"Malanka!"
“Malanka was
jerked from her dream. Sunlight flooded her eyes and she scrunched them up in
pain. After a second or two, her eyes adjusted. From her mountain ledge she
could see before her miles and miles of rich grassland dotted with mud houses.
Young Wind Talon dragonets laughed and played in the streets below, their
sapphire scales sparkling in the morning sun. Soldiers marched towards the
palace on their daily commute to work as their silver armor clanged with every
step. Other Wind Talons were just emerging from their houses, stretching their
tainted blue and gold wings.
Yawning, Malanka
rubbed her eyes. What had woken her? She stretched out lazily on the rock face,
enjoying the warm sunlight on her cobalt belly scales. Maybe it’d been a bird
or something.
“Malanka!” an
impatient roar echoed from below. Malanka almost jumped off the cliff, ‘Nope.
Definitely wasn’t a bird.’
“Coming,” she
yelled back as she got to her feet. She knew who was calling her. It was her
mother; Neckeata. Every single day at the crack of dawn, there would be mother,
yipping and yapping about how she should be at battle training. It wasn’t like
she didn’t go to her lessons. She just went a bit later than Neckeata would
have liked.
Sighing, Malanka
leapt of the rock face and gently floated down a few meters to the palace
stairs. Great white marble pillars marked the way into the palace. Vines of
blue mountain ivy twisted their way around the columns, their silvery flowers barely
open in the morning sun. There, standing out in growing sunlight with smoke
coiling around her horns, was Neckeata. A glittering silver crown was perched
on her head and look of the outmost irritation was painted all over her snout,
“Malanka! How many times do I have to tell you not to be late for your
training?”
“I don’t know,”
Malanka mumbled, sitting back on her haunches and chewing on one of her talons.
“I don’t know is
not good enough. Your father doesn’t have time to waste, Malanka. He’s got
other things he has to do and you know I can’t teach you,” Neckeata sighed and
wrapped a wing over her daughter's back. “I realize that you just want to sit out
in the sun and play like the other dragonets, but you have responsibilities as
princess.”
“But mother,”
Malanka whined, “It’s so boring and there aren’t any other dragonets to play
with. Can’t I just have one day to be like a normal dragon, then I’d train
twice as hard?”
Neckeata heaved
another heavy sigh, “I know it’s not easy being the only dragonet to come from
a blue egg in the last fifty years, but being a Lightning Talon is a great
gift. Unfortunately it also comes with many responsibilities and one of those
is starting your battle training on time even if it does mean that it’s a bit lonely.
The whole kingdom is depending on you. Without you and the other Lightning
Talons, who would help to fight the Ice Talons? Besides, haven’t you always wanted
to lead the army? You wouldn’t be able to do that if you were just a normal
Wind Talon.” Neckeata nudged Malanka with the tip of her snout and gave her a
quick lick.
Malanka smiled.
Her mother could feel like a pain at times, but deep down she knew that her
mother only wanted what was best for her.
“Okay
mother" she said, wrapping her wings around her mother. Her mother’s
warmth filled her body and she sighed with content. Sometimes it was hard to
believe that she was 16 years old already. Some days, all she want was to be a
small dragonet again, playing with her mother’s tail in the throne room or practicing
flying with her father out on the cliffs. He’d always be there to hold her when
she fell or praising her on how well she’d done. Malanka smiled at the memory.
“I’ll see you
later,” Malanka called to her mother as she rushed inside. Just as she galloped
in through the giant palace doors, another Wind Talon came rushing out. He was
tripping over his feet as his wings flapped this way and that. He rushed past
her without a second look.
‘How strange,’ Malanka thought, peering
back over shoulder at the frantic Wind Talon. Usually dragons acted
respectfully around her, greeting her as they went past and bowing their heads
in respect.
‘Maybe I’ll just
see what he’s up to,’ she decided, creeping to the side of the door so that she could hear
what the messenger and her mother were saying without them seeing her.
“Your…Majesty,”
The Wind Talon panted, skidding to a stop in front of Neckeata.
“Mmmm?” Neckeata
answered in a slightly annoyed voice. She looked like she'd been hoping for a
few moments of peace.
“The Diamond.
It’s gone.”
A\N Just an interesting thing for readers to know. Malanka means lightning in Belarusian. Makani means wind in Hawaiian.
As I feared.
!
I like the ending you've given it! Gave it the link it really needed to the prologue 
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