Wings of Power: The Rising Tribe [SERIES CLOSED]

Chapter 6

Marble hopped off the stone she was standing on. "All right, since you crashed into our land, we decided we'd bring you here to see what would happen."

"Crash into your land?" Vein asked. "Isn't this the Abandoned Land?"

"Well, no---what's your name?"

"Vein."

"Well, no, Vein. We just wrote that to ward of the Stones in the south, and the Suns up north," explained Marble as she pointed towards the south and north.

"Uh, not that I want to," Vein began. "But I thought you were about to kill me?"

Marble snorted. "Not unless you really want me to . . . because I've got a very painful bite."

"And I've got a fire shot," Vein spat, as Marble's face went pale. "And you Timers die in seconds if exposed to fire. So I'd say we make peace and just go on with life?"

Marble killed her surprised expression and smiled. Well, tried to. "You remind me of Scorch. If your wondering"---Marble said, answering Vein's thoughts---"Scorch was a  BloodWing, much like you. He was about five years older than you. I'm going to guess you're . . . hmmm, seven?"

Vein's snout dropped. "How would you know that?" 

Marble ignored Vein's question as she walked to the edge of the coast. She tapped her claws as if thinking of a way to get something over to the other side, where Vein could see the dim shape of an island. 

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Vein asked.

Marble looked up. "I'm trying to figure out a way to get you transported to the island. Water is your weakness, so we can't swim, and your shoulder is to damaged to fly at the moment. You're too heavy to carry---"

"Hey!"

"---And we don't have a boat. So how will we---"

Vein interrupted Marble by advancing to her. Marble sharply growled, but she stopped when Vein walked past her. Vein went to the tree behind her, and, using his tail, he smashed the tree trunk in half. The top half came down, and Vein spat fire onto it, to burn the leaves. Then he shoved it into the water, to cool off the fire. After that, he sliced open the trunk with his claws, and sliced, sliced, and sliced until he got a boat, the right size for two dragons.

Marble stared at Vein before clearing her throat. "Uh, wow. I never knew you dumb BloodWings knew had to build boats."

"Dumb?" Vein said, a little too loudly for his---and probably Marble's---discomfort. He whirled around to face her, and Marble stepped up to him. Vein backed up because he knew what move she was planning to do, looking at her eyes. "I ain't gonna hurt you," he said so that Marble backed up. "But BloodWings are not 'easily outwitted'. In fact, we're the smartest dragons in battle, survival, and geography!"

Marble snorted. "Geography. Suuure you are."

Vein blinked. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

Marble rolled her eyes. "BloodWings might be smart, but they can definitely be dumb . . ." she murmured.

"Hey! Wait---hey! Wait---hey! Wait---HEY! We're not dumb. What, you're scared your tribe is so weak that they said BloodWings were 'easily outwitted' so that TimeWings could just have more confidence fighting them? Hey, I'm even happy Queen Magma slit Granite's throat!" Vein spat.

Now Marble was really angry, but Vein kept on talking. "And you said we don't have front legs! DON'T HAVE FRONT LEGS? You clearly can see that I've got front arms and talons perfect for slashing TimeWings, you know?"

Marble roared and she charged Vein. Vein did not expect this. What, did he mention Granite? Waiiiiiit. Uh-oh.

Marble crashed onto Veins back, forcing him to back up. He didn't want to kill Marble since there was a chance her tribe would welcome him in. In fact, if he killed Marble right now, they wouldn't be too happy about that. But the way Marble was attacking him, he didn't have a choice.

Marble's claws ripped across Vein's back, and his spine screamed in agony. But he wasn't going to give up.

He swung his tail, making sure the bare part smacked into Marble's head. But he did it too hard and smacked her into the water. A piece of white fell onto Vein's front arms. While Marble spluttered and splashed in the water, Vein picked up the white stick and inspected it.

"WHY DID YOU INJURE ME?" Marble yelled from the water. "WHY DID YOU INSULT OUR TRIBE?"

"WHY DID YOUR TRIBE INSULT US FIRST, HUH?" Vein roared back. He suddenly noticed that one half of her right horn was snapped off. He looked at what he was holding and suddenly realized that he had injured her. Claws against the back of a BloodWing wasn't fatal, but if you snapped off something from a TimeWing, what would happen?

"YOU TOOK MY MAGIC SOURCE!" Marble yelled as she crashed into the water after attempting to fly. "NOW I CAN'T GET DRY!" She complained.

And then Vein suddenly realized it: he had snapped of Marble's source of magic---her horn.