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Carnelian was a soldier. She had been since she was born. She was due to hatch on the brighest night, ensuring her a position in a prophecy of war. Her mother managed to hide her egg and dragonet until a month after the night, and she pretended that Carnelian was a month younger than she really was.
As the only dragon who hadn’t hatched in the nursery, Carnelian was an instant outcast. She hadn’t met her peers right away, and when new eggs hatched, Carnelian was already much larger than the newly-hatched, who prefered to cling to the comfort of their hatchmates.
As they all grew older, it didn’t matter so much, because the specific month mattered little once they counted their ages in years. But Carnelian still had few friends. If you could even count those she did have as friends, that is.
Her mother told her she was special, as a dragonet of prophecy, but that noone could know, especially Queen Scarlet, who would kill her if she knew. Carnelian didn’t like Queen Scarlet, because of this, but also because of the arena.
From a young age, the Skywing dragonets were made to attend the daily fights in Queen Scarlet’s arena. Carnelian would watch as hulking Mudwings faced off against frigid Icewings, and as sly Sandwings slaughtered dried Seawings. Seawings rarely won fights, because Scarlet wouldn’t give them any water. Carnelian learned, from this young age, how the other tribes fought, and how brutal and terrifying they could be.
As time passed, less and less Mudwings populated the arena, as they’d joined the Skywing’s side of the war. There were still traitors, though. There always were.
Carnelian found herself on clean-up duty at the arena. She would drag the body of the loser out of the way, and scrub the floor clean of blood. Peril, the queen’s champion, would be there to help, sometimes, burning the bodies and the blood right off of the ground. Despite her terrifying presence in the arena, Peril took care to never touch Carnelian, who appreciated that.
What Carnelian didn’t appreciate, was not being allowed to fight for her tribe. She trained extensively, as did all the dragonets, and Carnelian was by far the most skilled of all of them.
“But Mother, what if this is how I fulfill the prophecy?” Once she’d ended the war, then things like the arena wouldn’t have to exist anymore. But her mother refused to let her fight, claiming that it was too dangerous.
One day, her mother didn’t return from battle. Carnelian, ready to avenge her mother, signed up to fight.
Carnelian fought in fourteen battles before the war ended. She faced down gigantic Seawings, Sandwings with more teeth than claws, Icewings with chillingly powerful grips, and, on one memorable occasion, a group of rebel Skywings. Carnelian only ever felt guilty for her actions at that moment, when she had to slit the throat of a dragon that looked like he could have been her brother.
The war ended for the Skywings before it ended for the rest of Pyrrhia. The war ended when Queen Scarlet died, or fled, and when Queen Ruby took the throne. At once, things were different.
The arena was done away with. For the first time, the arena was something wrong with Scarlet, not something wrong with the war. The war raged on around them, but once the Skywings had retreated back into their own territories, the only threats they faced were from within their own ranks.
Carnelian stood for Queen Ruby. She faced her fellow soliders, and if they dared to hurt the new queen, they would pay for it in blood. The army split up, with only those loyal to the new queen staying to protect the throne. Carnelian found herself by the queen’s side most days, listening to her worries and occasionally voicing her own.
One day, when the war was finished, they received word from the dragonets of destiny. The real ones, who’d stopped the war, not Carnelian, who hadn’t even met the others yet. The dragonets had found something. Old ruins, in Jade Mountain. It looked like some kind of academy.
So off Carnelian went, forced by Queen Ruby into a school for hugging and talking and loving all the tribes like they were just one big family. Carnelian itched for battle. There were still traitors to fight.
On her first day at the Academy, Carnelian fought with a small Seawing that couldn’t have been more than four years old. She didn’t regret it, though, he had attacked her first.
Nothing could be more humiliating than being made to be open and honest with the other tribes. Not even the fact that she was sharing a cave with the two tribes she hadn’t faced in battle yet could interest her. The Rainwing was too chatty, and the Nightwing had such piercing eyes that Carnelian couldn’t look at her too long without feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Her only ally came in the form of a nervous Mudwing. Everyone else could be her enemies. Even Tsunami, a fellow dragonet of destiny. But… was she?
Apparently, that prophecy had never existed to begin with. Carnelian tried not to think about it. Her dreams were drenched in blood, and her waking thoughts filled with battle.
No way was she trusting some suspicious Nightwing and a stupid Sandwing. They were probably just-