Chapter Text
The sun was already blistering that day.
Bulrush remembered the dry heat baking the rocks under his claws, remembered how the cracked ground shimmered like it was trying to trick his eyes. He and five of his Sibs had been sent with a MudWing patrol to a scorched section of land near the SandWing border, an old battle site that still smelled like smoke and blood.
There were rumors of a dangerous plant growing there, one the SandWings had abandoned in the chaos. Their commander had barked orders: clear the area, burn the plants, report back.
It should’ve been simple.
The cactus didn’t look like anything dangerous at first. Low to the ground, twisted, with spiny red pods on its arms. But the air around it buzzed-like it was angry. They didn’t know what it was. Not until one of his clutchmates stepped too close.
There was no warning.
Boom.
A pressure wave hit them like thunder. The cactus exploded, literally exploded in a burst of searing flame, scattering blazing, barbed shards in every direction. The air filled with green fire and black smoke. The heat tore through the dry air and slammed into them with brutal force.
Bulrush remembered the sound: a horrible shrieking whine in his ears as if the world was screaming.
He didn’t think, he just moved. his Bigwings, Gator, had frozen, wide-eyed. Bulrush lunged, shoving him aside
and the cactus shrapnel hit him instead.
Pain.
Not pain like stubbing your tail or taking a hit in training. No, this was all-consuming. A white hot blaze tearing through his side, through his leg, through his eye. His vision vanished on one side. Something wet and hot poured down his face. His leg, his leg wasn’t responding, wasn’t there anymore.
He tried to scream, but his throat wouldn’t work. The heat had sucked the air from his lungs.
More cactus pods exploded nearby. Another scream, someone else's. He couldn’t tell who. There was blood, black smoke, dragonfire, and the awful smell of burning flesh.
He hit the ground, rolling, trying to put out the fire that had caught along his wing joint. His claws raked through ash and dirt. Everything was spinning, tilting.
Someone shouted his name.
A blurry face. Then two. Shapes above him. A tail dragging him back from the fire.
His chest heaved. He coughed soot and blood. His remaining eye wouldn’t focus.
The world was falling away.
He heard Gator screaming something, his name, maybe? but it sounded distant, like underwater.
The sky twisted above him, blurry and red.
Then everything, pain, fire, voices, was gone.
Darkness.