Young Writers Society

Shadow hoped that Ash’s dream would come true one day, but now it was time for the main event. Shadow grimaced as he focused on Scorch, but he had to see what was going on in the cave and what Scorch thought of it.

As Scorch descended into the main cave where the other dragonets were waiting he was already criticizing the living space that had been chosen.

What a dirty, dark, cold, wet, and smelly hole this is. Certainly not a place for a noble Flame Wing such as myself. Only wurms could enjoy living in such a place as this. Fitting though, I suppose. After all, these uncivilized dragons are not much greater than wurms anyway. He glanced down at the dragonets as he entered the main room.

Hmph. And their larva is even uglier. I need to finish this farce of an inspection as quickly as possible before their stench sticks to me.

“This is the main room of the cave. These two are the guardians that help me protect and guide the dragonets. This is Shear and that is Quake,” Surge said, gesturing to the other guardians.

“And these are the dragonets of prophecy. Tempest, Boulder, Hailstorm, Gale, and Aurora,” She finished, gesturing to the dragonets. Each of them was having their own thoughts about the new flame wing.

So that’s what a flame wing looks like. Fascinating. I thought they’d have more red scales but this one has lots of black scales and even yellow ones. His eyes are practically glowing! Though I don’t like how he’s looking at us. Hailstorm thought.

Wow! He’s so bright and scary. I don’t think he likes us very much at all. Aurora thought.

Man. Talk about distain. I was hoping for someone to play some games with, but I doubt this guy has ever heard of fun before. He’s just another adult who thinks he’s so much better than us just because we’re dragonets. Ha! I bet I could fly circles around him. Gale thought.

Why is he looking at me like that? What did I ever do to make him dislike me so much? Did he have something bad for breakfast this morning? Boulder wondered.

Seems like he already hates us. Well, that’s fine, I hate him too. He’d better not give any of my friends trouble or I’ll give him a slap in his glowy face with my tail. Tempest thought.

They all didn’t like the look of their new visitor and Scorch took notice.

“It seems your dragonets don’t have much respect for their superiors.” He growled.

Stupid, foolish peasant dragons. You should know your place and bow when a dragon of my stature stands before you. Though I suppose I’ll have to forgive your ignorance this once. You were raised by incompetent dragons from lesser tribes after all. He thought.

“We’ll. I thought you were going to show me the living space. My time is precious so please stop wasting it,” he continued, ignoring the dragonets.

Surge was fuming from his arrogant attitude and gestured for Shear to continue the tour. As she and Scorch left to continue the tour Surge’s anger bubbled over a little as she growled menacingly.

All the dragonets took a step back. They knew Surge well enough to realise she was on the brink of exploding.

“How dare he come waltzing in here like he is our superior!” Surge growled, mostly to herself. “He has no idea how much we’ve had to suffer down here to keep these foolish dragonets safe. He should be grateful we are allowing him to see this place. Does he have any idea how many dragons would beg to be allowed to see it? The place where the ‘legendary’ dragonets of prophecy were raised?” She growled again but Quake placed a talon on her shoulder.

“I agree that he has no right to act the way he does. I can tell he’s never seen battle or even trained in combat before. It irks me that I would have to listen to someone who has earned no respect. Yet we must put up with it for this short while. For the sake of gathering all the dragonets together,” He said reasonably. Surge shook off his talon.

“I am aware. That’s the only reason I haven’t clawed his arrogant face off yet, but if he goes too far I may not be able to control myself,” She hissed, and for once Tempest agreed with her. She turned to her friends.

“I can’t stand this guy.”

“Yeah me neither,” Gale added.

“Well, we should at least not cause trouble for the guardians while he’s here.” Aurora suggested.

“Yeah, Surge looks like she’s going to tear someone apart already,” Hailstorm agreed nervously.

“And that is the end of our tour,” Shear said cheerfully as she and Scorch rejoined the others.

“Hmmm. Very well. Thank you for your time Guardians. I will report this to my queen, and she will contact you with her answer in the near future,” Scorch said. Though, as he and Surge walked back outside once more, his mind was thinking something completely different.

Such filthy common living. How do dragons even live in such conditions? At least this is the end of my time with selfish dragonets. They think they can just do whatever they want because of a prophecy. Hmph. To bad it won’t come true now. Ha! Now that I’m done here I can finally get what I deserve. After running all these errands for them it had better be even more gold then they promised. Then I won’t have to listen to a queen that has no respect for me anymore.

Shadow could feel Scorch’s satisfaction as his pride and ego were sated.

It made him sick.

But more than that, he was worried about what the despicable Flame Wing was thinking. Was he planning on harming the dragonets or had he already done something to the Flame Wing dragonet? However, Shadow didn’t have time to ponder this right now and refocused on Scorch as he and Surge reached the cave entrance.

“We are grateful for your visit. May your journey back to the land of the Flame Wings be swift and safe,” Surge said respectfully. And good riddance too. She thought.

“The flame wings are grateful for your cooperation. I will return and report to my queen all details regarding your living conditions. Please send your strongest warrior to report this to the Wings of Protection as well,” Scorch replied.

“Why should I report this?!” Surge growled. “Why not just have Ash report it when he gets back?”

“Because he will obviously be escorting me back to her majesty of course,” Scorch said as if it was obvious.

“Then he will wait there for her majesty’s decision and deliver it to the Wings of Protection. It will take some time for a decision to be reached and the Wings of Protection must be notified that I arrived here safely. Besides, it’s not like you need three fully grown dragons to take care of a handful of dragonets,” He said dismissively.

Both Surge and Ash were boiling with anger but neither wanted to do anything that might keep queen Sear from trusting the Wings of Protection with the Flame Wing dragonet of prophecy.

Meanwhile Scorch was smirking mentally. He knew they hated doing what he said but couldn’t risk going against him. He loved watching the frustration on their faces and basking in the power he held over them.

“Very well,” Surge hissed between gritted teeth. “I’ll inform the wings of protection. But you had better put in a good word for us. This is above and beyond what was agreed. If you knew you needed a messenger you should have brought another member of the Wings of Protection with you.”

“Hmph. They would have slowed us down. This way we get all the dragonets together as quickly as possible. Isn’t that what all you Wings of Protection dragons want? You should be grateful I’m so thoughtful to save you time like this,” Scorch scoffed.

Surge’s claws twitched. She wanted so badly to slash his stupid, arrogant face right then and there, but she held herself back. Barely.

“Come on Scorch. Let’s get going,” Ash insisted. Eager to be off before he pushed Surge over the edge.

“That is Lord Scorch to you peasant.” Scorch snapped. Shadow could feel Ash rolling her eyes behind the conceited dragon’s back as she leapt into the air. Scorch snorted at his apparent disrespect, but he followed Ash into the sky. Surge growled as she watched them go. That was by far the worst Flame Wing she had ever met.

“I suppose I’ll need to let the other guardians know that I’m now being required to fly halfway across the continent because of the stupidity of a Flame Wing.” She muttered. It pained her but she knew she had no choice. Somebody had to tell the wings of protection that the meeting had been successful. If that irritating flame wing wasn't going to let Ash go, then she would have to go instead.

Shadow let out a deep sigh and stretched after remaining in one spot for so long. He didn’t know if he was feeling tense because of the rudeness of the Flame Wing or the excitement of everything that was going on, but he wished he could take a break. Unfortunately, the guardians weren’t going to wait for him to be ready, so he listened in again to see what happened next.