Rebellion

Amaris the Twisted

Phantom, as Captain of the Guard, briefed me. My whole Anchemi was there, and the council was waiting outside for my orders. They had requested to come in to the Throne Room, but I wanted to fill everyone in after my abrupt departure. Phantom had glowered at me, snorted, and then proceeded to rant about how irresponsible I was. Adam had pulled me into a hug and held me tightly. I had melted in his hug, butterflies swirling in my stomach and I could barely stop myself from blurting out how much I had missed him. We were both blushing as Phantom showed me the  campaign table. Quaem was, as far as I knew, enjoying his freedom - I knew for a fact that he had a new lady friend down in the village. Cherry nudged me as Phantom indicated the map on the table.

The map was embossed with the hills, settlements and the positions of our fortresses. My Anchemi gave me a minute to scan the map, and it wasn't too long before a weird figurine caught my eye. It was of a dragon, but not one I'd ever seen before.

"What's this?". I asked, looking at Cherry.

"That," she replied. "Is the map marker of Amaris the Twisted, the latest threat to your reign. She is claiming to be the daughter of Quaem, which is weird because Quaem never mated. She's been joined by Ceylon-".

"The coward,". Phantom growled. We all looked at him, and he shrugged, stepping away from the table; talons click clacking against the floor.

I looked at Cherry helplessly as a barrage of information came my way and she grabbed my arm, tugging me away. My team kept discussing the different statistics, but their voices drifted away into pure, blissful silence. I sighed in relief. Cherry grinned:

"The hardest thing about our group is they all love the sound of their own voices. Thus, I have all the statistics for you. There is a new dragon: she's called Amaris, and is apparently a new breed of dragon - a crystal dragon. She is claiming to be a descendant of Quaem and is dredging up an army to upsurge you. Our intelligence suggests she is a few hours flight away, in the Ascaron Mountains,".

I laughed. "You couldn't have told me earlier? Instead I listened to them all fight to tell me the details. Do you want to fly out and scout with me?".

"No thanks,". Cherry grinned apologetically. "Barney and I are going for a walk in the gardens,". I smiled at her knowingly, before hurrying to find Electra.

The sky was clear blue, with various clouds hanging above us. I reached out and touched the fluffy wisp with my hands, but they all dissolved as I ran my hand through them, showering me in water droplets. I huffed. Electra chuckled.

Don't laugh!

It was funny. Electra's eyes gleamed with mirth as I shifted into a more comfortable position. I sighed as she asked:

So how do you feel now that you've been crowned and everything?

I feel ... good. More at peace with myself. I still don't know about being a ruler - how that affects everything but, I want to get this rebellion sorted out. We owe it to our Anchemi h. 

Electra snorted, smoke curling from her nostrils. A faint roar reached our ears, and she banked on the wind currents, dropping to the ground in a soft thud, leaves crunching as she dug her talons into the soil.

"Stay here,". I ordered, creeping forwards towards the clamour of voices.

I travelled for about 100 metres, before I pushed back a couple of leaves and froze, as an exuberant roar deafened me. Colours of red, green, yellow, grey and blue blurred before me as I took in their position. They were in a narrow, steep sided valley, and were facing a ledge of rock which jutted out from the rockface. But it was the dragon sitting on the ledge that took my breath away. It was obviously a female, but she wasn't any breed we'd learnt about at the academy. She had slender, curled horns and a tail with shards of rock, almost crystal poking out. She was mainly black, but her wings were opalescent, shimmering in the faint light. They had eye shaped patterns on, like a butterfly, but you could tell by the fangs and the yellow eye that this dragon was anything but nice. I watched as she opened her maw and roared. Immediately all noise stopped, as a harsh clanging noise echoed across the walls. I quickly sketched her before scribbling down her words:

"I am Amaris, nicknamed by the palace as Amaris the Twisted. I am, contrary to popular belief, not the daughter of Quaem, but the bastard child of a fire and lightning dragon. My breed has never been seen before, but I am here to save us all from the human queen. What right does she have to rule over us, when she was not even born with wings? Join me, and we will soon have a dragon back on the throne. I, Amaris will lead you all to victory! The palace may nickname me the Traitor, but I call myself the Saviour! Who will stand with me?". ,     

One dragon, a lightning dragon stepped forwards:

"The Queen has done so much for us! The land is fair once again, and she also has a one of a kind dragon - a plasma dragon none the less! What powers do you have that will stand the might of plasma!".

With a jolt, I realised I recognised him. He had worked at the palace, but had gone travelling, hoping to find a mate. His name was Kieros.

The crystal dragon laughed. "What powers do I have?". Powers that are more powerful than the Queen will ever be,". Her tail whipped forwards with a crack and a single crystal shard shot forward, impaling Kieros in the head. Brain matter spattered the surrounding dragons, and I jumped when Kieros' eyes met mine. The light faded from his eyes, leaving the milky whiteness only death can bring.

We flew back to the Palace as soon as we could.