Wings of Fire: Dragonets of Change AU

Clay suddenly regained awareness of the pain in the side of his head, opening his eyes. It took several moments before his eyesight fully adjusted, taking in his surroundings.

He was laying on a tall stone pillar, so high up that he felt he could touch the fluffy clouds above. Similar pillars were arranged in a circle, the outermost being the tallest. As they reached the middle, the pillars abruptly changed into seats that surrounded a large field of sand. 

Cold chains were clamped around Clay's legs and wings, adding to the already freezing mountain air. 

Other dragons were chained to the pillars around him. He spotted many different colors of scales, but couldn't recognize any to be his siblings. Long chains connected the prisoners to each other, like a huge spider web.

"You're awake." A voice to his right piped up.

Clay turned to see that the dragon next to him had shockingly white scales. The afternoon sunlight reflected off of them, almost blinding to the eye. Clay recognized that the stranger was an IceWing and wondered if Hvitur had looked the same.

"Um… Yeah." He replied, trying to find words. "Who are you?"

"I'm Fjord. You're the first MudWing prisoner I've seen."

"Clay. And… Thanks?"

"You seem… Underwhelming, for an enemy of Scarlet. No offense." Fjord reminded Clay of Sunny in the way he talked. He sounded interested in anything and everything.

"I'm not her enemy. I mean, I don't think I'm her enemy."

"If not, how come she locked you up and left you to die?" Fjord's head tilted to the side.

Clay pondered for a moment, not sure how to answer. He knew he got picked up by SkyWings after they stopped to rest, but he didn't remember why. "Why don't you tell me first?" He tried.

Fjord smiled. "My tribe basically handed me to Scarlet."

Clay shot up. "Why on Pyrrhia would they do that?!" 

"Because I didn't exactly agree with them on everything." The IceWing was still cheerful, leaning on his elbow calmly.

"That's rude."

"Definitely."

Clay fiddled with his talons as they sat in the silence of the conversation's end. Before he could try to ask something, Fjord piped up again.

"So you don't know this place well, do you? Either that, or you're just unnecessarily calm about your terrible fate."

"I could say the same about you." 

Fjord laughed. He had a deep laugh, like he was roaring. It reminded Clay of Kestrel, but more sincere and kind. "Touché."

"So, let me give you a rundown," The IceWing continued. "Every day at noon, Scarlet and everyone in the kingdom gather to watch the prisoners battle in the arena down there." He pointed a talon to the sandy clearing at the center of the pillars. 

"How many times have you fought someone?" Clay asked.

"I've killed one dragon." Fjord said, a hint of sorrow in his voice. 

"Wait." Clay looked at Fjord with confusion. "When you said the prisoners fight, you mean they kill each other?"

"Obviously. How else can you fight?" He answered, genuinely perplexed. Clay didn't reply.

Fjord continued. "If you win three battles, you get set free." 

"Is that safe?" Clay asked. "Scarlet just lets criminals free if they kill enough dragons?"

"I hardly think the SkyWing queen cares about safety. Besides, nobody's ever been freed yet, that I know of."

Clay rubbed his head. There was some dried blood. "Why is that? It's only three battles."

Dragons were starting to gather at the arena, and Clay realized that it was noon now. Fjord noticed this as well, and nodded. 

"Looks like you'll see for yourself."