Emerald Wings

The girl sat near him, laying her head against his side, feeling his uneasy breath rise and fall. The fight was barely over and barely won. She was uninjured, but his left wing was torn. His beautiful emerald wings that brought them both so high were ripped to nearly shreds, but there was nothing that she could do, at least not now. They might heal on there own, but it would be some time. It was a miracle they even made it back safely.

As most full scale fights do, it had begun as a simple disagreement between her and Carden. She had challenged him and his dragon to a fight, and ended with her dearest Kylion battered. Tears dripped down her face as she recalled the details.

She stood in the blistering sun, shielding her eyes to look into the distance. As a flash of red appeared on the horizon, she smirked. “He won’t win today,” she muttered. “I’m right, and he’s wrong. But since he’s so convinced, we’ll settle it here.” Kylion shuddered, and she laid her hand on his side. “It’s okay, my sweet one, you’ll be fine.” He shook his head, not convinced.

Carden jumped off of his dragon and stepped towards the center of the field as she approached from the opposite direction. They nodded at each other. “To death or until surrender?” he asked, as was customary.

“Until surrender: death is wasteful,” she replied, giving the standard answer for the situation.

They shook hands, and returned to their dragons. She mounted Kylion, laying her hands on his neck. She whispered in his ear, “Fly, my swift one, fly.”

The next fifteen minutes were a blur of red and green. She kept her thoughts as straight as circumstances could permit, but in the bright sunlight, she and Kylion both lost track of the others until Carden’s dragon swooped down, slicing Kylion’s wings. He opened his mouth, crying out in distress. Taking a glance at the wings, she frowned, and then had Kylion land. “I concede,” she yelled to the sky, and brought Kylion back to the halls.

“My foolish pride,” she cried. “Oh, my foolish pride. I’ve wounded one to satisfy what I thought was right. Perhaps I was, but I shouldn’t have risked it. I should have protected Kylion’s emerald wings.”