flesh away from the SeaWing. "On me!" shouted Cloud after spitting out the chunk of flesh and letting her fall out of the sky as she grasped at her throat (more like the lack thereof). Shooting into the sky, Cloud and his wing left that section of the army in chaos.

Ignoring the sickening taste of charred flesh that had a hint of fish, Cloud decided that killing only one officer wasn't enough. Scanning the battlefield, Cloud caught sight of another SeaWing with the armband. Cloud barely took a moment to think of a plan before enacting what little he had.

"Spread and dive!" ordered Cloud, collapsing his wings to his sides and dropping like a stone while the rest of his wing did the same.

Stretching his claws out in front of him, Cloud aimed for the officer. The momentum sent the two of them downward. Cloud's claws pierced the other's scales, giving him a better grip to rip the SeaWing apart. Depending on his feet, Cloud wrapped his talons around the SeaWing's throat and squeezed to have the other wheeze. Not giving the officer a chance, Cloud sunk his claws into the other's throat and clawed with no rhythm. Despite finally being able to flap his wings, the SeaWing couldn't even fight back as he drowned in his own blood.

Letting the SeaWing go with one final spiteful blast of fire at his back, Cloud flew back up to be level with the rest of his wing. "Disengage! Serpent!" shouted Cloud, watching carefully as the SkyWings removed themselves from their opponents. Nodding at them, Cloud began flying through the mayhem with the others following behind him in single file.