Wings of Fire #1: Sahara's Destiny

Chapter 25

The dragon that had been hiding in the darkness into the light of one of the torches, and the very sight of him sent a spine-rattling chill down Sahara's back. He wore a cloak that was similar to shadows as it wrapped around his body. His entire form was black, but his eyes were a pale gold. Plus, half of his face was nothing but bone. He also wore gold jewelry around his horns, ears, neck, talons, and tail. While his entire demeanor was scary and unapproachable, he seemed to be an important dragon at that.

He walked up to Pearl and touched the vines around her mouth. They detangled themselves and Pearl quickly spoke. "Hermaeus, please!" she pleaded. "You don't understand! I don't want to work for you anymore! I just want to live a peaceful life with my sister. Please, please don't do it! I-I won't ever bring this up to anyone! No one has to know that you exist."

Hermaeus laughed and pulled a set of vines that were wrapped around Pearl's neck closer to him. "I'm afraid it's a little too late for that." His voice was calm yet threatening. "Let me put this in a way a Pyrrhian might understand. When something no longer functions the way it's supposed to, you're supposed to fix it, right? Well, the same goes for dragons. If a dragon begins to think in ways they shouldn't, one has to make them see clearly again. Of course, that means quite a few different things."

Pearl stared at him for a long time before she began to shake her head frantically. "No! N-n-no! None of this is necessary!"

"Unfortunately, it is. And as your punishment, you'll go on living a different life for a while. You won't remember a thing from this one. You'll be as useless as you are now. And when, and only when you are ready, will I turn you back to normal. But when that happens, I suspect you to have learned from your mistakes."

Pearl's eyes started to fill with water. Her body quivered in fear as Hermaeus let go of her vines. "No, no. Please. . ." she squeaked.

Hermaeus smiled, shaking his head as his claws began to glow a brilliant, bright red as he waved his talon across her face. She instantly dropped her head and ceased to speak again. Then, out from her head came a green smoke. It traveled from her to underneath Hermaeus' cloak. He then waved his talon across her body, causing it to change shape and color. Her horns curved around her ears and her scales turned from green to white. Dark green swirl-like patterns formed across her scales and she shrunk in size until she was no smaller than a newborn dragonet. But crazier still, a beautiful shell formed around her until Pearl was nothing more than an egg.

Hermaeus turned to face Sahara with a stern look. She took several shaky steps back, hoping and praying that he wouldn't come after her next. Her magic alone wouldn't be enough to even slow the dragon down. After seeing what he did to Pearl, her very last thought was to mess with him. Just what kind of dragon is he? She thought in panic. Even animus dragons that I know and have seen have never attempted something like that! Is he from Pyrrhia? If not. . . could we deal with him if we had to?

"Let this be a lesson for you." Hermaeus said. "Don't do something you'll regret later. Even though, you may already have."

Once he spoke those few words, he disappeared. His form turned into a huge shadow and resubmerged into the tunnel's darkness. But, as soon as he was gone, the atmosphere felt a lot different. It no longer felt ominous or stressful. Everything felt peaceful.

"Don't do something you'll regret later. Even though, you may already have." Those last words spoken hit Sahara hard. She felt the side of her neck and remembered the inky, purple stains that were there. The deal she had made with Cetia had left her with something to worry about. Sahara sighed and rubbed her neck. How did he know about that? Did he see her stains? He knew something from the beginning. That's why he didn't attack me after he dealt with Pearl. It unsettled her, but Sahara had a feeling she'd see Hermaeus again, but not in the best way.

"Who was that?" Her worried thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Fennec entering the tunnel. She had forgotten her friend had stayed outside.

"I don't know." Sahara answered honestly. She looked down at Fennec with a worried expression. She tore her eyes away and walked over to the egg that was still tangled in the vines. "But we need to give Dolphin the good. . . and the bad news." She unraveled the egg from the vines and they made their way back to the city.

They found everyone huddled up near the river. When they were spotted, Dolphin ran up to them and squeezed them tightly in an affectionate embrace. "I'm so happy you two are alright! I was so worried that something may have happened to you!"

"What happened to the rest of the zombie dragons?" Fennec asked once Dolphin let them go.

"Gone," Stargazer said in a grim tone. "Vanished without a trace."

Dolphin stared down at the egg Sahara was carrying and tilted her head. "What happened to Pearl?"

"Well, here's the deal," Sahara explained. "Good news is we destroyed Pearl's staff. The bad news, however, is she is now an egg. Some other dragon turned her into this before vanishing himself."

Dolphin looked heart-broken. She must have been hoping for a better outcome. "No." She took the egg from Sahara and sat down. "No, no, no." Dolphin began to shed more tears and sobbed as she held the egg tightly to her chest.

"Ah, how unfortunate." Stargazer sighed. Even after Dolphin found out that Stargazer didn't want Pearl around in the first place, he didn't sound too upset about what happened to her. His tone of voice was a rather mild disappointment. "I guess it's finally time for you to accept the fact that your sister isn't coming back this time."

"Shut up." Dolphin hissed through her tears.

The NightWing leaned slightly away from her with a slightly surprised look. He looked away while clearing his throat.

"Get in touch with the DreamWings." Dolphin sniffled. "And tell them we have an egg for them."

"Of course." Stargazer dipped his head and flew off into the trees.

Sahara blinked as she watched the NightWing fly away. DreamWings? Just who were those dragons? Clearly they weren't from Pyrrhia. And why would Dolphin want to talk to them about an egg? Sahara looked at the egg again and frowned. Did Hermaeus turn Pearl into a DreamWing? It was a perplexing thought, but it seemed like the most likely answer.

Now, Sahara was curious about seeing these new dragons. How come Dolphin never mentioned them to her before now? Did they just arrive at the village, even amongst all the chaos that had unfolded? Hm. I guess I'll find out once Stargazer gets back.

"Sahara," Fennec tapped Sahara's shoulder with a claw. "Can I tell you something?"

Sahara nodded. Her friend curled her tail around her talons and lowered her head. "While this place is nice, I really miss the Kingdom of Sand. Besides, that is our home after all. But, in all honesty, I don't think I fit in here very well. I kind of feel like an outsider."

Sahara thought she understood where Fennec was going with this. Sahara could understand how her friend felt. "Yeah, I know. You don't have to stay. You can go back." Fennec looked up at her with a bright smile. "And you never know, I might just come with you." Sahara smiled down at her best friend. While this place was nice, and different at that, Sahara knew she belonged in the Kingdom of Sand. Perhaps, when she wasn't busy, she'd come back to visit them. Besides, she still needed to find out if the SandWing royal family made it back to the stronghold alive. She never saw them while she was in the Sky Kingdom.

Dolphin finally stopped crying and stood up, still clutching the egg with one arm. She weakly smiled at Sahara. "I can't thank you enough." While she was smiling, Sahara could tell the SeaWing was still upset. She had to have heard that I might not be staying with them here in the village. "Didn't I say you were one of us? Well, I meant that in every way. There was just something about you that felt right. A feeling I was sure of. Sahara, you were given powers for a reason. You had potential, and you delivered on it. Even if you do grow tired of us and decide to go back to the Kingdom of Sand, I want you to remember that you'll always have a place here." The SeaWing turned to Fennec. "Same for you. You two are both welcome to come and go. It'll always be a pleasure seeing your faces again when you do decide to return."