Luckily, Roadrunner was hiding in the same room and blocked the knife with a piece of the old, crusty wood of the closet. Sandstorm groaned with annoyance. Her one chance to kill Incinerator, was ruined…

“SANDSTORM, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!” snapped Roadrunner.

“I-I just-um,” sputtered Sandstorm.

“I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY! YOU ALMOST KILLED MY SISTER!” yelled Roadrunner. “THAT’S IT! Unless you can prove to me that you have a perfect explanation by sunset tomorrow, you be executed.”

Sandstorm walked out of the room, thinking about her death. She couldn’t die, she just couldn’t. Sandstorm was one of the dragon that would stop the war. She hoped that by the end of the day tomorrow, her head would still be intact.

The next morning…

Sandstorm was pacing around the room. She had no excuse for what happened yesterday. There was a small piece of paper on her bed. None of her reasons were good enough. “I can’t think of anything. I’m dead, I’m so dead,” she said.

Suddenly, Roadrunner burst through the door. “Hey, Sandstorm. So, I thought really hard about yesterday, and I changed your execution to right now,” said Roadrunner.

(To be continued)

As they slept, Sandstorm stayed awake. In her mind she thought thoughts that the others wouldn’t like…

“WHY IS SHE ROADRUNNER’S SISTER!? I was the one who mooned over Roadrunner. I was the one who wished for a fate with Roadrunner as my sister. Incinerator ruined everything. I wish I could just slash at her throat,” thought Sandstorm.

In Incinerator’s head… “Wait, if I’m one of the heirs does that mean I’m ADOPTED?! No, it can’t be. Mom and Dad said I was their little egg. I’ll send a letter tomorrow. Then I’ll know the truth. But the DNA samples must be wrong,”

As the sun rose, everyone went into the kitchen for breakfast. Sandstorm glared at Incinerator the whole time. While Sandstorm was glaring at her, Incinerator wrote a letter to her ‘parents’.

“SO, sis what do you want to do today?” asked Roadrunner.

“Oh, I was thinking maybe we could go play hide and seek?” said Incinerator.

“Good. Then I hope you get lost in the desert and die there,” muttered Sandstorm under her breath. “It’ll be your sandy grave,”

They went into different rooms, hoping not to be found. Sandstorm was the only one who wanted to be seeker. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen and started looking for Incinerator, calling out, “Come out, Incinerator, come out,”

Incinerator had hid in the oldest closet there, hoping that Sandstorm won’t hurt her when she finds Incinerator.

Incinerator looked through a little sliver of light that came through the closet’s old, rickety doors. “Oh, reindeer poop. She’s got a knife!” whispered Incinerator with a gasp.

With a quick glance, Sandstorm lunged at the old closet, knife in front. Sandstorm tore it to shreds and then aimed the knife at her heart. She threw the knife at Incinerator…

(To be continued)

“Your scales look so cool. It has blue diamonds on it,” said Sandstorm.

“Oh my scales are impressive, are they? Well, you should see me fighting in battle,” said Roadrunner.

They (by “they” I mean Sandstorm) mooned over Roadrunner all day. She let them stay in one of the guests rooms in the fortress. Sandstorm dreamed about her all night. Nothing seemed to matter when she was around Roadrunner. It was as if she was her sister. But of course she couldn’t be her sister. If she was her sister, Sandstorm would be in the war.

In the morning

“So what do you guys want for breakfast? You guys should eat fast. Then we can decide why you’re going choose me. Also, my scientist did some research on my sisters and got some DNA samples. But the weird thing is that we don’t have a fourth sister. Either that or she got lost when our mom died and the dragons chose who’s side to be on. She was a fiery red color like you,” Roadrunner spoke directly at Incinerator. “But then you’d be in the war. Hmmm….wait a second. MANGO! COME OVER HERE! I NEED YOU TO RUN SOME DNA SAMPLES!” screamed the princess at the top of her lungs.

All of the sudden a tall and slender dragon rushed out of the room at once. He took one of Incinerator’s scales and took them to the room again. A few minutes later he returned with a shocked face. He cleared his throat and closed his mouth. “Ahem. I can say that this dragon is your sister. And I can also tell you that she was born only a few days before the war started. So she is your little sister,”

At that moment Sandstorm felt like thousands of rocks were crushing her skull. She never had this feeling before. It felt like what the others said about this feeling. Sandstorm was jealous of Incinerator….

(To be continued)   

“Ummm….so where is she?” asked Sandstorm.

“For the last time Princess Roadrunner is out battling,” said one of the guards.

“So is there a waiting room or something?” asked Sandstorm.

“Yes, come with me,” said the guard with a sigh.

As they entered the fortress, they saw tapestries of cati and lizards hung on the walls. Sandstorm felt more at home than any other place they’ve been to. It was like she was made for this. It felt natural to Sandstorm.

They entered a room full of blankets and pillows sprawled out across the floor. There were books stacked neatly in a pile in the corner, a few small, round tables, and one couch as long as the room.

“Stay here while Princess Roadrunner is at battle. We will catch you if you decide to try and look around. We have very tight security around here,” spoke the guard.

They all nestled in on the blankets. As always Midnight took a book from the pile and started reading it. Incinerator took a piece of paper and started drawing with the ink and feather. Wave thought about who they were going to pick for the heir. Thorn grouched at how unpleasant the room looked. Lastly, Sandstorm was in awe of the tapestries on the walls.

All of the sudden a dragon burst down the gate that kept them in. “That battle was awesome! I want to fight over and over again. Once I defeat my sisters then I’ll teach them a lesson not to mess with me!” yelled the dragon with extreme courage.

(To be continued)    

“How about we find the third heir and then come back to see your parents?” asked Incinerator.

“Ok then,” agreed Midnight.

“Ok then, let’s go,” said Thorn.

The young dragons took off into the sky. Wave had told Sandstorm to burn the map so Midnight couldn’t go find Magnificent and see her parents. Lots of thoughts were going inside Wave’s head.

“It’s too dangerous for her to go by herself. She needs us as much as I need her. I can’t tell her, not while the war is still going. Midnight I wish I could tell you I love you….” thought Wave.

“Hey Wave can I ask you something?” asked Midnight.

“Sure what is it?” replied Wave.

“So, if you needed to let go of something, what’s the best way to do it?” asked Midnight.

“It depends on what you’re letting go of. Such as your dog. You’d have to see how well it acts in a type of region. But if it’s something mental then I would just think about something else,” said Wave.

“Ok thanks,” said Midnight.

“Hey guys I think we might have found the fortress. It’s pretty big but it looks like the right size of a palace,” said Incinerator.

“Hurry I want to meet the heir,” commanded Sandstorm.

“Ok we’re coming,” said Midnight.

(To be continued)

“We told you this a million times already, so I’ll just tell you this one last time: SCARWING DESERVES TO DIE!” yelled Thorn.

“I know but I just feel bad that he did. I mean he only misunderstood Amortina,” said Sandstorm.

“You know what, I quit. I’m not going to tell you again,” said Thorn.

“I really do hope mom and dad see the note. I can’t tell the others that I’ll be going back there. Especially Thorn. I bet she’d tell on me in a heartbeat. But maybe I can trust Wave. He nice and trustworthy. I wonder if I should tell him I like him. But what if he likes one of the others? That’s it I’m going tonight,” thought Midnight.

“Hey Midnight,” said a voice behind her.

“Oh hi Wave,” said Midnight.

“So what are you writing about?” he peered over her shoulder, looking at a piece of paper sprawled out across the floor of a cave.

“Wave before you look at it, just whisper it to me. The others can’t know about this, Ok?” asked Midnight.

“I promise I won’t freak out about whatever you’re writing about,” agreed Wave.

He looked at the piece of paper on the floor. A chill went down his spine when he looked at the paper. It wasn’t a story nor a drawing. It was a map leading to Magnificent’s palace.

“You’re going back to see your parents, huh?” asked Wave. “You know we have to keep moving. We need to find the third heir and besides this place is better to care for your dog,”

“I know but I just want to see them one more time,” said Midnight.

(To be continued)  

Right before Sandstorm fell into the lava, Wave scooped her up and put her onto solid ground. ScarWing was still fighting Thorn when he saw that Sandstorm survived.  ScarWing was very angry. At that moment a dragon that was pure white and had sapphire anklets, a ruby crown, and a emerald necklace came down from above the sky.

“ScarWing you have misunderstood me. This is just disappointing. I said that bring me the chosen one and meet me on the volcano,” said the dragon.

“Amortina, my love, I am so sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought you said throw the chosen one into the volcano,” said ScarWing.

“Well you tried to kill a small dragon, misunderstood me, and gave these adorable dragons cuts and bruises. I think you should be thrown into the volcano,” said Amortina. At that moment Amortina waved her claws gracefully and ScarWing went flying into the volcano. His screams of pain filled their ears. All they heard was screaming and the sizzling of the lava meeting his scales, until it died down and ScarWing was swallowed up into the lava.

Sandstorm was, once again, traumatized of the horror of ScarWing dying.

(To be continued)  

“You won’t let me fall. Only the cold-hearted would. Besides I don’t think you know who I am. I’m one of the dragons who’ll stop the war,” said Sandstorm.

“I doubt that,” snorted ScarWing.

“You’d never get with Amortina! I bet she’d rather love a harmless dog than you!” said Sandstorm.

“How dare you say that!” said ScarWing. “The only reason you are hanging from this tree branch is so that when your puny friends come to rescue you, I just plop you into the volcano,” sneered ScarWing.

A few minutes later the others showed up to the top of the volcano. ScarWing sneered at them and put his claws to the branch. The branch could snap at any moment with ScarWing’s sharp claws ready to slash at it. Incinerator and Midnight stepped forward but then ScarWing stopped them.

“One wrong move and your friend dies,” he said.

“No one likes you especially, not Amortina!” yelled Sandstorm from behind.

“Shut it pipsqueak,” snapped ScarWing.

“Why should listen to you, you have a brain full of seaweed if you think you can get with a goddess,” laughed Thorn.

At that moment ScarWing lunged at Thorn, clawed at her in midair. Just in time, Incinerator blew a plume of fire at ScarWing’s snout. Wave whacked him with his huge tail. Midnight went to untie Sandstorm, but then ScarWing thrashed into Midnight’s side causing her to bump into Wave.

“I hope you have some parting words to your puny friends,” said ScarWing. Then he clawed at the tree branch. Sandstorm was falling into the volcano now.

(To be continued)

“Of all the days you kidnap us, you kidnapped Sandstorm on the worst days!” yelled Thorn to the strange dragon.

He was to far ahead of them for him to hear Thorn’s yelling. Sandstorm tried to untie the vines around her claws and wings. Every so often the stranger would look back and to sneer at them. It angered Thorn so much but Wave stopped her before she could fly faster and fight the strange dragon.

“You will please the goddess of love. The wonderful Amortina shall be mine. No one will stop me now that I have the chosen one,” said the stranger.

“Who are you anyway?” asked Sandstorm.

“I’m ScarWing. I rise above the rest, giving no mercy and definitely no partners except for my new love Amortina,” said ScarWing.

“Why Amortina? If you sacrifice me she won’t love you that way, right?” asked Sandstorm.

“Ha! You think that she won’t love me anymore if I kill you? She has showed up in my dreams more than once, saying to get a small dragon like you and throw you into the almighty Volcano of death and blood,” said ScarWing. “And you will fall into it,”

They flew all the way past the border of the iceland. There it was a nice tropical forest, yet ScarWing was going to kill Sandstorm so they couldn’t enjoy the nice breeze. ScarWing flew to the top of the volcano and let Sandstorm hang on a tree branch.

“Say goodbye to your friends,” sneered ScarWing.

(To be continued)