Flaming Embers, Book 1: Broken (OLD VERSION)

Chapter 1: The King of a False Kingdom

I sit alone on the cliff, wings folded tightly at my sides and the wind whistling past my face, forcing me to squint. The waves crash against the steep rock walls below, tilting upwards into the air as if to touch the sky, the white foamed spray just barely reached my small talons before the saltwater would drop backwards to mimic a curve-like motion.

Where am I? No where near home or at least I think so...?

I jump a little when the sound of a sharp rock skidding across the ground comes from behind me and I almost instantly twist my head around, meeting the furious gazes of both my parents. Both pairs of blue and brown eyes looking like two blazing fires of fury, and hate.

"Uhm, hey father, hey mother..." I state cautiously, watching both their expressions darken just a little more, hatred of which I didn't understand the source.

"Hi, runt." Father growls, emphasizing the last part which felt like a needle to my heart yet another time, his crack-marked snout twisting into a ferocious snarl and my green-eyes widen just a little more in surprise. He sounds and looks so angry, what have I done wrong? I wasn't that far from home was I? I take a quick look behind me at the cliffs edge, tail just barely brushing the empty air behind me.

I look at mother for confirmation, but her gaze holds the same amount of hatred as father's. Her lips curl back in a snarl, that's when I notice it, the purple flames building at the back of her throat, visible only through the small gap between her teeth that was usually black, showing off her tiny blood-stained knives. My response is instant, sweeping my tail across the ground for balance while I pushed myself up onto my hind legs, forelegs held up in some form of self defense, an attempt to protect myself for what is to come. I cover my face as I shut my eyes, a few stray tears escaping and sliding down my cheeks and dripping off onto my forelegs, making them feel a little bit wet. My tail meets open air and I know there is nothing behind me, hoping that I wouldn't fall down the steep rock face, I couldn't even fly, they hadn't yet taught me.

A wail-like scream escapes my jaws as searing heat engulfs me, covering my front talons and forelegs as well as my chest and stomach with such immense pain, more than I've ever experienced in my short lived life. I felt myself teeter backwards as a second stream of scale-melting fire hits me, my own screaming filling my ears as I slip off the edge of the cliff, scrambling to reach for the edge of the cliff with no prevail, desperately flapping my wings in a feeble attempt to fly. My voice is instantly lost as I hit the waves, drowned as water filled my mouth and stung my eyes. My burns felt like they are on fire all over again and my mouth tastes like salt, making me grimace as I attempt to cry for help, but only a loose cascade of bubbled escape my open jaws. All I want to ask is why, why are they torturing me like this, they're my parents and they're supposed to love me. Right?

I was swept upwards, eyes shut tight as I was slammed into what felt like the cliff, a sickening crack sounding even through the rush of the water as I let out another wail, leaving me breathless and dizzier than I'm already feeling. I scrunch up my snout as I fight to stay awake, a familiar tired heaviness making me want to sleep for days on end. 'I don't want to die, I don't want to die' is what I internally repeat to myself as I fight not to sleep, but eventually the tiredness becomes too much and I succumb into what feels like a calming lightness in the river of dark.

Bright light makes me cringe as I slowly open my eyes, surveying my surroundings with my eyes narrowed. 'Where am I?' I ask myself as I notice the unfamiliar stone walls and the comfort of a bed beneath me, a silky-soft blanket was also loosely draped over me. I sit up, letting out a small uncontrollable whimper as pain shot up my wing and my legs from the sudden movement. Looking at the wing that gave me pain, I notice that it's held in some sort of sling and their are bandages holding a few thin metal bars in place. It takes me a second but I realize that my wing is broken and I pause before looking down at my forelegs and chest, both covered in similar white bandages.