On Destiny's Wings: A Journey of Embers (UNDERGOING REVISIONS)

Chapter 8: A Dark World

"It shall be done then," mother creature grinned. "My little Sundrop."

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The first thing Sundrop could feel as she woke up was pain. She flinched and let out a reptilian yelp. Everything was sore. Her pale blue eyes fluttered open. At first, things were blurry. Shades of black and grey filled her vision.

Below her, she could feel jagged stones poking into her sides. She tested her wings. Luckily, they weren't broken or caught on anything. The dragonling blinked a few more times, forcing the world into focus. Just in front of her, a large rocky wall spiraled into the air. It was too steep to climb. She groaned and looked behind her. A similar spire towered in that direction as well. 

"Ugh..."

Sundrop tilted her head and looked up at the sky. The massive sheets of stone framed the stratus like talons. Stars twinkled above in the small cracks of night that were visible. The moon was out, a white sliver resembling a tooth.

Sundrop gasped. Everything was coming back to her now. She recalled the accident, the sensation of tumbling through empty air from their cliff-side home. She craned her neck and shakily got to her paws. Their den was now eons above her, somewhere. She wasn't even able to tell which ledge they had fallen from. The mountain that loomed overhead was like an immeasurably gargantuan tooth. The very peak was shrouded with black clouds.

"Oh no," she whispered. Panic surged through her veins. How would Sundrop and Flametooth get back up?

Flametooth!

"Flametooth?" Sundrop called. "Flametooth! Where are you?"   

The dragonling listened for a moment, swiveling her ears to meet the sounds of the night. No response. She tried again.

"Flametooth! Please answer me!" This time, a lilt of anxiety leaked into her voice.

What if her brother had not survived the fall? He could've broken his neck when he landed, or impaled himself on a spear of rock. Sundrop wrapped her wings around herself and began to wail in her FireClaw-ian tone. If she had been responsible for her sibling's death, she would never be able to live with herself. 

"F-Flametooth..." the dragonling whimpered. 

Suddenly, a rough scratching sound reverberated from somewhere nearby. Sundrop's mournful sobs stopped as she caught a very familiar scent. Her red ears perked excitedly. The dragonling locked on to the spot where the scraping had been coming from. In a rocky nook about three tails away, tiny pebbles showered down to the hard scrabble below. The blackened space was covered in boulders the size of dragon heads. Sundrop snuffled in that direction, and nearly toppled back in surprise when the mound of grey rocks began to move.

"Flametooth?" she asked nervously.

Not even a second later, a set of black talons broke through the rocky pile, sending rough debris spraying in all directions. A dusty copper noggin came sputtering to the surface, flaming orange eyes blinking wildly into the night. Clumps of grass still clung to the small horns on his head.

"Flametooth!" Sundrop trilled, her blue eyes flooding with relief. Her brother glanced over at her and coughed, managing a tiny reptilian smile. 

She rushed over to him and pushed the rest of the large boulders out of his way. Flametooth's wings emerged unscathed, along with his midsection and back legs. His tail, however, had not been so lucky. Parts of his frill had been ripped off. The largest portion was still bleeding, crimson like a setting sun.