Prologue

The sound of chains rattling filled the chamber as the orange SkyWing thrashed about, straining against her bindings. One of the SandWing guards outside rolled his eyes.

"She's at it again," he muttered to his companion, another SandWing soldier. "Doesn't she ever get tired of making a nuisance of herself? Must be the tenth time tonight."

The first time they'd heard the ruckus, they'd bolted the door and called for reinforcements in panic, afraid that, somehow, the prisoner would escape and wreak bloody vengeance on them. She didn't and now they were less convinced of her bloodstained reputation.

"I wonder why Burn bothers keeping her anyway," the other soldier replied. "Especially after what she did to her collection. Might as well just dispose of her and work out a new agreement with the daughter."

"Not our's to wonder why," the first guard grumbled. "I'm gonna get some wine from downstairs. You want some?"

"Yeah sure," his partner answered. "I need to get drunk."

Meanwhile, inside the chamber, the SkyWing prisoner had stopped thrashing about. Her mutilated face was a mask of anguish and frustration. But even with one side of it melted away to reveal the bleached bone beneath, there was no room for doubt that this was the ex-Queen of the Sky Kingdom, Scarlet.

She slumped forward, panting heavily, all her usual regality discarded. It was no use. The chains wouldn't break.

She cradled her head in her talons. As her talons felt their way across the scar and protruding bone of her disfigured face, she couldn't help but wonder how things could've gone so wrong.

That cursed RainWing, Glory, she thought. She caused this-she deceived me and her venom did the rest. When I get my claws on her...

And that wretched SandWing, Burn. How dare she do this to me? Keeping me like this after all I did for her during the war. Of all the other dragon tribes, the natural longing to fly freely was felt most keenly in SkyWings. This made Scarlet's imprisonment all the more cruel-deprived of the freedom of flight and an open sky and instead locked in a cramped, enclosed room and held fast by heavy chains.

Even her own daughter, Ruby, had abandoned her-seizing control of the Sky Kingdom in her absence if what she overheard from her captors was anything to go by. I looked after you, she thought mournfully. I raised you, kept you safe from all harm... And you betrayed me. Of all the hurt and indignity she had suffered in the past weeks, this was by far the worst.

She had fooled herself into believing the best of her daughter. Ruby had been eyeing the throne even before the capture of the dragonets of destiny. She had just been waiting for a moment of weakness. It had only been a matter of time before her daughter revealed her true colours and tried to depose her, just like so many before her.

Who would ever want to be Queen? No mother should ever be betrayed by her daughter. Her exhausted mind wandered to something her own mother had said long ago. You are destined for greatness. Scarlet laughed mirthlessly at the bitter irony of it all. Oh how wrong they were, she thought. How wrong they all were...

Author's Note:

Hey guys, this is a new story I've been intending to publish for a while but never really got around to. I've always found Scarlet a rather intriguing character-albeit a villainous one.

But recently I've found myself wondering why. Nobody's ever born evil. Why did Scarlet become the monster that everyone loathes and hates? What terrible things could've happened to make her so twisted and warped? And most of all, why the excessive use of the word 'thrilling' XD?

So stay tuned for the next installment as we delve into the life of Scarlet before she became Queen of the SkyWings. Nothing will ever be the same again. I can only guarantee one thing as of now. It'll be thrilling!